EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/3/22
PIPELINE NEWS
WV News: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers 'disappointed' Manchin's bill removed, but remain committed to project
KTIV: Pipeline company seeks court order to compel survey of private land
KELO: Navigator submits PUC permit application for CO2 pipeline
KHQA: Counties going through process to intervene in CO2 pipeline proposal
Radio Iowa: Iowa ag secretary candidates offer views on carbon pipeline projects
Los Angeles Times: Company responsible for O.C. oil spill gets permission to repair pipeline
Times of San Diego: Environmentalists Decry Plans to Reopen Pipeline in Massive 2021 Orange County Spill
Pocono Record: DEP taking comments on permits for natural gas pipeline in Luzerne, Monroe counties
WLDS: Pipeline Fire in Waverly Causes Brief Evacuation
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: Manchin push faces uncertain future after Senate flop
Politico: Battle-Lines Drawn On Permitting Comeback
The Hill: Exxon, Biden administration spar over fuel exports
InsideEPA: Former Officials Expect GOP To Prioritize Permitting For Hydrogen, NEPA
InsideEPA: Environmentalists Urge Senate To Toughen ‘Good Sam’ Mine Cleanup Bill
STATE UPDATES
Press release: Governor Newsom Calls for a Windfall Tax to Put Record Oil Profits Back in Californians’ Pockets
Press release: Indigenous and conservation groups to federal court: Protect Greater Chaco region from illegal fracking
E&E News: Texas wants oversight of CO2 wells. Other states may follow.
EXTRACTION
S&P Global: Troubled carbon capture projects dog US DOE ahead of new spending spree
CLIMATE FINANCE
The Hill: Fed announces pilot program on climate risk with six major banks
OPINION
Washington Post: Why force a dangerous, damaging and unnecessary pipeline?
The Hill: Manchin’s permit reform imploded — now what?
Guardian: America’s hardest-hit communities need Biden to declare a climate emergency
Bloomberg: The Finance Industry Needs Better Climate Disclosures
PIPELINE NEWS
WV News: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers 'disappointed' Manchin's bill removed, but remain committed to project
Charles Young, 10/2/22
“The developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project say they are disappointed Sen. Joe Manchin’s energy permit reform bill was scrapped, but are promising to press on with the project regardless,” WV News reports. “...While we are disappointed that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022 will not receive a vote at this time, MVP’s path to completion has not changed,” Natalie Cox, vice president of communications and corporate affairs for Equitrans Midstream, told WV News. “We have been working and will continue to work with relevant agencies for the reissuance of MVP’s previously issued Biological Opinion and permit to cross the Jefferson National Forest, as well as the issuance of the project’s 404 Permit related to waterbody/wetland crossings… “Manchin, in his statement announcing he had asked Schumer to pull the permitting reform bill, indicated he will try to pass the permitting bill again. “I stand ready to work with my colleagues to move forward on this critical legislation to meet the challenges of delivering affordable reliable energy Americans desperately need,” Manchin said… “The MVP project developers appreciate the continued support of both Manchin and Capito… “We applaud the efforts of senators Manchin and Capito who understand, and have been working to address, the permitting issues that are hindering America’s energy progress and diminishing our ability to execute a timely transition to clean energy,” Cox told WV News.
KTIV: Pipeline company seeks court order to compel survey of private land
Matt Hoffmann, 9/30/22
“It’s truly a first of its kind: A Woodbury County judge will decide how much power a carbon pipeline company has over private property,” KTIV reports. “The company, Navigator Heartland-Greenway, wants to build a for-profit pipeline across all three Siouxland states. The judge will have to decide one key issue: To what extent a private company can use the court system to conduct surveys on private land against the landowners will. Navigator representatives say they were threatened with arrest when they tried to survey the land of William and Vicki Hulse. A state law allows carbon pipelines to conduct surveys so long as they give landowners proper notice… “The Hulse family says the state law authorizing the surveys is unconstitutional. They also say Navigator never gave them proper notice. “Well, so the hazardous pipeline company wants to go against our clients property rights, and we’re saying they have to show irreparable harm if they’re not allowed to invade those rights. And they totally failed to prove that with any evidence,” Brian Jorde, a lawyer for the Hulse family, told KTIV. But the landowners have an uphill battle. They acknowledge laws passed by the General Assembly are presumed constitutional.”
