EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/13/22
PIPELINE NEWS
UpNorthLive.com: EPA expresses concern over 'likely significant impacts' of Line 5 tunnel in new report
Illinois Times: Pipeline protests: Farmers, landowners and residents are formally challenging planned CO2 pipeline
KCHA: Carbon Pipeline Expert Encourages Floyd County, Property Owners to be Proactive
Bloomberg: Canadian Oil Prices Collapse Even Amid Pipeline Abundance
OilPrice.com: BlackRock Is Ready To Invest In U.S. Energy Pipelines
Natural Gas Intelligence: U.S. Natural Gas Heavyweights Launch Coalition to Export More LNG
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: How activists put the ‘climate emergency’ on the map
E&E News: Greens hope Biden doesn’t undermine climate lawsuits
STATE UPDATES
Natural Gas Intelligence: Carbon Capture Developer Calls Inflation Reduction Act ‘Game Changer’ for Nebraska Project
EXTRACTION
Guardian: How fossil fuel firms use Black leaders to ‘deceive’ their communities
Oil Change International: Release the Guidance: Backgrounder on U.S. International Energy Finance ahead of COP27
Hart Energy: US Gas Exports Primed to Soar, but Constrained Appalachia Can’t Meet the Moment
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Globe and Mail: Competition Bureau launches inquiry into RBC’s green advertising
JWN Energy: Ten Peaks educating Alberta youth on energy and the environment, inspiring future innovators
Enbridge: Let there be light! Boosting visibility and safety for Pennsylvania firefighters
OPINION
MinnPost: Proposed CO2 pipelines are bad for Minnesota
Ms. Magazine: Standing Up for Water, Land and Climate: Meet 11 Indigenous Women Fighting the Line 5 Pipeline
PIPELINE NEWS
UpNorthLive.com: EPA expresses concern over 'likely significant impacts' of Line 5 tunnel in new report
Rachel Louise Just, 10/12/22
“The federal agency tasked with protecting the environment outlined a number of concerns about the potential impacts from the Line 5 tunnel in northern Michigan in a new report,” UpNorthLive.com reports. “The Environmental Protection Agency, also known as EPA, reported its concerns about "likely significant impacts" of the proposed tunnel that would run under the Straits of Mackinac, the agency said in an Oct. 7 detailed scoping comment report. In the 29-page report, the EPA called on Line 5's Canadian owner Enbridge - along with other state actors - to analyze and commit to protective measures that would ensure protections for the water, tribal treaty rights, the global climate, and all of Michigan's vast natural resources. "We urge [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] to ensure that the [draft environmental impact statement] fully analyzes and discloses spill risks and potential impacts and demonstrates that the project proponent is prepared to adequately prevent and address spills," the report reads. In the scoping comment report, the EPA also offered recommendations related to concerns beyond those listed above, including environmental justice, air quality, and the impact on threatened and endangered species and habitats… “McBrearty told UpNorthLive while top Michigan leaders have taken steps to stop the tunnel's development, it may be the federal government that makes the final decision to shut down the project. “The Biden administration has frankly everything that they need right now to order this pipeline shut down.” “...The Detroit Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is near the beginning of drafting its environmental impact statement, as the public comment period closes out. Two more public comment and analysis periods are planned before a final statement is expected in fall 2024.”
