Louisiana Chemical Association president Dan Borné wants the state to stop sending money to Tulane University in retaliation for the law school’s involvement in a suit over the Capital Region’s ozone emissions, which he says will hurt the Baton Rouge area economy. “We’re in attainment [with federal ozone standards], but Tulane doesn’t think we’re in attainment, so they’re suing us,” Borné says. “We’re going to tell legislators all over the state, if they want to play hardball by trying to kneecap industry in Baton Rouge, then we should play hardball and kneecap them with their state appropriations.” Borné also is asking member companies to withdraw financial support and stop recruiting at Tulane.
Tulane is a private university, but has tax-exempt status and receives about $900,000 a year for educating state students and occasional matching funds from the Board of Regents to create endowed professorships. Tulane also has some contracts with the state; for example, the medical school has a contract to treat sickle-cell anemia, provost Michael Bernstein says. Bernstein says attacking the lawyer because you don’t like the client’s accusations makes no sense. “I think that guy is out of his mind,” he says. “Those statements betray a lack of awareness about how our legal system works, a lack of awareness about what Tulane is and does in this state, and a lack of comity about sorting through issues in dispute.”—David Jacobs