KELO: Navigator submits PUC permit application for CO2 pipeline
Eric Mayer, 9/30/22
“A second company has filed paperwork with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to construct a carbon dioxide transmission pipeline,” KELO reports. “Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC officially submitted its application request to the PUC on Wednesday, asking for 111.9 miles of CO2 pipeline in South Dakota… “The PUC will hold public input meetings on Navigator’s application in November… “Sioux Falls-based POET, the world’s largest biofuels company, plans to use 18 of its 33 ethanol plants. In June, POET announced its partnership with Navigator and POET CEO Jeff Lautt said POET assessed Navigator’s project for more than a year. Lautt said the Navigator CO2 project will increase the value of ethanol and corn. “Today, the market for CO2 is only so large,” Lautt said. “Down the road (there is potential) for CO2 to be used in hydrogen and green methane.” Opponents of the Navigator proposal and other CO2 proposals such as Summit Carbon Solutions’ project say that CO2 is a safety and health hazard and that pipelines are at risk of leaking or rupturing. Others have said they are concerned about the use of eminent domain to secure easements for the pipeline or that large companies will reap big financial benefits at the expense of landowners.”
KHQA: Counties going through process to intervene in CO2 pipeline proposal
Zach Richardson, 10/1/22
“Mcdonough county has joined a few other counties to fight against a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline that will run through Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota,” KHQA reports. “..."You can complain as a member of the public to the Illinois Commerce Commission, but if you haven't filed a petition to intervene, which is more of a legal instrument, then your comments aren't concluded in the public record," Kirby told KHQA… “The McDonough County Board has been in contact with the state's attorney and have been advised to seek an outside council. Sangamon County, who has already completed the petition to intervene hired an outside council, including for the initial step of filing the petition.”
Radio Iowa: Iowa ag secretary candidates offer views on carbon pipeline projects
O. KAY HENDERSON, 9/30/33
“The two candidates for Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture debated carbon pipelines in a forum broadcast on Iowa’s Public Television Friday night, Radio Iowa reports. “Incumbent Republican Mike Naig says a significant percentage of land owners should agree to let carbon pipelines run through their property before any developer is granted eminent domain authority to acquire land from unwilling property owners… “John Norwood, a small business owner and Polk County Soil and Water Commissioner, is the Democrat who’s running against Naig. Norwood says all pipeline deals should be voluntary and the pipeline owners should make yearly payments to landowners and counties. Nowrood says the pipelines aren’t the right answer for the long term success of the ethanol industry.”
Los Angeles Times: Company responsible for O.C. oil spill gets permission to repair pipeline
CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD, 10/2/22
“The Houston-based company operating the oil pipeline that ruptured off Huntington Beach last fall announced Saturday that the government has green-lighted its plans to repair the pipeline, raising the possibility it will be operational again early next year,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “In a press release, Amplify Energy Corp. said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted it a permit to remove and replace damaged segments of the pipeline, a job that is estimated to take about a month. The pipeline runs from a plant in Long Beach to the Elly platform in federal waters off Huntington Beach. At least 25,000 gallons of crude oil gushed from the broken pipe last October, forcing a weeklong closure of beaches along the Orange County coast in October and a months-long shutdown of fisheries. In August, Amplify Energy and two of its subsidiaries pleaded guilty to negligently discharging oil and agreed to pay nearly $13 million in criminal fines and cleanup fees… “Last week, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in federal court, claiming the Biden administration was improperly allowing rigs in the oilfield off Huntington Beach to continue operating under outdated safety plans devised in the 1970s and 1980s. “It’s time to get these rusty relics out of our ocean,” Kristen Monsell, legal director of the Center’s Oceans program, said in a press release, comparing the aging oil platforms to “ticking time bombs.”
