EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/27/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Des Moines Register: Second company files for Iowa carbon capture pipeline permit, seeks eminent domain
WNAX: Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline Working on Land Agreements
DailyKos: Fight against carbon capture pipeline unites communities in 5 states
Charleston Gazette Mail: FERC taking comment on proposed pipeline expansion project targeting Wetzel County, parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania
The Center Square: Line 5: Thorn in Whitmer's side while governor, and in debate against Dixon
Vancouver Sun: Four RCMP vehicles and an ambulance torched in Smithers hotel parking lot
Reuters: U.S. pipeline regulator approves expansion of Cameron LNG plant
Natural Gas Intelligence: Montney Natural Gas Output Poised to Reach 9.2 Bcf/d on Pipeline Expansions
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: Permitting Reform Lives?
Bloomberg: Granholm Looks to Permitting Post-Midterms
Barron’s: Big Oil Is About to Announce Stunning Earnings. There Could Be a Political Backlash.
E&E News: Senate Debates Feature Permitting, Drought, Fracking Talk
EXTRACTION
The Hill: Level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hits new high in 2021
The New Republic: A Gas Industry P.R. Flack Compares Fossil Fuel Opponents to Hitler
UPI: Chevron claims lead role in methane emission reductions
Bloomberg: Largest CO2 removal deal ever depends on tech that isn’t ready yet
Wall Street Journal: Could Wildcatters Spoil the Oil Profit Party?
Reuters: Teck to sell stake in troubled Fort Hills project to Suncor for about $737 mln
CLIMATE FINANCE
Press release: Stand.earth on Royal Bank of Canada's latest climate commitments
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Gizmodo: Long-Awaited Climate Newsletter Launches With Chevron Sponsorship
OPINION
The Hill: Without regulation, we’ll never know if carbon offsets reduce emissions
PIPELINE NEWS
Des Moines Register: Second company files for Iowa carbon capture pipeline permit, seeks eminent domain
Donnelle Eller, 10/26/22
“An Omaha, Nebraska, company that wants to build an 810-mile carbon capture pipeline across Iowa filed a petition with state regulators this week asking for a permit and permission to use eminent domain to force unwilling landowners to sell the company easement rights for their land,” the Des Moines Register reports. “... Iowa farmers, landowners and state and county officials have opposed the three projects, concerned about the possible use of eminent domain powers. They've also expressed concern about the safety of the pipelines carrying carbon dioxide, an asphyxiant, and whether the companies would fully restore any damage pipeline construction causes to farmland and underlying drainage systems. Navigator didn't immediately file a list of the properties where it anticipates needing to use eminent domain… “Some opponents have called the pipelines boondoggles, saying they will fail to provide the promised environmental benefits while receiving huge federal subsidies. Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C., environmental group, estimates the three Iowa projects could snag about $40 billion in tax incentives over 12 years. “Hazardous carbon pipelines like Navigator’s are dangerous scams that stand to make a few out-of-staters wealthy at the expense of a whole lot of Iowans," Emma Schmit, a Food & Water Watch senior organizer in Iowa, told the Register. "But as billions of our tax dollars fund these unproven, unwanted projects, Iowa’s legislative leaders have proven unwilling to stand up to private donors and stand up for their constituents. We cannot allow carbon capture and its hundreds of miles of destructive, dangerous pipeline to take root in Iowa.” Wally Taylor, an attorney for the Sierra Club's Iowa Chapter, told the Register he's concerned about a Navigator request to waive some farmland soil restoration requirements. Taylor also told the Register he's frustrated the Iowa Utilities Board isn't forcing the companies to file their eminent domain list with their permit requests. "My sense is that the board wants to give the pipeline companies all the time and all the weapons needed to extract 'voluntary' easements,'" Taylor told the Register.”
