A Pennsylvania company and global leader in carbon capture technology hired 25 lobbyists ahead of the Louisiana State Legislature’s regular legislative session this year, as the company faces a series of bills overturning its proposed Ascension Parish facility for “blue.” Hydrogen”.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc. has active contracts with all but one of the top lobbying firms working at the Louisiana Capitol, according to the Louisiana Ethics Administration. Those hired vary in terms of gender, race and political affiliation — making it likely they have ties to a variety of lawmakers.
Lobbyists include Kyle Ruckert, a chief political adviser to Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry, and Matthew Block, former general counsel to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. Former state senators Norbert Chabert and Dan Claitor, both Republicans, are also on the payroll.
“With more than a dozen carbon capture legislations in the pipeline, we’ve assembled a robust team dedicated to working with lawmakers to help them understand the technology and answer their questions,” said Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman from Air Products, who previously served as spokesperson for Edward.
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“We are closely monitoring carbon capture legislation and oppose any legislation that would prevent companies from using technology that has been in use in 30 different locations around the world for 50 years,” she said.
Most of the carbon capture bills submitted are from legislators representing the parishes of Livingston, Tangipahoa, St. John the Baptist and Ascension. Air Products’ plan to build a $4.5 billion “blue hydrogen” facility in Ascension and store carbon emissions beneath nearby Lake Maurepas has unsettled hundreds of residents in those communities.
Blue hydrogen is the industry term for hydrogen produced from natural gas, with carbon dioxide captured and stored underground. Locals fear the carbon storage proposal could destroy the lake’s ecosystem and affect drinking water. Last year, Livingston City Council tried to block Air Products from moving forward with its proposal to store carbon under the lake, but was ultimately overruled by a federal judge.
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Carbon capture has powerful government supporters. Edwards and the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry—an advocacy group that often opposes the governor—are wholeheartedly behind industry plans for Ascension Parish and Louisiana as a whole.
The governor has touted the economic benefits of the proposed Ascension facility, which is expected to create 170 permanent jobs with an average salary of $93,000. He also stresses that carbon capture is considered to be more environmentally friendly than other industrial productions, although some environmentalists have questioned this assessment.
Carbon capture legislation under consideration this year includes new guard rails for carbon storage projects overall and bills that would specifically restrict Air Products’ proposal for Lake Maurepas.
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One of the state’s most powerful lawmakers, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, is among those who have tabled a proposal on the issue. His bill requires that local governments be given more notice before the state moves forward with carbon capture projects.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Albany, wants to require local communities to have a community-wide vote on a carbon capture project before it can move forward.
“I think it’s significant that they hired so many lobbyists,” said Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond, who is backing a bill that would ban Air Products — and any other company — from infrastructure on Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain to build which can be seen above the waterline.
Apparently, a few proposed laws would derail Air Products’ plans for Lake Maurepas entirely.
Mack has a second bill that would only allow carbon sequestration in Louisiana under the Gulf of Mexico. Rep. Bill Wheat, R-Ponchatoula, is pushing for a 10-year moratorium on all carbon capture projects in and around Lake Maurepas.
Wheat also has a second law that would require further investigation into the impact of carbon capture on the lake before Air Products’ project could move forward.
“I do not know what [the Air Products’ lobbyists] aim, but it won’t stop me,” Wheat said in an interview this week.
Rep. Robby Carter, D-Amite, is also confident Air Products has hired a large lobbying corps in part to fight legislation he is drafting. Carter’s bills wouldn’t necessarily impact the company’s plans for Ascension Parish and Lake Maurepas, but could make it harder for the carbon capture industry in general to work.
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He is sponsoring a bill that would remove any company’s power to confiscate private property over a significant area for carbon capture operations. The Democrat said he could be personally affected by such an action. He owns 11,000 acres of land in his home community of St. Helena and believes the energy industry would like to take some of his property for a carbon capture-related pipeline.
Carter has also introduced legislation that would completely ban any carbon capture project in St. Helena, a rural community just north of Livingston.
Most of Air Products’ lobbying deals — involving 17 of the 25 hired employees — began in the last three weeks as bills for the Air Products plant piled up. Each person will receive up to $24,999 for their work, meaning the company could spend up to $624,975 lobbying for a legislative session that will last just eight weeks.
Almost all of Air Products’ lobbyists will also be working for several other clients during the session, although Block — who is said to be one of the governor’s closest advisers — signed on as a lawmaker lobbyist exclusively for that company this year. He and a handful of others recently hired declined to comment on their work for the company.
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