Carbon capture inspires bipartisanship in Congress
Carboncapture might be struggling for decent press these days. See the budget overruns and allegations of mis management on Southern Co .’ sc lean coal plant in Mississippi and NRG En er gy’ s statement this year that it’s done with clean coal until the economics improve.
But that’s not stopping Congress from continuing to bet onthe technology.
In a rare show of bipartisanship, Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N. D ., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., are working with Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to pass a bill that would increase the tax incentives for projects that remove carbondioxide from fossil fuel emissions.
Under current law, carbon capture projects that store the carbon dioxide underground earn tax credits worth $20 for every ton of emissions. For projects that use the carbon dioxide to speed up oil production, the tax credit is worth about $10 per ton of emissions.
But Heitkamp, McConnell and company want to increase those credits to $50 per ton for storage and $35 per ton for oil production, in hopes of spurring interest in the technology.
There is little activity on Capitol Hill right now, with representatives and senators off on their summer breaks. But observers say the bill, which was introduced in July, could move quickly once Congress comes back into session nextmonth.
Bolt troubles
The tendency of the bolts that hold together highpressure drilling equipment to fail has hungover the Gulf’s oil and gas drillers for years. While there has been no serious spill in the Gulf of Mexico yet, the possibility of a Deep water Horizon-es que catastrophe is hard to ignore.
Official sat the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement have pressed equipment manufacturers like General Electric to figure out what’ s been going on. And now they’ re ram ping up the pressure.
This week they’re staging a four-hour public forum in Washington on the bolt failures conundrum to raise awareness.
In a blog post on B SE E’ s website, Director Brian Salerno, described the event as part of the agency’s effort “to make sure the offshore energy industry is moving as expeditiously as possible to address the bolt problem.”
Energy bill losing steam
It’s been four months since the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to bring federal energy policy and law up to date with the new energy economy.
With fracking reigning king over oil and gas fields and solar panels flying off the shelves, much has changed in the decade since Congress last passed a comprehensive energy bill.
And it might have to wait a few more years. The House and Senate could not work out a deal on their competing energy bills before they broke for summer recess. They are due back in the Capitol after Labor Day, at which point they have four weeks to iron out their differences until they bolt Washington to campaign for the November elections.
Charged with the figuring out a solution will be close to 50 representatives and senators, many of whom come from the Lone Star State, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn; Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis; Rep. Mike Con away, R-Odessa; Rep. Bill Flores, R-Waco; Rep. Eddie Ber nice Johnson, D-Dallas; Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land; Rep. La mar Smith, R-San Antonio; and Rep. Randy Weber, R-Beaumont.
“... make sure the offshore energy industry is moving as expeditiously as possible...” Brian Salerno, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement