EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/21/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• Pipeline Fighters Hub: South Dakota Supreme Court Rejects Summit’s Request to Reconsider “Common Carrier” Decision

• Aberdeen Insider: Referred Law 21 aims to superseded pipeline bill passed by Legislature

• Grist: The nation’s first commercial carbon sequestration plant is in Illinois. It leaks.

• North Dakota Monitor: Public Service Commission race has grid-focused incumbent challenged by a water protector

• Law360: FERC Extension For Pipeline Spur Warranted, DC Circ. Told

• Mountain State Spotlight: A political power play overruled West Virginians in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. They still feel betrayed.

• Midland Reporter-Telegram: Kinder Morgan expands Gulf Coast Express Pipeline for Permian gas

• Reuters: Shell and Singapore Port Authority contain pipeline leak

• Seattle Times: Oil tanker traffic surges in WA waters with Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion

• Canadian Press: Six months on, what has the Trans Mountain pipeline project achieved and what’s next?

• Bloomberg: Trans Mountain expansion has Canadian crude going to Alaska

• This Is Money: British gas giant Cadent is planning a 60-mile energy pipeline in the North of England.

• Sarnia Observer: Line 5 among topics in next CASL speaker series

• Daily Press: Enbridge facility near Rapid River vital part of Line 5

• The Chemical Engineer: Industry releases CO2 specification guidelines for engineers designing carbon capture networks

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Supreme Court NEPA case gets a calendar date

• Law360: Supreme Court Signals Skepticism On Staying Federal Rules 

• New York Times: A ‘New Day’? Justices Step Back, Slightly, From an Aggressive Climate Stance.

• E&E News: Why EJ leaders think Harris could be a better ally than Biden

• E&E News: Power plant rule avoids SCOTUS pause. Will it survive surging energy demand?

• U.S. Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management: DOE Invests $58 Million to Tackle Climate Change by Removing Carbon From the Atmosphere

• Guardian: Trump gets record donations from big oil but far less than $1bn he wanted

• E&E News: Documents show oil and gas industry plans for Trump

• FracTracker Alliance: Analyzing Project 2025: Implications for Environmental Policy and Regulation

STATE UPDATES

• Bloomberg: BP Beats Deepwater Horizon Spill Cleanup Workers' Injury Claims

• Courthouse News Service: Appellate panel rules against BP oil spill workers

• AL.com: More than $1 billion spent on coastal restoration in Alabama, 14 years after oil spill

• E&E News: Colorado officials back NEPA in Supreme Court fight over Utah oil train

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Hilcorp Energy Company, New Mexico Clean Air Act Stationary Source Settlement

• Midland Reporter-Telegram: Occidental invests $1B in Texas carbon capture plant for low-carbon oil

• Press release: Williams invests in carbon capture tech company

• Inside Climate News: In Inaugural Tribal Energy Summit, Carbon Capture, Critical Minerals and Sovereignty Take Center Stage

• U.S. Bureau of Land Management: BLM approves big game, Gunnison sage-grouse, and land management plans

• Power Magazine: Concerns About Appalachian Hydrogen Hub as Companies Drop Out; New Participants Sought

EXTRACTION

• E&E News: Countries agreed to phase down fossil fuels. They’re struggling to do it.

• Reuters: BP Weighs Sale Of Minority Stake In Offshore Wind Business, Sources Say 

• Trinidad & Tobago Guardian: Cedros fisherfolk call for compensation after oil spill

• Guardian: Tar balls: mystery substance on beaches could be linked to sewage plant, scientists say

• Channel News Asia: Oil spill containment measures activated after Shell pipeline leak off Singapore

• Dubai Eye: Oil spill contained at public beach in Fujairah

• New York Times: These Scientists Tested Dolphin Breath. They Found Plastic. 

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Kawartha 411: Fire Department Receives 282 Alarms As Part Of Project Aimed At Reducing Fire And Carbon Monoxide Deaths To Zero

OPINION

• Guardian: Carbon capture is not the answer to the climate crisis

• Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA): Insights Carbon Capture and Storage Decarbonization Energy Policy  Hydrogen Europe

• Carbon Tracker: CCUS: A Reality Check

• The Conversation: Getting carbon capture right will be hard – but that doesn’t make it optional

• DeSmog: Why Alberta Should Scrap Its Misleading $7 Million Ad Blitz
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Pipeline Fighters Hub: South Dakota Supreme Court Rejects Summit’s Request to Reconsider “Common Carrier” Decision
10/17/24

“The South Dakota Supreme Court has rejected Summit Carbon Solutions’ petition for rehearing of its recent decision that found the company has not proven that it is a “common carrier” or that CO2 is a commodity under state law, and so remains unauthorized to use eminent domain to seize landowners’ property against their will for its dangerous and unwanted multistate CO2 pipeline and underground waste dump,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “Summit asked the Court to reconsider its conclusion that the company failed to prove its theory that whether a substance is a “commodity” does not turn on its intended use. But the Court rejected Summit’s argument that CO2 forever captured and buried underground is a “commodity” no different than CO2 put to a commercial productive use, and did not grant the company’s request to revisit this issue. The decision means Summit is not empowered to use eminent domain to seize property against landowners’ wishes in South Dakota for its proposed multistate CO2 pipeline and waste dump, and comes just as South Dakota voters will decide on Referred Law 21, Summit’s bought-and-paid-for law that strips all local control from counties. Landowners with the South Dakota Easement Team and concerned citizens across the state are urging voters not to be fooled – Referred Law 21 will not protect landowners, and to vote “no” on RL 21 to protect all South Dakotans from the risks of CO2 leaks and pipe ruptures. “If Summit is not transporting a “commodity” “for hire” then it cannot use eminent domain,” said Brian Jorde, attorney for S.D. landowners with Omaha-based Domina Law Group. “Landowners simply want their constitutional rights protected. Neither Summit nor its business model is what the founders of this Country had in mind when carving out the extreme right of eminent domain. Eminent domain must not be handed out to anyone with an LLC and a dream.” “Once again Summit Carbon Solutions has been stymied in South Dakota in their attempt to find a path forward to construct their hazardous CO2 pipeline,” said Ed Fischbach, South Dakota landowner impacted by the proposed Summit CO2 pipeline. “The South Dakota Supreme Court has denied a motion by Summit asking them to reconsider their recent landmark decision finding that Summit was not a common carrier, thus ruling out the use of eminent domain and that the CO2 was not a commodity. It is long past time that Summit realizes there is no path forward in South Dakota and does the honorable thing for once and calls it quits.”

Aberdeen Insider: Referred Law 21 aims to superseded pipeline bill passed by Legislature
Scott Waltman, 10/21/24

“South Dakotans will decide whether the state enacts a so-called "Landowner Bill of Rights" when they head to the polls on Nov. 5,” the Aberdeen Insider reports. “Recaps of all of seven ballot measures will be published in The Aberdeen Insider throughout October.”

