EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/27/21
PIPELINE NEWS
KSDK: Spire Missouri president warns STL Pipeline shutdown could have big impact on customers
Law360: Ojibwe Tribe Tells 8th Circ. Its Court Should Hear Pipeline Suit
Associated Press: Navy says operator error caused Hawaii pipeline leak
MassLive.com: Eversource Gas asks for $33 million for a second pipeline in Springfield; doesn’t plan to change its property tax views
Bloomberg: Crestwood Bets on U.S. Shale Growth With Oasis Pipeline Deal
SeekingAlpha: Arbitration panel favors Equitrans in pipeline dispute with EQT
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Newsweek: Big Oil to Testify on Climate Change Disinformation—What This Could Mean for Green Economy
Associated Press: Majority in US concerned about climate: AP-NORC/EPIC poll
STATE UPDATES
Inforum: Landowners' report warns of 'looming' costs of North Dakota's orphaned oil wells, criticizes well plugging program
Long Beach Post: Long Beach faces substantial oil abandonment costs in next decade
KDLL: Scientists are still following whales that swam through the Exxon Valdez oil spill
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Investors on board as U.S. oil majors dismiss wind and solar projects
Politico Morning Energy: EMISSIONS ALSO OFF TARGET
Reuters: Trudeau roils Canada's oil patch naming Greenpeace activist as climate chief
The Conversation: How Canada can leave 83 per cent of its oil in the ground and build strong new economies
CLIMATE FINANCE
350.org: Huge win for climate campaigners as Europe’s largest pension fund announces divestment from fossil fuels
Politico Morning Energy: MISSED THE MARK
Sierra Club: Goldman Sachs Joins Peers in Net-Zero Banking Alliance, But Has No Plan for Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Finance
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
MyMuskokaNow: Grant gives Bracebridge Fire Department money to purchase new training materials
OPINION
Los Angeles Times: Op-Ed: Will Congress expose Big Oil like it did Big Tobacco in the ‘90s?
New York Times: This Movement Is Taking Money Away From Fossil Fuels, and It’s Working
Virginia Mercury: Water Board should reject Mountain Valley Pipeline permit this time around
Food & Water Watch: The Mountain Valley Pipeline Could Decide President Biden’s Climate Legacy
The North Wind: Opinion—Say no to Line 5
PIPELINE NEWS
KSDK: Spire Missouri president warns STL Pipeline shutdown could have big impact on customers
Holden Kurwicki, 10/26/21
“As the temperature continues to drop. the battle over a natural gas pipeline in the St. Louis area continues to heat up,” KSDK reports. “Spire said it could soon lead to a big impact for its customers. Environmental groups have said the Spire STL Pipeline is unnecessary, and a three judge panel with US Court of Appeals voted to shut down production, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted emergency authorization to keep production pumping until December 13th. After that date, without an extension, hundreds of thousands of people could be left without a reliable heat source this winter. “Without STL (Pipeline) in a cold winter we don’t have enough capacity in this region to serve our customers, and that’s a real problem,” Spire Missouri President Scott Carter told KSDK. The 65-mile Spire STL Pipeline pumps natural gas from Scott County, Illinois, to the storage facility in north St. Louis County. “We have completely filled that storage,” Carter told KSDK. “That is a finite resource, so once that storage is depleted, and we’re solely on natural gas coming through the pipelines if we lose a major pipeline it becomes a major problem for us and our ability to serve our customers… The storage that we have is designed, if it runs at max capacity, is a 10-day service. Loss of natural gas service for some customers is a very real prospect.”
Law360: Ojibwe Tribe Tells 8th Circ. Its Court Should Hear Pipeline Suit
Andrew Westney, 10/26/21
“The White Earth Band of Ojibwe urged the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday to reject a Minnesota agency’s bid to block its tribal court from hearing a challenge to an Enbridge pipeline expansion, saying the lower court rightly found that the tribe and its chief judge both have sovereign immunity to the agency’s claims,” Law360 reports.
