The CF Industries fertilizer complex in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on June 30th, 2022. | Photo by Emily Kask for The Washington Post via Getty Images
A massive effort to capture the pollution causing climate change is marching forward in Louisiana, and it’s becoming a major flashpoint in the debate over how to clean up an “energy state” speckled with fossil fuel and petrochemical plants.
This week, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced an “unprecedented” collaboration between two oil and gas giants, ExxonMobil and EnLink Midstream, and leading ammonia producer CF Industries. In what they’re calling the “largest-of-its-kind commercial agreement,” the three companies will attempt to capture 2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, transport the gas across the state, and bury it underground.