Last night, Federal District Judge Terry Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking President Biden's Executive Order 14008 that halts all new oil leasing permits on federal land. LOGA President Mike Moncla described this ruling as a "win for every worker in the country, but especially in Louisiana where we depend so much on the Gulf of Mexico."

Formosa Plastics has plans to build a $9.4 billion plant in St. James Parish, a proposal that has backing from Republican and Democratic leaders in the state. In response to this proposed investment by Formosa, several attorneys' general from the northeastern United States have published a joint letter scrutinizing the creation of the plant and calling for federal government intervention. that the plant would result in a negative environmental impact on their respective states. Louisiana officials have criticized this external political pressure, and reiterate the creation of new jobs and investment this plant would bring to the state.

State and local governments have been trying to extract tens of billions of dollars from fossil-fuel producers for contributing to climate change. But a 7-1 majority of the Supreme Court on Monday decided an important procedural question in BP v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore that could put a lid on these suits.

Louisiana continues to lose jobs and revenue to the tune of billions annually. The current total impact of these costs results in$3.87 billion in lost economic activity, 22,550 in job losses and losses of$1.12 billion in lost wages for hardworking Louisianans. This translates to an annual hidden “tort tax” of $451 currently being paid by every single Louisiana resident. Were Louisiana to enact additional reforms, the resulting savings to residents and businesses would be an estimated$2.1 billion.

No matter how hard we may try, humans are always going to need oil.Some environmentalists want to ban drilling, stop building pipelines and close refineries and petrochemical plans. But even renewable energy companies need lubricants, paint and chemicals. Electrification will not be the end of oil.Crude has a million applications beyond combustion. We may need less oil in the future, but the real challenge is how to extract it sustainably and affordably.