Congressional Democrats today unveil a “Climate Crisis Action Plan” similar to the Green New Deal proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last year, which sounded like a dream to many progressives and climate activists.

At the heart of the proposal are billions in new subsidies and a federal mandate to achieve 100% renewables.

WASHINGTON - Almost two years after Congress passed a law more than doubling tax credits for power and industrial plants that build systems to prevent carbon dioxide emissions, efforts to begin construction are on hold.

Companies have announced plans to build more than 20 so-called carbon capture facilities, but all are waiting for the Internal Revenue Service to issue guidance on the specifics of how the tax credit can be claimed.

CHICAGO — Occidental Petroleum Corp plans to shift toward a carbon-neutral production model, it chief executive said on Thursday, but new U.S. laws are needed to support technologies designed to fight global warming.

Occidental, which recently purchased oil producer Anadarko Petroleum in $38 billion deal, is advancing its use of technologies to capture carbon, and prevent the element from escaping into the atmosphere.

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing for funding at the "highest possible levels" for carbon capture technology development.

The 12 lawmakers, including four Republicans, urged Senate appropriators to provide the Department of Energy with maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).

The promise of a Green New Deal has become a galvanizing force in US politics, inspiring climate activists and building much-needed pressure behind a sweeping federal climate plan.

But the proposed environmental and economic policy package has contained a technical flaw from the start that’s coming into sharper relief as interest groups seek to translate its high-minded ideals into nuts-and-bolts policies.