1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to reintroduce and support passage of the Carbon Removal and Emissions Storage Technologies (CREST) Act, bipartisan legislation previously introduced by Senators Collins, Cantwell, King, Cassidy, and Coons. This bill represents a critical step toward meeting our climate goals through carbon removal and storage technologies. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made clear that removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is essential to meeting international climate goals. Reducing future emissions alone is no longer sufficient. Current trends suggest global warming will exceed two degrees Celsius, which would bring devastating consequences including extreme heat waves, disruption to livelihoods across the country, and increased flooding in coastal communities. The CREST Act would direct the Departments of Energy and Interior to establish research programs evaluating carbon removal pathways across four key areas: biomass carbon removal from terrestrial and aquatic sources, geological carbon removal through carbon mineralization, aquatic carbon removal including blue carbon management and direct ocean capture, and atmospheric carbon removal through direct air capture technologies. The legislation would also create a pilot reverse auction purchasing program to accelerate market commercialization by identifying the most cost-effective carbon removal solutions. This bill builds on the Energy Act of 2020 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which invested $3.6 billion in direct air capture technology. However, private sector investment alone cannot research and deploy carbon removal pathways at the scale needed to address the climate crisis. Federal leadership is essential to advance these technologies and create the market conditions necessary for widespread adoption. I ask that you champion the reintroduction of the CREST Act and work to secure its passage. The bipartisan nature of this legislation makes it a rare opportunity to pass meaningful climate action that can actually garner sufficient support from both sides of the aisle. This is a chance to advance impactful policy in an area where consensus is possible. Carbon removal technology must be part of our comprehensive approach to climate action, and this legislation provides the framework to make meaningful progress.