Louisiana legislative session ends with carbon capture bills stalled after local control debate

Louisiana's regular legislative session ended Monday with two major energy bills left unvoted, including one that would have required public hearings before carbon injection wells could be permitted. House Bill 509 passed the House unanimously but sat on the calendar for five days without a floor vote. The bill aimed to give local parishes more say over carbon capture projects. Separately, the House Natural Resources Committee blocked five local-option bills that would have let voters or parish governments prohibit Class VI injection wells and CO2 pipelines in five parishes. The votes were close, 10-7 and 9-7, after nearly five hours of testimony from landowners, industry representatives, and environmental advocates. The outcome leaves the state's carbon capture regulatory framework unchanged for now, but the narrow margins suggest the debate is far from settled.