Carbon Capture Coalition Joins National, Bipartisan, Multi-Stakeholder Call to Congress for Action on the 45Q Tax Credit 

(Washington, DC) – The Carbon Capture Coalition has joined more than 50 companies, unions, conservation and environmental groups, and other organizations from around the country calling on Congress to prioritize a suite of targeted adjustments to the federal Section 45Q tax credit as part of any forthcoming legislative package. The call was made in an open letter to congressional leadership and signed by a broad group of companies and organizations representing a unique cross-section of major sectors of the economy at the national, state and local levels. 

The pragmatic policy priorities cited in the letter include: 

• Indexing 45Q for inflation beginning immediately; and 
• Creating parity between credit levels for projects utilizing captured CO₂ as a feedstock to manufacture valuable products and those associated with geologic storage. 

The following statement may be attributed to Carbon Capture Coalition Executive Director Jessie Stolark:  

“The Carbon Capture Coalition is proud to join this impressive list of carbon management supporters from across industry, labor and environmental and conservation organizations nationwide calling for the enactment of a set of pragmatic near-term policies to ensure 45Q delivers on its emissions reduction and job creation potential. The portfolio of bipartisan carbon management policies included in this letter align with the Coalition’s consensus 2023 Federal Policy Blueprint issued earlier this year and the Coalition is pleased to see the wide-ranging support for these policies. 

“The 117th Congress provided consequential modifications to the federal Section 45Q tax credit necessary to see adoption of carbon management technologies in numerous sectors, ranging from heavy industry, power and direct air capture. These enhancements, coupled with the historic investments made in research, development and deployment under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, now form the most forward-looking portfolio of federal policy support for these technologies in the world. That said, remaining small-scale gaps in federal policy threaten to impede the economywide deployment of these technologies – imperiling American jobs, economic development, energy security and the prospect of urgently needed – and achievable – greenhouse gas emissions reductions. 

“While the 45Q tax credit is the foundational policy mechanism to incentivize the deployment of carbon management projects, the value of the credit goes well beyond being a key driver of private investment – it serves as the anchor to ensure these technologies fulfill their full emissions reduction potential. In just the last year, there have been 59 project announcements in the US alone, with an estimated annual capture capacity of more than 28 million metric tons per year. These announced projects span the carbon management value chain and include projects at various stages of technology development and deployment—from pilot scale, feasibility (front end engineering and design studies) up to commercial scale projects, signaling that increased, sustained federal policy support for carbon management technologies will translate into real-world projects.  

“Building off the unprecedented support provided over the course of the past two years, Congress must now reinforce and grow the role of American leadership in the development and deployment of these climate-essential technologies throughout the remainder of this decade. We look forward to working with members of Congress to advance these and other necessary policies on a bipartisan basis. Action on these priorities will help catalyze the deployment of a diverse set of carbon management technologies and reinforce their important role in a broader portfolio of climate mitigation strategies as well as preserving and creating family-sustaining jobs.” 

You can find the full letter here.