Dialog and debate are important, and I welcome the opportunity to engage on the sequestration of carbon waste in western and central Louisiana. I offer these words with respect and seriousness.
On 27 Feb 2026, Ms. Lemoine criticized the “what-ifs” being raised by concerned citizens in Vernon and Rapides parishes and suggested we are short-sighted for not embracing the promised jobs and growth. Fair enough. Wrong, but I understand the point she is trying to get across. No one is rejecting industry or jobs. Here are a few of my own “what-ifs” for consideration by Ms. Lemoine and by all who ae paying attention to this debate.
What if the author of the 2009 legislation that opened the door to carbon burial (Rep. Jim Morris) had known then what we know now? In his floor speech, all he told colleagues was, “We’re putting carbon in the ground,” and “This is complicated.” He did not appear fully informed. He didn’t explain anything. He certainly didn’t seem to know this day would be coming.
What if the legislators at that time had perfect knowledge of where we would be today? I believe many members — including my own — would have asked much harder questions.
What if the industry sponsors who pushed Senator Sharon Hewitt’s 2020 bill had told her about the Satartia pipeline rupture? What if they had admitted the true intent was not to bury carbon only in depleted oil fields, but in unmapped subsurface zones with no definable traps like in Vernon Parish?
What if the special interests that backed these bills had done real due diligence on the risks — including potential damage to our water supply, family land, and the second-largest Army training range in America — instead of hoping the details would slip through under cover of darkness?
There are real risks here. This is not like betting on a product that might or might not sell, where the only but serious downside is bankruptcy. Much more is at stake — our groundwater, our land, our way of life, and our national security infrastructure.
What if the industry Ms. Lemoine speaks of would maybe consider another place to send their captured carbon? No one from around here is fighting the production and sale of wood products (biomass). We want wood pellet and other timber producers to come here. It’s what they do with carbon that is the consternation. We are voracious users of pipelines in Louisiana, right? What if they pipe the carbon to the Gulf and put it under the ocean floor? No one EVER thinks of that or even addresses it. It appears to be ALL OR NOTHING in the CENLA HUB—in Vernon Parish. What if we think outside the box?
A full, transparent debate has never taken place on these issues. One side or the other always feels like discussions are slanted or one-sided. Why not have a public debate? I extend this public invitation: I will bring a geologist, an environmental scientist, and an engineer, and you can bring who you wish. Maybe we can get Moon Griffon and Brian Haldane to be the moderators. Let’s sit down in Vernon or Rapides Parish and have an honest discussion — no spin, no slogans, just facts.
The people of Central Louisiana deserve nothing less.
PS What if people stop lying about the Sierra Club being behind the efforts in CENLA? They’re not. They came to a meeting. They might have visited with some folks, but the opposition to carbon burial is not funded by leftists and most of us want nothing to do with the green scam they still relish. Opposition is organic and local and it’s NOT left wing. No one around here is fighting oil and gas, timber or progress.
Very respectfully,
Charles A. Owen
State Representative, District 30
Member, Central Louisiana Delegation, Louisiana Rural Caucus, Louisiana Freedom Caucus
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