EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/19/23
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: Mountain Valley pipeline delayed: 4 questions answered
Seeking Alpha: Equitrans extends timing for Mountain Valley Pipeline completion to Q1 2024
Bloomberg: Summit Carbon Pipeline Gets Delayed Until Early 2026, CEO Says
Iowa Capital Dispatch: North Dakota will hold hearing on county pipeline ordinances
Bleeding Heartland: Summit Carbon proceeding continues to spiral during lull
Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network: Carbon capture projects can potentially boost rural communities
Press release: AG Nessel Files in Federal Court of Appeals Asking for Emergency Shutdown of Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline
MLive.com: Michigan Republicans say feds are foot-dragging Line 5 tunnel review
KTVZ: West Coast senators warn FERC not to approve ‘flawed and unwanted’ NW gas pipeline expansion
Saanich News: Group of B.C. hereditary chiefs want RCMP pipeline policing unit shut down
Brooks Bulletin: ‘No More Pipelines Act’ deemed largely unconstitutional
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: The hope and hype of hydrogen
E&E News: Carbon removal looks more promising by the day. Is methane next?
Guardian: Revealed: how a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans
STATE UPDATES
The Detroit News: State, feds respond to 8,400-gallon gasoline spill in Branch County
WPLN: ‘Stop polluting the communities of Black folks’: A Memphis resident reacts to TVA’s latest methane gas proposal
Pro Publica: California Oil Companies Face Tougher Enforcement Under New Law
Alaska Beacon: Alaska Offering Royalty-Free Lease Terms To Try To Simulate New Cook Inlet Natural Gas Development
‘St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri court rules against company trying to mine silica sand in Ste. Genevieve County
KOAT: Health of 34,000 students could be impacted by oil and gas wells near their schools
KWCH: Test confirms Butler County family’s lone water supply contaminated with crude oil
Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Is ‘Wasting A Domestic Energy Resource,’ Report Warns
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Startup Climeworks Battles Big Oil for the $1 Trillion Future of Carbon Capture
National Geographic: Another weapon to fight climate change? Put carbon back where we found it
Reuters: Shell calls Energy Transfer reliable, supports LNG license application
InsideClimate News: Inside Climate News Staff Writer Nicholas Kusnetz Recognized for Explanatory Reporting on Carbon Capture
Enbridge: Reef-based carbon sequestration study delivering ‘encouraging results’
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: Dust Suppression To Help a First Nation’s Celebration
OPINION
Iowa Sierra Club: Tell DNR no public water for Summit, Navigator or Wolf! Submit your comments to the DNR today!
Marcellus Drilling News: Radicals Turn Attention to Blocking New LNG Like They Did Pipelines
Globe and Mail: After Supreme Court’s decision, Ottawa must urgently refocus its climate policy
New York Times: Exxon Mobil’s Pioneer Acquisition Is a Direct Threat to Democracy
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: Mountain Valley pipeline delayed: 4 questions answered
Carlos Anchondo, 10/19/23
“Completion of the closely watched Mountain Valley pipeline will be delayed until next year, and its cost will exceed $7 billion, the project’s lead developer said Wednesday,” E&E News reports. “...Mountain Valley won’t come online in 2023 as planned because of “unforeseen factors” that slowed the pace of construction and boosted costs, Equitrans said in a regulatory filing… “Earlier this month, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the lead developer of Mountain Valley announced an agreement to address safety issues. That came after an August notice from PHMSA raised concerns about the integrity of the pipe, including issues around installation and prolonged exposure of some segments to the sun’s rays… “Before the agreement was issued, critics wrote to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking for construction to stop while developers conduct an analysis on all pipes that will be installed and look for any potential damage to its protective coating… “Equitrans said the "ramp up of MVP’s contractor workforce has been slower and more challenging than expected, due to multiple crews electing not to work on the project based on the history of court-related construction stops, and the inability to recruit crews with required and sufficient experience." “...Denali Nalamalapu, a spokesperson for the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) coalition, told E&E communities affected by projects expect “the utmost transparency” between regulatory agencies and communities. Nalamalapu, who opposes the project, told E&E activists will "rigorously document" construction activities associated with Mountain Valley "to do what we can to ensure the company is held accountable to environmental and community safety laws." In a statement Wednesday after Equitrans' regulatory filing, Nalamalapu told E&E Mountain Valley is "a fracked gas pipeline blaming workers for why it hasn’t been able to complete the project during a climate crisis." “...This week, dozens of self-described “pipeline fighters” walked onto a Mountain Valley construction site near Elliston, Va., which is southwest of Roanoke, Va. On X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Appalachians Against Pipelines said five people were arrested but were eventually released.”
