In a striking pivot that could determine the fate of a multi-billion-dollar sector, the carbon removal industry has rebranded itself not as a climate savior, but as a powerhouse for American energy dominance. Just weeks after President Trump’s Energy Department gave the green light to major Biden-era projects, executives are pitching direct air capture (DAC) technology as a tool for economic growth, energy security, and even oil production, aligning squarely with the administration’s “drill baby, drill” priorities.
The shift was impossible to miss, as just last month the Department of Energy preserved funding for at least 10 carbon removal projects, including two flagship hubs in Texas and Louisiana that could each receive roughly $600 million. These approvals came after a year-long review of more than 2,000 Biden-era awards, during which the nascent industry held its breath. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told lawmakers the department evaluated projects based on whether they advanced the interests of American ratepayers, American taxpayers, and our national security.
For an industry born under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, laws explicitly aimed at combating global warming, the message is clear: adapt or risk fading away. Billions in public and private capital have already poured into DAC startups and related technologies. Yet federal funding stalled for over a year under the Trump Administration, and Microsoft, the sector’s biggest voluntary corporate buyer, paused on new purchases amid market uncertainty.
Carbon removal can be the next prosperous and competitive American industry, declared Giana Amador, founding executive director of the Carbon Removal Alliance, a trade group launched in 2023. Speaking on the sidelines of San Francisco Climate Week last week, Amador emphasized the sector’s really compelling case for supporting the Trump administration’s goals around energy dominance. She highlighted practical applications beyond emissions reduction: producing sustainable aviation fuel and enabling enhanced oil recovery (EOR), where captured CO₂ is injected into wells to extract more crude.
At the heart of the reframing is “Project Cypress,” a joint venture between startups Heirloom and Climeworks in Louisiana, one of the two major hubs now moving forward. Heirloom’s technology uses minerals, such as crushed calcium carbonate, to absorb CO₂ from the air in a process powered by renewable energy. Climeworks relies on massive fans and chemical filters to pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. The captured CO₂ will be transported and injected deep underground, about 10,000 feet, for permanent geologic storage, primarily at a privately owned cattle ranch between Lake Charles and the Sabine River. A parallel hub in South Texas, backed by Occidental Petroleum’s 1PointFive subsidiary using Carbon Engineering tech, rounds out the DOE’s preserved megaprojects.
Vikrum Aiyer, head of global public policy at Heirloom, has been blunt with Trump officials. In meetings, he stressed three key selling points. First, the industry can eventually stand on its own, much like the fracking boom that transformed U.S. energy independence without perpetual subsidies, and eventually like geothermal and nuclear. Second, it bolsters energy security. Carbon removal offers offsets for liquefied natural gas exporters navigating European carbon rules or hyperscale data centers facing local opposition over emissions. Third, and perhaps most crucially for red-state politics, Louisiana’s Republican leaders back the project for the jobs and economic growth it promises.
Aiyer said many people miss the broader point when they assume direct air capture or carbon management doesn’t fit within the President’s energy dominance framework. He added that the Biden administration’s biggest missed opportunity was framing CO₂ solely as a liability rather than a strategic commodity for America’s competitive edge.
It’s worth noting that the voluntary carbon market, which once fueled early growth, has cooled. Corporate buyers like Microsoft have hit pause, shifting their reliance toward federal incentives like the 45Q tax credit and any policy tweaks that emerge from Congress or the administration. Amador and others argue the sector’s survival now hinges on proving it can deliver tangible economic wins, reindustrialization in oil-and-gas heartlands, domestic mineral supply chains, and even grid-friendly energy use.
Critics from the environmental left warn that tying carbon removal to fossil fuel expansion risks greenwashing EOR or delaying true decarbonization. Supporters counter that in a pragmatic policy environment obsessed with affordability and dominance, hybrid approaches are the only viable path. The Trump White House has already signaled openness to carbon management when it serves energy production, as seen in broader policies streamlining permitting for infrastructure and critical minerals.
So what’s next? Projects may evolve in size and scope to better align with administrative preferences, perhaps with greater emphasis on private matching funds or on ties to LNG exports and aviation. The Carbon Removal Alliance and companies like Heirloom are lobbying hard to position DAC as an all-of-the-above complement to fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables. As Aiyer put it, viewing CO₂ as a resource rather than waste unlocks America’s competitive edge.
For an industry that entered 2025 in limbo, the recent DOE approvals mark a lifeline. Whether it scales into the next prosperous and competitive American industry Amador envisions, or remains a niche player dependent on political winds, may depend on how convincingly it sells itself as indispensable to US energy dominance. (Source: Axios, WSJ)