Grist: The nation’s first commercial carbon sequestration plant is in Illinois. It leaks.
Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, 10/21/24

“A row of executives from grain-processing behemoth Archer Daniels Midland watched as Verlyn Rosenberger, 88, took the podium at a Decatur city council meeting last week. It was the first meeting since she and the rest of her central Illinois community learned of a second leak at ADM’s carbon dioxide sequestration well beneath Lake Decatur, their primary source of drinking water,” Grist reports. “Just because CO2 sequestration can be done doesn’t mean it should be done,” the retired elementary school teacher told the city council. “Pipes eventually leak.” “...There are now only four carbon sequestration wells operating in the United States — two each in Illinois and Indiana — but many more are on the way. Three proposed pipelines and 22 wells are up for review by state and federal regulators in Illinois, where the geography makes the landscape especially well suited for CCS. Nationwide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing 150 different applications. But if CCS operations leak, they can pose significant risks to water resources. That’s because pressurized CO2 stored underground can escape or propel brine trapped in the saline reservoirs typically used for permanent storage. The leaks can lead to heavy metal contamination and potentially lower pH levels, all of which can make drinking water undrinkable. This is what bothers critics of carbon capture, who worry that it’s solving one problem by creating another. In September, the public learned of a leak at ADM’s Decatur site after it was reported by E&E News, which covers energy and environmental issues. Additional testing mandated by the EPA turned up a second leak later that month. The EPA has confirmed these leaks posed no threat to water sources. Still, they raise concern about whether more leaks are likely, whether the public has any right to know when leaks occur, and if CCS technology is really a viable climate solution… “But ADM kept local and state officials in the dark for months about the first leak. They detected it back in March, five months after discovering corrosion in the tubing in the sequestration well. However, neither leak was disclosed as the company this spring petitioned the city of Decatur for an easement to expand its operations. The company also remained tight-lipped about the leak as it took part in major negotiations over the state’s first CCS regulations, the SAFE CCS Act, between April and May, according to several parties involved. As a result, when Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed those CCS regulations into law at ADM’s Decatur facility in July, he was unaware of the leak that had occurred more than 5,000 feet below his seat, his office confirmed. “I thought we were negotiating in good faith with ADM,” bill sponsor and state Senator Laura Fine, a Democrat, told Grist. “When negotiating complex legislation, we expect all parties to be forthcoming and transparent in order to ensure we enact effective legislation.” “...David Horn, a city councilman and professor of biology at Decatur’s Millikin University, told Grist the city was blindsided. “This information was substantive, relevant information that could have influenced the terms of the easement that was ultimately signed in May of 2024,” he told Grist, adding that the delay in disclosure calls into question the long-term safety of CCS, and the ability of the EPA to protect water in the face of future CCS mishaps.”

North Dakota Monitor: Public Service Commission race has grid-focused incumbent challenged by a water protector
Jeff Beach, 10/18/24

“The North Dakota Public Service Commission is handling one of its highest-profile cases in recent history in the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, but it’s the electrical grid that incumbent Commissioner Randy Christmann sees as a major concern,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “...Christmann, a Republican and the chair of the three-person commission, is up for reelection. He is being challenged by Democratic-NPL candidate Tracey Wilkie. Wilkie has made her position on the Summit pipeline clear.  “I don’t agree with taking waste from five states,” Wilkie told the Monitor. “I don’t like North Dakota being used as an environmental sacrifice zone, and, in my opinion, that’s happening.” “...Wilkie testified this summer at a Public Service Commission hearing in Wahpeton on the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project. She also participated in a rally against the project outside the state Capitol in Bismarck. The rally was organized by the Dakota Resource Council. Christmann voted against a permit for the Summit pipeline project last year, but the PSC agreed to let Summit revise its application. Another vote could be coming soon but may not come until after the election. Christmann has not yet committed to how he will vote. “I’m still digging through piles of notes,” Christmann told the Monitor of the extensive hearing process and numerous filing in the case… “Wilkie, of Fargo, is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and grew up on the reservation.”

Law360: FERC Extension For Pipeline Spur Warranted, DC Circ. Told
Tom Lotshaw, 10/28/24

“The developer of a southern spur of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and two potential customers are asking the D.C. Circuit to nix conservation groups’ challenge of a construction deadline extension the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted for the so-called Southgate project,” Law360 reports. 

Mountain State Spotlight: A political power play overruled West Virginians in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. They still feel betrayed.
Sarah Elbeshbishi, 10/20/24

“Randy DuPre built the workshop on his Monroe County property by hand,” Mountain State Spotlight reports. “...But now, Randy and his wife are leaving. “I don’t want to, but I have no choice,” he told Spotlight. “For years, the couple dealt with the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which limited the roaming and grazing area for their animals. Arietta DuPre fought against the pipeline from the beginning. She helped organize meetings, supported other affected landowners and wrote letters to federal officials as well as her local, state and congressional leaders voicing her objection. She and the other opponents of the project were winning… “Then Sen. Joe Manchin stepped in… “Now, the DuPres are headed right across the state line to Virginia, leaving their Wayside home behind. Part of their decision to go is fueled by their outrage over the role their congressional representatives played in rushing the pipeline through and bypassing their ability to do anything about it. “I’m pissed,” Arietta told Spotlight. “They’re there to do for the people, and they did nothing for the people. Nothing.” “...As the West Virginians in Washington celebrated their win, some back home were appalled. “It was when that bill passed, the fact that they actually slipped it in, I was like, ‘I don’t believe this,’” Arietta told Spotlight. “I just gave up. There was no use fighting anymore.” While the provision marked the end for Arietta, it motivated others to fight harder. “I thought we could strike it down,” Maury Johnson, a farmer from Monroe County who is among the most vocal opponents of the pipeline, told Spotlight. “A lot of people gave up. I said, ‘No. This ain’t over. There’s still lots of fight left…It’s just infuriating. You kind of wonder how our government got in this kind of a shape that they allow these kinds of things to happen.”

Midland Reporter-Telegram: Kinder Morgan expands Gulf Coast Express Pipeline for Permian gas
Mella McEwen, 10/19/24

“Moving natural gas out of the Permian Basin will face one less roadblock after Kinder Morgan decided to expand its Gulf Coast Express Pipeline,” according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “The company announced it has reached a final investment decision to proceed with the $455 million expansion project — of which $161 million will be Kinder Morgan’s share — after securing binding firm long-term transportation agreements. The expansion will increase natural gas deliveries by 570 million cubic feet per day from the Permian Basin to South Texas markets. It is expected to be in service by mid-2026. Kinder Morgan is operator of the pipeline, which it jointly owns through a subsidiary along with an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners and a subsidiary of Phillips 66. In addition to the Gulf Coast Express, Kinder Morgan is boosting its natural gas operations in the southern U.S., announcing several other projects. Preliminary survey work is being done on the South System Expansion 4, designed to South Line capacity by 1.2 billion cubic feet. The $3 billion project will meet growing power generation and local distribution company demand in southeast markets. Constructions activities also ongoing in the $154 million South Texas to Houston Market expansion project on the Kinder Morgan Tejas Pipeline… “Construction is also ongoing on the second phase of the $670 million Evangeline Pass project, which will modify and enhance systems in Mississippi and Louisiana, delivering 2 billion cubic feet per day to Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG facility.”

Reuters: Shell and Singapore Port Authority contain pipeline leak
10/20/24

“Major energy company Shell and Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority deployed clean-up measures after a leak from a land-based pipeline, they said on Sunday,” Reuters reports. “The MPA said in a statement it was alerted at around 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) to the oil spill between Bukom and Bukom Kecil islands that had occurred at around 5.30 a.m… “The MPA said Shell has placed containment booms off the site of the leak and deployed craft equipped with dispersants to clean up oil sighted in the vicinity. The port authority also deployed seven of its vessels, as well as drones and satellites to help locate the oil spill, it said.”

