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Washington Post
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Louisiana is latest state to redefine natural gas -- a planet-warming fossil fuel -- as green energy
Louisiana is the latest state to redefine natural gas as green energy under a new law the Republican governor signed this week, even though it's a fossil fuel that emits planet-warming greenhouse gases. Three other states led by Republicans— Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee— have passed similar legislation. In some Democratic-led states, there have been efforts to phase out natural gas. New York and California cities like San Francisco and Berkeley have moved to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings, though some of these policies have been successfully challenged in court. President Donald Trump has signed a spate of executive orders promoting oil, gas and coal , which all warm the planet when burned to produce electricity. The European Union previously designated natural gas and nuclear as sustainable , a move that Greenpeace and the Austrian government are suing over . Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a major booster of the state's petrochemical industry, says the new law 'sets the tone for the future' and will help the state 'pursue energy independence and dominance.' Environmental groups say these new laws are part of a broader push by petrochemical industry-backed groups to rebrand fossil fuel as climate friendly and head off efforts to shift electric grids to renewables, such as solar and wind. It's 'pure Orwellian greenwashing,' said Tim Donaghy, research director of Greenpeace USA. Globally, the term green energy is used to refer to energy derived from natural sources that do not pollute — solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal energy. Louisiana's law could enable funds slated for state clean energy initiatives to be used to support natural gas. Natural gas has been the top source of electricity generation in the United States for about a decade, since surpassing coal. Coal and natural gas both produce carbon dioxide that warms the planet when burned, but coal produces over twice as much . Switching from coal to natural gas lowers carbon dioxide emissions, but it can increase emissions of methane. The primary component of natural gas, methane is an extraordinarily powerful greenhouse gas, more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide and responsible for about 30% of today's global warming. Besides coal, everything else is better than gas for the planet, said Rob Jackson, a Stanford University climate scientist. Building new gas plants locks in fossil fuel emissions for decades, he added. Louisiana's law orders state agencies and utilities regulators to 'prioritize' natural gas, along with nuclear power, on the grounds that it will improve the affordability and reliability of the state's electricity. The law's author, Republican Rep. Jacob Landry, runs an oil and gas industry consulting firm. 'I don't think it's anything crippling to wind or solar, but you got to realize the wind don't blow all the time and the sun don't shine every day,' Landry said. The legislation 'is saying we need to prioritize what keeps the grid energized,' he added. Landry told The Associated Press that he used a model bill by the American Legislative Exchange Council as a template. ALEC is a conservative think tank with ties to the oil and gas industry's billionaire Koch family . ALEC helped shape Ohio's 2023 law to legally redefine natural gas as a source of green energy, according to documents obtained by watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute and first reported by the Washington Post. Ohio's legislation was also heavily influenced by an advocacy group led by Republican megadonor Tom Rastin, a now retired gas industry executive. According to Dave Anderson, policy and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute, these laws are part of a long-running disinformation campaign by the gas industry to cast their product as clean to protect their businesses and prevent a shift to renewable energy sources that will address the climate crisis. 'The goal is to elbow out competition from renewables from wind and solar, and in some cases preempt localities' ability to choose to pursue 100% truly clean energy,' Anderson said, adding that ALEC's legislation makes natural gas 'eligible for state and local clean energy standards and funding.' Gov. Landry and other proponents of the new law said they want to make sure that residents and businesses have a reliable electric grid. Nearly 80% of Louisiana's grid is already powered by natural gas. Landry said that businesses will come to Louisiana if they know they can count on the state's electric grid. He highlighted Meta's plan to build a massive AI data center powered by three natural gas plants. Louisiana's law orders utilities providers to prioritize nuclear energy as well. Nuclear power does not emit greenhouse gases while producing electricity. However, critics say it is more expensive than solar and wind and the U.S. does not have a sufficient long-term solution for storing the waste. Consumer advocates say states do not need to embrace natural gas at the expense of wind, solar and other technologies to have a reliable grid. Legally mandating that utilities prioritize natural gas is 'blind to innovation, market evolution, and the practical demands of modern electric systems,' Jeffrey Clark, president of the Advanced Power Alliance, a renewable energy advocacy group, wrote in a statement opposing Louisiana's law. It's unclear to what extent Louisiana's utilities regulators will act on the order to prioritize natural gas over renewable energy. While Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, a Democrat, called the law 'unenforceable' and pledged to ignore it, his Republican counterpart Jean-Paul Coussan said promoting natural gas 'aligns well' with the state's economic growth. ___ McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. ___ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
