Members of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee blocked five separate measures that would have provided for local control over CCS in Allen, Beauregard, Rapides, St. Helena and Vernon parishes, The Center Square reports.
Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, the sponsor of the bills, made the case before the committee that parishes deserve a say over large industrial projects that could impact the environment and safety of their communities.
But David Cresson, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, argued that fracturing the state’s regulatory framework would harm Louisiana’s ability to compete with neighboring states for energy investment.
“If Louisiana creates a system where projects can be approved in one parish, prohibited in another and potentially reversed through shifting local politics, companies will view that as instability,” Cresson said. “And when that happens, capital moves elsewhere.”
CCS is highly controversial in Louisiana due to disputes over property rights, eminent domain, local control and public safety.
