EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/24/24
PIPELINE NEWS
KSFY: SD Supreme Court rejects Summit’s request for a rehearing
Carbon Herald: South Dakota Court Upholds Rejection Of Summit Carbon Capture Pipeline
Storm Lake Radio: South Dakota Ruling Deals Setback to Carbon Capture Pipeline Project
South Dakota Public Broadcasting: South Dakota voters to get asked about PUC process changes, pipeline charges
Pipeline Fighters Hub: U.S. EPA Hears Indiana Landowners’ Appeal of Approval for Wabash Valley Resources CO2 Injection Well Waste Dumps
Bloomberg: Latin American Oil Finds New Buyers as Canadian Pipeline Shifts Flows
U.S. Dept. of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration: Determine the Maximum Permissible Temperature Drops for Steel when Exposed to Cryogenic Liquid
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: What to do about one of America's last wild places: The Brooks Range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Law360: Feds Granted More Time For New Gulf Drilling Review
DeSmog: ‘Terrifying’: Leak Shows Industry Plot to Worsen Methane Emissions — If Trump Wins
Pro Publica: Trump Says He’ll Move Thousands Of Federal Workers Out Of Washington. Here’s What Happened The First Time He Tried.
E&E News: What a Trump win would mean for global climate efforts
STATE UPDATES
Inside Climate News: Developer of Former Philadelphia Refinery Site Finalizes Pact With Community Activists
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Rural Iowa projects get $2.2 M for clean energy
WHYY: PGW gets federal money to replace aging gas mains in Philly
WOOD: Six West Michigan facilitates would turn cow manure into fuel
Louisiana Illuminator: California calls plastics recycling tech a ‘stunt.’ To Louisiana, it’s economic development.
EXTRACTION
Wall Street Journal: Climeworks Strikes 40,000-Ton Carbon Removal Deal With Morgan Stanley
Bloomberg: JPMorgan Eyes Physical LNG Trading After Dimon Hails Boon
Canadian Press: Investing in oil and gas still important, IEA deputy head tells Calgary crowd
DeSmog: Alberta’s ‘Scrap the Cap’ Attack Part of an ‘Endless Propaganda War,’ Say Critics
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Walkerton Herald-Times: Enbridge Gas gives $5,000 cheque to South Bruce Fire Rescue Service
OPINION
The Hill: Climate change is making polluted sites more susceptible to flooding
PIPELINE NEWS
KSFY: SD Supreme Court rejects Summit’s request for a rehearing
10/22/24
“The South Dakota Supreme Court has rejected Summit Carbon Solutions’ petition for a rehearing,” KSFY reports. “The case is now in the hands of a lower court, following a ruling in August. Summit was asking 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. The court rejected Summit’s argument in August that carbon forever captured and buried underground in North Dakota is a commodity no different than CO2 put to a commercial productive use. The court also ruled that Summit is not empowered to use eminent domain to seize property against landowners’ wishes in South Dakota for its proposed multi-state CO2 pipeline… “A spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions told KSFY the company remains “confident in demonstrating that Summit Carbon Solutions qualifies as a common carrier, supported by these agreements and further clarification on how CO2 meets the definition of a commodity under the law.”
Carbon Herald: South Dakota Court Upholds Rejection Of Summit Carbon Capture Pipeline
Violet George, 10/24/24
“The South Dakota Supreme Court has dealt a significant setback to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon capture pipeline project,” the Carbon Herald reports. “The court has denied the company’s petition for a rehearing, leaving the case in the hands of a lower court. In August, the court ruled against Summit, rejecting its argument that captured carbon dioxide should be considered a “commodity.” The court determined that the intended use of the carbon dioxide is a crucial factor in determining whether it qualifies as a commodity. Furthermore, the court ruled that Summit does not have the authority to use eminent domain to seize property from landowners in South Dakota for its pipeline project… “The company plans to present new evidence to the lower court in support of its case.”
Storm Lake Radio: South Dakota Ruling Deals Setback to Carbon Capture Pipeline Project
10/23/24
“There’s been a key court ruling related to plans for a carbon pipeline in several states, including Iowa,” Storm Lake Radio reports. “The South Dakota Supreme Court has rejected Summit Carbon Solutions’ petition to reconsider it as a common carrier. The Court also said carbon is not a commodity. The ruling means Summit Carbon Solutions is not able to use eminent domain for its pipeline in South Dakota.”