Seeking Alpha: Equitrans extends timing for Mountain Valley Pipeline completion to Q1 2024
Carl Surran,10/18/23
“Equitrans Midstream -1% post-market Wednesday after disclosing it now expects the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project to be completed in Q1 2024, later than its earlier forecast of year-end 2023,” Seeking Alpha reports. “The company sees the total project cost rising to ~$7.2B, saying the ramp-up of MVP's contractor workforce has been "slower and more challenging than expected, due to multiple crews electing not to work on the project based on the history of court-related construction stops, and the inability to recruit crews with required and sufficient experience." Productivity and cost also have been adversely affected in areas of challenging terrain and geology, in part because of the application of heightened environmental protocols. Equitrans (ETRN) said it had funded ~$3B to the MVP joint venture as of the end of Q3…”
Bloomberg: Summit Carbon Pipeline Gets Delayed Until Early 2026, CEO Says
Kim Chipman, 10/18/23
“Summit Carbon Solutions’ massive carbon-capture and storage pipeline across the Corn Belt is now expected to start operating in early 2026 — a setback for a project that initially targeted next year for completion,” Bloomberg reports. “The new timing was disclosed by Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Carbon’s parent, Summit Agriculture Group, during in an interview with Bloomberg. The project aimed at trapping ethanol emissions is backed by investors including Continental Resources, the shale driller controlled by billionaire Harold Hamm, and Moline-based farm equipment giant Deere & Co.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: North Dakota will hold hearing on county pipeline ordinances
JARED STRONG, 10/18/23
“Utility regulators in North Dakota might hold a hearing no sooner than December to consider oral arguments about county ordinances that would restrict the placement of Summit Carbon Solutions’ pipeline,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “That conflicts with the company’s request for the North Dakota Public Service Commission to overrule two county ordinances without soliciting new input from groups that oppose its project. The commission previously considered arguments about the ordinances in Burleigh and Emmons counties but did not issue a ruling about them when it denied Summit a route permit in August… “When the commission later agreed to reconsider the company’s permit application with an altered route, Summit renewed its request to overrule the ordinances because they have the potential to significantly affect the pipeline route. “The issue is purely one of law, and Summit’s renewal motion does not make any new arguments (legal or otherwise) not already made or set forth in its original preemption motion,” wrote Lawrence Bender, an attorney for Summit, in a filing last week. “Accordingly, it is not proper for the commission to allow the intervenors another opportunity to respond in opposition.” But the commission unanimously decided this week to hold a hearing on the matter — which was requested by intervenors in the case — according to a recording of its Monday meeting… “Commissioner Sheri Haugen-Hoffart has indicated she wants evidence that Summit has tried to work with counties to comply with their ordinances before ruling on the matter… “On Tuesday, the commission issued a formal request to Summit for more information about the changes to its route. Commissioners seek, among other information: Detailed maps of the pipeline route where it has changed; What the company has done to address the concerns of landowners; Evidence that the pipeline does not pass through areas prone to landslides; A thorough analysis of an alternate route around Bismarck, where there has been resistance to the original route because of its potential to affect urban development; A list of newly affected landowners and parcels; The percentage of land easements that have been obtained by the company in each county.”
Bleeding Heartland: Summit Carbon proceeding continues to spiral during lull
Nancy Dugan, 10/17/23
“The Iowa Utilities Board announced on October 4 it was canceling the remainder of its 2023 monthly public board meetings, previously set for October 9, November 7, and December 12. The board's news release cited a “high volume of docket calls,” as well as “the risk of ex parte communications under Iowa law.” Screenshots of the board’s October and November calendars, captured on the morning of October 17, document the board’s schedule in the coming weeks… “During the August 24 hearing, tenant farmer Tom Konz, testifying on behalf of an O’Brien County landowner on the path of the proposed pipeline, documented Summit’s heightened interest in negotiations immediately after Konz had arranged to testify at the evidentiary hearing: “So we met with them before that and laid everything out. Got absolutely no response from them at all… “And I had called in after – I think it was around August 4th or 5th and asked I think it was Liz from Iowa Utilities Board if there’s any way that we could be part of this hearing. And it was absolutely amazing the response we got from Summit after that. I think they’ve been on my yard just about every day since then. So, to me, that’s wrong. They did not want me here, but it shouldn’t take coming in front of this Board to get a response from them. And we weren’t asking for a lot.” “...Konz also confirmed he had been in renewed negotiations with Summit immediately after requesting to appear at the evidentiary hearing… “The board has not disclosed how many such negotiations have occurred, or how many have led to voluntary easement agreements between landowners and Summit Carbon Solutions.”
Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network: Carbon capture projects can potentially boost rural communities
Riley Smith, 10/18/23
“With the USDA’s 2023 Farm Sector Income Forecast predicting that farm income is going to decrease in 2023, farming communities are looking for ways to boost their economies and maintain higher income levels,” according to the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network. “Carbon capture technology could help in this by creating jobs, attracting investments, diversifying markets, and increasing the value of ag commodities like corn and ethanol. However, as shown by the recent carbon pipeline permit denials in North and South Dakota, that opportunity window may be closing. Joe Heinrich, executive director of the Smart Carbon Network, told IARN the emotions in these carbon discussions can often draw the focus away from what’s most important: making an effort to take advantage of carbon capture opportunities… “Heinrich also explained what carbon transportation might look like if these pipelines aren’t approved.”
Press release: AG Nessel Files in Federal Court of Appeals Asking for Emergency Shutdown of Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline
10/18/23
“Today, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a brief in support of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation in their lawsuit against Enbridge Energy Co. The Band seeks to eject Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline from its Reservation land. In May, Nessel filed a brief in support of the Band’s case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Nessel’s concern is that erosion of the Bad River’s bank threatens to expose the pipeline directly to the river. This would almost certainly cause the pipeline to rupture and release oil into the river, which flows directly into Lake Superior. “The evidence in this case clearly establishes that Enbridge trespassed on the Band’s land and has operated Line 5 illegally since 2013,” Nessel said. “This illegal trespass creates a grave risk of an oil spill that would contaminate the Bad River, the Reservation, and Lake Superior. On behalf of the People of the State of Michigan I am taking this action to protect our Great Lakes from the threat posed by polluters who value their own bottom line more than our priceless natural resources.”
