Louisiana

Moms are working in Louisiana to fight for clean air and a stable climate. We host events, share information about what’s going on, and create opportunities for mothers to talk to their legislators about their concerns. Please join us in Louisiana, and let us know about your priorities.

What We’re Working On

Tell Governor Landry: Lead on Climate Safety

It is more important than ever for states to act on climate change. States—and their governors—can be powerful leaders in building a clean energy economy. That’s why we’re keeping the drumbeat up on climate for Governor Landry. Climate change is not a hoax, and we must work to slash climate pollution, protect children’s health, and ensure clean air for all. Our future depends on it.

Take Action

Meet Your Louisiana State Organizer

Elizabeth Hauptman

Elizabeth is the Moms Clean Air Force field coordinator in Brighton, Michigan. She also coordinates volunteer engagement for Moms across the U.S. She serves on Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin’s Environmental Advisory Board, the Brighton Area Chamber Environmental Council, and the Citizens’ Advisory Workgroup of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team. Elizabeth’s work with Moms is deeply personal because her son suffers from asthma and is affected by poor air quality. Read Elizabeth’s full bio here.

Pictured: Moms from Louisiana and other states attend a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works hearing.

Contact Elizabeth

Highlights

Moms visit Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to hold petrochemical companies accountable. In March 2023, Louisiana Mom Roishetta Ozane joined Moms’ staff and members from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia at the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing about the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio—to put a face to the communities threatened by plastics and petrochemical pollution. Watch Moms in action.
Louisiana Moms join our members from across the country to demand stronger EPA protections for soot pollution. In February 2023, Roishetta Ozane and more than 60 Moms Clean Air Force staff and members, representing 18 states and DC, testified before EPA at a hearing on proposed federal standards for soot pollution. Read Roishetta’s testimony.
Louisiana Moms join Jane Fonda for Fire Drill Friday. In December 2022, Moms’ Roishetta Ozane gathered with Jane Fonda in Washington, DC, for the first in-person Fire Drill Friday in three years. Roishetta addressed the crowd as the founder and director of the Vessel Project of Louisiana about impacts in her frontline community.
Moms call on President Biden to protect residents of the Gulf Coast. In October 2022, Moms Clean Air Force marched with RISE St. James at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, to demand that President Biden protect communities in Cancer Alley from the petrochemical pollution that’s making them sick. Read more.
Moms Clean Air Force joins local leaders in campaign against harmful petrochemical development in Southeast Louisiana. In the summer of 2021, Moms’ Tonya Calhoun and Heather McTeer Toney traveled to St. James Parish, Louisiana, as part of our partnership with local organization RISE St. James in their fight against Formosa Plastics and their $9.4 billion Sunshine Project.

Events and Resources in Louisiana

Why We Care

More than 150 plastics and petrochemical facilities dot the banks of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, putting Louisianans at risk. The plastics industry creates extraordinary amounts of pollution, including benzene, formaldehyde, PFAS, and vinyl chloride. Breathing air pollution from plastics and petrochemical facilities can increase risk of cancer, adverse birth outcomes, respiratory illness, and kidney disease.

Louisiana is also experiencing more frequent climate-fueled heat waves and some of its hottest summers on record. On average, 2,700 Louisianans visit the emergency room for heat-related illness each year, and this number will grow as summer temperatures rise.

Communities along the coast have seen the sea level rise more than 2 feet over the last 70 years, one of the highest rates in the world. Louisiana is home to the largest population center at risk of sea-level rise: New Orleans. Sea-level rise combined with heavier rainfall contributes to frequent tidal flooding. Without action on climate change, by 2045 more than 34,000 households in the state will be at risk of chronic flooding and displacement.

Past Events

March 2023

On March 9, Moms Clean Air Force showed up in force for the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing about the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. No one from the community was invited to testify at the hearing, so three Moms members from East Palestine came to put a face to the disaster. Moms Clean Air Force staff and members from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Louisiana, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, DC, also attended. Watch our Moms in action.

On March 4, Moms Clean Air Force Louisiana coordinator Roishetta Ozane joined the League of Women Voters of Louisiana for their annual state convention, this year titled “Envirocivics: Environment, Communities and Democracy.” Roishetta and her fellow speakers, including General Russel Honore, Colette Pichon Battle, and Andrew Jacoby, addressed the political, social, and economic dimensions of Louisiana’s environmental issues.

February 2023

In February, Moms Clean Air Force Louisiana coordinator Roishetta Ozane joined more than 60 Moms Clean Air Force staff and members across the country to testify at the EPA hearing on proposed federal standards for soot pollution. Read Roishetta’s testimony here.

January 2023

On January 23, Moms Clean Air Force Louisiana coordinator Roishetta Ozane helped distribute food with the Second Harvest Food Bank at the Calcasieu Parish Workforce Center.

On January 16, Moms Clean Air Force Louisiana coordinator Roishetta Ozane participated in the MLK Day Beach Cleanup at McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge Beach. The event was sponsored by Moms Clean Air Force, the Vessel Project of Louisiana, the Resilience Is Power Program, Climate Justice Texas, and the Sierra Club.

On January 10, 11, and 12, more than 60 Moms Clean Air Force staff and members from 21 states and Washington, DC, spoke out at EPA’s virtual public hearing about its updated proposal to cut methane and other harmful pollutants from new and existing oil and gas operations. Moms Clean Air Force Louisiana coordinator Roishetta Ozane offered testimony. Read Roishetta’s testimony here.

December 2022

On December 2, Moms Clean Air Force Louisiana coordinator Roishetta Ozane joined Jane Fonda in DC for the first in-person Fire Drill Friday in three years. Roishetta addressed the crowd as the founder and director of the Vessel Project of Louisiana about impacts in her frontline community.

Moms Louisiana coordinator Roishetta Ozane (far right) marches with Taylor Schilling, Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Jane Fonda, and Jerome Foster II in Washington, DC, December 2022. Photo by Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for Moms Clean Air Force

Moms staff in the crowd at Fire Drill Friday in Freedom Plaza, Washington, DC, December 2022. Photo by Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for Moms Clean Air Force

October 2022

On October 25, Moms Clean Air Force joined RISE St. James at Freedom Plaza in DC to demand that President Biden protect communities in Cancer Alley from the petrochemical pollution that’s making them sick.

September 2019

Community Rx consultant Tonya Calhoun, Moms’ National Field Director Heather McTeer Toney, and Moms’ Texas field organizer Catherine Flowers attended the National Baptist Convention (NBC) in New Orleans.