BATON ROUGE - In a fight over Louisiana's coast, Attorney General Liz Murrill headed to Washington, D.C, to argue the state's case in front of the United States Supreme Court. Murrill said a lawsuit involving Chevron and Plaquemines Parish should remain in state court.The case isn't about whether o il and gas companies damaged the state's coast. Instead, it's about whether such cases should be decided in local state courts or in federal court.World War II ended more than eighty years ago, yet Louisiana leaders said the state still faces the consequences of contracts signed back then. In the 1940s, the federal government issued contracts to oil and gas companies, such as Chevron, to allow those companies to produce and supply oil along the coast. The industry continues to serve as a pillar of Louisiana's economy to this day.That's why political analyst James Hartman said this case and whether the U.S. Supreme Court rules where it must be argued, a state or federal court, carries such importance."It could have broader implications for other industries," Hartman said. "It's not just about environmental issues at this point; it's about a broader range of economic issues."State Attorney General Liz Murrill argued that, over the year, oil and gas companies working the coast also damaged Louisiana's coast. She said they dumped four billion gallons of toxic materials into marshes.That's why Murrill's office joined Plaquemines Parish in suing Chevron and other oil companies to pay for the cleanup of the mess dating back eight decades. Last year they won. A Plaquemines parish jury ordered Chevron to pay $740 million to help restore the coast. Chevron appealed that ruling, arguing this case should be heard before a federal court, not a state court."To make sure that oil companies that performed illegal operations on our coast and damaged the coast over decades, and then failed to get permits after 1980 when the permitting regime required them to do so, come in and kind of fix what they've broken, "Murrill said.In oral arguments Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court, Murrill's office pushed that argument before the nation's top justices, saying this should remain a state, not federal court issue.The oil and gas companies took a different view. The industry argued before the Supreme Court that questions of such infrastate economic commerce should be resolved by federal judges and juries.Tommy Faucheux serves as the president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, and he said Louisiana's climate is overly litigious."You have misguided lawsuits that opportunistically target the industry, and the industry is our main economic driver," Faucheux said, "But in today's arguments, I think it's clear that this case should never have been considered at the state level."Earlier, a federal appeals court in New Orleans rejected Chevron's attempt to move the case to federal court. The Supreme Court will have the final say. It will likely be months before the court rules.Permalink| Comments ...read more read less