Carbon capture is not a new development, but has received more scrutiny recently. A handful of legislators have picked up the torch to champion your right to personal property by carrying several vital pieces of legislation. Opposition forces are mobilizing to stop these reforms. The question now is: Who will prevail, the people or the profiteers? Join us as we explore this topic further.
Louisiana’s Public Policy
The sequestration of carbon dioxide by geologic storage has a public purpose and serves the public interest of the state’s citizens. That is what our legislature decided in 2009 with the passage of the Louisiana Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act, which followed the passage of the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 by the U.S. Congress.
The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 created the 45Q tax credit, a federal subsidy that pays corporations for every ton of carbon dioxide they claim to capture. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 later expanded and extended that credit. Then, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 further extended deadlines to begin construction.
That tax credit has been expanded over the years. Corporations are currently receiving $85 per ton of carbon captured, but are lobbying heavily to increase that number to $250 per ton. The U.S. Department of the Treasury estimated that in March of 2022, Section 45Q tax expenditures for 2022-2026 would be $2.4 billion. Spending for the period of 2022 -2032 is expected to rise to $30.3 billion. Your tax dollars are fueling the carbon capture craze in Louisiana, just another transfer of wealth program orchestrated in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, our representatives in Baton Rouge were the first in line to support the program, and if history repeats itself, we will be the last ones to reverse course.
Eminent Domain
If you still hold onto the fluffy language in the Declaration of Independence, it may be time to snap out of it and take action. The writers of that document referenced “unalienable rights” to include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson specifically meant Locke’s doctrine of estate or property ownership with the much broader phrase of “pursuit of happiness.”
Like so many in the founding generation, Jefferson also gave us plenty of warnings.
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
Jefferson and other like-minded men of his day opposed federally funded internal improvements. While the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provided an avenue for the central authority to seize private property for “public use” as long as just compensation was provided, this was the exception rather than the rule because the federal government’s role was mainly kept within the restraints of the Constitution.
These founding warnings were not theoretical. Today, their fears are realized in Louisiana statutes written to benefit industry over individuals.
In Louisiana, You Have Property Privileges, Not Rights
Possessing a driver’s license is a privilege, not a right. Most of us have probably heard different versions of that phrase. But if someone were to tell most of us that owning property is a privilege, not a right, we would instantly be infuriated and become argumentative. That is precisely what we have in Louisiana, though.
The Louisiana Constitution contains a declaration of rights, with Article 1, Section 4 specifically addressing the “right to property.” It reads in pertinent part:
Every person has the right to acquire, own, control, use, enjoy, protect, and dispose of private property. This right is subject to reasonable statutory restrictions and the reasonable exercise of the police power.
Property shall not be taken or damaged by the state or its political subdivisions except for public purposes and with just compensation paid to the owner or into court for his benefit.
Property shall not be taken or damaged by any private entity authorized by law to expropriate, except for a public and necessary purpose and with just compensation paid…
Your “right” to property exists at the whim of the legislature. As it pertains to carbon capture, your legislature has specifically sold your right to corporations.
Carbon Capture Expropriation
Louisiana Revised Statute 33:1108 specifically gives private corporations a “legal” path to steal your property. The law states:
“Any storage operator is hereby authorized, after obtaining any permit and any certificate of public convenience and necessity from the commissioner required by this Chapter, to exercise the power of eminent domain and expropriate needed property…”
All it takes is a permit and a rubber-stamped certificate from an unelected bureaucrat, and your property may no longer be yours.
Algernon Sidney, who was heavily read by the founding generation, wrote:
“That which is not just, is not law; and that which is not Law, ought not be obeyed.”
Sidney was executed for penning those words. Not publishing them, not speaking them… just for writing them down.
Legislation to Protect Your Property Interest
Several bills seeking to protect your property interest concerning carbon capture have been presented and are presently being debated. Representative Brett Geymann‘s (R 7/10) House Bill 601 seeks to severely curtail the circumstances under which private corporations can gain control of your land for carbon sequestration.
House Bill 4 by Representatives Chuck Owen (R 9/10), Beryl Amedee (R 10/10), Dodie Horton (R 9/10) and Rodney Schamerhorn (R 9/10) seeks to allow for increased local autonomy by allowing parish governing authorities and residents through an election to determine whether carbon dioxide injection wells should be permitted. House Bill 75 by Representative Danny McCormick (R 10/10) seeks to ensure that if you are going to be the victim of corporate theft, you at least receive the maximum amount of compensation as paid to other owners.
These bills have been met with heavy opposition from corporations and lobbyists. Publicly opposing all three bills are:
- Air Products
- Conservatives for Clean Energy
- Jones-Walker Law Firm
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI)
- Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association (LMOGA)
- Louisiana Oil & Gas Association (LOGA)
- Louisiana Chemical Association
- SunGas Renewables
- TJC Group
HB4 has received the most opposition, including from other organizations such as:
- Associated Builders and Contractors of Louisiana
- Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce
- Capture Point
- Clean Air Task Force
- Duplantis Design Group
- Entergy
- Exxon
- Greater New Orleans, Inc.
- Industry Makes
- Louisiana Forestry Association
- Louisiana Green Fuels Association
- Louisiana Land Owners Association
- McManus Timber Company
- Oil and Gas Workers Association (OGWA)
- One Acadiana (Lafayette Chamber of Commerce)
- River Region Chamber of Commerce
- Royal Road Carbon Solutions
- West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce
Money Over Safety
Carbon sequestration has always been about money! It doesn’t matter how it is packaged and repackaged; it is about transferring your private property, both your tax dollars and your land, into the hands of a few. This is continuing despite real safety concerns.
Five years ago, the town of Satartia in our neighboring state of Mississippi discovered how unsafe carbon sequestration can be. Your regular pipeline operates at around 700 pounds per square inch (psi), but carbon sequestration pipelines operate closer to 2,200 psi, making them highly susceptible to explosion.
The ruptured pipeline in Satartia, Mississippi, spewed CO2 gas for about four hours. Excess carbon dioxide can cause thirst for oxygen, disorientation, and heart malfunction in people. Forty-five people were hospitalized, and over two hundred were evacuated from this rural community. The excess CO2 also starved motor vehicles of oxygen, severely hampering emergency responders. Yet, our public policy in this state remains to allow corporations to seize your land to reap the reward of getting your tax dollars from Washington, D.C.
It is time for this chaos to end! These bills may be the last chance to stop the unchecked spread of carbon pipelines across Louisiana. Contact your legislator and demand that private land rights and public safety come before federal subsidies and corporate greed.
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The DOGE Effect: What If We Cut Waste in Louisiana?
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are slashing waste in Washington, and the whole world is watching. Many have said, “That’s great—but we need to do the same thing in Louisiana!”
What most don’t realize is that Citizens for a New Louisiana has been ‘DOGE before DOGE was cool.’ Our investigatory work exposes government waste, backroom deals, and left-wing slush funds. And when people know what their government is really doing, it stops.
Want proof? Just change a few words:
👉 If you knew your government was funding erotic children’s books, they’d stop doing it.
👉 If you knew your government was sending millions to activist NGOs, they’d stop doing it.
👉 If you knew your government was emboldening hard-Left activists, they’d stop doing it.
We’ve covered transparency issues for almost seven years. No one else in Louisiana is looking this closely at where your tax dollars are going. Are you fed up with the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing from Louisiana's treasury into the pockets of NGOs and left-wing activists? If so, you’re not alone. But exposing it isn’t enough—we need your help to stop it.
If every reader contributed just $10 a year, we could double our reach. Your support now ensures Louisiana’s conservative future—don’t wait—contribute today!
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