Carbon Capture Is Giving a Second Life to Fossil Fuels – But It Doesn’t Have To

On summer days in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, where towns stretch along the Mississippi River, the evening breeze draws people outside after a sweltering day. But this year, residents are likely to be driven back inside by the strong smell of ammonia.

“It’s a stench you can’t even describe unless you’ve been here,” says Kaitlyn Joshua, a resident of Ascension Parish. Joshua works as an organizer with Earthworks, engaging with locals on the health and environmental risks of oil and gas facilities. When friends visit from out of town, she warns them in advance to ignore the chemical smell. “We can’t sit outside to entertain company on those days, even though we have a beautiful lake in our backyard.”

Ascension Parish is packed with oil and…