WNAX: Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline Working on Land Agreements
10/26/22
“Summit Carbon Solutions has submitted their full application to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, while at the same time continuing to work on landowner access and easements for their carbon dioxide pipeline,” WNAX reports. “Summit C.E.O. Lee Blank told WNAX they are a long way from talking about eminent domain for the route… “Opponents have pointed to the high-pressure CO2 pipeline as a possible hazard. Blank says its using known and tested technology… “Blank told WNAX while they would like to start construction next spring, they have to wait for PUC approval.”
DailyKos: Fight against carbon capture pipeline unites communities in 5 states
April Siese, 10/26/22
“A planned carbon capture pipeline that would be the largest of its kind faces opposition from communities in every state the 2,000-mile pipeline and its accompanying facilities would extend into,” DailyKos reports. “Residents in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota are pushing back against the $4.5 billion project proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions, which would transport liquified, pressurized carbon dioxide from 32 ethanol producers from a series of capture facilities to a carbon sequestration storage site in North Dakota in a process known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The project has been in the works since 2021, but only recently gained national attention, with NBC News publishing on Tuesday a report detailing partnerships between the farming community and Indigenous tribes in standing against the pipeline. Speaking with the outlet, South Dakota farmer Ed Fischbach explained that “[farmers are] realizing that maybe, maybe the Native Americans weren’t all wrong… It’s an issue of protecting the environment, protecting our land, and protecting your own rights.” “...The fact that CCS is so wildly unpalatable that op-ed after article after letter to the editor has been written against Summit Carbon Solutions is telling. Carbon capture is ineffective, known to fossil fuel giants to be unproven despite outright lies from companies like Exxon, and—in the case of the Denbury pipeline in Mississippi—outright life-threatening to communities. It really shouldn’t be novel for communities impacted by large-scale projects from polluters to push back against them together, nor should white farmers finally listening to Indigenous communities be counted as some type of “unlikely” pairing. A coalition of Iowa farmers legally challenged the Dakota Access Pipeline. Farmers have opposed other large-scale pipeline projects like the Keystone XL as well.”
Charleston Gazette Mail: FERC taking comment on proposed pipeline expansion project targeting Wetzel County, parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania
Mike Tony, 10/26/22
“A subsidiary of the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s lead developer is planning a project that would include constructing roughly 4.5 miles of pipeline in Wetzel County to help transport gas to mid-continent and Gulf Coast markets,” the Charleston Gazette Mail reports. “Equitrans LP, subsidiary of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Mountain Valley Pipeline lead developer Equitrans Midstream Corp., has proposed the construction as part of the Ohio Valley Connector Expansion project. The project includes natural gas transmission pipeline and aboveground facilities in Wetzel County, Greene County, Pennsylvania and Monroe County, Ohio. Equitrans said the project will increase its capability to deliver gas to takeaway transmission pipelines in the Clarington area of Ohio by roughly 350,000 dekatherms a day. The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, has issued a draft environmental impact statement for the project. The commission is taking public comment on the draft statement until Nov. 21. Published last month, the draft environmental impact statement concludes that project construction and operation won’t result in significant adverse impacts, although it makes no determination regarding the significance of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions. The staff said the draft environmental impact statement doesn’t address the significance of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions because the commission is evaluating in a separate proceeding whether and how it will determine the significance of greenhouse gases… “The project is an expansion of Equitrans’ existing Ohio Valley Connector extension, placed into service in 2016, that consists of 37 miles of pipeline and compression facilities spanning from Northern West Virginia to Clarington… “Wetzel County is the site of the unfinished Mountain Valley Pipeline’s northern terminus. Opponents of the pipeline have alleged that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has rubber-stamped proposed pipeline projects,”
The Center Square: Line 5: Thorn in Whitmer's side while governor, and in debate against Dixon
Bruce Walker, 10/26/22
“Line 5, the pipelines delivering 65% of the Upper Peninsula’s propane and 55% of Michigan’s total propane, was a topic producing sharp disagreement between Michigan gubernatorial candidates in a Tuesday night debate,” The Center Square reports. “Incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer attempted to gain distance from her record, and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon – fast closing a once double-digit deficit in polling of voters – was having none of it and calling her out… “There has been no change in Line 5,” Whitmer said. “No change. In fact, the tunnel continues to move forward. All of the permits have been executed and its sitting in front of the MPSC and the federal government. I think that’s important to know.” To which Dixon responded, “Line 5 has not been shut down but that’s not because Gretchen Whitmer hasn’t tried. In fact, even Joe Biden came out and said you can’t really shut this down. In fact, [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau, who I would say is the most radical environmentalist in the entire world, came out and invoked a 1977 treaty telling Gretchen Whitmer she could not shut down Line 5. So, the only reason it’s not shut down is because other people have stopped her radical energy agenda.”