Times of San Diego: Environmentalists Decry Plans to Reopen Pipeline in Massive 2021 Orange County Spill
Debbie Sklar, 10/2/22
“Environmental advocates Saturday criticized the federal government’s decision to grant a permit for underwater repairs that they say will allow the restart of a 42-year-old pipeline that ruptured off Orange County in October 2021, releasing thousands of gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean,” the Times of San Diego reports. “...Last year’s spill was one of the largest in California in recent years, covering more than 8,000 acres. Beaches were closed for days, and the oil killed or injured thousands of birds and other marine wildlife and led to expensive cleanup efforts… “The Biden administration just ramped up the risk of yet another ugly oil spill on California’s beautiful coast,” Brady Bradshaw, a senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program, told the Times. “Unfortunately, people living near offshore drilling infrastructure are all too familiar with this abusive cycle of drill, spill, repeat. We need to quickly phase out all dangerous, failing offshore oil infrastructure, not issue more permits that invite the next disaster.” Garry Brown, founder and president of Orange County Coastkeeper, told the Times last year’s “devastating spill is still fresh in the minds of Orange County residents. As we witnessed firsthand, the deteriorating and unproductive platforms off Southern California’s coast are a constant risk to the health of humans and wildlife. It is well past time to decommission California’s offshore oil and gas infrastructure, and this irresponsible permit is a step in the wrong direction.” “...Earlier this week, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles federal against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for allegedly failing to review decades-old plans for offshore oil platforms near Huntington Beach. The filing alleges that the BOEM has allowed Platform Elly and other rigs in the Beta oil field to continue operating while relying on drilling and safety plans that were written and approved in the 1970s and 1980s.”
Pocono Record: DEP taking comments on permits for natural gas pipeline in Luzerne, Monroe counties
Kathryne Rubright, 10/3/22
“The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is taking comments on permit applications for a proposed natural gas expansion project that would add about 36 miles of pipeline in Luzerne and Monroe counties,” the Pocono Record reports. “Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC, a subsidiary of The Williams Companies, Inc., is seeking to expand the existing Transco pipeline, which runs from Texas to New York City. Doing so “will help ease supply constraints affecting customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, providing enough natural gas supply to serve approximately 3 million homes,” Transcontinental says… “If Transco’s application is approved, it would allow harmful open cuts across sensitive high quality and exceptional value streams, destroying riparian buffers and floodplain habitats across the watershed,” said Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum in a press release from the Delaware RiverkeeperNetwork. “We have documented damage from past pipelines using similar crossing and cutting techniques, so we urge the PADEP to deny the application based upon evidence of past harms.” “...About a year ago, PennEast canceled a proposed pipeline project in Pennsylvania and New Jersey due to not having received some of the required permits for the New Jersey portion. DEP will take comments regarding permit applications during a virtual public hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 5, and in writing through Wednesday, Oct. 12.”
