Adam Beitman, adam.beitman@sierraclub.org
Recently, Exxon Mobil gave a presentation where they admitted that they are yet again asking for huge taxpayer subsidies, as part of the Build Back Better Act, to continue extracting oil and gas for decades, despite the scientific consensus that we need to stop the expansion of fossil fuel development immediately to avert the worst of the climate crisis. During a presentation to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission in November, Exxon outlined their plans to lobby for greater taxpayer subsidies via tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in the Build Back Better Act.
Exxon is pushing to double the existing tax credit (known as 45Q) from $50/ton to $100/ton of captured CO2 and extend the credit for 30 years. The current version of BBB sets the CCS tax credit at $85/ton for 12 years, a subsidy that is already a lucrative and absurd handout to the fossil fuel industry including coal, oil, and gas companies.
A taxpayer subsidy of $100/ton could be so lucrative that Exxon even said it has the potential to ensure the mega-corporation effectively pays NO corporate taxes at all.
While CCS may play a role in hard-to-decarbonize sectors like heavy industry, such a broad handout to the fossil fuel power sector gives the green light to petroleum companies to greenwash oil and gas extraction and export, and risks delaying the economic retirement of expensive coal plants, causing them to pursue speculative dreams of carbon capture that are likely never to be realized.
Rather than helping achieve crucial climate targets, these corporate handouts divert taxpayer dollars to harmful fossil interests. Already, the fossil fuel industry receives more than $20 billion every year in domestic fossil fuel subsidies, and despite President Biden's commitment to end these subsidies, provisions to remove them were stripped out of the final BBBA that passed in the House. At a time when we need to be rapidly moving away from fossil fuels, more taxpayer subsidies for oil, gas, and coal production into the 2050’s is an absurd request that is detrimental to public health, environmental justice, and the environment.
It’s time to tell Exxon that their time in the sun is over -- and we need to move forward with powering our country with clean energy like solar, wind, and battery storage. The Build Back Better act is a vehicle for transformational climate action -- let’s keep handouts for corporate polluters like Exxon out of it!
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.