DAC Hubs in Fossil Fuel Country: Recommendations From the Gulf Coast

By Data for Progress’ Climate Team

Across the Gulf Coast, renewables are taking off, bringing jobs and economic growth while advancing climate goals. As the United States transitions away from fossil fuels, multiple new industries could help meet the Gulf Coast region’s workforce needs. A just transition — one that offers quality of life for displaced workers like those in the fossil fuel industry — will be especially important. Direct air capture (DAC) is one such industry that could aid in a just transition for fossil fuel communities and workers, drawing on many of the same skillsets used to take carbon out of the ground in the form of fossil fuels. Climate experts now say that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies like DAC will be necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and likely even to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius. They also say we’re behind on developing these technologies and practices. DAC removes carbon dioxide from the open air for permanent sequestration using large fans and can complement land-based CDR by providing more climate-resilient removals. However, CDR and DAC technologies are no substitute for decarbonization, and any deployment of CDR technologies must be accompanied by ambitious measures to slash emissions and rapidly phase out fossil fuels.

In the United States, DAC is receiving significant support from the federal government. In November 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which set aside $3.5 billion to create four DAC hubs across the country. DAC developers are showing increased interest in the Gulf Coast, given its abundant energy resources, existing industrial infrastructure, and potential for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide removed from the air. The characteristics that make the Gulf Coast attractive to DAC developers, however, are also many of the characteristics that may make local communities averse to DAC development. As the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) considers funding and deploying DAC hubs along the Gulf Coast, it must weigh the fossil fuel industry’s legacy of harm within environmental justice communities. DAC can be a means of rectifying past carbon pollution, but only if it is deployed with an aim of addressing the Gulf Coast’s legacy of environmental racism and siting injustices.