Carbon Capture Coalition Submits Statement for House Ways & Means Tax Subcommittee Hearing on Tax Policy to Expand Economic Growth

The Carbon Capture Coalition submitted a statement for the record today for the House Ways & Means Subcommittee hearing on the benefits of pro-growth tax policy for American families, workers, and small businesses.

The 117th Congress provided some of the most consequential modifications to the federal Section 45Q tax credit since its 2008 inception. These widely-supported enhancements, coupled with the historic investments made in research, development and deployment included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law now form the most forward-looking portfolio of federal policy support for these technologies in the world. Building off this unprecedented support, Congress now has the opportunity and responsibility to reinforce and grow the role of American leadership in the development and deployment of these climate-essential technologies throughout the remainder of this decade.

While it remains true that the 45Q tax credit is the foundational federal policy incentive needed to drive private investment and ultimately make these projects economical, the Coalition has identified a course of necessary, small-scale adjustments that Congress should make to have an outsized impact on the deployment of these technologies. In that vein, this statement outlines a slate of near-term federal tax policies for the committee to consider to increase the return on investment provided by the tax credit and ensure it continues to effectively incentivize carbon management projects. Specifically, these recommendations include indexing the federal Section 45Q tax credit for inflation prior to the statutorily mandated date of 2027 and passing the Captured Carbon and Utilization Parity Act (H.R. 1262 / S. 542), which seeks to establish parity between credit levels for geologic storage and carbon reuse. Additionally, the Coalition has identified challenges with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) pre-approval process for carbon utilization projects – a practice that is hindering the ability of taxpayers to claim the credit under the 45Q utilization pathway. In making these small-scale recommendations, the Coalition aims to ensure the investments in project deployment and recent project announcements made possible by the enhancements to the 45Q tax credit deliver on their emissions reduction potential as Congress intended.

Read the Coalition’s statement for the record, here.

Watch a recording of the hearing, here.

###  

The Carbon Capture Coalition is a nonpartisan collaboration of more than 100 companies, unions, conservation and environmental policy organizations, building federal policy support to enable economywide, commercial scale deployment of carbon management technologies. This includes carbon capture, removal, transport, reuse, and storage from industrial facilities, power plants, and ambient air. Members of the Coalition work together to advocate for the full portfolio of policies required to commercialize a domestic carbon management sector and inform policymakers as well as stakeholders on the essential role this suite of technologies must play in achieving these shared objectives.