EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/1/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Nebraska Examiner: Bold Nebraska’s Jane Kleeb exchanges pipeline fight for clean energy with $3 million award
Lincoln Journal-Star: Nebraska's Jane Kleeb receives $3 million grant to fund clean energy advocacy
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Jane Kleeb Receives 2023 Climate Breakthrough Award to Pursue Transformative Climate Action
Topeka Capital-Journal: 10 months after Keystone Pipeline's largest oil spill, water is flowing again in Kansas creek
Kansas City Star: Over 650,000 gallons of oil recovered while cleaning up Kansas Keystone Pipeline spill
RBN Energy: Fierce Opposition, Lack Of Regulatory Framework Squeeze CO2 Pipeline Projects
WEEK: Staff recommends state reject Wolf Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline proposal
Manchester Press: Navigator Heartland Greenway cancels pipeline project
Prairie Public Broadcasting: Meetings scheduled in Bismarck for the Dakota Access Pipeline's draft Environmental Impact Statement
Law360: Va. Landowners Want Verdict Reinstated Against Pipeline Co.
Rigzone: Enterprise Begins Four Midstream Projects for Support Permian Basin Growth
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Bloomberg: Schumer Urges US FTC Probe of Exxon, Chevron Mega-Deals
E&E News: Senate Republicans introduce bill to limit NEPA lawsuits
The New Yorker: A Smoking Gun for Biden’s Big Climate Decision?
Bloomberg: Biden Alaska Oil Plan Seen As Threat To Future Drilling
Common Dreams: 'Real Solutions, No Bullsh-t': Action Targets Biden DOE Over Climate Scams, Greenwashing
STATE UPDATES
GeekWire: How the Pacific Northwest could become a carbon-capture hub — with help from tech and basalt
Oregonian: Oregon natural gas utility can’t ask customers to pay for political spending, new pipelines
Guardian: Pittsburgh in ‘extreme embrace’ with fossil fuel lobbyists, research finds
Daily Breeze: Public hearings scheduled for oil storage facility expansion at Port of Long Beach
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Clash Over ‘Fossil Fuels’ Pits U.A.E. Against Public Health Expert
Lakeland Today: Pathways Alliance begins information sessions on proposed carbon capture project
CBC: A wall in a wetland: Inside the growing opposition to expansion of an oilsands mine
Bloomberg: Alberta Urges Trudeau to Include Oil in Indigenous Loan Program
Financial Times: Big Oil’s big bet
‘New York Times: Shipping Contributes Heavily to Climate Change. Are Green Ships the Solution?
‘Vox: Why more fossil fuel workers aren’t joining the clean energy revolution
Bloomberg: What Are Carbon Offsets? Are They a Credible Climate Solution?
Press release: FRACKING SCIENCE COMPENDIUM 9.0 International Release & Briefing Webinar
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: Biden’s climate fight now has a Fed problem
Guardian: Banks pumped more than $150bn in to companies running ‘carbon bomb’ projects in 2022
OPINION
Cleburne Times-Review: Letter: Much to fear from proposed carbon-capture project
Globe and Mail: The perils of promising a costless energy transition
FOX News: Biden's War On Oil Drilling Threatens To Kill His Own Green Energy Goals: 'A Lot Of Uncertainty'
The Hill: Ideology First, Reality Last: Biden’s Offshore Energy Leasing Program
PIPELINE NEWS
Nebraska Examiner: Bold Nebraska’s Jane Kleeb exchanges pipeline fight for clean energy with $3 million award
AARON SANDERFORD, 11/1/23
“Jane Kleeb, the chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, has been teasing for weeks on social media about a “big surprise,” and several political insiders have speculated she was eyeing a run for the U.S. Senate. Instead, she confirmed this week that she is taking on a new project in her work with Bold Nebraska, thanks to a big infusion of cash,” the Nebraska Examiner reports. “Bold Nebraska is the group Kleeb founded in 2010 to organize farmers, ranchers and Native Americans to push back against the Keystone XL Pipeline. This week, that work led to a $3 million international award. Kleeb was announced Wednesday as the third American to receive the Climate Breakthrough Award. She was joined this year by Indonesia’s Gita Syahrani in receiving the award. She will receive funding for multiple years to invest in organizing similar rural alliances to embrace alternative or green energy sources such as solar and wind power. She will hand off Bold Nebraska’s pipeline work to an employee and focus on building rural trust after “years of misinformation and disinformation by the fossil fuel companies.” “We’ve been part of those discussions a lot of rural communities are having around clean energy, but we’ve never had the resources to organize like we organize on pipelines,” Kleeb said. The award will nearly triple Bold Nebraska’s budget, Kleeb said. The recognition will help the group raise more money from larger foundations focused on climate change. She said the group’s clean energy efforts would go national after proving its concept in Nebraska, an ag state; North Dakota, an oil state; and Michigan, a Democratic-leaning state… “One of her key goals will be working with landowners and rural residents to design ways to profit from clean energy projects, much like Alaskans do from oil drilling… “The Climate Breakthrough Project, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, spends much of its money investing in what it describes as “big bet, transformational efforts” rather than incremental progress. It is a joint effort of the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, the Oak Foundation and the Good Energies Foundation, started in 2016, that funds one to three people each year. Candidates are chosen and interviewed. They do not apply. Savanna Ferguson, executive director of Climate Breakthrough, called Kleeb “an inspiring leader.” “Now,” Ferguson said of Kleeb, “she’s setting her sights on even more ambitious goals.”