South Dakota Public Broadcasting: South Dakota voters to get asked about PUC process changes, pipeline charges
Lee Strubinger, 10/23/24
“A GPS system takes over Aaron Johnson’s 1994 Case IH 7240 Magnum tractor as the chisel plow claws into the dry ground,” South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports. “There’s a major pipeline located under his certified organic field in rural Lake County, south of Madison. Another pipeline is proposed for the same field…. “Johnson fought the proposed [Summit\ pipeline for three years, which could run about 700 feet from his house. He worries what a pipeline rupture would do to his organic farm certification - let alone, his wife and three kids. He and other Lake County residents have urged the county commission to pass a carbon pipeline ordinance with setbacks, like other counties in the wake of this project. But a recent law passed by state lawmakers has many worried county setbacks would get overruled in favor of projects like these. “It’s deceitful legislation. It’s a sellout to corporate America," Jim Eschenbaum, a retired farmer and current Hand County commissioner, who is leading an effort to overturn Senate Bill 201, which is now known as Referred Law 21, told SDPB. Eschenbaum told SDPB the law erodes local control and wants voters to reject it… “Eschenbaum and his group gathered over 31,000 signatures to refer the law. He only needed 17,500 to make the ballot. Eschenbaum points to an op-ed by North Dakota state lawmakers calling for more carbon from the companies like Summit to “double the output of the Bakken [oil fields] today.” “...The issue has also reshaped the next state Legislature. In the spring primary election, 11 incumbents who voted for the law lost their seat in the state Legislature. Three other Republicans attempting to switch chambers came up short… “South Dakota voters will weigh in on Referred Law 21 as though they are a state lawmaker themselves. A 'yes' vote is to approve the law—a 'no' vote is to reject it… “Back at Johnson’s farm around his kitchen table, he worries the proposed law could upend decades of local control and private property rights. “We’re on the right side of history. We want, not only South Dakotans to know, but the nation to know, that these were our God-given rights as United States citizens. It’s paramount that we preserve these things.”
Pipeline Fighters Hub: U.S. EPA Hears Indiana Landowners’ Appeal of Approval for Wabash Valley Resources CO2 Injection Well Waste Dumps
Mark Hefflinger, 10/24/24
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board on Wednesday heard oral arguments by Indiana landowners and attorneys in their appeal of the agency’s approval of two Class VI permits for underground CO2 injection well waste dumps,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “Pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 124.19(a), Andrew Lenderman, Ben Lenderman, Floyd Lenderman and Jessie Lenderman petitioned for review of two Class VI federal Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) Permits Nos. (IN-165-6A-0001 (Vermillion) and IN-167-6A-0001 (Vigo) issued to Wabash Carbon Services on January 19, 2024. Along with the Lendermans, citizens in Indiana have sounded the alarm about the risks and dangers associated with CO2 injection wells and pipelines, and organized in opposition to the project. The EPA heard the appeal in the wake of two CO2 well failures at the flagship sequestration facility in the country operated by Decatur, Ill.-based ADM, and the EPA’s own finding that ADM violated federal law in its handling of the leak. The company failed to properly and timely disclose the existence of the leak to federal regulators at the EPA. The ADM leak saw 8,000 metric tons of liquid CO2 escape from the underground rock formation where it was supposed to be permanently stored. The EPA has notified public water systems to monitor water for taste and odor. Susan Strole-Kos, a Vigo County landowner said, “We believe our community is more important than Wabash Valley Resource's private profits. The recent leaks at the ADM carbon capture and sequestration facility and the pipeline rupture in Mississippi serve to emphasize the inadequacies of the technology and infrastructure surrounding CCS projects. These failures truly highlight the validity of our concerns for the health and safety of our community and environment. Policymakers need to wake up and listen to their constituents. We're encouraged that the Environmental Appeals Board is asking many of the same questions we've raised with Wabash Valley Resources for over a year. It is time to rethink the push for CO2 pipelines and injection sites. We will continue to fight against these dangerous, experimental projects. Public safety should always be the first priority. Stop putting profits before people.” Emma Schmit, Bold Alliance’s Pipeline Fighters Director, stated, “What has taken place in Indiana is a disgrace. Lives, land, and fundamental rights were sold out for a corporation’s corrupt profit. We hope the Environmental Appeals Board will right this wrong and vacate the permits.” View a recording of Wednesday’s oral arguments at the EPA here.”
