Press Release: Biden Funding for Hydrogen Hubs Threatens Communities,Exacerbates Climate Crisis

For Immediate Release, October 13, 2023

Contact: 
Patrick Sullivan, Center for Biological Diversity, (415) 517-9364, psullivan@biologicaldiversity.org 
Karen Feridun, Better Path Coalition, (610) 678-7726, karen@betterpathcoalition.org
Peter Hart, Food and Water Watch, (732) 266-4932, phart@fwwatch.org
Maya van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, (215) 369-1188 x102 or (215) 801-3043 (cell), keepermaya@delawareriverkeeper.org 

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Biden Funding for Hydrogen Hubs Threatens Communities, Exacerbates Climate Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden administration announced today that it will fund seven hydrogen hubs with $7 billion in taxpayer dollars to rapidly expand the production, transport, and use of hydrogen across the nation – sacrificing communities, worsening localized pollution and water crises, doubling down on national sacrifice zones, and perpetuating our reliance on fossil fuels. 

“Throwing billions at hydrogen hubs deepens our dependence on fossil fuels and worsens the climate emergency,” said Maggie Coulter, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “President Biden should be urgently investing in proven and increasingly affordable solar and wind energy. It’s wasteful and misguided to fund false solutions like hydrogen that only further burden frontline communities.”

The Department of Energy’s announcement to fund regional hydrogen hubs in the Mid-Atlantic, Appalachia, the Gulf Coast, California, the Midwest, the Dakotas/Minnesota, and the Pacific Northwest flies in the face of the numerous adverse impacts such hubs will have on communities. Billions of dollars in funding for the planned hydrogen buildout subjects already disproportionately adversely affected communities to more pollution and dangerous infrastructure.

“Today’s announcement is a pledge of allegiance to dirty energy by the Biden administration. It is at once a betrayal of environmental justice communities that have been suffering at the hands of the same polluting industries that will now benefit from this misappropriation of taxpayer dollars and of future generations who will suffer the climate chaos hydrogen hub development guarantees,” said Karen Feridun, Co-founder of the Better Path Coalition in Pennsylvania.

Earlier this year, over 180 regional and national climate, community and environmental groups urged the Department of Energy to reject the “hydrogen hype” and ditch funding to expand hydrogen-based technologies touted as climate solutions by the fossil fuel industry. In fact, the vast majority of hydrogen is generated from fossil fuels, and it itself is an indirect greenhouse gas. 

“The build out of massive hydrogen infrastructure is little more than an industry ploy to rebrand fracked gas. The Biden Administration has clearly fallen for this scam hook, line and sinker. This multi-billion dollar bet on greenwashed dirty energy will undermine efforts to address the climate crisis, while increasing pollution of our air and water, and milk taxpayers for billions in new fossil fuel subsidies,” said Jim Walsh, Policy Director of Food & Water Watch. 

“The avalanche of funding from the Infrastructure Law to create Hydrogen Hubs threatens to doom our national commitment to keep the earth from global climate catastrophe. Efforts to replace greenhouse gas emitting energy sources with renewable and truly clean energy will be undone by these subsidies to support methane and other polluting fuels that will make matters worse. Our government must stop investing in dirty energy and instead launch a full-on campaign for non-polluting renewables,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, leader of Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

Hydrogen production requires massive amounts of water; takes more energy to produce than it generates; is more likely to explode and burns hotter than conventional fossil fuels; and is more corrosive to pipelines – increasing threats in already overburdened communities, and extending our nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. 

“We need an ambitious transition away from dirty energy, not another taxpayer subsidy that enables Big Oil to repackage fossil fuels as so-called clean energy,” said Sarah Lutz, Climate Campaigner at Friends of the Earth US. “The Biden Administration should not be funding hydrogen infrastructure that will lock in decades more of dirty energy production in frontline communities already overburdened with pollution.”