The Independent
26-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Louisiana is latest state to redefine natural gas -- a planet-warming fossil fuel -- as green energy
Louisiana is the latest state to redefine natural gas as green energy under a new law the Republican governor signed this week, even though it's a fossil fuel that emits planet-warming greenhouse gases. Three other states led by Republicans— Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee— have passed similar legislation. In some Democratic-led states, there have been efforts to phase out natural gas. New York and California cities like San Francisco and Berkeley have moved to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings, though some of these policies have been successfully challenged in court. President Donald Trump has signed a spate of executive orders promoting oil, gas and coal, which all warm the planet when burned to produce electricity. The European Union previously designated natural gas and nuclear as sustainable, a move that Greenpeace and the Austrian government are suing over. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a major booster of the state's petrochemical industry, says the new law 'sets the tone for the future' and will help the state 'pursue energy independence and dominance.' Environmental groups say these new laws are part of a broader push by petrochemical industry-backed groups to rebrand fossil fuel as climate friendly and head off efforts to shift electric grids to renewables, such as solar and wind. It's "pure Orwellian greenwashing,' said Tim Donaghy, research director of Greenpeace USA. Globally, the term green energy is used to refer to energy derived from natural sources that do not pollute — solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal energy. Louisiana's law could enable funds slated for state clean energy initiatives to be used to support natural gas. Natural gas has been the top source of electricity generation in the United States for about a decade, since surpassing coal. Coal and natural gas both produce carbon dioxide that warms the planet when burned, but coal produces over twice as much. Switching from coal to natural gas lowers carbon dioxide emissions, but it can increase emissions of methane. The primary component of natural gas, methane is an extraordinarily powerful greenhouse gas, more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide and responsible for about 30% of today's global warming. Besides coal, everything else is better than gas for the planet, said Rob Jackson, a Stanford University climate scientist. Building new gas plants locks in fossil fuel emissions for decades, he added. Redefining natural gas Louisiana's law orders state agencies and utilities regulators to 'prioritize' natural gas, along with nuclear power, on the grounds that it will improve the affordability and reliability of the state's electricity. The law's author, Republican Rep. Jacob Landry, runs an oil and gas industry consulting firm. 'I don't think it's anything crippling to wind or solar, but you got to realize the wind don't blow all the time and the sun don't shine every day,' Landry said. The legislation 'is saying we need to prioritize what keeps the grid energized,' he added. Landry told The Associated Press that he used a model bill by the American Legislative Exchange Council as a template. ALEC is a conservative think tank with ties to the oil and gas industry's billionaire Koch family. ALEC helped shape Ohio's 2023 law to legally redefine natural gas as a source of green energy, according to documents obtained by watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute and first reported by the Washington Post. Ohio's legislation was also heavily influenced by an advocacy group led by Republican megadonor Tom Rastin, a now retired gas industry executive. According to Dave Anderson, policy and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute, these laws are part of a long-running disinformation campaign by the gas industry to cast their product as clean to protect their businesses and prevent a shift to renewable energy sources that will address the climate crisis. 'The goal is to elbow out competition from renewables from wind and solar, and in some cases preempt localities' ability to choose to pursue 100% truly clean energy,' Anderson said, adding that ALEC's legislation makes natural gas 'eligible for state and local clean energy standards and funding.' Questions over grid reliability Gov. Landry and other proponents of the new law said they want to make sure that residents and businesses have a reliable electric grid. Nearly 80% of Louisiana's grid is already powered by natural gas. Landry said that businesses will come to Louisiana if they know they can count on the state's electric grid. He highlighted Meta's plan to build a massive AI data center powered by three natural gas plants. Louisiana's law orders utilities providers to prioritize nuclear energy as well. Nuclear power does not emit greenhouse gases while producing electricity. However, critics say it is more expensive than solar and wind and the U.S. does not have a sufficient long-term solution for storing the waste. Consumer advocates say states do not need to embrace natural gas at the expense of wind, solar and other technologies to have a reliable grid. Legally mandating that utilities prioritize natural gas is 'blind to innovation, market evolution, and the practical demands of modern electric systems,' Jeffrey Clark, president of the Advanced Power Alliance, a renewable energy advocacy group, wrote in a statement opposing Louisiana's law. It's unclear to what extent Louisiana's utilities regulators will act on the order to prioritize natural gas over renewable energy. While Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, a Democrat, called the law 'unenforceable' and pledged to ignore it, his Republican counterpart Jean-Paul Coussan said promoting natural gas 'aligns well' with the state's economic growth. ___ McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. ___