Seattle Times: Oil tanker traffic surges in WA waters with Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion
Gregory Scruggs, 10/20/24

“The May opening of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion in British Columbia has led to a sevenfold increase in oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Juan de Fuca so far this year,” the Seattle Times reports. “On average before the expansion, which came online this spring, one tanker a week traveled through these transboundary waters. Now, a tanker a day is making the trip. The increased tanker traffic was anticipated, but only in recent months have onlookers realized a concerning development in Canada’s big bet on growing its oil exports: Not all of these tankers are heading for out-of-state ports. Instead, a significant number are carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil at a time through some of Washington’s trickiest navigable saltwater, to refineries near sensitive shorelines, bays and intricate channels. The ships are also spending more time at anchorages. While these deliveries and storage stints are legal, environmental scientists say they increase the risk of a low-probability — but extremely high consequence — spill that would devastate the Salish Sea’s fragile ecology. Responders are only able to typically remove a fraction of oil in a spill, and tides and currents would slather crude on reefs and rocky coves and potentially across hundreds of islands. What’s more, these tankers are usually carrying Canadian diluted bitumen, a type of oil that scientists say is potentially harder to clean up in a spill… “But environmental advocates like Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman told the Times the risk in Washington’s inland waters is disproportionate… “Washington’s waters are now exposed to increasing volumes of sinking oil being transported by foreign tankers plying the narrow straits to the refineries when the stated intention was for them to head out to sea to the global marketplace,” Felleman, who authored a 2016 report on diluted bitumen shipments in the Salish Sea, told the Times. “We’re taking the brunt of the risk for a premise that the pipeline wasn’t built on.”

Canadian Press: Six months on, what has the Trans Mountain pipeline project achieved and what’s next?
Amanda Stephenson, 10/21/24 

“Nearly six months after its opening, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is boosting Canada’s energy sector as promised — but questions still linger about who will pay for the project’s massive cost overruns,” the Canadian Press reports. “By a variety of measures, the expensive and contentious pipeline project is bearing fruit as more Canadian oil reaches the West Coast to be shipped to export markets… “But now that it is completed, Canadian oil production is smashing records, and economists told CP Trans Mountain will provide a lift to the GDP of both the province of Alberta and Canada as a whole this year… “In a nutshell, the Trans Mountain expansion has brought an end — for now — to the transportation bottlenecks that for years kept a lid on the Canadian oil industry’s ability to grow… “While much of the oil unloaded from the Trans Mountain pipeline is being shipped by tanker to California, some is ending up in Asia… “The pipeline expansion is improving the profitability of Canadian oil companies… “But it is also benefiting the economy as a whole. The Bank of Canada has estimated that Canada’s total export growth will rise by 6.25 per cent on average over the second half of 2024. That increase is being led by oil exports due to the new capacity created by the Trans Mountain expansion, the central bank said… “But there are clouds ahead… “Trans Mountain Corp, a Crown corporation, wants to hike the tolls even higher, to help cover the massive cost overruns incurred while building the pipeline. But oil companies are pushing back, arguing the proposed toll increases are twice the amount of a 2017 estimate and place an unfair burden on pipeline customers… “Gunton suggested a levy should be applied on all barrels of oil being shipped out of Western Canada until the costs of the Trans Mountain expansion project are recovered. “There is no justification for providing a taxpayer subsidy to a private pipeline, even if it results in improvements to the Canadian economy,”

Bloomberg: Trans Mountain expansion has Canadian crude going to Alaska
Robert Tuttle, 10/18/24

“A tanker of Canadian crude was shipped from Vancouver to Alaska for the first time in at least 10 years as the recently expanded Trans Mountain pipeline opens up new export opportunities,” Bloomberg reports. “The cargo of 466,000 barrels of oil left on a tanker from Vancouver on Oct. 1 and arrived 10 days later in Nikisi, Alaska, according to the Vortexa tanker-tracking service. That’s the first such shipment in U.S. Customs data stretching back to 2014… “Most of the crude that’s gone from Vancouver to the U.S. travels south to California or Washington State. The shipment to Alaska, a major oil-producing state in the U.S., is unusual not just because it originated from Canada. Only five international tanker shipments of crude have gone to Nikisi in the past four years, including two from Argentina this year and two from Russia in 2021.”

This Is Money: British gas giant Cadent is planning a 60-mile energy pipeline in the North of England.
Emily Hawkins, 10/20/24

“The energy distribution firm, which is owned by ex-Thames water owner Macquarie, will develop the first 'blue hydrogen' scheme of its kind in the UK,” This Is Money reports. “An underground pipeline will run from a plant near Ellesmere Port into Cheshire. Customers signed up include Heineken and Kraft Heinz, The Sunday Telegraph reported. Blue hydrogen production has faced a backlash from eco-warriors, as it still uses fossil fuels.”

Sarnia Observer: Line 5 among topics in next CASL speaker series
Tyler Kula, 10/18/24

“Talks about Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, biodiversity, ways to make homes affordable, and heat pumps, are on tap for Climate Action Sarnia-Lambton’s next speaker series,” the Sarnia Observer reports. “I think people are concerned about the future of the city and what risk we’re running at the moment with that pipeline, and what would happen if it did get shut down,” CASL’s Peter Smith told the Observer of the first talk, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Sarnia Library Theatre… “Michelle Woodhouse, a Métis water defender who has worked as a researcher and analyst for Great Lakes Policy Research Network, the International Joint Commission, the Canadian Environmental Law Association, and helped lead Great Lakes-focused campaigns for Environmental Defence Canada, is giving the talk, Environmental Liability or Essential Energy Supply Line? Thousands of jobs on both sides of the border depend on the pipeline, and Woodhouse is expected to discuss options that would protect jobs and ensure environmental protection, a CASL release said… “Enbridge was asked to participate in the talk, but declined, Smith told the Observer.”

Daily Press: Enbridge facility near Rapid River vital part of Line 5
R. R. Branstrom, 10/21/24

“One pumping station on Enbridge’s Line 5, which transports crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario, operates on U.S. 41 just north of Rapid River,” the Daily Press reports. “…Enbridge, a Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, has the largest network of pipelines in North America and over 12,000 employees. Line 5, with its 645-mile span from Superior to Sarnia, is but a fraction of the company’s total portfolio… “Recently, the Daily Press took a tour of the Rapid River facility. It’s one point in the area of responsibility for those who work out of Enbridge’s Escanaba office; they maintain Line 5 from Ironwood in the western U.P. to just north of Gaylord below the bridge. A lot of public attention has been focused on the straits area, especially after a dragging tugboat anchor damaged the submerged twin pipelines in 2018. Calls to action came from citizens, environmentalists, agencies and state representatives for new measures to prevent a leak into the Great Lakes… “Now, the Enbridge Straits Maritime Operations Center (ESMOC) monitors the straits area around the clock from a station atop the former Mystery Spot on U.S. 2 just west of St. Ignace, utilizing methodology they have called “analogous to what government agencies do at ports and waterways throughout the world.” “...To prevent and mitigate accidents, a series of measures are in place… “If there is a report of a smell of gas or other suspicion that something may be amiss, operations halt and Enbridge looks into it, VanOss said: “Any emergency-type call, we shut down. Any abnormal condition, we shut down. We will always shut down and investigate.”

The Chemical Engineer: Industry releases CO2 specification guidelines for engineers designing carbon capture networks
Adam Duckett, 10/18/24

“In a bid to support the growth of carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS), partners from across industry have published a free suite of technical guidelines on how to set the CO2 specification for an entire supply chain,” The Chemical Engineer reports. “The work has been led by Wood and involves more than a dozen research and industry partners including DNV, Harbour Energy, Petronas, and Shell. Impurities in captured CO2 can impact the cost and operability of a CCUS chain. For example, impurities in a CO2 stream could react and corrode pipelines or cause blockages that lead to disastrous failures. The guidelines have been developed to help engineers understand the impact across capture, transport and storage, and identify the CO2 conditioning required to safely operate their projects. The guide’s 11 chapters cover the current knowledge and further research needed on the impact of impurities in areas including thermodynamics, chemical reactions, materials corrosion, capture, and economics. It also includes a worked example of how to set the maximum allowable level of impurities for a fictitious CCUS network designed to capture emissions from a refinery, power station, steel plant, and direct air capture facility.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Supreme Court NEPA case gets a calendar date
Niina H. Farah, 10/18/24

“The Supreme Court will consider a closely watched challenge to the scope of agencies’ National Environmental Policy Act reviews before the end of this year,” E&E News reports. “On Friday, the justices scheduled oral arguments for Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County for Dec. 10. The case is the only environmental challenge added to the court’s newly published December calendar. The case has important implications for how agencies weigh climate risks posed by major projects. It centers on whether agencies should be required to consider environmental effects that agencies do not have direct authority to regulate and that do not occur near the project itself. The justices’ decision in the case could also provide further guidance to split lower courts about how they should apply the Supreme Court’s precedent in Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen. The 2004 decision stated that agencies did not have to consider environmental effects under NEPA that they did not have statutory authority to prevent.”