Vancouver Sun: Four RCMP vehicles and an ambulance torched in Smithers hotel parking lot
Joseph Ruttle, 10/27/22
“Eight vehicles, including marked RCMP SUVs, were torched early Wednesday outside a hotel in Smithers, not far from Coastal GasLink pipeline construction,” the Vancouver Sun reports. “RCMP say the fire was “a targeted attack on emergency services vehicles.” “...This appears to be a targeted attack on emergency services vehicles. Preliminary investigation indicates this is an arson and we are asking for the public’s assistance in providing information so that the person or persons involved may be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” “...While not directly targeted by the arson, Coastal GasLink parent company TC Energy said it is concerned and is thankful no one was hurt. “Whatever the motivation, these types of attacks, including today’s, have no place in Canada. Our top priority remains the safety of those in the area, including our workforce, contractors and Indigenous and local community members… Out of an abundance of caution, we have enhanced security measures at our worksites in the area.” “...The suspicious fires happened in an area where work is underway on the Coastal GasLink pipeline, a project that has been met by violent vandalism in the past… “Anonymous opponents of Coastal GasLink took responsibility for an arson on a luxury vehicle in Montreal in May outside the home of Michael Fortier, a former federal cabinet minister and vice-chairman of RBC Capital Markets, one of the banks funding the GasLink project.”
Reuters: U.S. pipeline regulator approves expansion of Cameron LNG plant
10/26/22
“An expansion of the Cameron LNG liquefied natural gas export plant won approval by a U.S. regulator on Wednesday, advancing development of a fourth gas-chilling unit,” Reuters reports. “The Hackberry, Louisiana, project is part of an ongoing build up of U.S. LNG export capacity to address rising demand for the fuel in Europe and Asia. Three other U.S. Gulf Coast projects under development would add a combined 5.75 million tonnes per annum (MTPA)by 2025. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) approved the new unit and changes that would allow the facility to load two ships simultaneously. Cameron LNG is owned by a venture including Sempra Infrastructure, TotalEnergies, Mitsui and Japan LNG Investment Co.”
Natural Gas Intelligence: Montney Natural Gas Output Poised to Reach 9.2 Bcf/d on Pipeline Expansions
GORDON JAREMKO, 10/26/22
“Processing plant and pipeline additions should enable natural gas production to more than double in the Montney Shale, according to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER),” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “Expansions by 46 plants have grown capacity in northeastern British Columbia (BC) along the Alaska Highway to 9.2 Bcf/d, or 59% more than the current 5.8 Bcf/d processing volume, a CER survey conducted for CER by Calgary investment dealer Peters & Co. found. Pipeline capacity is poised to nearly double to 11.5 Bcf/d, including additions by Enbridge Energy Inc.’s Westcoast network plus TC Energy Corp.’s Coastal GasLink (CGL) conduit for the LNG Canada export project. CGL, 70% completed, is forecast to start operating at about 1 Bcf/d. However, the 670-kilometer (400-mile) delivery route has built-in ability to grow to 5 Bcf/d with compressor additions to its 48 inch diameter system, as LNG Canada adds export production lines.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: Permitting Reform Lives?