Lincoln Journal-Star: Nebraska's Jane Kleeb receives $3 million grant to fund clean energy advocacy
Andrew Wegley, 11/1/213
“After years of fighting eminent domain as an anti-pipeline climate activist, Nebraska's Jane Kleeb is turning her attention to advocating for the development of clean energy — a cause she will take up with a boost from a global, climate-focused philanthropic organization,” the Lincoln Journal-Star reports. “Climate Breakthrough this week named Kleeb as one of two recipients of the 2023 Climate Breakthrough Award, which comes with a multiyear grant worth $3 million to help fund the Hastings woman's "transformative climate effort," the organization said in a news release… “Kleeb, who in 2010 founded Bold Nebraska to protect land and water from the Keystone XL pipeline, expanded the organization in 2016 into a national network of pipeline fighters called the Bold Alliance. But for Kleeb, that fight is over. The 50-year-old will instead focus on advocating for clean energy development through the same means she used to successfully fight the Keystone XL pipeline: by building perhaps unexpected alliances of farmers, ranchers, indigenous leaders and climate campaigners in rural America, starting in Nebraska. She plans to use the funding to build alliances among those communities and break down growing opposition to renewable energy development in rural communities — where the land necessary to build clean energy sources exists. Kleeb said she plans to counter opposition in part through what she calls the American Energy Dividend, which would call for residents of areas that host renewable energy developments — such as solar or wind farms — to receive annual payments for their community's contributions… “She said Bold Alliance will also help provide expertise to elected officials in rural counites who are often serving in volunteer capacities and aren't themselves experts in clean energy development. Kleeb's effort — which will be boosted by an annual $1 million grant from Climate Breakthrough for the next three years — will kick off with pilot programs in North Dakota, Michigan and Nebraska, where renewable energy-focused companies Google and Facebook have planned new or expanded data centers in recent years.”
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Jane Kleeb Receives 2023 Climate Breakthrough Award to Pursue Transformative Climate Action
11/1/23
“Jane Kleeb of the United States has been named as a recipient of the 2023 Climate Breakthrough Award, the largest climate funding for individuals, award organizer and global philanthropy Climate Breakthrough said today. Jane will receive US$3 million in multiyear, flexible funding along with comprehensive capacity-building resources to build alliances among rural Americans and advocate clean energy development that is beneficial to local residents. Known as a key figure behind the successful fight against the Keystone XL pipeline, Jane is one of two recipients (the other is Gita Syahrani of Indonesia) for the distinguished award this year. They join 17 previous Climate Breakthrough Awardees who have used their funding to create or scale novel initiatives with strong breakthrough potential to tackle the climate crisis… “I am honored to have our collective work recognized by Climate Breakthrough. The past decade of stopping risky pipelines with unlikely alliances changed the status quo of climate organizing. I am excited and ready to take on the challenge of building clean energy across rural America with a new economic and cultural model that brings energy freedom and land justice,” said Jane Kleeb. Jane plans to use the funding to build alliances among those communities around their land preservation, break down opposition to renewable energy development, and advocate clean energy development that is beneficial to local residents through what she calls the “American Energy Dividend.” Jane is the third awardee from the United States, following Denise Fairchild in 2021 and Bruce Nilles in 2017… “Candidates are scouted (no unsolicited applications), vetted rigorously and exhaustively, and then invited to in-depth interviews on their leadership skills and breakthrough ideas. In addition to the $3 million grant, awardees receive separate funding for capacity-building services such as executive coaching, fundraising and communications support, legal support, and third-party impact and learning evaluations. Eligible awardees may also receive a $600,000 matching grant toward the end of the grant period to attract follow-on funding and further support their work. “If anyone ever deserved a Climate Breakthrough Award, it is Jane. I have never worked with anybody who’s worked harder, smarter, or in a better spirit,” said Bill McKibben, Author, Educator, Environmentalist, Founder of 350.org and ThirdAct.org. “Congratulations, Jane. Thank you for bringing the same spirit that you brought to the pipeline fights to the movement to make sure that rural communities are given access to the wealth that is created by clean energy,” said Justin Pearson, Tennessee State Representative, US.”
