EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/22/24
PIPELINE NEWS
Dakota Rural Action: DRA Launches New Radio Ad on RL-21
KOTA: SD House of Representative candidates talk Referred Law 21 implications for farmers, South Dakotans
Dakota Scout: Referred Law 21 backers tout carbon pipeline as economy, quality of life booster
Bloomberg: CNRL Takes PetroChina’s Space on Trans Mountain as Output Swells
Bloomberg: Enbridge to Talk to Indigenous Groups Amid Flurry of Pipeline Stake Sales
Financial Post: Taxpayers will recover the billions invested in TMX as long as Ottawa is 'disciplined seller,' CEO says
Bloomberg: The Climate Scientist Who Leads Mexico Is Betting on Decades of Fossil Fuel
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Four new petroleum liquids pipelines have been completed in the United States since 2023
Hydrogen Insight: German government agency approves core hydrogen pipeline network, allowing construction to begin
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: EPA urged to suspend CO2 injection permits after Illinois leak
The Hill: Supreme Court to consider which courts can weigh challenges to some EPA actions
E&E News: Supreme Court opens debate on venue for EPA rule challenges
E&E News: Supreme Court takes on EPA — again
E&E News: DC Circuit leans toward DOE in fight over Alaska gas exports
Guardian: ‘I’m Not Voting For Either’: Fracking’s Return Stirs Fury In Pennsylvania Town Whose Water Turned Toxic
Politico: Cutting Gas
E&E News: Trump victory would threaten new US effort to track emissions
Politico: Who might make up Harris’ Cabinet
Politico: Who Might Make Up Trump’s Cabinet
STATE UPDATES
Cal Matters: First California project to bury climate-warming gases wins key approval
Politico: CARBON CAPTURE, APPROVED
KPLC: SWLA parish leaders concerned proposed carbon capture projects could affect drinking water
Grand Forks Herald: More than $58 million in federal funding announced for two Grand Forks energy projects
Utah State University: Bingham Research Center Receives Grant to Study Carbon Capture & Storage
Northern Journal: AIDEA considers loans for Cook Inlet drilling—and new oil leases and litigation in the Arctic Refuge
Capital and Main: The Slick Million Dollar Homes With Oil Wells as Neighbors
Maine Public Radio: 'Renewable' natural gas grows in Maine
EXTRACTION
Global CCS Institute: Installed CCS capacity on track to double as governments and industry collaborate to advance projects
Natural Gas Intelligence: Why Are Supermajors Investing Billions in U.S. Carbon Capture Projects?
The New Republic: Defunct Oil Wells Are a Problem. Union Workers Could Be the Solution.
OPINION
Santa Fe New Mexican: Pro-climate? Then don't support Joe Manchin's permitting bill
Real Clear Energy: Greenpeace Exploits Texas Tragedy for Its Own Gain
Pipeline & Gas Journal: Permitting Reform Legislation Once Again on the Table
PIPELINE NEWS
Dakota Rural Action: DRA Launches New Radio Ad on RL-21
10/21/24
“Dakota Rural Action, a South Dakota-based organization that has been engaged in a multi-year campaign to ensure that the potential safety, environmental, and economic consequences of the proposed carbon dioxide pipeline are thoroughly vetted and that the voices of impacted citizens are at the forefront of permitting decisions, on Monday launched a radio and online video ad campaign to urge South Dakotans to vote “No” on Referred Law 21 on their November ballot. Paid for by Dakota Rural Action, the ad uses actual 911 recordings from a 2020 carbon pipeline rupture in Satartia, MS to highlight the serious dangers to human life – including to first responders – posed by an explosive release of toxic CO2 by these highly-pressurized pipelines. In the radio ad – that will launch on rural South Dakota radio stations on Monday, and include a video version that will be promoted on Facebook and YouTube – the narrator describes what happened during the 2020 incident in Satartia, MS. A carbon pipeline operated by Denbury Resources (now a unit of Exxon) ruptured, causing an explosive release of CO2 in an immense plume, which was later found by a government-issued report to be toxic for more than a mile from the site of the accident, which was caused by a girth weld failure following a landslide after heavy rain. The ad then cuts to a 911 recording from a victim who is concerned and confused about what is happening after her car has stalled – a direct result of the high CO2 concentration making the combustion engine nonfunctional – and her friend is having what she believes is a seizure… “Meanwhile, the video ad displays footage of a test CO2 pipeline rupture, and features a headline from an earlier Denbury CO2 well blowout incident in 2011, where the Associated Press reported that “so much carbon dioxide came out that it settled in some hollows, suffocating deer and other animals.” ”Subjecting human and animal life to a dangerous CO2 pipeline so a private company and a few individuals can profit from a subsidized boondoggle is abhorrent. What happened in Satartia should never be allowed to happen anywhere else. That’s why thousands of friends and neighbors are saying “not here, not anywhere” to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed pipeline,” said Ed Fischbach, South Dakota landowner impacted by the proposed Summit CO2 pipeline. “Dakota Rural Action encourages all South Dakotans to vote NO on RL-21. We hope to raise awareness about the dangerous language of the bill, and to remind people of the literal dangers these projects pose to our communities if they are not properly regulated,” said Chase Jensen, senior organizer with Dakota Rural Action.”
