CATF welcomes Brad Crabtree’s confirmation to lead the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management 

Clean Air Task Force enthusiastically welcomes the confirmation of Mr. Brad Crabtree as Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) at the Department of Energy. President Joe Biden nominated Mr. Crabtree in September of 2021, and he has been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to lead an office that is so central to helping the United States achieve its climate goals, as laid out in the U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution. 

With the passage of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) in November, Mr. Crabtree’s position assumes an even more critical importance. He will lead an office tasked with implementing the bill’s transformative carbon management provisions, which include top priorities such as the buildout of direct air capture hubs and carbon transport and storage infrastructure.  

Mr. Crabtree brings decades of experience advocating for carbon management to this role and is second-to-none in his understanding of the technical as well as socio-economic challenges involved in a massive scale-up of carbon management technologies. As a native son of North Dakota, he has led a varied career that began as an environmental campaigner, and he has worked tirelessly to earn the respect and trust of civil society organizations, industry, and labor which are often on different sides of the political spectrum. His commitment to environmental justice runs deep.  

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Mr. Crabtree for many years, and there is no individual more highly qualified and aptly suited for this position. We look forward to continuing to work with him and the Administration on the development and deployment of carbon management provisions.