WLDS: Pipeline Fire in Waverly Causes Brief Evacuation
Benjamin Cox, 10/3/22
“A fire from a natural gas pipeline caused several people to be evacuated from their homes in Waverly early this morning,” WLDS reports. “The Morgan County Emergency Management Office reports that approximately 12:30 this morning fire departments from Morgan, Sangamon, and Macoupin counties along with law enforcement agencies from Morgan County, the City of Jacksonville, the Illinois State Police and surrounding counties responded to a fire from a natural gas pipeline owned by Energy Transfer on Panhandle Road just south of Waverly. Some residents were required to be evacuated from their homes for a brief period of time; however, everyone has been allowed to return. Morgan County ESDA reports that the pipeline was quickly shut off and allowed the fire to safely burn out. There were no injuries reported.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: Manchin push faces uncertain future after Senate flop
RACHEL FRAZIN, 9/29/22
“Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) push to speed up the pace of energy infrastructure approvals faces an uncertain future after the proposal couldn’t garner enough support when attached to a must-pass government-funding bill,” The Hill reports. “...On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he, Manchin and others “will continue to have conversations about the best way to ensure responsible permitting reform is passed before the end of the year.” Manchin a day after the measure was pulled indicated that he’d like to work with his West Virginia colleague Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R) on compromise legislation… “Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have indicated that they want to keep talking. “We’ve got to let the dust settle and then we have to keep negotiating,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told The Hill. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told The Hill he wanted to see more people at the table and more “teeth” for the timelines compared to Manchin’s proposal… “Any effort to get permitting reform across the finish line moving forward will likely require a delicate balance: shifting it rightward enough to garner Republican support, but not so far to the right that it loses Democrats worried about climate change and pollution. A vehicle is also an issue. It’s conceivable that the legislation could be approved as a stand-alone measure, but given time constraints it is more likely to pass if it is attached to another must-pass piece of legislation. The National Defense Authorization Act and an omnibus government funding measure are two possibilities, though some are already saying the defense bill should only include measures specific to national defense. “I’d rather see germane amendments,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told The Hill. “I don’t know that that is the path forward right now,” she told The Hill, of putting permitting reform into the defense bill.
Politico: Battle-Lines Drawn On Permitting Comeback
9/29/22
“Democratic climate hawks are warning they won’t cave to Republican demands to earn the GOP votes needed to make a second go at passing a permitting reform bill,” Politico reports. “If we are going to start a new negotiation, everyone should understand it can’t only be a movement toward the Republican side of the ledger,’ Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) told Politico. Republicans are expressing a newfound interest in forging a compromise that isn’t linked to Democrats’ passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. But Democrats such as Smith are wary of ceding leverage and are insisting that any future bill maintains reforms included in Sen. Joe Manchin’s effort that would give the federal government sweeping powers to permit transmission lines. “Certainly, none of the other stuff is moving without transmission,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) told Politico, referring to GOP priorities such as advancing the Mountain Valley Pipeline. ‘That is the single biggest bottleneck for renewable energy projects at the moment.’ Republicans, though, are still skeptical of giving more authority to FERC, despite maintaining their interest in reaching a deal with Democrats. “That from a policy basis was one of the problems,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told Politico. “I wouldn’t support a federal takeover of the system. My hope is they could work those out, and by the end of the year, we can get a permitting bill through.’”
The Hill: Exxon, Biden administration spar over fuel exports
RACHEL FRAZIN, 9/30/22
“ExxonMobil and the Biden administration are feuding over fuel exports after Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm asked industry to limit its shipments abroad amid high fuel prices,” The Hill reports. “This week, Exxon CEO Darren Woods wrote a letter to the administration, apparently disagreeing with its position that limiting exports would help U.S. consumers. “Continuing current Gulf Coast exports is essential to efficiently rebalance markets—particularly with diverted Russian supplies,” said the letter, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Reducing global supply by limiting U.S. exports to build region-specific inventory will only aggravate the global supply shortfall.” Granholm on Friday released a statement criticizing the company’s profits, and saying that company “misreads” the current situation. “This week’s letter from a company that made nearly $200M in profit every single day last quarter, misreads the moment we are in. The fact is this: Energy companies are making record profits, with refiners and retailers also posting margins that are well above average — while passing the costs on to consumers,” she said. “This is a time for American energy companies to take action to lower prices for consumers and to rebuild inventories of gasoline and diesel in this country that are below the five-year range,” she added. In August, the Biden administration called on the country’s fuel refineries to limit exports of refined products like gasoline and diesel fuels.”
