Yesterday’s White House guidance provided guidance on how to improve carbon capture and stored in a responsible manner, despite significant opposition from environmental justice advocates and other green groups.
The Council on Environmental Quality prepared the document and it was published today in Federal RegisterThe report included recommendations to deploy CCS in a manner that addresses concerns of local communities and tribes.
The 13-page GuidanceCall for federal agencies to take a range actions, including the study of proposed regulations. [carbon capture, utilization and storage]Early involvement of potential host communities is a good way to avoid imposing additional burdens on already overburdened or underserved communities.
This guidance is intended for clarifications and improvements in order to ensure that [carbon capture, utilization and storage]CEQ document stated that it is responsiblely scaled in a timely way, while maintaining the integrity and health of public health, environment, economy.
In a statement, CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory said: With industries moving quickly to adopt and deploy carbon capture technologies, federal agencies can play a key role in ensuring that projects are done right.”
CEQ published the guidance as a White House initiative to curb greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sector warned that while [carbon capture, utilization and storage]While it can be a useful tool in tackling climate crisis, the benefits of potential projects are vastly different and require careful planning.Climatewire, Feb. 15).
Yesterday, environmental justice advocates stated that they believe CCS is a fake solution to climate change.
CEQ has been listening to advocates, which is great. However, the considerations they propose are ones that we have heard for decades and should be followed.
Shepard, one the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) chairs, spoke yesterday in a personal capacity.
According to EPAs website, the council was created by an executive order in 2013. It advises CEQ (City of Enlightenment) and the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council) to increase Federal Government efforts towards addressing environmental injustice.
Shepard said that while the CCS guidance speaks a lot about responsible deployment, it also requires effective permitting, a efficient regulatory process, meaningful public participation early in the review, and then measures to protect the environment and public health.
WHEJAC published a report last year. Report that listed carbon capture and direct air capture among the “types of projects that will not benefit a community” (Energywire, May 17, 2021.
CCS opponents pointed out a ReportThe Government Accountability Office reported late last year that the Energy Department had spent more than $1B on nine demonstration projects for carbon capture, but only three of those projects were built.Energywire, Dec. 21, 2021).
In the wake of the GAO Report, carbon capture proponents have defended their technology, stating that CCS is critical for meeting long-term climate targets.
Carbon Capture Coalition is a coalition of more than 80 businesses and unions. It said last month that the GAO Report should not be misunderstood as a reason to reduce investment in climate-essential carbon management techniques. Yesterday, the group also released a statement stating that it will provide additional comments to CEQ in areas of mutual interest.
CEQ released the guidance in accordance with a council ReportThe June report on carbon capture stated that the United States will need to capture and store large amounts of CO2 to meet Biden’s goal of net zero emissions economywide by Midcentury.
Tyson Slocum from Public Citizens energy program said that the CEQ guidance was lacking sufficient detail about how agencies can engage and empower communities in order to have a meaningful voice during the regulatory process.
Slocum stated that the Biden administration should have detailed and affirmative plans to engage with underserved communities at this time.
Slocum said that he’s interested in finding out how agencies could engage communities and provide the resources necessary to help them decide whether a carbon-capture project is in line with their desires.
Do you have the resources necessary to ensure that this doesn’t hurt your community? Slocum stated that this guidance is lacking in that regard.
The White House guidance included additional recommendations, such as further study of the effects carbon capture deployment has on U.S. Air Quality and transparency around CO2 storage.
ClearView Energy Partners LLC, an analyst firm, stated that while Congress has instructed the executive branch to pursue carbon cap as a matter national policy, the Biden Administration is still dealing with a substantial cohort of Democrats who might rather abandon fossil fuels altogether.
CEQ may have developed a process-intensive method to alleviate the concerns of green-leaning peers. It calls for wide stakeholder involvement and extensive (programmatic), environmental assessment. [lifecycle greenhouse gas]Accounting, according to the ClearView note.
The theory is that this approach can create a more durable, consensus based policy foundation for long-term programs, but in practice, such policies can slow down rulemaking.
CEQ invites comments on the guidance up to March 18.