KOTA: SD House of Representative candidates talk Referred Law 21 implications for farmers, South Dakotans
Adrian Carbajal, 10/21/24
“South Dakota’s Referred Law 21, better known as RL21, would allow counties to impose a surcharge on certain pipeline companies,” KOTA reports. “...While it sounds good in theory, Democratic House of Representatives candidate Sheryl Johnson told KOTA in her conversations with farmers and landowners, that they believe it is just a buyout to build through their land. “I’m very concerned because it’s not like an oil pipeline or a natural gas pipeline. It’s CO2, and that’s a very dangerous gas if it leaks. But the ethanol companies want to force it through the farmers’ land and think if they give them lots of money, they’re going to be okay with it. This isn’t about money to the farmers, this is their families’ lives they’re talking about,” Sheryl told KOTA… “Sheryl Johnson told KOTA another major concern is whether or not Summit Carbon can build that pipeline safely, since they haven’t done so before. Representative Dusty Johnson, Sheryl Johnson’s adversary in this year’s race for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, is not completely opposed to a pipeline but agrees that safety is of the utmost importance when it comes to farmers and their families. “I do think if the project is going to move forward, it’s got to do two things. Number one, it’s got to protect landowners, and number two, it’s got to protect public safety. Ultimately, they’ll have to prove 1,000 things in state law. If they don’t meet their burden of proof in state law, they should absolutely not get a permit to build,” Dusty told KOTA. “Some of the stories I’ve heard about how they’ve treated some of these farmers it’s just appalling, and they’ve made statements like ‘We’ll be back. Our lawyers are going to win. You’re going to have to sell no matter what. We’re bigger than you and have more money than you.’ That’s just not the way to go about doing business,” Sheryl told KOTA.
Dakota Scout: Referred Law 21 backers tout carbon pipeline as economy, quality of life booster
Joe Sneve, 10/21/24
“South Dakota’s record of compromise, innovation, and economic success is on the ballot next month. That’s the message proponents of Referred Law 21 shared during a campaign event Monday in support of the pending ballot measure, which could decide the fate of a multi-billion-dollar carbon capture sequestration project slated to run through the state,” the Dakota Scout reports. “In the eyes of a county commissioner, this is an opportunity that is greatly needed, and from the eyes of a farmer, this is huge,” said Doug Kazmerzak, a Kingsbury County landowner and former county commissioner who participated in a series of panel discussions hosted by the South Dakota Ag Alliance, Protect South Dakota's Ag Future, South Dakota Ethanol, the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and Vote Yes For A Strong South Dakota in downtown Sioux Falls.”
Bloomberg: CNRL Takes PetroChina’s Space on Trans Mountain as Output Swells
Lucia Kassai and Christopher Charleston, 10/21/24
“Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. is taking over more space on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline, bulking up its ability to ship crude to markets after buying assets from Chevron Corp. in a $6.5 billion deal,” Bloomberg reports. “Canada’s largest oil producer agreed to take over the space from a unit of PetroChina Co., a person with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly, told Bloomberg. The 20-year contract will boost CNRL’s space on the pipeline by about 75% to roughly 164,000 barrels a day, according to the person and Bloomberg calculations.”
Bloomberg: Enbridge to Talk to Indigenous Groups Amid Flurry of Pipeline Stake Sales
Robert Tuttle, 10/21/24
“Enbridge Inc. invited indigenous communities in Canada to discuss a financial partnership similar to an earlier C$1.12 billion ($809 million) sale of a stake in some of its pipelines to such groups,” Bloomberg reports. “The pipeline company is hosting a meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, on Nov. 20 to discuss the potential deal, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg. Details on the assets involved in the potential deal weren’t provided in the letter, which was signed by Colin Gruending, Enbridge’s president of liquids pipelines. Enbridge and other Canadian energy companies have increasingly been partnering with Indigenous communities on operations that affect their land, helping improve relations with the groups and head off environmental and legal opposition. Enbridge in 2022 agreed to sell a 12% stake in seven pipelines in Alberta to First Nations and Métis communities in a deal it called “Project Rocket.” “...The company is developing a plan that won’t require any up-front cash from the communities and will involve 100% non-recourse debt financing, requiring support from indigenous loan guarantee programs across Canada. Enbridge will provide C$15,000 in funding to cover groups’ time and expenses for participating in the meeting.”
Financial Post: Taxpayers will recover the billions invested in TMX as long as Ottawa is 'disciplined seller,' CEO says
Meghan Potkins, 10/21/24
“The final price tag on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion could creep up another half-billion dollars to $34.5 billion, but Canadians should still expect to recover their money, says chief executive officer Mark Maki,” the Financial Post reports. “When the time is right, Canada can sell and the outcome that they should expect is a recovery of the taxpayer’s capital, and that’s the only thing the Trans Mountain leadership team is interested in: the taxpayer gets back their value,” he said to a parliamentary committee on Monday. Questioned about the contentious project’s ballooning price tag, he acknowledged the forecasted price to complete the pipeline expansion could increase by between $200 and $500 million on top of the $34 billion forecasted earlier this year as remediation work continues… “This project was worth the cost and it will continue to demonstrate its benefits to Canadians for decades to come,” he said. Maki said taxpayers should expect to recover their investment as long as Ottawa does not rush to sell while a number of issues remain unresolved, including a potential Indigenous stake in the project and an ongoing dispute over tolling, also known as the rates producers agree to pay to ship on the line… “All these issues, he said, must be resolved before Ottawa can hope to find a buyer offering a good price for Trans Mountain.
