by Anthony Hennen
A legal framework for carbon capture and sequestration, part of a plan to reduce emissions and advance hydrogen development, has made it through the General Assembly.
It now awaits the governor’s signature.
Senate Bill 831 has found support among some environmental groups like the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Nature Conservancy — but others like the Better Path Coalition, Clean Air Council, and the Center for Coalfield Justice have opposed it.
Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, celebrated the bill’s passing as preparing Pennsylvania for a better future.
“This legislation is a proactive step to secure Pennsylvania’s future as a hub for carbon capture and sequestration,” Yaw said in a press release. “It’s a pragmatic solution to a problem that we all want to solve – reducing our carbon emissions without crippling the reliability of our existing power grid.”
One report estimates that Pennsylvania has space for 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide underground, the equivalent of yearly emissions from more than 500 million passenger cars. A federal tax credit created in 2018 has spurred dozens of new carbon capture projects, but even with almost $700 million of federal subsidies, attempts to implement the technology have so far failed.
SB831 has also received support from the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council, the AFL-CIO, and others.
“Carbon capture technology has the potential to create a significant number of good paying jobs in the construction industry while simultaneously creating family-sustaining permanent jobs for the citizens of our commonwealth,” Robert Bair, Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council president, said in a press release.
In the Pennsylvania House, instead of running through the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, it was handled by the Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities Committee and advanced without discussion.
Both ranking members of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Reps. Greg Vitali, D-Havertown, and Martin Causer, R-Bradford, voted against SB831.
Vitali was one of only 11 Democrats to go against the bill, while only 36 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, which passed the House 127-75.
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Anthony Hennen is a reporter for The Center Square news wire service, covering Pennsylvania, and co-host of Pennsylvania in Focus, a weekly podcast on America’s Talking Network. Previously, he worked for Philadelphia Weekly and the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is managing editor of Expatalachians, a journalism project focused on the Appalachian region.
Photo “Power Plant” by Andreas Felske.
