Congress needs to help make American energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, without raising costs on consumers. That’s why I, along with a bipartisan group of Senators, introduced the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies Act, or simply, the USE IT Act. We held a Senate hearing on this bill several weeks ago.
The USE IT Act would encourage the commercial use of man-made carbon dioxide emissions and support the use of carbon capture technology, including direct air capture. The legislation also expedites permitting for carbon dioxide pipelines in order to move the carbon dioxide from where it is captured to where it is stored or used. America should reduce emissions through innovation, not punishing government regulations. The USE IT Act advances that goal.
The USE IT Act is a commonsense piece of legislation to help turn carbon dioxide emissions into valuable products. We can use carbon dioxide to extract oil from wells that wouldn’t otherwise be profitable through a process called enhanced oil recovery. We can capture carbon dioxide and use it to make building materials and carbon fiber. Captured carbon can even be used for medical purposes.
Support for the USE IT Act has grown from an initial bipartisan group of four Senators, when I introduced it last year, to a larger group of thirteen Senators, including seven of my colleagues on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Along with Senators Whitehouse and Capito, I am pleased this Congress to have Ranking Member Carper, Senator Cramer, Senator Duckworth, Senator Rounds, Senator Inhofe, and Senator Van Hollen as cosponsors of the USE IT Act. In addition, a bipartisan companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives.
Interest in the USE IT Act has continued to grow, in large part due to the bipartisan success we had with the FUTURE Act, which extended and expanded the so-called 45Q tax credit for using and storing carbon dioxide and was signed into law a year ago. The Clean Air Task Force called the FUTURE Act “one of the most important bills for reducing global warming pollution in the last two decades.”
This Congress, I have continued to focus on ways to expedite and expand the use of carbon capture, beginning with the USE IT Act. When we work together, we have shown we can promote American leadership, grow our economy, and lower our emissions.
Carbon capture (including Direct Air Capture) on a massive scale is required to reduce net emissions to zero then have 10+ gigaton of negative emissions starting around mid-century in order… Read more »
It’s hard for me to imagine any use of captured CO2 that would be large enough to matter. There are certainly viable uses, and more might be developed, but they… Read more »
Roger: It’s true that the level of sequestration needed is an order of magnitude more than CO2 reuse applications. However, some applications are not insignificant. Cement/concrete from CO2 could be… Read more »
Senator Barrasso should be commended for this sensible, bipartisan proposal. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage continues to need government support to become commercial, and most practical people realize that for… Read more »
I was wondering if there might be an alternative way to proceed. In order to have a low carbon future we will need to create a low carbon continuum. Today … Read more »
America needs a lot of energy produced if we are going to be able to continue living the lifestyles we are accustomed to. America also needs to use it’s energy… Read more »
My comments respond to the question of: “What should be the role of carbon capture and utilization technology in addressing climate change?” Currently a logical justification for a role for… Read more »
Senator Barrasso, Thank you for all your work on the Environment and Public Works Committee. I went back and read your op-ed piece in the NYT “Cut Carbon Through Innovation,… Read more »
Farangmeher: The contribution of “waste heat” to global warming is about 1% of the contribution of greenhouse gases (and much less than that if you look at the issue over… Read more »
I am referring to exhaust air coming out of the stacks, tailpipes, etc.
Similar concept to intake cooling water where water discharge temperature is regulated.
Yes, that is what I am referring to as well… heating of the atmosphere by manmade industrial processes.
While this may not have been Farangmeher’s original point, recapture of waste heat could result in significant carbon emission reductions if that waste heat can reduce the energy inputs being… Read more »
Senator Barrasso, Perhaps the least cost, least restrictive way to meet climate goals, an approach once championed by Republicans and even some in the fossil fuel industry is a Cap… Read more »
I am in concurrence with Dan and others that current market forces cannot support the large additional cost attendant to wedding CCS with current energy/industrial based systems, much less the… Read more »
Will: To clarify one point, I propose a Fee and Dividend (F&D) policy, not a Cap and Dividend (C&D) policy. With a cap, the carbon price is set at auction… Read more »
Having worked on carbon capture projects (and their twin, coal gasification), my experience has been that these projects fail miserably. The economics are just not there and the additional infrastructure… Read more »
Bill: There is no market for sequestering CO2 because we value the damage it does to society at zero. If we put a significant price on carbon, there will be… Read more »
To echo the comments of others, this seems to be a cludgy approach carbon management. Putting an actual price on carbon would help create economic incentives for carbon capture and… Read more »
I agree on the need to incentivize use of captured carbon, both from direct air and from industrial processes. IMO the best way to do this would be through a… Read more »
Ed: I agree in general, but $25/ton is too low. The tax/credit should start at $10/ton and grow $10/ton every year. This will ensure the orderly phase out of emissions… Read more »
The bipartisan USE IT Act is a strong and necessary step in enabling market-driven carbon capture and realizing its benefits for American consumers, while also addressing climate change. The scope… Read more »
Word from the Hill is that some members of the GOP are coming to a level of acceptance of Climate Change as a largely man-made phenomenon. I like Mitt Romney’s… Read more »
Congratulations on your USE IT act to develop practical uses of CO2 emissions. I believe the most important aspect of the act is stimulation and support of new uses of… Read more »
I agree with those who favor a price on carbon, thinking of it as disappearing user fee if the revenues are used to increase the availability of renewables. This particular… Read more »
To your request for additional comment questions … Here is a list of ‘No more coal’ taken from my reading notes …. • The U.S. government’s new long-term energy outlook… Read more »
Senator Barrasso, Congratulations on developing bipartisan legislation that can help bridge the gap between current carbon capture technologies and a capture and utilization industry that can truly make a difference… Read more »
Senator Barrasso I realize I get long winded at times. In a nutshell our Sidel Carbon Capture Utilization System will remove over 90% of the CO2 out of combusted coal… Read more »