Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy Pushes Natural Gas as Climate SolutionĀ at Contentious Town Hall Meetings

Julie-Dermansky-022
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Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy’s constituents packed emotionally charged town hall meetings across the state during Congressā€™ February break, a trend seen in other meetings with lawmakers around theĀ country.Ā 

At Sen. Cassidyā€™s first town hall in Denham Springs, which was ground zero for the 1,000 year flood that devastated parts of southern Louisiana last year,Ā the senatorĀ focused on flood recoveryĀ efforts.

While Sen. Cassidy mentioned that lowering greenhouse gas emissions would ā€œtheoreticallyā€ be good for sea level rise, he failed to connect climate change to the regionā€™s extreme floods. Instead, he praised President Donald Trumpā€™s goals of bringing backĀ manufacturing jobs to the United States, which could then be powered by the nationā€™s natural gasĀ reserves.

Flooded homes visible from above in Livingston Parish, Louisiana
Aerial view of 2016 flooding in Livingston Parish, the Louisiana parish in which Sen. Cassidyā€™s first of five town halls was held during the February 2017 CongressionalĀ recess.

ā€œIf President Trump is successful in having industry move back to the United States, using our natural gas, renewables, and nuclear instead ofĀ Chinaā€™s coal, that will dramatically decrease global greenhouse gas emissions,ā€œ CassidyĀ said.Ā 

Cassidyā€™s statements mirror former President Obamaā€™s claim that natural gas is a ā€œbridge fuelā€ to cleaner energy sources, but evidence shows that natural gas production has a significant impact on the environment and is not a clean energyĀ source.Ā 

Instead, leaking methane from natural gas development adds more climate pollution to the mix. The Obama administration passed the Methane Waste and Prevention Rule in November 2016 to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, but Congress is in the process of rolling back the new rule.Ā 

ā€œClearly the United States has made great efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emissions,ā€ Sen. Cassidy said,Ā but instead went on to cite successĀ in curtailingĀ the air pollutants from power plants and vehicles that lead to smog and acid rain,Ā as required by the Clean Air Act. He made sure to point outĀ thatĀ China does not have the same kind of protections, and its power plants continue to spew outĀ pollutants.Ā 

Environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, have expressed disappointment that Sen. CassidyĀ and Pres.Ā TrumpĀ areĀ encouraging further development ofĀ the fossil fuelĀ industry.Ā 

ā€œWe agree that America must invest in jobs and combat climate change, but, rather than doubling down on dirty fossil fuels that will onlyĀ exacerbate climate change, we should continue the investment in the fastest growing energy job market, clean, renewable energy,ā€Ā MelindaĀ Pierce, Sierra Clubā€™sĀ legislativeĀ director,Ā toldĀ DeSmog in an email. ā€œCountries around the globe ā€” including China ā€” have made massiveĀ investments in this energy, while Cassidy and Trump continue to stand against clean energy jobs and climate action at everyĀ turn.ā€

Sen. Cassidy shakes hands with a woman in a pink hat at a town hall meeting.
Sen. Cassidy talking to a worried constituent after the meeting who thanked him for taking questions from those who oppose hisĀ views.

Cassidy on ClimateĀ Change

After his first public meeting, I asked Sen. Cassidy if he thoughtĀ humans played a role in climate change. Instead of answering my question,Ā he spoke about the unfairĀ global marketplaceĀ resulting fromĀ ChinaĀ not havingĀ to abide by the same rules as other countries, insisting China ā€œmakes almost no effortā€ to limit air pollutants, specifically sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, from coal powerĀ plants.Ā 

(While it continues to struggle with air quality, China plans to cap its coal consumption by 2020, and is making great strides with solar energy, doubling its solar power capacity in 2016.)Ā 

Each time I asked about climate change, Sen. Cassidy answered instead with a reference to sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides as if they were the top greenhouse gases contributing to current climate change rather than carbon dioxide andĀ methane.

A trailer in front of a flood-damaged home in Louisiana.
In Denham Springs, Louisiana, on Feb. 21, 2017,Ā a FEMA trailer sits in front of a home that has not been restored since the 1,000 year flood the previousĀ August.

Sen. Cassidy was one of the sevenĀ senatorsĀ whoĀ asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reconsider a new rule requiring states toĀ address climate change in disaster planning and preparedness as a condition for federal disaster mitigation grants. A letter they sent to FEMAĀ states:Ā ā€œWhen it comes to the relationship between climate change and extreme weather events, there remains to be any indication or trend toĀ show there have been increases in their occurrence orĀ intensity.ā€

In the letter, the senators went on to write that there are growing doubts about the conclusiveness of scientific research linking human activities to a warming climate and tying climate change to more severe weather. However, climate experts overwhelmingly recognize that humans are changing the climate and these changes are increasing the likelihood of extreme weather, from floods and hurricanes to heat waves andĀ drought.Ā 

Protesters holding signs in the shape of tombstones stand outside Sen. Cassidy's town hall meeting
The crowd of protesters outside Sen. Cassidyā€™s town hall in Metairie,Ā Louisiana.

