Carbon Capture and Storage

The Trump administration is rolling back regulations on emissions from coal power plants. While many in Wyoming are celebrating, some urge caution.

Wyoming produces the majority of the nation’s coal, but many states want more environmentally friendly energy. So for years, Wyoming has hedged its bets on carbon capture technology to keep it alive. But that requires research and federal dollars.

A bill to repeal Wyoming’s carbon capture laws passed out of a House committee, despite public comment on it ending with no vote last week. If passed, the bill will undo laws that the governor’s office says have helped keep Wyoming coal plants alive.

Two bills that would’ve fundamentally changed Wyoming’s energy strategy have failed. Both would’ve rolled back Wyoming’s carbon capture laws in hopes of saving ratepayers money and propping up Wyoming’s coal industry. But one of the bills went a step further, pushing back on climate science.

The University of Wyoming will receive almost $5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue studying carbon capture and storage – a developing industry that hopes to reduce carbon emissions from coal plants or possibly even remove harmful gasses from the atmosphere.

A company focused on removing carbon from the atmosphere, or direct air capture (DAC) is hoping to build a carbon orchard in the state.

The Wyoming Senate recently passed a bill that supporters hope will save two Wyoming coal plants from closure, but some say it will ultimately be costly to Wyoming ratepayers.Senate File 142 is 36 pages long and it took senate lawmakers multiple committee meetings and many hours to deliberate. In essence, the bill makes it more difficult for public utilities to close their coal plants, and it further pushes utilities to install carbon capture technology to keep the plants active. Some see carbon capture as a way to meet climate goals, while still using coal.

A top coal producer in Wyoming is donating money to the University of Wyoming (UW) to help fund research into future uses of coal, which the coal industry and state are hedging their bets that these discoveries will keep the resource from going obsolete.

The state may soon have more than a million dollars to put toward any future litigation revolving around coal – an industry that is facing uphill battles nationally to stay alive.

Governor Gordon says Wyoming seeks to be Carbon Negative to Mitigate Climate Change, but sets no timeline