EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/11/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Navigator Files to Withdraw Permit Application in Illinois for CO2 “Pipeline to Nowhere”
Chicago Tribune: Navigator CO2 withdraws application to build part of controversial 1,400-mile carbon pipeline in Illinois
Associated Press: Major Navigator CO2 pipeline project is on hold while the company reevaluates the route in 5 states
Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Navigator reverses course, pulls CO2 pipeline permit application in Illinois
Des Moines Register: Navigator seeks to halt pipeline permit application in Illinois after pausing Iowa request
Springfield State Journal- Register: Navigator drops CO2 pipeline for second time this year, plans to refile
WCBU: State Rep. Bill Hauter opposes proposed carbon pipeline in central Illinois
Bloomberg: Fear and Anger Follow the Path of Joe Manchin’s Mountain Valley Pipeline
FOX News: Republicans urge Biden admin to stop delaying major gas pipeline project
Burns Lake Lake District News: Segundo Lake Compressor Station will increase natural gas capacity
RBN Energy: How New England Would Benefit From A Gas Pipeline Expansion
The Progressive: On the Line: Paddling Against Pipelines
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Reuters: Biden administration to announce $7 billion in hydrogen hub grants Friday –sources
Washington Post: Supreme Court blocks Republican challenge to social cost of carbon
NBC News: Supreme Court turns away coal baron's defamation claim against news companies
S&P Global Platts: Fed Up With New US Offshore Drilling Plan, Will Oil Sector Say Bye, Bye, Bye To Gulf Of Mexico?
STATE UPDATES
Baltimore Observer: Protesters disrupt Pete Buttigieg’s interview at iMPACT Maryland
KIII: Enbridge's $3 billion ammonia plant project faces community opposition in Ingleside
E&E News: Texas proposes first rules on oil waste in 40 years
Associated Press: Alaskans Get A $1,312 Oil Dividend Check This Year. The Political Cost Of The Benefit Is High
Colorado Public Radio: Xcel Energy delays project to deliver hydrogen to natural gas customers near Hudson, Colo.
San Jose Mercury News: ‘A disturbing new normal’: Why have chemical releases at Martinez refinery continued?
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Fossil-fuel industry embrace raises alarm bells over direct air capture
E&E News: What’s next for direct air capture?
Bloomberg: EU Could Slash Methane Emissions 30% By Tackling Fuel Imports
CLIMATE FINANCE
Financial Times: Climate change the ‘most common’ reason for portfolio exclusion
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
AdWeek: 'It's a Moral Issue': Creatives Are Quitting Agencies Over Fossil Fuel Clients
Futurism: SHELL USING FORTNITE TO PROMOTE GASOLINE TO YOUTHS: HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?
Washington County News: Public invited to help scouts build bat houses
OPINION
National Observer: Canada is going all in on carbon capture. Is anyone paying attention to the explosive risks?
PIPELINE NEWS
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Navigator Files to Withdraw Permit Application in Illinois for CO2 “Pipeline to Nowhere”
Mark Hefflinger, 10/10/23
“Navigator CO2 Ventures filed a motion on Oct. 10 to withdraw its CO2 pipeline permit application before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), in the state where Navigator had planned to sequester underground the CO2 it sought to collect from ethanol plants, casting serious doubt on the proposal,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “The company also encouraged the ICC to cancel the looming evidentiary hearings for the pipeline that were scheduled to take place Oct. 17-20. While the ICC has not yet posted a ruling on the motion, the agency's website now lists the upcoming evidentiary hearings as "Cancelled." Navigator filed the motion at the ICC "without prejudice," meaning it reserves the right to re-file (for a 3rd time -- after withdrawing its first permit application filed July 2022 in January 2023, which was then re-filed in February 2023) at some later date. However, after the company has pulled back on work in other states, faced significant opposition to its efforts to obtain easements and sequestration rights from landowners, and now withdrawn its application in the state where it intended to sequester CO2, Navigator is more than ever pursuing a "pipeline to nowhere." Meanwhile, the local Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines and Citizens Against the Heartland Greenway Pipeline groups that represent impacted landowners facing eminent domain renewed their call for a statewide moratorium on CO2 pipelines until PHMSA's new regulations on CO2 pipelines are released. “Over the past two years, Navigator has been unable to obtain easements necessary for the project and has been met with fierce opposition from farmers, landowners, and concerned citizens every step of the way. As a result of this widespread opposition, Navigator has now withdrawn their application twice in under ten months, this time indicating they plan to reassess the route and other aspects of its pipeline,” said Steve Hess, McDonough County farmer and Board Member of Citizens Against Heartland Greenway Pipeline (CAHGP). “...While we await federal regulations from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and state regulations on CCS projects from the Illinois General Assembly, a temporary moratorium on CO2 pipelines is critical in order to protect Illinoisans, our land, and our water.” “Navigator has circumvented the Illinois Commerce Commission's regulatory process, which should take a maximum of eleven months, by withdrawing and re-submitting their application multiple times. They’re not only giving themselves more time to flesh out the critical details of their project, they’re also dragging out the stress and financial strain on landowners who have to keep fighting this project. Enough is enough, said Kathy Campbell, Vice-President of CAHGP. “While stakeholders work toward state regulations and while PHMSA completes its rule-making process, Illinois must pass a temporary moratorium on CO2 pipelines so that protections are in place before Navigator can move forward with their project,” said Pam Richart, Co-Director of Eco-Justice Collaborative and co-founder of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines… “When you organize the families most at-risk of eminent domain you can stop a pipeline. This is a core lesson we have learned over the years as pipeline corporations try to bully hard working Americans into giving up their land for corporate greed. If Navigator decides to try again, we will be here ready to organize with families and allied groups to protect the land and water,” said Jane Kleeb, Bold Alliance Director.
