Mnuchin says carbon capture tax credit guidance will be out soon

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday said he hopes to soon roll out interim guidance on a tax credit for companies that capture their carbon pollution.

Pressed by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who called the tax credit critical for the emerging technology, Mnuchin told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee he hopes to have guidance out shortly but resisted giving a firm deadline.

{mosads}“I share your view this is very important,” Mnuchin said. “We are taking it very seriously and I hope we get it out soon.”

Legislators directed the IRS to offer the tax credit as part of the 2018 budget bill. But senators have been frustrated by the pace to offer them to the power plants and energy companies that would benefit.

A bipartisan group of senators wrote a letter to the IRS in February hoping to speed up the process, but it wasn’t until early this month that the IRS announced it would be taking comment on the tax credit.  

“We have promising technologies in a number of areas that we ought to be racing to deploy,” Coons said.

Carbon capture technology largely enjoys bipartisan support, though some progressives have argued it encourages continued use of fossil fuels.