Dear Members of Congress: Oppose Dangerous Carbon Capture Subsidies
Congress
One of the gifts our government has given to the fossil fuel industry is a tax credit known as 45Q for capturing and storing carbon emissions. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a false climate solution for a lot of reasons. Here are just a few:
1) It doesn't work. CCS has never worked at scale. The only CCS project that was in operation for a few years was discovered to be leaking CO2 last year.
2) Fossil fuel extraction frequently masquerades as CCS. The vast majority of the projects listed as CCS are actually Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) projects. EOR involves injecting CO2 into a well to loosen up any remaining oil to make it easier to extract. Storing the CO2 is not the objective.
3) CCS is a dangerous, polluting process that involves pipelines, injection wells, and other infrastructure that puts communities at risk. Land can be taken by eminent domain to build this infrastructure, putting our families and communities at risk of leaks, explosions, contaminated water and soil, and polluted air.
4) CCS is used to make dirty hydrogen appear clean. The vast majority of hydrogen produced today is made from methane. Another false climate solution that has been promoted in recent years is hydrogen, still produced from methane, but with CCS added to make it "clean." Like we said, CCS doesn't work, but it also distracts from the dangerous methane emissions that occur during hydrogen production.
5) CCS diverts money and resources from deploying real, available, and scalable climate solutions, like wind and solar.
And, in spite of all of that, the fossil fuel industry can take billions in 45Q tax credits.
We're calling on Congress to repeal 45Q.
Sponsored by
To:
Congress
From:
[Your Name]
We, the undersigned, support a repeal of the federal 45Q tax credit, a massive waste of what could be hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars that benefits private corporations and billionaires while putting communities across the country at risk from dangerous carbon capture infrastructure.
Despite receiving billions in public subsidies, carbon capture remains an expensive and dangerous industry. CO2 pipelines and storage sites pose serious safety hazards, with leaks and ruptures threatening public health, local economies, and emergency response systems.
We must repeal the 45Q tax credit and stop wasting public money on a dangerous and ineffective industry.