Bloomberg: Latin American Oil Finds New Buyers as Canadian Pipeline Shifts Flows
Lucia Kassai, 10/23/24
“Refiners on the US Gulf Coast are increasingly turning to Latin American heavy crude as Canada’s recently expanded Trans Mountain pipeline reroutes global oil flows,” Bloomberg reports. “Signs of the shifting tides include Mexican state oil company Pemex recently buying Colombian oil for its refinery in Texas and American refiner Valero Energy Corp. scooping up Colombian grades that typically sail to India and China. North American fuelmakers have seen their typical supplies thin out as the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline sends more of Canada’s crude to the Pacific Coast. At the same time Pemex is keeping more Mexican crude to run its new Dos Bocas refinery, according to market participants, who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. In recent weeks, some Latin American oil grades that typically flow to California are also making their way to the Gulf Coast, according to Argus market data.”
U.S. Dept. of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration: Determine the Maximum Permissible Temperature Drops for Steel when Exposed to Cryogenic Liquid
10/23/24
“Objective: The main objectives of this research project were to assess the performance of steel components exposed to cryogenic liquid and determine the requirements to ensure mechanical integrity. We investigated full-containment steel-steel LNG tanks with a secondary metal outer container, jacketed pipe-in-pipe systems, and large-diameter insulated LNG piping in various bend configurations. We developed finite element (FE) models to analyze the response of these systems to several types of LNG release scenarios. The stresses from our FE analyses are used along with material fracture toughness and postulated crack-like defects to perform fitness for service (FFS) assessments to evaluate the risk of rupture due to cryogenic liquid exposure. We focused on two types of steel material: 9% Ni steel (ASTM A553) used in the construction of secondary containers of full containment LNG tanks and austenitic stainless steel (type A304L alloy) used in the LNG piping systems. Material properties are based on published studies and laboratory testing that we performed on modern welded 9% Ni steel. Potential Impact on Safety: This study will increase awareness and inform the industry about potential failure risks due to cryogenic exposure of commonly used steel types and details at LNG plants. Informing the key stakeholders about the behavior of steel and manufactured components at low temperatures, which are not fully covered in the design codes, is expected to reduce component failure risks.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: What to do about one of America's last wild places: The Brooks Range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Juliet Eilperin, Carolyn Van Houten and Alice Li, 10/22/24
“Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ranks as one of the wildest places on Earth,” the Washington Post reports. “...People have fought over this expanse, as large as South Carolina, for half a century. The battle pits many Alaskans, along with the oil industry and Republican officials, against environmentalists, most Democrats and many wildlife scientists. The question of who gets to determine its fate — and whether to dig up the oil and gas that lie beneath it — could be decided this fall.”
Law360: Feds Granted More Time For New Gulf Drilling Review
Madeline Lyskawa, 10/22/24
“A Maryland federal judge has agreed to delay the date by which she will vacate a National Marine Fisheries Service review of the effects of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the agency explained that it would not be able to complete a new review by the original Dec. 20 deadline,” Law360 reports. “U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman previously granted summary judgment in favor of the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and Turtle Island Restoration Network, saying in late August that the NMFS’ biological opinion concerning offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico “underestimated the risk and harms of oil spills to protected species,” in violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Although the judge had given the agency until Dec. 20 to complete a new opinion before the old one would be vacated, the NMFS said “in light of its resource constraints and the time required to issue a biological opinion addressing the court’s order and opinion, [it] has determined that it is unable to complete the ongoing reinitiated consultation by December 20, 2024,” in a mid-September motion to amend.”