Law360: Supreme Court Signals Skepticism On Staying Federal Rules 
Keith Goldberg, 10/17/24

“A recent string of refusals to block major Biden administration energy and climate change rules suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court is setting limits on its willingness to elbow aside lower courts that are considering challenges to such rules, legal experts say,” Law360 reports. “The high court’s Wednesday rejection of emergency applications to stay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rule curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants is the third stay request of an EPA rule the justices have rebuffed since agreeing to block the agency’s ‘Good Neighbor’ smog reduction plan in June. The justices previously refused to stay the EPA’s revised Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule for power plants, as well as its rule establishing methane control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure. All three of those stay bids — which came after D.C. Circuit stay rejections — were lodged following the Supreme Court’s Good Neighbor decision in Ohio v. EPA . Their rejections indicate that a majority of the justices believe they must tread more carefully on similar attempts to jump the litigation line, experts say. “They may be saying, ‘What have we gotten ourselves into? We’ve opened Pandora’s box by having this low threshold for getting involved, and now our docket is being flooded,” David Doniger, a senior attorney and climate and energy strategist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Law360. “They may have felt that they had signaled that it was open season, and they have to send a different signal.”

New York Times: A ‘New Day’? Justices Step Back, Slightly, From an Aggressive Climate Stance.
Karen Zraick, 10/18/24

“The conservative-majority Supreme Court has taken an aggressive stance against many environmental rules in recent years, but three small victories for regulators this month have left some analysts wondering whether a shift is underway,” the New York Times reports. “The latest sign came on Wednesday, when the justices declined to block the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing new restrictions on power-plant emissions while the rule is challenged in a lower court. The rule would require many coal- and gas-burning plants to capture up to 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2032. Also this month, the court declined to act on two other emergency applications challenging E.P.A. rules. Those centered on mercury, a neurotoxin, and methane, a potent greenhouse gas. These recent decisions mark a significant departure from earlier this year, when the justices blocked the “good neighbor plan,” an E.P.A. policy to reduce air pollution that drifts across state lines, while it’s challenged in a lower court. That decision was criticized as a misapplication of the Supreme Court’s authority to intervene in lower-court cases on an emergency basis, using what is sometimes called a shadow docket, because the Supreme Court’s reasoning is rarely explained. The use of the emergency docket has expanded greatly in recent years and the court has granted several requests to temporarily block environmental rules while cases are pending. Richard Lazarus, a professor of environmental law at Harvard, told the Times Wednesday’s action “may well be a major pivot point” away from the path the court set out on eight years ago, when it blocked President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which also regulated power plant emissions… “While it may still be too early to say a shift is, in fact, underway, Mr. Lazarus pointed to what he called the “rising influence” of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who dissented when the court blocked another E.P.A. rule on air pollution in June. While she is a conservative, she sided with the liberal justices in that decision. “Her dissent in July appears now to be commanding a majority view,” Mr. Lazarus told the Times. “One cannot fairly predict smooth sailing for environmental greenhouse gas regulations before the court, but it does seem to be a new day.”

E&E News: Why EJ leaders think Harris could be a better ally than Biden
Jean Chemnick, 10/21/24

“...But the vice president is getting the benefit of the doubt from environmental justice advocates, who told E&E Harris’ track record shows she is attentive to the needs of communities whose health and welfare have historically been sacrificed to economic development,” E&E News reports. “Their expectation: Harris’ experience as California attorney general and U.S. senator will inform how she approaches federal programs supporting carbon capture and storage (CCS). “My hope — and I think I would like to think my assumption — is that a Harris administration would build on the strengths of the Biden-Harris administration in terms of the commitment to environmental justice, public health and civil rights and potentially do some course-correcting in terms of the concessions that have been made through the passage of the [Inflation Reduction Act] to double down on fossil fuel infrastructure, and to fund a whole set of CCS projects,” Amy Laura Cahn, a climate and environmental justice attorney, told E&E… “But environmental justice advocates say overburdened communities shouldn’t have to host carbon dioxide pipelines and injection wells for a nascent industry. That has put EJ groups sometimes at odds with the Biden administration, which is working to distribute the $12 billion from the 2021 infrastructure law for CCS and direct air capture (DAC) projects… “Peggy Shepard, executive director of the New York-based WE Act for Environmental Justice, is a co-chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, which has been highly critical of the Biden administration’s support for industrial carbon management. She told E&E she is hopeful that Harris would prioritize helping communities historically burdened by industrial pollution… “In 2020, she was the lead Senate sponsor of the “Environmental Justice For All Act,” which would allow some communities to legally challenge federally funded projects… “Cahn told E&E Harris’ involvement in the bill signals she has an in-depth understanding of the inadequacy of legal protections for neighborhoods that worry a history of racist policies will resign them to a future as default dumping grounds for industrial pollution. The bill would allow such communities to challenge a federally funded project’s permit in court if they believe the project would harm them… “In an email, Grijalva told E&E that that Harris was a natural choice to sponsor the bill because of her track record in California. He told E&E Harris’ performance in California led him to believe that if Harris wins the presidency, her administration wouldn’t back carbon capture pipelines or projects that posed a danger to the public.”

E&E News: Power plant rule avoids SCOTUS pause. Will it survive surging energy demand?
Benjamin Storrow, 10/18/24

“EPA’s power plant rules and rising electricity demand are on a collision course,” E&E News reports. “Analysts are increasingly concerned about the power sector’s ability to keep pace with mounting electricity demand while satisfying EPA’s new limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants. Those concerns were thrust to the forefront this week amid numerous forecasts of larger-than-expected energy demand — and the Supreme Court’s decision to keep the EPA rule in place, for now, as litigation continues… “If the EPA rules get implemented as proposed, that will be yet another constraint on the system that makes it more difficult and expensive to meet the demand growth,” Chris Seiple, Wood Mackenzie vice chair of energy transition, power and renewables, told E&E… “Coal plants planning to operate after 2039 would be required to install carbon capture and storage (CCS) by 2032, as would new gas plants coming online that year… “The fight over the rules is set to continue, with lawsuits playing out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Some utilities and grid operators say the rules threaten the reliability of the country’s electric grid at a time when power demand is growing… “I don’t see how we comply with that wide-scale CCS requirement if we are to really have this 4-5 percent (annual) load growth,” Harrison Fell, a professor who studies the industry at North Carolina State University, told E&E.”