InsideEPA: Former Officials Expect GOP To Prioritize Permitting For Hydrogen, NEPA
9/29/22
“Former Republican officials are expressing confidence that GOP lawmakers will continue to prioritize measures to streamline energy permitting in the coming months, even as many in the party opposed Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) proposal to ease permitting for a wide range of energy projects,” InsideEPA reports. “There’s still an opportunity before the end of this Congress to reach a deal on permitting reform and Sen. Manchin said he’s going to try and work with his Republican colleagues to do that,” Kellie Donnelly, a former Republican chief counsel on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said during a Sept. 29 event hosted by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Even if permitting policy negotiations are not fruitful this Congress, ‘it will certainly be a priority in the 118th Congress, regardless of who’s in charge, but this is a big priority for the Republican caucus,’ added Donnelly, the executive vice president and general counsel at Lot Sixteen, a bipartisan lobbying group. … Underscoring that many of the individual aspects of the bill could remain in play if lawmakers try again to negotiate a permitting bill in the lame-duck session, Donnelly specifically applauded an aspect of the bill that would have clarified regulatory authority for hydrogen pipelines that some groups see as a low-carbon alternative to natural gas.”
InsideEPA: Environmentalists Urge Senate To Toughen ‘Good Sam’ Mine Cleanup Bill
9/29/22
“Environmentalists are urging senators to strengthen pending legislation that seeks to ease potential environmental liabilities for Good Samaritans that volunteer to remediate abandoned hardrock mines, including providing a dedicated funding source, requiring EPA to write Superfund financial assurance rules, preserving citizen suit rights and ending liability waivers if water quality worsens,” InsideEPA reports. :During a Sept. 29 joint hearing before the Senate environment committee’s waste and water subcommittees, Lauren Pagel, policy director at Earthworks, testified that while her group supports the bill’s goal of cleaning up hardrock mines, other actions are needed to assist in remediating contamination from thousands of abandoned hardrock mines. ‘Good Samaritan policies can assist in addressing the problem of abandoned mines, but Good Samaritans alone are not the solution to cleaning up the hundreds of thousands of old mines in the West,’ Pagel testified to the subcommittees. But Pagel warned that waiving liability from ‘bedrock environmental laws’ could undermine the protective purpose of those statutes, ‘especially when those actions may cause increased pollution and harm to surrounding communities.’”
STATE UPDATES
Press release: Governor Newsom Calls for a Windfall Tax to Put Record Oil Profits Back in Californians’ Pockets
9/30/22
“As Californians see renewed spikes in gas prices, Governor Gavin Newsom today called for a windfall tax on oil companies that would go directly back to California taxpayers. While crude oil prices are down, oil companies have increased gas prices in California by a record 84 cents per gallon in just the last 10 days. At the end of August, crude oil prices were roughly $100 per barrel, and the average gas price in California was $5.06; now, even though the price of oil has decreased to $85 per barrel, the average gas price at the pump has surged to $6.29. Meanwhile, oil companies have raked in unprecedented profits on the backs of hard-working Californians – nearly $100 billion in the last three months alone. Oil companies have failed to provide an explanation for the unprecedented divergence between prices in California compared to the national average. “Crude oil prices are down but oil and gas companies have jacked up prices at the pump in California. This doesn’t add up,” said Governor Newsom. “We’re not going to stand by while greedy oil companies fleece Californians. Instead, I’m calling for a windfall tax to ensure excess oil profits go back to help millions of Californians who are getting ripped off.” Earlier today, Governor Newsom directed the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to make an early transition to winter-blend gasoline, and CARB took prompt action. This change is expected to immediately increase oil supplies by 5-10% and drop gas prices. When California did this in 2012, gas prices dropped by 25 cents within two weeks.”