10/26/22
“Energy industry watchers are betting that permitting reform will get another shot next Congress,” Politico reports. “Industry representatives speaking at the North American Gas Forum said they expect Republicans to take at least the House of Representatives in elections next month — and under that scenario believe another stab at permitting reform will be one of the few areas over which the GOP and Democrats might be able to find common ground. President Joe Biden has been urging Congress to move full steam ahead on permitting reform, which many experts say is needed to unlock the queue of clean energy resources trying to connect to the power grid before the Inflation Reduction Act ushers in a new wave of renewables. The oil and gas industry is also set to profit from such an agreement aimed at speeding up the permitting process for major energy projects. ‘How is it that President Biden will sign Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy’s permitting reform bill?’ Mike Catanzaro, energy consultant and former special assistant for domestic energy and environmental policy at the White House National Economic Council during the Trump administration, asked at the conference. He likened the moment to 2015, when President Barack Obama — also facing a Republican Congress — lifted a ban on oil exports in exchange for extending clean energy tax credits.”
Bloomberg: Granholm Looks to Permitting Post-Midterms
10/26/22
“The Biden administration will continue pushing for Congress to pass permitting changes following the midterm elections, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told her advisers Tuesday,” Bloomberg reports. “We are hopeful within this next period, perhaps after the election, we will see permitting reform that allows us to accelerate the deployment of transmission, and any other blockage, like permitting blockages, that allow us for the movement of electricity around the country,” she said. She, for instance, pointed to a November 2021 Maine voter referendum that blocked a $1 billion, 145-mile-long transmission line that proposed to carry 1,200 megawatts of Quebec-produced hydropower to customers in …”
Barron’s: Big Oil Is About to Announce Stunning Earnings. There Could Be a Political Backlash.
Avi Salzman, 10/26/22
“A warning from President Biden could dampen the party atmosphere for Big Oil’s expected third-quarter earnings bonanza,” Barron’s reports. “Biden, who is worried about high gasoline prices, said last week that oil companies should be more focused on increasing oil supplies to bring down prices than on rewarding shareholders. “My message to the American energy companies is this: You should not be using your profits to buy back stock or for dividends,” he said in a speech at the White House. “Not now. Not while a war is raging.”
E&E News: Senate Debates Feature Permitting, Drought, Fracking Talk
Timothy Cama, Nick Sobczyk, 10.26/22
Two closely watched Senate races featured extensive discussions on energy and the environment in debates held Tuesday night. In Colorado, a debate between Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican challenger Joe O’Dea was dominated by such issues. The debate focused on the dwindling Colorado River amid the ongoing Western drought. And while there were disagreements on what O’Dea, CEO of a construction company, consistently dubbed the ‘war on energy,’ both found agreement on permitting overhaul. In Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman defended his stance on fracking, while his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz pointed to inconsistencies on his positions.
EXTRACTION
The Hill: Level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hits new high in 2021
RACHEL FRAZIN, 10/26/22
“The concentration of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere once again reached new highs last year, according to a new report,” The Hill reports. “The report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) found that planet-warming gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide were at 149 percent, 262 percent and 124 percent, respectively, of their pre-industrial levels… “The report also found a relatively high increase in carbon dioxide concentrations, saying that the increase from 2020 to 2021 was larger than the average annual growth from the last decade. Meanwhile, methane concentrations saw their largest increase on record. Methane has more than 25 times the power of carbon dioxide to warm the Earth but usually only lasts for about 12 years in the atmosphere. The head of the WMO — which is part of the United Nations — said the finding underscores the importance of taking action on climate change. “WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin has underlined, once again, the enormous challenge — and the vital necessity — of urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and prevent global temperatures rising even further in the future,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. “The continuing rise in concentrations of the main heat-trapping gases, including the record acceleration in methane levels, shows that we are heading in the wrong direction,” Taala said.
