Bill Text: TX SR712 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Urging Congress to enact legislation to expand and extend the current federal tax credit for carbon capture, utilization, and storage under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (N/A - Dead) 2017-05-23 - Record vote [SR712 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SR712-Enrolled.html
By: Seliger | S.R. No. 712 |
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WHEREAS, Fossil fuels, including coal, natural gas, and | ||
oil, currently meet more than three quarters of primary global | ||
energy demand around the world and in the United States; and | ||
WHEREAS, According to the International Energy Agency, | ||
under current energy and environmental policies, fossil fuels | ||
will continue to play a role of this magnitude for the next | ||
quarter century or more; even assuming global adoption of | ||
policies consistent with the agency's "climate-stabilizing" 450 | ||
Scenario, more than half of total worldwide and United States | ||
energy demand would still be met by fossil fuels in 2040; and | ||
WHEREAS, The United States Department of Energy has | ||
reported that "carbon capture, utilization, and storage | ||
technologies provide a key pathway to address the urgent United | ||
States and global need for affordable, secure, resilient, and | ||
reliable sources of clean energy"; environmental advocates who | ||
recognize the value and enduring role of fossil fuels as an | ||
essential source of energy have come to support the accelerated | ||
development and broad deployment of carbon capture technologies | ||
for fossil fuels as part of a sustainable energy future; | ||
similarly, fossil energy advocates who have recognized the role | ||
carbon capture can play in creating new opportunities support the | ||
development and deployment of carbon capture technologies for | ||
fossil fuels; and | ||
WHEREAS, The United States and Texas have abundant | ||
supplies of fossil energy, the production and use of which | ||
provide important economic, energy, and national security | ||
benefits to our nation and our state; Texas is the nation's | ||
largest producer of natural gas, oil, lignite coal, and fossil | ||
fuels in total, and it has the nation's largest proved reserves | ||
of both natural gas and oil, as well as the ninth-largest | ||
recoverable reserves of coal; it is the nation's largest consumer | ||
of coal for electricity generation and the largest consumer of | ||
natural gas for both electricity generation and industrial use; | ||
77 percent of the electricity generated in Texas is produced from | ||
the use of fossil fuels; and | ||
WHEREAS, Reliable and affordable electricity is vital to | ||
economic growth and job creation and to the well-being of all | ||
citizens; according to the United States Department of Energy, "A | ||
diverse portfolio of energy resources is critical to U.S. energy | ||
and national policy . . . being more robust and resilient in | ||
comparison to a system that is heavily dependent on a limited set | ||
of energy resources . . . [and] helps insulate the economy from | ||
certain risks, including price volatility and risks from supply | ||
disruptions"; and | ||
WHEREAS, Texas is a leader in the research and development | ||
of technologies that provide clean, safe, and reliable power | ||
generation, and it is committed to continued research and | ||
development of carbon reduction strategies for fossil fuels, | ||
including existing and emerging carbon capture, utilization, and | ||
storage technologies such as geological sequestration, mineral | ||
carbonation, and the beneficial use of captured carbon dioxide; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, In Texas, many academic, private, and | ||
governmental initiatives and institutions are engaged in efforts | ||
to address the environmental, health, and economic impacts of | ||
energy production and use through collaborations on applied CO2 | ||
research, practical applications, workforce development, and | ||
public education; among them are the Petra Nova Project at the W. | ||
A. Parish Electric Generating Station in Fort Bend County, the | ||
Texas Clean Energy Project in Ector County, the NET Power project | ||
in Harris County, the Energy and Environment Initiative at Rice | ||
University, the Texas Carbon Management Program, and the Gulf | ||
Coast Carbon Center at The University of Texas at Austin; and | ||
WHEREAS, Legislation was introduced in the 114th United | ||
States Congress to enhance and extend current federal tax | ||
incentives, under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code, that | ||
sustain and promote such collaborations and encourage private | ||
industry in energy generation, manufacturing, and agriculture to | ||
adopt and deploy existing and emerging technologies that | ||
increase carbon capture, utilization, and storage; environmental | ||
and energy advocates have come together in support of this | ||
legislation in a groundbreaking coalition of environmental | ||
advocacy groups, labor unions, and energy producers from the | ||
coal, oil and gas, ethanol, and algae-biomass industries; | ||
moreover, the legislation has received strong bipartisan support | ||
in both the United States Senate and the United States House of | ||
Representatives; and | ||
WHEREAS, Congress and the president are also currently | ||
considering a large-scale federal infrastructure initiative to | ||
strengthen our nation's transportation, public works, and energy | ||
infrastructure, which could also serve as a vehicle for advancing | ||
"jobs-ready" carbon capture projects; the United States | ||
Department of Energy has determined that "a combination of tax | ||
incentives and research, development, demonstration, and | ||
deployment (RDD&D) will be critical to developing | ||
transformational carbon capture technologies and to driving down | ||
the costs of capture"; and | ||
WHEREAS, The Lone Star State has long been committed to a | ||
forward-looking energy strategy that maximizes both | ||
environmental quality and economic opportunity; now, therefore, | ||
be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 85th | ||
Legislature, hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United | ||
States to enact legislation to expand and extend the current | ||
federal tax credit for carbon capture, utilization, and storage | ||
under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas Senate respectfully urge Congress | ||
to provide appropriations to the United States Department of | ||
Energy sufficient to achieve and sustain a robust carbon capture | ||
research, development, demonstration, and deployment program and | ||
to support the inclusion of economically and environmentally | ||
beneficial carbon capture projects in any forthcoming federal | ||
infrastructure initiative; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas Senate respectfully urge Congress | ||
to support policies to increase the operational efficiency, and | ||
thereby the environmental performance, of existing | ||
electric-generating units and to support the preservation of a | ||
fuel-diverse electric generation portfolio critical to our | ||
domestic economic, energy, and national security; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That the secretary of the senate forward | ||
official copies of this resolution to the president of the United | ||
States, to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the | ||
House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and to | ||
all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the | ||
request that this resolution be entered in the Congressional | ||
Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of | ||
America. | ||
_______________________________ | ||
President of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that the | ||
above Resolution was adopted by | ||
the Senate on May 23, 2017, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2. | ||
_______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate |