Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

Louisiana saw a 49% increase in electric vehicle charging stations between 2023 and 2024, putting it among the U.S. leaders in EV charging infrastructure growth, according to an annual report. Pictured is a public charger in downtown Baton Rouge.

Louisiana second in the nation when it comes to EV charger growth

But the state still lags behind most others in its rollout of federally-funded chargers along the interstate highway system.

Louisiana leaders broke ground on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project on Aug. 10, 2023, but construction on the project has been delayed. Two separate lawsuits are challenging the impacts it could have on the state’s coastline. Louisiana is in danger of losing the more than $2 billion allocated for the project if it doesn’t commit to seeing it through.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana could be out billions of dollars if controversial coastal restoration stalls

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

The feds threaten to withhold $2.2 billion from the massive effort to save and restore the state’s diminishing coastline if leaders don’t act soon.

This is the International-Matex Tank Terminals’ 216-tank bulk liquid facility that stores products including ethanol, diesel and petroleum products in St. Rose, La. The company is partnering with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network to install four air monitoring sensors in the surrounding predominantly Black neighborhood after being fined for violating the federal Clean Air Act.

Coastal Desk

Unlikely alliance forms to boost community air monitoring in Louisiana

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

A bulk storage facility plans to join with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network to monitor air quality in a ‘Cancer Alley’ community.

The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a man-made navigational channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, is deemed a critical protection asset for the greater New Orleans area, and in 2017 was added to the list of restoration projects identified by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Coastal Desk

As funding dries up for Louisiana’s coastal restoration program, advocates are strategizing to sustain it

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

A coalition of environmental groups is pushing 18 projects to protect Gulf Coast communities from land loss and storm damage.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, left, embraces Robert Taylor, head of Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish, during a visit in 2021.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana federal court permanently blocks civil rights protections for Black communities statewide

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

The new ruling bars Louisiana from considering whether to permit industrial facilities in communities already facing a disparate impact from pollution.

Residents in communities surrounding Lake Maurepas in southeast Louisiana have voiced passionate opposition to a carbon capture and sequestration project that could pump 5 million tons of carbon dioxide underneath the lake.

Coastal Desk

Like carbon dioxide, this Louisiana task force’s work is deep underground

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

A report due in February still hasn’t been submitted after a series of public meetings; leaders of the carbon capture and sequestration study are mum.