Wyoming Carbon Capture Loses Federal Funding

Carbon Capture, meant to capture and sequester CO2 from coal power plants, was supposed to save those power plants from being closed in states like Wyoming.

That was under the Biden administration and their belief that those power plants were causing a climate catastrophe.

However, the Trump administration has pulled federal funding for one of the projects in the Cowboy State.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced it’s stripping $3.7 billion for carbon capture research projects across the country.

24 projects are losing funding across the nation, including one in Wyoming.

The facility is near a Gillette coal plant where carbon capture research has been ongoing for several years.

“It is unfortunate, because we need all of the carbon capture technologies developing as rapidly as we can,” said Scott Quillinan, senior director of research at the University of Wyoming (UW) School of Energy Resources.

The DOE does not believe these projects are cost-effective.

“After a thorough and individualized financial review of each award, DOE found that these projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars,” according to a DOE press release.

The EPA has declassified CO2 as a pollutant, pointing out that it is essential to life on this planet and is helping to green the planet, according to several NASA studies.

Carbon capture laws were enacted by the federal government and the State of Wyoming to keep coal plants relevant.

Wyoming’s carbon capture laws remain in place but will be reviewed in the next legislative session.