We already know carbon capture and storage is a scam. Capturing and injecting carbon dioxide underground as a “climate solution” has failed again and again, while costing billions of taxpayer dollars. But now, the carbon capture industry is pushing for a new dangerous and dubious addition: dumping its carbon waste deep under our oceans. Industry fails to acknowledge that the vast majority of carbon captured in the U.S. goes to enhanced oil or gas recovery — that is, using carbon dioxide to drill for more oil and gas — not permanent carbon Sequestration. As it stands, CCS functions less like a climate solution and more like the newest iteration of the oil & gas industry. And the Trump administration is moving to allow this practice to expand into our oceans.
In May, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) will move forward on a new rule to create a regulatory framework for injecting carbon dioxide into offshore geologic formations. But this raises serious concerns for advocates, communities, and lawmakers. The scientific, regulatory, environmental, and even economic understanding for this technology remains extremely uncertain.
For years, communities have been challenging carbon capture projects onshore. Carbon capture has faced significant public opposition, legal challenges, technical scrutiny, and setbacks. Nevertheless, the Trump administration is moving to greenlight industry experimentation in even tougher conditions.
Offshore CCS Takes a Bad Idea and Makes It Worse
For years, communities have opposed onshore CCS, citing concerns about safety, land use, groundwater contamination, and countless other issues with CCS projects. For example, an ADM Sequestration well leaked carbon dioxide for an unknown amount of time despite having monitoring capabilities. In Satartia, Mississippi, we saw for the first time how a major carbon dioxide leak from a pipeline can quickly cause carbon dioxide poisoning from miles away and highlighted the lax regulations for carbon dioxide. None of these onshore issues has been resolved, and in fact, they are magnified offshore.
Offshore CCS projects would transport carbon dioxide to offshore oil and gas rigs so that the carbon can be pumped under the seabed and stored in or near the same wells that oil and gas was extracted from.
Conditions for undersea wells are way different and more complex than those under land. Projects will see unique corrosion issues from saltwater. Moreover, marine carbon leaks are harder to detect and contain, and projects face monitoring constraints.
Scientists don’t yet understand the impacts of both catastrophic and slow carbon dioxide leaks in marine environments. Changes in water chemistry could harm marine life and disrupt food chains. Offshore CCS projects may threaten energy infrastructure, fisheries, protected marine habitats, and more.
Regulators and the industry haven’t even addressed all the risks of onshore CCS. Moving forward with offshore CCS puts the fragile balance of our oceans at risk, and all the ecosystems and communities that depend on them.
What’s the Rush on Offshore CCS?
Even BOEM’s own environmental studies materials state that the agency still needs information on offshore CCS’s potential impacts to the human, marine, and coastal environments, effective monitoring methods, and region-specific mitigation measures. That missing information, it says, is key to NEPA analysis, leasing decisions, and program guidance.
So why is the administration moving now?
One reason might involve the generous federal subsidies, such as 45Q, for carbon capture and storage. Trump’s recent expansion of 45Q and reductions in federal oversight further incentivize fast development of carbon capture projects. These subsidies incentivize risky projects to move forward without a regulatory or scientific framework in place.
BOEM’s rulemaking aligns with the industry’s efforts to prioritize speed over safety — even though the agency’s mission is to balance energy development with environmental protection.
We’re not letting BOEM fast-track offshore CCS without a fight. In April, we joined 110 public‐interest, landowner, Indigenous, and environmental justice organizations calling for the agency to pause the rulemaking. Given the safety and scientific gaps with this technology, the oil and gas industry cannot be allowed to experiment in our oceans for their profit.
Join us in calling on BOEM to stop Big Oil from dumping carbon waste into our oceans!