The Department of Energy (DOE)’s Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) requests $893 million for FY2023, an 8% increase over the FY2022 enacted level, which is itself a 10% boost compared to the FY2021 funding level. And that’s not counting the infrastructure package (P.L.117-58 aka Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), which authorized spending a lot more on a variety of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) programs established by the Energy Act of 2020 and created a few new programs as well. In total, the infrastructure package appropriated around $13 billion for CCUS and mineral security programs under FECM over the next five years. To put the numbers in context, Congress appropriated around $1.2 billion, or one-tenth as much, for CCUS over the last five years.

There are also quite a few requested program changes within FECM in the FY2023 budget request. Shifting around, renaming programs, and adding new ones can signal an administration’s priorities or increase transparency by detailing smaller line items instead of one big spending bucket. But nothing becomes official unless Congress agrees.

The most significant proposed change is the establishment of a new Resource Sustainability program within FECM. Congress appropriated $100 million for FY2022 under a similar new heading two weeks ago. Now, DOE requests $183 million for FY2023 and the majority, or $100 million, will go toward Methane Mitigation Technologies. Part of that would support modular (aka, standardized) technology that can be deployed near wellheads and natural gas facilities to use otherwise vented, flared, or stranded natural gas. Reducing the amount of methane being sent into the atmosphere to trap more heat is an important goal, but many of the technologies capable of detecting, plugging, and using leaked methane have existed for years. Oil and gas operators have simply chosen not to adopt it, wasting gas worth billions of dollars every year. We urge swift action on the methane waste rule to requiring operators to limit methane waste this waste which should be a cost of doing business for industry.

All this spending on CCUS and other “transformative” fossil fuel technologies is like throwing down towels to soak up the water in a flooding bathroom without turning the tap off first. It doesn’t help that the towels aren’t that absorbent – CCUS has a very spotty track record and remains uneconomic in most circumstances despite decades of funding. We don’t need to turn the tap all the way off, but limiting how much we need to run it by transitioning to cleaner technologies is the better bet, especially when taxpayers are footing the bill.