Eight groups in the Midwest addressed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a letter with a request to stop credits, taxpayer money and all other incentives from going to carbon capture and storage.
The groups argue that carbon capture is a ‘false climate solution’ and it would only provide a lifeline to major polluters, such as the fossil fuels and industrial agriculture industries.
Furthermore, they proceeded to point out in their letter that funding carbon capture would result in directing resources away from more sustainable and effective solutions, such as solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.
The letter also cited other requests, among which were:
- An increase of carbon capture rates to a minimum of 90%;
- Eliminating the tax credit for operations where captured CO2 is used in enhanced oil recovery (EIR);
- Prevent CCS projects from being built in disadvantaged communities.
The subject of where exactly CCS projects are to be sited has been increasingly gaining traction, especially as tensions grow over the carbon capture pipelines that are set to run through Iowa and will be built by Navigator CO2 Ventures and Summit Carbon Solutions.
Relevant: Bill Introduced To Deny Carbon Credits For Oil Recovery
The proposed pipelines are intended to transport CO2 emissions captured from local ethanol plants.
Roughly half of Iowa’s 13 million acres of corn land is used to grow corn for ethanol production, which takes a serious toll on both climate and local communities, as farmers are forced into dependence on Big Ag giants.
Ethanol production is also linked to sustaining the factory farming model, which also has a negative impact on the environment, and there are over 10,000 factory farms in Iowa alone.
Thus, concerns arise that if CCS projects will support ethanol plants, they will inevitably also entrench factory farms and other destructive farming practices.
Read more: Residents Oppose CO2 Pipelines In Woodbury County