Topeka Capital-Journal: 10 months after Keystone Pipeline's largest oil spill, water is flowing again in Kansas creek
Jason Alatidd, 10/31/23
“It took 10 months, but water is now flowing naturally in the Kansas creek that was contaminated by an oil spill last year,” the Topeka Capital-Journal reports. “...The Dec. 7 oil spill in Washington County was the largest oil spill in the history of TC Energy's Keystone Pipeline and the largest onshore oil spill since 2014. The EPA reported that more than 650,000 gallons of oil were recovered, including oil still in the pipeline after it ruptured. Nearly 13,000 barrels of crude oil — or 546,000 gallons — were released in the spill, TC Energy reported to shareholders in July… “The TC Energy report to investors estimated environmental remediation would cost the company nearly $800 million. That amount could be reduced by insurance, with nearly $200 million from insurance at that point, but the cost could increase due to fines and penalties. That cost estimate is up from a previous report to shareholders of $650 million and the $480 million a company executive told legislators in a March hearing… “The report cited "gaps in company standards, policies, and administrative controls" for its design, as well as shortcomings in construction that created significant stress on the pipeline. The pipeline operator previously said it would investigate other locations with similar characteristics, but the company didn't say how many there were or whether any were in Kansas.”
Kansas City Star: Over 650,000 gallons of oil recovered while cleaning up Kansas Keystone Pipeline spill
KATIE MOORE, 10/31/23
“More than 650,000 gallons of oil were recovered during a cleanup effort in Kansas that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared complete on Tuesday,” the Kansas City Star reports. “The Keystone Pipeline rupture detected on Dec. 7, 2022, near Washington, about 175 miles northwest of Kansas City, dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of crude oil into Mill Creek. The massive spill prompted a nearly 24/7 oil recovery phase which ended Jan. 29. Crews continued working on areas with submerged oil until May when efforts turned to stream restoration. The cleanup required treating more than 54 million gallons of contaminated surface water, which was discharged back into Mill Creek. About 200,000 tons of soil, sediment and other debris were excavated and removed, the EPA said in a news release. During a visual inspection on Oct. 13, officials said the creek was flowing naturally after a diversion system and berms were removed. The federal agency said staff spent more than 6,000 hours on the cleanup. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue to monitor the creek for the next five years or until they determine monitoring is no longer needed. A report released in May by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said the rupture was caused by a combination of faulty welding and extreme pressure causing the pipeline, owned by TC Energy, to deform. It was the largest spill in the Keystone pipeline’s history and larger than all its previous 22 spills combined.”
RBN Energy: Fierce Opposition, Lack Of Regulatory Framework Squeeze CO2 Pipeline Projects
Jason Lindquist, 10/30/23
“When Navigator CO 2 Ventures decided to pull the plug on its long-planned Heartland Greenway project, a vast network that would have captured carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from dozens of ethanol producers in the Midwest and Great Plains then piped them hundreds of miles for permanent sequestration, it was a significant setback for the Biden administration’s climate goals,” RBN Energy reports. “More than that, it showed how large-scale carbon-capture projects face opposition from seemingly all sides and how the lack of a meaningful regulatory framework at the federal level only adds to the industry’s challenges… “But convincing the public (and some environmental groups) to go along with CCS plans has been difficult for a variety of reasons, and there’s no meaningful regulatory framework at the federal level to help move these projects forward… “Heartland Greenway and others have faced pushback from affected landowners and advocacy groups for a number of reasons, including risks to public safety, skepticism around climate-change initiatives, a perceived lack of transparency on the part of project developers, and opposition to the potential use of eminent domain to secure the rights-of-way necessary to build a project… “As a consequence, project developers like Navigator have faced resistance in securing voluntary agreements with the hundreds of landowners needed for a CO 2 pipeline’s rights-of-way… “There have also been regulatory interventions and legislative efforts to limit state eminent domain authority for such projects… “The regulatory environment for CO 2 pipelines at the state and local level is so important because there is no siting or eminent domain authority for them at the federal level, unlike with natural gas pipelines… “Changes to the federal framework might be necessary but it would be a huge undertaking. It was FERC that decided it did not have jurisdiction for CO 2 pipelines under the NGA, so, in theory, it could also decide otherwise. In reality, that would encounter stiff opposition and likely have low odds of success… “And any attempt to use the NGA’s eminent domain provisions for CO 2 pipelines would surely result in lengthy court battles, as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are already regularly challenging its use for natural gas pipelines. The most realistic path forward is a legislative modification of the NGA to specifically include CO 2 , although that also feels like a long-shot in the current environment, given the widespread opposition to CO 2 pipelines from both ends of the political spectrum, along with the public pushback.”
