The budget proposal takes aim at several offices within the Energy Department and calls for $15 billion of cuts from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Specifically, the budget blueprint cancels the Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, a $2.1 billion program designed “to establish and carry out a carbon dioxide transportation infrastructure finance and innovation program.” The program is “of so little interest that not a single dollar has been awarded to date,” according to the White House.
The U.S. currently has a little more than 5,000 miles worth of pipelines specifically designed to transport carbon dioxide (CO2), which have primarily been used for enhanced oil recovery. The Energy Department estimates that the U.S. will need at least 30,000 miles of these pipelines to transport CO2 from industrial operators to underground storage sites to reach stated greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2050. The current deficiency has less to do with private sector interest—Exxon spent $4.9 billion in 2023 to buy a CO2 pipeline company—and more to do with onerous regulations.
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The proposal also includes cuts to federal funding grants from the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to groups that Trump says “advance the radical climate agenda.” Every year, the EPA “awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants and other assistance agreements,” according to the agency’s website. In the past, funding has gone to the Audubon Society ($156 million in revenue in 2023). NOAA has funded large nonprofits, including Ocean Conservancy ($48.6 million in revenue in 2023). While these groups do good and important work, they need not be financed by taxpayers.
https://reason.com/2025/05/02/trump-says-his-budget-proposal-will-end-the-green-new-scam/