Bloomberg: The Climate Scientist Who Leads Mexico Is Betting on Decades of Fossil Fuel
Scott Squires, 10/22/24
“Under the crystalline waters off southeast Mexico, workers are laying a pipeline that President Claudia Sheinbaum is counting on to underpin an economic boom and lift millions from poverty,” Bloomberg reports. “The $4.5 billion Southeast Gateway Project will deliver up to 1.3 billion cubic feet natural gas per day from Texas to the Yucatan Peninsula when it’s completed next year, fueling power plants and a proposed trans-continental rail corridor intended to rival the Panama Canal. But the project Sheinbaum inherited from her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also threatens to undercut one of her other key goals: cutting Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions. The 715 kilometer (444 mile) pipeline being developed by TC Energy Corp. of Canada along with Mexico’s state utility is the lynchpin to Sheinbaum’s ambitious plan to diversify the Yucatan’s economy… “The conduit, which runs near a fragile coral reef zone and will also feed both an oil refinery and Lopez Obrador’s Maya train project, will make the country reliant on fossil fuels for years to come. That poses a challenge to Mexico’s commitment under the Paris Agreement to slash carbon emissions by 35% before 2030 and its goal under the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% over the same period… “Even if Sheinbaum succeeds in adding all that clean power, the new pipeline and gas-power plants are likely to be in use for decades, driving up Mexico's emissions… “Pipelines have helped drive the recent “nearshoring” campaign to encourage businesses to move to Mexico so they can be closer to customers in the US… “US gas pipeline exports to Mexico grew 8% last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration and are surging at a record pace… “Environmentalists are nonetheless pushing back against the pipeline. In the long run, they warn, it will raise Mexico’s emissions.”
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Four new petroleum liquids pipelines have been completed in the United States since 2023
10/21/24
“Since 2023, pipeline companies have completed four new petroleum liquids pipeline projects in the United States—three crude oil pipeline projects and one hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) project—according to our recently updated Liquids Pipeline Projects Database. No new petroleum product pipeline projects were completed during this period… “The completed projects are as follows: South Bend Pipeline is a 150,000-barrel-per-day (b/d) pipeline developed by Bridger Pipeline, LLC, that transports crude oil about 137 miles from Johnsons Corner, North Dakota, to Baker, Montana. It was completed in 2023. Keystone Port Neches Link is a 630,000-b/d pipeline developed by Port Neches Link, LLC, a joint venture of TC Energy and Motiva Enterprises, that begins at the Sunoco Logistics terminal in Nederland and ends at Motiva’s terminal in Port Neches (both in Texas). The pipeline is approximately five miles in length and was completed in 2023. The Motiva section is a 30-inch diameter pipe, and the TC Energy section is 36-inch diameter pipe. Borger Express Pipeline is a 90,000-b/d pipeline developed by Navigator Energy Service that transports crude oil about 195 miles from Major County, Oklahoma, to Hutchinson County, Texas. It was completed in 2023. Seminole Red Pipeline was converted by Enterprise Products Partners from a crude oil pipeline back to an HGL pipeline while it builds Bahia Pipeline, another HGL pipeline project that will also service the Permian Basin. Seminole Red Pipeline was originally an HGL pipeline before it was converted to a 210,000-b/d crude oil pipeline in 2019. The conversion back to HGL was completed in 2024. Our Liquids Pipeline Projects Database contains information about projects at various stages of construction. Currently, 9 projects have been announced, and 10 projects are under construction. Since we launched the database in 2010, 231 projects have been completed, and 17 projects have been permanently canceled.”
Hydrogen Insight: German government agency approves core hydrogen pipeline network, allowing construction to begin
Polly Martin, 10/22/24
“The German government’s Federal Network Agency has approved the proposed “core network” of hydrogen pipelines set to stretch across the country by 2032,” Hydrogen Insight reports. “Construction can now begin on the various pipelines that would make up the core network, the first of which are expected to begin operations as early as next year… “The network is expected to have a feed-in capacity of 101GW, and 87GW of exit capacity for end-users by 2032. It is due to be 9,040km in length, with 60% made up of repurposed gas pipelines (see map below), which are expected to be the first to start operations… “The first years of the core network’s operation are likely to see low demand from a small pool of initial users. However, pipeline operators are also capped on how much they can charge these users to recoup the total €18.9bn ($20.5bn) of combined investments into H2 infrastructure… “Many pipelines in the core network have also been designated “Important Projects of Common European Interest” by the European Commission, giving the green light for vast amounts of public funding from Germany’s federal and state governments.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: EPA urged to suspend CO2 injection permits after Illinois leak
Carlos Anchondo, 10/22/24
“More than 150 environmental and advocacy groups are asking EPA to halt carbon dioxide injections nationwide and stop permitting new wells until regulations are revised,” E&E News reports. “In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Tuesday, the groups pressed the agency “to take immediate action to update rules and regulations for CO2 injection wells,” pointing to a leak detected earlier this year at a CO2 injection site in Decatur, Illinois. Agribusiness company and well operator Archer-Daniels-Midland has said drinking water was not endangered by the leak, which was tied to corrosion in a monitoring well. Although ADM paused injection last month after company tests pointed to a second suspected leak — this time of salty water — concern about the incident and EPA’s response hasn’t abated.”