350 organizer Renate Heurich in front of the crowds outside Sen. Cassidy's town hall meeting in Metaire, Louisiana.
Renate Heurich of the organization 350 outside Sen. Cassidyā€™s town hall meeting in Metairie,Ā Louisiana.Ā 

Renate Heurich, an organizer with the climate advocacy group 350, was disturbed that Sen. Cassidy still refuses toĀ acknowledgeĀ humansā€™ role inĀ climate change. ā€œIt is unfathomable thatĀ Cassidy,Ā a medical doctor, canā€™t make a clear statement about the human impact on climate change,Ā which is increasingly careening out of control,ā€ she told DeSmog.Ā Ā 

ā€œA medical doctor also has the scientific training needed to evaluate scientific data on climate change. My only explanation is willful ignorance andĀ cowardice so he can fit in line with his GOPĀ colleagues.

Sen. Cassidy stands surrounded by constituents, press, and security.
Sen. Cassidy, inside a town hall meeting at a public library inĀ Metairie,Ā Louisiana.

Women protest Sen. Cassidy's town hall meeting with small signs.
Though signs were forbidden in the town hall meetings, some snuck some in under theĀ radar.

In Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, onlyĀ a small fraction of those who showed upĀ toĀ Sen. Cassidyā€™s second town hall meeting could getĀ into a public library room with a capacity for just over 200 people. As the meeting was coming toĀ a close, Sen. Cassidy tried to bring up climate change, but the crowd led him back towardĀ the topics ofĀ health care andĀ education.Ā 

Sen. Cassidy at the podium at one town hall meeting.
Sen. Cassidy having fun with the crowd in Metairie, Louisiana, which often was so loud that he couldnā€™tĀ speak.Ā 

Questioning Whether Trumpā€™s EPA Will Protect VulnerableĀ Communities

Sen. Cassidy took questions from the press afterĀ bothĀ meetings. I pointed out that the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) has had to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Ā to compel it to enforce regulations in the past.Ā How wouldĀ Louisiana fencelineĀ communities fare underĀ EPA administrator ScottĀ Pruitt‘s leadership?Ā He expressed confidence that the EPA would continue enforcing existingĀ regulations.Ā 

LEAN‘s director,Ā Marylee Orr, affirmed thatĀ over the last thirty yearsĀ her organizationĀ has had to ā€œuse petitions and lawsuits to get the agency toĀ act on regulations or get them to move forward on an issue that was affecting a community.ā€Ā Ā 

ManyĀ LEANĀ membersĀ live inĀ fenceline communities,Ā neighborhoods that border refineries and other industrial sites. ā€œThey are deeplyĀ concerned that the EPAā€™s new administrator has sued the agency 13 times on behalf of an oil and gas company,ā€ Orr said. ā€œIt is no secret the Mr.Ā Pruitt championed the rights of ExxonMobilĀ Corporation.ā€Ā 

ā€œSenator Cassidy assures us there will be oversight, but when is the last time he convened a hearing about the EPAā€™s enforcement ofĀ environmental laws?ā€ Ann Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade,Ā asked.Ā 

ā€œHe is sorely out of touch not only with his constituents, but also with hisĀ own neighbors in Baton Rouge. It would take him 15 minutes to cross town and meet people who live with serious air pollution every day. TheseĀ people are sick from Exxon and Honeywell’s pollution. As a physician and a human being he should take the situation seriously, and not pretendĀ that EPA is helpingĀ them.ā€

A protester outside Sen. Cassidy's town hall holds a sign with the First Amendment written on it.
Protester outside Sen. Cassidyā€™s town hall meeting in Metairie,Ā Louisiana.Ā 

A sign protesting gutting the EPA.
Protester outside Sen. Cassidyā€™s town hall with sign expressing concern about the potential gutting of the EPA by the TrumpĀ administration.

Protesters holding signs outside Sen. Cassidy's town hall
An activist identifying as a ā€œwater protector,ā€ as inspired by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against the Dakota Access pipeline, stands outside Sen. Cassidyā€™s town hall in Metairie,Ā Louisiana.Ā 

Main image: Louisiana Sen. Cassidy holds a town hall meeting with constituents in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans.

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityā€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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