'Stop Wasting Public Money': Climate Groups Slam Carbon Capture Scam

Climate organizations this week are calling out new legislation that would pour even more money into the "false solution" of carbon capture technology, which they warn is just a distraction by the fossil fuel industry that does nothing to address the climate crisis.

Advocates of bold climate action are taking aim at the Captured Carbon Utilization Parity Act (S. 542/H.R. 1262), introduced by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) on Tuesday.

As a summary from the senators details, the bill would boost the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture and utilization (CCU) "to match the incentives for carbon capture and storage (CCS) for both direct air capture (DAC) and the power and industrial sectors."

Specifically, it would increase the value for DAC utilization to $180 per metric ton and for power and industrial sector utilization to $85 per metric ton—a move that the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates would cost $16 million over the next decade.

A White House Council on Environmental Quality report from 2021 explains that utilization "refers to the potential for using captured CO2 to make products, like concrete or plastics. CCU is a broad term used to describe the many different ways that captured CO2 can be used or 'recycled' to produce economically valuable products or services."

"We have real and proven solutions to address the climate crisis that don't harm communities already overburdened with pollution."

Many frontline communities and climate groups have long criticized efforts to develop and implement such operations—and the potential investment of public money into them—because of both local and global impacts, and instead demanded a swift and just transition to renewables.

"We have real and proven solutions to address the climate crisis that don't harm communities already overburdened with pollution," Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Sarah Lutz said Wednesday. "The Captured Carbon Utilization Parity Act will only undermine the needed transition away from fossil fuels."

"There is no legitimate reason to double down on subsidies for fossil fuel and petrochemical industry greenwashing scams," she continued. "Sen. Whitehouse should not work with Republicans to light taxpayer money on fire at the expense of our communities and climate."

Food & Water Watch similarly stressed that "it is time to stop wasting public money on bogus tech" while pointing out that tax credit just jumped from $50 per ton of sequestered CO2 to $85 per ton under the Inflation Reduction Act, a historic but flawed package that President Joe Biden signed last year.

"Carbon capture supporters like to talk about it as a climate fix, but the fact that it is backed by oil and gas giants tells you everything you need to know," said the group's policy director, Jim Walsh. "The fossil fuel industry has pulled off a remarkable trick by rebranding oil drilling as a form of pollution reduction."

Walsh warned that "this bill would steer more public money towards dirty energy and plastic production under the guise of reducing climate pollution, which would be better spent building genuinely clean energy sources rather than propping up the very industries that are destroying our planet."

"This is pro-polluter scam technology that serves the interests of fossil fuel companies, increases pollution in communities, and does nothing to help the climate."

"It's time for lawmakers to see the truth about carbon capture and sequestration: This is pro-polluter scam technology that serves the interests of fossil fuel companies, increases pollution in communities, and does nothing to help the climate," he said.

Collin Rees, United States program manager at Oil Change International, also piled on the CCU bill Wednesday.

"Carbon capture, utilization, and storage is a dangerous distraction from the urgent work needed to actually confront the climate crisis, including a rapid and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels," he said. "Giving more public money to prolong Big Oil’s political power and profits is the wrong approach and a poor use of public funds."

"Rather than expand subsidies for false fixes like carbon capture yet again, policymakers should support existing bills," Rees argued, pointing to a proposal from Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) "to end subsidies for enhanced oil recovery" as well as the End Polluter Welfare Act, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) "to phase out all fossil fuel subsidies."