Chicago Tribune: Navigator CO2 withdraws application to build part of controversial 1,400-mile carbon pipeline in Illinois
Nara Schoenberg, 10/10/23
“Navigator CO2, the Omaha-based company that is proposing a controversial 1,350-mile carbon dioxide pipeline for the Midwest, is withdrawing its application to build in Illinois,” the Chicago Tribune reports. “...The Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, which includes Illinois landowners and environmentalists, responded by calling for a moratorium on carbon dioxide pipeline construction until state regulations are in place and the federal government completes new safety rules, which are expected next year. “Make no mistake — Navigator is reassessing their project, but they’re not going away, and we will not go down without a fight,” Citizens Against Heartland Greenway Pipeline board member Steve Hess said in a written statement. “While we await federal regulations from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and state regulations on (carbon capture and storage) projects from the Illinois General Assembly, a temporary moratorium on CO2 pipelines is critical in order to protect Illinoisans, our land, and our water.” The application withdrawal is the latest twist in a two-year, multistate battle in which farmers and other landowners have pushed back hard against the prospect of underground pipes carrying a potentially suffocating gas… “But Navigator opponents point out that CO2 has never been stored underground at this scale before, and they have voiced concerns about crop yields, property values and personal safety. When a CO2 pipeline ruptured near Satartia, Mississippi, in 2020, releasing a cloud of invisible gas, there were reports of breathing problems, confusion and loss of consciousness.”
Associated Press: Major Navigator CO2 pipeline project is on hold while the company reevaluates the route in 5 states
Josh Funk, 10/10/23
“Navigator CO2 Ventures announced Tuesday that it is putting on hold one of the two biggest proposed carbon dioxide pipeline projects in the Midwest so it can reassess the project,” the Associated Press reports. “The company withdrew its application for a key permit in Illinois and said it was putting all its permit applications on hold. The decision comes after South Dakota regulators last month denied a permit… “The Illinois permit is crucial because that’s where the company planned to store the carbon dioxide underground… “Navigator said it is not abandoning the project. It plans to reapply for permits where appropriate after completing its evaluation. Opponents cheered the news that the project is being put on hold, and promised to keep fighting when the company reapplies. Opponents had organized landowners who were concerned about the project. “When you organize the families most at-risk of eminent domain, you can stop a pipeline,” said Jane Kleeb with the Nebraska-based Bold Alliance that also fought against the ill-fated Keystone XL oil pipeline. “This is a core lesson we have learned over the years, as pipeline corporations try to bully hard-working Americans into giving up their land for corporate greed.” “...Opponents question its effectiveness at scale and the need for potentially huge investments over cheaper renewable energy sources. Summit Carbon Solutions is behind the biggest proposed carbon dioxide pipeline in the area. It is pressing forward with its plans despite regulatory setbacks in the Dakotas. North Dakota agreed to reconsider its denial of a permit for the $5.5 billion, 2,000-mile (3,220-kilometer) pipeline that would cross five states, and Summit is reapplying in South Dakota. A separate hearing on that project in Iowa started in August. And Minnesota regulators plan to conduct a detailed environmental review of the project.”
Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Navigator reverses course, pulls CO2 pipeline permit application in Illinois
Dominik Dausch, 10/10/23
“Navigator Heartland Greenway, a company wanting to build a $3.5 billion carbon dioxide sequestration pipeline across five states, has now hit the pause button on the permit application in Illinois, the third state in which the company has done so within a matter of weeks,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports. “...The filing, submitted by Navigator attorney Owen MacBride, also indicates the company intends to resubmit its permit application in Illinois — "if appropriate." Illinois is a key state for Navigator, as it is the planned host for the company's sequestration sites, which allow the company to deposit carbon dioxide into the earth. Without both the pipeline infrastructure and sequestration sites secured in Illinois, the company will have to look to other states to sequester carbon… “This was — and is — despite the significant unpopularity of the project in the Prairie State. According to a Sept. 14 rebuttal statement from ICC Senior Gas Engineer Mark Maple, the staff member said the project has only acquired 14.9% of its necessary easements to build the pipeline in the state. He added he had not seen such a low percentage in his "25 years of professional experience."