DeSmog: ‘Terrifying’: Leak Shows Industry Plot to Worsen Methane Emissions — If Trump Wins
Edward Carver, 10/23/24
“A key oil and gas industry group has devised a plan to dismantle Biden-era climate regulations, including on methane emissions, according to an investigation published Friday in The Washington Post,” DeSmog reports. “The American Exploration and Production Council, a trade group of 30 oil and gas producers, aims to reverse a series of regulations the Biden administration has made, including the institution of a methane fee, the Post reported, based on AXPC documents that were leaked to Fieldnotes, a climate research group. AXPC represents Big Oil companies including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, whose executives Republican nominee Donald Trump has aggressively sought out for contributions in his bid to return to the White House, even making a quid pro quo offer—deregulation in return for $1 billion in campaign cash—during a gathering at Mar-a-Lago in April. David Doniger, senior adviser to the NRDC Action Fund, which is affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Post that Trump had “promised to grant their wishes” and the leaked documents, which Doniger reviewed at the paper’s request, revealed their “wish list.” Paasha Mahdavi, director of the Energy Governance and Political Economy Lab at University of California at Santa Barbara, noted the comprehensiveness of AXPC’s plans, which he also reviewed. “They want to take climate out of the policy process entirely,” Mahdavi told the Post. “They want government to stop regulating climate issues and stop thinking about climate risks.” Mahdavi said the AXPC documents showed that member companies were acting out of step with their own public climate pledges. “They talk a lot about climate ambitions while doing something different inside their companies,” he said. “If you are aligned with the Paris agreement, you cannot be part of a trade association trying to roll back these emissions regulations. Those two things are inconsistent.” Elizabeth Kolbert, an environmental writer at The New Yorker, said the plans were not surprising but were “still terrifying.”
Pro Publica: Trump Says He’ll Move Thousands Of Federal Workers Out Of Washington. Here’s What Happened The First Time He Tried.
Mark Olalde, 10/23/24
“In 2019, the administration of then-President Donald Trump announced plans to relocate the federal government’s largest land management agency from the nation’s capital to Grand Junction, Colorado, a city of about 65,000 people a four-hour drive from the nearest major airport,” Pro Publica reports. “...A total of 176 employees working in the BLM headquarters were told to move; 135 declined, with many leaving the agency to take positions elsewhere in the federal bureaucracy, according to the Government Accountability Office, an independent federal research agency. The office’s research also found that disruptions caused by the relocation delayed the BLM finalizing policies governing the use of federal public lands… “The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the 900-plus page blueprint for a potential second Trump term, recommends sending the BLM headquarters back to Colorado and relocating other agencies, ranging from the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional offices to the Air Traffic Organization and the American Indian Environmental Office.”
E&E News: What a Trump win would mean for global climate efforts
Sara Schonhardt, 10/23/24
“An election victory by former President Donald Trump would ripple beyond America’s borders — all the way to the global climate talks on the edges of the Caspian Sea,” E&E News reports. “If Trump wins in two weeks, it could leave a hole in international leadership to address rising temperatures at a time when countries are trying to wean themselves off fossil fuels, Todd Stern, the lead climate negotiator for the U.S during the Obama administration, told E&E. “I think that you will have a lot of frustration, a lot of disappointment. The U.S. will lose its voice at anything other than a pretty technical level,” he told E&E Tuesday, referring to the talks known as COP29 that are scheduled to begin days after the election.”
