Imagine for a second that it’s 2050, and the world is removing gigatons of carbon annually from our atmosphere. A once-unheard-of suite of technologies called carbon removal has taken a global problem — carbon emissions piling up in our air — and converted it to a valuable resource that can help us reach net zero.
The scene I just described will happen; it’s just a matter of where — here in the U.S., or mainly abroad in places such as China, where deep investments are being made in carbon removal and management. It’s not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of policy, just like it was for every other technology developed throughout our history.
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From gas-powered cars to pharmaceutical breakthroughs, nuclear energy, and the iPhone, America’s playbook of innovation, demonstration, commercialization, and scale has played out thousands of times. Catalytic government support as well as decades of public research have helped technologies generate private capital and ensure the benefits — jobs, economic growth, and global leadership — of any given innovation remain in the U.S. Hundreds of American companies working to take carbon removal from the early stages of commercialization to the scale of any major global industry counted on partnerships like this when they chose to locate their businesses in the U.S.
I believe that America’s greatest innovation isn’t any particular technology or product, but innovation itself. The virtuous cycle of public-private partnerships helps companies make the tech-to-market leap and is a distinctly American tradition that keeps our economy looking to the future.
But recently, we saw the inverse of this virtuous cycle play out in real time as CarbonCapture Inc., an American company whose technology has received public investment, moved its planned Arizona facility to Canada, seeking a “more stable regulatory environment.” CarbonCapture Inc. was originally awarded a grant through the Direct Air Capture Hubs program, which is being floated as part of a slew of potential cuts by the Department of Energy.
America has long been the dominant player in the carbon removal industry, but as we pause to consider retreat, other countries are investing significantly in carbon removal projects and aim to capture the flag the U.S. planted on the industry long ago.
China has about 40 carbon management and removal projects in the works, Canada is currently offering a 60% investment tax credit for DAC projects, and Germany has committed around $578 million to carbon removal. These countries are supporting this industry because they know it’s an investment in the future of their nations’ economic output, workforce, and competitiveness.
Congressional leaders are sharing concerns about America’s future competitiveness in the global economy, too. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently said cuts to Direct Air Capture Hubs would set back U.S. efforts to compete in developing new and innovative technologies.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose home state of Louisiana is set to build the largest carbon removal facility in the world, said he was communicating with the Department of Energy to make the case for the Direct Air Capture Hubs program: “If you got a good business case, and this is something which is going to help the country with its international competitiveness and my state becoming more prosperous, and the locals accept it, I’m going to root for you.”
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No other country is better suited to bring carbon removal into the mainstream, commercialize it, manufacture it, and export it to the rest of the world. This innovation engine is America’s superpower. But we are on the precipice of sending this technology that U.S. taxpayers, researchers, and companies spent decades investing in to other places.
The next five years will define which countries reap the benefits of the world’s next trillion-dollar industry. The United States can lead on carbon removal or watch other countries take the helm. It’s as simple as that.
Giana Amador is the executive director of the Carbon Removal Alliance, a nonprofit building a carbon removal industry ready to reach gigaton scale, and the co-founder of Carbon180, the first dedicated carbon removal organization.