MLive.com: Michigan Republicans say feds are foot-dragging Line 5 tunnel review
Garret Ellison, 10/18/23
“Michigan Republicans are criticizing the lengthy federal review of a proposed utility tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac that, if built, would house a rebuilt section of the Enbridge Line 5 oil and gas pipeline,” MLive.com reports. “Republican lawmakers gathered in Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt’s office on Wednesday, Oct. 18 to highlight their letter urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to hasten permitting for the Line 5 tunnel. The lawmakers say the environmental impact review is undergoing “unreasonable delay.” The Army Corps has said a permitting decision is not expected for another three years. Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, said the 70-year-old steel pipeline is “safe” but characterized the tunnel as nonetheless necessary to protect the Great Lakes from a potential spill. He said the project could be “halfway done” already “if everybody would stop dragging their feet.” “We need to stop in this state the all-out assault on the energy industry that we’re undertaking right now,” Damoose said. “There’s a push to get rid of the entire oil and gas industry, which is absolutely irresponsible. And make no mistake, the attack on Line 5 is exactly that.” “...Up north, I gotta tell you, we get tired of people coming up and protesting the line and patting themselves on the back as if they’ve done something and they’re getting in their SUVs to drive home,” Damoose continued. “It happens all the time. It’s hypocritical…It’s time to get out of the way and build the tunnel.”
KTVZ: West Coast senators warn FERC not to approve ‘flawed and unwanted’ NW gas pipeline expansion
10/18/23
“Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) on Wednesday urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject a proposal from TC Energy for a major expansion of methane gas infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest, as FERC is scheduled to take up the proposal at a Thursday meeting,” KTVZ reports. “The senators pointed to what they called a myriad of problems with TC Energy’s proposal and FERC’s consideration process, including the proposal’s direct conflict with Washington, Oregon, and California climate laws; a potential rise in energy costs for consumers; TC Energy’s troubled safety record; and FERC’s failure to properly and sufficiently consult Tribes prior to a final decision… “TC Energy’s project would increase rates for consumers, cause over $8.8 billion in climate damages and undermine our states’ efforts to combat the climate crisis just so that a Canadian company can increase the shipment of Canadian fracked methane gas. Elected officials from across Washington, Oregon, and California have been clear: this project is incompatible with our climate laws,” the Senators wrote in a letter to FERC’s four commissioners. The GTN Xpress Project faces opposition not only from Senators, but also from Governor Tina Kotek (D-OR), Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA), and the Attorneys General of all three West Coast states… “The Senators also raise concerns that FERC failed to properly consult with impacted Tribes, which is a trust obligation and raises questions about whether the proposal could impact tribal treaty rights.”
Saanich News: Group of B.C. hereditary chiefs want RCMP pipeline policing unit shut down
Morgan Powell, 10/18/23
“Gitxsan hereditary chiefs recently marched from the Vancouver Art Gallery to the provincial courthouse in Vancouver, advocating for the disbandment of the RCMP’s task force focused on resource projects such as the Coastal GasLink pipeline,” the Saanich News reports. “Hereditary chief Gwiiyeehl (Brian Williams) is asking the federal government to agree to a meeting so both parties can discuss the C-IRG unit (Community-Industry Response Group) and related matters “peacefully.” Williams is asking the RCMP and industry to respect their lhiem — a term that translates to “territory” in English. Gitxsan land is unceded as it was never surrendered or sold to the government in a treaty or by another legal mechanism. Currently, Gitxsan land is a passing point for industry workers, specifically those in the forestry sector and resource extraction. “We don’t want them on our lhiem, we don’t want them on our 35,000 square kilometres. Stay out,” Williams told the News. During the Art Gallery demonstration Wednesday (Oct. 11), Gitxsan chiefs were dressed in full regalia, and carried banners stating “Stop Supreme Court Interference” and “Stop war on Indigenous land defenders,” referencing the court’s injunctions against opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project… “In an email, Staff-Sgt. Kris Clark, a senior spokesperson for the RCMP, told the News deploying the C-IRG is a “last resort” and deploying the group during the Coastal GasLink protests was a necessity. According to the RCMP, an “anarchist” group deemed to be unassociated with the Witsuwitʼen Nation, committed acts of terrorism, threatening workers and destroying industrial equipment with an axe. “When protests are peaceful, lawful and safe, there is no need for C-IRG intervention,” Clark. But Williams told the News the C-IRG has been deployed on Gitxsan land during peaceful protests such as the 2020 blockade, and that the historical context of the RCMP’s treatment of Gitxsan members, including three deaths at the hands of RCMP officers in the last 50 years, prompts “fear” among his people.”