STATE UPDATES
Inside Climate News: Developer of Former Philadelphia Refinery Site Finalizes Pact With Community Activists
Jon Hurdle, 10/23/24
“The company redeveloping the site of what had been the biggest oil refinery on the East Coast has finalized an agreement with 16 community groups to cut carbon emissions, raise the site above the expected level of rising seas and provide at least $8.2 million in assistance to boost the local economy,” Inside Climate News reports. “HRP Group, owner of the newly named Bellwether District, said Monday that it agreed to a community benefits commitment with grassroots groups after 18 months of negotiations. The company said it will continue to remove petroleum-related contamination after demolishing a vast amount of refinery infrastructure that stood on the 1,300-acre site since the 1860s. The Chicago-based company also promised to work with the community groups representing residents whose health was hurt by generations of living near the refinery, the largest single source of air pollution in the city of Philadelphia. The refinery closed in 2019 after a catastrophic explosion and fire forced the bankruptcy of its final owner, Philadelphia Energy Solutions. The site is due to become a center for logistics and life sciences. The first of at least 12 warehouses covering millions of square feet is under construction. Although residents of the majority Black neighborhoods around the site have welcomed the end of oil refining there, some worry about the harmful diesel fumes from the thousands of trucks that will serve the incoming warehouses. They also say their health continues to be threatened by plumes of petroleum products such as benzene that escaped into soil and groundwater after more than a century of explosions and spills, and which they say have not been fully cleaned up by the new owner. Philly Thrive, a vocal community group that supported HRP’s purchase of the site in 2020 because it proposed a redevelopment not based on fossil fuels, said the community benefits agreement doesn’t do enough to address current and future pollution sources. Philly Thrive did not sign the document.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Rural Iowa projects get $2.2 M for clean energy
Cami Koons, 10/22/24
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture is funding five clean energy projects in rural Iowa, with a $2.2 million allocation from the Rural Energy for America program (REAP). The projects include solar panel installations, updating equipment to energy efficient versions and expanding ethanol production, Iowa USDA Rural Development announced Monday,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Almost half of the funding, $1 million, will go to Lincolnway Energy LLC to install a grain-to-alcohol conversion system at its ethanol plant near Nevada. The press release said the project would generate 223.7 million kilowatt hours per year, or enough to power over 20,000 homes. Many environmental groups have spoken against ethanol as a sustainable fuel source. Jess Mazour, on behalf of the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, called it a “boondoggle” in a statement to Iowa Capital Dispatch. “We’ve subsidized the ethanol industry for more than two decades despite increased air emissions, water degradation, soil erosion and the loss of the family farmer,” Mazour told the Dispatch. “USDA should do a better job vetting projects to ensure we are not wasting public dollars on boondoggles.” Lincolnway Energy has been listed as a partner on the controversial Summit Carbon Solutions carbon sequestration pipeline, to which Sierra Club has also voiced opposition.”
WHYY: PGW gets federal money to replace aging gas mains in Philly
Sophia Schmidt, 10/23/24
“Philadelphia Gas Works is getting $125 million in federal money to replace 66 miles of its aging cast-iron pipes,” WHYY reports. “Federal officials announced the latest round of the funding — $40 million — at a PGW operations center in Northeast Philadelphia Tuesday. The city-owned gas utility has already secured $85 million in grants to speed up pipe replacements… “Old pipes can crack and leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Gas leaks are also dangerous. In 2019, two people died when a leak from a more than 90-year-old gas main caused an explosion that destroyed five row houses in South Philly. Several years earlier, a PGW worker died trying to patch a high-pressure gas main break in Philly’s Tacony section. In a 2022 filing with state utility regulators, PGW said more than half of its over 3,000 miles of gas mains were considered “at-risk,” or made of cast iron or unprotected steel mains. In a typical year, PGW replaces around 30 miles of cast-iron mains. The federal grants help the utility fund its existing pipe replacement plans faster, which the utility estimates will save the typical Philadelphia household hundreds of dollars in the coming years. The projects will be focused in neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates, the utility said.”
WOOD: Six West Michigan facilitates would turn cow manure into fuel
Madalyn Buursma, 10/22/24
“Multiple facilities are planned for West Michigan that would take biomethane from dairy farms and turn it into fuel,” WOOD reports. “Chevron Corporation is planning four facilities throughout West Michigan that would take the biomethane and turn it into renewable natural gas for transportation fuel… “Both projects would use anaerobic digesters, which turn animal waste into fuel. The fuel can then be used to fuel trucks, buses and other vehicles with compressed natural gas. The Michigan Strategic Fund board on Tuesday approved a financing plan that authorizes the companies to seek private activity bond financing to help cover the cost of the projects. The BerQ plan allows for the issuance of up to $235 million in bonds to fund the four facilitates, while the Chevron plan allows for the issuance of up to $100 million in bonds to fund the five facilitates.”
Louisiana Illuminator: California calls plastics recycling tech a ‘stunt.’ To Louisiana, it’s economic development.
