Industry Makes – An Industry-Backed “Communications Campaign”
“The Corporate Campaign Behind the Attacks on CCS Opponents.”
“Industry Makes” is not a grassroots citizen group but a Louisiana industry advocacy campaign. It was created (in 2021–22) by Louisiana industrial trade associations and companies to promote manufacturing and energy projects, and to counter criticism of the industry. The group is formally a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organization. Its own website and industry press emphasize that it was formed by corporate leaders to present “a united industrial front” and ensure positive messaging about manufacturing in Louisiana. For example, the Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance (GBRIA) – a trade group for petrochemical manufacturers – helped establish Industry Makes “to counter misinformation [and] share fact-based messaging” about industry’s role. Industry publications describe Industry Makes as a coalition steering committee “with representatives from several industrial groups in Louisiana” (chemical plants, refineries, machinery makers, etc.) coordinating pro-industry outreach.
Leadership and Ties to Industry. The leadership of Industry Makes consists of current or former industry insiders. Its Executive Director (often called Campaign Manager) is Desiree Lemoine (spelled L-e-m-o-i-n-e), a longtime industry lobbyist now at the TJC Group. Lemoine formerly headed communications for the Louisiana Chemical Association and helped craft legislation favorable to petrochemical companies. (As an LSU profile notes, she “worked closely with statewide trade associations in drafting and passing significant legislation to improve the carbon capture and sequestration rules in Louisiana.) The Industry Makes board also includes corporate figures: for example, co-chairs Laura Eiklor of ExxonMobil and Jamie Allen of H&E Equipment Services, and treasurer Connie Fabre (president/CEO of GBRIA). Secretary Janile Parks is the director of Formosa Plastics’ “Sunshine Project” (a proposed plastics plant). In short, the campaign is led by executives of major oil, chemical, and manufacturing firms. Industry Makes openly calls itself a campaign born out of industry collaboration and aims to serve as “a trusted source of industrial communications” that defends industrial growth.
Funding and Supporters. Because Industry Makes is a 501(c)(4), it is permitted to receive unlimited contributions from businesses and trade groups without disclosing donors publicly. While it does not file full financial reports, all evidence indicates its supporters are exactly the industries it champions. Indeed, industry press reports that “many industrial sectors” in Louisiana have “lined up to lend support” to Industry Makes. Major backers clearly include the chemical, petroleum, and manufacturing firms active in the state, for example, GBRIA (representing oil and gas manufacturers) and the Louisiana Chemical Association helped launch it, and company leaders from ExxonMobil, Formosa Plastics, etc., are on its steering committee. In short, Industry Makes is essentially funded and driven by corporate Louisiana (petrochemical and other heavy industries), not by independent citizens.
Why Attack the Anti-CCS Group? The citizens’ organization Save My Louisiana (and similar local groups) oppose forced land seizures for carbon-capture (CCS) pipelines, and thus directly conflict with industry goals. Save My Louisiana was formed by landowners and local officials to challenge Louisiana laws allowing eminent domain for CO₂ pipelines. They argue (in court filings) that the CCS eminent-domain statutes violate property rights. By contrast, Gov. Landry and the industrial lobby want to expedite CCS projects – as Landry himself has said he wants Louisiana to “lead the way” in carbon capture. Because Industry Makes exists to defend industrial projects, it has a clear motive to discredit any grassroots opponents of those projects.
In practice, Industry Makes has resorted to smears to undermine Save My Louisiana. For example, it posted a Governor Landry quote about “being hoodwinked by the radical left” and Soros/Bloomberg money to imply Landry was criticizing Save My Louisiana – even though that remark was made before Save My Louisiana existed and was about environmental activists in general. In effect, Industry Makes is repurposing Landry’s rhetoric to label the property-rights activists as “anti-industry” outsiders. This fits a pattern: industry spokespeople often try to paint local protest groups as left-wing or foreign-funded, rather than engaging on the merits. In summary, Industry Makes and its backers are attacking the CCS opponents because those citizens’ concerns threaten the industry’s carbon-capture agenda, and so they work to discredit the opponents’ credibility.
Sources: Industry Makes’ own materials, and local reporting describes it as an industry-led campaign supported by petrochemical/manufacturing interests. Official profiles note Desiree Lemoine’s role and industry background. Save My Louisiana’s lawsuit and mission are reported in local news, and statements by industry and government officials confirm the pro-CCS stance of Landry’s administration.
