Manchin: “We need a moonshot” to focus on capturing carbon 

To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s opening remarks, please click here.

To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s questioning, please click here.

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry testified before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about the Administration’s budget request for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2020. Senator Manchin expressed his support for a moonshot investment in carbon capture technology, which is necessary to solve the global climate challenge. He also stressed the importance of the proposed Appalachian Storage Hub to both energy security and national security. 

“We need a moonshot when it comes to carbon capture, so I’m working on legislation that will refocus the DOE on coal and natural gas RD&D. My hope is that between the brilliant minds at DOE, our national labs and in the private sector, we can crack this nut sooner rather than later. I think we can all agree that this kind of innovation is necessary to ensure economic competitiveness, environmental responsibility, energy security, and national security,” Ranking Member Manchin said.

“At the Department we agree by and large with your assessment,” Secretary Perry said.“America has always been the place where innovation has come from and, unless we kneecap ourselves by taking our ability to create the wealth that pays for the innovation, America’s innovation will continue to be where people look.” 

“To ensure that we have resiliency and redundancy built into our natural gas liquids sector in the event that our Gulf Coast facilities would get hit and come offline - are you all looking seriously at a natural gas storage hub in the mid-Atlantic region, and advancing that as quickly as we possibly can to have that backup for security? And how does that play into our national security of our country?” Ranking Member Manchin asked.

“Senator, we have talked about this at length and, frankly, it’s not happening as fast as I’d like to see it. I think there is extraordinary potential in those four states and the Appalachian region – Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio,” Secretary Perry said.“This is a win-win for America. This is about American energy security, it’s about American jobs and I hope we collectively – the Administration, Congress, Democrats, Republicans – look at this and go ‘this makes sense for America.’” 

To watch the hearing in full, please click here.  

###