Illinois Times: Pipeline protests: Farmers, landowners and residents are formally challenging planned CO2 pipeline
Scott Reeder, 10/12/22
“Farmers and landowners in Christian County have joined more than 100 residents of Sangamon, Morgan and 10 adjacent counties to formally challenge a proposed pipeline that would carry liquified carbon dioxide from the Midwest halfway across the state for permanent underground storage in central Illinois,” the Illinois Times reports. “Citizens Against Heartland Greenway Pipeline was granted intervenor status this summer in the Navigator Heartland Greenway CO pipeline case pending in front of the Illinois Commerce Commission. Sangamon County government also became an intervenor in the case, which pits a pipeline company and ethanol and fertilizer producers incentivized by generous federal tax credits against landowners and environmental groups. This step by the citizens' group to become a formal participant in the scheduled 11 months of ICC proceedings – as well as county-level moratoriums on pipeline-related construction being debated and enacted – are part of strategies by opponents of the proposed $3.2 billion project. The Coalition to Stop CO Pipelines, which is aligned with, but separate from, the group intervening in the ICC case, is trying to engage county governments and inform Illinoisans about the potential hidden costs, environmental and public-safety hazards, and threat of long-lasting damage to croplands. "The more people learn, the better it will be," Glenarm resident Kathleen Campbell, who lives within a half-mile of the proposed pipeline route in southern Sangamon County, told Illinois Times. "This will be the longest, largest CO pipeline in the United States. "We're becoming a trash bucket for the waste of other states," Campbell, 70, vice president of Citizens Against Heartland Greenway Pipeline and professor emeritus and distinguished scholar at Springfield's Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, told the Times… "We're trying to stop it, in part, because CO pipelines are so dangerous and under-regulated, and carbon sequestration at this scale remains risky and unproven," Pam Richart, co-director of the Champaign-based Eco-Justice Collaborative, told the Times… "For whatever reason," she said, "people think this is technology worth pursuing, despite the unknowns. It prolongs the use of polluting fossil fuels and diverts funding from proven technologies, such as energy efficiency and the deployment of renewables that are far less costly and we know work."
KELO: Navigator pipeline added to South Dakota CO2 proposals
Bob Mercer, 10/11/22
“A second carbon-dioxide pipeline project is seeking a state permit to build and operate in South Dakota,” KELO reports. “State regulators on Tuesday began considering the application for Navigator Heartland Greenway Pipeline System… “In South Dakota, the project would connect a line in northwest Iowa to three ethanol production plants in South Dakota, via laterals to the Valero Aurora facility in Brookings County, the POET Chancellor facility five miles west of Lennox in Turner County and the POET Hudson facility two miles south of Hudson in Lincoln County… “The pipeline will carry CO2 to a permanent underground facility in Illinois or to off-take facilities that will be developed in Iowa, according to pre-filed testimony by Navigator president and chief operating officer David Giles. The South Dakota commission is also considering a permit application from Summit Carbon Solutions that would include a more extensive pipeline network in South Dakota. Its CO2 would be transported for burial in North Dakota.”
KCHA: Carbon Pipeline Expert Encourages Floyd County, Property Owners to be Proactive
Mark Pitz, 10/12/22
“Thus far, neither of the two companies targeting Floyd County to build underground carbon capture pipelines has been approved for construction. However, a pipeline expert advises against waiting for those decisions to come from the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB),” KCHA reports. “Evan Del Val with ISG, Incorporated, with an office in Waterloo, lobbied the Floyd County Board of Supervisors during their regular meeting Monday to become the County’s pipeline inspector for both projects being proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures. Del Val, who’s company monitored the building of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, said the County needs to have a voice at the table. Del Val also had advice for landowners along the proposed pipeline routes, which could total over three dozen miles combined in Floyd County. Supervisors debated whether they should make a decision on an inspector when the Board will have a new makeup at the start of 2023.”
Bloomberg: Canadian Oil Prices Collapse Even Amid Pipeline Abundance
Robert Tuttle, 10/12/22
“Canadian heavy crude prices plunged to their biggest discount to futures since 2018 and, this time, the collapse has little to do with a shortage of pipelines,” Bloomberg reports. “Heavy Western Canadian Select’s discount to West Texas Intermediate widened $1.50 to $32.50 a barrel at Hardisty, Alberta, on Wednesday, the widest since November 2018, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That was just before massive pipeline bottlenecks prompted Alberta’s government to impose production caps on local oil companies. For years, Alberta’s oil sands producers blamed big discounts for Canadian heavy crude on the province’s lack of pipelines, forcing companies to sell at reduced prices locally. But a new export pipeline called Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 that started operation last year has largely solved that problem. Instead, today’s growing price discount is related to a broader set of issues that Canada has less control over, according to traders. Maintenance and emergency shutdowns of major US refineries in the Midwest, including BP Plc.’s Whiting and Toledo refineries, mean less Canadian crude can be processed in its biggest market. At the same time, shipping disruptions on the Mississippi River are sparking fears refineries will have to curtail operations because the fuel they make can’t be shipped down the river. With less Midwest demand, more oil is shipped south toward the US Gulf Coast where new problems emerge. High natural gas prices make refining heavy and high sulfur crude oil more expensive, according to Vortexa data. At the same time, Canadian crude on the coast is exposed to discounted Russian barrels. India has cut its imports of Canadian oil by almost half since May as the country takes more Russian crude.”
