INDReporter

Louisiana eyes clean energy projects with Volkswagen settlement money

The state is set to collect $18 million as part of the federal government’s settlement with Volkswagen over the auto maker’s emissions scandal.

DEQ Secretary Chuck Brown

Baton Rouge’s Business Report notes in a Wednesday story that state officials are hoping to use $18 million in settlement money from Volkswagen for clean energy projects like fuel-efficient school buses. The state is set to collect the money as part of the federal government’s settlement with Volkswagen over the auto maker’s emissions scandal.

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Chuck Brown gave government, business and environmental leaders at Louisiana Clean Fuels’ annual meeting today an outline of how the state plans to spend Louisiana’s chunk of the $4.3 billion VW will pay as part of its emissions-rigging settlement with the U.S. government. Brown highlighted the alternative energy projects that will come from the deal.

The process is underway on securing the money and getting the federal government to approve Louisiana’s plan for spending it, Brown said. States will get money based on how many such diesel engines were purchased from the company, and must follow federal rules on how to spend it.

For Louisiana, the settlement will likely mean replacing the diesel engines in school buses—including in East Baton Rouge Parish—with ones that run on compressed natural gas, electricity or other clean fuels. Other projects could include investing in clean energy for ferries, ocean vessels, trucks and forklifts, among other things.

Read the story here.