(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Carbon capture and storage technology (CCS), which limits emissions from fossil-fuel producers to allay global warming, is encouraged by the United Nations as an effective way to meet emissions reduction targets.
However, climate activists argue that CCS enriches the oil and gas industries by allowing them to make greater output.
According to the Daily Caller, U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a ruling that governments must use CCS to remove greenhouse emissions from the atmosphere until global temperature increases are below preindustrial levels—around 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Sierra Club and other climate activist groups which previously regarded the IPCC as the “gold standard” for climate science, fiercely came out against CCS, regarding it as a ruse to enrich fossil fuel companies.
“It comes from a fundamental hostility to traditional sources of energy and anything that comes from fossil fuels,” said Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation. “Their focus is just to get coal plants or other facilities shut down regardless of whether carbon capture is going to be part of the energy transition or not.”
The Sierra Club also argued that the financial investment into CCS methods would likely not be worth it, as they don’t remove enough CO2 from the atmosphere.
The group also argued that other forms of green energy tech, such as wind turbines or solar panels, would be a more worthwhile investment.
They also cited a recent report from the IPCC that called on oil and gas companies to do more to slow the “climate crisis,” claiming this report and the use of CCS are contradictory.
The IPCC stands by CCS technology and continues to enforce it as an important part of reducing emissions, touting it as “cost-competitive” and compatible with energy infrastructure.
Some believe that CCS tech could reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by 30% or more.
“They cherry-pick these reports for things that suit their goals and ignore the rest … they should not be against any solution that involves reducing CO₂ emissions,” Institute for Energy Research President Thomas Pyle said, referencing the Sierra Club and other activist groups.
“The industry is responding to their calls to reduce CO₂ but that’s not good enough for groups like the Sierra Club because they want to destroy the oil and gas industry.”