OilPrice.com: BlackRock Is Ready To Invest In U.S. Energy Pipelines
Tsvetana Paraskova, 10/13/22
“The world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock, is prepared to invest in energy pipelines in the United States as soon as such projects get the green light from the government, BlackRock’s chief executive Larry Fink said on Wednesday,” OilPrice.com reports. “The top executive of BlackRock – which has faced criticism from both environmental campaigners for still investing in conventional energy and Republican-led U.S. states for what they see as a boycott of the U.S. energy industry – defended the asset manager’s investment choices at a conference in Washington. “I'm now being attacked equally by the left and the right so I'm doing something right, I hope. I don't know. It's painful, but you know what? We're moving forward,” Fink said at the Institute of International Finance conference, as carried by Reuters. In the pipeline business, BlackRock is invested in energy infrastructure in Texas and the Middle East… “Meanwhile, multiple U.S. states governed by Republicans are withdrawing state funds from BlackRock’s management, as they disapprove of the ESG investment policies of the world’s top asset manager. In recent weeks, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah, and Arkansas have announced they would divest funds from BlackRock totaling more than $1 billion… “For months now, Republican states have said they would no longer do business with asset managers who have ESG-aligned investment policies, which, the states say, show that those financial firms are boycotting the oil and gas industry.”
Natural Gas Intelligence: U.S. Natural Gas Heavyweights Launch Coalition to Export More LNG
JAMISON COCKLIN, 10/11/22
“EQT Corp., the largest U.S. natural gas producer, has teamed up with midstreamers TC Energy Corp. and Williams to establish a coalition that will focus on increasing American LNG exports to help displace dirtier fuels abroad and lower greenhouse gas emissions,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “The Partnership to Address Global Emissions, or PAGE, would help develop and promote policies aimed at developing the infrastructure needed to increase liquefied natural gas production and export it. The partnership has four core objectives, including replacing foreign coal with U.S. natural gas, helping to meet emissions targets under the Paris Agreement, solidifying the security needs of U.S. allies and increasing energy supplies to limit inflationary impacts. “U.S. natural gas has a crucial role to play in the global clean energy transition, providing secure baseload power to eliminate higher emitting coal, while reducing dependence on Russian gas, especially in Europe,” said Progressive Policy Institute adviser Paul Bledsoe. “In turn, the U.S. must continue to drive down methane emissions from gas so that American natural gas is the cleanest in the world.” EQT, TC Energy and Williams are PAGE’s founding members. Think tanks, including the Progressive Policy Institute, trade unions and academia would also serve on an advisory council and provide guidance to the coalition and its members… “About 20 U.S. LNG terminals have been proposed, approved by regulators or are under construction. But pipeline constraints and permitting delays could ultimately slow or stop some of those projects from happening despite the Biden administration’s pledge to send more LNG to Europe in the coming years. “All we need is the greenlight to build the infrastructure that will let us get natural gas from where it is produced to where it can be used,” said EQT CEO Toby Rice.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: How activists put the ‘climate emergency’ on the map
Kelsey Brugger, 10/12/22
“Nearly a decade ago, a political outsider helped catapult the idea of a “climate emergency” to the forefront of U.S. politics. Now her activism is on the brink of paying off,” E&E News reports. “Margaret Klein Salamon, a clinical psychologist by training, became alarmed by climate change after Superstorm Sandy battered New York City in 2012, leaving a busted car stranded outside her apartment for years. That moment helped propel Salamon, then in her mid-20s, to begin a yearslong campaign urging a national mobilization on par with World War II. She succeeded in 2016, when Democrats for the first time included a “climate emergency” as part of their party platform… “Now, Democrats and activists alike are prodding President Joe Biden to put those ideas into practice. “We urge you to act boldly,” a group of Democratic senators, led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), told Biden in a letter this month. Over the past few months, Biden has weighed whether to use his executive powers to unleash investments in renewable energy, halt new fossil fuel leases and increase supplies of renewable energy technologies. According to White House officials, the idea is still on the table… “The National Emergencies Act would permit him to suspend oil and gas lease operations. And Biden could limit exports that mostly come from the Permian Basin. The Defense Production Act could spur solar, wind and other renewable projects. And the Stafford Act could allow him direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to work with residents to build clean energy in communities vulnerable to climate disasters… “Activists contend that legislation and executive action are not mutually exclusive, and the idea is not just rhetorical, either… “Salamon told E&E it’s maddening that Biden has not taken steps like stopping new oil drilling licenses, trying to electrify the federal fleet or reducing the military. But she argued that it is not about any one thing, but rather an all-encompassing approach — like the country’s response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001… “Activists say emergency powers are necessary for the United States to meet its climate goals of cutting emissions in half by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.”
