Louisiana’s Carbon Capture Push — Defying President Trump’s Crackdown

President Donald Trump has called it like he sees it: carbon capture and storage (CCS) and direct-air-capture (DAC) schemes are, in his words, a “CO₂ hoax” and a multibillion-dollar waste of taxpayer money. In his administration’s recent budget cuts, billions of dollars in federal subsidies and tax credits have been pulled back from CCS and DAC projects nationwide — including several right here in Louisiana.

Yet even as Washington scales back the funding faucet, Louisiana’s political leadership — Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Governor Jeff Landry, and a majority of legislators in Baton Rouge — continue to push full speed ahead with the carbon-capture agenda. The question now being asked across the state is simple:

Why are Louisiana’s leaders ignoring both the will of the people and the direction of their own President?

President Trump’s Message: End the CO₂ Boondoggle

In his budget remarks, President Trump reaffirmed that the federal government will “end the Green New Scam once and for all,” cutting over $15 billion in unspent climate and carbon-removal funds from the Department of Energy (DOE). His administration has begun halting contracts and clawing back funds for several clean-energy programs created under the Biden era, including high-profile DAC hub projects.

One of those is the Project Cypress DAC Hub, a proposed $600 million complex in Louisiana designed to pull carbon dioxide out of the air and inject it underground. Its backers include Climeworks, Heirloom Carbon, and CapturePoint, all of which had relied heavily on federal grants and 45Q tax credits to move forward. Without federal support, Project Cypress may now stall indefinitely.

Also affected is CarbonCapture Inc., a California-based company whose DOE grant for a Louisiana DAC plant was recently withdrawn. CEO Adrian Corless told The Verge that the company is “no longer on track to do a project in Louisiana” following the administration’s pullback.

These actions mark the strongest signal yet that President Trump’s administration intends to end the taxpayer-funded carbon-capture experiment and redirect focus toward tangible domestic energy production.

The Louisiana Paradox

While Washington turns off the money spigot, Baton Rouge continues to hand out permits and promote new injection wells. Governor Landry and Speaker Johnson have both framed CCS as “economic development,” even as grassroots opposition mounts from Allen to Ascension Parish.

Citizens’ groups, parish governments, and environmental watchdogs have raised alarms about:

• Public-safety risks from CO₂ pipeline leaks and underground blowouts
• Threats to drinking-water aquifers, such as the Chicot and Maurepas systems
• Eminent-domain abuse, allowing private corporations to seize land for CO₂ pipelines
• Liability loopholes that could leave local taxpayers on the hook for cleanup once corporations walk away

Surveys conducted across multiple parishes show a clear majority of residents oppose CCS projects, particularly around Lake Maurepas and central Louisiana. Yet the legislature continues to side with industry lobbyists and out-of-state corporations.

Projects Now on the Chopping Block

According to DOE and industry trackers, the following carbon-capture and removal projects are facing review, suspension, or outright cancellation under President Trump’s new policy direction:

Together, these cancellations represent billions in reversed subsidies — a clear message that Washington is done underwriting risky underground CO₂ storage schemes.

Why Louisiana Keeps Pushing

If the money is gone and the people are against it, why do Louisiana’s leaders persist? Analysts point to several motives:

1. Industry Pressure – Oil, gas, and petrochemical lobbyists remain some of the state’s largest campaign donors.
2. Primacy Power – Louisiana is one of only three states granted control over Class VI well permitting, giving it leverage — and political temptation.
3. Short-Term Economic Optics – Politicians tout “jobs and investment” headlines, even though most positions are temporary and taxpayer-subsidized.
4. Legislative Inertia – Bills and permits approved during the Biden years keep rolling forward despite changing federal policy.

The Growing Citizen Backlash

Grassroots movements such as the Louisiana CO₂ Alliance, Save My Louisiana, and local parish coalitions have rallied residents from Lake Maurepas to Allen Parish. Town-hall meetings routinely fill beyond capacity, and parish resolutions opposing CCS continue to pass.

As one Allen Parish resident put it:

“We’re not anti-energy — we’re anti-deception. They called this progress, but it’s our land, water, and kids on the line.”

A Defining Moment for Louisiana

President Trump has made his stance clear: no more blank checks for carbon-capture scams. If Louisiana’s politicians continue to promote projects that even the federal government now calls wasteful, they risk aligning not with conservative values — but with corporate greed.

The coming months will reveal whether Baton Rouge stands with President Trump and the people of Louisiana, or with the profiteers of a collapsing carbon-capture industry

Call to Action: Stand with Louisiana

This fight is far from over. The power to protect our land, our water, and our future still rests with the people of Louisiana.

Continue to support the grassroots organizations that are in the trenches every day, fighting for truth and transparency:

• https://louisianaco2alliance.org
• https://savemylouisiana.org
• https://lecag.org
  
• https://co2chronicles.com
  

Keep attending community meetings.
  Keep standing up to industry.
 And above all, lift the great state of Louisiana in prayer.

Together, we are proving that the spirit of this state — its people, its parishes, and its pride — is stronger than any pipeline, lobbyist, or corporate agenda.