Aligning value with communities: conceptualizing a 'Carbon Steward' federal tax credit

Abstract

A significant and growing risk to wide-spread deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the US exists not in the technical space, but rather with social license to operate. The central challenge is how to achieve the principles of environmental justice for communities when the only incentives go directly to industry, and stakeholders must negotiate for fair compensation. Here we propose that a direct to community and landowner tax credit, the 'Carbon Steward Tax Credit,' may be the solution that enables true alignment between projects and communities. Providing communities value independent of but aligned with the project or developer can promote much stronger relationships for near- and long-term deployment of CCS.