Associated Press: Navy says operator error caused Hawaii pipeline leak
10/27/21
“The U.S. Navy said Tuesday that operator error caused it to release 1,618 gallons of jet fuel from a pipeline at its Red Hill fuel tank storage facility in Hawaii, but that the leak didn’t come from any of the massive tanks themselves,” the Associated Press reports. “Navy Region Hawaii said in a news release that the Navy recovered all but 38 gallons of fuel from the leak on May 6. The fuel tank facility holds 20 underground fuel storage tanks dating to World War II in the hills above Pearl Harbor. The tanks, which are each the equivalent of about 25 stories tall, sit above an aquifer that supplies a quarter of the water consumed in urban Honolulu. More than 27,000 gallons leaked from one of the tanks in 2014, generating concerns that the facility could contaminate a crucial water source. News of latest leak renewed community concerns about the reliability of the fuel tanks. The Navy said an investigation conducted by the Naval Petroleum Office of the Naval Supply Systems Command determined that an operator failed to follow specific procedures to close valves in the fuel lines during fuel transfer operations.”
MassLive.com: Eversource Gas asks for $33 million for a second pipeline in Springfield; doesn’t plan to change its property tax views
Douglas Hook, 10/26/21
“While still owing millions of dollars in property taxes to municipalities in Massachusetts, Eversource is asking for roughly $33 million to install a secondary natural gas pipeline in Springfield and Longmeadow that will be funded, if approved, by ratepayers,” MassLive.com reports. “In addition to the outstanding taxes owed by the energy giant, there has been growing opposition to the pipeline from residents stating health and safety concerns in addition to questions regarding who will pay the project’s multi-million dollar price tag. “It certainly not as safe as renewable energy,” Verne McArthur, Springfield Climate Justice Coalition member, told MassLive. “We had an explosion here in Springfield, I think 8 or 10 years ago when it was Columbia gas. They blew up Lawrence. There was just a fire in Marshfield, which burned for 9 hours because of Eversource’s confusion over the location of the shutoff valves.” “...There has been an increased awareness of Eversource Energy’s legal battle with Springfield and other municipalities across the state by withholding millions of dollars in property taxes from 87 communities across Massachusetts, according to Eversource’s active litigation with the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board (ATB).”
Bloomberg: Crestwood Bets on U.S. Shale Growth With Oasis Pipeline Deal
Simon Casey, 10/26/21
“Crestwood Equity Partners LP agreed to acquire Oasis Midstream Partners LP for about $1 billion in cash and stock, adding pipelines and related assets in a bet on growth in the Williston and Delaware shale basins in the U.S.,” Bloomberg reports. “...Crestwood is bulking up just as oil and natural gas trade near multiyear highs. While that’s left drillers flush with cash, many publicly traded U.S. shale operators have pledged to keep production flat and prioritize returns to shareholders. But privately operated rivals have been adding more drill rigs, and the temptation remains for U.S. shale producers to tap additional wells and lock in current price levels… “The company added that conditions are “favorable for an acceleration of activity” across the Williston basin, which straddles North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana..”
SeekingAlpha: Arbitration panel favors Equitrans in pipeline dispute with EQT
Carl Surran, 10/26/21
“Equitrans Midstream (ETRN -1.8%) says an arbitration panel ruled in its favor in a dispute with EQT Corp. (EQT +0.9%) over the delayed startup of the Hammerhead natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania and West Virginia,” SeekingAlpha reports. “According to an 8-K filing, Equitrans said the arbitration panel ruled that the in-service delay beyond October 1, 2020, for Hammerhead was caused by a force majeure, so EQT has no early termination right under the Hammerhead gathering agreement or related right to purchase the project. However, Equitrans will not be entitled to charge EQT monthly firm capacity reservation fees under the Hammerhead agreement until in-service is achieved. Hammerhead is a gathering pipeline designed to feed 1.6B cf/day of natural gas into the Mountain Valley pipeline upon entering service.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Newsweek: Big Oil to Testify on Climate Change Disinformation—What This Could Mean for Green Economy
BY ALEX J. ROUHANDEH, 10/27/21
“This Thursday, executives representing some of the world's largest oil companies will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to answer questions for the first time regarding the industry's alleged efforts to obscure science on the role of fossil fuels in global warming,” Newsweek reports. “...In wake of this report, California Congressman Ro Khanna, who chairs the Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on Environment, told Greenpeace he planned to make Exxon and its peers answer before Congress. With this moment upon him, he told Newsweek that he feels these hearings could represent a turning point in public opinion. "Most Americans aren't aware that these companies have (engaged in climate denialism) or are continuing to do it. Once they're made aware of it, the polling is off the charts that they are shocked by it and oppose it," Khanna told Newsweek. "What we need to do is expose these companies to start to turn American public opinion." Khanna hopes that by making these companies publicly answer to these alleged transgressions that they will become "incentivized to stop their disinformation and lobbying and actually change their actions."