WEEK: Staff recommends state reject Wolf Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline proposal
Lizzie Seils, 10/31/23
“Staffers responsible for looking over Wolf Carbon Solution’s proposed plan for a CO2 pipeline are telling the state they should reject the proposal, citing several issues,” WEEK reports. “In dozens of pages of testimony to the Illinois Commerce Commission, Engineer Brett Seagle with ICC recommended the state deny the certificate of authority needed by WCS to construct and operate the pipeline. “There are certain forms, permits, or permissions that, for various reasons, [WCS] has not obtained prior to the filing of my direct testimony,” Seagle said in the filing… “The power brokers in Peoria and around the state are looking at everything that is being said about the issue and siding with the residents,” Peoria resident and pipeline opposed Daurice Coaster told WEEK in reaction. She plans to continue her work challenging the project… “The group is happy but cautiously optimistic,” Elton Rocke, spokesperson for the Tazewell County: Stop the CO2 Pipeline told WEEK of the testimony. “I think everybody realizes the safety aspects of this is just terrible... It’s going to be a nightmare for the farmers and they don’t put every bit into the easement of their projects... if they don’t get a good lawyer. they’re going to suffer down the road.” “...In multiple discussions with the public, WCS has said they do not plan to use eminent domain to gain access to the land. However, Seagle seemed skeptical that the public would be willing to negotiate with the company, citing the unpopularity reflected in the public comments. “Using eminent domain to obtain an overwhelming majority of the land for a project demonstrates that it is not in the public interest or public benefit,” Seagle testified. It does not seem like WCS has started the negotiation process with landowners.”
Manchester Press: Navigator Heartland Greenway cancels pipeline project
Mike Putz, 11/1/23
“At least for the time being, David has beaten Goliath. Navigator Heartland Greenway, citing the “unpredictable nature of the regulatory and government processes involved, particularly in South Dakota and Iowa” has canceled its plan to run a carbon dioxide capture pipeline through Iowa,” the Manchester Press reports. “...The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) also released a statement expressing disappointment. “Over the last year, we have been disappointed with the amount of disinformation that has been spread among the public and the regulators across multiple states,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “That does not happen by accident. Rather, it is being pushed by groups who oppose modern agriculture and whose stated mission is to destroy farming as we know it.” “...Navigator’s announcement surprised Delaware County Supervisors and at least one county resident who had opposed the project. “I was tickled when I got the call,” Supervisor Shirley Helmrichs told the Press. “I was surprised and very happy for our landowners, our schools and our cities. I think it’s going to save us a lot of health issues for some people, both physically and mentally, who were anguishing over their farm ground being torn up.” “...Delaware County farmer John Hoffman, whose farm was in the path of the pipeline, told the Press Navigator’s decision caught him off guard. And while he was happy to hear the decision, he’s not convinced the pipeline issue is over… “Our thinking is someone else will take over the pipeline eventually. I don’t think they are going to roll over that easy,” Hoffman told the Press. Hoffman told the Press he didn’t believe a large company like Navigator was ready for a fight from a grassroots organization of landowners. “They weren’t prepared for us to be that organized to fight them,” he told the Press. “The key was that people were really upset with the fact that they (Navigator) were going to come in and take your land whether you want them to have it or not. That was the biggest push, that someone was going to come in and take something that is yours, for private gain. That doesn’t fly very well in Iowa.”
Prairie Public Broadcasting: Meetings scheduled in Bismarck for the Dakota Access Pipeline's draft Environmental Impact Statement
Dave Thompson, 11/1/23
“The US Army Corps of Engineers will be holding meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Bismarck concerning its draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline,” Prairie Public Broadcasting reports. “...The Corps is only looking at the easement for the pipeline to cross underneath Lake Oahe. Corps operations division chief Sheila Newman of the Omaha District told PPB the Corps has five alternatives – abandon the pipeline under the lake and remove it, abandon that section of pipeline in place and stop the oil flow, reissue the easement, add more conditions to the easement, or moving the route to north of Bismarck. "In the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review process, we really are trying to make the best possible decisions," Newman told reporters. "That means that we are listening to everyone. And we want to know if we have missed something critical in our analysis — what is it, tell us, and provide information to help us include it." “...The comment period on the EIS has been extended until Dec. 13th.”
Law360: Va. Landowners Want Verdict Reinstated Against Pipeline Co.
Madeline Lyskawa, 10/31/23
“Virginia landowners fired back Tuesday at Mountain Valley Pipeline’s contention that their appraiser’s testimony lacked credibility, telling the Sixth Circuit that the record supports the jury’s verdict in their favor that the district court was wrong to slash their award in litigation over compensation for easements,” Law360 reports.
Rigzone: Enterprise Begins Four Midstream Projects for Support Permian Basin Growth
Rocky Teodoro, 11/1/23
“Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has begun four new capital projects to support production growth in the Permian Basin, including two include two natural gas processing plants and the Bahia NGL pipeline,” Rigzone reports. “The Houston-based midstream company also said it has started to return the Seminole Pipeline, which has a capacity of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, to natural gas liquid (NGL) transportation service in December. Enterprise has started construction on the Mentone 4 natural gas plant serving the Delaware Basin and expects the plant to begin service in the second half of 2025, according to a news release Wednesday… “Enterprise has also started construction of the Orion natural gas processing plant, the partnership’s eighth plant in the Midland Basin, and anticipates it to be in service in the second half of 2025… “To meet the transportation capacity needs based on expected NGL production growth, along with the NGL production from the Rockies and San Juan Basin, Enterprise plans to build the Bahia NGL pipeline, stating that “the partial looping of the Shin Oak Pipeline would not have provided sufficient capacity and would have resulted in higher long-term energy and operating costs”. The partnership’s Bahia NGL pipeline will be a 550-mile pipeline with the capacity to transport up to 600,000 bpd of NGLs originating from the Delaware and Midland basins to Enterprise’s fractionation complex in Chambers County.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Bloomberg: Schumer Urges US FTC Probe of Exxon, Chevron Mega-Deals
Emily Birnbaum and Leah Nylen, 11/1/23
“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is urging the US Federal Trade Commission to look into whether Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.’s proposed oil and gas acquisitions could violate antitrust laws,” Bloomberg reports. “Schumer in a letter on Wednesday said Exxon’s proposed $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Chevron’s proposed $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp. — two of the largest oil and gas deals of this century — are “likely to harm competition.”
