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…
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