Associated Press: Majority in US concerned about climate: AP-NORC/EPIC poll
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, EMILY SWANSON and NATHAN ELLGREN, 10/26/21
“President Joe Biden heads to a vital U.N. climate summit at a time when a majority of Americans regard the deteriorating climate as a problem of high importance to them, an increase from just a few years ago,” the Associated Press reports. “About 6 out of 10 Americans also believe that the pace of global warming is speeding up, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. As Biden struggles to pass significant climate legislation at home ahead of next week’s U.N. climate summit, the new AP-NORC/EPIC poll also shows that 55% of Americans want Congress to pass a bill to ensure that more of the nation’s electricity comes from clean energy and less from climate-damaging coal and natural gas. Only 16% of Americans oppose such a measure for electricity from cleaner energy… “In all, 59% of Americans said the Earth’s warming is very or extremely important to them as an issue, up from 49% in 2018. Fifty-four percent of Americans cited scientists’ voices as having a large amount of influence on their views about climate change, and nearly as many, 51%, said their views were influenced by recent extreme weather events like hurricanes, deadly heat spells, wildfires and other natural disasters around the world… “Seventy-five percent of Americans believe that climate change is happening, while 10% believe that it is not, the poll found. Another 15% are unsure. Among those who say it is happening, 54% say that it’s caused mostly or entirely by human activities compared to just 14% who think — incorrectly, scientists say — that it’s caused mainly by natural changes in the environment. Another 32% of Americans believe it’s a mix of human and natural factors… “Fifty-two percent said they would support a $1 a month carbon fee on their energy bill to fight climate change, but support dwindles as the fee increases.”
STATE UPDATES
Inforum: Landowners' report warns of 'looming' costs of North Dakota's orphaned oil wells, criticizes well plugging program
Adam Willis, 10/26/21
“A coalition of North Dakota landowners released a trove of public records Tuesday, Oct. 26, that they argue reveals worrisome shortcomings in a North Dakota program that put tens of millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief money toward cleaning up old oil wells,” Inforum reports. “In a report on the findings, the Northwest Landowners Association, a small group that successfully overturned a 2019 state law backed by the oil industry earlier this year, said that shortcuts and missed benchmarks in the initiative to use $66 million in CARES Act funds to plug and reclaim abandoned oil wells proves the state has underestimated the magnitude of environmental damages that are being left behind by oil companies. “There is a large, looming problem on the horizon. If you do not address it, you will leave the landowners holding the bag,” said Northwest Landowners Association President Troy Coons in a press conference on his group's findings Tuesday… “In addition to higher than expected costs, the group's report argues that the state expanded the targets of its program beyond “orphaned” wells — wells that no longer have an owner and therefore fall to the sate for clean-up responsibilities — to plug and reclaim the oil wells of many companies that are still operating. That allowed financially healthy companies to relinquish their environmental responsibilities to the state and to taxpayers, the report argues. The Northwest Landowners alleged that, in many cases, the state program has plugged oil wells but left them only partially reclaimed. The report states some property owners reported having their land incompletely restored from the presence of old wells, with companies telling them that they are not there to remove contamination from the ground.”
