Fossil fuel companies lobby Congress to find their own solutions to fight climate change

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The concentration of carbon dioxide heat-trapping on the planet has reached its highest level in 3 million years, reviving the heated political debate over man-made climate change and the measures to be taken.

The most outspoken Democrats have expressed their plans, issuing their resolution on the Green New Deal and 2020 presidential candidates such as Washington Governor Jay Inslee, former Beto representative O 'Rourke (D-Texas ) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). ) unveiled their own unique climate change plans.

But fossil fuel companies have their own solutions in mind. And with federal funding and generous tax credits potentially available to fund emission reduction technologies, they are eager to inform legislators about this.

A new coalition of 13 Fortune 500 companies and four environmental groups, named CEO Climate Dialogue, was launched this week to launch a call for action on climate change. Some of the big names in the industry include BP, Ford and BASF, as well as environmental groups such as Nature Conservancy and Environmental Defense Fund. The companies and groups involved have significant influence in Washington, spending a total of $ 55.8 million on lobbying last year.

While major oil companies have publicly accepted the reality of man-made climate change in the face of increasing investor pressure, they are now calling for "market-based" solutions to reduce emissions. Several major oil companies, including ExxonMobil, involved in prosecutions for concealing climate change knowledge, have pushed for more investment in carbon capture, one of the preferred methods of reducing emissions.

Carbon capture technology traps emitted greenhouse gases, preventing them from entering the atmosphere, then storing them underground or using captured carbon dioxide as a resource.

The energy giants have reportedly invested more than $ 1 billion in the three years following the Paris climate agreement to sell a progressive climate policy to legislators and the general public. such as the expansion of carbon capture and natural gas.

Their efforts may have paid off, as increased investment in carbon capture is attracting bipartisan support. The USE IT Act would support and encourage carbon capture projects, generating $ 25 million in price for direct air capture technology and providing $ 50 million in additional funding from the federal government for research on carbon capture.

Its cosponsors of the Senate cover the political spectrum ranging from environmentalists like Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) to respect members of fossil fuels such as Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (RW.V.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.).

Inhofe has received $ 1.9 million from the oil and gas industry throughout his career. He gained notoriety in 2015 for raising a snowball in the Senate to challenge the existence of climate change, a decision that sparked a fierce reaction from Whitehouse, which now co-sponsors the carbon capture legislation. .

Rather than putting its assets behind progressive climate bills, Whitehouse has focused on seeking Republican support for legislation that will gradually reduce emissions. In particular, he helped companies use carbon capture technologies. He told the Washington reviewer that moderate climate policies were the best way forward because the Republican sector of the fossil fuel sector was "pretty much in the throat".

The oil and gas industry donates almost all of its money to Republicans and outside conservative groups, but its support goes beyond party boundaries when it employs a large number of voters.

Democrats representing energy dependent states, such as Sens. Joe Manchin (DW.V.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) Joined the Republicans in supporting the Carbon Capture Modernization Act, which would ease energy efficiency requirements for coal projects new and retroactive. if they include sufficient carbon capture technology.

The political possibilities of carbon capture have excited many companies. Carbon Engineering, a Canadian company founded by fossil fuel companies such as Occidental Petroleum, BHP and Chevron, began lobbying at the federal level for the first time in 2019, spending $ 20,000 in the first quarter. The company can boast that its direct air capture technology can capture up to 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year for each commercial facility.

The Carbon Capture Coalition, supported by the AFL-CIO, United Steel Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, as well as by the oil company Shell, The Nature Conservancy, the National Audubon Society and NRG Energy, among others, approved the USE IT law.

Shell and NRG are already using carbon capture technology, although their efforts have been minimal so far. Shell plans to phase out 3 to 4 million tons of carbon dioxide a year – a fraction of its total emissions – and NRG used a US $ 190 million grant from the US Department of Energy to build and activate what they consider to be the world. largest carbon capture facility.

Carbon capture is not the only preferred option in the fossil fuel industry. The companies also support another long-standing bipartisan proposal prevalent in other countries: the establishment of a carbon tax. Companies like Exxon and Shell have been lobbying the issue for years, joining separate companies such as the Americans for Carbon Dividends (AFCD). AFCD is affiliated with conservative consultants and is supported by former Federal Reserve presidencies Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke.

So far, in 2019, AFCD had spent $ 150,000 on lobbying, half of the total spent in 2018. The carbon tax that the group specifically supports, created by former secretaries of State James Baker and George Shultz, was discussed at a recent hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The implementation of a carbon tax is also quite popular with the US public. A Yale survey found that 68% of adults in the country supported this idea.

However, it has already been proven that moderate proposals such as carbon capture and a carbon tax – with the aim of not significantly disrupting the energy sector – will not please progressive democrats to gain ground in the future. within the party.

Several Democrats have opposed a recent report from Reuters that Joe Biden would look for a "medium" solution to climate change that would appeal to climate change advocates and blue collar workers. As part of this policy, the Biden team would be in favor of alternative emission reduction plans such as nuclear power and carbon capture, Reuters reported.

"The 101 gas lobbyist, accusing the" blue settlers "of being the main opponents of a bold climate policy, said Republican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) on Twitter.In criticizing Biden Thursday, Inslee reiterated its position that the United States must reduce and eventually eliminate its reliance on fossil fuels to make real progress.

Carbon capture has already met the opposition of progressive democrats and environmental interest groups sharing a deep dislike for fossil fuel companies. The prospect of providing new government subsidies to energy companies due to rising emissions has already created a gap between environmental groups.

A February 2018 bill that incorporated the Congress budget and expanded tax credits for projects that capture carbon dioxide sparked opposition from the Natural Resources Defense Council, which stated that He did not support subsidies to oil companies when it was "necessary to reduce our dependence". The Sierra Club has opposed a provision that has more than tripled the tax credit for enhanced oil recovery, calling it "the largest grant to the state's fossil fuel industry. -United".

Proponents of carbon capture have also met with some opposition from the Trump administration. The Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), led by a long-time lobbyist in the energy sector, has rescinded a litany of emissions standards, including that all new power plants coal must be built with carbon capture technology.

But with the help of industry lobbyists and lawmakers, the position of the administration is already changing. A day after a bipartisan group of 12 senators sent a letter to officials wanting more funds for the development of carbon capture, Trump administration officials had anonymously reported to McClatchy concern.