U.S. Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management: DOE Invests $58 Million to Tackle Climate Change by Removing Carbon From the Atmosphere
10/18/24

“The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), with DOE’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), today announced more than $58.5 million in federal funding for 11 projects to help develop a commercially viable carbon dioxide removal industry in the United States. The funding will support pilot projects and testing facilities to demonstrate and scale carbon dioxide removal technologies that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution by removing it directly from the atmosphere. “Alongside strong actions to lower carbon dioxide emissions from industry and power generation, large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal technology is crucial to achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate and clean energy goals,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “By investing in these pilot-scale projects, DOE aims to expand our technology portfolio and drive down costs of carbon dioxide removal, while also taking the care to evaluate any impacts of this technology on our environment and local communities.” “...This Earthshot sets the portfolio-wide goal of reducing the cost of removing CO2 from the atmosphere to less than $100 per net metric ton of CO2-equivalent by 2032, together with robust measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification and secure storage… “To support the goal of building a clean and equitable energy economy, selected project teams were required, as part of their applications, to submit a Research and Development Community Benefits Plan. These plans provide details on their commitments to quality job creation; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and benefits to disadvantaged communities as part of the President’s Justice40 Initiative.”

Guardian: Trump gets record donations from big oil but far less than $1bn he wanted
Oliver Milman, 10/18/24

“Donald Trump has raised more money from the oil and gas industry than at this stage of his previous campaigns for the US presidency, with a surge of fossil fuel funding coming in the six months since he directly requested $1bn from oil executives and then promised he would scrap environmental rules if elected,” the Guardian reports. “While the Republican nominee hasn’t quite managed to get to that $1bn figure, he has received $14.1m from the oil and gas industry in the period up to 31 August, donation filings show. This is more than he got from the industry at the same stage of his presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020. Support from just a handful of oil executives has become vital to the overall Trump campaign, with Kelcy Warren, the billionaire chief executive of the pipeline operator Energy Transfer, giving nearly $6m to help elect the former president and Timothy Dunn, boss of the Texas-based oil firm CrownQuest, handing $5m to a Trump-aligned Super Pac. Harold Hamm, another billionaire and the founder of Continental Resources, has helped push a further $1.2m to the campaign. Hamm has reportedly hit the phones to drum up industry support for Trump, whose campaign mantra has been “drill, baby, drill”, while railing against the policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. “We’ve got to do this because it’s the most important election in our lifetime,” Hamm has said. The oil and gas industry is now Trump’s fourth-biggest source of cash, up six places from the 2020 election cycle, according to an analysis of donations to candidates and their affiliated groups by OpenSecrets… “But Climate Power, a climate advocacy group, pointed out the latest filings show that Trump garnered another $5m from Energy Transfer’s Warren in September, as well as $400,000 from Vicki Hollub, chief executive of Occidental Petroleum and $400,000 from Jeff and Melinda Hildebrand of the oil and gas firm Hilcorp.”

E&E News: Documents show oil and gas industry plans for Trump
Emma Dumain, Timothy Cama, 10/18/24

“A trade association representing some of the biggest oil and gas drilling companies has ambitious aspirations — and in many cases, concrete plans — to dismantle Biden administration environmental regulations and overturn components of the Democrats’ 2022 climate law,” E&E News reports. “Those plans — contained in a tranche of confidential documents obtained by watchdog group Fieldnotes and shared with POLITICO’s E&E News — include draft executive orders former President Donald Trump could sign soon after entering office, should he win another term this November, and a blueprint for advancing key priorities on Capitol Hill. Those actions could include dismantling of President Joe Biden’s sweeping order on “Tackling the Climate Crisis At Home and Abroad” and passing three new ones: “Promoting Energy Security, Affordability, and Reliability”; “Promoting Natural Gas and LNG Exports”; and “Prioritizing Infrastructure and Energy Project Permitting.” The text of those orders were not included among the private documents circulated earlier this year by leadership of the American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC) to executives of member companies, which include ConocoPhillips and Hess.”

FracTracker Alliance: Analyzing Project 2025: Implications for Environmental Policy and Regulation
Ted Auch, 10/17/24

“Project 2025, authored by the Heritage Foundation and supported by its network, is a comprehensive plan outlining policy proposal for the next presidential administration. This blueprint is the result of collaboration among dozens of conservative authors and hundreds of contributors, aiming to reshape government operations, including those impacting environmental data, mapping, and related fields,” according to FracTracker Alliance. “The plan targets key agencies such as the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—a frequent focus of conservative critique. These agencies play pivotal roles in regulating and monitoring environmental practices, and changes to their structure and functions could significantly affect the work of organizations engaged in environmental research and advocacy. This summary will focus on how proposed reforms within these agencies and offices could impact environmental data collection, analysis, and reporting, which are crucial for informed decision-making and advocacy. For more insight into potential shifts that may affect organizations working to advance transparency, accountability, and environmental protection, click here to read the full analysis by Ted Auch, PhD.”

STATE UPDATES

Bloomberg: BP Beats Deepwater Horizon Spill Cleanup Workers' Injury Claims
Mike Vilensky, 10/18/24

“Two Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup workers failed to persuade a federal appeals court Friday to revive their claims that exposure to spill chemicals caused them to develop chronic sinusitis,” Bloomberg reports. “The trial court properly excluded testimonies from the workers’ experts for failing to to identify a toxin the workers were exposed to at a harmful level, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said. Because the workers’ personal injury claims hinged on the experts, the trial court properly granted summary judgment to BP Exploration & Production Inc. and BP American Production Co., the Eleventh Circuit said.”

Courthouse News Service: Appellate panel rules against BP oil spill workers
Gabriel Tynes, 10/18/24

“A panel of judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals took just three weeks to issue an order affirming a lower court’s ruling in favor of BP as part of a 2019 lawsuit filed by former oil spill workers who claimed to develop chronic sinusitis as a result of inhaling chemicals during the Deepwater Horizon clean-up,” Courthouse News Service reports. “In an opinion written by Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor, the panel found the lower court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the testimony of expert witnesses regarding general causation of the worker’s illnesses. Pryor noted that all toxic tort actions are grounded in scientific methodologies and expert evidence, but those involving chemicals not known to be toxic require a higher burden of proof. Because the medical community does not widely accept that “oil, dispersants, or any chemicals associated with them” can cause common conditions like chronic sinusitis, plaintiffs Lester Jenkins and Dwight Siples needed to prove both general and specific causation. The case is considered one of two bellwether cases in thousands of so-called Back End Litigation Option cases resulting from the 2010 BP oil spill… “Pryor added that the panel’s findings “easily survive our abuse of discretion review” and found that the lower court correctly excluded testimony from experts who “failed to support their opinions with epidemiology, dose-response relationship, or background risk of disease.” “Even setting the threshold dose aside, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded their testimony and granted summary judgment to BP,” Pryor concluded.”

AL.com: More than $1 billion spent on coastal restoration in Alabama, 14 years after oil spill
Margaret Kates, 10/18/24

“...But Roberta Swann, director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Chris Blankenship, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and other officials still gathered at Cedar Point Pier in Mobile County,” AL.com reports. “Skies were clear—and temperatures increased through the morning—as Swann and Blankenship took members of the media on a boat tour of some of the projects in the county to protect and restore the natural environment in the face of climate change-driven threats, like rising sea levels. These projects are largely made possible by funds from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in history. “We’re trying to do our best to take those funds that came from a really terrible thing and do good work with it that will impact our coast for generations to come,” Blankenship told AL.com… “Blankenship estimates that around $2 billion will be spent on restoration projects in the state by the time the funds are fully distributed in 2031. More than $1 billion of that has been spent on more than 170 projects in coastal Alabama thus far.”

