https://www.thestar.com/news/world/us/2021/01/21/us-government-approves-routes-for-wyoming-co2-pipelines.html

CASPER, Wyo. - The U.S. government has approved routes for a system of pipelines that would move carbon dioxide across Wyoming in what could be by far the largest such network in North America, if it is developed.

The greenhouse gas would be captured from coal-fired power plants, keeping it out of the atmosphere where it causes global warming. The captured gas would instead be pumped underground to add pressure to and boost production from oil fields.

In all, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management designated 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometres) of federal land for pipeline development through the Wyoming Pipeline Corridor Initiative, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed the plans last Friday, days before leaving office with the rest of President Donald Trump’s administration. The approval allows companies to begin submitting pipeline construction proposals.

Wyoming officials including Republican Gov. Mark Gordon have promoted carbon capture as a way to boost the state’s struggling coal mining industry.

Utilities nationwide have been turning away from coal-fired electricity in favour of cheaper and cleaner natural gas and renewable energy.

Environmental groups including the Western Watersheds Project have criticized the pipeline corridor plan, saying the pipelines would cross habitat of sage grouse — brown, chicken-sized birds that spend most of their time on the ground.