The Hill: Supreme Court to consider which courts can weigh challenges to some EPA actions
Rachel Frazin, 10/21/24
“The Supreme Court will take up a series of cases to determine which federal courts can take on cases related to certain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions, it said Monday,” The Hill reports. “The cases stem from two seemingly separate issues: whether Oklahoma and Utah need to come up with better plans to fight smog, and whether some oil refineries can be exempt from requirements that their gasoline contain a percentage of ethanol. However, they share an underlying question: which courts can hear objections to a rejection from the EPA. The states, whose plans were rejected, want their case to be heard in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, while the refineries, whose exemption petitions were rejected, want their case to be heard in the 5th Circuit. By taking up the cases, the Supreme Court could be barreling toward a judgment about where challenges to a wide array of EPA actions can be heard… “The states and refineries argue that the questions at issue are “locally” rather than “nationally” applicable and should therefore be heard in regional courts.”
E&E News: Supreme Court opens debate on venue for EPA rule challenges
Pamela King, 10/21/24
“The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in a set of cases that seek to move legal battles over certain EPA rules from a federal appeals court in the nation’s capital to regional circuits,” E&E News reports. “...But for EPA rules without nationwide reach, companies and Republican-led states often prefer to file in other federal appeals courts that may be more favorable to their arguments. That was the path EPA’s opponents chose in challenging the agency’s rejection of state implementation plans for the federal “good neighbor” smog pollution rule in the Colorado-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and its denial of small refinery exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Program in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana. But the 10th Circuit found that the air cases involved actions that were nationwide in scope — and therefore belonged before the D.C. Circuit. The 5th Circuit, meanwhile, denied EPA’s motion to move the biofuels case to the federal appeals court in Washington.”
E&E News: Supreme Court takes on EPA — again
Pamela King, Marc Heller, 10/21/24
“In the last few years, the Supreme Court has struck down significant EPA air and water protections and eliminated one of the agency’s most powerful tools of legal defense,” E&E News reports. “On Monday, the justices took up another set of cases that could undercut the nation’s top environmental regulator by opening the door to industry groups and Republican-led states seeking to challenge certain EPA rules in more favorable courts. “I suspect so many cases are granted involving the EPA because that agency in particular likes to push the boundaries,” Trent McCotter, a partner at the law firm Boyden Gray representing GOP lawmakers who urged the high court to move some EPA lawsuits out of Washington and into the nation’s regional federal appeals courts,” told E&E… “McCotter told E&E the cases the Supreme Court granted Monday further illustrate justices’ interest in curbing the agency’s overreach.”
E&E News: DC Circuit leans toward DOE in fight over Alaska gas exports
Niina H. Farah, 10/22/24
“The Department of Energy appears poised to win a legal dispute over its analysis of environmental and climate risks of a massive planned liquefied natural gas export project in Alaska,” E&E News reports. “During oral arguments Monday, two judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seemed skeptical of environmental groups’ challenge to DOE’s reauthorization of exports from Alaska LNG. The project backed by the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. would enable commercialization of gas from Alaska’s remote North Slope by connecting it via pipeline to a planned liquefaction facility hundreds of miles across the state. Environmentalists have argued the project runs counter to the federal government’s broader goal of reducing the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels. DOE reapproved exports from Alaska LNG in 2023, after it had agreed in mid-2021 to conduct a supplemental National Environmental Policy Act analysis of how the project would affect the climate. The agency affirmed its initial 2020 finding that the project was in the public interest.”
Guardian: ‘I’m Not Voting For Either’: Fracking’s Return Stirs Fury In Pennsylvania Town Whose Water Turned Toxic
Oliver Milman, 10/21/24
“Fracking has burst back on to the national stage in the US presidential election contest for the must-win swing state of Pennsylvania. But for one town in this state that saw its water become mud-brown, undrinkable and even flammable 15 years ago, the specter of fracking never went away,” the Guardian reports. “Residents in Dimock, a rural town of around 1,200 people in north-east Pennsylvania, have been locked in a lengthy battle to remediate their water supply that was ruined in 2009 after the drilling of dozens of wells to access a hotspot called the “Saudi Arabia of gas” found deep underneath their homes… “The re-starting of drilling around Dimock late last year comes as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris clamor to cast themselves to Pennsylvania voters as supporters of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, whereby water, sand, and chemicals are injected deep underground to extract embedded oil and gas,” “If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one,” Trump said of Harris, who previously supported a ban, during the duo’s televised debate last month. The former US president has run a barrage of ads in the state accusing Harris of wanting to shut down the fracking industry. But during the same debate, Harris insisted ‘I will not ban fracking’, with the vice-president boasting of new fracking leases granted during Joe Biden’s administration. This bipartisan embrace of fracking has stirred fury among residents of Dimock whose well water is still riddled by toxins linked to an array of health problems and, most spectacularly, contains so much flammable methane that people have passed out in the shower, wells exploded, and water running from the tap could be set on fire by match, according to official reports and accounts from locals. “Sure as hell, I’m not voting for either of those two assholes,” Ray Kemble, a heavy-set, bearded military veteran and former trucker, told the Guardian as he puffed on a cigar in his home.”
Politico: Cutting Gas
10/21/24
“Members of the American Exploration & Production Council oil industry trade group are asking Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to repeal an EPA fee on methane emissions, according to an internal document,” Politico reports. “The AXPC is making the recommendation as part of its 2025 Policy Roadmap, according to a presentation the group distributed at a board meeting in August. The presentation was provided to ME by oil industry watchdog group Fieldnotes. The document, first publicized by the Washington Post on Friday, contains many of the issues industry lawyers told POLITICO in May they were including in ready-made executive orders for Trump to sign if he wins the White House in November.”