Brooks Bulletin: ‘No More Pipelines Act’ deemed largely unconstitutional
SANDRA M STANWAY, 10/28/23
“In a 5-2 decision the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that parts of the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act (CERA) are unconstitutional,” the Brooks Bulletin reports. “The No More Pipelines Act, as it was termed by former premier Jason Kenney, was enacted by parliament in 2019 to allow the federal government to determine if major projects will have adverse effects on the environment while outlining what projects are to be subjected to federal review. “We are extremely pleased with the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision confirming the unconstitutionality of the federal government’s destructive Impact Assessment Act,” Alberta premier Danielle Smith said. She said No More Pipelines Act “is an existential threat to the province’s economy. “It is already responsible for the loss of tens of billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs across the country in many economic sectors. “Today’s ruling represents an opportunity for all provinces to stop that bleeding.” She said the decision reaffirms, “That the primary jurisdiction of non-renewable natural resource development is the sole jurisdiction of the provinces.” She said the court also ruled that they do not apply to activities that primarily fall under provincial jurisdiction including conventional oil and gas, oilsands, hard rock mining and other similar non-renewable resource developments.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: The hope and hype of hydrogen
David Gelles, 10/17/23
“Imagine a fuel capable of powering cars, planes and factories, just like gasoline or natural gas. But instead of emitting greenhouse gases, it releases only water vapor. Spoiler alert: It’s hydrogen,” the New York Times reports. “...The Biden initiative primarily helps zero-emission “green” hydrogen and includes some projects — like one in Appalachia backed by Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — that use more polluting sources of hydrogen. Despite that concession to the fossil fuel industry, experts told the Times the new federal funding was a big step toward creating a world in which hydrogen is clean, affordable and abundant… “We have big infrastructure for moving electricity around because we’ve invested over a hundred years in the electric grid,” Jack Brouwer, a professor of engineering at the University of California, Irvine, and the director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center, told the Times. “We don’t have pipes for hydrogen.” Building out the infrastructure will take many years and billions of dollars… “And finally there is the issue of easily accessing the raw material needed to make hydrogen: H20. “Where the water is, is kind of the tricky part,” Brouwer told the Times. “Water isn’t always where we want it to be, and we don’t always emit it where we want it.” Those are challenges, to be sure, but they’re also ones that can be overcome with the right combination of money, innovation and policy. “Someday, renewable, clean hydrogen will be cheaper than what we are paying today for gasoline,” Brouwer told the Times. “It’s inevitable.”
E&E News: Carbon removal looks more promising by the day. Is methane next?
Chelsea Harvey, 10/19/23
“Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is essential to meeting international climate goals, scientists say,” according to E&E News. “...Yet carbon dioxide isn’t the only climate-warming gas that needs a sharp cutback in the atmosphere. Experts are turning their focus to methane as well. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine hosted a workshop dedicated to atmospheric methane removal, which is the process of removing methane emissions directly from the air. The workshop included presentations by dozens of researchers and policy experts addressing questions about the science and effectiveness of methane removal, potential side effects and unintended consequences and the ways it should be governed and regulated. These presentations will be used to inform a forthcoming NASEM report on atmospheric methane removal… “Because methane removal is still an emerging field, with many remaining scientific uncertainties, communities likely will have questions and concerns about its costs, resource needs and possible side effects. It’s important to properly engage communities and take their concerns seriously, presenters at the workshop said. That’s a lesson scientists have learned from their work on other emerging technologies, such as carbon dioxide removal and certain forms of geoengineering, said presenter Shuchi Talati, founder of the nonprofit Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering. Concerned communities — particularly those that are already disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change and other environmental risks — are not always adequately included in public engagement efforts.”
Guardian: Revealed: how a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans
Molly Peterson, Dillon Bergin and Emily Zentner, 10/16/23
“A legal loophole has allowed the US Environmental Protection Agency to strike pollution from clean air tallies in more than 70 counties, enabling local regulators to claim the air was cleaner than it really was for more than 21 million Americans,” the Guardian reports. “Regulators have exploited a little-known provision in the Clean Air Act called the “exceptional events rule” to forgive pollution caused by “natural” or “uncontrollable” events – including wildfires – on records used by the EPA for regulatory decisions, a new investigation from the California Newsroom, MuckRock and the Guardian reveals. In addition to obscuring the true health risks of pollution and swerving away from tighter control on local polluters, the rule threatens the potency of the Clean Air Act, experts argue, at a time when the climate crisis is posing an unprecedented challenge to the health of millions of Americans. Where the EPA – the US agency monitoring air quality – has agreed to exclude bad air days from analysis, “we may have a sort of stable, relatively rosy picture when it comes to our regulatory world in terms of air-quality trends,” Vijay Limaye, a climate and health epidemiologist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a non-profit advocacy group, told the Guardian. The truth is more complicated, and the air dirtier. “The true conditions on the ground in terms of the air that people are breathing in, day after day, week after week, year after year, is increasingly an unhealthy situation,” Limaye told the Guardian.
STATE UPDATES
The Detroit News: State, feds respond to 8,400-gallon gasoline spill in Branch County
Beth LeBlanc, Marnie Muñoz, 10/18/23
“State and federal officials have responded to an estimated 8,400-gallon gasoline spill from a BP pipeline in northwest Branch County,” The Detroit News reports. “About 3,000 gallons of gasoline have been removed from the ground where the pipeline spill occurred in Girard Township north of Coldwater, Michael "Bud" Norman, emergency manager for Branch County, told the News. The total spill was estimated at 8,400 gallons of gasoline, Norman told the News… “BP received an alert at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday about issues with the 10-inch underground pipeline and shut off the system at 9:33 p.m., Norman told the News. The pipeline carries gasoline from Whiting, Indiana, where BP has an oil refinery along Lake Michigan, to River Rouge, according to Norman. Six residents were evacuated from two homes, but on a voluntary basis, Norman told the News. State and federal environmental officials are on site as well as local and state emergency response, he told the News. The Michigan Department of Environmental, Great Lakes and Energy, or EGLE, is supporting the response effort and on the site investigating while surveying the potential impact to water, soil and air, spokeswoman Jill Greenberg told the News. There seems to be no immediate impact to surface water, she told the News.