Long Beach Post: Long Beach faces substantial oil abandonment costs in next decade
Anthony Pignataro, 10/25/21
“The City of Long Beach could spend nearly $150 million to end oil production in the next couple of decades, according to a new memo from city manager Tom Modica made public Monday,” the Long Beach Post reports. “Though the city has already put aside $43 million to pay the costs associated with closing down oil wells, it would still have to raise another $38 million to meet the lowest estimate for abandonment costs in 2035, the year city officials have said for the last few months that they plan to end oil production. Modica’s memo states that at the current rate of savings, the city will be able to fund $81 million in abandonment costs by 2035. But if the abandonment costs swell to $146 million—the high end of estimates—then there will have to be “substantially higher contributions to the abandonment fund” or a decision to keep oil production running beyond 2035, states the memo. Failure to set aside the required funds now could leave the city with a “potential major unfunded liability” that would possibly require the city to spend additional public funds to close down oil production.”
KDLL: Scientists are still following whales that swam through the Exxon Valdez oil spill
By Sabine Poux, 10/26/21
“Over several decades, scientists in Homer and Seward have tracked a population of mammal-eating killer whales called the Chugach Transients in the Gulf of Alaska. There used to be 22 whales in the pod. But the year after they swam through the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, nine members died. Others went missing,” KDLL reports. ““And now there are seven of them remaining,” Dan Olsen, a field biologist with the Homer-based North Gulf Oceanic Society, told KDLL. “Olsen and his team have continued to track the seven remaining members of the Chugach Transient pod as they age… “The Chugach Transients have not had a calf since the oil spill, over 30 years ago. Olsen said scientists are not exactly sure why. Other populations of killer whales are doing well. But two pods that swam through the spill are not. “It’s difficult to know why, if the oil spill reduced their prey abundance such that they weren’t able to have enough nutrition to continue to have offspring, or if the contaminants directly impacted their reproductive systems,” he told KDLL. “But regardless, we’re seeing a population that is going extinct.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Investors on board as U.S. oil majors dismiss wind and solar projects
By Sabrina Valle, Ross Kerber, 10/26/21
“Top U.S. oil firms are doubling down on drilling, deepening a divide with European rivals on the outlook for renewables, and winning support from big investors who do not expect the stateside companies to invest in wind and solar,” Reuters reports. “Among a dozen U.S. fund managers contacted by Reuters from companies overseeing about $7 trillion in assets, most said they prefer oil firms to generate returns from businesses they know best and give shareholders cash to make their own renewable bets… “Michael Liss, senior portfolio manager of the American Century Value Fund, told Reuters it owns more of the U.S. majors than European partly because the American companies spend a lesser share of capital on things like renewable power and alternative fuels at a time when oil demand remains strong… “The split strategies - returns or a faster energy transition - highlight differing investor and government pressures. They also show the difficulties of crafting a global plan to reduce fossil fuel use, the central topic of the coming United Nations COP26 climate change conference here. Top U.S. oil firms Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and ConocoPhillips reject a direct role in wind and solar and have put less of their outlays into energy transition plans compared with the Europeans. Most expect to increase oil production.”
Politico Morning Energy: EMISSIONS ALSO OFF TARGET
Matthew Choi, 10/26/21
“The economic shutdown of the Covid pandemic may have put a temporary damper on greenhouse gases, but 2020 still saw cumulative carbon levels hit their highest levels ever,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “Greenhouse gas concentrations reached their highest ever recorded at 413.2 parts per million, increasing faster than the annual average of the previous 10 years, according to a World Meteorological Organization report released Monday. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide all saw increases last year, according to the report, putting global emissions goals “way off track,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said.”
