The choice facing Louisiana lawmakers over so-called "legacy lawsuits" against oil-and-gas drillers isn't nearly as complicated it sounds. Between now and the end of their session next month, legislators in Baton Rouge still have a chance to do the right thing. They can protect the rights of property owners -- everyday folks like you and me -- to force oil and gas companies to pay the mounting clean-up costs for the toxic mess they've left behind after the last well is capped. Or they can let Big Oil renege on its legal obligation to make good on any environmental damage to the land that it leases. To say that the deck is stacked in favor of the oil giants and their campaign-cash-addled political allies would be an understatement, to say the least! At last count there is a small army of over 50 oil and gas lobbyists reportedly working this issue in Baton Rouge. But when the dust finally settles in early June, there's an increasing chance that citizens in the Bayou State may emerge with their right to sue Big Oil over its toxic legacy preserved altogether -- or at least get a bill that's not as bad as the first one that ...
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