Statements from Regional and Community Organizations:

“The development of hubs in Pennsylvania is a roadblock to implementation of the proven, scalable renewable energy solutions that threaten oil and gas interests that dominate our political process,” said Karen Feridun, Co-founder of the Better Path Coalition.

Better Path Coalition (PA) Press Statement on PA Hubs

“The negative health and safety effects of these projects would once again be faced by frontline communities which have borne the brunt of fossil fuel contamination for decades,” said Sally Roberts, Chair of  Rise Up West Virginia. 

​​”While the Biden administration minimizes the risk of hydrogen, the looming possibility of the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub threatens the health of Pennsylvanians.  When combusted, hydrogen releases six times more smog-causing nitrogen oxide into the air than methane, leading to respiratory and other health problems.  We cannot continue to devalue human health and safety by promoting these false solutions”, said Tonyehn Verkitus, Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania.

Statement of Ohio River Valley Institute: https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/statement-on-federal-funding-for-the-appalachian-regional-clean-hydrogen-hub/ 

“The last thing the Delaware River Watershed needs is the development of hydrogen and the pollution it will bring. The Delaware River Valley already doesn’t meet minimum federal clean air standards and our communities cannot tolerate one more molecule of the pollutants that plague us. Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey must aggressively move to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, not add to them through the proposed Mach 2 hub that the federal government is looking to fund,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

Delaware Riverkeeper Network Press Statement on MACH2: https://bit.ly/3ZWEn7a  

“Hydrogen is an explosive scam that threatens to distract us from real climate solutions. Our communities are disappointed in the amount of funding that this industry is extracting from our government, money that will simply go towards ineffectively greenwashing the fossil fuel industry. Most hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels and the process contributes 6 times the amount of NOx making it that much harder for our communities to breathe.” - Maria Lopez-Nunez, Ironbound Community Corporation (New Jersey)

“Once again, the Biden administration is propping up corporate polluters at the expense of Environmental Justice communities in Michigan and the Great Lakes. Dirty hydrogen is a threat to our communities, our air and water. Billions of dollars will be sunk into dangerous pipelines, into more fossil fuels, and will result in more pollution in Black, Brown, Indigenous and poor communities. These hubs will not help reduce greenhouse emissions or provide any benefits for the communities that will be forced to host them. But, they will surely line up the pockets of dirty energy corporations.” said Juan Jhong-Chung, Climate Justice Director, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition   

“Fossil fuel-produced hydrogen and carbon capture and storage will irrevocably endanger the Great Lakes ecosystem while further harming the region’s already overburdened communities. As a historic steel hub, Northwest Indiana is an epicenter in the fight for a Just Transition to renewable energy. We deserve the right to green jobs and a healthy environment, not more false solutions! These hydrogen hub announcements are more of the same carbon schemes from corporate polluters.” Ashley Williams, Executive Director, Just Transition Northwest Indiana

“Hydrogen production is extremely dangerous and puts communities at risk. So-called ‘clean’ hydrogen uses vast amounts of water and energy, and we cannot afford to be wasting scarce resources on these kinds of inefficient processes which only serve to greenwash fossil fuel emissions. This is not the climate solution that we need right now when more efficient and safer alternatives exist.” - Paige Powell, Commission Shift (Texas)

“By approving the ARCHES project, the Department of Energy is gambling away the opportunity for a just energy transition in California. The billions of state and federal funding allocated to hydrogen will change the energy landscape, potentially deepening the injustices we are committed to eliminating and further entrenching the oil & gas industry in California's energy future. A just transition away from fossil fuels hinges on the meaningful involvement of frontline communities in shaping solutions. As we've observed throughout ARCHES' community engagement process to date, these efforts have failed miserably, lacking substantive updates and inclusivity. Without meaningful input from impacted communities, hydrogen may inflict similar health and safety harms as fossil fuels, fail to achieve any significant CO2 reductions and waste critical financial resources, all while pretending to be green.” - Martha Dina Argüello, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility- LA