MORGANTOWN — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., joined a bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday leading a push for a bill intended to balance the interests of the fossil fuel industry and the environmental community by increasing tax credits for carbon capture technology.
The bill is called the FUTURE Act – for “Furthering carbon capture, Utilization, Technology, Underground storage and Reduced Emissions.” It was originally introduced in 2016 and Capito joined with Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., to announce its reintroduction.
The bill would extend and increase what’s called a 45Q tax credit intended to offer incentives for research, development and use of CCUS technology — carbon capture, utilization and storage.
For a sustainable future, Capito said, fossil fuels must have lower emission and be more environmentally friendly. “The key to that it is the research and development issue.” There are many CCUS-related technologies, but none viable on a large scale