KALB Exclusive: Sen. Cassidy addresses climate initiatives, disaster mitigation as hurricane season looms

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - In the peak of hurricane season in the Atlantic, many Louisiana residents are still in the process of recovering from past disasters.

The repeated threat of devastating storms and erosion impacting the coast has become a focus of legislation for Sen. Bill Cassidy, who sat down with News Channel 5 during a visit with Central Louisiana stakeholders to discuss how legislators are looking to protect the state in the years to come.

For instance, flood mitigation is a priority for all of the state. After FEMA changed its risk rating system in 2021, Cassidy sponsored the Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act to make the agency forthcoming about how they now calculate premiums.

FEMA Risk Rating 2.0 will impact 80% of the state’s policyholders and increase premiums up to at least 18% every year.

For Cassidy, his legislation is about ensuring the power of information for Louisiana residents.

”I want to build a neighborhood. I want to build a house,” explained Cassidy. “What’s gonna be my future flood premium? You can’t find that out. My neighbor pays way high. I don’t pay very much at all. My neighbor wants to pay why she’s paying more than I am.”

However, legislation is not just about protecting residents from the damage of natural disasters after-the-fact.

“The more secure our coastline, the less likely that storms come all the way inland. And so we need to have that forward edge of protection.”

It is not just natural disasters and flooding wreaking havoc on the Louisiana coast.

“Clearly sea levels are rising,” said Cassidy. “Now in Louisiana’s case, our land is also sinking. So, between the two, we’ve lost more land to the ocean than any other state in the nation.”

The impact of rising sea levels does not just impact parishes in South Louisiana, but the effects are also felt directly in places further north, like Central Louisiana.

Cassidy recalled how he talked to one Shreveport resident a couple of years back, who recalled not having seen a major hurricane hit that far north in the state in his lifetime. The same year, a major hurricane with high winds and high water made its way to the Shreveport region.

”When the Gulf of Mexico rises, the Mississippi River backs up all the way to Minnesota, which means it certainly backs up all the way to Alexandria going through the Red River. And so that ocean rises, our rivers have a harder time dumping out, which means that we are more prone to flooding here. So, when we talk about decreasing the risk of flooding, it’s not just on the coastline, it’s in Cenla and it’s in North Louisiana, as well.”

Those efforts are all happening to not only preserve the land carrying the weight of the state’s key industries or the homes of those scattered along the state’s coastline, but it is also about preserving the generational cultures having called Louisiana home for hundreds of years.

“Louisiana has such a unique culture,” said Cassidy. “It’s the reason folks love to visit. We want them to love to stay.”

Billions of dollars have gone toward coastal restoration, levee fortification and flood mitigation through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Looking ahead, though, the senator said Louisiana must adapt business and industry to lower-carbon production, an idea he spoke on at the North Rapides Business and Industry Alliance’s monthly meeting, following a tour of Crest Industry’s facilities at the Central Louisiana Regional Port.

”I had the good fortune to tour with Crest Industries today,” noted Cassidy at NRBIA. “They’re on the front edge of that. It’s an incredible business opportunity. They’re taking advantage of that. Similarly, if this parish, this area of the state, takes full advantage of this, there will be more things like Cleco, which is investing in carbon capture sequestration, which will attract businesses to North Rapides and the surrounding parishes to take advantage of that. So, [we need to] catch up where we are, and build for the future.”

Lower-carbon production is a goal Crest has set for itself as it looks to expand its electrical grid, as well as Cleco Power through its carbon sequestration Project Diamond Vault at their Brame Energy Center.

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