La. bill to block climate change lawsuits moves forward

BATON ROUGE – A Louisiana House bill that would shield oil and gas companies from lawsuits seeking compensation for the effects of climate change has been amended to remove confusing provisions.

The House Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved House Bill 804 last week. The amendments clarify the language and reinforce the legislation is claim-based instead of industry-based while still preserving environmental protections. Critics have said passage of the would limit communities’ ability to protect the public health and property rights. 

HB 804 was introduced by Natural Resources Chairman Brett Geymann (R-Lake Charles). It’s being called the Louisiana Energy Protection Act. After being read and ordered engrossed April 27, the bill is awaiting final House passage.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry supports the bill, saying it would strengthen legal certainty and reinforce the state’s competitiveness for major investment and job creation.

“The measure is designed to provide clear guardrails against broad climate-damage claims while keeping longstanding environmental and regulatory remedies fully intact,” LABI said on its website.

LABI President and CEO Will Green testified before the Natural Resources Committee last week to voiced support of the bill on behalf of Louisiana’s business community.

“We so appreciate Chairman Geymann for bringing this bill on behalf of the state, the state’s business community and the citizens of this state,” Green testified. “Our members are in support of House Bill 804 because … it gives you the policymakers, the lawmakers, the ability to establish the policy of this state.

“Not entrepreneurial plaintiffs, and not unpredictable courts looking to weaponize our legal system against our citizens, against our farmers, against our businesses and against our industries.”

Green said the predictability offered by HB 804 is vitally important.

“Uncertainty breeds fear, which drives away investment,” he said. “And at a time in Louisiana when we’re competing on a global scale for billions of dollars in investment, we need certainty, we need predictability and we need transparency in our legal system.

“House Bill 804 is a major step in transparency and in predictability and uncertainty, especially around some of these frivolous climate change lawsuits.”

Chris Appel with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform agreed, saying a wave of climate-related lawsuits across the country seek to impose liability on a wide range of industries.

“This bill codifies a common-sense principle embedded in our law and constitutional system, namely that U.S. energy policy with respect to global climate change and the interstate and international emission of greenhouse gases should be developed by the federal government,” Appel testified. “And it’s not something that should be developed in a piecemeal and chaotic fashion through lawsuits filed around the country asking courts to impose liability as a means to regulate emissions.”

On his Facebook page, Geymann says HB 804 “protects Louisiana citizens, businesses and industries from being dragged into lawsuits that try to pin global climate issues on local people.”

“We’ve watched this play out in other states,” Geymann wrote. “Lawsuits driven by activists, aimed at reshaping policy through the courts instead of the Legislature.

“That approach may line up with a climate change agenda, but it doesn’t line up with how we do things in Louisiana.”

He said HB 804 draws a line, also noting the bill is not meant to stop legitimate lawsuits against a particular facility’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“You’re either for protecting our economy and the people who keep it moving, or you’re willing to open the door to that kind of litigation,” Geymann wrote. “That’s why support came from the Louisiana Landowners Association, Louisiana Motor Transport Association, Louisiana Loggers Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, Louisiana Farm Bureau, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, LaMOGA, LCA, Greater Lafourche Port Commission, Entergy, Cleco, Atmos Energy, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Heartland Impact, American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil, Shell and many others. Opposition came from the Sierra Club, the Alliance for Affordable Energy, and three individuals.

“At the end of the day, if you oppose HB 804, you are on the side of radical climate activists, not Louisiana citizens.”