Washington – In its fiscal year 2026 budget plan released Friday night, the White House proposed major cuts to federal carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) programs, eliminating more than $6 billion in previously approved funding for the fledgling industry. These budget cuts are in addition to the Department of Energy’s recent cancellation of several other carbon capture projects, repealing billions more in previously allocated funding for CCS.

In response, Food & Water Watch Policy Director Jim Walsh issued the following statement:

“Of the many things in the White House budget plan Democrats should be resisting, cuts to carbon capture schemes are not among them. Carbon capture and storage is an immensely expensive, unproven and unworkable boondoggle that throws tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to fossil fuel polluters, with little or no tangible benefit to our planet’s climate future. Meanwhile, the pipeline infrastructure connected to carbon capture projects poses a direct threat to the safety and wellbeing of front-line communities.

“Congress must acknowledge the inherent fallacies of carbon capture, and support any and all efforts to rein in the billions of dollars in foolish government subsidies and tax breaks currently afforded to this scam of an industry.”

The separate budget reconciliation bill recently passed by the House and currently being considered by the Senate still includes massive tax credits for the CCS industry through the 45Q program. Recently more than 200 national and front-line advocacy groups from around the country sent a letter to Congress urging the cancellation of this program.

Late last year, the operators of the nation’s first underground carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility announced that they had paused injections of carbon dioxide in the well due to likely leakage deep underground. This came on the heels of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launching an enforcement action against the facility after another leak was discovered at the site, which is tied to ethanol production.