E&E News: Senate Republicans introduce bill to limit NEPA lawsuits
Nico Portuondo, 10/31/23
“Senate Republicans are championing legislation that would limit the ability of groups and individuals to use the National Environmental Policy Act to slow down energy projects,” E&E News reports. “Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is the lead sponsor of the "Revising and Enhancing Project Authorizations Impacted by Review (REPAIR) Act," which backers say would prevent frivolous lawsuits brought by "radical" groups. "Well-funded radical groups are hijacking the justice system to send critical infrastructure projects they don’t like into legal purgatory,” Cassidy said. “Commonsense judicial reform removes unnecessary roadblocks while preserving the right to challenge projects." The bill would significantly limit NEPA's reach. People would fight projects under laws like the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. The legislation would allow people to file suit against a project if they would be affected directly and within a certain period of time. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute and conservative clean energy group ClearPath have all come out in support of the bill.”
The New Yorker: A Smoking Gun for Biden’s Big Climate Decision?
Bill McKibben, 10/31/23
“The Biden Administration faces one of its most profound climate choices this autumn: Should it continue to allow the expansion of liquefied-natural-gas exports, or should it halt the rapid buildout of this industry at least until it can come up with new guidelines?, The New Yorker reports. “The stakes are enormous—the buildout of L.N.G. infrastructure in the United States is by far the largest example of fossil-fuel expansion currently proposed anywhere in the world. But there’s some new data that may make the Administration’s choice easier—or certainly starker. The data are from an analysis by Robert Warren Howarth, a professor of ecology and environmental biology at Cornell who is one of the world’s premier methane scientists. The analysis attempts to establish the greenhouse-gas footprint of L.N.G. exported to Europe and Asia, and the numbers presented are astonishing. Coal-fired power has long been the standard for measuring climate damage: when burned, coal releases carbon dioxide into the air in large quantities. In recent years, Howarth has demonstrated that, domestically, natural gas is no better for the climate than coal, largely owing to the methane leaks associated with it; now, though, it appears that exporting L.N.G., because of the extra leakage of the supercooled gas during transit, could allow even larger amounts of methane to escape into the atmosphere and, hence, could do much more damage to the climate than coal does… “It remains to be seen whether Howarth’s findings and other recent reports, not to mention 2023’s record temperatures, might lead the Biden Administration to stop new approvals for more plants until it can redefine the “public interest.” Its actions, in the weeks ahead, could begin to repair some of the political rift opened by the President’s approval of the Willow oil complex earlier this year, or they could deepen the sense of many young people that we remain on a glide path to yet more catastrophic warming.”
Bloomberg: Biden Alaska Oil Plan Seen As Threat To Future Drilling
Jennifer A Dlouhy, 10/30/23
“A century after the US set aside a broad swath of northwest Alaska to be used as an emergency oil supply, the Biden administration is pursuing changes that could make it impossible to harvest crude from new leases in the 23 million-acre site. The proposal for managing the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska has alarmed oil industry advocates who say it would thwart development in a crude-rich region the size of Indiana. Alaska’s congressional delegation said the Biden administration is ‘suddenly and dramatically reinterpreting the law so that it can treat 13.1 million acres’ of the reserve ‘as de facto federal wilderness.’ And a top ConocoPhillips Co. executive says the changes stoke uncertainty about future oil projects and infrastructure across the region. The plan ‘would discourage investment on the North Slope by adding more layers of permitting requirements and restrictions, even for existing leases,’ Erec Isaacson, the president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, said in an interview Thursday.”
Common Dreams: 'Real Solutions, No Bullsh-t': Action Targets Biden DOE Over Climate Scams, Greenwashing
JULIA CONLEY, 10/31/23
“Climate advocates on Tuesday donned Halloween costumes to greet attendees of the U.S. Department of Energy's "Justice Week," but the organizers assembled outside the agency will be urging guests to demand far more from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and the Biden administration, who they say are "greenwashing" efforts to further equity and environmental justice,” Common Dreams reports. “The department's Office of Economic Impact and Diversity is holding the five-day event, where officials plan to highlight efforts to move "toward a more equitable, clean, and just energy future." The week will include discussions of the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program, which pushes for more access to renewable energy facilities in underserved communities, and executive actions President Joe Biden has taken to promote environmental justice. All those actions, however, have happened alongside the administration's push in favor of so-called climate "solutions" that scientists say are unproven and serve only to perpetuate fossil fuel extraction under the false assumption that it can do so while still addressing greenhouse gas emissions and planetary heating. The DOE, noted Basav Sen, a climate justice project director at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) who took part in the action, is "the biggest funder of false solutions such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and direct air capture." "These are scams. We know that the real solution to the climate crisis is to keep fossil fuels in the ground and make a rapid, just transition to real renewable energy controlled by communities," said Sen, wearing zombie face paint at the direct action. "Instead what were seeing from the Department of Energy is a continuation of the fossil fuel economy."
