Photo courtesy of Air Products
Political hostility and public distrust are likely to blame for the recent cancellation of the massive Air Products & Chemicals Clean Energy Complex in Louisiana, according to industry analysts who see potential ripple effects for the petrochemical industry.
Air Products announced Tuesday it has canceled the hydrogen manufacturing facility it had planned in Ascension Parish and an accompanying carbon capture project to transport and store carbon dioxide from the site under Lake Maurepas. All told, the company had plans to invest $8 billion in Louisiana.
Since it was announced in 2021, the project faced increasing political headwinds, including the loss of clean energy tax incentives at the federal level and public resistance against carbon sequestration and industrial expansion at the local level, Baton Rouge-based economist David Dismukes said.
“I’m not super surprised,” Dismukes said in a phone interview. “It became such a hot button political issue.”