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RAPIDES PARISH — The Governor’s Executive Order JML 25-119 – “CO₂ Capture and Storage Limits and Moratorium” issued on October 15, 2025 is a deceptively sly, blatantly unconstitutional and ultimately tone deaf non-response to citizen concerns regarding the ongoing dangerous carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects and the unconstitutional laws supporting the violation of citizen property rights as guaranteed by the Louisiana Constitution. This executive order is first and foremost a protectionist defense of the CCS industry and it’s climate change agenda origins disguised as “economic opportunity” while ignoring the People of Louisiana and their basic rights. We are not impressed.
Although Governor Landry’s “Moratorium” places a hold on new Class VI carbon storage applications, it does nothing to stop the currently active CCS project applications. According to data from the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (LDENR), there are 31 active applications for 104 Class VI injection wells pending, plus one approved in Hackberry. The deception is that 32 total projects remain fully active and will continue through the permitting process, free to create environmental disaster endangering our lives. This “moratorium” does nothing to stop the current danger we face. The greatest of which is the possibility of contaminating the Chicot Aquifer, which the governor conveniently fails to mention but is one of the most vocal concerns of citizens.
The Chicot Aquifer is the principal source of drinking water for fifteen parishes representing hundreds of thousands of residents across central and southwest Louisiana. According to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) data, the Chicot Aquifer system supplies municipal and rural water wells across Rapides, Vernon, Allen, Evangeline, St. Landry, Calcasieu, and Acadia Parishes, among others. The USGS survey concludes that the expansive Chicot Aquifer supplies approximately 48% of all ground water used in Louisiana yet the governor ignored this immensely important aspect of citizen concern. At least 31 of the state’s Class VI CO₂ injection projects are situated within or directly above the Chicot Aquifer’s recharge zone. Once injected, carbon dioxide can migrate through geological faults or abandoned wellbores. When CO₂ combines with groundwater, it forms carbonic acid, capable of dissolving metals and contaminating both soil and potable water. This is blatant negligence of government to fulfill its Constitutional obligation under Article I, Sections 1 and 2 to protect public health and safety.
Another egregious section of this “moratorium” purports to create a “Landowner Bill of Rights”. The order declares that Acts 407 and 414 (2025) shall serve as Louisiana’s Landowner Bill of Rights. This statement by the governor is shocking in its basic ignorance that there exists within our Constitution greater protections of property owner rights than an unlawful legislative substitution. Neither the governor nor the legislature has the power to abrogate constitutionally guaranteed rights and protections. Through laws such as Acts 517 (2009), 61 (2020) and 620 (2024), the governor and legislature have shockingly authorized the taking of private surface and subsurface property by private and foreign entities engaged in industrial CO₂ capture and injection. These private companies were given the power of eminent domain by the governor and legislature. The governor’s “landowner bill of rights” statement is an absurdity of gargantuan proportions and displays a defiance to and contempt for the will of the People as clearly expressed in the Constitution.
This executive order gives the illusion of action but in reality it does nothing substantive to address citizen’s actual concerns. It ignores our concerns over the Chicot Aquifer and it’s life giving water and it ignores our Constitutionally guaranteed Right to Property. The governor appears as though he is listening, but ultimately it betrays his support for industry over citizens and reveals his contempt for the people of Louisiana. Again, we are not impressed.
Save My Louisiana calls on the governor to respect the People of Louisiana and take the following legitimate actions;
1. Immediately suspend ALL Class VI well activity – those approved, those in the approval process and future approvals.
2. Immediately call a special session of the legislature, honor and respect the Constitution of Louisiana and REPEAL any and all Acts which abrogate the Constitutional guaranteed Right to Property.
3. Call for judicial intervention to enjoin unconstitutional takings.
4. Issue a permanent moratorium banning all CO₂ injection within 50 miles of the Chicot Aquifer and any other water source.
5. Reaffirm his commitment to the Louisiana Constitution as per the oath of office he took as Governor of Louisiana.
About Save My Louisiana
Save My Louisiana, Inc. is a concerned citizen organization headquartered in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, partnered with the anti-CCS coalition made up of numerous state-wide organizations dedicated to defending Constitutional government, property rights, water security and our future. The organization is one of many leading the statewide opposition to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects that threaten private-land sovereignty and public safety.
Gary L. Musgrove
President, Save My Louisiana, Inc
318-485-1347
Col(r) Mark T. Guillory
Director, Save My Louisiana Advisory Council
318-308-2541
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