Ridiculous propaganda, so the trillions of dollars brought to our state since the inception of the oil and gas industry are why we are ranked nearly last in all categories? Hasn't seemed to hurt Texas. It's more about demographics than anything. Mississippi is ranked next to us or worse in all of those categories, it isn't a so called "petro state".
It's because Louisiana is a Banana Republic, meaning "the trillions of dollars brought to our state" do not benefit and have not benefited the citizens qua citizens of Louisiana, because those trillions go into the pockets of the few leaving the general population in the same state (pun fully intended) they were in prior to "the inception of the oil and gas industry." In other words, the money leaves the state and winds up in the hands of a few.
So the 300 million dollars a month of income for hardworking oilmen doesn't mean much to you? The trillions of dollars of royalites paid to landowners? I am with you on the Banana Republic, but what else would you expect when you have progressive populist criminals who ran the state for most of the century. A chicken in every pot and a billion dollars in my pocket, the average voter is easily fooled.
The large royalty recipients live in Santa Fe, NM and elsewhere. The hardworking oilmen, if you mean executives, aren't spending it in Louisiana. And, yeah, crooked politicians helpd to form the Banana Republic.
Caliente, Louisiana's issues were related to the following:
1) Exodus of shipping industry from New Orleans to other ports such as Gulfport & Houston.
2) Decline in the fishing industry.
3) Inadequate effort to develop new industries (auto, etc) in the State.
4) Failure of Federal Government to share GOM royalties with Louisiana.
5) Low State taxes.
The annual report is "laughable," too. To make a point in relation to the topic of this post, find the % of students who are classified as in "poverty." Won't sidetrack your discussion with any further comments about that, though.