Louisiana has a well-documented history of severe environmental problems, making it among the most at-risk states in the union. While its deadly and destructive relationship with hurricanes and the alarming rate of coastal erosion is what we hear most about, the increasing presence of the oil and gas industry has destroyed enormous swathes of the state’s wild places and brought more pollution to its residents.
On Saturday, Louisiana residents will vote in the state’s presidential primary, a prelude to November’s election that could have significant implications for the environment and leave the state defenseless against the fossil fuel industry and its supporters in the legislature.
The likely winners, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, represent two very different approaches to environmental policy. If Biden wins in November, his Environmental Protection Agency will likely continue scrutinizing and investigating the fossil fuel industry in the state and other causes of Louisiana’s lengthy environmental woes.
However, should Trump win the presidency, Louisiana’s environment and people will be at the mercy of pro-fossil fuel conservatives to an unprecedented level.
For the last eight years, Louisiana’s Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, acted as a backstop against the GOP-dominated legislature. He used executive orders and promoted policies that favored the environment. He also vetoed many anti-environment bills the Republican-led state legislature passed.
In August 2020, the former governor used an executive order to create a climate initiatives task force and set greenhouse gas emission goals for the state. The group passed a climate action plan in March 2022, making it the only Gulf state with such a plan. He vetoed a bill that would have stiffened penalties for anyone trespassing on critical infrastructure, like climate protestors. He also vetoed bills that would have prohibited discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity and banned specific procedures related to gender-affirming care.
However, in March 2023, the GOP gained supermajorities in the state Senate and House. By the time Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a climate denier, was sworn in this past January, Louisiana had a GOP supermajority in both branches and the governorship for the first time ever. The party also controls all statewide offices. Moreover, Republicans in the state have never controlled the House, Senate, and governorship under a Republican president—never mind the addition of a supermajority.
If that happens, the guardrails will be off.
During Trump’s four years in office, he called climate change a hoax and pushed extreme anti-environment and climate policies, including gutting the EPA of enforcement power and staff.
In addition, the state’s congressional delegation includes two GOP U.S. Senators, while five of the six U.S. House members are also from the same party.
For environmental advocates in Louisiana, it’s a dire picture.
“The bottom line is that Louisiana is already sinking into the Gulf of Mexico,” said Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a New Orleans-based environmental group that focuses on grassroots action against the petrochemical industry in the state. “More than any place else in the U.S., we need real action on the issue. It would help, of course, if the Louisiana congressional delegation took climate threats seriously.”
What’s at stake?
The GOP’s rise to complete dominance in Louisiana and the prospect of another Trump presidency come during another trying year for the state’s environment and people.
Liquefied natural gas plants and the 50,000-mile network of pipes and giant tankers that support them have reshaped small coastal towns, placing extreme pressure on the ailing fishing industry. Over 150 petrochemical plants continue to pollute small communities of color between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, with more planned. Frequent and destructive hurricanes and storm surges can edge closer to cities and towns because of rising sea levels and the mass erosion of wetlands that once acted as protective barriers.
Louisiana is losing its coastline at about 35 square miles a year, adding to the 2,000 square miles of land lost since the 1930s. Then there is the ongoing home insurance crisis, exacerbated by climate change.
The state is certain to vote for Trump in November. That leaves Louisianans who care about their health, the environment and climate change relying on voters in the rest of the country to ensure that one of the nation’s most climate-vulnerable states is left with an environmental safety net.
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