STATE UPDATES
GeekWire: How the Pacific Northwest could become a carbon-capture hub — with help from tech and basalt
LISA STIFFLER, 10/31/23
“The Pacific Northwest’s lush forests are a pretty obvious place to store carbon dioxide pulled from the atmosphere. But the region has another vast resource for trapping carbon that’s more easily overlooked: the basaltic rock formations covering swaths of Washington, Oregon and Idaho,” GeekWire reports. “Now a regional consortium is investigating whether the area could become a carbon capture hub, locking away planet-warming CO2 in rocks or turning it into other compounds. The group, called the Ankeron Carbon Management Hub, has landed $3 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to do a two-year study on the science, feasibility, job creation and community impacts of carbon removal in the Pacific Northwest… “The climate tech has two elements: direct air capture (DAC) devices that suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and hold on to it, and a means for using or permanently storing the carbon. The Ankeron project includes three DAC companies: U.S. startups Heirloom Carbon and Sustaera, and Norway’s Removr. And it has four companies with plans for disposing of the carbon: Carbfix, a Reykjavík, Iceland, company with a technology that dramatically speeds up the natural mineralization of carbon dioxide when it reacts with basaltic rock. Carbfix dissolves the CO2 in water and injects it underground where it mineralizes in about two years. Blue Planet, a California startup combining carbon dioxide with waste calcium from sources including demolished concrete, cement kiln dust and steel slag. The resulting product is a synthetic limestone that can be used in concrete. Twelve, a startup manufacturing sustainable aviation fuel that recently broke ground in Moses Lake, Wash. Twelve describes its fuel-making process as “industrial photosynthesis,” riffing on the reactions in which plants take CO2 from the air and use sunlight and water to transform it into starches. LanzaTech, an Illinois company feeding CO2 to bacteria that are used to make ethanol and other chemicals for manufacturing sustainable fuels, fabrics, packaging and other products. In addition to the abundance of basalt as a selling point, the Pacific Northwest also has clean, renewable energy that’s needed to power the technologies that capture or dispose of the carbon.”
Oregonian: Oregon natural gas utility can’t ask customers to pay for political spending, new pipelines
Gosia Wozniacka, 10/27/23
“Avista, Oregon’s second largest natural gas utility, can no longer make customers pay for its political activities and subsidize new residential gas pipelines, according to the terms of a settlement agreement approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission,” the Oregonian reports. “Thursday’s settlement includes a smaller rate increase of 4.7% – instead of the 8% sought by the company earlier this year. It also increases Avista’s low-income weatherization program budget from about $800,000 to $2 million… “The settlement marks the first time in Oregon history that a gas utility will phase out charges called line extension allowances, in which all customers bear the cost of connecting new buildings to the gas pipeline system. Without the subsidies, an individual developer or homeowner would have to cover the costs of new pipelines. “This is a big win for working Oregonians who will no longer have to pay for fossil fuel subsidies or political activities that prolong dependence on harmful methane gas,” Jan Hasselman, senior attorney for Earthjustice, said in a written statement. Environmental groups and Earthjustice attorneys challenged Avista’s practices before the commission. Climate activists who oppose the expansion of the natural gas system say line extension allowances encourage new homes to be built with gas at a time when gas utilities should instead drastically reduce their emissions.”
Guardian: Pittsburgh in ‘extreme embrace’ with fossil fuel lobbyists, research finds
Dharna Noor, 10/31/23
“Dozens of governmental, educational, cultural and environmental organizations across the city of Pittsburgh have hired lobbying firms who work with planet-heating fossil fuel companies, new research shows,” the Guardian reports. “The Pennsylvania city has almost entirely divested its pension funds from fossil fuels and plans to dramatically cut its planet-heating pollution. Yet in 2023, it employed lobbyists who also worked for ExxonMobil and seven other fossil fuel companies. Both the school district of Pittsburgh and the Port of Pittsburgh Commission this year hired a lobbying firm which also works for 16 fossil fuel firms, including one tied to the Koch brothers. And Pittsburgh cultural institutions such as the research-focused Carnegie Institute, the Frick Art and Historical Center, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and the Pittsburgh Symphony have also employed fossil fuel lobbyists, as have the conservation group Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Pittsburgh Foundation, which funds climate advocacy. All told, Pittsburgh has engaged in a more “extreme embrace” of fossil fuel lobbyists than any other large US city, according to the new research from F Minus, a database of state-level lobbying disclosures released this year, and LittleSis, a research database project created by the non-profit corporate and government accountability watchdog Public Accountability Initiative. “For these lobbying firms, representing prestigious clients in the arts, education and philanthropy does wonders for their image,” James Browning, executive director of F Minus, told the Guardian. “Instead of being the villains on climate, suddenly they’re heroes for children, for local conservation efforts, and for all kinds of good causes even though they’re also working for fossil fuel companies.”