E&E News: Greens hope Biden doesn’t undermine climate lawsuits
Lesley Clark, 10/12/22
“Climate advocates are optimistic that the Biden administration will take their side after the Supreme Court on Oct. 3 invited the Justice Department to share its views in a long-simmering procedural fight that could sink nearly two dozen lawsuits asking oil and gas companies to pay up for the effects of a warming planet,” E&E News reports. “After all, President Joe Biden pledged on the campaign trail to “strategically support” the climate liability lawsuits — a marked change from the Trump administration, which repeatedly backed industry’s effort to quash the cases by moving them to federal court, where companies believe they are more likely to prevail. Yet seemingly friendly Democratic administrations have disappointed environmentalists in the past, including in one Obama-era Supreme Court case that industry lawyers cite as evidence the climate liability lawsuits should not be allowed to advance. Indeed, the fossil fuel industry — which has asked the Supreme Court to decide which venue should hear the cases — welcomed the justices’ decision last week to ask Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar for the Biden administration’s views on the petition Suncor Energy Inc. v. Boulder before the court decides whether to wade back into the jurisdictional battle. Both the Obama and Trump administrations “filed briefs opposing similar climate lawsuits when those cases were before the court,” said Phil Goldberg, special counsel for the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, an initiative of the National Association of Manufacturers that opposes the liability litigation. In 2010, the Obama administration stunned environmentalists by urging the Supreme Court in American Electric Power v. Connecticut to toss out a decision by a lower bench that would have allowed states, environmental groups and New York City to sue several of the nation’s largest coal-fired utilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the time, Matt Pawa, an attorney representing a coalition of states suing electric power companies, likened the Obama-era AEP brief to being “stabbed in the back.” He called it a “dastardly move by an administration that said it was a friend of the environment…” Now, Pawa told E&E, there is still a risk of an industry-friendly stance from the Biden administration in the climate liability cases, but he believes it’s less likely than it was more than a decade ago.”
STATE UPDATES
Natural Gas Intelligence: Carbon Capture Developer Calls Inflation Reduction Act ‘Game Changer’ for Nebraska Project
ANDREW BAKER, 10/11/22
“Colorado-based Carbon America has inked a deal for a project to capture and store about 175,000 tons/year of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Bridgeport Ethanol LLC production facility in Nebraska,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “...President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), combined with the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit, played a crucial role in making the project economically viable, Lewis told NGI. The IRA expanded the Internal Revenue Service 45Q tax credit for permanent sequestration of carbon dioxide from $50 to $85/ton, and is now applicable to projects starting construction before 2033, versus 2025 previously. The LCFS program, meanwhile, allows producers of decarbonized ethanol to sell the fuel into the California market at a premium. LCFS credit prices have fallen dramatically over the last year or so. As a result, “the additional value now associated with 45Q has really helped replace a lot of the value that had been lost in our economic models associated with the LCFS price,” Lewis told NGI. He explained that Carbon America and the Bridgeport plant have a deal in place where the revenue streams from the two incentives will be shared… “Carbon America’s CCS project pipeline is currently limited to ethanol plants, but the firm has its sights set on other CO2 sources such as natural gas fired-power plants. “We think that the natural gas market, especially the power market, is where a lot of CCS is going to happen,” Lewis told NGI, citing natural gas combined cycle power plants specifically. “We’re working on some of those things right now.” The challenge, he told NGI, is that the CO2 concentration of the flue gas emitted by power plants is substantially lower than that of ethanol production, making the capture process costlier and more complex. Nonetheless, “we think that’s where the big market’s going to be,” Lewis told NGI.”
