A Louisiana task force unanimously approved the state’s first climate action plan on Monday. The plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 marks a significant, albeit first, step for a state with a decades-long reliance on fossil fuels and the petrochemical industry. Gov. John Bel Edwards lauded “the first statewide plan in the Deep South to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero from a top energy producing state.” Black and Indigenous residents, and environmental groups, said they were concerned about the plan’s reliance on carbon capture and sequestration as well as the inclusion of blue hydrogen. The Louisiana task force’s plan is not self-executing and will need to be implemented through measures adopted by the state’s legislature and executive branches. (NOLA.com, E&E News, Gonzales Weekly Citizen, BRPROUD, KADN, WWL, Bloomberg Law $)