Press release: Indigenous and conservation groups to federal court: Protect Greater Chaco region from illegal fracking
9/29/22
“Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit heard oral arguments related to the Trump administration’s illegal approval of more than 370 drilling permits in the Greater Chaco region of northwest New Mexico. Attorneys with the Biden administration defended the Trump administration’s illegal drilling permits, even as President Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland have embarked on the “Honoring Chaco Initiative,” a new collaborative process to address the need for landscape-level management reforms. With Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico at its center, the Greater Chaco Landscape is held sacred by Indigenous Nations and Tribes throughout the Americas. For years now, the Greater Chaco region, its peoples, and its cultural fabric have experienced an onslaught of increased drilling and fracking for oil and gas in the region, negatively impacting public health, air, water, climate, and cultural resources. In 2019, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had illegally approved drilling permits in the Greater Chaco region, failing to analyze the cumulative impacts of oil and gas activities. In spite of the ruling, the Trump administration upheld hundreds of drilling permits, authorizing oil and gas companies to drill and frack extensively in the region. In response, Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, WildEarth Guardians, San Juan Citizens Alliance, and the Sierra Club, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, filed suit again to block the drilling permits. Today’s arguments centered around whether the Trump administration violated federal law and whether more than 370 drilling permits should be overturned.”
E&E News: Texas wants oversight of CO2 wells. Other states may follow.
Carlos Anchondo, 10/3/22
“Texas is asking EPA for authority to issue permits for carbon dioxide wells for geologic storage, in a bid to turn the nation’s largest emitter into a hub for the growing carbon capture industry,” E&E News reports. “The Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the state’s oil and gas industry, plans to submit an application to EPA to obtain primary enforcement authority, or “primacy,” over wells that are used to inject carbon dioxide deep into underground formations. If successful, the Lone Star State would join just two other states, North Dakota and Wyoming, to have that authority over so-called Class VI wells. Louisiana also applied for primacy last year. The move comes as EPA, which maintains primacy in all other states and territories, faces criticism for the lengthy permitting process for Class VI wells, which are used for long-term geologic storage of CO2. Supporters of carbon capture believe that granting more states primacy could help speed up the process — especially as more companies seek to build such wells to take advantage of expanded tax incentives in the new climate law… “EPA is currently developing a new Class VI grant program, EPA spokesperson Tim Carroll told E&E. He said the agency is doing outreach and consultation and will update an implementation memo at a future date. Some developers are already choosing to start projects in states that have primacy… “EPA has so far issued permits for two Class VI wells, both for the Archer Daniels Midland ethanol facility in central Illinois, according to the agency’s website. A June post from the law firm Mayer Brown LLP, which advises clients in the oil, gas and power sectors, notes that for both of the ADM permits, “the time from application submission to issuance was approximately three years.” By comparison, it took less than five months for the North Dakota Industrial Commission to approve the Class VI well for Red Trail Energy LLC’s carbon capture and storage project, the first allowed under state primacy.”
EXTRACTION
S&P Global: Troubled carbon capture projects dog US DOE ahead of new spending spree
Karin Rives, 9/29/22
“In early 2019, the city manager of Farmington, N.M., delivered exciting news about the San Juan power plant, which at the time was set to retire in 2022. The city had hired a Washington law firm to market the aging coal-fired facility and within weeks, a little-known New York City hedge fund, Acme Equities, was chosen to transform and revitalize the plant,” S&P Global reports. “The plan drew support from the federal government. Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes traveled to New Mexico to talk about the San Juan carbon capture project at a roundtable discussion with the hedge fund's development firm, Enchant Energy, and staff of the city Farmington, which is southeast of the power plant. "This would absolutely be a game changer, propelling them to world leadership in [carbon capture, utilization and storage] application," Menezes said in October 2020. "It is our hope that Enchant Energy gets the green light to activate its plans." But less than two years after the meeting, that optimism has largely fizzled out. San Juan's majority owner and operator, PNM Resources Inc. utility subsidiary Public Service Co. of New Mexico, is planning on closing the last operating unit, the 507-MW Unit 4, by the end of September and is taking steps to demolish the facility as required by a 2021 county ordinance. The San Juan mine, which served the coal plant, stopped production earlier in September and is also set to close. The San Juan plant is not the only carbon capture project receiving funds from the federal government that has struggled to become operational. With a lot more money coming, how the U.S. government allocates it will be critical. A 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the federal government has invested $1.1 billion on carbon capture and storage demonstration projects at coal-fired power plants since 2009, but with little success… “With the passage of recent federal legislation, a lot more federal money is on the way to study and test carbon capture technology, including at several other coal-fired plants… “All that potential spending has led to calls for more accountability when the projects do not pan out. "The government must be pushed to learn lessons from prior spending programs," Simon Nicholson, director of American University's Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy, told S&P. "In this case, that means being highly skeptical about investments attached to fossil fuel facilities that are nearing the ends of their working lifespans."
