Washington, DC (December 20, 2024) – Today in the U.S. Congress, Representatives Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Paul Tonko (D-NY) as well as Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the bipartisan and bicameral Removing and Sequestering Carbon Unleashed in the Environment and Oceans (ReSCUE Oceans) Act.

The ReSCUE Oceans Act will provide additional federal funding and support to advance research, development, and demonstration of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches and technologies.

These actions are important because research shows that achieving global climate goals requires both deep and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions as well as large-scale removal of excess carbon dioxide already present. The ocean covers 70% of the Earth and serves as its largest carbon sink, holding 42 times the carbon in the atmosphere.

Below is a statement from Christina DeConcini, Director of Government Affairs, U.S. Climate, World Resources Institute:

"Marine-based carbon dioxide removal could potentially extract billions of tons of carbon dioxide annually, but we need to better understand how effective various approaches are at removing and storing carbon and their potential impacts on local communities and the environment.

“The ReSCUE Oceans Act demonstrates there is bipartisan support for solving this challenge by directing more federal funding to conduct research and at-sea testing to better understand which approaches can be responsibly developed and deployed.

“We encourage other members of Congress to join their colleagues in seeking bipartisan climate solutions like the ReSCUE Oceans Act and advance this bill in the next Congress."