EXTRACTION
Guardian: How fossil fuel firms use Black leaders to ‘deceive’ their communities
Nina Lakhani, 10/10/22
“Pastor Geoffrey Guns was sceptical when asked to join the community advisory board for a gas pipeline, but decided it was his duty to advocate for the Black communities that would be affected by the fossil fuel expansion project,” the Guardian reports. “The Virginia Reliability Project (VRP) is a proposal by the Canadian fossil fuel company behind the Keystone XL pipeline to expand and upgrade gas infrastructure through tribal lands, fragile waterways and underserved neighbourhoods in south-east Virginia. Almost 50% of the population along the VRP route live below the poverty line and more than half are people of colour. TC Energy claims the expansion will create thousands of local jobs and that community engagement is core to the company’s mission. For this reason, Guns, a senior pastor at the Second Calvary Baptist church in Norfolk, joined the advisory board along with several other local Black religious leaders. “If they’re asking us to rubber-stamp this, then there should be economic benefits for Black folks and minorities. But all we heard was talk without any actual commitment to equity in contracts for minorities,” Guns told the Guardian. On the VRP website, under a tab labelled community voices, TC Energy lists endorsements from influential figures, including Black state-elected officials who praise the economic benefits promised by the company for communities of colour. Several of the community voices received financial contributions from the company and its registered lobbying firm, which is legal but not mentioned. The views of the community advisers are not listed. “The whole thing feels very disingenuous, as clearly the company is not really interested in our advice on safety or guaranteeing opportunities for minority businesses. I am very disappointed. This is a bunch of white people with some Black faces sprinkled in. I feel absolutely used and violated,” Guns told the Guardian. It’s not the first time fossil fuel companies have looked to influential Black leaders to smooth the way for polluting oil and gas projects that disproportionately affect people of colour, Indigenous communities and low-income neighbourhoods.”
Oil Change International: Release the Guidance: Backgrounder on U.S. International Energy Finance ahead of COP27
10/12/22
“The report reveals that from 2010 to 2021, the United States’ major trade and development finance institutions provided USD 51.6 billion in support for fossil fuels, nearly fives times as much support as for renewables (USD 10.9 billion). Since taking office in January 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration has made a series of commitments toward ending this international public finance for fossil fuels, including joining 38 other countries and institutions as signatories to the Glasgow Statement commitment to end new direct public support for international unabated fossil fuel use by the end of 2022. However, the Biden-Harris Administration has not released public guidance on the implementation of this commitment, which is set to take effect by the end of this year. This briefing reviews what is known about the current U.S. policy guidance, unpacks trends in recent energy finance from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), identifies specific fossil fuel projects and loopholes that appear to be under consideration, and makes recommendations for how the United States can still implement its commitments with integrity and on time. In order to meet the Glasgow Statement commitment with integrity, the Biden-Harris Administration must release a public interagency guideline that bars new public fossil fuel support in time for COP27, including the following: A proactive mechanism to ensure EXIM, DFC, and other agencies do not misuse loopholes to continue fossil fuel support. Robust fossil fuel exclusion policies, leaving no exemptions for gas projects. Ambitious targets for increased grant-based and concessional international renewable energy support, with an emphasis on universal energy access, energy efficiency, and local just energy transitions for workers and communities most impacted by fossil fuel phaseouts.”