E&E News: Colorado officials back NEPA in Supreme Court fight over Utah oil train
Niina H. Farah, 10/21/24

“Colorado officials and environmentalists warned the Supreme Court last week of the real-world consequences of limiting the scope of federal environmental reviews,” E&E News reports. “Their concerns were laid out in two briefs filed Friday in the closely watched case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, which is scheduled for oil arguments in December. The coalition is challenging a court-ordered National Environmental Policy Act review of the Uinta Basin Railway, a project designed to carry oil out of the Utah region to coastal ports or refineries. The justices’ ruling in the case could have important implications for how agencies can account for the climate risks of new energy projects. Supporters of the railway project want the justices to clarify whether NEPA analyses should include environmental harms that may occur far from the project under review and that an agency does not have regulatory authority to address. “Petitioners are asking this Court to impose limits on NEPA that have no basis in its text whatsoever,” officials from Eagle County, Colorado — who have fought against the railway project — wrote in their brief.”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Hilcorp Energy Company, New Mexico Clean Air Act Stationary Source Settlement
10/17/24

“On October 17, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement with Hilcorp Energy Company resolving Clean Air Act (CAA) and New Mexico Air Quality Control Act (AQCA) violations at the company’s oil and gas production operations in New Mexico.  The case is the first of its kind against an oil and gas producer for violations under the CAA and AQCA associated with well completion operations, which is the process of bringing oil or natural gas to the surface after drilling has been completed.   Under the settlement, Hilcorp will pay a civil penalty of $9.4 million for the violations. Going forward, the settlement will achieve major reductions by requiring Hilcorp to recover or control emissions from well completions in New Mexico and by requiring Hilcorp to use non-emitting process control equipment at facilities on Tribal lands in northwestern New Mexico. The settlement is part of the EPA’s National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative to mitigate climate change and the agency’s larger effort to hold oil and gas companies accountable for widespread violations throughout the country.”

Midland Reporter-Telegram: Occidental invests $1B in Texas carbon capture plant for low-carbon oil
Mella McEwen, 10/19/24

“...Occidental Petroleum has invested about $1 billion in its Stratos direct air capture plant, currently under construction in Ector County. The plant, designed to capture 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, is on target to be commercially operational by mid-2025,” according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “The challenge with new technology in getting the pilot project off the ground is beginning construction,” Manasi Scott, Net Zero Development Lead with Occidental, told members of the Permian Basin chapter, Society of Petroleum Engineers — and UTPB engineering students — at a membership luncheon this week. That removed carbon can either be stored or used in enhanced oil recovery projects, she said. That would make low-carbon oil available for market, she added… “That “would unlock 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil remaining, increasing U.S. energy security,” she said.”

Press release: Williams invests in carbon capture tech company
10/16/24

“Williams has invested in ION Clean Energy, a carbon capture technology firm that has developed tools that Williams and its customers can use to further decarbonize operations. “Our investment in ION aligns with our desire for growth in CCUS efforts, especially when leveraging industry leading technology that provides compelling environmental and economic benefits compared to other solutions on the market,” said Jaclyn Presnal, Vice President of New Energy Ventures for Williams. “Natural gas is the most powerful tool in decarbonizing the electric power sector and this investment in ION further demonstrates our commitment to fund solutions that support not only our internal sustainability goals but also the goals of our customers.” ION has patented technology to capture post-combustion point-source CO2 emissions through a liquid amine system. The tech firm is developing a standard plant design, which is a fully modular solution that provides an economical offering for smaller point sources. Natural gas turbines typically found in compressors on midstream pipeline systems would fall within the range supported by this offering. The investment provides the opportunity for Williams to partner with ION on accelerating the deployment of these standard plants. In addition, ION is currently working on several carbon capture projects for natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants.”

Inside Climate News: In Inaugural Tribal Energy Summit, Carbon Capture, Critical Minerals and Sovereignty Take Center Stage
Jake Bolster, 10/19/24

“Critical minerals are Indian minerals,” said Daniel Cardenas, a member of the Hammawi Band of the Pit River Tribe of California, at the Tribal Energy Summit held Thursday at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. “The energy transition must go through Indian country to be successful. That’s a huge opportunity and a huge responsibility as well,” Inside Climate News reports. “...Those facts highlighted the importance of this first summit, which focused on how tribal communities can profit from and participate in the boom of new energy development… “Indian reservations “can provide thermal generation with carbon capture sequestration to complement this renewable buildout,” said Andrew Browning, co-founder of Western States and Tribal Nations Energy Initiative, who moderated the summit’s opening panel on carbon capture and storage… “Tribes, as panelists pointed out, do not pay federal taxes and are eligible for direct payment from the government for wells that store captured carbon underground. Audience members curious about the technology raised questions about the safety of carbon sequestration operations. “This is not new technology, this has been done for decades,” Browning said… “I think a lot of the technology is unproven or has been disproven as energy intensive,” said Big Wind Carpenter, a two-spirit member of the Northern Arapaho who works on tribal engagement around climate change… “When the government or companies “find good things on the reservation, they take it,” Cardenas, of the American Indian Infrastructure Association and the National Tribal Energy Association, told ICN. History may be repeating itself with the clean energy transition, he warned.”

U.S. Bureau of Land Management: BLM approves big game, Gunnison sage-grouse, and land management plans
10/17/24

“The Bureau of Land Management unveiled resource management plans this week to protect big game and Gunnison sage-grouse habitat in Colorado, conserve public lands and focus energy development in areas with the highest potential for oil and gas resources in the BLM Upper Colorado River District… “The BLM worked tirelessly with local governments, conservation organizations, industry, Tribal Nations, and other stakeholders over the past two years to find an appropriate balance, which is achieved with the completion of these plans,” said BLM Colorado State Director Doug Vilsack. “BLM is at the forefront of wildlife conservation in Colorado by aligning oil and gas management in big game habitat with strong State rules and advancing a separate plan that will limit disturbance in the habitat of the threatened Gunnison sage-grouse.” BLM issued a record of decision for oil and gas management that amends resource management plans in Colorado to promote conservation of big game corridors and other priority big game habitat on approximately six million surface acres managed by BLM and 16 million acres of BLM-managed sub-surface mineral estate. The final plan requires conservation of seasonal habitats and connectivity in support of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s big game population objectives… “Updates to the Colorado River Valley and Grand Junction Field Office RMPs make approximately 85% of acres with high potential open for future oil and gas leasing, while low and medium potential areas are largely closed to leasing.”

Power Magazine: Concerns About Appalachian Hydrogen Hub as Companies Drop Out; New Participants Sought
Darrell Proctor, 10/20/24

“A report from a group that looks at economic conditions in the Appalachia region of the U.S. says a hydrogen hub proposed for the area already faces significant challenges. The Ohio River Valley Institute in a research brief published this month said five of the 15 originally proposed projects in the hub have been canceled, and four project development partners already have left the hub,” Power Magazine reports. “The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), encompassing locations in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, is one of seven regional sites in the U.S. chosen by government officials to generate, distribute, and consume hydrogen. The Biden administration last year said the Appalachian site would receive as much as $925 million in federal grants, as part of a multibillion-dollar outlay from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for hydrogen projects. The administration said the hydrogen hubs were a key element of its strategy to combat climate change… “The Ohio Valley research group in its report, released October 11, said “Hydrogen hub projects are unraveling due to high costs and uncertain demand. If decisionmakers ignore economics and shoehorn hydrogen and CCS [carbon capture and storage] into uneconomic applications with federal dollars, taxpayers, ratepayers, and residents could pay the price.” Sean O’Leary, author of the Ohio Valley report, wrote, “Uncertain demand, under-capitalized and inexperienced project developers and uneconomic applications aren’t peculiar to the ARCH2 hydrogen hub. Across the nation and around the world, these and other issues are causing clean-hydrogen projects to struggle in their pursuit of financing.”

