Why carbon capture is a false solution

2023 marked one of the largest public investments in climate action in American history. But behind the large sums of the Infrastructure Reduction Act (IRA) is a maze of capital deployment in which communities have little insight into plans and technologies, says Ana Baptistadana Johnson and Dana Johnson in Common Dreams.

Among these are huge investments in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), utilization (CCUS), and direct air capture projects, which are branded as quick solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Instead, they often enable further fossil fuel reliance — with a huge amount of CCS capacity going to “enhanced oil recovery,” a process of injecting captured CO2 into depleted oil wells to recover more oil — show little sign of effectiveness, disproportionately burden environmental justice communities, and come with huge risks.

While federal agencies have stated they are implementing new regulatory processes to advance community benefit agreements and public engagement, none of these come with sufficient protections or “the right to say no.’” Thanks to the IRA, these projects can access federal tax credits, such as 45Q and 45V tax credits, that provide benefits without oversight.

Notes the authors: “This is a con job on the American public that will funnel funds into risky projects ultimately helping fossil fuel companies and perpetuating the systems that caused the climate crisis.”