Hart Energy: US Gas Exports Primed to Soar, but Constrained Appalachia Can’t Meet the Moment
Joseph Markman, 10/12/22
“Infrastructure constraints in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays are not just keeping the natural gas in, they are keeping capital out, Kevin Little, senior vice president for natural gas at Macquarie Energy, said at Hart Energy’s recent America’s Natural Gas conference,” Hart Energy reports. “The regulatory burdens are creating a dislocation in the markets,” Little said. “Whereas, the Marcellus and Utica led in the terms of growth through 2019, now, we’re expecting this to shift down to Texas-Louisiana—specifically, in the immediate term, Haynesville. “You’re just seeing a shift in capital away from Marcellus and Utica down to the Gulf Coast.” “...The U.S. exports about 11 Bcf/d of gas at the moment, he said, a figure that will jump to 13 Bcf/d when Freeport LNG is able to fully return to service. Maquarie forecasts an expansion to 25 Bcf/d by the end of 2027. U.S. gas production, now around 100 Bcf/d, will creep up to 103 Bcf/d by the end of the year and rise to 110 Bcf/d by the end of 2023, Little said. The problem, he said, is the shift in production growth. The Haynesville is showing strong production growth, as is the Permian Basin from associated gas, an uptick in gas drilling in the Eagle Ford and even a small resurgence in the Barnett. There are expectations of growth in the Midcontinent, too. Just not in the Marcellus and Utica.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Globe and Mail: Competition Bureau launches inquiry into RBC’s green advertising
JAMES BRADSHAW, 10/11/22
“Canada’s Competition Bureau has opened an inquiry into whether Royal Bank of Canada made misleading statements about its actions to fight climate change after the watchdog received an application from a group of concerned citizens backed by environmental groups,” the Globe and Mail reports. “The bureau confirmed it has “commenced an inquiry” in a letter dated Sept. 29, and is seeking “to determine the facts relating to allegations that RBC has contravened the [Competition] Act by making false or misleading environmental representations.” The probe stems from a complaint first lodged in April by six individual applicants that alleges the bank made statements that are “false or misleading.” The group’s application targets RBC’s claims it supports the principles of the Paris Agreement to hold global warming below two degrees Celsius from preindustrial temperatures, and is committed to achieving net-zero emissions in its annual operations and in its lending by 2050. The application alleges RBC is currently working against those goals by providing billions of dollars in financing to the oil and gas industry, and says the bank “lacks a credible plan” to reach its stated goals. It further claims a promise RBC has made to provide $500-billion in sustainable financing is misleading because it allows for financing to go to energy companies that produce fossil fuels. A spokesperson for RBC, Andrew Block, told the Mail the bank “strongly disagrees with the allegations in the complaint, and believes the complaint to be unfounded and not in line with Canada’s climate plan.”
JWN Energy: Ten Peaks educating Alberta youth on energy and the environment, inspiring future innovators
Bill Whitelaw, 10/12/22
“Dagmar Knutson loves to learn — and one of her own learning epiphanies came via a casual remark from her son Aiden. After school one day, in 2019, he declared that Canada’s oilsands industry was the “worst in the world” — the result of an in-class discussion about energy matters,” JWN Energy reports. “...Knutson, the CFO of Red Deer-based Fusion Production Systems, was bemused that word of the oilsands sector’s advances hadn’t penetrated as far as her son’s school — smack dab in the middle of oil and gas country… “Thus, from a concerned mother’s email chain, Ten Peaks Innovation Alliance was born. Fast forward to Oct. 17, when nearly 650 students from grades 7 to 12 and their teachers — with hundreds more online — will gather in Lacombe in central Alberta to hear from, and engage with, a diverse array of energy sector experts. The gathering’s intent: to provide teachers and students with different perspectives on how energy systems work — and encourage them to think constructively and critically about the things they hear on both sides of the discussions.”
Enbridge: Let there be light! Boosting visibility and safety for Pennsylvania firefighters
10/12/22
“In his over 50 years of service with the Shermans Dale Fire Department, fire chief Mike Minich has answered just about every rescue call you can get,” according to Enbridge. “...With almost one call a day, it’s important for these firefighters to see clearly as they suit up and ship out for rescue. A recent lighting project replaced all of the lights throughout the station, which has the added benefit of providing good lighting for fundraising events held at the hall… “Enbridge recently made a $16,500 Fueling Futures donation to Shermans Dale FD as part of our Safe Community First Responder Program. The grant funded a project that replaced all LED lights throughout the fire station, which was completed last year over a weekend with Shermans Dale fire fighters and two Enbridge employees.”