WPLN: ‘Stop polluting the communities of Black folks’: A Memphis resident reacts to TVA’s latest methane gas proposal
CAROLINE EGGERS, 10/13/23
“The Tennessee Valley Authority has planned the largest fossil fuel buildout of any utility in the nation this decade — and it just proposed another project,” WPLN reports. “The federal utility intends to build new methane gas facilities in South Memphis, an area long subject to environmental racism that houses existing TVA gas facilities, arsenic pollution from coal ash, Tennessee’s sole oil refinery and a disproportionate share of the state’s active Superfund sites — along with high cancer risks. “When is enough going to be enough? When are we going to put people over profits?” Yolonda Spinks, spokesperson for Memphis Community Against Pollution, told WPLN… “The use of fossil fuels endangers life on the planet and harms frontline communities. Officials have also warned that TVA’s proposed gas projects will likely be more expensive than renewable options for residents in the Valley. Plus, there is no evidence that new fossil fuel capacity is needed on the grid… “So, to justify new fossil fuel infrastructure, utilities like TVA have been saying that gas is “reliable.” This idea has been scrutinized this past year due to recent cold weather events… “Spinks, the activist, told WPLN she grew up down the street from the Valero oil refinery in Memphis. She successfully helped fight off threats to her community from a proposed oil pipeline and an evergreen contract between the local power company, Memphis, Light, Gas and Water, and TVA. But the threats keep coming… “There are other options,” Spinks told WPLN. “Stop polluting the communities of Black folks, Indigenous folks and poor folks.”
Pro Publica: California Oil Companies Face Tougher Enforcement Under New Law
Janet Wilson, 10/18/23
“California will soon have more authority to fine oil companies that cause major spills or other hazards,” Pro Publica reports. “The new law, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, was authored in response to a Desert Sun and ProPublica probe that found the state agency charged with regulating fossil fuel companies had a spotty enforcement record and had collected no fines in 2020. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 631 on Oct. 7. The law increases penalties to as much as $70,000 per day for continuing violations, and it gives state regulators new abilities to request criminal enforcement… “Under the new law, California’s oil regulator, the California Geologic Energy Management Division, or CalGEM, can refer cases to local prosecutors and ask a Superior Court judge to compel operators to correct violations that might threaten public health, safety and the environment. The oil and gas supervisor, who heads CalGEM, can also for the first time recover all response, prosecution and enforcement costs from the petroleum companies. Critics have long questioned CalGEM’s willingness to exercise its enforcement authority. In 2021, The Desert Sun and ProPublica found that the agency had imposed few fines above $5,000, despite enhanced powers — and had yet to collect a fine above $35,000.”
Alaska Beacon: Alaska Offering Royalty-Free Lease Terms To Try To Simulate New Cook Inlet Natural Gas Development
Yereth Rosen, 10/17/23
“To try to entice investment in new natural gas development in Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet basin, state officials are trying something new: a waiver of royalties in the upcoming annual lease sale,” the Alaska Beacon reports. “The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas last week announced five upcoming lease sales that include the unusual terms in the Cook Inlet area. The impetus is the concern that the state’s most populous region may soon be running low of the natural gas that is its main source of power for heat and electricity, a division official said. ‘We’re kind of in a bind in terms of having a gas shortage, potentially, in the next few years,’ Sean Clifton, a policy and program specialist with the division, told the Beacon. ‘We’re trying to be innovative and try new things within the bounds of the laws we already have on the books.’ Instead of requiring new leaseholders to pay royalties once production starts, the state is offering a net profit-sharing arrangement aimed at reducing companies’ economic risks. And instead of expecting bidders to compete for exploration rights, the division is setting a fixed price of $40 an acre for the 3.3 million acres that are being offered in the sale.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri court rules against company trying to mine silica sand in Ste. Genevieve County
Kurt Erickson, 10/17/23
“A state appeals court delivered another setback Tuesday to a company seeking to mine silica sand in Ste. Genevieve County,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. “In a 23-page decision, the Missouri Court of Appeals at St. Louis said state mining regulators were correct in their decision to revoke a permit by Nexgen Silica, which wants to mine sand on 249 acres of rural land near Highway 32. The Missouri Mining Commission ruled that Nexgen’s application was incomplete because it failed to list all people with a property interest in the area to be mined… “The ruling is a win for Operation Sand, the residents group that has organized against the plan over concerns the project would tarnish the natural landscape, degrade water systems and send toxic dust into the air… “Nexgen intends to produce frack sand and/or industrial sands, moving the materials for transport on the Mississippi River at Ste. Genevieve, the company said in April… “The company also may face headwinds in the Legislature. Last spring, Rep. Rick Francis, a Perryville Republican who represents Ste. Genevieve County, introduced legislation that would allow county commissions or health boards to “enact reasonable ordinances, orders, or regulations applicable to” mining within “the Lamotte Sandstone geologic formation located in such county.” “...But, Stephen Jeffery, an attorney for Operation Sand, told the Dispatch the company also must now comply with a new county ordinance that limits silica mines to locations at least a half-mile from any water source or resident.”