The New Republic: A Gas Industry P.R. Flack Compares Fossil Fuel Opponents to Hitler
Kate Aronoff, 10/25/22
“Day two of the North American Gas Forum closed with a bang on Tuesday. At an end-of-day keynote at the North American Gas Forum—an annual confab for fossil fuel executives, sponsored by a who’s who of fossil fuel companies, including Shell, BP, Tellurian, and Baker Hughes—keynote speaker and Davies Public Affairs CEO John Davies made a curious comparison,” The New Republic reports. “...You might reasonably expect Adolf Hitler would not come up in such a presentation. You would be wrong. If gas producers don’t counter negative messaging about fossil fuels, Davies warned, they will be no better than Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who infamously pursued the so-called “appeasement” policy toward the Nazi regime that would go on to murder approximately six million Jews, hundreds of thousands of disabled people, Roma, and others, and millions of Soviet, Polish, and Serbian civilians. As the slide behind him—complete with a picture of Chamberlain shaking hands with Hitler, swastika prominently displayed—asked, “Are we appeasing those who call to ban us?” “We don’t talk about how they’re wrong. We don’t talk about why,” Davies said, referring to critics of the gas industry. “The craziest thing is we just don’t talk at all. We just don’t talk about it. We don’t reach out. We don’t do anything.” Davies added that “the very people that want to ban natural gas, that want to end the industry are going to get mad at us if we talk about the positive attributes.” He suggested that rather than “fighting back,” the industry “tell our positive story, which is so well accepted. So we don’t become Neville Chamberlain. That is not a great place to be.” (A request for comment on the Hitler comparison, directed to Davies’s firm, went unanswered.)”
UPI: Chevron claims lead role in methane emission reductions
Daniel J. Graeber, 10/25/22
“U.S. supermajor Chevron said Tuesday that it has vastly reduced its emissions of methane -- a potent greenhouse gas -- in part by installing sequestration systems at its operations,” UPI reports. “Chevron in a report that comes three days before it releases data on earnings for the third quarter said it's been able to reduce its methane intensity by 50% since 2016. Not only that, but the company claims the methane intensity from exploration and production -- known as the upstream part of the energy sector -- was 85% less than its U.S. peers as of 2020… “Nearly all of Chevron's methane emissions came from its production of oil and natural gas… “In the Permian basin, the most prolific shale oil reservoir in the United States, the company said its installed recovery units that can abate methane emissions straight from the source. Offshore in the U.S. territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the company said it's one of the least-polluting operators. "Going forward, Chevron has made a commitment to design, where possible, all new upstream facilities without routine methane emissions," Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said.
Bloomberg: Largest CO2 removal deal ever depends on tech that isn’t ready yet
10/26/22
“British energy company Drax Group Plc is planning to sell offset credits tied to power plants in the US that it has yet to build, relying on technology that hasn’t yet been proven to work at scale and by burning fuel that’s still controversial,” Bloomberg reports. “...Drax wants to build power plants that burn wood chips, capture emissions produced from the process and bury them deep underground. Its plans got a boost after the US passed its largest climate bill that provides $85 in tax credits for every ton of carbon dioxide buried for climate purposes. Drax says the first such plant in the US will be built by 2030. The cost of capture and burial for Drax’s technology is likely to be more than the sum the US government is providing, Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at consultancy Carbon Direct, told Bloomberg. Drax says it won’t provide the capture cost estimate citing commercial sensitivity, but confirmed it will top-up the US government subsidy by selling offset credits. Drax declined to say how much money it might fetch from the sale… “ However, the trials are of technology from a UK startup called C-Capture that’s far from working at commercial scale, Shipstone told Bloomberg… “There are many large hurdles still to clear before Drax can claim to be a “carbon negative” company. The carbon-capture technology may be sound, but trapping emissions from burning biomass hasn’t been shown to work at scale. Some have also raised concerns about the carbon math. Wood is considered to be carbon neutral because the tree grew by capturing carbon dioxide. However, converting trees into fuel can have a carbon cost, either when processing and transporting, and soils in forests can release stored carbon if disturbed. And when big-name companies have tried to scale carbon-capture technology for new applications, they have often struggled. One of the world’s largest carbon capture and storage projects, run by Chevron Corp. in Western Australia and built in 2016, failed to capture enough emissions to meet local targets… “One of the company’s largest challenges may still be at its core. Campaigners have criticized the biomass industry’s sustainability claims, with a recent BBC documentary raising concerns over the company’s forestry operations in Canada.”
