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Offshore wind workforce a weak link in plan to build out renewables
A national push toward offshore wind energy could create thousands of well-paying domestic jobs in Louisiana and elsewhere, according to clean energy advocates and President Joe Biden, who wants to establish 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. But it’s unlikely there will be enough trained and certified workers to fill those positions, and […]
Tax incentives start rush for carbon capture projects
For years, fossil fuel companies have been reluctant to build carbon capture facilities, except to recover oil, because it was too expensive. Now, with the aid of a federal tax credit in the 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act, they are lining up to capture and store carbon with the potential to make billions of dollars […]
Bill would end eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines
A Louisiana legislator wants to help keep landowners from losing their property to pipelines needed for the dozens of carbon capture projects proposed around the state. Rep. Robby Carter, D-Amite, has prefiled a bill for the upcoming 2023 Louisiana legislative session that would remove eminent domain rights given to private companies 14 years ago allowing […]
New state utility regulator wants to reduce rates, introduce renewable mandates
After defying the odds to become the first openly LGBTQ person elected to a statewide office, Davante Lewis intends to use the momentum to take on utility giants such as Entergy and move the state toward more renewable energy in his first six-year term on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission. Many see Lewis’ victory as a […]
LNG export terminals pose a growing and invisible threat: air pollution
The following story was first published by Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action. Headaches constantly plague Travis Dardar’s 11-year-old daughter and wife. There’s no need to go to a doctor for a diagnosis— Dardar’s family knows what’s causing them: the toxic emissions from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass Gas Export […]
How ocean wind power could help the oil industry
Offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico proposed by the Biden Administration could generate enough electricity for 3.1 million homes in Texas and Louisiana. But industry is eyeing the potential for offshore wind farms to instead power oil refining, steel and fertilizer manufacturing and other industrial processes. The administration has committed to building 30 […]
Nonprofits clean up ‘dirty little secret’ of oil and gas industry: abandoned wells
The following story was first published by Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action. Curtis Shuck stumbled upon what he calls one of the oil and gas industry’s “dirty little secrets” while visiting Montana for a work-related trip in 2019. It was a rusted, uncapped oil well in the middle […]
What hinders Louisiana’s shift toward renewable energy? Voters say their congressional leaders
Despite generally liking renewable energy, the majority of Louisiana voters oppose efforts to shift the state away from oil and gas, according to a survey released earlier this year by the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance. That opposition is mostly rooted in respondents’ beliefs that the state’s economy is too reliant on oil and gas […]