Des Moines Register: Navigator seeks to halt pipeline permit application in Illinois after pausing Iowa request
Donnelle Eller, 10/10/23
“Amid growing uncertainty about the future of carbon capture pipelines, Navigator CO2 Ventures filed a motion Tuesday to voluntarily withdraw its application for a section of its pipeline in Illinois, saying it needs to reassess the $3.5 billion project's route,” the Des Moines Register reports. “Navigator is one of three companies proposing to build pipelines with routes across Iowa, some of which have run into regulatory hurdles in other states. The Omaha, Nebraska, company already had received permission to halt its quest for a permit in Iowa until a decision on its application with the Illinois Commerce Commission. Illinois is a crucial state for the project because it is where the liquefied carbon dioxide emissions the pipeline would carry from ethanol and other agricultural industrial plants would be sequestered deep underground. In both Iowa and Illinois, Navigator said it wanted to avoid wasting the resources of regulators, landowners and others. Navigator said it wants to withdraw its Illinois application without prejudice with "the intent to reinitiate Illinois permitting, if appropriate,” when its “full evaluation is complete." The motion asks an Illinois administrative law judge to “immediately suspend the upcoming procedural schedule, filing deadlines, and evidentiary hearing” until the Commerce Commission can rule on the request. Navigator didn't directly respond to a question about the project's future. The company said in a statement its action is "consistent with our recent filings in neighboring jurisdictions." "Navigator will be taking time to reassess the route and application," said the company, which also has proposed building sections of its pipeline in South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota. The Commerce Commission, which regulates pipelines in Illinois, has canceled hearings on Navigator's request that were scheduled to begin next week, according to its website… “In Iowa, where a hearing on Summit's permit application before the Iowa Utilities Board has been underway since August, opponents of the pipeline projects have voiced similar concerns. They object to the pipeline companies' possible use of eminent domain to obtain easements from landowners unwilling to negotiate voluntary agreements and about the impact of the construction on farmland and underground drainage tiles. “The carbon pipeline dominos are falling,” Jess Mazour, an Iowa Sierra Club conservation coordinator, told the Register in a statement responding to Navigator's Illinois request. “We hope Navigator sees the writing on the wall that they will face opposition in every corner of every state. We do not want their carbon pipeline or any carbon pipelines.”
Springfield State Journal- Register: Navigator drops CO2 pipeline for second time this year, plans to refile
Patrick M. Keck, 10/10/23
“For the second time this year, Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC has withdrawn its application with the Illinois Commerce Commission to construct a carbon dioxide pipeline through central Illinois,” the Springfield State Journal- Register reports. “...Selling the pipeline to the public has been a persistent issue for Navigator, where many have voiced concerns of a inadequate state and federal regulations and fears of a pipeline burst… “During testimony provided before the commission this summer, ICC senior gas engineer Mark Maple recommended the board to turn down the pipeline. "Without a sequestration facility in place and the end point being uncertain, the entire route remains in flux, and consequently, in my opinion, it is not a benefit to the citizens of Illinois nor in the public interest," Maple's June 15 testimony reads. Sangamon County stood to receive up to $48 million from Navigator if it followed the stipulations of two project development agreements. Still, citing too many unanswered questions, the county board voted unanimously in August to place a moratorium on carbon dioxide pipeline sequestration sites through the end of the year.”
WCBU: State Rep. Bill Hauter opposes proposed carbon pipeline in central Illinois
Collin Schopp, 10/10/23
“Illinois State Rep. Bill Hauter opposes the development of a proposed carbon capture pipeline in central Illinois,” WCBU reports. “A Republican, the anesthesiologist from Morton represents the 88th House District. The project proposal from Wolf Carbon Solutions, currently under review by the Illinois Commerce Commission, would run through multiple central Illinois counties on its way to an underground sequestration facility in Decatur. Hauter told WCBU he’s talked to a lot of people, both his constituents and representatives of Wolf Carbon, in an effort to understand the project. “How are they going to train EMS? What are they going to do about my rural hospitals, my critical access hospitals, disaster planning?” he told WCBU. “All these questions are up, and we are not getting adequate answers from them.” Hauter claims there’s “no real plan” in the event of a disaster. Issues with the potential use of eminent domain to develop the pipeline also are a sticking point. “When you just, as a corporation said, ‘Well, we don't intend to use it, but it's always a tool in their toolbox,’” Hauter told WCBU. “To me, that concern is a huge part of my reasons for opposing the pipeline.”
Bloomberg: Fear and Anger Follow the Path of Joe Manchin’s Mountain Valley Pipeline
Zahra Hirji and Ari Natter, 10/11/23
“This summer, in a highly unusual move, Congress stepped in to fast-track the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. After years of stop-and-go construction, there’s now a mad dash to finish the natural gas line stretching just over 300 miles from the northern border of West Virginia to southern Virginia,” Bloomberg reports. “That’s largely due to one man: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, who convinced other legislators and President Joe Biden to greenlight the controversial pipeline as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling… “The bargain struck in Washington means the pipeline’s completion is effectively a done deal. But it’s not clear when exactly the project will go online, given that hurdles remain in its path. Opponents continued to bring new legal challenges to the project this summer, briefly holding up construction. In response, Equitrans in September filed a lawsuit against two environmental organizations and 41 people who previously protested the pipeline, alleging they are disrupting its progress and asking for $4 million in damages. Officials at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in mid-August ordered the project owner to conduct a series of safety inspections along the route to check that segments of pipe left exposed or buried underground for years don’t pose a hazard. There’s also still intense local opposition to the pipeline. Bloomberg Green set out to document people impacted by the project with a range of opinions about it, but mostly encountered people who opposed it. People living along the route raised concerns about the project’s environmental impacts, especially on local water resources; the potential of the pipe to blow up when gas is running through it; and that overcoming construction hurdles along the most physically challenging parts of the route may permanently alter and degrade the natural landscape.”