EXTRACTION

E&E News: Countries agreed to phase down fossil fuels. They’re struggling to do it.
Sara Schonhardt, 10/21/24

“A global pact to reduce the use of oil, gas and coal is being put to the test as countries expand fossil fuel production a year after the pledge was signed,” E&E News reports. “The agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels was a high point of last year’s United Nations climate summit in Dubai, known as COP28. Now, as nations prepare for a new round of talks next month in Azerbaijan, some activists and officials from disaster imperiled countries say the pact is at risk of failing. “Touting the ‘achievement’ at COP28 to ‘transition away from fossil fuels,’ while showing no follow-through on this pledge a year later is a sleight of hand that small islands cannot stand for,” Pa’olelei Luteru, the Samoan chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, said in an email to POLITICO’s E&E News.”

Reuters: BP Weighs Sale Of Minority Stake In Offshore Wind Business, Sources Say 
Andres Gonzalez and Ron Bousso, 10/18/24

“BP is considering selling a minority stake in its offshore wind business, according to four sources with knowledge of the matter, the latest effort by CEO Murray Auchincloss to scale back the energy company's focus on renewables,” Reuters reports. “The company has faced pressure from shareholders over its energy transition strategy, first launched in 2020, as renewables profit thinned while margins from oil and gas rose. The London-listed oil company has lined up Bank of America to find partners for the business, the sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the process is private.  BP remains committed to developing its major offshore wind projects, one source told Reuters… “Reuters reported in June, citing sources, that the company paused investments in new offshore wind projects. Last month, BP said it plans to sell its U.S. onshore wind business… “Sources told Reuters earlier this month that BP has abandoned its flagship target to reduce oil and gas production by 25% between 2019 and 2030, though it remains committed to its ambition to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.”

Trinidad & Tobago Guardian: Cedros fisherfolk call for compensation after oil spill
Sascha Wilson, 10/17/24

“Cedros fisherfolk are calling for swift compensation as an oil spill along the southwestern peninsula of the island has affected more than 100 fishermen and over 30 boats,” the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian reports. “Oil deposits began washing ashore on Wednesday evening and Heritage Petroleum Company Ltd quickly dispatched teams to conduct mop-up operations. As the teams worked along the shoreline at Fullerton Beach and offshore, several oil-stained boats were seen on the sand, ropes blackened with oil. Guardian Media was told that there have been more than six oil spills in Cedros for this year, and this was one of the worst… “Another fisherman, Randy Sooklal, told Guardian Media every time there was an oil spill it affected marine life as well as their their livelihood… “Sooklal wants the company to compensate all fishermen and boat owners. A boat owner who requested anonymity told Guardian Media fishermen would have to use “twice as much fuel” to sail further distances to fish… “In a press statement, Heritage Petroleum Company Limited said the source of the hydrocarbon was not yet determined.”

Guardian: Tar balls: mystery substance on beaches could be linked to sewage plant, scientists say
Catie McLeod, 10/18/24

“Scientists analysing the black debris that closed Sydney beaches this week believe the “tar balls” are likely from an oil spill but have not ruled out a link to a nearby sewage treatment plant,” the Guardian reports.”Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches reopened on Friday after they were closed along with several other eastern suburbs beaches when the mysterious dark spheres washed up on the sand. The balls were first spotted at Coogee beach on Tuesday afternoon. Randwick council said on Wednesday evening that preliminary test results had identified the spheres as tar balls – which are formed when oil comes into contact with debris and water, usually as a result of oil spills or seepage. Tests showed the debris was a hydrocarbon-based pollutant – the chief component of petroleum-based products.”

Channel News Asia: Oil spill containment measures activated after Shell pipeline leak off Singapore
10/20/24

“Oil spill containment measures were activated after a leak from a pipeline belonging to major energy company Shell occurred on Sunday (Oct 20) morning,” Channel News Asia reports. “The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Sunday it was alerted to oil leakage from a Shell land-based pipeline between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil at about 1pm. The leak occurred at around 5.30am and "was reported to have stopped at source", it said in a media statement on Sunday evening. Shell said in response to CNA's queries that the oil leak at Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore was stopped at around 3pm. "Since late morning, oil sheens have been detected at the water channel between the Bukom Besar and Kechil islands… “Shell has placed containment booms off the site of the leak and has also deployed craft equipped with dispersants to clean up the oil sighted in the vicinity of the leak, said MPA.”

Dubai Eye: Oil spill contained at public beach in Fujairah
10/19/24

“The Fujairah Environment Authority’s emergency team responded swiftly to a report of oil pollution on a beach in the emirate, quickly containing the spill,” Dubai Eye reports. “The team discovered an oily patch during routine marine inspections, which had begun to leak onto the shore near several hotels. The authority worked closely with specialized companies, stakeholders, and the affected hotels to control the situation and ramp up efforts… “In partnership with the Dibba Al-Fujairah Municipality, teams were also deployed to clean the sand on public beaches, protecting Fujairah's golden shores and ensuring visitors could continue to enjoy the area. The Fujairah Environment Authority is investigating the cause of the spill and will take legal action against those responsible.”

New York Times: These Scientists Tested Dolphin Breath. They Found Plastic. 
Hiroko Tabuchi, 10/16/24

“Scientists have found plastic pollution almost everywhere they have looked. In clouds. On Mount Everest. In Arctic snow. Now, for the first time, tiny plastic particles have been detected in the breath of dolphins,” the New York Times reports. “The findings, published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, point to the ubiquitousness of plastic waste in the environment. Each year, nearly 2 million tons of plastic end up in world’s oceans… “Other animals are known to breathe in plastics, though research is still sparse. Last year, scientists in Japan detected microplastics in the lungs of wild birds there. And researchers have estimated that people can inhale or ingest more than 100,000 microplastic particles a year from the food and water they consume, and from the air they breathe. But dolphins have become a common subject of pollution research because they’re found around the world, including in heavily populated coastal areas. That makes them bellwethers of exposure to pollution and other environmental hazards… “Shannon Gowans, professor of marine science at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., and head of the Dolphin Project there, who was not involved in the study, called the findings concerning. This was particularly the case, she told the Times, after extreme storms like the hurricanes that just swept across Florida, overwhelming wastewater treatment plants and sending untreated water into the sea.” 

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Kawartha 411: Fire Department Receives 282 Alarms As Part Of Project Aimed At Reducing Fire And Carbon Monoxide Deaths To Zero
10/20/24

“Kawartha Lakes Fire and Rescue Service recently received 282 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms through Safe Community Project Zero–a public education campaign that will provide more than 14,500 alarms to residents in 75 communities across Ontario,” Kawartha 411 reports. “Project Zero is a partnership between Enbridge Gas Inc. (Enbridge Gas), Kawartha Lakes Fire Rescue Service (KLFRS) and the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council (FMPFSC) announced they are working together to improve home safety and bring fire and carbon monoxide-related deaths down to zero. This year, Enbridge Gas invested $450,000 in Safe Community Project Zero, and over the past 16 years, the program has provided more than 101,000 alarms to Ontario fire departments.”

OPINION

Guardian: Carbon capture is not the answer to the climate crisis
Rosemary Harris, Brighton, 10/20/24

“The Observer is correct to highlight the urgency of the climate crisis and the signal this year’s devastating hurricane season sends (“Hurricane Milton is a portent. But it’s not too late”). But your conclusion that carbon capture and storage is the “last option” is misleading, defeatist and dangerous,” Rosemary Harris writes for the Guardian. “Carbon capture has a 50-year record of failure. In a half century, the industry has captured a minuscule proportion of global emissions and left a trail of failed projects and wasted public money in its wake. The fossil fuel industry knows CCS is not the answer, yet it keeps pushing it as a distraction tactic to delay the transition to clean energy. The irony is that the very industry you suggest should be paying for cleaning up emissions is instead pocketing billions in public money for failed CCS. Money that should go to transitioning to renewable energy solutions… “If CCS is the “weapon” this editorial claims, it is, at best, a very expensive butter knife. We must not give up on the only solution to climate change that works: phasing out fossil fuels.”

Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA): Insights Carbon Capture and Storage Decarbonization Energy Policy  Hydrogen Europe
Arjun Flora, 10/21/24

“The UK government’s recent carbon capture and storage announcement is low on details and high on rhetoric. The likely consequence of this policy will be a waste of public money, at a time when budgets are constrained. It could also lead to further disappointment in the regions where the carbon capture sites will be located when the mooted benefits do not materialise,” Arjun Flora writes for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). “The more damaging consequence, from an energy security, cost and climate perspective, is that up to £22 billion of public funds will be diverted away from growing industries and technologies with proven decarbonisation credentials that need to be deployed urgently in the UK. These solutions include buildings insulation, renewable power, heat pumps, electric vehicles, public transport, grid capacity and flexibility (such as smart batteries and demand response). Instead, the government is continuing to back hydrogen produced from fossil gas—so-called “blue” or “clean” hydrogen—in the UK, despite its high costs and emissions, and huge uncertainty of future demand… “While the government’s announcement may provide some comfort for project owners such as BP and Equinor, it will do little per taxpayer pound to advance the UK's decarbonisation agenda or stimulate genuine green economic growth. It will make the UK more reliant on fossil gas imports, at a time of increasing global instability, and sends the wrong signal internationally about the need to stop expanding fossil fuel infrastructure.  The government’s announcement makes potentially misleading claims and omits important caveats and risks, in IEEFA’s view: Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) for gas-fired power or blue hydrogen production does nothing to reduce the significant upstream emissions of methane, which occur before the gas reaches the site. This is particularly important for LNG imported on fossil fuel-powered ships. This myopic carbon accounting is the subject of a legal challenge, and these projects will only deepen the UK’s dependency on fossil gas imports. CCUS technology cannot remove 100% of on-site emissions… “Storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) under the seabed is far from “safe”, as the government claims… “Neither gas-fired power nor blue hydrogen applications of CCUS have been demonstrated at commercial scale to claimed specifications… “CCUS is not a single global sector—it encompasses multiple applications, which each have different levels of technological maturity, cost and potential for emissions mitigation. Conflating these different uses enables a false narrative of simplicity, scalability and readiness which reduces the perception of risk and cost—but the actual liabilities are high and will be borne by taxpayers.”

Carbon Tracker: CCUS: A Reality Check
Lorenzo Sani, 10/21/24

“The British government has made carbon capture a top priority, announcing a £22 billion investment to support a capture capacity of 8.5 million tonnes of CO₂ (MtonCO₂). However, this falls well short of the target, which aims to capture between 20-30 MtonCO₂ by 2030,” Lorenzo Sani writes for Carbon Tracker. “While we recognise that CCUS can play a role in the UK’s energy transition, we believe that it is time for a reality check. The current CCUS strategy needs to be urgently reviewed to address key flaws that risk wasting taxpayers’ money on high-risk, expensive, polluting and non-futureproof technologies. This new policymaker brief on CCUS integrates the findings of our recent reports on this theme: “Curb your Enthusiasm”, “Kind of Blue” and “The real emissions of Peterhead-CCS” (upcoming). Our evidence-based recommendations focus on three key areas: strategy and targets, gas lock-in and carbon markets. We found that without policy action in these three key areas, the UK’s net-zero targets, which are already off track, will be further at risk.  As a recent Guardian investigation revealed, the British government has primarily engaged with the oil and gas industry and CCS lobby on CCUS, with limited input from independent, climate-focused organizations. Given the high stakes, we believe it’s crucial to seek diverse, independent advice, and we would be happy to contribute with our research to fill this gap.” 

The Conversation: Getting carbon capture right will be hard – but that doesn’t make it optional
Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science, Director of Oxford Net Zero, University of Oxford, 10/18/24

“The UK government has given the go-ahead to carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) schemes worth £22 billion (US$28.6 billion). Critics are insisting that this technology – which involves capturing carbon as it is emitted or taking it back out of the atmosphere, then pumping it into rocks deep underground – is unsafe, unproven and unaffordable. Defenders are responding with painstaking rebuttals,” Myles Allen writes for The Conversation. “Could the whole debate be missing the point? I think it is better to focus on the big picture – why we need CCS to work – rather than playing whack-a-mole with every objection to individual projects… “The questions we should be asking are: will enough “green hydrogen” – produced from water using renewable electricity – be available to power all the industries that will need it, given all the other new demands on the electricity grid? Will we still need gas as a back-up to deal with the vagaries of the weather in a renewable-dominated grid? Can we get by entirely on recycled steel, and eliminate the use of conventional cement in construction (steel and cement are notoriously hard to produce without generating CO₂). If the answer to any of these questions, anywhere in the world, turns out to be “no” – or even “not by 2050” – then we need CCS… “The fact that we need CCS is no excuse for doing it badly. It makes little sense, for example, to manufacture “blue hydrogen” – produced from natural gas with CCS to limit emissions – from high-emission LNG… “An injection of government money is, by now, essential to kickstart our CO₂ disposal industry. But this should not become an endless subsidy which allows private industry to keep profiting from selling the stuff that causes global warming, while taxpayers pay for the clean-up. Fortunately, there is another way. The EU has shown, in its Net Zero Industry Act, how regulation can force the fossil fuel industry to contribute to the cost of CCS without relying on US-style subsidies… “Building a global industry to dispose, safely and permanently, of every tonne of CO₂ still generated by any remaining fossil fuel use by 2050 will be hard. But if we want to meet our climate goals, we just have to get on with it.”

DeSmog: Why Alberta Should Scrap Its Misleading $7 Million Ad Blitz
Mitch Anderson, 10/18/24

“The Alberta government just launched a $7 million ad campaign against the proposed federal emissions cap. Newspapers from Edmonton to Halifax featured a front page wrap warning Canadians across the country that capping emissions from the oil sands could take hard-earned money directly from the pocketbooks of taxpayers,” DeSmog reports. “The stark black-and-white Scrap the Cap website warns in doomsday font, “a production cap will make groceries, gas and all of life’s necessities even more expensive… A production cap will cause thousands of job losses and will mean billions less in taxes that could have been used to build roads, schools and hospitals.” But the federal government is not proposing a production cap – they are proposing an emissions cap. Until the Pathways Alliance abruptly scrubbed much of their website in July 2024, the largest oil sands companies were assuring Canadians that their $16.5 billion carbon capture and storage plan – largely paid for by the Canadian taxpayer – would reduce emissions enough to meet the new rules.  That is unless CCS is too expensive and unreliable to work, as was detailed in a recent report by Deloitte commissioned by the Alberta government. The authors found that implementing the multi-billion-dollar carbon injection scheme would make most oil sands operations uneconomic, stating plainly, “We do not foresee any oil sands CCS investments being implemented.” “...How could an organization that calls itself the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) have allowed this to happen? Since its inception in 2013, the AER has been 100 percent funded – not by the public – but by the industry it purports to oversee.  This blurry line between companies and regulators is reflected in the latest ad campaign by the Alberta government, which follows a familiar playbook: blame Ottawa, frame all climate-related policy as a pocketbook issue, and collect personal data from an online petition… “If proxies for the oil patch like the current Alberta government are so worried about legitimate concerns regarding the cost-of-living burden on everyday Canadians they should start by ensuring that every Albertan household is not needlessly on the hook for oil industry liabilities that could otherwise pay for a new 2025 pickup truck and leave $10,000 to pay down the mortgage. Scrap the Cap? How about “scrap the crap.”