Capito proposes bipartisan Carbon Removal Coordination Act

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) recently proposed a bipartisan bill that aims to protect clean air through comprehensive research and development programs.

Sen. Capito on July 28 cosponsored the Carbon Removal Coordination Act, S. 4341, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to establish both a Committee on Large-Scale Carbon Management in the National Science and Technology Council and a Federal Carbon Removal Initiative, according to the congressional record bill summary. 

“The Carbon Removal Coordination Act will inform the federal response and budgetary process by focusing government experts’ efforts supporting carbon removal through direct air capture, afforestation, better soil management, and other approaches,” Sen. Capito said last week. “A robust federal policy addressing carbon reduction from the atmosphere will be a win-win for the environment and our economic growth.”

If enacted, S. 4341 would create a new large-scale carbon management program that would be co-chaired by the associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and officials from the U.S. Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Defense, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Capito’s office.

Additionally, S. 4341 would require that four working groups be established within the large-scale carbon management program to pursue a technological and detailed Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) research and demonstration initiative across several federal agencies, the summary says. 

The working groups would be tasked with focusing on CDR in the oceans, atmosphere, and land using both natural and technological approaches, according to the summary.

“Working in a bipartisan fashion, I have been a champion of policies supporting carbon capture, utilization, and storage, including through direct air capture technologies and afforestation to remove CO2 from the atmosphere,” said Sen. Capito. “Increasingly more attention is being paid to this space by industry and nongovernmental organizations as the only way to meet carbon dioxide reduction targets while maintaining jobs and growing our economy.”