EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/29/21
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: Court grills FERC on climate, eminent domain review of gas project
Financial Post: Canadian oil producers eye new pipeline route to Gulf Coast as Marathon reverses Capline conduit
Sioux City Journal: 2nd carbon capture pipeline proposed through Siouxland
Indian Country Today: Enbridge Line 3 is finished but division lives on
ABC News: Despite one remaining tribal lawsuit, the Line 3 pipeline became operational: [VIDEO]
Bloomberg: A Berkshire Pipeline Caused a Large Methane Spew in the U.S.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: Oil Executives Grilled Over Industry’s Role in Climate Disinformation
Gizmodo: Republicans Slobbered All Over Themselves to Apologize to Big Oil CEOs
PBS: Oil giants deny spreading climate disinformation as they face Dem heat on Capitol Hill
Politico Morning Energy: COOKING WITH OIL
Politico Morning Energy: Chris Coons (D-Del.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.) are introducing a trifecta of legislation, dubbed the Hydrogen Infrastructure Initiative
STATE UPDATES
Capital and Main: In Protecting Good Oil and Gas Jobs, Some California Trade Unions Clash With Climate Activists
Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers call for changes after Orange County oil spill
EXTRACTION
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers: Canada's oil and natural gas industry plays key role in Indigenous prosperity
Corpus Christi Caller Times: Oil terminal expansion partially on hold pending federal case
CLIMATE FINANCE
Oil Change International: Past Last Call: G20 public finance institutions are still bankrolling fossil fuels
IPE Magazine: Velliv tightens coal and oil sands tolerance, drops DKK250m shares
OPINION
The Hill: Lead pipe replacement can't wait any longer
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: Court grills FERC on climate, eminent domain review of gas project
By Niina H. Farah, 10/29/21
“A federal appeals court yesterday appeared prepared to send energy regulators back to work on an approval for an embattled Oregon liquefied natural gas export facility,” E&E News reports. “During a 3 ½-hour hearing yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit examined whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had done an adequate job of supporting the use of eminent domain for a 230-mile pipeline associated with the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and whether the agency had properly analyzed the project’s climate impact. The proposed facility in Coos Bay, Ore., has been on hold since developer Pembina Pipeline Corp. said in April that it would suspend all work on the project after the company failed to obtain state permits. The Canadian firm has yet to say whether it plans to restart construction on the facility, which would ship gas from western Canada to Asian markets. Judges for the D.C. Circuit appeared skeptical that FERC had justified its delegation of federal eminent domain power to acquire land for a pipeline that would not carry domestically produced gas or serve U.S. customers. "We have a different animal here, that 100 percent of this gas is exported," said Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. She later added: "Cases that talk about domestic need don’t quite seem to fit. They don’t address this pipeline."
Financial Post: Canadian oil producers eye new pipeline route to Gulf Coast as Marathon reverses Capline conduit
Geoffrey Morgan, 10/28/21
“Canadian oil producers may soon enjoy higher prices for the crude they sell into the U.S. as a major south-to-north pipeline is in the final stages of a reversal — an under-appreciated event that could lift the prospects of the domestic oil industry,” the Financial Post reports. “Ohio-based Marathon Pipelines LLC filed tariffs for transportation of crude oil on its Capline pipeline from Patoka, Ill. to St. James, Louisiana for rates effective Oct. 25, according to RBN Energy, an energy markets consultancy. Capline was the largest south-to-north flowing pipeline in the United States with a capacity of 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, but owner Marathon Petroleum has been working to reverse the flow since 2017, which would allow both heavy and light oil to flow from a storage hub in the U.S. Midwest to a major refining centre on the Gulf Coast. The company website notes that the reversal will be completed this year. “I’m excited about it. I think the Capline reversal would certainly be a positive for Canadian producers and improve pipeline optionality, specifically for the heavier producers, but it’ll de-weight the entire pipeline system in Canada,” Grant Fagerheim, president and CEO of Whitecap Resources Inc., told the Financial Post, referring to problems where Canadian oil exports have exceeded pipeline capacity in the past.