FOX News: Republicans urge Biden admin to stop delaying major gas pipeline project
Thomas Catenacci, 10/10/23
“A group of House and Senate Republicans penned a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation's top energy regulator, asking it to stop slow-walking approval for a key natural gas project in the Pacific Northwest,” FOX News reports. “In the letter sent Friday, the eight lawmakers — led by Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., and joined by fellow Oregon GOP Rep. Cliff Bentz, four other House Republicans and Idaho GOP Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch — called for the immediate approval of the Gas Transmission Northwest XPress Project (GTNXP). The project would upgrade three existing compressor stations, increasing capacity on an existing system that has transported natural gas for decades. "This delay has created significant uncertainty for energy users in the states and districts we represent and will likely subject them to higher priced energy alternatives," the group wrote in the letter first obtained by Fox News Digital. "It is unreasonable for a project like GTN XPress, which meets all the Commission's criteria and impacts no landowners, to be subject to such lengthy delays. It is time for FERC to act." “...GTNXP's developer TC Energy first proposed the project in October 2021… “However, FERC — which is chaired by Willie Phillips, a President Biden appointee and Democrat — has inexplicably delayed granting final approval for TC Energy to move ahead with construction in the project despite greenlighting in its environmental impact statement published in October 2022. Democrats and environmental groups have urged FERC to reject the project, potentially causing the delays.”
Burns Lake Lake District News: Segundo Lake Compressor Station will increase natural gas capacity
SADDMAN ZAMAN, 10/11/23
“Coastal GasLink (CGL) is soon going to start their Phase 2 process of the Segundo Lake Compressor Station which is located off the Terser Lake Forest Service Road, east of Tchesinkut Lake, between Burns Lake and Fraser Lake,” Burns Lake Lake District News reports. “The purpose of these compressor stations is to increase the capacity of natural gas going through the CGL pipeline. Kick start date for the compressor stations are yet to be disclosed. Although, CGL anticipates the stations will be constructed over a three-to-five-year period between 2025 and 2030… “A media relations person from TC Energy [parent company of CGL] said, Phase 2 refers to the development of six additional compressor stations to increase the capacity of move more natural gas. “This would double the capacity of CGL without requiring additional pipeline… At this time, we continue to engage with Indigenous and local communities as we assess the potential to increase project capacity through Phase 2… While included in the original EA certificates, additional permits and approvals from the B.C. Energy Regulator, B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, and local governments are required ahead of LNG Canada’s final investment decision.”
RBN Energy: How New England Would Benefit From A Gas Pipeline Expansion
Housley Carr, 10/11/23
“New England is hell-bent on decarbonizing quickly, and it’s been making some progress. But like it or not, the region still depends heavily on natural gas for both power generation and space heating, and gas supplies are stretched to the limit during periods of extreme winter demand,” RBN Energy reports. “Worse yet, the Everett LNG import terminal, which for years has fed a big, soon-to-close gas-fired power station and supported the Boston area’s gas grid, may be on the verge of shutting down. Well, help may finally be on the way. Enbridge recently proposed an expansion to its 3-Bcf/d Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline system. The question is, can it get built in a region notorious for its opposition to energy infrastructure projects?... “We laid out the basics way back in 2014, in Please Come to Boston. There we explained that five pipeline systems provide the vast majority of New England’s gas: Algonquin Gas Transmission (AGT) and Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) from the south, Iroquois Gas Transmission from the west through upstate New York, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline (MNP) along with Portland Natural Gas Transmission (PNGT) from Canada, through New Brunswick and Quebec, respectively…”
The Progressive: On the Line: Paddling Against Pipelines
SUSAN SIMENSKY, BIETILA, 10/10/23
“On August 5, activists paddled a flotilla of kayaks and canoes from Fish Creek, Wisconsin, to its outlet in Lake Superior. Members of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians and other Indigenous activists and allies had gathered to demand that the seventy-year-old Enbridge Line 5 oil and gas pipeline be shut down immediately,” The Progressive reports. “The Bad River Band had refused to renew permission for Line 5 to traverse their land and, in June, won against Enbridge in court, with a district judge ruling it had trespassed on Ojibwe land… “The Fish Creek protest was one of several recent demonstrations led by water defenders in Wisconsin and Michigan, in opposition to Line 5 as well as Line 3, a separate Enbridge-owned pipeline that transports tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Reuters: Biden administration to announce $7 billion in hydrogen hub grants Friday –sources
Jarrett Renshaw and Valerie Volcovici, 10/10/23
“The Biden administration is expected to announce on Friday the winners of $7 billion in federal grants to build out regional hydrogen hubs, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The announcement caps months of intense political jockeying among states from California to Pennsylvania for their share of the $7 billion in federal dollars to set the U.S. on a path to produce 50 million metric tons of clean hydrogen fuel by 2050. The competitive process granted the White House unusual power to play kingmaker and reward allies in states like Pennsylvania and Michigan that could play a major role in whether President Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill allocated up to $7 billion to launch the initiative, called the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, which will help fund six to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs across the United States… “In 2022, 79 applicants sent letters of interest to the Energy Department for the hub grants, and by January, the DOE had selected 33 teams to move forward. In many cases, states joined together to make joint applications. The hubs have many private and public sector partners and the federal grants are expected to unleash a wave of new state and private sector investment… “Biden is scheduled to travel to Philadelphia on Friday to discuss how his administration is building union jobs and a clean energy future. The Philadelphia region is one of the locations vying for a share of the $7 billion in grants. The White House would not tell Reuters whether Biden will announce the awards at the Philadelphia event.”