KOAT: Health of 34,000 students could be impacted by oil and gas wells near their schools
Alyssa Munoz, 10/17.23
“More than 34,000 children in New Mexico live or go to school near oil or gas wells, some telling us this puts their health at risk,” KOAT reports. “According to the state’s oil conservation division, there are many schools in the Northwestern and Southeastern parts of the state that are within a mile of active oil or gas wells. Thirty-nine environmental, health and advocacy groups throughout the state wrote a joint letter to the governor, saying those wells are putting children’s health at risk, and asking her to create “health buffer zones” to protect them. In eight of New Mexico’s 33 counties in the state, more than 34,000 students attend school within a mile of an oil well. And for two-thirds of those, the well is less than half a mile away. Gail Evans, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups behind the joint letter to the governor. “We don’t hear about the price we are actually paying for that money, and I think we really need to pay attention to that,” Evans told KOAT. Kayley Shoup, with Citizens Caring for the Future, also signed it, and said it’s not fair to children, “It's something that these children, they can't consent to it and it's just not OK that it's something that we just take for granted and say, you know, oh, this oil and gas well can be right next to this school because it funds our public schools. Right. And that's just, you know, unconscionable, in my opinion,” Shoup told KOAT. They’re calling for “health buffer zones,” which would ban new oil and gas sites within a mile of schools and other educational facilities and phase out existing ones.” “...In a statement to Target 7, Jim Winchester, the president of the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, said, "Proposals that call for unnecessary setbacks from thousands of feet to upwards of miles are arbitrary, pushed by activist groups with motives to end all oil and gas use, and is compassionate to those who may depend on development royalties to stay out of poverty, such as what is occurring with denied access to leases around Chaco Canyon."
KWCH: Test confirms Butler County family’s lone water supply contaminated with crude oil
Branden Stitt, 10/18/23
“The water well test results are in. After a long, seven-day wait for a Butler County family, FactFinder learned Wednesday afternoon that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment confirmed that the lone water source to the family’s home is contaminated with crude oil,” KWCH reports. “...A week ago, Jenna Krob and her family were literally left high and dry with no water and no answers… “A day after the family’s story aired, they received overwhelming support from the community and a response from KDHE, the Kansas Corporation Commission and Vess Oil Corporation. This week, the company stepped in even more, providing the family with temporary housing until the situation is resolved. While providing the assistance, Vess Oil told KWCH its operations are not the source of the problem it says appears to be pre-existing.”
Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Is ‘Wasting A Domestic Energy Resource,’ Report Warns
Anastasia Hufham, 10/18/23
“Utah wasted $48 million worth of natural gas in 2019, mostly due to leaking, according to a new report released Friday,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “That’s enough natural gas to power over 20% of Utah’s residential gas customers for a year. The report was published by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc., the Environmental Defense Fund and Taxpayers for Common Sense. Synapse is a research and consulting firm focused on the energy sector. The Environmental Defense Fund, a national nonprofit, works to find solutions to climate pollution. Taxpayers for Common Sense is a nonpartisan watchdog group that advocates for the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. The report, which is based on data from 2019, states that if that lost gas had been captured, Utah could have made $6.7 million in taxes and royalties.”
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Startup Climeworks Battles Big Oil for the $1 Trillion Future of Carbon Capture
Brian Kahn, 10/19/23
“Most everyone who’s committed their career to solving the climate crisis comes to the field because they have something they want to save. It’s the mountains for Christoph Gebald, whose startup, Climeworks AG, is among the pioneers of sucking carbon dioxide from thin air,” Bloomberg reports. “...Climeworks raised $650 million in an equity round last year and has sold millions of dollars in CO2 removal services. But those big numbers belie the massive challenge. If 1 billion tons is the summit, the company has barely taken its first steps out of base camp: It’s at 4,000 tons a year, and experts estimate that the world will need to remove up to 10 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually by midcentury to limit global warming to 1.5C… “As chief executive officer and co-founder of Climeworks, the next step in front of Gebald is building a scaled-up version of its technology in Iceland; the step after that will be opening its first plant in the US. That project, which will anchor a test hub in southwest Louisiana for pulling CO2 from the air, was awarded hundreds of millions of dollars this summer as part of US President Joe Biden’s climate strategy… “Climeworks’ main competition is offering a very different vision. Warren Buffett-backed Occidental Petroleum Corp. has plans to build more than 100 carbon-sucking plants by 2035, and it wants to use some of that captured carbon to dredge up more oil, which is at odds with reducing emissions. That’s in contrast to Climeworks, which is only interested in “permanent underground storage, period,” Gebald told Bloomberg… “While Oxy won’t use carbon captured at its East Texas DAC hub for oil production, it does plan to do so at its West Texas plant. It then aims to sell the resulting crude as “net-zero oil,” a dubious phrase that’s at odds with the best available climate science.”
National Geographic: Another weapon to fight climate change? Put carbon back where we found it
SAM HOWE VERHOVEK, 10/18/23
“Over the past few centuries, we have dug, chopped, burned, drilled, pumped, stripped, forged, flared, lit, launched, driven, and flown our way to adding 2.4 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide to Earth’s atmosphere,” National Geographic reports. “...Scientists and entrepreneurs like Aradóttir are embarking on ambitious—and sometimes controversial—projects to remove carbon dioxide from ambient air and lock it away… “But what all these efforts also have in common is that to their many detractors, the very idea of sucking all this carbon out of the air is a diversion from the far more urgent task of radically cutting carbon dioxide emissions to begin with. More than 500 environmental groups, for instance, have signed a petition urging U.S. and Canadian leaders to “abandon the dirty, dangerous myth of CCS,” or carbon capture and storage, a major form of carbon removal. The petition blasts the concept as “a dangerous distraction driven by the same big polluters who created the climate emergency,” a reference to plans announced by ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other traditional oil giants to jump into the carbon-capture business. It is enraging, critics say, that the forces most responsible for getting us into this global mess now stand to profit from promises that they can clean it up. The term “moral hazard,” the idea that people will continue to take risks if they believe they’re shielded from the consequences, comes up often in this debate. If policymakers, not to mention average people, start thinking that maybe we have a magic solution for all this troublesome CO2, perhaps they’ll start worrying less about the oil, gas, and coal we keep extracting from the Earth. But carbon-removal advocates say we desperately need to do both things at once: cut future emissions and reverse the impacts of what we’ve already emitted.”