Sioux City Journal: 2nd carbon capture pipeline proposed through Siouxland
NICK HYTREK, 10/28/21
“Developers of a second carbon dioxide pipeline proposed to run through Siouxland soon will be meeting with the public to share information about the project,” the Sioux City Journal reports. “The Iowa Utilities Board has approved Dallas-based Navigator Heartland Greenway's request for a series of informational meetings beginning in late November to share details of its plans to build a 1,300-mile pipeline network… “Under state law, the pipeline developer must conduct informational meetings in each county the pipeline would run through before filing a petition for a pipeline permit. The meetings should be familiar to many Siouxlanders. In September and October, Midwest Carbon Express conducted public meetings in Iowa for its proposed $4.5 billion, 2,000-mile Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, which would transport liquefied carbon dioxide captured from ethanol plants in Iowa -- including Plymouth Energy in Merrill and Siouxland Energy Cooperative in Sioux Center -- Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota to a North Dakota injection site… “Midwest Carbon Express officials said at a meeting in Le Mars that shipping the carbon dioxide, which is not combustible or flammable, for capture enables ethanol plants to raise the value of their product and remain profitable, benefiting the farmers who supply corn to the plants. Affected landowners voiced concerns about pipeline safety and disruption to farmland during installation.”
Indian Country Today: Enbridge Line 3 is finished but division lives on
MARY ANNETTE PEMBER, 10/28/21
“Only days after completion of the Line 3 project, there is barely a hint that a nearly 400-mile, $2.6 billion pipeline project, the largest in Enbridge history, crosses the lands in northern Minnesota,” Indian Country Today reports. “...For many people, however, "normal" no longer exists, especially for the water protectors who chose to oppose the project. Their relationships with life, work, family and the land have changed forever. “I’m learning about words and concepts I never heard of before,” water protector Jason Goward, a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe who left his job with Enbridge when he realized the project was impacting his ancestral territories, told ICT… “Indian Country Today followed up with water protectors and Line 3 opponents who spoke previously about their activities as part of a series on the Enbridge project, “A pipeline runs through it.” Goward and Taysha Martineau, also a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe, found that challenging the Line 3 project put them at odds not only with tribal leadership but also with friends and family. But their failure to stop Line 3 is emblematic of their uphill battle against powerful fossil fuel corporations in the war against climate change.”
ABC News: Despite one remaining tribal lawsuit, the Line 3 pipeline became operational: [VIDEO]
10/28/21
“Taysha Martineau leads a resistance camp against the Line 3 pipeline, despite her tribe, the Fond Du Lac band, being one of two tribal nations who came to an agreement with Enbridge,” ABC News reports.
Bloomberg: A Berkshire Pipeline Caused a Large Methane Spew in the U.S.
Josh Saul and Gerson Freitas Jr., 10/28/21
“A pipeline operator owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy spewed a powerful plume of greenhouse gas in Oklahoma last week with the same heat-trapping ability as the annual emissions from thousands of cars,” Bloomberg reports. “Northern Natural Gas estimates it released about 21.8 million cubic feet of natural gas over approximately three hours while fixing a leak in its pipeline that stretches across the U.S. The discharge was one of the worst emission releases seen in the country this year, and had the same short-term climate-warming impact as the annual emissions from more than 7,700 U.S. vehicles… “The release had the second-fastest flow rate of any plumes spotted in the U.S. this year, according to a Kayrros SAS analysis of European Space Agency satellite data. The geoanalytics firm estimated an emissions rate of 116 tons of methane an hour was needed to generate the plume.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: Oil Executives Grilled Over Industry’s Role in Climate Disinformation
By Hiroko Tabuchi and Lisa Friedman, 10/28/21
“At a heated hearing on Thursday, Democrats had some big questions for the chief executives of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Shell: Would they pledge to stop lobbying against efforts to reduce emissions? And were they willing to tell their powerful trade groups to stop working against electric vehicles? None of the executives agreed,” the New York Times reports. “Instead, the leaders of the four major oil and gas companies touted their support for a transition to clean energy and said they had never engaged in campaigns to mislead the public on the role of fossil fuel emissions in global warming. All four acknowledged that the burning of their products was driving climate change, but also told lawmakers that fossil fuels are not about to disappear. “Oil and gas will continue to be necessary for the foreseeable future,” said Darren Woods, C.E.O. of Exxon Mobil. “We currently do not have the adequate alternative energy sources.” Democrats responded with forceful language in the more than six-hour hearing. “Some of us actually have to live the future that you all are setting on fire for us,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told the executives… “In one exchange, Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, chairwoman of the committee, asked all four if they would commit to no longer spending any money, either directly or indirectly, to oppose efforts to reduce emissions and address climate change. “Will you take the pledge? Yes or no?” Rep. Maloney said. In another, Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, asked the executives to tell the American Petroleum Institute and other trade groups, which the companies pay to represent their interests in Washington, to stop funding advertisements against electric vehicles and other climate policies.”