Wall Street Journal: Could Wildcatters Spoil the Oil Profit Party?
Jinjoo Lee, 10/26/22
“When one of the biggest, most vocal oil bulls decides to leave the public-market pen, it is hard not to notice,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Continental Resources announced last week that its founder, Harold Hamm, and his family, who already own roughly 83% of the oil and gas producer, will buy the remainder of the company, taking it private for $74.28 a share. That would allow Mr. Hamm, a perennial oil bull, to have free rein and do with his capital what he wants. It is unlikely that a herd of oil-and-gas exploration-and-production companies will follow, leaving public markets for freer pastures. There aren’t many listed E&P companies that have such concentrated ownership, Andrew Dittmar, M&A analyst at Enverus, told the Journal… “Continental’s departure from the growth-constraining pen should catch the eye of public E&P companies, though. Their shareholders have been training them to funnel profits to dividends and buybacks rather than growth. Traditionally, the percentage of revenue that public companies spent on capital expenditure rose and fell with oil prices, but since 2020 they have moved in separate directions, according to an analysis from Barclays… “There are various theories as to why public companies have been taking a slow growth strategy. One is that oil-company investors were burned too much in the go-go years starting in 2014, when companies spent too much on growing production. Another one is there simply isn’t enough equipment and labor to go around after all the belt-tightening that oil-field service firms undertook in the last few years… “Might wildcatters such as Mr. Hamm spoil the party? Of the private companies that account for more than half of the U.S. rig count, more than half of those were true private operators with no private-equity investors, according to analysis by Pickering Energy Partners. While producers backed by private equity will—just such as their public peers—be constrained by what their investors want, truly private ones such as Continental Resources don’t have an external shareholder base to answer to.”
Reuters: Teck to sell stake in troubled Fort Hills project to Suncor for about $737 mln
Ruhi Soni, 10/26/22
“Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd said it has agreed to sell its 21.3% stake in the Fort Hills oil sands project to Suncor Energy Inc for about C$1 billion ($737.19 million) in cash, as it shifts focus to copper from carbon,” Reuters reports. “This transaction advances our strategy of pursuing industry leading copper growth and rebalancing our portfolio of high-quality assets to low carbon metals," Teck Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Price said on Wednesday. Canada's oil sands hold some of the world's largest but most carbon-intensive crude reserves. The sale expands Suncor's majority interest in the Alberta-based project to 75.4%. French energy major TotalEnergies SE (TTEF.PA), which holds the remaining 24.6% interest, said in September it plans to sell off its Canadian oil sands assets as they are not in line with its climate strategy. Fort Hills is an open-pit truck and shovel mine, where raw oil sands bitumen is extracted and then upgraded. The project has struggled with operational challenges, delaying production and raising costs.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Press release: Stand.earth on Royal Bank of Canada's latest climate commitments
10/26/22
“Today, the Royal Bank of Canada – Canada’s #1 fossil fuel financing bank – announced its latest climate targets. Unfortunately, RBC’s latest net-zero emissions pledges are essentially just more greenwashing as the bank continues to bankroll high-polluting sectors like fossil fuels. The bank released only 'intensity-based' targets for its energy sector clients, essentially which are a license to continue to pollute. On this latest announcement, Richard Brooks, Stand.earth Climate Finance Program Director, issued the following statement: “There’s a dictionary-official definition for RBC’s climate targets: it’s called greenwashing. With RBC continuing to bankroll polluters, these pledges are just more smoke and mirrors. While people across Canada bear the brunt of fires, floods, and deadly heat, Canada’s #1 fossil fuel-financing bank continues to pour gas on the flames, bankrolling gas, tar sands, oil, and coal. Instead of financing Indigenous rights-violating fracked gas pipelines, RBC has the opportunity to reinvest in climate-safe solutions and truly live into its climate rhetoric.” “...RBC remains one of the largest funders of companies building new fossil fuel projects in the world, including Indigenous rights-violating pipelines such as Coastal GasLink through unceded Wet’suwet’en land, and co-lead arranger and financer of the latest $10 billion loan to build the over-budget, much-delayed TransMountain (TMX) tar sands pipeline.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Gizmodo: Long-Awaited Climate Newsletter Launches With Chevron Sponsorship
