Remove the port of New Orleans from the Mississippi River, as well as all of the offshore drilling and rethink your stupidity. There is nothing in Texas, or any other state that comes close to providing the economic benefits of having a major river system served close to the Gulf of Mexico by an international port. Two-thirds of the interior of this country DEPEND on being able to cheaply ship and receive goods from the rest of the world. in addition, Louisiana has sacrificed it's coast lands so unappreciative folks like you can drive a car to work and live in a modern world.
I just picked La at random. I could have picked Alabama or Mississippi just as easy.
About New Orleans,.....Are you aware they are under sea level? Don't even need a storm to drown there. A high tide can swamp the levee and things go south. It's like shaking your fist at God and daring Him to drown you. Who is dumb enough to spend any real money there?
Several big corp. are moving to Texas. How many picked La? If Fla wanted to join Texas, we would probably offer a spot for La, Miss, and Ala.We already have some dusty ole maps with Arkansas, all they way to the Atlantic, but we might have to cut Georgia with the last election results.
BTW, Houston/Beaumont/Galveston/Texas City, has an international port and we have offshore oil also. A majority of the gasoline comes from Texas Gulf Coast. We were marked #2 for atomic attack during the Soviet Union days. Destroy Houston/ Beaumont and that was about 3/4 of the nations fuel.