E&E News: Trump victory would threaten new US effort to track emissions
Chelsea Harvey, 10/22/24
“A little-known yet foundational White House climate initiative could be in jeopardy if former President Donald Trump wins another term, experts say,” E&E News reports. “The project, launched in 2023, establishes a new national system for measuring, monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of the economy. And it coordinates these efforts among the many federal agencies, research institutes, local governments and other entities collecting data on the country’s carbon footprint… “Climate experts told E&E the demise of the new White House initiative could hamper U.S. researchers’ ability to answer some of the most basic questions about global warming. How much carbon is the country releasing into the atmosphere? Where exactly are those emissions coming from? And — most importantly — are the existing carbon-cutting strategies actually working?.. “In order to meet our climate objectives and ensure that both the United States and other countries are advancing towards our international agreements on getting emissions down, we need to be able to verify that we’re actually making the progress,” Costa Samaras, director of the Carnegie Mellon University Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, told E&E. “We need to be able to verify that greenhouse gas emissions are going down,” added Samaras, who served as chief adviser for the clean energy transition in the Biden administration’s White House Office of Science and Technology Policy… “If the goal is to do nothing on climate change, then eliminating efforts to understand where emissions are coming from would be a key part of that strategy,” he told E&E.
Politico: Who might make up Harris’ Cabinet
10/19/24
“Deb Haaland: Haaland was expected to stay at Interior in a second Biden term, and so far there’s been no talk of her stepping down if Harris wins,” Politico reports. “A former House lawmaker from New Mexico and Pueblo of Laguna member, Haaland has carried out the administration’s policies limiting future oil and gas production on federal land and worked to improve the federal government’s relationship with tribes. Still, Haaland would be expected to be only a transitional figure in a Harris Cabinet. Political chatter in New Mexico suggests Haaland may eventually focus her gaze on the Santa Fe governor’s residence, but that race is still two years away. Steve Bullock: In 2022, Haaland appointed Bullock, who briefly ran for president in 2020, to oversee the Bureau of Land Management’s new nonprofit foundation tasked with helping the government protect public lands. Given that work, and the former Montana governor’s political and executive experience, Bullock could be an appealing pick to succeed Haaland at Interior. Mike Connor An old hand in policy circles around Washington, Connor held the No. 2 spot at Interior during the Obama administration and was a runner-up for the top Interior spot under Biden. Instead, he has been a quiet steward of the Army Corps of Engineers for the current administration. In that role, he’s been handling hot-button permitting decisions for oil and natural gas infrastructure and leading efforts to prepare the nation’s builder of ports, levees and locks and dams for climate change, while also working to make the agency more responsive to tribes and disadvantaged communities. Like Haaland, Connor is Native American, from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. And he has the advantage of having won Senate confirmation multiple times.”
Politico: Who Might Make Up Trump’s Cabinet
10/19/24
“Doug Burgum: The North Dakota governor was floated as a potential Trump pick for vice president or Interior secretary earlier in the year, and his job as an energy-state governor puts him in a good position for the job,” Politico reports. “North Dakota is the third-largest oil-producing state in the country and also has more than 4 million acres under federal oversight. Burgum himself has heaped praise on Harold Hamm, the executive chair of oil company Continental Resources who has been an informal energy adviser to Trump. But Burgum seems to be hoping for a post with a bigger profile, such as secretary of State. Katharine MacGregor MacGregor, who once worked for then-Reps. Thelma Drake (R-Va.) and Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and as a staffer on the House Natural Resources Committee, served as the Interior Department’s No. 2 under Trump. She has also been praised as an ‘adult in the room’ who could go back in for a second Trump administration. She is NextEra Energy’s vice president of environmental services. Cynthia Lummis Lummis interviewed — and was passed over — twice for the top Interior job during the Trump administration. The Wyoming senator is no longer eyeing the position, she told E&E News in June, although her work on public lands might make her a good fit.”
STATE UPDATES
Cal Matters: First California project to bury climate-warming gases wins key approval
Alejandro Lazo, 10/21/24
“In a major step toward California’s first effort to bury climate-warming gases underground, Kern County’s Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved a project on a sprawling oil and gas field,” Cal Matters reports. “The project by California Resources Corp., the state’s largest producer of oil and gas, will capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide and inject it into the ground in the western San Joaquin Valley south of Buttonwillow… “The Newsom administration has endorsed carbon capture and sequestration technology as critical to California’s efforts to tackle climate change — it plays a major role in the administration’s action plan for slashing greenhouse gases over the next 20 years. At a packed four-hour meeting in Bakersfield today, community members and environmental justice advocates voiced concerns about air pollution from the project and the safety of injecting carbon dioxide underground, while oil industry representatives and local supporters said it would give Kern County an economic boost. “Carbon Terra Vault will incentivize new polluting infrastructure throughout Kern County,” said Ileana Navarro, a community organizer with the Central California Environmental Justice Network, based in Bakersfield. “This will not clean our air.” “...Before construction can begin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would have to give the project a final signoff. Earlier this year, the agency approved draft permits for the company to build four wells for injecting carbon dioxide into the ground, and the company is seeking two more. In addition, for the company to be eligible for state clean-fuel credits, the California Air Resources Board must certify it as eligible… “But environmental advocates opposed the project, saying that polluting fossil fuel industries need to go altogether as California transitions to an economy powered by renewable energy. They say the technology could prolong the life of oil and gas and that the project would emit air pollutants that could pose health risks to low-income communities in the valley. Gordon Nipp, vice chair of a local Sierra Club chapter, called the project a “convoluted scheme” that will waste money and create few local jobs. “If the carbon were just left in the ground to begin with, that would be a lot simpler and a more effective way of addressing the climate crisis, and there wouldn’t be these additional dangerous emissions into the air,” he told Cal Matters.
