As a state that has long been a hub for difficult-to-decarbonize industries, Louisiana has a particularly challenging path to full decarbonization. At the same time, addressing climate change is imperative in a state that is uniquely vulnerable to climate-fueled sea level rise and extreme weather. Both state leadership and the private sector have invested heavily in industrial decarbonization recently, but significant challenges remain. A chief need to address is how those efforts involve and affect the communities that have long been impacted by high-emitting industrial activity in the state, as well as the people who have long been dependent on it.

This brief provides insights from a C2ES roundtable held in May 2022 that explored strategies to decarbonize Louisianian industry in a way that benefits not only the climate, but also the state’s economic competitiveness and the health and prosperity of its residents. It highlights steps needed for Louisiana to decarbonize its industrial sector, the necessity of making communities and workers partners in decarbonization efforts, and processes that can ensure a just, inclusive, and equitable industrial transformation in the state.