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Louisiana legislator pushes bills benefiting the oil and gas industry — and her husband by Sara Sneath

5/9/2022

Article by Sara Sneath for Floodlight
Originally produced in partnership with Floodlight, the Louisiana Illuminator and The Guardian
Repost from The Lens
May 6, 2022

Less than a week after a carbon dioxide pipeline operated by Denbury Resources burst in a rural Mississippi community — sending nearly 50 people to the hospital — Louisiana Republican Sen. Sharon Hewitt filed a bill drafted by Denbury into her own state’s legislature.

The law, passed in 2020, could make it more difficult for Louisiana landowners to push back against CO2 pipelines, which are used to transport carbon pollution captured from fossil fuel projects. The bill was introduced and signed into law the same year that Hewitt’s husband earned up to $4,999 in royalties from Denbury, according to Hewitt’s 2020 financial disclosure statement.

That wasn’t the first time Hewitt, who is considering running for governor, has used her political influence to help her family’s finances, according to public records shared with Floodlight in partnership with The Lens, The Illuminator and The Guardian, that show she also pushed for laws that would benefit her husband’s company.

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Save the Date! Gulf Gathering for Climate Justice and Joy is on June 4th

5/5/2022

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The Gulf South has given this country so much – jazz and blues, farmers and fishers that feed our nation, the civil rights movement – and while its future is under threat, a hopeful future is still possible for the region, and that’s worth celebrating.

On June 4th, residents from across the Gulf South are coming together for the Gulf Gathering for Climate Justice and Joy in Baton Rouge to celebrate as a form of resistance.

Join us for this free, family-friendly festival filled with food, music and fellow Gulf Southerners. We love our way of life here in the Gulf South, and we deserve a future where we can sustain it.

Learn More & RSVP

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Louisiana lawmakers propose study for wind energy pilot project in Gulf by Wesley Muller

5/5/2022

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Article by Wesley Muller
Originally Published on the Louisiana Illuminator
May 3, 2022

Resolution calls for a power-generating wind farm by 2026.

Louisiana lawmakers want state regulators to study the most cost-effective pathways to complete an offshore wind energy pilot project in the Gulf of Mexico within four years.

The state House of Representatives made its request official Monday with the adoption of House Resolution 25, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Orgeron, R-Larose. According to the resolution, the House “urges and requests” the Public Service Commission to study the benefits, costs and best ways of achieving a demonstrable offshore wind pilot project by 2026.

Studies show Gulf of Mexico wind power is one of the largest untapped energy resources in the nation. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory found Gulf winds can provide double the energy currently being used in all five Gulf states.

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Say no to HB 564! What are regulatory sandboxes and why are they potentially bad for consumers?

5/2/2022

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Originally published by The Sierra Club Delta Chapter (Louisiana)

The Sierra Club Delta Chapter and The Alliance are opposed to HB 564, which would create the financial technology regulatory sandbox program.

We agree with Sen. Jay Morris' statement last year when Sen. Mark Wright proposed a similar bill: "I have a problem just saying, 'If you come up with a product, you can ask the regulators to waive all the laws that we put in place, presumably for a good reason."

The idea behind regulatory sandboxes sounds tempting: temporarily relieving businesses of various regulatory burdens and associated costs while they deliver new products, services, and business models to market. The concept is that with less regulation, barriers to new developments are reduced and new ideas can be tried and tested at lower risk, allowing businesses to invest less and gain more.

Conceptually, the upstart firms will graduate from the sandbox and become full-fledged competitors in the business world, but so far in states that have already accepted the sandbox idea, the trend has been for established companies to acquire firms that have benefitted from the regulatory sandbox, essentially acquiring research and development conducted at public expense.

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Solar + storage bill at the Louisiana Legislature will help create resilience hubs & allow people to stay safe in their homes during outages

5/2/2022

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The Aimee Freeman Solar+ Storage Bill (HB 806) will introduce a program to fund solar with battery storage at the Louisiana Legislature so that people can stay safe in their homes during outages and so that resilience hubs can build these systems to help with rapid response.

The bill was expected to be heard/debated in the Commerce Committee at the Louisiana Legislature today, May 2nd, but was deferred.

Important Details About the Freeman Bill:

Cap annual and total per-project rebate to encourage efficient use of funds.
Tie rebate to system size rather than % of total cost.
Systems must be able to “island” and serve customers in event of outage
Ensure significant carveout for low-income households, including multi-family buildings - 40% or more.
Enable systems to feed the grid on normal days to improve whole-grid reliability.

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The Watchdog

Louisiana legislator pushes bills benefiting the oil and gas industry — and her husband by Sara Sneath

Save the Date! Gulf Gathering for Climate Justice and Joy is on June 4th

Louisiana lawmakers propose study for wind energy pilot project in Gulf by Wesley Muller

Say no to HB 564! What are regulatory sandboxes and why are they potentially bad for consumers?

Solar + storage bill at the Louisiana Legislature will help create resilience hubs & allow people to stay safe in their homes during outages

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