Carbon Capture and Storage: An Expensive and Dangerous Proposition for Louisiana Communities

The document contends that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an expensive, energy-intensive technology that entrenches fossil fuel reliance rather than facilitating a transition to renewable energy. It identifies Louisiana as a primary target for CCS development due to existing petrochemical infrastructure and a regulatory environment managed by the Department of Natural Resources. The brief warns that CCS infrastructure, including pipelines, poses severe health and safety risks—such as toxic gas leaks and catastrophic ruptures—and would disproportionately impact Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. Furthermore, it asserts that CCS threatens Louisiana's wetlands and that the majority of captured carbon is currently used for enhanced oil recovery to produce more oil.

• Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is described as an expensive and energy-intensive technology that is unproven at scale and fails to reduce atmospheric carbon. It is argued that CCS makes coal- or gas-fired power plants less efficient and more costly than renewable energy, while nearly 80% of captured carbon is used to produce more oil.
• Louisiana is a target for CCS development because of its existing oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure. The document claims the state's regulatory framework is inadequate, as the Department of Natural Resources is described as an agency that protects rather than regulates the industry.
• The implementation of CCS would likely impose financial and environmental burdens on Louisiana. The brief states that local ratepayers would likely bear the high costs of reconstructing pipelines for compressed CO2, and that the resulting wells and pipelines would contribute to land loss in Louisiana's wetlands, contradicting the Governor's Coastal Master Plan.
• CCS infrastructure poses significant safety risks to human health and the environment. High-pressure CO2 pipelines are susceptible to corrosive leaks and catastrophic fractures; a rupture can release toxic gas that restricts breathing and drop temperatures to -80°F. The document cites a 2020 pipeline rupture in Yazoo County, Mississippi, which resulted in 300 evacuations and 45 hospitalizations.

APA

Bonacini, C. (2021). Carbon Capture and Storage: An Expensive and Dangerous Proposition for Louisiana Communities. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/carbon-capture-and-storage-an-expensive-and-dangerous-proposition-for-louisiana-communities/

Chicago

Bonacini, Cate. Carbon Capture and Storage: An Expensive and Dangerous Proposition for Louisiana Communities. Center for International Environmental Law, 2021. https://www.ciel.org/carbon-capture-and-storage-an-expensive-and-dangerous-proposition-for-louisiana-communities/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bonacini |first1=Cate |title=Carbon Capture and Storage: An Expensive and Dangerous Proposition for Louisiana Communities |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=25 June 2021 |url=https://www.ciel.org/carbon-capture-and-storage-an-expensive-and-dangerous-proposition-for-louisiana-communities/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bonacini2021carbon, author = {Bonacini, Cate}, title = {{Carbon Capture and Storage: An Expensive and Dangerous Proposition for Louisiana Communities}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/carbon-capture-and-storage-an-expensive-and-dangerous-proposition-for-louisiana-communities/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }