Remove carbon by not putting it there to start

HB23-1210, concerning carbon management, will work well for the oil and gas companies but not for the people of Colorado.

Al Gore, who is very optimistic about the Inflation Reduction Act, recently said: “When people talk about carbon removal, the best carbon removal is to stop digging. We can remove massive amounts of CO2 if we just stop putting it up there and let nature work for us instead of against us.”

The Intercept’s take away from Shell documents subpoenaed by the U.S. House Oversight Committee, “The Industry wants to see so much government funding for carbon capture locked in that there’s no choice but to continue down that path.”

The documents also make clear that the industry is intent on maximizing a small window of opportunity for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) — getting governments to invest heavily in this “solution” before everyone figures out it’s not a solution at all, as fossil fuels will continue to be mined and burned.

The U.S. Congressional Research Service reported on CO2 pipeline safety: “CO2 occurs naturally in the atmosphere and is produced by the human body, so it is often perceived to be relatively harmless. However, as concentrations increase, CO2 displaces oxygen — which may cause a range of negative health impacts, including suffocation. Pipeline CO2 also may contain potentially hazardous contaminants, such as hydrogen sulfide. Because CO2 is colorless, odorless, and heavier than air, an uncontrolled release may spread undetected near the ground or in confined spaces. Therefore, CO2 pipelines pose a public safety risk, as demonstrated by a 2020 CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia,

MS, which led to a local evacuation and caused 45 people to be hospitalized.”

An eruption of CO2 from Lake Nyos in Cameroon killed nearly 2,000 people and wiped out four villages on August 21, 1986.

— Shirley Jin, Boulder