Proposed Hydrogen and Carbon Capture Facilities in Louisiana Are Industry Greenwashing That Will Create More Pollution

Baton Rouge, LA - Yesterday, the fossil fuel company Air Products announced plans for a $4.5 billion “blue hydrogen” plant and accompanying carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facility for Ascension Parish. Parish officials, Governor John Bel Edwards, and Air Products claim that hydrogen and CCS are climate solutions that will produce low-carbon fuel, but fail to acknowledge that blue hydrogen is derived from methane, which is 20 percent dirtier than burning gas or even coal, and methane is more than 80 percent more potent than carbon in warming our climate during the time it’s in the atmosphere. 

Governor Edwards believes this project is a climate solution for his state that has been battered with severe natural disasters and could help achieve the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reach “net zero” by 2050. But reporting from Southerly on the state’s climate task force, who set the state’s climate goals, raises concerns about the chemicals used in the carbon capture process and the absence of health professionals in the review of carbon capture plans. 

Carbon capture and sequestration is an unproven technology that would still leave a significant amount of pollution in the atmosphere and cannot ensure the health or safety of the climate or vulnerable communities. And a recent report by Earthjustice outlines the threat of hydrogen production being used as a justification for the expansion of the fossil fuel industry and increased pollution in frontline communities.

Louisiana could give Air Products up to an 80% tax abatement to construct its polluting fossil fuel project. Meanwhile, areas like Calcesieu, Terrebonne, and Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana are still in recovery from highly destructive hurricanes like Laura and Ida as government aid continues to be stymied. 

Ascension Parish is already highly concentrated with polluting industries that harm the environment and low-income and Black communities. Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch from Baton Rouge in Ascension Parish to the edge of New Orleans, has nearly 150 oil refineries, plastics plants and chemical facilities. Ascension Parish alone has 22 industrial facilities and the state’s highest polluting plants, including CF Industries: the state’s largest single source for greenhouse gas emissions. 

In response, Angelle Bradford Delta Chapter Executive Committee issued the following statement:

“Our state and coastal communities continue to be battered by hurricanes and climate change impacts that are exacerbated by industry activity and pollution. Communities in Lake Charles, Houma, and Plaquemines are still living in inadequate FEMA housing and homes covered in blue tarps. Giving a tax break to Air Products is simply allowing them to wreck the environment, contribute to the climate crisis, and not make them pay for their own destructive practices while our communities struggle to access aid-- and falsely telling Louisiana that they are helping.”

In response, Darryl Malek-Wiley, Sierra Club’s Louisiana Environmental Justice Organizer said:

“It never made sense to include carbon capture in Louisiana’s state climate action plan, so it certainly doesn’t make sense for Louisiana to support Air Products' tenuous project. Carbon capture and hydrogen produced with fossil fuels are expensive distractions to clean energy and won’t help Louisiana reach our climate goals. For us to see those results, we need to divest from polluting fossil fuel infrastructure, reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the source, and invest in green jobs and a renewable energy future.