Pam Radtke, Floodlight, 10/22/24
“A Louisiana state board is expected to vote Wednesday on millions in tax breaks for an ExxonMobil advanced recycling facility in Baton Rouge, that, by the company’s own admission, won’t create any new, permanent jobs,” the Louisiana Illuminator reports. “The proposed $120 million facility is also unlikely to recycle much plastic, according to a lawsuit brought last month by the California Attorney General. The lawsuit claims ExxonMobil’s development of advanced recycling facilities is a “public relations stunt without any prospect of meaningfully reducing the amounts of plastic waste or virgin plastic ExxonMobil produces.” “...After ExxonMobil started a pilot advanced recycling facility at its refinery in Baytown, Texas in 2022, it named Baton Rouge as one of seven possible locations around the world for another site. The proposal emerged after Louisiana passed legislation classifying advanced recycling as a manufacturing process rather than solid waste disposal. Twenty-four other states have passed similar legislation. Yet, almost two years later, the company still hasn’t announced where it will locate its next advanced recycling facility… “The spokesperson told Floodlight that, to date, the Texas facility has processed 60 million pounds of plastics into “usable raw materials.” By contrast, in 2023, ExxonMobil produced 31.9 billion pounds of plastic, according to the lawsuit. In August, a joint investigation by Inside Climate News and CBS News found that more than a year and a half after Houston began collecting consumer plastics for the Baytown plant. it has not started processing those plastics. Instead, the mountains of plastic collected from households are creating an increasingly serious fire hazard at a local plastics sorting facility. The California lawsuit says 92% of the plastics “recycled” by ExxonMobil at its Baytown refinery — which the Baton Rouge facility would be based upon — become fuel. And plastics produced there contain less than 1% recycled plastic.”
EXTRACTION
Wall Street Journal: Climeworks Strikes 40,000-Ton Carbon Removal Deal With Morgan Stanley
H. Claire Brown, 10l/24/24
“Carbon removal startup Climeworks struck an agreement with Morgan Stanley for the removal of 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air until 2037, giving the company crucial support to scale up its green technology,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “By purchasing the removals, the investment bank can claim credit for the reductions and use them to offset its corporate emissions. One ton of carbon removal may roughly balance out a few employees’ journeys on a trans-Atlantic flight, according to an official United Nations emissions calculator. The deal announced Thursday will help Switzerland-based Climeworks accelerate its expansion plans in the U.S., co-Chief Executive Jan Wurzbacher told the Journal. The company is planning to build a direct air-capture hub in Louisiana, called Project Cypress, which has been awarded more than $50 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. Climeworks’ rapid scale-up may prove that direct-air capture technologies, long seen as a climate solution for the distant future, can build a market in the near term.”
Bloomberg: JPMorgan Eyes Physical LNG Trading After Dimon Hails Boon
Ruth Liao, Hannah Levitt, and Priscila Azevedo Rocha, 10/23/24
“JPMorgan Chase & Co. is in talks to start trading physical liquefied natural gas again after more than a decade on the sidelines, a move that lines up with Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon’s calls for an increase in domestic production and energy exports,” Bloomberg reports. “The bank has held talks to secure a longterm LNG supply with at least three projects under development in the Gulf Coast, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg… “Discussions are underway between the bank and developers looking to build a project to liquefy and export gas in Louisiana called Commonwealth LNG, Sempra Energy’s expansion of its Port Arthur site under construction in Texas and Energy Transfer LP’s planned Lake Charles LNG facility in Louisiana, the people told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified describing the confidential negotiations… “The export of LNG is a great economic boon for the United States,” Dimon wrote in April. “But most important is the realpolitik goal: Our allied nations that need secure and affordable energy resources, including critical nations like Japan, Korea and most of our European allies, would like to be able to depend on the United States for energy.” In the same letter, he decried the Biden Administration’s pause on US LNG permitting, which effectively halted all new export projects from approval — calling the push to stop oil and gas output as “enormously naïve.”
Canadian Press: Investing in oil and gas still important, IEA deputy head tells Calgary crowd
10/22/24
“The deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency says investments in oil and gas production are important and must continue in tandem with increased investment in renewable and clean technologies,” the Canadian Press reports. “Mary Burce Warlick made the comments in Calgary, in a speech just a week after the Paris-based IEA released its most recent forecast for global energy demand… “But Warlick, who spoke in the city that is the corporate heart of Canada’s oil and gas sector, says she understands the concerns people have about the energy transition in jurisdictions where jobs and livelihoods depend on fossil fuels. She says the world still needs oil and gas but companies investing in fossil fuel production will need to balance those investments with the knowledge that the global energy market is changing. Warlick added while it will be important to support workers through the energy transition, the IEA’s research shows job creation associated with clean energy technologies currently outweighs fossil fuel-related job losses.”
