In Hill Testimony, BPC Energy Project Director Sasha Mackler Urges Investment in CCUS Technology

Washington, DC – Bipartisan Policy Center Energy Project Director Sasha Mackler will tell lawmakers on Capitol Hill this morning that investment in multiple types of carbon capture technology will be critical to achieving the climate goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change, Mackler will stress the importance of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology—known as CCUS—and how they should be positioned within a larger national climate strategy. “An effective, efficient strategy for decarbonization requires a combination of ambitious clean energy innovation programs and complimentary deployment policies that systematically drive markets for low-carbon energy technologies across the economy,” Mackler will say.

Mackler will tell the committee that BPC is a strong supporter of H.R. 1166, the USE IT Act, for “its potential to accelerate the development and deployment of technologies for capturing, transporting, utilizing, and sequestering carbon dioxide.” BPC’s American Energy Innovation Council has long advocated for increased investment in energy innovation.

He will also point out that many industrial processes are difficult to decarbonize, and that “non-fossil fuel alternatives do not yet exist or remain prohibitively expensive in some transportation applications.” For these sectors, CCUS will allow companies to improve their emissions profile by utilizing carbon capture technology or effectively “cancel out” their emissions by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using direct air capture technology.

Mackler will conclude that, “given expected growth in market demand for low-carbon technologies and carbon dioxide reductions, federal support will complement and bolster emerging trends in the private sector.”