Carbon capture hurts Texas communities and taxpayers

A new report released this week underscores what many Texans already know: The booming carbon capture industry puts communities and groundwater at risk, and it wouldn’t be profitable without massive tax breaks and subsidies from the federal government.

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency took the first steps in permitting Occidental Petroleum to store captured carbon dioxide thousands of feet underground in Texas, ostensibly permanently. Texans should be wary of oil and gas companies that profit most from climate change offering a silver bullet to stop it.

Independent researchers examined carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Texas to see to what extent the government is playing a role in accelerating the implementation of these projects.

We now know that CCS is completely dependent on government tax breaks and subsidies, making these projects little more than taxpayer-funded efforts that financially benefit the fossil fuel industry. In fact, public funding and tax breaks are the largest sources of revenue for these CCS projects. Researchers have calculated estimated tax breaks for 34 projects in Texas, and they are expected to receive at least $3.2 billion in annual tax breaks and up to $33 billion per year.

But Texans’ problems don’t end with taxes and CCS subsidies.

Community members living in locations where federally funded CCS projects are proposed will soon be asked to negotiate project “benefits” directly with the project developers, as part of legally binding Community Benefit Agreements, or CBAs. The inherent power imbalance between the multinational corporations launching CCS projects and the marginal community members who will be affected by those projects questions whether the resulting CBAs can deliver real health, economic, and quality-of-life benefits. Much more needs to be done to establish CBA processes and equip community members with the skills to sit equitably at the CBA negotiation table.

Meanwhile, our state oil and gas agency, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), wants to take over the authority to issue permits and oversee long-term CO2 projects.₂ injection wells from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But the Railroad Commission has a poor record of accountability. This week’s stunning and dangerous pipeline fire in Houston, as well as the recent revelation of leaks from a carbon capture plant in Illinois that potentially affect a critical water supply, are more signs that we can’t trust this industry or the regulators in its pockets to police themselves while protecting communities.

The researchers also revealed that local schools and governments in Texas are or will be indirectly funded by CCS tax credits, making them financially dependent on the fossil fuel industry for decades to come. The study calculated that this tax system costs Texans about $1 billion. And the average cost per job in the industry is $1.2 million (with a range of $31 million to $39 million per job).

All of these negative impacts on Texans are exacerbated by the fact that CCS simply doesn’t work as a mitigation technology. In fact, 13 of the 15 CCS projects in operation in the U.S. are being used to produce even more oil and gas, while capturing less than 1% of carbon emissions. International experts agree that carbon capture is one of the least effective and most expensive options for mitigating climate change. In fact, “(carbon capture and storage) has a history of failed and abandoned projects dating back more than half a century.”

Ultimately, carbon capture and storage is nothing more than another generational gift to the oil and gas industry. And tying the future of Texas schools and students to the failures of the oil and gas industry only perpetuates this injustice. Texas families deserve real climate solutions — not another gift to the oil and gas industry.

Becky Smith is the director of Clean Water Action Texas, an organization dedicated to enacting the Clean Water Act of 1972 and protecting the environment, health, economic well-being, and quality of life for communities.

Jennifer Hadayia is the executive director of Air Alliance Houston, which works on present real solutions to the problems of air pollution and climate change.

This article originally appeared in the Austin American-Statesman: OPINION: Carbon capture is another boon to the oil and gas industry