Bipartisan Support for mCDR at First House Science Committee Hearing

Yesterday, the House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology held the first ever Congressional hearing evaluating the potential marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). 

The hearing was remarkably substantive and bipartisan – which is another indicator that the U.S. government as a whole is supportive of more research into mCDR, building on tens of millions of dollars in research funding allocated over the last eighteen months.

“The committee’s bipartisan interest in advancing ocean-climate solutions — with an eye towards rigor and scientific integrity — stands out,” said Diane Hoskins, Global Policy Director for Carbon to Sea. “As an organization focused on evaluating the potential of ocean alkalinity enhancement, we were encouraged by the consensus on growing the government’s role on key issues like monitoring, reporting, and verification, as well as advancing environmental protections.”

Here are the key highlights and takeaways from the hearing and the record: 

• Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY), Energy Subcommittee Chairman, pointed out that mCDR is often overlooked: “While we have seen progress in the development of direct air capture technologies over the last two decades, people might overlook the fact that the ocean has the potential to hold up to 50 times more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere. This potential could provide another avenue to regain United States energy independence while also being conscious stewards of the environment.“ His full opening statement is available HERE. 

• Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, highlighted how significant the hearing was: “This is one of the most important hearings that the Science committee has had this year and maybe in many years. We’re at a point where eliminating emissions is not enough. We’re gonna need to remove carbon to have a future as a planet. We know that and the role of carbon removal in our oceans is an important one but not an easy one.” 

• Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), spoke about the broad need for CDR: “The conversation about whether we need to get to zero CO₂ emissions by 2030 or 2050 is sort of dumb because the kind of civilization we want needs CO₂ to be below 350 ppm which means we needed to stop emitting CO₂ by about 1995 and in the absence of a time machine we need what you are all doing. So we need to do it more and do it faster.” 

• Dr. Scott Doney from the University of Virginia spoke about the promise of mCDR and OAE specifically: “I’d maybe frame it as the techniques that I think show real promise… The reason why the ocean takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere anyway is because it is alkaline. And, in fact, the long-term fate of all the carbon we emit to the atmosphere – almost all of it will eventually end up in the ocean because weathering products add alkalinity to the ocean. So, in that sense the more geochemical approaches are just accelerating an ongoing natural process, speeding up the ocean uptake. And I think there’s a lot of promise there.” His full testimony is available HERE.

• Dr. Sarah Kapnick, Chief Scientist at NOAA, talked about the need for the U.S. to lead on mCDR: “As other countries and companies explore altering the ocean to draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide, the U.S. must grow our own knowledge around various marine carbon dioxide removal pathways including potential effects on the ocean and its ecosystems, and must maintain and expand our observing capabilities, in order to ensure we are informed and able to respond to global marine carbon dioxide removal activities. We cannot afford to remain on the sidelines of this field of research – for the climate, for the economic potential of the sector, and, as international interest grows, for our national security.” Her full testimony is available HERE.

• Noah Deich, Senior Advisor at the Department of Energy, emphasized that mCDR is a priority for his department: “The Department of Energy recognizes that mCDR research and development is a critical part of the current carbon dioxide removal research landscape and demonstrates potential to scale to be a significant part of overall United States carbon dioxide removal efforts. We are not only actively funding areas of research and development in this field but also look forward to leveraging our relevant knowledge as active participants in the field, in our partnership with NOAA, and a whole of government approach in the future.” His full testimony is available HERE.

• Ben Tarbell, CEO and Co-Founder of Ebb Carbon, spoke about the critical moment we are in and the role Congress can play: “We are at an inflection point where we have a narrow moment to move from possibility to reality, from pilot-scale R&D to a scale where we can have a substantive positive effect on the climate. Congress has a unique opportunity to enable the burgeoning mCDR industry at this critical time.” His full testimony is available HERE.

• Dr. Julie Pullen, who is on Carbon to Sea’s Science Advisory Board, submitted written testimony about the growing consensus calling for more research into mCDR: “In order to meet global emission reduction goals and strengthen the U.S. economy, greater federal investment into marine carbon dioxide removal technology is needed. Doing so will address the worsening climate crisis and allow the U.S. to emerge as a global environmental leader…. Leading research organizations like the IPCC and U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) have specifically identified ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) as one high-potential approach that demands further exploration. In theory, OAE is a scalable, permanent, and effective way to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Researchers and scientists from academic institutions, private companies, philanthropies, and government agencies are already working to answer questions around OAE’s efficiency, safety, environmental impacts, and costs.” Her full testimony is available HERE.

This hearing represented another step forward in raising awareness about and support for the importance of mCDR as a complement to dramatic emissions reductions. We’re looking forward to Congress’ growing focus on supporting research.