Oil companies chase carbon removal cash

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Jul 13, 2023 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell An oil well in Weld County, Colo. | CL.Baker/Flickr Oil companies that made bank pumping carbon into the atmosphere are now interested in removing it — with taxpayers’ help. At least seven oil and gas producers (including several of the big kahunas) are financially supporting projects that would suck carbon directly from the air and store it back underground, writes Corbin Hiar. And at least four of the companies are seeking additional funding from a $3.5 billion Energy Department competition. The department declined to reveal the full list of applicants but plans to announce the first round of winners this summer. Equipping oil companies with extra capital to suck carbon from the air could turbocharge a burgeoning technology that scientists say is probably necessary to stave off the worst of climate change. “What we really need to happen is for capital and engineering to flow into the sector so it can scale,” Sasha Mackler at the Bipartisan Policy Center, which receives donations from major oil producers, told Corbin. “The best, most sophisticated, most committed companies out there that can do that should do that.” But oil companies’ participation in the sector — both speculative and serious — is raising concern among climate activists who worry oil and gas producers are more interested in justifying continued use of fossil fuels than in addressing global warming. That fear is not unfounded. The chief executive of Occidental Petroleum, one of the largest U.S. oil companies, recently described one form of carbon removal — direct air capture — as a way to preserve the oil industry by allowing it to claim its pollution is being counterbalanced. (Experts agree the world needs to remove carbon from the air in addition to steep cuts in fossil fuel production.) “This gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years that I think it’s going to be very much needed,” Vicki Hollub said. Other top oil executives have made similar comments in recent months. Many are also backing off their past commitments to slash oil production. Earlier this year, BP lessened its 2030 emissions-reduction target and Shell pulled back on a promise to limit oil production. Still, some activists say oil companies' participation should not sour environmental advocates on a technology the planet may need. “It’s even more important that climate activists and environmentalists support carbon removal,” Erin Burns, the executive director of the carbon removal advocacy group Carbon180, told Corbin.   It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Catherine Morehouse breaks down why the Mountain Valley pipeline’s embattled southern extension is important to the long-term success of the natural gas project and the obstacles it faces. Power Centers Climate Defiance organizers (left to right) Michael Greenberg, Jay Waxse and Bala Sivaraman. | Robin Bravender/POLITICO's E&E News Climate group targets Dems A new, youth-led activist group, Climate Defiance, wants to make powerful Democrats uncomfortable by disrupting their events and reminding them of the Biden administration’s broken promise to end drilling on federal lands, writes Robin Bravender. It’s working. The small but dedicated crew is firmly on the radar of administration officials who have come to expect them during panel discussions and speeches. Rewiring the grid Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s search for clean energy solutions has led her to a strategy that dodges permitting problems, saves money and could bring large amounts of carbon-free power online, but remains largely unused, writes Peter Behr. The concept is called advanced reconductoring, and studies show it holds the potential to help break a growing logjam in delivering clean power to meet the Biden administration’s steep clean energy goals. Kerry heads to China Special climate envoy John Kerry told House lawmakers Thursday he will not be “conceding anything” on his upcoming visit to China as he seeks to reestablish dialogue to combat climate change, writes Zack Colman. Kerry set modest expectations, noting climate is just one of many issues that Biden administration officials have tried to navigate as they cautiously reengage with the United States’ top geopolitical rival and the world’s biggest contributor to rising temperatures. In Other News Can't beat the heat: An unforgiving heat wave is forecast in swaths of U.S. in the coming days, putting nearly 110 million Americans under high alerts. Silver linings? New York’s shark-infested waters are a good thing. Yes, really.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. The coal-fired Monroe power plant in Michigan is pictured. | Wikimedia Commons A major Michigan utility agreed to shut down one of the nation's largest coal plants within a decade, as part of a settlement with almost two dozen organizations. House Republicans and Democrats traded salvos during a hearing that kicked off a monthlong attack on a three-letter acronym that’s ascended to fame, or infamy, over the last year — ESG. The COP28 presidency’s long-awaited plan for this year’s climate summit in Dubai spotlights renewables but sidesteps questions over the role of fossil fuels. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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