Republican lawmakers from Louisiana and Texas on Wednesday shrugged off news reports that their states could together lose $1 billion in federal funds for megaprojects that could suck carbon dioxide from the sky.
Two direct air capture hubs being planned for the Gulf Coast of Texas and western Louisiana would be capable of removing 1 million metric tons of climate pollution from the atmosphere annually and storing it underground.
That’s the equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly three gas-fired power plants, according to EPA data, and would make the hubs the largest carbon removal projects on the planet.
The hubs were funded through a $3.5 billion direct air capture program created by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and are being developed by Occidental Petroleum and a consortium led by the scientific nonprofit Battelle.