Gizmodo: Republicans Slobbered All Over Themselves to Apologize to Big Oil CEOs
Brian Kahn, 10/28/21
“Republicans and fossil fuel interests have a, shall we say, cozy relationship. But that relationship went from snuggly to downright NSFW on Thursday at a hearing ostensibly about fossil fuel misinformation,” Gizmodo reports. “The House Oversight Committee welcomed executives from four fossil companies and two trade groups as well as a pipeline welder to probe decades of campaigns to confuse the public. There’s plenty of fodder. The past few years have seen journalist and academic investigations, lawsuits, FTC complaints, and sting operations that have revealed the ways the fossil fuel industry misleads the public—and continues to do so to this day. That has put the entire planet in a dangerous place now, with a steep carbon pollution drawdown needed to avert extreme climate damage. But what Republican members of Congress wanted to do on Thursday was humbly apologize to CEOs of some of the most powerful corporations on Earth for being forced to account for their actions. More than that, they wanted to thank them for their service to society and scold anyone who dared question these titans of industry. Here is a smattering of defense, praise, and obsequiousness: “God bless Chevron,” Rep. Jim Jordan (recipient of $59,956 in oil and gas money in the 2020 election cycle) said, thanking the company for increasing production. “I want to thank those companies that are actually increasing production,” Jordan later added.
PBS: Oil giants deny spreading climate disinformation as they face Dem heat on Capitol Hill
William Brangham, 10/28/21
“The leaders of major oil and gas companies testified at a tough hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill about their companies' roles in greenhouse gas emissions, the acceleration of climate change and allegations of past deception and misinformation,” PBS reports. “The testimony comes days before a global climate summit is set to begin.”
Politico Morning Energy: COOKING WITH OIL
Matthew Choi, 10/28/21
“Expect the House Oversight Committee to generate some heat at its hearing today when Democrats plan to grill the C-suites of some of the world’s biggest oil majors on whether they spread misinformation about climate change,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “Exxon Mobil CEO and Chairman Darren Woods, Chevron CEO and chairman Mike Wirth, and the heads of the U.S. arms of BP and Shell, as well as the chiefs of the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will video in for the hearing, with parallels already being drawn to Henry Waxman’s hearings with big tobacco back in 1994. “For the first time, top fossil fuel executives are testifying together before Congress, under oath, about the industry’s role in causing climate change—and their efforts to cover it up. For far too long, Big Oil has escaped accountability for its central role in bringing our planet to the brink of a climate catastrophe,” Chair Carolyn Maloney will say, according to talking points shared with ME. “That ends today.”
Politico Morning Energy: Chris Coons (D-Del.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.) are introducing a trifecta of legislation, dubbed the Hydrogen Infrastructure Initiative
Matthew Choi, 10/28/21
“...to bolster hydrogen deployment and support new infrastructure, particularly in hard-to-decarbonize sectors like shipping and heavy industry,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “Two of the bills would create new grant programs to build out hydrogen-powered equipment in ports and to support large-scale demonstration projects for hydrogen in industries such as cement, steel and glass. The third bill would create a Department of Energy loan and low-interest grant program for hydrogen transport infrastructure with priority for projects that create jobs and don’t damage disadvantaged communities. Hydrogen infrastructure faces challenges including high initial capital costs and less energy per unit volume relative to existing liquid fuels. The Hydrogen Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act is modeled off of the similarly named Transportation and Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation acts. It would also launch a study on hydrogen transport and storage, with an assessment of jurisdiction over siting, construction, safety and regulation of transport infrastructure. “Hydrogen deployment in emissions-intensive sectors, such as steel production and shipping, offers the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality, all while maintaining energy and economic security,” Coons said in a statement.
