WYDEN SAYS CCS WILL BE PRIORITY FOR ENERGY COMMITTEE

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
4/12/13

The new chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee vowed late this week to make carbon capture and storage a priority in the current Congress, bringing new emphasis to an issue that has not seen much attention from the panel in recent years. During an April 12 speech at the law firm Arent Fox in Washington, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said CCS offers a “promising opportunity” in terms of energy development and vowed to give the issue attention in the months ahead. “We are going to have challenges because of the budget, the sequester … but I can tell you that under my watch we are going to spend a lot of time on carbon sequestration. It has real potential, and we’ve seen some significant discussions about it just here in the last week or so.”

During his nomination hearing in front of the Senate energy panel this week, the Obama Administration’s pick for Energy Secretary, Ernest Moniz, repeatedly underscored his support of CCS RD&D. However, outside of courtesy mentions from lawmakers during broad energy hearings, the technology has not seen a substantive hearing in front of the committee for years. Lawmakers held a hearing that focused on CO2 storage in 2011, when the Committee was vetting legislation from then-Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) that aimed to establish a federal indemnification program for the long-term liability and stewardship of CO2 injected at 10 carbon sequestration sites. While that measure easily cruised out of committee, it did not see the light of day on the Senate floor. The panel, though, has not investigated the status of CCS technology for years.

Wyden said this week that he recently expanded the scope of the Committee’s Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee, chaired by vocal coal industry and CCS supporter Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), to include mining. He said he expects the sub-panel to take up CCS as well due to Manchin’s interest in the technology. “I made the judgment that Senator Manchin in particular could help us really escalate, accelerate the debate on carbon capture,” Wyden said.