Message From the Editor

This week in Louisiana, investigative journalist Sara Sneath dove into the strange politics behind a proposed $97 million tax break for oil companies.

This is the fifth time that a Louisiana state lawmaker, Phillip Devillier, who has received thousands in oil and gas campaign donations, has introduced legislation to try to reduce the tax that fossil fuel firms pay on oil they produce in the state. The latest bill, HB 172, would reduce the severance tax rate on oil from certain wells at a time when the state is anticipating a fiscal cliff.

“At the end of the day, HB172 is an unnecessary and substantial transfer of wealth to a more-profitable-than-ever oil and gas industry at the expense of the state and our communities,” says Jackson Voss, the climate policy coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Energy. “Passing it would be deeply irresponsible.”

But the lawmaker who proposed the bill pulled it from a state senate vote at the last minute after an amendment threatened to cut a treasured industry exemption. Get the full story.

Over in South Texas, journalist Nick Cunningham uncovered that NextDecade, the company sponsoring a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, led a ghostwriting campaign on behalf of nearly two dozen public officials. These letters to federal regulators claimed that “most people” in the community supported the Rio Grande LNG project.

But they were all filed by NextDecade, using language written by the company.

You may remember that this isn’t the first time we’ve discovered LNG companies ghostwriting letters in support of their projects. Just a few weeks ago, we highlighted how Sempra LNG lobbyists ghost wrote letters for elected Louisiana officials in support of a natural gas storage project awaiting federal approval.

And as Alberta, Canada, once again battles out-of-control wildfires, reporter Geoff Dembicki sait down with author John Vaillant in advance of his new book, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World. Coming out June 6, this book by Vaillant, author of bestseller The Golden Spruce,  tells the story of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire in horrific, page-turning detail, tying it to the economic system wedded to oil and the political leaders unwilling to grapple with the climate crisis at their doorstep.

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Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Investigative journalism like this is made possible by readers like you. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Image credit: Julie Dermansky

Effort to Give Oil Companies $97 Million Tax Break in Louisiana Halted

— By Sara Sneath (4 min. read) —

For the fifth time, a Louisiana lawmaker has introduced legislation to try to reduce the tax that fossil fuel firms pay on oil they produce in the state. The original version of the bill introduced by Rep. Phillip DeVillier this spring would have cost the state $97 million over the next five years, according to a Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office report.

“It’s just so much money,” said Rep. Mandie Landry, who voted against the bill in the House Committee on Ways and Means and again when it was before the full House. After it passed the House, the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee was scheduled to vote on the bill on May 22, but Rep. DeVillier voluntarily postponed the vote. DeVillier, who received more than $5,700 in donations from oil and gas interests last year, brought similar legislation four times between 2020 and 2022.

Rio Grande LNG’s Developer Led Ghostwriting Campaign to Get Federal Approval

— By Nick Cunningham (8 min. read) —

In March, a man named David Irizarry wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in support of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to be built in Brownsville, Texas. The Rio Grande LNG project (RGLNG), estimated to cost more than $11 billion, would be the largest private sector investment in Texas’ history. But it was awaiting a key decision from FERC.

“As you know, the US appeals court of the DC circuit rejected all but two of the claims put forward by opponents of RGLNG related to RGLNG’s FERC order,” Irizarry wrote. Irizarry is not in the gas business, nor does he deal with energy policy. As the chief executive of the Valley Regional Medical Center, a medical system serving Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley, his letter displayed an unusually fluent understanding of the ins and outs of the federal gas permitting process.

‘Fire Weather’ Author Recounts Alberta Wildfire Disaster in Terrifying Detail

— By Geoff Dembicki (5 min. read) —

The costliest disaster in Canadian history took place in May 2016, when a vicious wildfire swept through Fort McMurray, forcing roughly 90,000 people to evacuate a city at the heart of Alberta’s oil sands industry. Seven years later, out-of-control wildfires once again threaten the province, forcing tens of thousands out of their homes and causing air quality warnings across the Western U.S. and Canada — the smoke was even visible all the way in New York City.

Princeton Maps Reveal US Plans for Massive CO2 Pipeline Buildout

— By Kert Davies (9 min. read) —

I have been calling the carbon capture CO2 pipeline buildout plan a “publicly-funded sewer system for the fossil fuel industry” for some time. In fact it’s their only lifeline, and in the meantime it’s also really good for greenwashing and TV ads.

A reality check is in order. New analysis here of a major report published by Princeton in 2020-21 reveals a “blueprint” for cutting carbon emissions that includes a Trans-Alaska Pipeline sized transmission pipeline running from New Jersey to Georgia and two or three 48 inch diameter pipelines running in tandem, for hundreds of miles, down the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and across the south.

Revealed: 1 in 3 GB News Hosts Spread Climate Denial On Air in 2022

— By Adam Barnett (10 min. read) —

A majority of GB News hosts attacked climate action on the channel in 2022, while one in three spread climate science denial, a DeSmog analysis can reveal. 

Opponents of green policies have seized on the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to denounce the UK’s net zero target and push for new, environmentally-damaging fossil fuel extraction. 

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Global Climate Coalition

The Global Climate Coalition (GCC) was an outspoken industry group based in the United States opposing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While the coalition disbanded in 2002, some members including the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute continue to lobby against emissions reductions. According to GCC’s mission statement, “Existing scientific evidence does not support actions aimed solely at reducing or stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. GCC does support actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or to increase greenhouse gas sinks that are justified for other economic or environmental reasons.”

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.