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A Texas lobbying push
There is little doubt that President-elect Donald Trump is going to dismantle a host of clean energy programs started by the Biden administration.
But there is one program that the biggest names in Texas energy (and some of Trump's big donors) are fighting to save.
Reporter James Osborne writes about how companies including Exxon Mobil, BP and Chevron are all developing carbon storage projects in the Gulf of Mexico thanks in part to a tax incentive program put into place by President Joe Biden in 2022.
That program has an $85 per ton tax credit for carbon storage programs.
"These are important projects to decarbonize our industries and make our products more attractive. Regardless of what people in this country think of climate change, the world does take (carbon intensity) into consideration," said Alex Tiller, CEO of Carbonvert, a carbon storage developer with projects off the coast of Corpus Christi and western Louisiana. "I think this is an area where he might not take a sledgehammer to the incentive structure."
The initial cost of the tax credit is fairly low. The Joint Taxation Committee estimates the cost of the carbon capture and storage tax credit at only $50 million a year through 2026. But the Department of Treasury forecasts that interest in the tax credit could jump in the latter half of the decade, with an estimated cost of $30.3 billion through 2032
Only a handful of carbon storage projects are up and running in the United States. And questions continue to hang over the security of carbon storage technology, raising opposition from environmentalists who view carbon storage as a tactic by oil and gas companies to delay their own demise.
Much more about it all here.
Who's up, who's down
Up: Chuck Rocha.
Could a Texan lead the Democratic National Committee as it tries to pick up the pieces from a bad election cycle? The political consultant from Tyler who worked helped Bernie Sanders win early primary states in 2020, is among several names being floated as new blood to shift the direction of the party. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin and former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel are among others that could be in the mix.
Down: Justice Department.
Let's just say the agency's lawsuit to force Gov. Greg Abbott to remove his floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande isn't going well. Not only have they lost a series of legal opinions to remove the barrier from the river, but now, because the case remains tangled up in the courts, Abbott is again adding to the barrier. On Wednesday, crews were building more of the barriers even as border crossings in and around Eagle Pass have plummeted. Abbott said earlier this week they are ramping up border security to "repel potential mass migration" before Trump takes office in January.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
 Photo by: Kirk Sides, Staff Photographer |
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 Photo by: Leslie Plaza Johnson/Contributor |
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 Photo by: Julio Cortez, STF / Associated Press |
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 Photo by: Eric Gay, Associated Press |
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 Photo by: Karen Warren, Staff Photographer |
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Pick of the day
Photo by: Staff photographer
SpaceX launched the sixth flight test of its Starship rocket on Tuesday in South Texas, failing to stick its robotic landing as President-elect Donald Trump watched nearby with his new political ally, SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
What else I'm reading
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kent., warned against the possibility of using the U.S. military for mass deportations, which President-elect Trump has said he'd be open to in recent days. "I will not support an emergency to put the Army into our cities. I think that's a huge mistake," Paul said during an interview on Newsmax. Paul grew up in Texas and graduated from Brazoswood High School.
