It’s time to stop looking at carbon as a liability and time to start figuring out ways to turn into an asset, Governor Matt Mead told attendees at the Wyoming Business Report’s Energy Summit Monday. He said carbon capture and utilization technology is not ready for prime-time, but that innovation is possible if the government and others invest in it.
“Everything is crazy until you figure it out. And this issue on coal in particular is an issue that I think we can figure out, and that we need to figure out,” Mead said.
But he rejected the idea that regulation might help spur that innovation, saying carbon dioxide regulations due out June 2 from the federal government will actually prevent investment in research and development.
In his speech, Governor Matt Mead also defended a slew of recent lawsuits he’s brought against the Environmental Protection Agency, while acknowledging there are limitations to that style of policymaking.
“Hopefully they’ll stop us from going somewhere we don’t want to go," Mead said, "but they’re not necessarily the mechanism to get us to where we do want to go."