CNN
14-06-2025
- Health
- CNN
Tulane scientist resigns citing university censorship of pollution and racial disparity research
A Tulane University researcher resigned Wednesday, citing censorship from university leaders who had warned that her advocacy and research exposing the Louisiana petrochemical industry's health impacts and racial disparities in hiring had triggered blowback from donors and elected officials. In her resignation letter, Kimberly Terrell accused the university of sacrificing academic freedom to appease Louisiana's Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. Terrell, the director of community engagement at Tulane's Environmental Law Clinic claimed the clinic had been 'placed under a complete gag order' that barred her from making public statements about her research. According to emails obtained by The Associated Press, university leaders wrote that the work of the law clinic had become an 'impediment' to a Tulane redevelopment project reliant on support from state and private funders. The clinic represents communities fighting the petrochemical industry in court. Kate Kelly, a Landry spokesperson, denied that the governor threatened to withhold state funding. 'I cannot remain silent as this university sacrifices academic integrity for political appeasement and pet projects,' Terrell wrote. 'Our work is too important, and the stakes are too high, to sit back and watch special interests replace scholarship with censorship.' Terrell said she resigned 'to protect the work and interests' of the clinic. Tulane spokesperson Michael Strecker said in an emailed statement that the university 'is fully committed to academic freedom and the strong pedagogical value of law clinics.' He declined to comment on 'personnel matters.' Many of the clinic's clients are located along the heavily industrialized 85-mile (137-kilometer) stretch of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge commonly referred to by environmental groups as 'Cancer Alley.' Marcilynn Burke, dean of Tulane's law school, wrote in a May 4 email to clinic staff that Tulane University President Michael Fitts worried the clinic's work threatened to tank support for the university's long-sought efforts to redevelop New Orleans' historic Charity Hospital as part of a downtown expansion. 'Elected officials and major donors have cited the clinic as an impediment to them lending their support to the university generally and this project specifically,' Burke wrote. Burke did not respond to an emailed request for comment Wednesday. In her resignation letter, Terrell wrote that she had been told the governor 'threatened to veto' any state funding for the expansion project unless Tulane's president 'did something' about the clinic. A 2022 study Terrell co-authored found higher cancer rates in Black or impoverished communities in Louisiana. Another study she published last year linked toxic air pollution in Louisiana with premature births and lower weight in newborns. In April, Terrell published research showing that Black people received significantly less jobs in the petrochemical industry than white people in Louisiana despite having similar levels of training and education. Media coverage of the April study coincided with a visit by Tulane leaders to Louisiana's capitol to lobby elected officials in support of university projects. Shortly after, Burke, the law school's dean, told clinic staff in an email that 'all external communications' such as social media posts and media interviews 'must be pre-approved by me.' Emails from May show that Burke denied requests from Terrell to make comments in response to various media requests, correspondence and speaking engagements, saying they were not 'essential functions of the job.' On May 12, Terrell filed a complaint with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, claiming that her academic freedom had been violated. The agency, which accredits Tulane, did not comment. In a May 21 audio recording obtained by the AP, Provost Robin Forman said that when Tulane leadership met with elected officials in April, they were pressed as to why ''Tulane has taken a stand on the chemical industry as harming communities',' and this 'left people feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable.' Burke said in an email that university leaders had misgivings about a press release in which a community activist represented by Terrell's clinic is quoted as saying that petrochemical companies 'prioritize profit over people.' Burke noted that Fitts was concerned about the clinic's science-based advocacy program, and Terrell's work in particular which he worried had veered 'into lobbying.' Burke said Fitts required an explanation of 'how the study about racial disparities relates directly to client representation.' The clinic cites the study in a legal filing opposing a proposed chemical plant beside a predominantly Black neighborhood, arguing the community would be burdened with a disproportionate amount of pollution and less than a fair share of the jobs. The clinic's annual report highlighted its representation of a group of residents in a historic Black community who halted a massive grain terminal that would have been built around 300 feet from their homes. The provost viewed the clinic's annual report 'as bragging that the clinic has shut down development,' Burke said in an email. In her resignation letter, Terrell warned colleagues that she felt Tulane's leaders 'have chosen to abandon the principles of knowledge, education, and the greater good in pursuit of their own narrow agenda.'