STATE UPDATES
Capital and Main: In Protecting Good Oil and Gas Jobs, Some California Trade Unions Clash With Climate Activists
Aaron Cantu, 10/27/21
“It’s been more than six years since lax safety management led to an explosion at ExxonMobil’s oil refinery in Torrance, California,” Capital and Main reports. “...The explosion in California reignited a community push to ban the use and storage of HF at refineries within the South Coast Air Quality Management District. According to a staff presentation to the district’s 13-member governing body, composed of city and county officials, as well as state appointees, two refineries in the South Bay stored a total of 80,000 gallons of HF on site. Even a small leak could endanger nearly 400,000 people living nearby… “The critical role that unionized trade workers played in derailing new regulations on HF has not been deeply scrutinized and continues to confound environmental activists, who question why workers would defend the dangerous chemical. But refinery workers and union officials say it was the most rational choice since nobody could offer them assurances that their jobs would be safe. The episode also reveals a larger political reality: When unions organize workers in the oil and gas industry, they develop a vested interest in protecting those jobs — and can form a serious barrier to environmental justice and climate policy. It’s a sticky dynamic specific to California politics over the last decade… “ From January through July, oil associations and companies with refineries in Los Angeles spent nearly $6.5 million lobbying the legislature in Sacramento. Most of them lobbied against SB 342. Several business groups and chambers of commerce in L.A. also opposed it. But at legislative committee hearings, the most vocal opponents of the bill were labor unions, mobilized by the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (referred to simply as the State Building Trades). It’s by far the largest trade union in California, representing 450,000 workers in a wide variety of jobs, and it’s a political powerhouse in Sacramento.”
Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers call for changes after Orange County oil spill
PHIL WILLON, 10/28/21
“Weeks after a massive oil spill marred the Orange County coast with significant environmental and economic damage, state lawmakers met in Sacramento on Thursday to demand that those responsible “be held accountable,” with one legislator calling for an end to offshore drilling in California,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “At an oversight hearing by the state Senate’s Natural Resources and Water Committee, legislators acknowledged that ending offshore drilling would be an extremely difficult task — the majority of oil rigs off California’s coastline are in federally regulated waters. And any effort to rescind leases in state waters for drilling, pipelines and other oil infrastructure could face swift legal challenges and potentially cost taxpayers millions, if not billions, of dollars. Still, lawmakers and state officials who testified Thursday agreed that the threats to wildlife and California’s cherished beaches will remain as long as oil is extracted offshore. “Is offshore drilling worth it? The risks that seem omnipresent jeopardize a coastal economy here in California that is worth approximately $44 billion a year,” said Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine).
EXTRACTION
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers: Canada's oil and natural gas industry plays key role in Indigenous prosperity
10/28/21
“The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) has released a new report, Indigenous Engagement and ESG, its second in a series outlining environment, social and governance (ESG) performance in Canada's upstream natural gas and oil industry. The report highlights many examples of how Indigenous peoples and the upstream oil and natural gas sector are finding new ways to work together, growing resource development in a sustainable and mutually beneficial manner… “Highlights from the report: Indigenous people make up 6.3 per cent of the upstream industry's workforce. For comparison, Indigenous peoples make up about 3.3 per cent of Canada's total workforce. According to a Macdonald-Laurier Institute report, the oil and gas and mining sectors represent eight of the top 10 highest-paying occupations for Indigenous peoples for Canada. Between 2009 and 2019, Indigenous share of industry jobs and share of senior management roles increased, while the wage gap decreased. In 2019, the natural gas and oil industry procured more than $2.6 billion of goods and services from 275 Indigenous suppliers, contractors and other businesses across Canada… “For industry, it makes good business sense to work with neighbours, including local Indigenous employees and contractors with connections to the area. This is also integral to resource development contributing to local prosperity, supporting self-determination and long-term mutual benefit.”