Washington Post: Supreme Court blocks Republican challenge to social cost of carbon
Maxine Joselow, 10/11/23
“The Supreme Court yesterday denied a request from 12 Republican states to review the Biden administration’s social cost of greenhouse gas emissions metric, which is meant to inform agencies as they consider the climate implications of proposed projects and regulations, Bloomberg News’s Greg Stohr reports,” according to the Washington Post. “The group of 12 Republican-led states sought to challenge a decision made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit that upheld the White House’s interim estimates, saying that the states could not prove that they faced injury from the values. The metric is likely to affect permitting decisions for oil and gas infrastructure as well as construction, agriculture and fuel efficiency rules. The high court did not explain its decision to turn away the appeal.”
NBC News: Supreme Court turns away coal baron's defamation claim against news companies
Lawrence Hurley, 10/10/23
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider overturning a landmark case that gives protections to news organizations facing defamation claims by rejecting an appeal brought by West Virginia coal baron Don Blankenship,” NBC News reports. “Blankenship, also an erstwhile Republican Senate candidate, sued various news organizations for referring to him as a convicted felon when in fact he was convicted of a misdemeanor in relation to a mining disaster in 2010 that killed 29 miners. He claimed that his loss in the 2018 Republican Senate primary in West Virginia was attributable to the erroneous comments repeated in the media, which he suggested were deliberate. Among the defendants is MSNBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which also owns NBC News. CNN, Fox News and the Washington Post are among other news organizations that were sued. Blankenship asked the court to overturn the 1964 Supreme Court defamation ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan, which concluded that there must be evidence of “actual malice” for a public figure to pursue a defamation claim… “In Blankenship's case, lower courts dismissed the defamation claims, finding that there was no evidence of actual malice.”
S&P Global Platts: Fed Up With New US Offshore Drilling Plan, Will Oil Sector Say Bye, Bye, Bye To Gulf Of Mexico?
10/923
“In about two months, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is expected to formally approve a new National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, putting a five-year offshore leasing plan back on the books after the country’s previous program expired over a year ago,” S&P Global Platts reports. “As one could imagine, the oil industry was not pleased to hear that only three lease sales for acres in the Gulf of Mexico would be conducted over the next five years. American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers joined the podcast to share the industry’s perspective on the new offshore leasing plan, its impact on broader supply and demand dynamics and next steps.”
STATE UPDATES
Baltimore Observer: Protesters disrupt Pete Buttigieg’s interview at iMPACT Maryland
Rick Hutzell, Penelope Blackwell, Brenda Wintrode and Sarah True, 10/10/23
“Dozens of young protesters concerned about climate change stormed the Baltimore stage where U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was taking part in a daylong conference coordinated by The Baltimore Banner, carrying signs and shouting criticism of a Texas petrochemical project,” the Baltimore Observer reports. “Yelling “Stop Petro Pete” and other slogans, members of the Climate Defiance protest were trying to disrupt Buttigieg’s appearance as his agency considers the second part of the project. Trevor Carroll of the organization Better Brazoria told the Observer the protesters want the Department of Transportation to reject permits for the Sea Port Oil Terminal (S.P.O.T.) crude export facility located 30 miles off the coast of Brazoria County, near Houston. If approved, it would export 2 million barrels of crude oil per day from an area known as the nation’s energy capital. ”I’m going to ask him to deny the project. If I could just get him to come to Brazoria, that would be something,” Carroll told the Observer. After they left, Buttigieg returned to the stage and talked about the project and the issue of climate change underlying the protest, and what President Joe Biden’s administration has done to address it… “Buttigieg declined to address the terminal project details, saying it is already the subject of a lawsuit. Better Brazoria is currently challenging a permit approval for part of the project in the federal courts.”
