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Fossil fuel producers must be forced to ‘take back’ carbon, say scientists
(The Guardian, 12 Jan 2023) Group says forcing polluters to store carbon dioxide underground is needed to help world reach net zero.
Fossil fuel companies should be forced to “take back” the carbon dioxide emitted from their products, handing them direct responsibility for cleaning up the climate, a group of scientists has argued.
The principle that the producer of pollution should pay for its clean-up is established around the world, but has never been applied to the climate crisis.
Yet technology to capture and store carbon dioxide underground is advancing, and is now technically feasible, according to Myles Allen, a professor of geosystems science at the University of Oxford.
“The technology exists – what has always been lacking is effective policy,” he said. “The failure has been policy, not technology – we know how to do this.”
The companies that profit from extracting fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal producers around the world – should be paying for an equivalent quantity of carbon dioxide to be stored geologically as a condition of being allowed to operate, he argued.
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