ISTOCK
STARTUP
TH E B IG STORY
Is Louisiana a fossil? 1 BIG THING: Like it or not, the world is going green … and Louisiana is digging in its heels. WHAT YOU READ: In the same late April week that the Biden administration committed to cutting the nation’s carbon emissions in half by 2030, the Louisiana Legislature was considering legislation that would end tax incentives to develop solar farms and increase registration fees on electric and hybrid vehicles. WHY IT MATTERS: World markets are shifting toward renewable resources and even the nation’s major automakers—notably, General Motors—are on board. Yet, Louisiana appears somewhat unwilling to take advantage of the opportunity to be a leader in an emerging market by clinging to policies that support the economic models of the past. • A measure by powerful House Speaker Clay Schexnayder
that was making its way through the legislative process as of late April would direct the Louisiana Department of Economic Development to suspend tax incentives, subsidies, and other public financial support for utility scale solar projects. Though HCR40 faces an uncertain future, the fact that it was filed at all speaks volumes about legislative priorities. • At least three other bills in the House and Senate would disincentivize the purchase of vehicles that run on alternative energy. One would remove a tax credit on the purchase of electric vehicles. Another would impose a $400 fee on owners of electric vehicles and a $275 fee on hybrids. Environmental groups say they’re not opposed to paying their fair share of revenue measures that fund roads and bridges, but they want those fees to be in line with what the owners of gas-guzzling vehicles pay (which is less than $100).
BIG PICTURE: Texas, for all its Red State swagger and fossil fuel activity, is, once again, light years ahead of Louisiana in the renewables space. The state leads the nation in wind-generated electricity and is among the leading states in solar energy potential, according to the nonpartisan U.S. Energy Information Agency. As of 2019, more than $50 billion had been invested in Texas in wind and solar power alone. Louisiana has underutilized agricultural land, so why is it so slow to come around? “It doesn’t make sense,” says David Dismukes, executive director of the LSU Center for Energy Studies. “We should be taking advantage of every opportunity we can.” • It’s not all hopeless. Billions of dollars in planned investments in facilities that will process renewable diesel and other “green fuels” have been announced in recent months, suggesting that investors see potential for
repurposing existing energy infrastructure and agricultural resources. • Last month alone, Grön Fuels received air permitting approval for a $9.2 billion renewable diesel facility at the Port of Baton Rouge; Strategic Biofuels announced plans for a $700 million renewable diesel plant upriver in Columbia; and CF Industries announced plans for a green hydrogen facility in Donaldsonville, and more such projects are planned for the future. WHAT’S NEXT: The oil industry is panicked over the Biden administration’s moratorium on new offshore drilling beginning in 2022, which will almost certainly have an adverse impact on jobs and revenues in Louisiana. Look for opponents of the moratorium to conflate that issue with the need for investment in renewables. The two are not mutually exclusive but in politics it’s easier to explain complex issues in binary terms. —Stephanie Riegel
8
BUSINESS REPORT, May 2021 | BusinessReport.com
08-09 SU Startup.indd 8
4/29/21 1:31 PM
