Tracing sources of funds used to lobby the US government about carbon capture, use, and storage

Abstract

Analysis of U.S. federal lobbying disclosures from 2005 through 2024 identifies the fossil fuel sector as the primary force behind a multipronged $954-million (2024 USD) lobbying campaign of the U.S. federal government regarding carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) and closely related subjects (e.g., ‘clean’ hydrogen, CO2 pipelines). The campaign of influence has comprised at least 54,243 contacts of high-ranking government officials in the legislative and executive branches and the timing of these lobbying efforts have coincided with significant legislative results. Organizations that directly or indirectly benefit from fossil-fuel sales or combustion were responsible for 89 % of CCUS lobbying spending between 2005 and 2024 Fifteen organizations, led by Occidental Petroleum, Southern Company, and ExxonMobil, are responsible for 50 % of all CCUS lobbying expenditures; all fifteen directly benefit from sale of fossil fuels. In contrast to fossil-fuel companies, the ‘hard-to-abate’ industries that supposedly need CCUS, such as steelmaking, concrete, and paper products, spent only 3 % of all dollars used to lobby the federal government about CCUS. The steel industry spent ten times more lobbying for other environmental topics than they did lobbying about CCUS. Fossil-fuel interests now benefit from generous, direct, and largely untraceable tradable tax credits as well as billions of appropriated US taxpayer dollars, which slow the energy transition and entrench society’s dependence on fossil fuels.