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A Bad Business on the Bayou
Chevron finds itself the victim of a political alliance between the tort bar and Louisiana Republicans.
Less than a year after fleeing California’s extreme environmental laws, Chevron now finds itself in a Louisiana courthouse defending itself against a $3 billion claim that World War II-era oil production caused erosion of the state’s coast. The mastermind of the swampland stickup is a politically connected trial lawyer who has leveraged his ties with the state’s Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill—both Republicans—to lead a statewide fight to make oil and gas companies pay for exploration dating back to the 1940s. With friends like these, who needs Gavin Newsom?
On March 13, a jury in Plaquemines Parish heard opening arguments in a case seeking damages for the alleged environmental harm Texaco (now owned by Chevron) caused when it began drilling in the Bayou Gentilly oil field—in 1941. The case, orchestrated by plaintiffs’ attorney John Carmouche, will signal how juries will respond in the 40 other lawsuits that Mr. Carmouche’s firm has brought to hold oil and gas companies liable for Louisiana’s coastal land loss. A plaintiffs’ verdict in Plaquemines Parish could lead to settlements in the billions in these other cases.
Such an outcome would be a boon to plaintiffs’ lawyers, but a disaster for Louisiana’s ability to lead the Trump administration’s energy dominance agenda. In 2022 the New Orleans-based Pelican Institute estimated that Louisiana had 53 to 74 fewer oil wells and would lose between $44 million and $113 million dollars annually because of the litigation risk associated with the coastal lawsuits.
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