A bipartisan bill in Congress from Reps. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has been introduced (HR 1946) to repeal the “45Q” federal tax credit that underpins Carbon Capture & Storage — a boondoggle scheme that wastes billions in taxpayer money, endangers public safety, relies on eminent domain abuse, and props up a fundamentally flawed and unreliable technology.
ACTION: Write a letter that will be delivered by email from you to your reps in Congress.
Be sure to include any relevant personal details in your letter, such as your location (County) if you are an impacted landowner or community member in the path of proposed CO2 pipeline or sequestration dump projects. Depending on whether your reps are Republicans or Democrats, it may make sense to tailor your message to your intended audience’s ears a bit, but below find some facts you may wish to include in your letter.
A blank check that increases the federal deficit: The 45Q program has no financial cap making it an unlimited tax dollar giveaway. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis studied announced CCS projects and found that, if all these projects are constructed, 45Q tax credit claims between now and 2042 would total approximately $835 billion. If Congress extends the 45Q tax credit to allow continued use of these facilities beyond their first 12 years of operation, the total call on federal dollars could be in the trillions.
Secret handouts: Because 45Q tax credit claims are part of tax returns, even basic information about the identity of claimants and amounts claimed is made secret by 26 U.S.C. § 6103. The 45Q program is predicted to forgive hundreds of billions in tax payments and not even Congress will know who’s cashing in.
Lack of cradle-to-grave CO2 tracking: The IRS relies on facility reporting to the EPA of the amount of CO2 captured, sequestered, and used. However, the EPA has no statutory authority to physically monitor and meter these amounts. Instead, the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program is based on unverified voluntary reporting. In the absence of CO2 metering, tax credit claimants could make fraudulent claims and neither the IRS nor the EPA would be in a position to discover such fraud. Hundreds of billions of dollars of tax relief should not be distributed based on blind faith that tax credit claimants will act honestly.
The largest federal infrastructure project since the interstate highways: The Department of Energy Estimates that up to 96,000 miles of new CO2 pipelines will be needed to meet CCS industry goals. This pipeline system would be essentially 100% federally funded. In contrast, the interstate highway system includes 48,890 miles of roadway that when the system was completed in 1992 cost $618 billion (2023 dollars), 90 percent of which came from federal sources, primarily fuel taxes. Yet, unlike the interstate highway system, no federal process exists for planning an interconnected CO2 pipeline network. As a result, CO2 pipeline development will not be planned for efficiency but rather will be implemented as a series of uncoordinated, unconnected private CO2 sewer systems.
Federally driven eminent domain abuse: All of the proposed CO2 pipeline mileage would require taking of rights-of-way by the use or threat of eminent domain. To date, carbon pipeline projects have faced fierce landowner opposition primarily due to eminent domain and safety concerns. Many landowners do not support use of eminent domain for private gain or for climate change.
Potential for mass casualty events: At high concentrations, CO2 is an asphyxiant and will kill. At lower concentrations, it is an intoxicant creating risks of injury or death. Upon rupture, the CO2 from large diameter liquid or supercritical CO2 pipelines converts to a gas and expands in volume approximately 500 times. Since CO2 is heavier than air, the CO2 will flow along the ground and can threaten to smother communities over a mile away from a rupture site. Persons and animals too close to the rupture would be killed; others would suffer brain injuries due to a lack of oxygen. High CO2 levels can also stall gasoline and diesel engines, preventing evacuation. Yet, federal pipeline safety regulations for CO2 pipelines are woefully out-of-date. In January, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued proposed amendments to improve CO2 pipeline safety, but the Trump administration has since withdrawn them. The 45Q tax credit threatens communities while enriching far away investors.
2025-03-06 One Pager - The 45Q Tax Credit and Safety Community Impacts and Property Rights2025-03-06 One Pager - The 45Q Tax Credit and Financial Waste and Fraud.docx
2025-03-06 One Pager - The 45Q Tax Credit and Climate Fraud.docx
IEEFA CCUS 45Q factsheet
