It will soon be much more difficult to sue the oil and gas industry. Governor Landry signed the Louisiana Energy Protection Act, which bans lawsuits over climate change. Tommy Faucheux, the president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, says in his view, these lawsuits are frivolous.
“A lot of times these lawsuits are brought saying that because a company has either produced oil and gas or used oil and gas, then they are responsible for climate change, and they have been harmed in some way by the changing climate,” Faucheux explained.
Faucheux notes that this legislation is strictly limited to lawsuits related to climate change.
“This does not take away the right of individual citizens across Louisiana, who may have legitimate claims that they want to bring against either an energy company or some other Louisiana business, because they believe they’ve been harmed,” Faucheux said.
Faucheux also says that this by no means gives oil and gas companies the go-ahead to operate without fear of any repercussions.
“There are numerous state and federal regulations that all energy companies must abide by to be able to have the permits required to operate their business. This legislation does not impact any of that,” Faucheux noted.
The bill was written in a way that does not affect the current pending lawsuits related to coastal erosion.
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