CLIMATE FINANCE
The Hill: Fed announces pilot program on climate risk with six major banks
ZACK BUDRYK, 9/30/22
“The Federal Reserve Board will enlist six major U.S. banks in a pilot climate risk analysis program, officials announced Thursday,” The Hill reports. “Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo will participate in the pilot as part of the Federal Reserve’s attempt to determine the financial risk associated with natural disasters and climate change. The exercise will have no consequences to capital, and while data from its findings will be published, none of the banks will be identified by name. The analysis, set to begin in 2023, will be distinct from the “stress tests” the central bank uses to determine whether financial institutions have sufficient capital to loan during major recessions, according to the announcement. “The climate scenario analysis exercise, on the other hand, is exploratory in nature and does not have capital consequences. By considering a range of possible future climate pathways and associated economic and financial developments, scenario analysis can assist firms and supervisors in understanding how climate-related financial risks may manifest and differ from historical experience,” the Fed board said in its announcement… “Although international financial institutions are in broad agreement on the need for such analysis, it has caught the ire of congressional Republicans, who have accused the Fed of exceeding its mandate.”
OPINION
Washington Post: Why force a dangerous, damaging and unnecessary pipeline?
Tom Cormons is executive director of Appalachian Voices, 9/30/22
“It was disappointing to see the Sept. 26 editorial “Mr. Manchin’s ‘Big Oil side deal’ ” in favor of Sen. Joe Manchin III’s (D-W.Va.) attempt to force approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, along with an industry wish-list package of permitting “reforms,” Tom Cormons writes for the Washington Post. “The pipeline is a climate disaster in waiting, and its backers have repeatedly proved they cannot follow the law. The editorial focused on one bill provision that would supposedly speed the permitting and construction of electric transmission lines. Though the editorial was correct that improving that process is important to reducing climate-changing emissions, there is no acceptable reason addressing grid issues must be packaged with fossil fuel giveaways and unprecedented congressional interference in the approval process for a dangerous, damaging and unnecessary pipeline — with the whole mess shoved into must-pass legislation. Improving the infrastructure development process for clean energy also requires early and meaningful public participation to find workable solutions and must not sacrifice bedrock environmental protections. Objecting to this effort to steamroll legislation that could never pass on its own is not a “gratuitous squabble.” It is a vital fight for landowners and communities that have been harmed by construction of the uniquely dangerous Mountain Valley Pipeline. It is standing up against the undue influence of fossil fuel interests that are trying to subvert the judicial process. The senators who successfully fought back this effort to hold government hostage to passage of this awful proposal deserve praise. Improving the speed of transmission line development is important — but this is not the way to get that done.”
The Hill: Manchin’s permit reform imploded — now what?
