The quiet burial of a bill in committee rarely draws public attention, but what transpired this week at the Louisiana legislature at the House Natural Resources Committee deserves far more than the procedural death forced upon it by lobbyist largesse to the politicians who killed it. This was a rare glimpse of the raw power of corruption that guts the principles and moral architecture undergirding our constitution.

House Bill 7 (HB7), authored by House Speaker Pro Tem Mike Johnson, wasn’t radical. The bill simply drew a line: eminent domain shouldn’t be used to take private land for private companies under the guise of “public use.”

Eminent domain occupies a narrow constitutional lane, justified only when there is clear public necessity: roads, power lines, true common-carrier oil and gas pipelines that supply the public at large. These are the types of public use that fit into Louisiana’s constitution.

Carbon capture projects aren’t public utilities, they are private ventures built to generate Green New Deal carbon credits, tied to billions in federal subsidies and justified as necessary to sell Louisiana LNG to the European Union.

But here’s the reality: Europe is in crisis. It isn’t facing temporary disruption caused by the conflict in Iran. They’re caught in a Net Zero death spiral that was exposed the moment the oil stopped flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Europe moved away from Russian gas, phased out nuclear in key countries, and expanded unreliable renewables faster than they could possibly meet their population’s energy demands. The consequences of their sanctimonious policy choices have long been catching up with the science.

Now the European Commission is urging people to drive less, fly less, and stay home more, while Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen is already warning that things may not return to normal even when the conflict with Iran ends. That’s not how leaders talk about short-term disruptions, it’s an acknowledgment of the more permanent energy crisis caused by a self-inflicted climate change wound.

Which brings us back to Louisiana’s taxpayer funded, multi-billion-dollar carbon credit boondoggle. Do you really think Europe can afford to pick and carbon credit choose its energy sources in the immediate future? Think back to 2003 when Europe was hit with a heat wave that caused such a strain on their grid that an estimated 70,000 people died because their air conditioners overwhelmed their energy infrastructure.

Why are we wasting billions on carbon credits to prop up their Green New Energy scam?

HB7 sought reality: to protect private property owners from the sort of Green Rush, consumed by greed, that destroys the simple premise laid out in Article I, Section 4 of the Louisiana Constitution which forbids taking one person’s property for another’s private benefit.

The State Freedom Caucus Network salutes the Louisiana Freedom Caucus members who have fought for our people’s private property rights and those on the committee who voted YES led by Chairman Brett Geymann and Rep. Danny McCormick.

Those who voted NO on HB7: the people who are fighting for their property rights aren’t going away, even though the absurd notion of carbon sequestration will.

Connie Hair is the Louisiana State Director for the State Freedom Caucus Network and a veteran of national politics, media, and military service. She has worked on presidential and congressional campaigns, served in the U.S. Army Reserve in Psychological Operations, reported for Human Events on the Capitol Hill Press Corps, served as communications staff for a U.S. Senator and two U.S. Congressmen and spent twelve years as Chief of Staff to a Member of Congress.