Corpus Christi Caller Times: Oil terminal expansion partially on hold pending federal case
Kirsten Crow, 10/28/21
“A planned oil terminal expansion that opponents say would destroy sacred indigenous land and damage the coastal bay ecosystem is effectively on pause,” the Corpus Christi Caller Times reports. “An order recently filed in a federal court case shows Enbridge Inc. – owner of Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center – states it will not move forward with causeway construction, dredging or other work in its West Basin related to development of three berths before August 2022. Filed nearly three months ago, the lawsuit – brought by Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch Association, Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend, and Karankawa Kadla Tribe of the Texas Gulf Coast – challenges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of a Clean Water Act permit integral to the expansion project… “Enbridge agreeing to the August 2022 date is intended to give time for the case to go through the court process before starting work on those specific pieces of the project, according to a joint motion that was filed last week. "We appreciate this pause in the destruction of historical artifacts, marine life and seagrasses to allow for our day in court," wrote Jennifer Hilliard, treasurer for Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch Association.
CLIMATE FINANCE
Oil Change International: Past Last Call: G20 public finance institutions are still bankrolling fossil fuels
10/28/21
“Our new report “Past Last Call: G20 public finance institutions are still bankrolling fossil fuels” looks at G20 country and MDB public finance for fossil fuels from 2018-2020 for the first time and finds they are still backing at least USD 63 billion per year in oil, gas, and coal projects. This was 2.5 times greater than their $26 billion a year in support for renewable energy in the same period… “This continued support for fossil fuels from trade and development finance institutions counters G20 countries’ commitments under the Paris Agreement to align financial flows with a safe climate future as well as their 2009 commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. It also undermines the effectiveness of climate finance, which is still not delivered at either the scale promised ($100 billion per year from 2020) or needed. Public finance has an outsized impact on global energy systems, providing below-market rates and decreasing financial risks that make projects much more likely to go forward — something that is increasingly influential as the industry faces unprecedented global headwinds. Recognizing this impact, most G20 countries have ended support for coal or will by the end of 2021. Some momentum is now building to end public finance for oil and gas as well, with the UK and European Investment Bank (EIB) passing policies that limit almost all of this remaining fossil fuel finance. COP26 is an important opportunity for other countries around the world to join them.”
IPE Magazine: Velliv tightens coal and oil sands tolerance, drops DKK250m shares
BY RACHEL FIXSEN, 10/28/21
“Danish mutual pension provider Velliv announced it is making changes to its environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy, imposing a stricter rule for coal and oil sands activities, and has divested 37 stocks on fossil fuel grounds,” IPE Magazine reports. “The rule change means Velliv will exclude businesses generating more than 5% of turnover from the extraction and use of coal and oil sands – a lowering of the 25% threshold it had before. The Copenhagen-based pensions firm said the latest divestment round included holdings in 25 oil and gas firms following a decision earlier this year to exclude them, and that together with the stocks falling foul of the new coal and oil sands criterion, it was selling 37 companies, divesting around DKK250m (€33.6m) of existing investments altogether. Anders Stensbøl Christiansen, chief investment officer at Velliv, told IPE: “The extraction and use of coal and oil sands has long been in the spotlight as one of the major climate sinners.”
OPINION
The Hill: Lead pipe replacement can't wait any longer
Mustafa Santiago Ali is vice president of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization of the National Wildlife Federation. He previously served for 24 years at the EPA and was a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice, 10/28/21
“As politicians in Washington debate the specifics of infrastructure, across the country, families are crying out for action. Our aging infrastructure is failing our communities — putting lives, livelihoods and public health at risk. In Benton Harbor, Michigan, crumbling and aging lead pipes are not a political issue, they’re a health emergency,” Mustafa Ali writes for The Hill. “...When President Biden outlined the bipartisan infrastructure framework, he set the goal of replacing every lead drinking water line in the nation. We should start in places like Benton Harbor: Throughout the city, activists, families and local public health officials have come together to sound the alarm on a crisis quietly flowing in many of our walls. Upgrading and updating the city’s water utilities could offer a model of how we can take aging infrastructure and through investment, demonstrate a future with clean water for all cities… “Dedicated funding for lead pipe replacement in the infrastructure packages is critical for communities most at risk, primarily Black, Indigenous and lower-income communities. But Americans across the country are in danger of water from lead pipes and would benefit from these investments.”