(Louisiana Illuminator) - A bill to place restrictions on carbon dioxide pipelines and storage facilities in Louisiana failed in a legislative committee Tuesday, likely spelling doom for other legislation looking to limit use of the technology in the state.
Opposition to carbon sequestration among lawmakers and locals has grown as interest in the process has expanded throughout Louisiana. The state Department of Conservation and Energy listed 31 applications for carbon storage projects across the state as of December, each representing anywhere from one to eight wells to pump CO2 underground.
The rejected bill, the proposed Louisiana Landowners’ Protection Act, would have prohibited companies from acquiring private property through eminent domain for CO2 transport or storage. Governments typically have the sole authority to use eminent domain, in which a property owner is forced to sell for “just compensation” to make way for projects considered to be in the public’s interest.
It’s one of the least restrictive proposals and among over a dozen bills lawmakers have sponsored this year to curb or require local approval for any such project. In an indication of how much interest there is in the issue, lawmakers on the committee sat through nearly four and a half hours of testimony on the proposal. They traded biting comments among each other, heard outcry from audience members and listened to intense testimony from residents and organizations opposed to carbon storage facilities.
“Yesterday was a really tough day,” Rep. Shane Mack, R-Livingston, said Wednesday in an interview.
Although he didn’t author any this year, Mack carried a variety of carbon capture safety legislation in 2025 that failed to advance past the committee stage. He said the failure of the first carbon capture bill to be heard in committee so far this session “sent a message” to lawmakers who have authored other related proposals, including those seeking local control over permitting the projects.
“I think it would be difficult to move any carbon sequestration bills out of a natural resource committee,” he said.
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, sponsored the landowners’ protection bill. He said it was meant to reverse a 2020 state law that gave companies permission to use eminent domain for carbon dioxide projects. Johnson, who is the second-highest ranking member of the House of Representatives, acknowledged that he regretted voting for that legislation.
“I didn’t ask enough questions. I didn’t ask any questions,” Johnson said about his vote for the law in 2020. “Now that’s a contradiction against our U.S. and Louisiana constitutions we have to correct.”
The Louisiana Constitution states eminent domain cannot be used for the express purpose of economic development, though lawyers at the committee hearing on both sides of the carbon storage issue argued whether the provision was applicable.
Justin Marocco and Lauren Mastio, attorneys with the law firm Jones Walker, told the committee the 2020 law is constitutional, despite what Johnson claims. Mastio said eminent domain is a “last resort” for oil companies, seldom used for CO2 pipelines or projects but essential when needed. Both lawyers said they were not representing any particular client at the legislative hearing, though they are both part of their firm’s natural resources team, according to the Jones Walker website.
Johnson, who is also an attorney, disagreed, saying the connection to public good isn’t strong enough to justify using eminent domain to build a pipeline.
“Taking property from one private citizen for the benefit of another, even dressed up as economic development, does not satisfy the requirement for public purpose,” he said.
Members of the public who testified said they shouldn’t be forced to bear the legal costs of defending an eminent domain case in court.
Johnson’s bill was involuntarily deferred in committee, effectively killing it for the session. Another bill he has sponsored would let Rapides Parish voters decide whether they want carbon projects there, and he’s proposed legislation to give the same power to all 64 parishes.
The issue of carbon capture and sequestration has split Republicans in the Louisiana Legislature, torn between the desire to appease constituents who don’t want projects near them and their support for the oil and gas industry.
The fossil fuel industry has touted carbon capture and storage as a way to lower emissions for their products, though critics question the safety of the process and say it only clears the way for more harmful pollution.