Daily Breeze: Public hearings scheduled for oil storage facility expansion at Port of Long Beach
DONNA LITTLEJOHN, 10/27/23
“The Port of Long Beach has released the environmental report for the expansion of an oil storage facility that drew criticism when it went before the City Council,” the Daily Breeze reports. “Public hearings are scheduled for Nov. 8 and 9. The project, proposed by World Oil Terminals, calls for installing two additional petroleum storage tanks at its privately owned and operated facility on Pier C. Two groups of environmental activists and local residents asked for the full environmental review, to which World Oil agreed. The proposal calls for constructing and operating two 25,000-barrel petroleum storage tanks. The tanks would include internal floating roofs with new tank foundations and piping connections to existing facility infrastructure, including the truck loading racks and pipelines… “Earthjustice attorney Kartic Raj, in a prior published interview with the Southern California News Group, said the project would emit toxic air pollutants. While the tanks would not be processing oil, Raj said in a 2022 interview, the facilities could still emit chemicals such as benzene, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say may cause cancer.”
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Clash Over ‘Fossil Fuels’ Pits U.A.E. Against Public Health Experts
Somini Sengupta, 11/1/23
“Can you talk about the health impacts of climate change without mentioning the burning of fossil fuels, its leading cause? A draft of an intergovernmental declaration on the health impacts of climate change written by the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting this year’s global climate talks, does just that,” the New York Times reports. “Several public health experts sent an open letter Tuesday to Sultan al-Jaber, the U.A.E. oil company executive presiding over the talks, urging him to “commit to an accelerated, just and equitable phaseout of fossil fuels and invest in a renewable energy transition.” It’s a prelude of one big fight likely to take place at this year’s United National Climate Change Conference, pitting the Persian Gulf petrostate hosting the talks against leading public health experts. “A full and rapid phaseout of fossil fuels is the most significant way to provide the clean air, water, and environment that are foundational to good health,” the letter continued. Its signatories include the heads of the International Council of Nurses, the international chapter of Doctors Without Borders and a consortium of health ministers from six Latin American countries… “The draft declaration, prepared by the U.A.E., commits countries to “prevent worsening health impacts from climate change,” help health systems adapt to climate-sensitive diseases and encourage them to reduce emissions from the health sector. “We recognize the urgency of taking action on climate change, and note the benefits for health from deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including through lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets,” the draft reads, without any mention of coal, oil or gas, the combustion of which causes air pollution and is increasing global temperatures.
Lakeland Today: Pathways Alliance begins information sessions on proposed carbon capture project
Mario Cabradilla, 10/31/23
“Pathways Alliance held the first of a series of information sessions on Oct. 25, bringing together residents and experts to give insight on the Alliance's proposed carbon capture storage, Lakeland Today reports. “The group plans to construct a major carbon capture and storage system line connecting a carbon storage hub in Cold Lake to oil sands facilities in the Fort McMurray, Christina Lake and Cold Lake regions… “Paul Gullackson, also a resident of Cold Lake, told LT he’s “sitting on the fence,” explaining he would like to learn more about the motivations and technicalities of the project. “I just hope in 30 years, we don’t look back and say, ‘What in the world were you thinking when you did that’?” Speaking about infrastructure concerns, Gullackson told LT he wonders what will happen if the infrastructure fails after 10, 50, or even 100 years after completion. “What’s going to be the effect? Is it going to leak? Is it going to contaminate the water?” And what are ways to prevent potential problems in the future?” he questioned… “Nancy Broadbent, president and CEO of Portage College, told LT while she cannot speak on behalf of the science and politics of the project, from a post-secondary institution’s perspective, “We’re excited anytime that there’s development in our region that’s going to bring jobs that helps us retain use and talent in our communities.” “...When asked if Broadbent has any concerns pertaining to the project, she told LT, “I’m not a scientist to know. I have to leave that in the trust of the people working on it.”