Politico: CARBON CAPTURE, APPROVED
CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO, 10/21/24
“California’s first big carbon capture and storage project cleared a major checkpoint today when the Kern County Board of Supervisors approved it over objections from environmental groups,” Politico reports. “...The project now just needs approval from U.S. EPA, which oversees underground carbon dioxide injection… “But opponents have called carbon capture and storage untested and potentially dangerous, particularly if an earthquake were to hit caverns storing carbon dioxide, releasing it into the air or water. “The primary concern is that the project will not be net-negative for emissions,” Center for Biological Diversity attorney Victoria Bogdan Tejeda told Politico… “Lorelei Oviatt, the county’s planning and natural resources director, emphasized the direct economic benefits of the project — including about $60 million over 25 years from charges the county will impose on use of the underground space — at Monday’s meeting. “While these investments may result in new industries that need carbon capture storage, that is speculative,” Oviatt told Politico… “Bogdan Tejeda told Politico CBD is “exploring its legal options along with groups like Earthjustice,” based on what the group says is an incomplete environmental impact report.”
KPLC: SWLA parish leaders concerned proposed carbon capture projects could affect drinking water
Stephanie Obediku, 10/21/24
“Having access to clean drinking water is essential, and some residents are concerned that proposed carbon capture projects may put that resource at risk,” KPLC reports. “For years, the state has been testing and introducing significant changes to carbon capture projects. Police juries in Southwest Louisiana are looking into potential risks and environmental impacts. “Allen, Jeff Davis, Vernon, and Beaureguard have come together with a CO2 alliance, and it’s because of the fact that we need to give our people in our parishes an opportunity to have their voice heard and to inform them of the risk that we now will be facing,” Allen Parish Police Juror Roland Hollins told KPLC. Multiple parishes have come together to address those concerns, creating the Louisiana CO2 Alliance… “All these companies keep telling us that we have this new technology, that it’s going to work. If it’s the technology y’all say that’s working, why is it already failing?” Hollins told KPLC. According to the alliance, the Illinois project has been halted due to finding carbon dioxide waste in two zones where it was not supposed to be… “If they wanted it right, they should have come to the parishes with a plan of safety, a plan of mitigation, a plan of alternate water source and benefits for the parishes and then let the people decide if those benefits and safety plans is worth the risk, give the people the final say,” Hollins told KPLC.”
Grand Forks Herald: More than $58 million in federal funding announced for two Grand Forks energy projects
10/21/24
“The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded more than $58 million to two Grand Forks energy projects,” the Grand Forks Herald reports. “A subsidiary of Minnkota Power Cooperative received $49 million to build a large-scale geologic carbon storage facility as part of Project Tundra, the office of Sen. Kevin Cramer announced Monday, Oct. 21. Also, UND's Energy and Environmental Research Center received $9 million to conduct a feasibility study for a carbon capture and storage hub in Washington state. Minnkota's DCC East Project LLC received the money through the federal Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, according to the announcement from Cramer, R-N.D. Project Tundra, a federally funded effort to capture and store carbon underground, is being led by Minnkota. This is the latest release of funds for Project Tundra as part of a $350 million federal grant announced last year.”
Utah State University: Bingham Research Center Receives Grant to Study Carbon Capture & Storage
Marcus Jensen, 10/21/24
“Utah State University’s Bingham Research Center has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for a $480,000 project. The grant is part of a larger project called the Uinta-Piceance Basin Carbon Management and Community Engagement Partnership, which is led by the University of Utah. USU researchers will work to assess the air quality impacts of a carbon capture and storage project (Uinta Basin CarbonSAFE) that is being explored for the Bonanza Power Plant, located in Vernal. This carbon capture and storage (CCS) project aims to sequester at least 50 million metric tons of captured CO2 from the power plant and other sources over the next 30 years.”
Northern Journal: AIDEA considers loans for Cook Inlet drilling—and new oil leases and litigation in the Arctic Refuge
10/21/24
“The board of Alaska’s embattled economic development agency, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, is set to consider some $70 million in spending and loans for oil and gas development near Anchorage and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” Northern Journal reports. “HEX, a privately owned Anchorage-based company, has asked AIDEA for a $50 million line of credit to finance five years of drilling — both in Cook Inlet, offshore of Anchorage, and onshore, on the Kenai Peninsula. HEX's drilling effort, AIDEA’s staff wrote in a recent memorandum to board members, is “essential” to alleviate a forecasted shortage of locally produced natural gas. The fuel powers urban Alaska’s power plants and a Kenai Peninsula oil refinery, and utilities have been developing plans to fill gaps with imported liquefied natural gas. HEX’s chief executive, John Hendrix, has repeatedly argued that drilling for gas on his company’s state leases is too risky unless the state grants concessions that improve his potential for profits.”
