Washington, D.C. -- Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives released the outline of several proposals focused on climate change. The proposal include planting more trees and large handouts to the oil and gas industry that would encourage more enhanced oil recovery.
Clean Water Action Special Projects Manager, Andrew Grinberg, released the following response:
"The Rupublican climate proposals rolled out yesterday would do nothing to address the climate crisis. What Rep McCarthy and Republican leadership showed is that they are only willing to act on climate if they can give a handout to the fossil fuel industry. This package is a cynical attempt to greenwash oil production, gas and coal-fired powerplants and avoid taking meaningful steps to reduce carbon emissions. The package proposes increasing the 45Q tax credit, for carbon capture, utilization and storage, a program which has amounted to a subsidy for big oil companies to conduct enhanced oil recovery on the taxpayer dime with minimal oversight. Instead of promoting a shift to a 100% clean energy future, Congressional Republicans are attempting to prop up dirty technologies like CO2-EOR, which both unlocks otherwise inaccessible hydrocarbons, and puts our water at risk."
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Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. We will protect clean water in the face of attacks from a polluter friendly Administration. www.cleanwateraction.org