The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works advanced May 22 a bipartisan bill that aims to promote research and development of carbon capture technologies, including through expedited carbon dioxide pipeline permitting.
Introduced on March 22 by EPW Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies, or USE IT Act, would direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support carbon utilization and direct air capture research, including through financial awards for project designs that can capture more than 10,000 tons of CO2 per year and be deployed at less than $200 per ton of captured CO2.
Barrasso urged Congress to support efforts like the Integrated Test Center outside Gillette, Wyo., so "America can maintain its leadership in carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration technologies," he said at a committee business meeting.
"The USE IT Act does that," he added. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this legislation and get it to the president's desk."
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., joined Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., as co-sponsors of the bill.