Jeremy Symons is principal of Symons Public Affairs. He was the project manager of Climate 21, a blueprint for “whole-of-government” presidential climate leadership, 9/30/22
“To solve climate change, America needs an enormous buildout of clean energy infrastructure, manufacturing and supply chains. The recent failed attempt to enact Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) permitting plan provides friends and foes alike breathing room to step back and take a deeper look at what is needed on federal permitting reform, and to find the best path to get there,” Jeremy Symons writes for The Hill. “The demise of the Manchin plan was the surest display yet of the rising political clout of the environmental justice movement. Frontline communities led a coalition of national environmental groups and other allies to successfully derail the Manchin plan, which was drafted without any input from communities already overburdened with toxic pollution… “It shouldn’t be lost, however, that the fight on the Manchin permitting plan also caused a rare split among Democratic climate hawks, and that some of the clean energy business lobby supported Manchin’s approach… “Chasing Republican votes for a resurrected Manchin plan would require a devil’s bargain. The GOP counter-proposal includes major rewrites to weaken the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act, as well as a prohibition against considering the costs of climate change in issuing permits. Concessions in this direction will surely strengthen resistance among Democrats… “One promising bill is the Environmental Justice for All Act, which require federal agencies to provide early and meaningful community involvement opportunities. The bill was developed transparently with extensive and inclusive input from communities across the nation. The bill already has the support of 14 Senate Democrats, 106 House Democrats and 175 environmental, environmental justice, civil rights and allied organizations.”
Guardian: America’s hardest-hit communities need Biden to declare a climate emergency
Mustafa Santiago Ali is executive vice-president for the National Wildlife Federation, 9/28/22
“Millions of people across the United States have witnessed, often tragically, how the climate crisis is here and levying steep costs on communities. Black, Indigenous, and other frontline communities, including those in my home state of West Virginia, are experiencing these impacts – measured in lives lost, homes destroyed, and livelihoods upended – first and worst,” Mustafa Santiago Ali writes for the Guardian. “...President Biden should step into the breach and declare a climate emergency… “By declaring a national climate emergency, President Biden could unlock additional authorities to address these and other climate impacts. This declaration also would set the tone heading into the COP27 gathering in Egypt, which will be focused on the global climate crisis. An emergency declaration also could unlock funding to hasten the transition to a clean economy and help communities and wildlife populations cope with the changing climate. Under an emergency order, Fema and other agencies could accelerate investment in climate-resilience and preparation for climate-fueled disasters like we witnessed and thousands endured throughout Appalachia this summer. Could the president achieve these ends through normal rule-making processes? Potentially, but we know industry-funded litigation would drag the process out for years, delaying the sweeping, necessary changes our communities and wildlife so desperately need today. And could Congress also step into the breach? They should, but we cannot afford to wait for congressional gridlock to break yet again. My grandmother used to say if you know better, do better. The president gets it when it comes to the threat climate change poses to Black people and other frontline communities. He now needs to show Congress, the states, and the world what doing better looks like in practice. Our lives depend on it.”
Bloomberg: The Finance Industry Needs Better Climate Disclosures
John Kostyack is an adviser to the Sierra Club and other nonprofits and foundations that promote sustainable investing, 9/29/22
“Secretary Yellen rightly celebrates the Inflation Reduction Act, John Kostyack says, but the law shines a light on an urgent problem that she and other regulators must address in the financial industry—undisclosed climate risk,” John Kostyack writes for Bloomberg. “... But as chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Yellen is also obliged to address economic risks associated with these dramatic changes. Last year, the FSOC expressed concerns about the emerging threat of a climate-related financial crisis, including transition risks that arise when businesses and financial institutions aren’t prepared to shift to a clean energy economy. Among the top FSOC recommendations was for a Securities and Exchange Commission mandate that public companies disclose these risks to their investors. A proposed mandate is pending and expected to be finalized this year. Financial experts fear that lack of attention to hidden climate risk could lead to a “green swan” event, or a sudden and widespread asset deflation that devastates the global economy… “The question facing the SEC is how to provide a disclosure format that enables investors to evaluate companies’ preparedness for these changes, and efficiently allocate capital to those that are truly prepared. The most important step will be to require standardized and comprehensive GHG emissions disclosures. A particular component of these disclosures will be especially important for investors: Scope 3 emissions, or the emissions of customers and suppliers, are a critical measure of transition risk for many companies… “Once the rule is finalized and climate risks are fully disclosed, climate risk-aware investors will be empowered to allocate their dollars to businesses that are taking a thoughtful approach to the twin challenges of decarbonization and resilience to climate change impact.”