Capital and Main: The Slick Million Dollar Homes With Oil Wells as Neighbors
Jennifer Oldham, 10/16/24
“Sami Carroll moved with her family eight years ago to Erie, a picturesque town north of Denver that she thought was beyond the reach of fossil fuel development encroaching on fast-growing suburbs in the shadow of the jagged Rocky Mountains. She was wrong,” Capital and Main reports. “A company now wants to drill 26 wells under Erie from a pad six miles away — among the longest horizontal bores ever proposed in Colorado. The potential for interaction between the proposed wells and several dozen legacy wells drilled years ago raised alarms for Carroll, her neighbors and town officials. The older infrastructure includes nine wells interspersed among homes within several thousand feet of the Carrolls’ front door in the Flatiron Meadows housing development. A pipeline extending from one of those wells runs under their house. Some are producing hydrocarbons, several are shut in — capable of producing fossil fuels but not currently in operation — while others are plugged and abandoned. “There are over 20 neighborhoods between the proposed pad and my house that these wells would travel under — including schools,” Carroll told Capital and Main on a recent fall day as she drove past grass-covered expanses littered with rusted fossil fuel equipment… “Boulder County is known for its resistance to oil and gas development. County commissioners enacted a moratorium on drilling in the 2010s. It also challenged an attempt by Extraction Oil and Gas Inc. to force the county to lease its mineral rights under 552 acres of open space. The firm withdrew its application in 2023 but is again asking state regulators for permission to drill under Boulder County as part of the operation that would impact Carroll’s neighborhood. Yet the county has no jurisdiction over the application because the pad on which the wells would be drilled is located next door in Weld — the state’s largest oil and gas county. Weld officials approved the proposal in February. The state’s Energy & Carbon Management Commission plans to hold a public hearing on the project on Oct. 29 at Erie Middle School. It’s then scheduled to make a decision on the application on Nov. 6.”
Maine Public Radio: 'Renewable' natural gas grows in Maine
Peter McGuire, 10/18/24
“At Peaks Renewables in Clinton, millions of gallons of cow manure gets trucked in from nearby farms and pumped into a 125,000 gallon holding tank,” Maine Public Radio reports. “From there, the liquified waste gets piped into an anerobic digester the size of a football field. Manure cooks for about a month. Remaining solids and liquids are filtered out and returned to farmers for livestock bedding and fertilizer. The gas gets pumped into a refiner that scrubs out impurities such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Finally, the end product — 90% methane — is ready to get piped into homes, said Peaks Renewables president Angus King III, son of the sitting U.S. Senator. "Instead of buying gas from Pennsylvania or Russia or wherever else it happens to come from, it's coming from right here, which I think is a pretty exciting thing," King told MPR. Maine has no known fossil fuel reserves. But it's found a way to produces pipeline-quality natural gas. Companies are transforming methane emissions from cow manure and decomposing trash into so-called renewable natural gas, often touted as a way to curb climate-warming pollution. But environmental critics argue the promise of homegrown gas is being oversold. Bringing more gas online just tethers consumers to pipeline infrastructure, at the time Maine should be focused on new, nonpolluting energy sources, according to critics.”
EXTRACTION
Global CCS Institute: Installed CCS capacity on track to double as governments and industry collaborate to advance projects
10/15/24
“The Global CCS Institute has released its Global Status of CCS 2024 report showcasing significant year-on-year momentum for the progress of CCS as governments and industry around the world collaborate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach net-zero by mid-century. With 628 projects across all stages of development in the CCS project pipeline, project development activities continue to display strong growth. Global CO2 capture capacity is on track to double to over 100 million tonnes per year (Mtpa) of CO2, once facilities currently under construction commence operation… “Report findings show strong growth in CCS projects across all stages of development, with a total of 628 projects in the pipeline, an increase of 236 projects compared to the previous year… “The Americas continue to lead the world in CCS facility deployment, catalysed by sustained policy support and funding incentives: 27 projects are in operation, and 18 are commencing construction across the US, Brazil and Canada. Across Asia, storage hubs and cross-border CCS projects are a major focus and dominant trend, as nations with limited geological storage resources explore opportunities with nations that have large storage resources, to store their CO2. In China, Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) forges ahead, spurred by climate policy progress, CCUS project deployment, and increased international collaboration. Across Europe and the UK, decarbonisation policies and anticipation of a robust CCS market are driving new projects: 191 projects are at various stages of development in the region, including five in operation and 10 in construction. Across the Middle East and Africa (MEA), CCS project development has evolved from application in enhanced oil recovery to a focus on industrial decarbonisation and low-carbon fuel development… “The 2024 status report notes 222 transport and storage projects, which currently do not include an associated capture facility. This number has more than doubled over 12 months.”
Natural Gas Intelligence: Why Are Supermajors Investing Billions in U.S. Carbon Capture Projects?
10/21/24
“...NGI managing editor for news Carolyn Davis talks with Enverus Intelligence Research’s Graham Bain about carbon capture and storage (CCS) investments underway across the United States,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “Bain, who leads the subsurface group for the energy transition team, outlines why Chevron Corp., ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies SE, among others, are spending billions to advance CCS projects, both onshore and offshore. The integrated majors view CCS as a “very viable option to decarbonize their operations in the short term as we wait for that longer transition to happen,” Bain told NGI.
The New Republic: Defunct Oil Wells Are a Problem. Union Workers Could Be the Solution.
