Things got heated at Woody Jenkins’ Republican Newsmaker luncheon Tuesday when Connie Hair, Louisiana Director of the State Freedom Caucus Network, confronted U.S. Senate candidate John Fleming over his record on carbon capture.

The clash came after weeks of tension between Fleming’s campaign and members of the Louisiana Freedom Caucus, lawmakers who have led the conservative fight against carbon capture. In an odd twist, Fleming’s campaign has been attacking the same Louisiana Freedom Caucus members who are fighting hardest to defend landowners from carbon capture land grabs.

You can find the pertinent video here.

At Tuesday’s luncheon, Hair directly challenged Fleming’s repeated claim that he is the only candidate in the U.S. Senate race who has never voted in favor of carbon capture.

“It was brought to my attention last night and I looked it up online,” Hair said. “You voted in favor of a carbon capture bill in Congress. HB 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015. It allowed Barack Obama’s Secretary of Energy to increase carbon capture funding in Section 1109. You were an ‘Aye.’ I have it right here on my computer and can show you.”

She continued, “I would appreciate it if you would stop telling people that you’re the only one in the U.S. Senate race that has never voted in favor of carbon capture. You might not have known what was in the bill. People make mistakes. But your people keep beating up on good Louisiana Freedom Caucus members. I want this to stop.”

Hair noted that the bill gave the Obama administration authority to expand carbon capture programs through increased research and funding, and she credited the U.S. Senate for ultimately stopping the measure.

Fleming did not dispute her account of his vote, replying only, “You can rake through eight years of bills and try to find votes like that.”

Hair’s quick retort: “Exactly.”

Ironically, one of the legislators he and his campaign have attacked, Rep. Chuck Owen, was the very person who brought Fleming into the carbon capture fight back in May. Fleming has publicly admitted that before that time, he knew little about carbon capture, despite having voted specifically to allow then President Obama to increase funding for it in 2015.

Fleming is now trying to say that in a time when little was known about carbon capture, all the House Freedom Caucus members and most all Republicans voted for HR8 along with him in 2015. Yet for many months members of the Louisiana Freedom Caucus have tried to explain to him the same thing happened here. This was at a time the dangers of carbon capture were not widely known. Like the bill he voted for, all Republicans in the Louisiana legislature voted for the Sharon Hewitt bill in 2020. So, after misleading everyone since May, John Fleming is asking the voters of Louisiana for grace for his pro-carbon capture vote but wouldn’t allow that same grace to anyone in the Louisiana legislature.

Fleming rejected the notion that while conservatives were fighting vaccine mandates and to reopen churches and businesses during John Bel Edwards’ lockdowns, the Hewitt bill was sold to the legislature as economic recovery post-COVID for the oil and gas industry. There was literally no debate on this bill during the COVID frenzy, just a rushed vote to push the bill through.

Grace for me but not for thee.

This year, the Fleming campaign spent its time shooting conservative legislators in the back for political purposes. The Louisiana Freedom Caucus instead joined with other conservatives and fought for private property rights. In a 12+-hour marathon, Reps. Owen, Brett Geymann, Rodney Schamerhorn, and Danny McCormick waged the battle in the House Natural Resources Committee, with Sens. Blake Miguez and Valarie Hodges working the Senate. Their efforts finally yielded some wins for property owners:

• HB 304 keeps eminent domain disputes local, with parish juries deciding—not Baton Rouge bureaucrats.
• SB 73 raises the approval threshold for CCUS unitization to 85% of landowners and blocks shady “land man” tactics.
• SB 244 closes loopholes by treating CO₂ pipelines like real commodity pipelines, making eminent domain far harder.
• HB 691 adds strict safety and reporting rules for carbon storage operators.

Thanks to these conservative warriors, the Louisiana Freedom Caucus has led the effort to build a beachhead against the carbon capture land grab. There is still a lot more to do but this is a start.

As for Fleming, he would do well to instruct his campaign to stop throwing stones at his own glass house.