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Cases / Carbon capture and climate intervention · United States · 2011–2025

45Q lobby coalition's founding director was named to head DOE carbon office

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

The coalition that campaigned for the US 45Q carbon capture tax credit saw its founding director named to head the Energy Department's fossil and carbon management office in 2022. The 2025 law raised the oil recovery credit to match storage, and much captured CO2 is used to recover more oil.

What?
The founding director of the coalition behind the 45Q credit was confirmed in 2022 to head the Energy Department office that administered carbon capture funds, the coalition reported. Carbon Capture Coalition
Where?
United States: Washington, D.C. (Energy Department) and Texas (Occidental hub).
When?
Coalition founded 2011 and renamed 2018; appointment April 2022; oil recovery credit change July 2025. Carbon Capture Coalition
Who?
Gained
  • Occidental — Up to $500m of Energy Department support for its South Texas direct air capture hub, August 2023
  • Oil producers using captured CO2 for oil recovery — Credit raised to match storage in July 2025 (World Oil) World Oil
Lost
  • US taxpayers — Fund the 45Q credit and Energy Department support
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
A tax credit per tonne of captured CO2, with captured carbon largely used to recover more oil, and a coalition campaigning to expand the credit.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The coalition was founded in 2011 as the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative and renamed the Carbon Capture Coalition in 2018, the year the FUTURE Act raised the credit to $35 per tonne for oil recovery and $50 for storage.

In April 2022 the coalition's founding director, Brad Crabtree, was confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management at the Energy Department, whose office ran carbon management programmes including direct air capture hubs (Carbon Capture Coalition).

In August 2023 the department allotted up to $500m to Occidental's South Texas direct air capture hub.

The July 2025 law cut wind and solar credits and raised the oil recovery credit from $60 to $85 per tonne, matching storage (World Oil).

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources record the programme link between the founding director and the department, not a personal role in the Occidental award.
    • None on record Global Witness and CIEL figures (ADNOC's storage target, 475 lobbyists at COP28) are cited without a source URL in this record.
    • None on record The 2011 and 2018 founding and renaming dates are not linked to a source URL in the material reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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