On the docket: A hearing is taking place this morning to discuss Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry’s effort to block Gov. John Bel Edwards’ order banning discrimination in state government against LGBT people. The Associated Press reports Landry is asking a judge to issue a preliminary injunction, prohibiting Edwards from enforcing the order. Landry says the Democratic governor’s anti-discrimination order violates state law and exceeds the governor’s authority. Edwards, meanwhile, accuses Landry of playing politics and says he has the legal authority to issue the protection order he released in April. The order prohibits discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The order does not apply to contractors that are religious organizations. Landry has blocked dozens of contracts to let state agencies hire outside lawyers that contain the anti-discrimination clause.
Tiger to the top: International Paper Chairman and CEO Mark Sutton, an LSU graduate, is the new chairman of the U.S.-Russia Business Council. Sutton assumed the chairmanship at the council’s annual meeting that took place in San Francisco late last week. The U.S.-Russia Business Council is a nonprofit trade association of roughly 160 companies that offer a nonpartisan platform for the discussion and advancement of U.S.-Russia commercial relations, according to a news release. The council actively seeks Russia’s continued integration into the rules-based global economy. Sutton became CEO of Memphis, Tennessee-based International Paper in 2014 and chairman of the board in January 2015. He holds a LSU Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. Read the full announcement.
On the way up: BASF announced this morning that it has started engineering on a project to increase production of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (also known as MDI) at the company’s Verbund site in Geismar. BASF says MDI capacity at its Geismar plant will be incrementally increased from 300,000 metric tons per year to around 600,000 metric tons per year. MDI is a component for polyurethanes, a versatile plastics material. It contributes to improved insulation, provides lighter materials for cars, and helps save energy in buildings. “Our existing infrastructure at the Geismar site combined with the competitive raw materials based on shale gas make the Geismar site ideally suited for this investment,” says Stefan Doerr, head of the regional business unit Monomers North America, in a news release.
