Tampa, FL — On Wednesday, activists joined the Hillsborough County Commission meeting to call foul on proposals to bring carbon capture and hydrogen climate scams to the region. 

Carbon capture and hydrogen projects like that discussed in Wednesday’s meeting pose significant threats to the climate and environment. Food & Water Watch research has found that carbon capture operations at power plants can dramatically increase the amount of fossil fuels burned by up to 40%, while hydrogen projects suck up precious water resources, requiring as much as 25 gallons of freshwater to produce one kilogram of hydrogen. Hillsborough County has been on a drought warning and prescribed water restrictions since late last year.

Food & Water Watch Senior Florida Organizer Brooke Ward issued the following statement:

“We are in the midst of a climate and energy affordability crisis — this is no time to entertain climate scams. Carbon capture is proven to fail at anything other than prolonging our reliance on costly climate-killing fossil fuels; while hydrogen is a boondoggle linked to serious water misuse. Hillsborough County needs less fracked gas, not more; and we need to conserve our precious water, not let industry players suck up more than their fair share.

“Chair Hagan must drop these dangerous scams, and start the real conversation about transitioning to truly clean renewable energy in Hillsborough County. Chair Hagan must schedule an affordable clean energy public workshop to find real solutions for our community. ”

Activists had originally planned to speak at the first County Commission meeting of the year in support of an affordable energy public workshop, proposed by Commissioner Cohen at the commission’s December 20th meeting. A vote on the workshop was tabled pending conversations with Tampa Electric.

Instead, Chair Hagan added an agenda item to “discuss the feasibility for a carbon capture pilot project whose technology can be used to produce hydrogen, a clean energy source of the future.” Recently, Port Tampa Bay also released information about a proposed carbon capture facility at the port. During public comment, residents spoke out against carbon capture and hydrogen as “industry scams” meant to delay and distract officials from taking action to address continued energy rate hikes, transition away from fossil fuels, and enact climate resiliency initiatives.