A growing fight over Louisiana’s carbon capture plans is forcing some Republican supporters into an awkward spot: an argument over climate science.
Louisiana is one of the few states with regulatory authority over carbon capture and storage. And the prospect of burying greenhouse gas emissions — subsidized by the Inflation Reduction Act — has attracted billions of dollars in investment plans from energy companies as well as manufacturers and tech companies, who see CCS as a way to lower their emissions in line with pressure from investors and foreign regulations.
But as rural Louisiana landowners have raised concerns about the risk of carbon dioxide leaks, some Republican lawmakers have sought to constrain the carbon capture sector — especially industry’s power to take land through eminent domain.
A Louisiana House committee on Tuesday voted down several bills that would have tightened regulations of carbon capture projects, after warnings from industry representatives that companies would pull out of Louisiana if they lost eminent domain powers.
