SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2017, Issue No. 56
July 28, 2017

Secrecy News Blog: https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

TRUMP ADMIN WOULD CURTAIL CARBON CAPTURE RESEARCH

The Trump Administration budget request for FY 2018 would "severely reduce" Energy Department funding for development of carbon capture and sequestration technologies intended to combat the climate change effects of burning fossil fuels.

The United States has "more than 250 years' worth of clean, beautiful coal," President Trump said last month, implying that remedial measures to diminish the environmental impact of coal power generation are unnecessary.

Research on the carbon capture technology that could make coal use cleaner by removing carbon dioxide from power plant exhaust would be cut by 73% under the Trump proposal.

"The Trump Administration's approach would be a reversal of Obama Administration and George W. Bush Administration DOE policies, which supported large carbon-capture demonstration projects and large injection and sequestration demonstration projects," the Congressional Research Service said this week in a new report.

"We have finally ended the war on coal," President Trump declared.

However, congressional approval of the Administration's proposal to slash carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) development is not a foregone conclusion.

"The House Appropriations Committee's FY2018 bill funding DOE disagrees with the Administration budget request and would fund CCS activities at roughly FY2017 levels," the CRS report said.

"This report provides a summary and analysis of the current state of CCS in the United States." It also includes a primer on how CCS could work, and a profile of previous funding in this area. See Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in the United States, July 24, 2017:

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Methane and Other Air Pollution Issues in Natural Gas Systems, updated July 27, 2017:

The U.S. Export Control System and the Export Control Reform Initiative, updated July 24, 2017:

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS): OECD Tax Proposals, July 24, 2017:

Oman: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated July 25, 2017:

Lebanon, updated July 25, 2017:

Aviation Bills Take Flight, but Legislative Path Remains Unclear, CRS Insight, July 25, 2017:

Military Officers, CRS In Focus, July 3, 2017:

Military Enlisted Personnel, CRS In Focus, July 3, 2017:

Transgender Servicemembers: Policy Shifts and Considerations for Congress, CRS Insight, July 26, 2017:

Systematic, authorized publication of CRS reports on a government website came a step closer to reality yesterday when the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to approve "a provision that will make non-confidential CRS reports available to the public via the Government Publishing Office's website."

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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