The League of Women Voters of Darke County, with the assistance of the Citizens Against CO2 Sequestration (CO2+) is holding a Town Hall meeting, which will question Carbon Cap and Trade as it is outlined in Climate Bill 2454. This controversial Bill barely passed the House in June and is awaiting passage in the U.S. Senate.
This Bill would not only impact our country and state but our county as well. Although CO2 sequestration has been stopped at the ethanol plant site in Greenville's Industrial Park, it is important to remember that the Mount Simon Sandstone runs through much of western Ohio and our neighboring states. What could harm our neighbors, could also harm us. It has been reported that another site is being sought for Ohio. Who knows where that site could be.
The League urges anyone concerned about the potential harm of CO2 sequestration, which depends upon Cap and Trade to be economically feasible, to attend their Town Hall Meeting on Monday, March 22, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Elk's Lodge in Greenville. Ohio Senators: Keith Faber and Fred Strahorn will speak. Both men were instrumental in helping to stop the high-risk CO2 sequestration project at the ethanol plant site in Greenville's Industrial Park. The public is urged to attend. Admission is free.
While researching Cap and Trade, League members learned that Subtitle B of the Bill, which is entitled Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) outlines a national strategy for addressing key legal, regulatory and other barriers to the commercial-scale deployment of CCS. It also outlines a coordinated approach to certifying and permitting geologic sequestration sites throughout the country, as well as establishing a Carbon Storage Research Corporation, which would advance carbon capture and storage technology to commercial readiness.
Under Section 786 of Subtitle B, which is entitled Commercial Deployment of Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies, emission allowances, reverse auctions, CO2 pricing and trading would be enacted to support the commercial deployment of CCS technologies. In fact, the Bill proposes an emissions allowance of $50.00 per ton to each plant that reduces 50 percent of its CO2 emissions with CCS technology. These rates can increase up to $90 per ton for a plant that achieves 85 percent emission reductions or more - - again with CCS technology. A sliding scale would provide higher bonus allowance values for projects achieving higher rates of CCS, which would be based on the tons of CO2 captured and permanently sequestered. Knowing the high risks of CCS, this is NOT good news.
In addition, Section 453 of the Bill outlines State Programs to Build Resilience to Climate Change Impacts, Distributes emission allowances to states for implementation of adaptation projects, programs or measures, which would be contingent on the completion of an approved State Adaptation Plan. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, those designed to respond to extreme weather events such as flooding or hurricanes, changes in water availability, heat waves, sea level rise, ecosystem disruption and air pollution.
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