OPINION
MinnPost: Proposed CO2 pipelines are bad for Minnesota
Maggie Schuppert is campaigns director for CURE (Clean Up the River Environment) and Anne Borgendale is communications director for CURE. CURE is a rural-based democracy organization with offices in Montevideo, Minnesota, 10/12/22
“A critical debate that will shape the energy future in the U.S. is taking place across Midwestern communities in the farm fields, rural town halls, and courtrooms of Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota — and now — in Minnesota too,” Maggie Schuppert and Anne Borgendale write for MinnPost. “Polluting industries are scrambling to build thousands of miles of carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines to make big profits from carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS)—collecting, compressing, and piping CO2 to store or use. Unfortunately, this is not driven by what our farmers, rural communities or the country need. It’s not even about our fight against climate change. It’s about money… “CO2 pipelines are risky and currently dangerously underregulated, but pipeline proponents are selling CO2 pipelines as key to rural economic vitality. The pitch to impacted farmers and landowners is that the facilities will capture the greenhouse gases from the ethanol fermentation process, lowering the emissions from ethanol to make it more competitive in a low-carbon fuel future. Unfortunately, these grand claims do not hold up to scrutiny… “Ultimately, these pipeline projects aren’t about rural communities or the climate, and not really about ethanol either. Ethanol production itself does not create enough emissions to financially justify large-scale infrastructure such as CO2 pipeline networks. The investors and partners behind these CO2 pipeline projects reveal the true beneficiaries of CCUS projects: fossil fuel interests — including oil, gas, and coal — the very industries at the root of the climate crisis. CO2 pipelines and CCUS are a corporate boondoggle not a climate solution. Minnesotans are left to ask: Is this the best way to invest billions in public money in the name of clean energy when we have other options? And why are we asking rural communities, farmers, and taxpayers to take on the risk while the industries that caused the crisis make a profit? Landowners in the path of CO2 pipelines, rural communities, tribes — and all Minnesotans — have a right to be part of the decision-making process about our energy future. We need to take action on climate now and we do not have the time, money, or energy to waste going down the wrong path — and we all need to be at the table, not just the companies looking to make massive profits. The stakes are too high.”
Ms. Magazine: Standing Up for Water, Land and Climate: Meet 11 Indigenous Women Fighting the Line 5 Pipeline
OSPREY ORIELLE LAKE and KATHERINE QUAID, 10/11/22
“As Enbridge pushes ahead with its plans for the Line 5 tar sands pipeline, Indigenous women remain vigilant and organize to prevent its development,” Osprey Orielle Lake and Katherine Quaid write for Ms. Magazine. “Earlier this year, Indigenous women leaders from the Great Lakes region sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers citing concerns over the social and ecological impacts of a new Enbridge tar sands pipeline project, Line 5. The women noted Enbridge’s track record for oil spills and aquifer breaches, as well as concerns regarding tribal usufructuary rights, irreversible damage to local biodiverse ecosystems and waterways, and rises in gender-based violence and human trafficking—all serious issues when the same company constructed the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota last year… “Communities continue to resist fossil fuel pipelines and infrastructure to avert the worst impacts of escalating interlocking crises. As Enbridge pushes ahead with its plans for Line 5, Indigenous women leaders and allied organizers are remaining vigilant, continuing to organize to prevent its development. Below, meet 11 Indigenous women who are fighting to stop Line 5. Their resistance effort is a critical fight for Indigenous rights, water, climate, and the rights and livelihoods of present and future generations… “Currently, there is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with Indigenous women from the Indigenous Women’s Treaty Alliance, facilitated by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), who have been meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers over the past months. The public is encouraged to submit a comment by Oct. 14 to the Army Corps of Engineers calling for them to conduct a maximum scope Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Line 5 tunnel expansion under the Straits of Mackinac and a full Federal Environmental Impact Statement for the entire Line 5 Pipeline.”