Foreign relations: A statewide one-day Cuba business summit is set to take place on June 22 in New Orleans. The summit is the brainchild of the Louisiana Alliance for Cuba, a consortium of business and municipal entities promoting trade between Louisiana and Cuba. Workshops will offer insights on Cuba’s culture, infrastructure and economy. They’ll also dive into individual sectors such as agriculture, hospitality and mining, as well as the legal framework for doing business in Cuba. Speakers include Eduardo Bencomo Zurdos, director of Canec S.A. and former president of the International Finance Bank of Cuba; and Jose Oro, the former director for Cuba’s Ministry of Basic Industries, among others. Registration for the summit still is open. The event cost $100.
An opposing side: Louisiana has joined a campaign led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that calls for an end to a probe into ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel companies over false statements on climate change. Fuelfix.com reports that Republican attorneys general from 13 states—including Louisiana’s Jeff Landry—signed an open letter to their Democrat colleagues in other states arguing that climate change is a public policy debate, not a criminal matter. They’re also urging law enforcement officials in other states to “stop policing viewpoints.” In late March, a coalition of Democratic AGs formed after reports that Exxon executives funded research to block and cover up the climate risks associated with carbon dioxide emissions. AGs in Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands have subpoenaed Exxon for decades of research and communications about climate change from think tanks and universities. Read the full story.
In court: A trial is set to open today in New Orleans dealing with deaths, injuries and damages from an explosion and fire on an oil platform off Louisiana’s coast, The Associated Press reports. The civil trial arises from the November 2012 explosion aboard the platform owned by Black Elk Energy. Three workers died in the disaster. The platform was about 17 miles from Grand Isle in about 50 feet of water. Maintenance work was being done on it and it wasn’t producing when the blast occurred. The case combines nine lawsuits. Relatives of the dead and injured workers as well as companies doing contract work on the platform are involved. The trial will take place in multiple phases, the first dealing with Black Elk’s legal relationship with contractors.