Reuters: Trudeau roils Canada's oil patch naming Greenpeace activist as climate chief
By Steve Scherer and Rod Nickel, 10/26/21
“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday sparked concern in the country's oil patch and hope among green advocates when he named two men with strong environmental records to lead his government's fight against climate change,” Reuters reports. “Steven Guilbeault was named environment and climate change minister as part of a major Cabinet shuffle following September's vote, which handed Trudeau a third victory since 2015, albeit with a minority in the House of Commons. Jonathan Wilkinson, who spent two decades in the green tech sector and then served as predecessor to Guilbeault for two years, took over as minister of natural resources. Canada is the world's fourth-biggest oil producer. La Presse newspaper once dubbed Guilbeault "the green Jesus of Montreal." He has worked for green groups, including Greenpeace, for more than 20 years. In 2001 he climbed the CN Tower in Toronto to protest Canada's environmental record. "This will be very concerning and frustrating for everyone who's part of the natural resource economy in Canada," Heather Exner-Pirot, a fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute think tank, told Reuters.
The Conversation: How Canada can leave 83 per cent of its oil in the ground and build strong new economies
Emily Eaton, 10/26/21
“Burning coal, oil and natural gas accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. If we are to have a 50 per cent chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 C, more than 83 per cent of Canada’s oil reserves must stay underground,” The Conversation reports. “Yet the newly re-elected Liberal government, which has put climate change policy at the centre of its agenda, is planning a long life for fossil fuels. Instead of keeping them in ground, the Liberals have committed to capping and reducing emissions from the sector and then offsetting any remaining emissions by 2050. This would allow an indefinite future for fossil fuel production in Canada. It would require massive public investments in carbon capture and storage and create dubious accounting schemes that would move emissions off the books but not stop them from being produced… “This research shows that the industry only survives the politics of the climate crisis if it convinces politicians that net-zero will work and a future without fossil fuels is especially bleak.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
350.org: Huge win for climate campaigners as Europe’s largest pension fund announces divestment from fossil fuels
10/26/21
“Europe’s largest pension fund ABP has announced it will divest from fossil fuel producers by 2023. Pension participants – teachers, scientists and civil servants – have been campaigning for the pension giant to divest from fossil fuels since 2014. In recent months the campaign scaled up and was threatening legal action. It is a highly significant decision that will see 15 billion euros, almost 3% of ABP’s total invested capital, channeled away from oil majors like Shell and their devastating projects around the world. “This is really fantastic, after all these years of campaigning, we finally succeeded. This is a huge victory for the climate, human rights and all life on earth. ABP is the largest pension fund in Europe: the importance of this step at home and abroad cannot be underestimated. ABP has admitted that this decision is due to all pension participants and employers who have spoken out and organised. This shows that pressure from below works: as an ordinary citizen, you can make a difference,” said Liset Meddens, director at Fossielvrij NL.
Politico Morning Energy: MISSED THE MARK
Matthew Choi, 10/26/21
“The world's richest countries admitted they failed to fulfill their $100 billion climate finance promise to help developing economies combat climate change,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “The pledge was meant to run from 2020 to 2025, with advanced economies contributing those fund annually — but a report released Monday by Canadian and German Environment Ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Jochen Flasbarth shows they won't be able to hit their target until 2023. The ministers predict $83 billion in climate finance will be raised in 2021, with $113 billion raised annually by 2025. COP 26 President Alok Sharma tasked Canada and Germany to create a strategy to make sure rich countries deliver on the goal after the countries fell short.”
Sierra Club: Goldman Sachs Joins Peers in Net-Zero Banking Alliance, But Has No Plan for Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Finance
10/26/21
“Goldman Sachs announced yesterday that it has joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), making it the last of the six major U.S. banks to join. Goldman Sachs poured more than $100 billion into fossil fuels in the five years following the Paris Agreement. Today’s announcement did not include targets for phasing out the bank’s funding of fossil fuels, a critical part of reining in its contribution to the climate crisis,” according to the Sierra Club. “Last week, CEO David Solomon said that Goldman expects to be “in business with people that are investing in their transition,” but the bank has not specified transition criteria for its clients, which include some of the fossil fuel companies with the biggest expansion plans. “It’s significant that every major U.S. bank has recognized the need to achieve net-zero financed emissions by 2050 in order to avert the worst of the climate crisis, but that recognition needs to be paired with action,” said Sierra Club Fossil-Free Finance Campaign Manager Ben Cushing. “It’s simple: hitting the target that Goldman Sachs and other big banks have committed to means stopping financing for the expansion of fossil fuels now. Until they have a plan to do that, their commitments are totally inadequate to address their massive contribution to worsening climate chaos.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
MyMuskokaNow: Grant gives Bracebridge Fire Department money to purchase new training materials
Mathew Reisler, 10/26/21
“The Bracebridge Fire Department is one of 50 departments in Ontario getting a slice of a $250,000 donation made by Enbridge Gas,” MyMuskokaNow reports. “The department’s piece of the pie amounts to $5,000 and has already been used to purchase training material. Fire Chief Murray Medley says while the books will mostly be in the hands of the department’s new recruits, he thinks the veterans will make good use of the materials as well. “Some of these manuals are very expensive to buy,” Medley says. He adds the department does have access to other books and videos, but this money allows them to ensure every firefighter has access to the material if they want to learn or refresh their skills.”
