From Headlines to Backroads: How Carbon Capture Crept Into Rural Louisiana

By Renee’ Savant | September 2025 | CO₂ Chronicles

In August 2023, the Biden administration made headlines: $1.2 billion for Direct Air Capture hubs in Louisiana and Texas. The press conferences painted Louisiana as a global climate leader. Project Cypress in Calcasieu Parish was billed as the anchor. Big promises, glossy numbers, and political fanfare.

But two years later, the story looks very different. The “hub” has spread across rural Louisiana, and it wasn’t glossy press releases that notified residents—it was rumors, survey crews, and word of mouth.

How Communities Really Found Out

• Livingston Parish (2023): Residents battling the Lake Maurepas project were among the first in the state to sound the alarm on CCS. They uncovered hidden permit filings and realized pipelines and injection wells would be pushed into their community without consent.
  
  
• Allen, Vernon, Beauregard & Jeff Davis (late 2023 – early 2024): These parishes learned of Class V and Class VI wells, surveys, and permits through back channels—not from Baton Rouge. Outrage led to ordinances, packed jury meetings, and eventually something stronger: the four parishes signed an MOU, creating the Louisiana CO₂ Alliance to defend land, water, and residents from CCS overreach.
  
  
• Rapides Parish (2025 legislative session): The curtain was pulled back in Baton Rouge. During a Natural Resources hearing, a legislator admitted he couldn’t back Rep. Charles “Chuck” Owens’ bill because it would put SunGas Oil’s CCS project in Rapides at risk. For many Rapides citizens, this was the first time they realized their parish was on the CCS map.

A Rural Reality

The early storyline from 2023 suggested CCS was about Calcasieu—industrial hubs, job promises, and “climate leadership.”

By 2025, the frontlines are rural: timberland, aquifers, and farm country. Police juries and grassroots groups have become watchdogs because the state has not been honest with its own people.

• In July 2025, the original MOU between Allen, Vernon, Beauregard, and Jeff Davis parishes was dissolved. Citizens have since taken the helm of the Louisiana CO₂ Alliance, shifting it from a parish-led coalition to a grassroots-led movement.
  
  
• On September 9, 2025, the Vernon Parish Police Jury voted 8–4 to allow CCS projects in their parish—illustrating the deep divisions between elected officials and their constituents.
  
  
• Meanwhile, Cameron Parish became the first parish in Louisiana to be awarded a Class VI injection well permit, signaling that regulators are now opening the door to storage at the Gulf’s edge.

What Changed Politically

• In 2023, Gov. John Bel Edwards framed CCS/DAC as Louisiana’s future.
  
  
• In 2025, Gov. Jeff Landry continues to back the projects under the banner of “energy dominance.”
  
  
• In Washington, funding is no longer guaranteed. Project Cypress has only $50 million in hand, with the rest pending DOE review. The Texas hub faces termination recommendations, leaving Louisiana in limbo.
  
  
• But make no mistake: the reason these projects continue to move forward is 45Q tax credits. Washington has promised billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies to corporations for every ton of CO₂ they claim to capture and store.
  
  

That means Louisiana citizens are paying twice: once through federal subsidies that underwrite the projects, and again when corporations use eminent domain to seize land. And for what? The “benefit” of having our aquifers and rural communities put at risk so that billion-dollar corporations can cash in.

The Forecast

• Allen, Beauregard, and Jeff Davis: Citizens remain at the center of organized resistance. Local leadership may waver, but residents continue to press lawsuits, ordinances, and grassroots coalitions.
  
  
• Vernon: Now split after the September 9th vote, with elected officials leaning industry and citizens continuing to fight from the ground up.
  
  
• Cameron: Ground zero for Louisiana’s first Class VI injection permit—a warning shot for every other parish.
  
  
• Rapides: A newly awakened parish, with SunGas tied directly to legislative maneuvering. Expect grassroots pushback to grow fast with Save My Louisiana.
  
  
• Livingston: Still entrenched in its Lake Maurepas battle, proving local action can force CCS into the courts and newspapers.
  
  
• Caddo-Bossier & Calcasieu: The “flagship” CCS projects, but surrounded by doubt as rural Louisiana questions whether these hubs will ever get the billions promised.

A Final Word

At CO₂ Chronicles, we’ve made it our mission to uncover the stories others won’t touch. From hidden permits to backroom hearings, we chase the facts and put them in black and white so Louisiana citizens can see the truth for themselves.

We fact-check every claim, trace every dollar, and shine a light on every deal that risks our land, our water, and our rights. While politicians and billion-dollar corporations write their own headlines, we’re here to write yours.

But independent reporting doesn’t fund itself. If you believe Louisiana deserves real journalism—not press releases—then we need your support.

👉 Subscribe today to CO₂ Chronicles. For less than the cost of a crawfish plate, you’ll help us keep exposing what others would rather hide, and you’ll stand with a growing movement of citizens demanding answers.

Together, we will keep Louisiana informed, empowered, and ready to fight back.