The Biden administration’s decision to steer hundreds of millions of dollars to one of the world’s top producers of fossil fuels to retool a Houston-area plant that makes a key plastics ingredient is facing stiff criticism from advocates who see a disconnect between key White House goals.
The grant for Exxon Mobil’s Baytown plant is one of 33 announced this week that could share about $6 billion in federal funding, subject to further negotiations. The Energy Department frames the funding as a groundbreaking foray into decarbonization and an effort to wean heavy industry off fossil fuels.
“This is exactly the type of facility that federal taxpayers should not be funding,” Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator who now heads the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, said in an email to E&E News about the Exxon plant. “We are extremely disappointed that the Biden administration continues to fund polluting, damaging facilities such as this one.”
According to a DOE summary, Exxon is potentially in line for up to $332 million to replace natural gas with “clean hydrogen fuel” at a plant that is part of its Baytown petrochemical complex, about 25 miles east of Houston.
