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Louisiana Energy Protection Act Clears Legislature
In a decisive bipartisan vote Friday, the House concurred in amendments to HB 804 by Chairman Brett Geymann (R-Lake Charles) on a 93-4 vote, sending the Louisiana Energy Protection Act to the governor’s desk for signature.
The legislation represents a major victory for Louisiana’s energy producers, manufacturers, job creators and families by proactively protecting the state from the growing wave of politically motivated climate-change litigation spreading across the country.
HB 804 establishes Louisiana’s clear public policy position: the state supports responsible energy production and rejects attempts to hold individual companies liable for the global impacts of climate change through speculative litigation. With more than 30 climate-related lawsuits already pending nationwide—and new cases continuing to emerge—lawmakers acted to ensure Louisiana does not become the next target of activist-driven lawfare.
“It gives you, the policymakers, the lawmakers, the ability to establish the policy of this state, not entrepreneurial plaintiffs and not unpredictable courts looking to weaponize our legal system against our citizens, against our farmers, against our businesses, and against our industries,” LABI President and CEO Will Green testified before House Natural Resources.
Climate litigation has increased exponentially over the past decade, with more than four times as many lawsuits filed in 2023 as in 2013. The scope of these cases has also expanded dramatically, moving beyond traditional environmental claims into sweeping “climate accountability” lawsuits seeking massive financial damages from employers and industries.
Across the country, states and local governments are increasingly targeting energy producers and related industries through lawsuits tied to wildfires, flooding, sea-level rise and extreme weather events. These cases threaten to drive up energy costs, discourage investment and undermine economic growth.
HB 804 protects a broad cross-section of Louisiana’s economy, including oil and gas production, refining and petrochemicals, LNG exports and pipelines, electric utilities, agriculture and livestock, forestry, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, mining, construction, commercial fishing and small businesses.
Importantly, the legislation does not shield bad actors from accountability. Companies that violate emissions laws, environmental statutes or permit requirements remain fully liable under existing law. Instead, the bill ensures plaintiffs cannot pursue speculative claims based solely on alleged contributions to global climate change without identifying a specific violation of state or federal law.
LABI strongly supported HB 804 because these lawsuits threaten the very industries Louisiana is working to recruit, grow and retain. The legislation will help safeguard hundreds of thousands of jobs, strengthen Louisiana’s competitiveness with other energy-producing states and protect families and businesses from the higher costs that inevitably follow opportunistic litigation.