Red tape stifles US carbon pipeline ambitions

Federal and state funding for CO₂ pipeline projects to spur the development of CCUS is meaningless if obstructive regulation prevents projects from getting off the ground

The US may already host by far the largest system of CO₂ pipelines in the world, but developers face an uphill struggle to get new projects off the ground. The uncertain and obstructive regulatory landscape that led to the demise ten months ago of Heartland Greenway, which had been one of the country’s largest planned CO₂ pipeline networks, has seen little improvement since. On top of the excess red tape, developers are contending with opposition to CCUS from both sides of the political aisle, the thorny issue of private land rights and safety fears among the public. “What we have now is an administration that wants to give all this funding away for infrastructure development, but at t