OPINION
Los Angeles Times: Op-Ed: Will Congress expose Big Oil like it did Big Tobacco in the ‘90s?
Patti Lynn is executive director of Corporate Accountability, a nonprofit. Geoffrey Supran is a research fellow in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University and director of climate accountability communication for the Climate Social Science Network, 10/27/21
“On Thursday, executives from six major oil and gas corporations and trade associations — collectively dubbed the “Slippery Six” by advocates — will testify to Congress about their decades of climate denial and propaganda. The House Oversight Committee’s hearing, led by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), will consider testimony from leaders at ExxonMobil Corp, BP America, Chevron Corp. and Shell Oil, alongside the presidents of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Petroleum Institute,” write for the Los Angeles Times. “The outcome will be one indication of whether the fossil fuel industry’s lobbying-fueled stranglehold on science-based decision-making can be loosened in time to meaningfully confront the climate crisis. Twenty-seven years ago, similar hearings featuring tobacco industry executives led to litigation by 52 U.S. states and territories and industry restitution to the public. The stakes this time are at least as high: trillions of dollars in predicted loss and destruction from climate change. Big Oil is due its Big Tobacco moment… “The oil executives will likely do everything in their power to deflect attention away from this record. But members of Congress should force the CEOs to make a choice: Admit to their companies’ lies and risk further exposing themselves to legal scrutiny, or lie about past lies on climate science — a path in line with Big Tobacco’s undoing… “Lawmakers must see through Big Oil’s smoke and mirrors. As many politicians work tirelessly to build back greener and more equitably, let Thursday be the moment when they begin to take on the fossil fuel forces standing in the way.”
New York Times: This Movement Is Taking Money Away From Fossil Fuels, and It’s Working
Bill McKibben is a founder of the progressive organizing group Third Act, teaches environmental studies at Middlebury College and is the author of “Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?”, 10/26/21
“I remember the night in the autumn of 2012 when the first institution in the U.S. publicly committed to divest from fossil fuel,” Bill McKibben writes for the New York Times. “I was with a group of other climate activists in a big theater in Portland, Maine, halfway through a monthlong road show with rallies in cities across the country, and the president of tiny Unity College in the state’s rural interior announced to the crowd that his trustees had just voted to rid their endowment of coal, gas and oil stocks. We cheered like crazy. On Tuesday, a little less than a week before the start of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, activists announced that the fossil fuel divestment campaign has reached new heights. Endowments, portfolios and pension funds worth just shy of $40 trillion have now committed to full or partial abstinence from coal, gas and oil stocks. For comparison’s sake, that’s larger than the gross domestic product of the United States and China combined… “The battle to wind down the fossil fuel industry proceeds on two tracks: the political (where this week may or may not see action on big climate legislation from Congress) and the financial. Those tracks cross regularly — the influence of money in politics is clear on energy legislation — and when we can weaken the biggest opponents of climate action, everything gets easier. Divestment has helped rub much of the shine off what was once the planet’s dominant industry. If money talks, $40 trillion makes a lot of noise.”
