Media Contact:
Contact: Rebekah Staub, rstaub@earthworks.org
BATON ROUGE, LA — Today, Air Products announced halting new spending on its $4.5 billion blue hydrogen project in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. This move underscores the growing resistance from communities to carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and fossil fuel expansion under the guise of climate action.
Rather than serving as a genuine climate solution, CCS is increasingly viewed as a means for polluting industries to rebrand and prolong their emissions-heavy operations. CCS threatens land, water, and air quality, as well as property values, and has raised increasing concern for communities across the state.
In Ascension Parish, local opposition has been strong, with community members rejecting what they see as a greenwashing tactic. Earthworks has played a central role in building this resistance, working alongside community members, local leaders, and partner organizations to expose the proposed project’s risks and elevate public awareness through direct outreach, public education, and policy advocacy.
“This outcome is a direct result of community-driven advocacy, and it shows the power of grassroots organizing in standing up to industry influence and protecting public health and the environment,” said Kaitlyn Joshua, Gulf Coast Campaigner for Earthworks.
“Louisianans, especially those in frontline communities, are all too familiar with the devastating impact this technology would have on our property values, land, and water. We are rejecting the industry’s newest attempt at greenwashing, which seeks to allow them to continue polluting while vulnerable communities continue to bear the brunt of the harm,” concluded Joshua.