KIII: Enbridge's $3 billion ammonia plant project faces community opposition in Ingleside
Lexis Greene, 10/10/23
“Oil and natural gas company Enridge held an open house to help familiarize itself with the community and answer any questions on the $3 billion ammonia plant facility that is proposed to come to Ingleside,” KIII reports. “...Residents gathered at the Humble Community Center in Ingleside, where Enbridge professionals were ready to share information with residents, but not everyone was on board… “[Enbridge’s] Ruffatto said 95 percent of the carbon dioxide generated from the ammonia production process will be captured and then transported to nearby geologic storage in South Texas. It's also expected to create several local jobs… “The Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch Association is vocal about its opposition to the plant. "Why would you have an ammonia plant in Ingleside just up wind of primary school children. And what is the value to us," said Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch Association President Patrick Nye.
E&E News: Texas proposes first rules on oil waste in 40 years
Shelby Webb, 10/6/23
“Texas oil and gas regulators are proposing new rules for the first time in almost 40 years to address how companies in the sector build and maintain waste pits,” E&E News reports. “Oil and gas producers use aboveground storage ponds to store everything from excess fracking fluid and wastewater that is a byproduct of drilling to lubricants for drills and other liquids and solids. Environmental groups and advocates for communities located near the pits have long complained that rules from the Texas Railroad Commission are too lax. Critics say they’ve allowed operators in the state to build and maintain the ponds in a way that jeopardizes surrounding groundwater, puts neighbors’ health at risk and can result in the industrial waste washing off with rainstorms. The railroad commission — whose oversight is focused on oil and gas, not trains — said in a Monday statement that protecting groundwater was a major driver for the decision to start the process of updating existing, mandatory rules on waste pits… “The rules were last updated in 1984 — about 30 years before hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, began to transform the oil and gas industry and generate millions of barrels of excess wastewater each year… “A major point of contention has been the pits’ lining to prevent waste liquid from seeping into nearby earth or leeching into groundwater. Currently, operators are not required to use synthetic liners.”
Associated Press: Alaskans Get A $1,312 Oil Dividend Check This Year. The Political Cost Of The Benefit Is High
Becky Bohrer, 10/6/23
“Nearly every Alaskan will receive a $1,312 check starting this week, their annual share from the earnings of the state’s nest-egg oil fund,” the Associated Press reports. “Some use the money for extras like tropical vacations but others — particularly in high-cost rural Alaska where jobs and housing are limited — rely on it for home heating fuel or snow machines that are critical for transportation. But the unique-to-Alaska benefit has become a blessing and a curse in a state that for decades has ridden the boom-bust cycle of oil, and it now competes for funding with services like public education, health care programs and public safety as lawmakers tap into the earnings to help fund the state budget. Squabbling over the oil checks’ size has resulted in legislative paralysis, and a Senate proposal aimed at resolving the dividend debate this year fizzled with no agreement.”
Colorado Public Radio: Xcel Energy delays project to deliver hydrogen to natural gas customers near Hudson, Colo.
Sam Brasch, 10/9/23
“Under its original plans, Xcel Energy would have already started construction on a controversial project to mix hydrogen into natural gas supply for Box Elder Creek Ranch, a suburban subdivision near the town of Hudson,” Colorado Public Radio reports. “That timeline has now been delayed to the relief of some residents of the neighborhood, which is about 30 miles northeast of Denver. In order to win approval from state utility regulators, the company now acknowledges the project would not kick off until next spring at the earliest. "We continue to evaluate the project and have requested commission approval," Michelle Aguayo, a spokesperson for the state's largest electric and gas utility, told CPR. "If approved, we anticipate construction could begin around the middle of next year. " Across the country, natural gas utilities like Xcel Energy say hydrogen blending could cut climate-warming emissions and preserve a role for extensive pipeline networks. That's because hydrogen is a clean-burning fuel that can be coaxed from water with renewable electricity. Critics, however, warn the plan is a bad bet for the climate — and energy customers. As the smallest and lightest molecule in the universe, hydrogen can escape leak-prone pipeline networks far more easily than traditional methane used for heating and cooking, increasing the risk of explosions. Recent studies further suggest higher hydrogen blends — above 5 percent — can weaken and crack steel pipes. All hydrogen also isn't created equal from a climate perspective. While the molecule can be drawn from water, most of the supply in the U.S. is stripped from natural gas, a process that releases carbon and can offset the benefits of burning it in homes… “A coalition of groups — the Natural Resource Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project and Western Resource Advocates — have filed official objections questioning the environmental benefit of the pilot project.”
San Jose Mercury News: ‘A disturbing new normal’: Why have chemical releases at Martinez refinery continued?
