By Peyton Gill
The Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry just voted in favor of a $2 billion tax break for Driftwood LNG, LLC. In 2019, the company will begin building a liquefied natural gas export facility in southwest Louisiana. This is yet another company profiting from fossil fuels rather than sustainable energy. That’s a lot of money that could be going into the education budget for our children!
Tax breaks like these are often given to companies because they claim they will create jobs and hire local workers. But the companies getting these tax exemptions are giving Louisiana nothing back in return. The Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) has provided billions of dollars to companies in public subsidies, and these companies have actually cut their net employment. According to a study by Together Louisiana, “Over 20 years, ITEP has provided $23 billion in public subsidies to 1400 companies, which companies, over the subsidy period, have cut their net employment by 26,000 jobs.” The Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP), is state run and is the largest program of state subsidies given to corporations in the United States.
It seems that the government’s main role is to give our tax money to the corporations; this shows who they really represent. Some school boards and towns are starting to push back on this. But lobbying will not work. We need a mass movement of workers to put an end to this thievery.