Reuters: Shell calls Energy Transfer reliable, supports LNG license application
Curtis Williams, 10/17/23
“Shell PLC has submitted a letter to the U.S. Energy Department in support of Energy Transfer's (ET.N) request for a new license to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries without free trade agreements with the U.S., saying the pipeline operator is a reliable gas supplier,” Reuters reports. “Shell is among energy companies that have filed arbitration cases against Venture Global LNG over its failure to supply fuel under long-term contracts, even as it has shipped at least 200 cargoes to non-contract customers. "Reliability of supply has become a key issue recently among non-free trade countries purchasing U.S. LNG and Shell very much values Energy Transfer's credibility to deliver on what it promises," said Jill Davies, president of Shell North America LNG company, in the letter seen by Reuters… “Energy Transfer has been pursuing the multi-billion-dollar Lake Charles LNG project since 2012. In an August filing, it said it could not finish the plant before the existing license's 2025 deadline, so it wants to receive a new license by Feb. 19, 2024 that would give it seven more years to complete the project.”
InsideClimate News: Inside Climate News Staff Writer Nicholas Kusnetz Recognized for Explanatory Reporting on Carbon Capture
10/18/23
“Inside Climate News staff writer Nicholas Kusnetz on Tuesday won first place for explanatory reporting for a series on carbon capture in the 22nd annual awards sponsored by the Society for Environmental Journalists,” InsideClimate News reports. “Kusnetz, who is based in New York City and covers the fossil fuel industry, took readers from Texas to Wyoming in reporting “Pipe Dreams: Is Carbon Capture a Climate Solution or a Dangerous Distraction,” describing potential benefits and drawbacks of technologies that capture carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions or straight from the air… “But many progressive climate groups like Greenpeace and 350.org say oil companies are promoting the technologies as a distraction to avoid phasing out their products. At best, they argue, carbon capture and removal will play a marginal role in limiting emissions. At worst, they warn, subsidies for the technologies will prolong demand for fossil fuels, squandering money that would be better spent on replacing coal, oil and gas altogether.” In their comments for the award in the small media category, SEJ judges wrote that Kusnetz’ series “told a complicated story in a way that is accessible and understandable to readers. His reporting showed how the oil industry lobbied to shape climate policy toward carbon capture and storage.”
Enbridge: Reef-based carbon sequestration study delivering ‘encouraging results’
10/18/23
“...In this case, off the Texas coast, researchers believe they may be dealing with an environmental game-changer—the invaluable carbon sponge,” according to Enbridge. “In October 2022, work began on a groundbreaking carbon sequestration study on the RGV Reef, a 1,650-acre artificial reef off South Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico. The project is being managed by the Friends of RGV Reef, a non-profit group that created the reef in 2017, and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) researchers, and funded through a $250,000 Fueling Futures grant from Enbridge. At the outset, it was hoped that the study could provide a seminal moment in the battle against climate change. And at the project’s midway point, the UTRGV researchers are seeing promising results. “The early data that we are seeing is delivering some encouraging results. The sponges and soft corals that cover the reef do contain high amounts of carbon,” says Dr. Richard Kline, Ph.D., Professor, School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at UTRGV, whose team is leading the research. “We suspected that reefs, man-made or natural, could sequester or capture carbon. Now, initial data shows that the reef’s structure, the bottom or sediment, and the biomass, fish and other marine life in the water column, is indeed capturing or trapping CO2, a known greenhouse gas, in some significant proportions.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: Dust Suppression To Help a First Nation’s Celebration
10/18/23
“The storytelling begins with the drummers, each of their beats bringing those present into balance with the pulse of the earth,” according to Enbridge. “...It’s the 25th anniversary powwow of the Swan Lake First Nation (SLFN), held this past Canada Day long weekend in south-central Manitoba… “Safety being the foundation of everything we do at Enbridge, we saw an opportunity to support SLFN’s 25th anniversary powwow by proactively making the roadways safe for attendees. We awarded SLFN a $50,000 Fueling Futures grant to help cover costs of controlling dust on the unpaved roads, and we partnered with two Canadian companies to make it happen.”
OPINION
Iowa Sierra Club: Tell DNR no public water for Summit, Navigator or Wolf! Submit your comments to the DNR today!
