Delaware Riverkeeper Network decried President Trump’s Department of Energy (DOE) decision to commit billions of taxpayer dollars on hydrogen energy development through the carryover of the Hydrogen Hub Program from the Biden Administration. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced at a Congressional Hearing last week that 2,200 holdover energy projects had been reviewed and would receive funding to proceed, including $5 billion dedicated to five Hydrogen Hubs, including the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, and ARCH2 in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.
“Despite abundant evidence that hydrogen energy is polluting, extremely dangerous, and noteconomically viable, the Department of Energy insists on throwing good taxpayer money after bad, by funding the failed Hydrogen Hubs. The MACH2 Hub has been soundly rejected by the communities that would be expected to host these projects, having been deprived of a publicinformation and/or participation process and considering the facts regarding the myriad threatsposed by the pollution that would be emitted and the public safety and health dangers. This spending spree is one more burden being meted out by the DOE’s disastrous energy policies. Communities are not going to agree to be guinea pigs or sacrifice zones,” said Tracy Carluccio, deputy director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
The MACH2 hub was billed under the Biden Administration as “clean” with a claim that only renewable energy sources, not fossil fuels such as fracked gas, would be used to producehydrogen at approximately 20 different project sites in the three states; however, investigationshave shown that fossil gas may end up being employed. MACH2 projects were projected to produce 300-plus tons of hydrogen/day; 100,000-plus tons per year at buildout. The list published by DOEshows MACH2 to receive $749,303,257 and shows the host state as Delaware.
Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Bristol, Pa.