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💵 The Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act (hashtag#CDRLA) would require the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to procure an increasing amount of carbon removal: starting with 50,000 tons and up to $37.5m in 2024, increasing to 10,000,000 tons and up to $1.5b in 2035!
📈 In total, the CDRLA would see over 40,000,000 tons of CO2 removed for up to $10b by the U.S. government using durable, high-quality carbon dioxide removal (hashtag#CDR) between now and 2035.
📉 It sets a declining per-ton price ceiling to incentivize cost reductions over time. Starting in 2024 and 2025 with 50,000 tons per year with a max rate of $750 per ton. By 2029 that jumps to 5 million tons at $300 per ton and in 2035 and beyond it reaches 10 million tons at $150 per ton.
🌟 Additionally, the CDRLA promotes a broad portfolio alongside nascent technologies by specifically requiring that 20% of the total metric tons removed through FY 2034 are removed by “small removal projects” (defined as projects that remove < 5% of the total removal requirement in that year).
📣 Building on the DOE’s $35 million CDR Purchase Pilot Prize, the CDRLA is exactly what the industry needs to reach the gigaton scale needed: large-scale, tech-agnostic public procurement of CDR.
👏 The CDRLA also has all the hallmarks of quality CDR legislation by prioritising domestic job creation, environmental justice, and community benefits. It ensures high standards for monitoring, reporting, and verifying carbon removals and for robust public engagement.
🤞 This bill would mark a real step-change for CDR, and I will have all my fingers crossed that it can pass in an increasingly divided Congress, where climate has become a huge battleground.
💚 Huge congratulations to Representatives Tonko (NY-20th) and Peters (CA-52nd) along with Senators Coons (DE) and Whitehouse (RI) for reintroducing the CDRLA, and to the dedicated staffers Brendan Larkin, Clara Tibbetts, and all the other behind-the-scenes staffers who make it all happen - keep up the fantastic work.
🔗 Links to the press releases and industry statements (including mine) in the comments.
What is your take on the CDRLA?
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