Download a pdf listing of U.S. Senators with phone and fax numbers »

GOAL: 60 U.S. Senators must say “YES” to pass the RESTORE Act (S.1400)  which sends 80% of BP fine dollars under the Clean Water Act back to Gulf Coast states!
 
TIMING: The bill may come to a full Senate vote early in the 2012 session, which begins January 23. It was favorably reported out of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on a bipartisan vote on September 21.
 
TASK: Contact reliable, dependable family and friends  who live in NON-GULF COAST STATES to fax and/or phone their two US senators. Ask for the staffer on environmental affairs and urge the senator to support the RESTORE Act.
 
MESSAGE: Emphasize why the RESTORE ACT is important to them and to America.
 

1. With their critical role in providing energy independence, commerce, ecotourism, and national security to the entire nation, the Gulf Coast wetlands have a unique opportunity to be restored for America –– applying the BP fine money to proven scientific techniques and creating thousands of jobs.
2. If most of the fine dollars are not designated to economic and environmental recovery of the Gulf Coast, they will disappear into the federal budget stream with no discernible impact.
3. When catastrophes strike, the entire nation must support the affected area. The next disaster could be in that Senator’s state; we would want citizens of that state to get the fair and reasonable support we ask for.

MODEL: Sample content for fax or phone call: “Senator (NAME), I support the Restore Act because I know the importance of the Gulf Coast to (SENATOR’S STATE), the United States and around the world. I hope you will support it, too.”  Then add a version of the message points above.
 
FEEDBACK: Please e-mail to Women of the Storm founder Anne Milling the states in which you have made contact with friends to call their senators and the information you and your friends have received about senatorial positions on the RESTORE Act.

Read more about the issue »

“This is manners 101. You mess up something. You go clean it up", –– Lucy Buffett, owner, LuLu’s in Gulf Shores, AL.

More than 140 members of Women of the Storm, a non-partisan grassroots coalition of activist women across the Gulf Coast, traveled to Washington DC on March 29  to urge Congress, the Administration and others to return to the Gulf Coast 80% of penalty dollars that may be assessed following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Our position has received with editorial and public support, as well as from the federal bipartisan Oil Spill Commission.  If the U.S. senators and  governors from the five states do not unite around this issue, the dollars are likely  to flow directly into the federal treasury, with Gulf Coast restoration receiving no direct benefit.

Restore the Gulf Coast!
Sign the petition!
Share it with your friends!
See the Numbers!

• The region is a vital economic engine for the country, supplying $3 trillion annually to the U.S. economy.
  
  
• The Gulf of Mexico is critical to the nation’s energy supply, contributing more than 44% of the crude oil, 43% of the dry natural gas, and more than 50% of liquid natural gas that fuels this nation.
  
  
• Two-thirds of the royalties that the United States Treasury receives annually from oil and gas produced from the Outer Continental Shelf is generated by operations in the Gulf.
  
  
• The Gulf Coast region is responsible for one third of the U.S. oil and gas production, which accounts for about 49% of the nation’s oil supply.
  
  
• One-third of the seafood consumed in the country comes from the Gulf.
  
  
• Two-thirds of the royalties that the United States Treasury receives annually from oil and gas produced from the Outer Continental Shelf is generated by operations in the Gulf.
  
  
• The Gulf of Mexico's shores and beaches support a $20 billion tourist industry.
  
  
• The commercial fish and shellfish annual harvest from the five U.S. Gulf states is estimated to be 1.3 billion pounds valued at $661 million.
  
  
• The Gulf landings of shrimp harvest led the nation in 2008, with 188.8 million pounds valued at $367 million dockside, accounting for about 70% of the U.S. total.
  
  
• The Gulf also led in production of oysters in 2008 with 20.6 million pounds of meats valued at $60.2 million and representing 70% of the national total.
  
  
• The Gulf's coastal wetlands serve as an essential habitat for numerous fish and wildlife species, including migrating waterfowl (about 75% of those traversing the U.S.), seabirds, wading birds, furbearers, and sport and commercial fisheries.
  
  
• Out of the top 10 sea ports in the United States, seven are on the Gulf of Mexico.
  
  
• Agricultural production (crops, livestock, and associated products) in the Gulf States totaled nearly $29 billion in 2001 according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  

Read more »

Learn more about the importance of saving America’s Wetland!

• Women of the Storm Coverage Archive 
• The Platform for Coastal Louisiana
• The 11 Lines of Coastal Defense
• Map of the Vanishing Coastline

Founded in January, 2006, Women of the Storm is a non‐partisan grassroots alliance of Louisiana women whose families, businesses and lives were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The group expanded its participation across the Gulf Coast in 2011, with the addition of women from Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Members, who are culturally, socially and economically diverse, are bound by their passion for their communities. Women of the Storm draws the attention of Congress, policymakers, media and opinion leaders who set the national agenda to the needs of the entire Gulf Coast – and how the region’s recovery has a direct impact on every state. The organization seeks to demonstrate to national leaders the strong and deep support across America for the essential funding of Gulf Coast restoration.

Learn more about Women of the Storm »