ME FIRST — TAX MAN, COMETH FOR CCS: Environmental groups, academics, spending watchdogs and environmental justice leaders are urging IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel to tighten oversight of the 45Q tax credit that promotes carbon capture, utilization and storage projects.

The letter sent Monday by groups such as Center for Coalfield Justice and For a Better Bayou and academics Mark Jacobson of Stanford University, Robert Howarth of Cornell University and Robert Bullard — known as the father of environmental justice — of Texas Southern University said Werfel should require third-party firms to verify whether companies are storing the amount of carbon they say they’re storing, audit and make that data public and mandate that companies maintain those records, which would enable the IRS to repeal tax credits if carbon leaks from storage.

The letter was accompanied by a petition with more than 10,000 signatories. “Before massive amounts of tax credits go out the door, we urge you to protect communities from the harmful impacts and false promises of the fossil fuel industry and develop strong guidance to prevent subsidizing climate polluters,” the letter states.