WILL MCCARTHY, 10/9/23
“The day before the local high school’s homecoming parade last week, the Martinez Refining Company posted on Facebook wishing students a happy homecoming. But just 24 hours later, the refinery quite literally cast a black cloud over the event. At 11 a.m. on Friday, October 6, an ominous plume of black dust bellowed up from the Martinez Refining Company and floated into the city’s downtown,” the San Jose Mercury News reports. “In a series of events that have begun to seem unnervingly familiar, the Contra Costa County health department sent out a notification that they had “deployed a hazardous materials team.” The refinery posted on Facebook, apologizing for a “brief release of Coke dust,” a black charcoal-like substance created during the refining process. Eventually, the county health department said that the parade should be cleared to proceed as planned and that they had “not found evidence of any immediate risk” to the community. It was only the latest in a series of chemical releases that now seem to come on a nearly monthly basis, and the third coke dust event since July. “It’s a disturbing new normal,” Heidi Taylor, a founding member of Healthy Martinez, a refinery accountability group, told the Merc. “I am not going to live in a world where black dust on my property, my animals, my cars is just normal.” The saga began last year on Thanksgiving night, when residents woke up to a layer of fine white silt on their cars, garbage cans, and window sills…”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Fossil-fuel industry embrace raises alarm bells over direct air capture
Mike Scott and Terry Slavin, 10/10/23
“There’s little doubt that direct air capture (DAC) is divisive: on the one hand, it is a relatively simple technology that can, in theory, be deployed anywhere to draw carbon emissions out of the air. On the other, it is expensive, unproven and, in the view of many, captive to the interests of fossil-fuel producers,” Reuters reports. “Among its backers is Boston Consulting Group, which argues that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are essential to delivering the “net” in net zero, helping to offset hard-to-abate industries and to reduce the build-up of historic emissions already present in the atmosphere… “But while fossil fuel industry investment and expertise is speeding development of the technology, it is also ringing alarm bells among environmental groups and civil society. Occidental Oil, which invested $1.1 billion to purchase Carbon Engineering earlier this year, is not the only oil and gas player. Chevron also has an equity investment in Carbon Engineering, while Exxon, which has a joint research agreement with Global Thermostat, told Reuters that it is also developing DAC technology. Mark Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, told Reuters that with 75% of CO2 captured today being used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), DAC is simply allowing emissions to continue. “It is so much simpler just to use solar power to produce green hydrogen,” he told Reuters. “Stopping the emission of a ton of CO2 is exactly the same as taking a ton out of the air. It’s much more efficient to stop emitting.” Jonathan Foley, executive director of climate solution group Project Drawdown agrees, describing DAC as “the outdoor version of CCS (carbon capture and storage)”. “It’s even more difficult than CCS to remove 420 parts per million of CO2 from the atmosphere. It doesn’t work at all,” he told Reuters. He is scathing about 1Point Five getting U.S. government funding to develop a DAC hub in south Texas. “Why are we subsidising fossil fuel companies, which are the most profitable in history, to extend their lifespan by decades? We should be spending that money on real solutions: energy efficiency, renewables, retrofitting homes and fixing agriculture,” Foley told Reuters.
E&E News: What’s next for direct air capture?
Corbin Hiar, 10/11/23
“The Biden administration is racing to finalize $1.2 billion in grants to spur the development of industrial installations that can pull massive quantities carbon dioxide out of the air,” E&E News reports. “But the Department of Energy’s bid to supercharge the nascent direct air capture industry is just getting started, with the ground rules for a $2.4 billion DAC hub funding competition set for release as soon as next year. The outcome of that competition is expected to lead to the construction of DAC megaprojects in at least two more American communities and could have significant ramifications for the corporations, venture capitalists and environmentalists that are invested in the success of the emerging climate technology… “The most important factor DOE will consider next time is probably “readiness,” Peter Findlay, the director of carbon capture economics at the research firm Wood Mackenzie, told E&E. “How are you solving — or at least covering up — the challenges you have going forward towards scale?” he said of the potential applicants. The handful of projects in the engineering stage of development are aiming to build DAC hubs in California, North Dakota, Alabama, Wyoming and the Southwest's Four Corners region. Winning applicants include the oil company California Resources Corp., the carbon utilization firm Twelve and the Swiss DAC firm Climeworks, which operates the world's largest — and only — commercial DAC facility in Iceland.”
