BATON ROUGE — A bill that would have stripped energy companies of their power to take Louisiana landowners to court to acquire property for carbon dioxide pipelines and storage projects died Tuesday in the House Natural Resources Committee, failing 12-7 after a four-hour hearing packed with landowners and lobbyists.
House Bill 7 would have removed the power of eminent domain from companies seeking to build carbon capture pipelines and storage projects in Louisiana. Under current law, those companies can take landowners to court to compel a sale or grant access to their property, including the underground pore space used to store captured carbon dioxide, if negotiations fail. Carbon capture and sequestration has been a contentious issue in Louisiana, where energy companies have pushed to build CO2 pipeline networks and underground storage facilities across the state, often over the objections of landowners.
The four-hour hearing was standing-room-only, packed with landowners and concerned citizens whose frustration spilled into the open more than once. Crowd outbursts prompted the committee chairman to call for order, and exchanges between lawmakers grew sharp as the debate stretched on. Angry testimony from the public reflected what was at stake for many in the room: not an abstract policy dispute, but their rights as property owners.
Livingston Parish Council Member Dean Coates testified in support of HB 7, criticizing the use of eminent domain by private corporations for projects that primarily benefit their profits. Coates said his opposition was not to the oil and gas industry, but to what he called the misuse of eminent domain by private corporations.
"This is a pro-community stance that we are taking," Coates said during testimony. "Doctrine exists to allow the government to act when there is a clear, demonstrable public need for such things as schools, roads, utilities, and public infrastructure.
"House Bill 7 preserves the principles of ensuring eminent domain is reserved for the projects that serve a true public purpose, not a tool for private corporations to further economic development under the guise of public benefit."
Mark Guillory of Pineville testified in support of the bill, saying elected officials have a duty to protect life, liberty, and property. Guillory testified as a private citizen. He is also a named plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Save My Louisiana, Inc., a Rapides Parish-based nonprofit that opposes carbon capture projects, and serves as a director of the organization's advisory council.
Eric Harrell, a Livingston Parish resident, testified before the committee, stating he lives 500 feet from a proposed CCS project. He said HB 7 would empower middle-income and working-class property owners, who he said face legal costs of $50,000 to $100,000 to challenge CCS projects affecting their land.
No one rose in opposition during public comment.
One of the more notable speakers in support of the bill was state Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate John Fleming, who used his testimony to challenge not just the current eminent domain law but the concept of carbon capture itself. Committee questioning, however, quickly shifted away from the merits of HB 7 and toward Fleming's congressional record. Rep. Neil Riser cited Fleming's 2015 vote in favor of the North American Energy Security Infrastructure Act, which included a provision on carbon capture. Fleming argued that the bill provided only for the study and accountability of carbon capture technologies and did not authorize funding or the implementation of any carbon capture projects.
Legislators in opposition worried about what message passage would send to businesses investing in Louisiana. Rep. Marcus Bryant, D-New Iberia, said, "We're the Legislature. Do you think we have the right to change the rules in the middle of the game and think that we are a business-friendly state?"
Rep. Shane Mack, R-Livingston, who represents eastern portions of Livingston Parish and has been a vocal opponent of carbon capture projects, voted in favor of the bill. Mack gave heartfelt testimony about his wife's family's land in Livingston Parish's Hungarian Settlement, purchased by her grandfather after immigrating from Hungary, and passed down through the generations.
"Every story told there is a reminder that this land is more than dirt," Mack said. "It's a memory, it's an identity. It's the reason a community endured."
Louisiana leads the nation in proposed carbon capture projects, with at least 65 planned across the state. HB 7 was involuntarily deferred, killing it for this session, but more than 20 other CCS-related bills remain pending. Johnson said after the vote that the hearing "reflected democracy in action."
The bill failed 12-7. Voting no were: Ken Brass, D-Vacherie; Jacob Braud, R-Belle Chasse; Marcus Bryant, D-New Iberia; Jessica Domangue, R-Houma; C. Travis Johnson, D-Vidalia; Timothy Kerner, R-Lafitte; Jeremy LaCombe, R-Livonia; Jacob Landry, R-Erath; Joseph Orgeron, R-Larose; Neil Riser, R-Columbia; Paul Sawyer, R-Baton Rouge; and Jerome "Zee" Zeringue, R-Houma.
Voting yes were: R. Dewith Carrier, R-Oakdale; Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles; Kimberly Landry Coates, R-Ponchatoula; Jason DeWitt, R-Tioga; Shane Mack, R-Livingston; Danny McCormick, R-Oil City; and Lauren Ventrella, R-Greenwell Springs.
