Though a task force has just released a plan to help Louisiana reach its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the state’s energy sector is warning that oil and gas will remain an essential commodity for decades to come.
A task force appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards unveiled the Louisiana Climate Action Plan last week, offering a blueprint to put the Southern state known for its natural gas production and oil refineries on a path to a renewable future.
The plan is based on three policy pillars to gradually reduce its production of emissions that have linked to the heating of the Earth’s atmosphere. The report emphasizes the development of renewable electricity generation, industrial electrification and a shift of industrial fuels toward no-carbon or low-carbon hydrogen.
The report illustrates how greenhouse gas emissions in Louisiana are generated starkly differently than in the United States as a whole. In Louisiana, nearly two-thirds of these gases are generated by industry, including oil refining and chemical manufacturing, while only 17% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the industrial sector.
Despite the level of the Louisiana energy industry’s carbon generation, the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA) was not invited to take part in the deliberations of Edwards’ task force, according to LOGA’s president, Mike Moncla.
“The U.S. is doing more than any other country in the world to lower emissions, and we will only continue to improve,” Moncla said in an email to the Louisiana Record. “With federal subsidies coming into Louisiana to increase solar, wind, biofuels and carbon sequestration, Louisiana, too, will only improve.”
Even so, it’s clear that the oil and gas energy will be needed to meet Louisianans’ needs in the decade ahead, he said.
“It is cheap, abundant and (most importantly) reliable,” Moncla said. “The world is also dependent on oil and gas byproducts. Without drilling for oil and gas, there would be no plastics or rubber goods, no pharmaceuticals or cosmetics, or tar or asphalt, etc.”
The task force has been working on the plan for 15 months and has engaged in 49 public meetings, according to the Governor’s Office. The report also emphasized that workforce training would be crucial as communities transition toward more green energy options.