Molly Taft, 10/26/22
“There’s a big new media presence in town, and Big Oil has already gotten its hands on it,” Gizmodo reports. “Semafor, the new journalism project from BuzzFeed founder and former New York Times columnist Ben Smith, finally rolled out this week. The site’s About page explains that it aims to “[crack] open the black box of the traditional news article, while seeking to set new standards for clarity and concision.” Semafor’s first climate and energy-focused newsletter, helmed by veteran journalist Bill Spindle, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, went out to subscribers on Monday. Among stories and analyses including a breakdown of Europe’s attempt to end its reliance on natural gas, readers were treated to a message from the newsletter’s first corporate sponsor: Chevron. “We’re working toward a lower-carbon future,” the ad’s headline reads, above a picture of a cow’s nose, with a link to a Chevron website on turning cow waste into natural gas… “Oil and gas companies regularly advertise through various media platforms, even those geared specifically toward climate and clean energy. From newspaper ads that cast doubt on the scientific consensus to sponsoring UN climate change conferences and tapping Instagram influencers to promote their products as eco-friendly, Big Oil has a long history of aggressively and creatively using advertising to deny climate science or, more recently, posit itself as a leader in climate solutions. (Oil companies actually created the idea of paid content—copy placed in media that deliberately blurs the lines between unbiased reporting and paid advertising.) “...While the journalists who write newsletters may not have any input or control on ad content and copy, media companies—especially those who purport to cater to a political middle, like Semafor—should hold themselves to higher standards when it comes to accepting ads from fossil fuel companies. It’s a disservice to the journalistic content—which is often top-notch stuff that holds polluters to account—to not apply those same reporting and fact-checking standards to the ads readers see.”
OPINION
The Hill: Without regulation, we’ll never know if carbon offsets reduce emissions
Stuart P.M. Mackintosh is the author of “Climate Crisis Economics,” 10/26/22
“This summer’s repeated severe climate events from the ongoing drought in the West to the wildfires in California, the shrinkage of the mighty Rhine, the floods in Pakistan and the boreal forest fires in Siberia underscore that climate change is happening now in front of our eyes,” Stuart P.M. Mackintosh writes for The Hill. “...The epic scale of the challenge is driving many scientists and policymakers to conclude that carbon removal is unavoidable and that we need widespread use of carbon offset investments to speed the private sector response and removal of 6 gigatons of GHG from the atmosphere by 2050… “This is what the Biden administration has embarked upon. The administration’s infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act are betting big on offsets and pricing carbon to shift fossil fuel companies from polluters to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The support ranges from $4.9 billion to develop carbon capture and sequestration infrastructure, to policy changes and large tax credits worth between $30-$180 per ton of GHGs, depending on the project type… “But carbon capture and sequestration can also be used to increase pressure in existing operating oil and gas wells to extract more oil and gas from wells — i.e., CCS credits could add to greenhouse gas emissions. It would be a disaster if those credits result in speeding fossil fuel extraction rather than reductions in GHG emissions. I expect the Biden administration wants the reverse outcome. The test will be the application and oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency and the devil will be in the implementation details… “Voters and citizens must demand that policymakers ensure these new markets deliver for the economy and are not a polluting and damaging planetary dead end that we can ill-afford.”