Will Peischel, 10/21/24
“...The idea is simple enough: Clean up the mess left behind by the fossil fuel industry while employing the very same workers it no longer relies upon,” The New Republic reports. “The program could be a progressive fantasy, advancing both organized labor and climate goals in lockstep. There’s just one big problem. The skills needed to plug wells, a highly specialized job on the oil patch, can’t be found in union halls. While the federal well-plugging program has prevailing wage requirements for workers and a preference for union membership when awarding contracts, oilfield service companies—which is where people pick up these skills—typically aren’t unionized… “When Megan Milliken Biven, founder of True Transition, went out to speak with workers on sites who were contracted to plug the wells using the federal funding, she found not trained rigger pluggers but day laborers. “I’m not accusing anyone of being bad or doing a bad job. We can’t know,” she told TNR… “In 2022, the Golden State’s legislature greenlit a plan to use a $15 million grant from the California Workforce Development Board to establish a curriculum for would-be well pluggers from trade unions… “Starting last year, the course began training classes of seven workers, all either already members of the unions or in the process of joining. With the money available, the program aims to train around 100 workers by the end of 2024 and hire them to plug a batch of well-plugging contracts. As a result, as California turns to its own tranche of federal funding to plug wells, which amounts to more than $70 million, it can be sure workers are available for the job—and that they’ll be paid fairly.”
OPINION
Santa Fe New Mexican: Pro-climate? Then don't support Joe Manchin's permitting bill
Gail Evans is a senior attorney and New Mexico climate director at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, 10/19/24
“The massive surge in oil and gas drilling in the Permian and San Juan basins is weighing heavily on people in New Mexico. Water contamination, air pollution and health problems like asthma, heart attacks and birth defects linked to oil and gas operations harm New Mexicans and our beautiful state. But our oil pollution problem might be about to get even worse,” Gail Evans writes for the Santa Fe New Mexican. “The U.S. Senate is considering the Energy Permitting Reform Act, a bill led by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, two of the most anti-environment and pro-polluter members of Congress. This bill would massively expand oil and gas drilling and mining on public lands and waters while weakening our ability to employ the court system to protect our communities from harmful pollution. In exchange, the bill will give us a modest chance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions domestically, but even the most optimistic models show we won’t get anywhere near the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of stopping warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius… “New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich voted for the permitting bill during the committee process, saying he believed the bill’s provisions that expand interregional transmission capacity were essential to combating the climate crisis… “Passing Manchin’s bill — or any legislation that builds on this terrible legacy of sacrificing New Mexico’s communities to the ambitions of oil and gas CEOs and their sympathizers in Congress — would be unjust and shameful. As a veteran legislator and self-proclaimed climate champion, Sen. Heinrich should be able to spot a bad, oil-soaked deal when he sees one, especially if he hopes to lead the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in 2025.”
Real Clear Energy: Greenpeace Exploits Texas Tragedy for Its Own Gain
Wayne Christian is the Texas Railroad Commissioner, 10/21/24
“In responding to tragedy, people often reveal their true character. The environmental group Greenpeace recently showed its character – or lack thereof – in its response to a tragic Texas pipeline incident in September,” Wayne Christian writes for Real Clear Energy. “The unfortunate accident in Deer Park, Texas, occurred after a motorist, who is believed to have been suffering a seizure, crashed his SUV through a chain link fence and into a pipeline valve. The ensuing fire killed the motorist and damaged cars and homes nearby. In the wake of the incident, Greenpeace launched an advertising campaign attacking Energy Transfer, who owns the pipeline. The campaign is designed to hurt Energy Transfer’s reputation, raise Greenpeace’s profile, and ultimately increase the group’s fundraising. Sadly, this is par for the course with Greenpeace, an organization that cares more about attacking energy companies than about the damage its actions may inflict on communities… “Energy Transfer even made more than one hundred changes to its original plans to help mitigate any environmental or cultural concerns. None of that mattered to Greenpeace because, as it turns out, Greenpeace is neither interested in being green or peaceful. They’re only interested in money and power… “They are seeking to undermine an industry and damage the reputation of an oil and gas company for no other reason than because it exists. Greenpeace may not rely on science and logic, but Texans should. We all want clean air and water, and as a nation we have gotten cleaner with major pollutants down 77% in the last half century. But that’s an inconvenient narrative for a radical environmental extremists, who should not be allowed to dictate the future of our state’s economic or environmental security.”
Pipeline & Gas Journal: Permitting Reform Legislation Once Again on the Table
Eben M. Wyman, Wyman Associates, is a veteran advocate for key underground utility and pipeline associations, 10/20/24
“The need to update and improve the arduous process of obtaining the permits needed to get critical infrastructure projects off the ground is a longtime priority among supporters of American energy, especially advocates of infrastructure transporting fossil fuels,” Eben M. Wyman writes for Pipeline & Gas Journal. “...But make no mistake, passage of the “Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024” is anything but certain, especially in a closely divided Congress during a presidential election year that seems to be changing by the day (or hour)... “It’s no secret that current permitting processes are lengthy and complex, leading to significant project delays. This is especially true when constructing natural gas pipelines. Expediting the permit process is expected to carry several other benefits associated with… “Economic growth – Natural gas pipelines are essential for transporting energy to industries and consumers. Expedited permitting will spur economic development by facilitating initiation of energy projects, creating jobs and stimulating investment in related sectors… “Overall, energy permitting reform is necessary to balance the need for numerous environmental and safety reviews with the demand for timely and cost-effective development of energy infrastructure… “Previous proposals, most recently in 2023, reform proposals offered by Manchin unraveled because of the overwhelmingly different opinions about which projects should be considered “priority,” and concerns among left-leaning groups that the legislation would do more harm than good. The energy industry is now focusing on improvements to the NEPA process… “Meanwhile, certain Republican members of Congress maintain that the bill does not go far enough… “The responses to introduction of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 reflect how even the appearance of finding common ground can prove to be a thin layer of support over major differences. Even if this bill fails to cross the finish line this year, it could serve as “strawman” legislation when the 119th Congress convenes in 2025 and America swears in a new president.”