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By: Joe Tant, President of the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce

As a global leader in energy and petrochemicals, the Golden Triangle can be at the forefront of unleashing hydrogen production to revive and re-shore American manufacturing that will bring jobs back to our communities. However, Texans need Congress to maintain existing federal investments in expanding hydrogen production to maximize its impact on energy production and manufacturing in our region and across the country.

Expanding hydrogen isn’t a replacement for Texas oil and gas. In fact, 95% of hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas. Vastly expanding hydrogen development can be an important new method for sustainably utilizing Texas’ homegrown oil and gas at home and exporting it around the world. Consumers globally are demanding low-carbon products, so fuels like hydrogen will be a game changer for Texas’ manufacturers that need to stay competitive in an international marketplace. If companies can’t find the products they need in Texas, they’ll look to other states, or even other countries. 

Hydrogen may be our most basic element, but in Texas, where everything is bigger, innovative companies are poised to make it the fuel of the future. Like natural gas, hydrogen is a very versatile energy source that can be used to power vehicles, generate electricity, and fuel industrial processes like steel and cement making. The need for rapidly scaling hydrogen production to meet these varied uses is posed to benefits Texans in many important ways. 

This need led to the creation of the Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub, which drew over $1 billion in federal investment by the US Department of Energy and has the potential to create over 40,000 jobs in our region. The hydrogen industry in the U.S. has the potential to create 700,000 jobs by 2030 and over 3 million jobs by 2050. 

Companies are already investing billions in expanding production in Jefferson County, and as more companies flock to our state to invest in the industry, we’ll see the introduction of new, high-quality jobs up and down the energy, manufacturing, and raw material supply chains. Meanwhile, the investments that create these opportunities will help to improve our state infrastructure and build up communities throughout Texas.

The Golden Triangle could also become a hub for the emerging ammonia industry, a critical agricultural fertilizer and method of exporting hydrogen, which also promises to bring in new jobs and investments to our port and surrounding industries. At the same time, diversifying our energy sources, bolstering our production of abundant, domestically produced energy and becoming a dominant international supplier also strengthens our energy security, resiliency and leadership around the world.

While the hydrogen industry is on a rocket-propelled trajectory toward long-term success, continued investments already approved by Congress can ensure the industry scales quickly. Production credits known as 45V give vital long-term stability that encourages private sector production of hydrogen. Without it, we would be far less likely to see the transformational progress that the industry has seen since 45V’s inception. 

Should Congress cut or discontinue these important investments, we would concede the flourishing of emerging fuel industries to other countries at an increasingly critical time. Not only will we give away jobs and investments meant for Texans to foreign countries, possibly even adversaries like China, but we will also weaken our position in the global energy race. Hydrogen is the innovative fuel source we need to diversify our energy sector and maintain the resiliency of our energy grid. 

These programs are working as intended. They are boosting private investment and will generate significant returns on our investments in jobs, economic development and energy security. As a local chamber, we see the exponential impact that these large investments have on small business growth, local tax base expansion and our quality of life. If we want to see Texas continue leading in energy innovation and economic growth, we cannot afford to strip away 45V, one of the most significant drivers of progress in such a critical industry.