For the foreseeable future, cutting emissions is the most feasible means of addressing climate change. And whatever carbon removal we might eventually develop should only be used to address the final, hard-to-abate emissions left after fossil fuels are phased out. Most of all, carbon removal should never be used as a substitute for cutting emissions, or to help delay phasing out fossil fuels.

So why is the [US] federal government doing exactly the opposite — putting big money behind dubious carbon capture projects, in ways that specifically benefit Big Oil and help delay climate action?