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Watchdog Group Launches Counter Attack on 'Dangerous Carbon Capture
Hype'
May 15, 2023
By JULIA CONLEY
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"Carbon capture and storage is a lifeline for the
fossil fuel industry and a dangerous distraction from the pressing
need to move off oil and gas," said one advocate.
The national climate watchdog group Food
& Water Watch on Monday unveiled a new interactive multimedia
resource where users can learn more about "false narratives" regarding
carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology pushed by fossil
fuel companies eager to avoid what scientists and energy experts say
is the actual solution to the climate emergency: Ending the burning of
coal, gas, and oil to bring down carbon emissions.
Visitors to the group's new "resource
hub" first encounter a title card reading, "The Carbon Capture
Solution" before the last word is crossed out and replaced with
"Scam."
The site, titled Carbon Capture Scam, includes video
storytelling, expert testimonials, analysis, infographics, and other
content that help explain to readers why carbon capture and storage
(CCS) is simply "a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry" rather than
a real solution that will reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere
and planetary heating.
CCS refers to technologies that are designed to trap and remove carbon
emissions from smokestacks and the atmosphere, such as a $1 billion
project at Petra
Nova coal plant in Texas and one at the San
Juan Generating Station in New Mexico, both of which were found to
be unfeasible.
"What carbon capture and storage is, is a complex set of machines that
is attached to a smokestack where carbon dioxide is being emitted, and
it captures that CO2," said biologist Sandra Steingraber in a video
featured on the site. "Problem one, it's going to increase the energy,
just to run the machinery, by 20%."
Other emissions aside from carbon also increase with the use of CCS
technology, added Steingraber, such as smog, formaldehyde, and
benzene.
"These are chemicals that we know cause heart attack and stroke, that
shorten lifeaspans, that are linked to childhood asthma, and are also
linked to preterm birth—preterm birth being the number one cause of
disability in the United States," said Steingraber.
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Despite evidence that CCS is more expensive than its proponents admit
as well as being energy-intensive and actually
contributing to a net increase in emissions, the Environmental
Protection Agency last week unveiled new power plant rules that rely
heavily on the unproven technology and include plans to build
thousands of miles of new pipelines to carry the emissions proponents
say will be trapped and stored.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act also
allocated billions of dollars to expand CCS.
"The fossil fuel industry has spent millions of dollars promoting
carbon capture and policy makers at all levels have taken the bait,
doling out billions of dollars to support its development. But CCS is
a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry and a dangerous distraction
from the pressing need to move off oil and gas," said Food
& Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter on Monday.
"Our Carbon Capture Scam web hub exposes the industry lies
behind CCS through detailed research, and gives people an opportunity
to take action and fight back against CCS and for a truly clean,
renewable energy future," she added.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have joined the fossil fuel
industry in attempting "to lull consumers into thinking there's an
easier fix than ending fossil fuel use," reads Carbon Capture Scam.
"Stop spreading false hope about direct carbon capture," said climate
scientist Peter Kalmus, who is quoted on the site. "It won't help
prevent catastrophic damage in the short term, it would require
tremendous energy, and it may never scale up. Keep researching, but
don't bet on it happening. [Definitely] don't bet the whole planet."
Instead of investing in CCS, Carbon Capture Scam says,
Congress must stop peddling "dangerous carbon capture hype," end its
industry-approved "delay tactics," and ramp up efforts to shift to a
renewable energy system.
"Renewable energy and energy efficiency are reliable, cost-effective,
and ready for widespread deployment," reads the website. "Given huge
advances in production and storage, we could meet 100% of our energy
needs with clean, renewable energy—today. All we need is the political
will to make it happen."
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