Virginia Mercury: Water Board should reject Mountain Valley Pipeline permit this time around
Jacob Hileman, 10/26/21
“On Dec. 14, the State Water Control Board is expected to vote on whether to approve or deny a stream crossing permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline,” Jacob Hileman writes for the Virginia Mercury. “...Speaking out against DEQ’s recommendation at the time were many members of the public, including landowners, former DEQ staff, and scientists with terminal degrees. They repeatedly warned that MVP would not be able to control erosion and sediment runoff on the steep slopes along MVP’s proposed route, and that water quality violations were not only reasonably foreseeable, they were all but guaranteed. Unfortunately for the commonwealth, these warnings have come true, over and over again. The violations have been so egregious and so many that in December 2018 the board decided to reconsider its permit decision… “When the North Carolina DEQ was asked to approve the same permit for an extension of the MVP project – and for considerably fewer streams – it took one look at the project’s troubled past and had no problem denying the permit. Twice. Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added its voice to the choir of experts finding fault with MVP’s permit applications. This leaves the Virginia DEQ all but isolated in its position on MVP’s permits. It is critical the board exert its independence and review DEQ’s draft stream crossing permit in light of the extensive damages MVP has inflicted on the state’s waterways, and the detailed concerns of federal regulators. It will be far, far easier for the board to defend denying MVP’s draft stream crossing permit. It will also be the right decision.”
Food & Water Watch: The Mountain Valley Pipeline Could Decide President Biden’s Climate Legacy
10/25/21
“Frontline and Indigenous communities turned out in record numbers to elect President Biden, who campaigned on a platform of bold climate action. But our allies fighting on the frontlines of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a sprawling, multi-state fracked gas monstrosity, have yet to see the President match his rhetoric with executive action,” Food & Water Watch writes. “Within the next six months, it will be agencies and appointees in the Biden administration who will cast deciding votes on the controversial project’s future, offering a critical climate test by which the president’s legacy will be judged… “Biden has thus far abdicated his responsibility to act on MVP. That means it is the frontline communities who must bear the burden we elected him to relieve. It’s time for the President to step in and take this pipeline off our shoulders. MVP is wildly out of line with Biden’s climate goals, and it will take us backwards in the fight to lower our reliance on the fossil fuels driving the climate crisis. We stand in solidarity with frontline and grassroots activists across Virginia including our allies at POWHR, as they face down their eighth year of sustained resistance to the project. Ultimately, the decision on MVP is one that President Biden can influence. His Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have the final say on the project. Will he shut the project down like he did with Keystone XL? Or will he remain silent, and lock the planet into a fossil fuel future, as with Line 3? The choice is in the president’s hands.”
The North Wind: Opinion—Say no to Line 5
Katarina Rothhorn, 10/22/21
“Our voices echoed off the walls of the Northern Center as men in crisp suits walked past our protest signs saying “Water is life” and “Our climate over their profits.” These men avoided eye contact with us as we protested against Enbridge Line 5,” Katarina Rothhorn writes for The North Wind. “They were heading to a community open house hosted by Enbridge, a Canadian oil transport corporation that owns approximately 17,127 miles of active crude oil pipeline in North America. The open house ran from 6 – 8 p.m. in the Northern Center and aimed at gathering support from local businesses for Line 5, a tar sands pipeline that Enbridge is trying to rebuild through the state of Michigan, including across the Straits of Mackinac. The protesters, composed of NMU faculty, students and community members, stood outside of the Northern Center and drew attention to the ongoing threat Line 5 poses to the Great Lakes, global environment and especially to Native communities. As they read from pamphlets stating how Enbridge’s Line 5 had spilled at least 1.1 million gallons of oil over the past 50 years, I decided to stand with them and join in the chants of “can’t drink oil, keep it in the soil.” “...As someone who believes in protecting human and environmental rights, the existence of Line 5 contradicts many of my core values.Line 5 does not value the safety of the people forced to live next to the pipeline. Line 5 continues to harm the environment, both locally and on a global scale.Line 5 impacts everyone, but especially Indigenous communities. Don’t let them stand alone and continue to go unheard, as they have for decades.”