Why rural communities deserve facts and honest debate about carbon capture and storage
I am a small-business owner in Vernon Parish trying to keep my doors open and raise a family in the community I love.
Few issues facing rural Louisiana right now carry bigger consequences for communities like ours than carbon capture and storage.
Some see it as a dangerous experiment being forced on rural parishes. Others see it as an opportunity to bring jobs, stabilize struggling industries, and reverse the population decline many rural communities have experienced for decades.
Representative Charles Owen recently wrote that there are a “litany of unanswered questions” surrounding carbon capture and storage.
On that point, he is right.
There are important questions. But the reason many remain unanswered is not because answers do not exist. It is because the geologists, engineers, and industry professionals who understand the science are often shouted down before the conversation can even begin.
Major decisions that affect the future of our communities deserve more than headlines, rumors, or social media posts. They deserve careful review of the facts and the willingness to listen to people who actually understand the science and economics involved.
And when fear becomes the loudest voice in a discussion, something unfortunate happens.
The very voices we need to hear from become silent.
Representative Owen compared carbon dioxide to weed killer and suggested it should be viewed as a poisonous or carcinogenic substance.
That comparison deserves clarification.
Carbon dioxide is not classified as a poison, and it is not classified as a carcinogen.
It is also already woven into daily life. CO₂ is used in medical manufacturing, fire suppression, agriculture, refrigeration, welding, food preservation, beverage carbonation, and water treatment. It is part of the air in every breath we take; it helps preserve many of the foods we eat, and for many people it is literally in the soda they drink.
The United States has transported carbon dioxide by pipeline for more than 50 years. Today there are over 5,000 miles of CO₂ pipelines, and during those decades there have been no recorded deaths from CO₂ pipeline transportation or injection.
Even the well-known pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi — while serious and deserving investigation — resulted in no fatalities.
Two concerns often raised are that a leak would contaminate soil or drinking water.
Drinking water protection is central to the regulatory process. Class VI wells inject CO₂ thousands of feet below drinking water sources into deep rock formations sealed by thick layers of impermeable caprock — essentially a natural underground lid that fluids cannot pass through.
These same formations have naturally trapped oil and gas underground for millions of years.
CO₂ also does not contaminate soil the way chemicals do. It is part of the natural carbon cycle that plants use to grow, and soil itself releases carbon dioxide as organic material breaks down.
Representative Owen has suggested enhanced oil recovery is acceptable, but sequestration is not. But enhanced oil recovery already works by injecting CO₂ underground — and after the oil is produced, much of that carbon dioxide remains trapped in those formations permanently.
If carbon capture were truly a scam, environmental groups would not oppose it so strongly. Many oppose it precisely because it allows industries like oil, gas, and LNG to continue operating while reducing emissions.
And Louisiana sits at the center of that debate. As one of the nation’s largest energy-producing states, what happens here matters. If carbon capture works in Louisiana, it strengthens the future of American energy.
I know these things not because I read a headline, but because I set aside what I thought I knew and started asking questions of the people who work with this science every day.
Growth rarely comes from a place of comfort. But discomfort forces us to learn and search for better answers.
I am a small-business owner in Vernon Parish trying to keep my doors open. I am also a parent with children in our local schools — one of which could face closure if population trends continue.
That is the math our parish is already living with.
Without the economic impact of Ft. Polk, nearly 58% of Vernon Parish households fall into the ALICE category — families who work hard yet still come up about $5,000 short of the cost of living here.
They earn too much to qualify for assistance, but not enough to make ends meet.
Those families are not statistics. They are our neighbors.
Programs like the federal 45Q tax credit are often criticized as government spending, but they work differently. Companies only receive those credits if they are operating, employing people, and safely storing carbon dioxide.
If Louisiana chooses not to pursue these opportunities, the credit does not disappear. Our tax dollars will still fund the program — the difference is that the jobs and investment will go to states like Texas instead of communities like ours.
At the same time, our forestry economy is under tremendous pressure. When markets disappear, forests go unmanaged, disease spreads, and wildfire risk increases as timber grows overcrowded.
The proposed Class VI well would allow projects like Highland Pellet and Beaver Lake Renewables to locate in our region, supporting more than 1,000 jobs while purchasing roughly 500 additional truckloads of timber each day from Central Louisiana’s timber basket.
Without healthy markets, landowners may eventually clear forests for other development or solar projects. But when timber markets exist, forests are thinned, land remains productive, and rural jobs stay local.
The real question for rural Louisiana is simple: which future makes more sense for our communities?
When jobs disappear, families leave.
When families leave, schools lose students — and the difficult conversations about consolidation begin.
We invest years educating our children, but when opportunity disappears, those same young people often must leave to build their careers somewhere else.
Louisiana helps educate them — and other states benefit from the talent we lose.
Representative Owen and I both care deeply about the future of our communities. We may not be as far apart as it sometimes feels.
But the stakes for rural Louisiana are too high to allow fear, rumors, or division to guide the outcome.
The future of our parish — and rural Louisiana — deserves to be decided by facts, careful consideration, and the shared desire to do what is right for the people who call this place home.
Robert Haymon is a small-business owner in Vernon Parish.
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