Bloomberg: EU Could Slash Methane Emissions 30% By Tackling Fuel Imports
John Ainger, 10/9/23
“The European Union could help slash global methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by almost a third if it applied measures tackling pollution domestically to imports as well, according to a new report,” Bloomberg reports. “Member states and the bloc’s parliament are negotiating rules to tackle methane emissions in the fossil-fuel sector, with EU lawmakers pushing to apply the same rules for detecting and repairing domestic leaks to products made outside the bloc. Methane is about 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Financial Times: Climate change the ‘most common’ reason for portfolio exclusion
Sylvia Pfeifer and Attracta Mooney, 10/8/23
“Concern about climate change is the most common reason for financial groups to exclude companies from their portfolios, according to research that underlines how the phenomenon continues to affect investment decisions despite a pushback against “woke” capitalism,” the Financial Times reports. “The findings, from a coalition of non-profit environmental and sustainability groups, show that 40 per cent of exclusions are motivated by concern over climate change. Some 17 per cent of exclusions are driven by worries about companies involved in weapons manufacturing, with tobacco accounting for 12 per cent. The research indicates that financial groups continue to factor ESG — environmental, social and governance — questions into decisions, even as Republican politicians and state treasurers in the US lead a backlash against what they call “woke” capitalism, arguing it is not up to the financial industry to police companies. The coalition of NGOs, which includes Friends of the Earth Netherlands, Fair Finance International and Profundo, a Dutch research consultancy, looked at exclusions by about 150 pension funds, insurance companies and banks and compiled a list of 4,532 companies that have been excluded by 87 financial institutions in 16 countries… “Norway’s $1.4tn oil fund, the world’s largest endowment fund, is among the big investors that has put Cenovus and Suncor on its exclusion list, citing “unacceptably high” greenhouse gas emissions. There has also been a rise in investors announcing plans to exit fossil fuel intensive companies.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
AdWeek: 'It's a Moral Issue': Creatives Are Quitting Agencies Over Fossil Fuel Clients
Kathryn Lundstrom, 10/4/23
“When wildfire smoke turned New York skies orange this summer, Lane Cooper* holed up in their Brooklyn apartment with multiple air filters on high blast, working remotely for PR firm Edelman. Their asthma means air quality indexes above 200 are extremely dangerous. Then, a resource manager asked them to work on the Shell account. They quit a month later,” AdWeek reports. “Cooper is one of many ad and PR industry staffers who have left their jobs in recent years due, at least in part, to their employer’s work with fossil fuel companies.
Futurism: SHELL USING FORTNITE TO PROMOTE GASOLINE TO YOUTHS: HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?
10/9/23
“Giant oil corporation and major climate change contributor Shell has begun targeting the youth by polluting their video game experiences with a "Shell Ultimate Road Trips" campaign baked into — what else? — Epic's hit videogame Fortnite,” Futurism reports. “As Media Matters reports, the campaign is part of a broader initiative to sell the younger generations on Shell's new premium-grade gasoline. Outside of the uber-popular battle royale game, the corporation is also promoting the product on Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. In many ways, it's a thinly-veiled attempt to win younger demographics over by one of the biggest oil companies in the world — at exactly the time that we should instead be promoting any viable alternative… “As part of pushing its allegedly "new and improved" premium gasoline, Shell sponsored popular gamers on Fortnite to try out a new map. And no, we're not making this up: the new experience involves players filling up their tanks at virtual Shell gas stations before embarking on their #Shellroadtrips… “Shell's latest propaganda isn't only ill-advised, it's a shameful marketing tactic intentionally targeting malleable minds. Sure, the US still heavily relies on gas-guzzling cars to get around — but that doesn't mean we should continue glorifying the environmentally harmful practice.”
Washington County News: Public invited to help scouts build bat houses
Cynthia Scheer, 10/10/23
“The public is invited to help the local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts build bat houses at TimberStruck in downtown Washington this Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.,” Washington County News reports. “TC Energy has funded the entire project and presented it to the local Troop after getting in touch with Kansas Wildlife and Parks.”
OPINION
National Observer: Canada is going all in on carbon capture. Is anyone paying attention to the explosive risks?
John Woodside, 10/11/23
“A little over three years ago, a menacing fog crept into the valley surrounding the small village of Satartia, Miss., causing a mass poisoning. Within minutes of breathing the air, residents choked and dropped to the ground. Nearly 50 people were hospitalized,” John Woodside writes for the National Observer. “First responders didn’t know the calamity was caused by a carbon dioxide pipeline failing, but clues were there as they struggled to get to the scene. Gas-powered vehicles couldn’t move, and some people lay in the streets struggling to breathe. Jack Willingham, the emergency director for the town’s county, told NPR, “It looked like you were going through the zombie apocalypse.” And he told HuffPost that despite the disaster, the village was in fact lucky because if the wind had blown differently or the incident had happened when people were sleeping, there would have been deaths… “Carbon dioxide pipelines are a key part of the federal government and fossil fuel industry’s emerging carbon capture plans, designed to stop the greenhouse gas from reaching the atmosphere by capturing it and transporting it to underground storage. In Canada, there are a handful of carbon capture projects in operation or being planned, but the largest by far is the proposed plan of the Pathways Alliance… “However, industry watchers say the plan is really about finding a way to stay in business as a global effort to phase out fossil fuels ratchets up… “As countries like Canada plot a dramatic expansion to CO2 pipelines to help deal with rising emissions from the oil and gas sector, experts say more attention must be paid to the safety risks that come with carbon dioxide management. Crises like what happened in Mississippi, and other incidents like a CO2 leak at a Wyoming school that forced students to evacuate or the Lake Nyos disaster in Cameroon that saw more than 1,700 people killed by a massive carbon dioxide cloud, may be rare, but they point to the safety risks related to concentrated CO2… “Centre for International Environmental Law campaign manager Jane Patton told Canada’s National Observer safety concerns over CO2 pipelines are a pressing issue that is not widely understood… “Beyond the safety risks of the pipelines themselves, University of Saskatchewan adjunct professor Jason MacLean told the Observer the climate science is clear that all fossil fuels must be phased out to avoid pushing the atmosphere beyond the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding warming to 1.5 C.”