10/18/23
“Goldfield SCS Capture, LLC filed a request for 27.6 million gallons of water per year from the Mississippian Limestone Aquifer. We think this is a poor use of our water resources,” the Iowa Sierra Club reports. “The Goldfield SCS Capture, LLC request takes a public resource and gives it to a private entity for private gain. This does not meet Iowa Code §455B.262(2) & (3) which states public waters are to be put to “maximum” beneficial use in the interest of Iowans and managed as sustainable resources to protect the uses into the future. DNR should consider the water withdrawal requests from Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator CO2 Ventures and Wolf Carbon Solutions as a cumulative request. We request a full survey of wells within a 2 mile radius to determine the impact of a water withdrawal on existing wells. Piecemeal requests from carbon pipeline companies do a disservice to Iowans as it is important to look at the projects as a whole, and even as an industry as a whole. Summit is proposing to connect to 13 ethanol plants, Navigator to 20 ethanol plants and Wolf to 2 ethanol plants in Iowa alone. We must examine these projects cumulatively as an industry to understand the true impacts of allowing CCS to utilize public water resources. DNR should evaluate Iowa’s water resource priorities and determine that water for carbon capture and transport is not a good long term use of our groundwater or in the public’s interest. In order to protect Iowa’s water resources for long-term availability as the Code requires, IDNR’s Water Allocation Program is guided by the following principles: all waters are considered public wealth and subject to the control by the state, public waters are to be put to (maximum) beneficial use in the interests of Iowans, and waters are to be managed as sustainable resources thereby protecting beneficial uses into the future. The use of public waters for private companies that serve no beneficial purpose is wrong. DNR should determine that Carbon Capture and Storage is not a beneficial use of public water. Goldfield Water Withdrawal Public Comments due 10/24/23 by 9pm!”
Marcellus Drilling News: Radicals Turn Attention to Blocking New LNG Like They Did Pipelines
10/18/23
“The radical left has successfully funneled foreign money (from Russia and China) to Big Green groups that hire lawyers to file a blizzard of lawsuits against oil and gas pipeline projects, blocking those projects,” according to Marcellus Drilling News. “That strategy has worked so well that the radical left has turned its attention to a new target (same tactic but new target): LNG export facilities. The first stage in a new war is to “soften the target” with aerial bombing. In this case, the bombings are the lies coming from paid Big Green shills like Bill McKibben. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is expected to approve (soon) Venture Global’s CP2 LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. In a Tuesday conference call with reporters, McKibben (being paid by Big Green) let loose with a volley of lie bombs, calling the project an “enormous carbon and methane bomb” that will further drive climate change. He also called it “an inflation machine” because exporting gas will (goes the lie) raise prices here at home.”
Globe and Mail: After Supreme Court’s decision, Ottawa must urgently refocus its climate policy
Grant Bishop is the Calgary-based founder of KnightFork, which builds data-driven tools for carbon pricing and the energy transition, 10/18/23
“On Friday, a majority of Canada’s Supreme Court held that the core of the federal Impact Assessment Act is unconstitutional, implying much of it is a “Trojan horse” of federal overreach into provincial jurisdiction,” Grant Bishop writes for the Globe and Mail. “Amid much criticism, this legislation was enacted in 2019 under Bill C-69 to overhaul how the environmental and social effects of major projects were assessed and approved. The Supreme Court’s opinion on the IAA is immediately important for proponents of new major projects in Canada, such as mines and oil sands facilities, but it points to a Pandora’s Box around other federal climate initiatives. Friday’s ruling reinforces concerns about the constitutional vulnerability of Ottawa’s pending legislation for clean electricity standards, an industry-specific cap on greenhouse gases from oil and gas, and quotas for sales of electric vehicles. The already in-force Clean Fuel Regulations also may be deemed federal overreach. To avoid miring Canadian climate policy in protracted uncertainty, the federal government should promptly seek clarity on its jurisdiction for these proposed regulations by referring the questions around constitutionality directly to the Supreme Court… “Instead of continuing to pick these distracting fights with provinces, Ottawa should refocus Canadian climate policy where it has jurisdiction – for carbon pricing… “With industry exasperated by policy uncertainty in Canada and diverting investment elsewhere, Ottawa should expend less effort on expanding federal powers and instead bolster its capabilities for competently administering carbon pricing nationally.”
New York Times: Exxon Mobil’s Pioneer Acquisition Is a Direct Threat to Democracy
Dr. Jeff D. Colgan is a professor of political science and the director of the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University, 10/18/23
“Last week, Exxon Mobil agreed to buy Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5 billion, in a move widely expected to set off a wave of consolidation throughout the oil sector,” Dr. Jeff D. Colgan writes for the New York Times. “...If the deal goes through, other companies like Chevron could soon follow suit, buying up smaller companies as they come under pressure from investors to match Exxon’s size. That consolidation would undermine democracy in the United States, mislead investors and weaken market competition. It should be stopped for all our sakes. The democratic argument against the proposed deal is simple. In politics, concentrated interests, like rich corporations, have powerful advantages over diffuse interests, like voters, that can distort outcomes and thwart progress. Take climate legislation. A majority of Americans want to see the environment protected, but big companies that pollute heavily have an interest in watering down legislation that might reduce their profits. As a result, progress on energy policy has been agonizingly slow. Exxon has also taken steps to shape the way voters think about the environment by sowing public misinformation and funding conservative groups disguised as grass-roots organizations… “Allowing Big Oil to become Bigger Oil means more money for this kind of research, plus more money for lobbyists, industry interest groups and media advertising, all of which undermines efforts to pass legislation strong enough to meet the world’s climate goals. The cumulative effect of it all on democracy would be so significant that regulators ought to be paying close attention… “The company said as recently as August that it continues to support the Paris climate agreement. But it also said that the world isn’t on track to reach the targets of the agreement. The Pioneer deal not only seems to be a huge bet to take advantage of that expected failure; it is also a commitment to contribute to the failure. By doubling down on its oil and gas strategy rather than investing in low-carbon technologies, Exxon is actively undermining the agreement that it claims to support… “ By doubling down on fossil fuels, it’s choosing the way most harmful to the rest of us. Now it falls to the government to protect its people from corporate self-interest that’s detrimental to democracy and the global environment. This deal endangers the world, and it should be stopped.”