"When two companies planning carbon capture projects appeared before the Livingston Parish Council this week, residents overcrowded the parking lot and packed shoulder to shoulder into the hearing room to speak out against them.

The council had already voted to block not just those plans, which would pump carbon into the ground near Holden and under Lake Maurepas, but all injection wells for a year. Yet residents still showed up in force, accusing some leaders of keeping the projects quiet and siding with big companies instead of their constituents.

“The project is moving way too fast. They run in here with the big money talk, bully, bully, bully our communities,” Kinion Bankston, a North Albany resident told state representatives. “Help us stop this, man. We love that lake. We absolutely love that lake.”"

Lara Nicholson and Jacqueline DeRobertis report for Nola.com September 30, 2022. [2]