DeSmog: Alberta’s ‘Scrap the Cap’ Attack Part of an ‘Endless Propaganda War,’ Say Critics
Taylor Noakes, 10/23/24
“The government of Alberta and Canadian newspaper chain Postmedia are being accused of publishing disinformation on the front pages of major Canadian newspapers,” DeSmog reports. “But critics are also pointing out the ad campaign distracts from the bigger issue of whether proposed emissions bans are sufficient given the severity of the climate crisis. Full front page advertorials ran on the covers of Canadian newspapers in several major cities, including that of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, recently acquired by the Postmedia chain. Paid for by the government of Alberta as part of their “scrap the cap” campaign, the headline reads “Ottawa’s Energy Production Cap Will Make Groceries More Expensive.” As reported by the CBC, the Alberta government’s media blitz targets the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It also mirrors an $8 million ad campaign against federal government clean electricity rules. Though the Alberta government insinuates that it is opposing the federal government’s emissions cap on the grounds that it will exacerbate the affordability crisis, DeSmog debunked this argument in a recent article, noting that the same government has saddled every Alberta household with an estimated $70,000 in oil industry liabilities. This is just one of several falsehoods the government of Alberta is currently promoting through its campaign, critics told DeSmog. “The proposed emissions cap aims to cut oil and gas pollution, not production, by 35-38 percent by 2030,” Stephen Legault, Senior Manager, Alberta Energy Transition, and Aly Hyder Ali, Oil and Gas Program Manager, both of Environmental Defence, told DeSmog… “Legault and Ali characterized the “scrap the cap” campaign as misinformation and fear mongering.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Walkerton Herald-Times: Enbridge Gas gives $5,000 cheque to South Bruce Fire Rescue Service
Cory Bilyea, 10/24/24
“Enbridge Gas representative Desiree Swance presented a $5,000 cheque to the South Bruce Fire Rescue Service on Oct. 17 at the Teeswater Fire Station,” the Walkerton Herald-Times reports. “This donation is one of 25 (for a total of $125,000) being made by Enbridge through its annual ‘Project Assist’ campaign.”
OPINION
The Hill: Climate change is making polluted sites more susceptible to flooding
Jackie Medcalf is the CEO and founder of Texas Health and Environment Alliance, a Houston-based nonprofit that works with communities threatened by Superfund and other historic toxic waste sites, 10/22/24
“The physical and psychological scars from Hurricanes Helene and Milton will take weeks, months and years to repair. The threat from toxic waste released by floodwaters may be felt for decades,” Jackie Medcalf writes for The Hill. “It’s not something people usually think about, but as climate change produces more frequent and intense storms, we need to recognize the damage they do to Superfund sites and large numbers of smaller, unrecognized toxic waste sites. Even when authorities think these sites are under control, flooding can expose people to carcinogens and other dangerous chemicals. Flooding from Hurricane Helene impacted a shockingly wide area. Milton brought less flooding, but it cut through the center of Florida. Together, they cut pathways through many of the Superfund sites in the southeast… “The containment areas storing dioxin and other paper mill waste material were breached. Chemicals flowed freely into the river and Galveston Bay, one of the nation’s largest estuaries. Environmental Protection Agency dive teams found dioxin concentrations in the river that were more than 2,000 times higher than the maximum recommended levels. That is not the only local site threatened by climate change. The Houston area has the most such sites in Texas, and the General Accountability Office estimates that 80 percent of them are at risk… “Our analysis of known toxic sites in the city identified chemicals that have been linked to more than 30 cancers and other illnesses… “As a nation, we lack the legislative and regulatory framework to address this evolving pollution problem. If Houston has hundreds of sites, the Texas Coast has thousands and America has millions of locations that will increasingly be inundated by the types of storms that ravaged the Southeast. Environmental laws like the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or the Superfund Act, were not created with climate change in mind.”