CBC: A wall in a wetland: Inside the growing opposition to expansion of an oilsands mine
Paula Duhatschek, 11/1/23
“When Elder Barb Faichney flips through family photos, McClelland Lake is a recurring theme. Her family's trapline skirts the banks of the lake north of Fort McMurray, Alta., which has long been a special place for them to hunt, trap and gather,” CBC reports. “This may not be the case for future generations, she said, if energy giant Suncor moves ahead with a plan to expand its Fort Hills oilsands facility to mine part of the lake's adjacent wetland. "My grandchildren, they won't be able to enjoy McClelland Lake, they can't say, 'Look, Granny's footprints are all over here,'" Faichney, who lives in and is a member of Fort McKay First Nation, told CBC. "It'll be all gone." McClelland Lake in northern Alberta is at once an important gathering place for local First Nations, a carbon sink, a wildlife habitat and a major potential source of bitumen. Plans to mine it have been brewing since 2002, when the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (a precursor to the Alberta Energy Regulator) allowed the company TrueNorth Energy to develop part of the wetland within its oilsands lease… “The original 2002 approval hinged on the company agreeing to mine only about half the wetland while leaving the other half undisturbed. Suncor says it will do this by building a wall — nearly 14 kilometres long and between 20 and 70 metres deep — to separate the two halves, a plan that's become the focus of growing opposition from wilderness advocates and scientists. It's not just outside observers who are concerned. Some of Suncor's own scientific and First Nations advisers have also expressed hesitation about how the plan to expand the multibillion-dollar Fort Hills oilsands project is unfolding. As an elder, Faichney has sat for years on a sustainability committee that advises Suncor on its operational plan, which lays out how the company will protect the unmined portion of the wetland. But she told CBC she remains unconvinced that the plan will work and now wants it to be abandoned. "My preference would be [they] pack up and get out of there," Faichney told CBC News in an interview.”
Bloomberg: Alberta Urges Trudeau to Include Oil in Indigenous Loan Program
Brian Platt, 10/31/23
“As Canada’s major oil and gas producing province of Alberta expands its program to help Indigenous communities buy stakes in resource projects, its government is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau not to exclude fossil fuels from a similar federal initiative,” Bloomberg reports. “Bloomberg first reported last week that Trudeau’s cabinet is on the verge of rolling out a multibillion-dollar plan to allow the federal government to effectively co-sign loans with Indigenous groups to help them buy equity in projects.
Financial Times: Big Oil’s big bet
Myles McCormick, 10/31/23
“Forecasts show that demand for oil is reaching its peak, so why are US supermajors doubling down?,” the Financial Times reports. “In October two US oil and gas giants announced massive deals: Chevron bought Hess, and ExxonMobil acquired Pioneer Natural Resources. These deals expand each company’s operations and secure their access to more oil for decades to come. But recent forecasts say global demand for fossil fuels will soon reach its peak. The FT’s Myles McCormick looks at why these companies are betting oil demand will stick around and whether that bet will pay off.”
New York Times: Shipping Contributes Heavily to Climate Change. Are Green Ships the Solution?
Ana Swanson, 10/30/23
“On a bright September day on the harbor in Copenhagen, several hundred people gathered to welcome the official arrival of Laura Maersk. Laura was not a visiting European dignitary like many of those in attendance. She was a hulking containership, towering a hundred feet above the crowd, and the most visible evidence to date of an effort by the global shipping industry to mitigate its role in the planet’s warming,” the New York Times reports. “The ship, commissioned by the Danish shipping giant Maersk, was designed with a special engine that can burn two types of fuel — either the black, sticky oil that has powered ships for more than a century, or a greener type made from methanol. By switching to green methanol, this single ship will produce 100 fewer tons of greenhouse gas per day, an amount equivalent to the emissions of 8,000 cars. The effect of global shipping on the climate is hard to overstate. Cargo shipping is responsible for nearly 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — producing roughly as much carbon each year as the aviation industry does. Figuring out how to limit those emissions has been tricky. Some ships are turning to an age-old strategy: harnessing the wind to move them. But ships still need a more constant source of energy that is powerful enough to propel them halfway around the world in a single go… “The Laura Maersk is the first of its kind to set sail with a green methanol engine and represents a significant step in the industry’s efforts to address its contribution to climate change. The vessel is also a vivid illustration of just how far the global shipping sector has to go. While roughly 125 methanol-burning ships are now on order at global shipyards from Maersk and other companies, that is just a tiny portion of the more than 50,000 cargo ships that ply the oceans today, which deliver 90 percent of the world’s traded goods. The market for green methanol is also in its infancy, and there is no guarantee that the new fuel will be made in sufficient quantities — or at the right price — to power the vast fleet of cargo ships operating worldwide.”
Vox: Why more fossil fuel workers aren’t joining the clean energy revolution
Umair Irfan, 10/30/23
“Auto unions and US carmakers recently smoothed over a huge pothole on the road to electric vehicles, but workers are facing much bigger ruts ahead on the route to clean energy,” Vox reports. “...One of the major concerns for the union was the shift toward electric vehicles… “For autoworkers, the fear is that their skills in milling engine blocks and assembling transmissions might not translate to winding electric motors or wiring high-voltage circuits. Or if they do get a job in a clean industry, they may not have the same salary and benefits, or be in the same city. Indeed, the history of workforce transitions bears this out. That’s why some unions have been hesitant to support clean energy initiatives in the past, fracturing the political coalition required to see this transition through over the coming decades.So, the challenge is not just to build a cadre of clean energy workers, but to do so in a way that doesn’t leave mass unemployment, depopulated communities, or environmental damage in its wake. A report this month from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on the transition to clean energy warns “the existing safety net is ill-equipped to address the scale and scope of these impacts” and that “the nation as a whole lacks the trained workers needed to implement fairness, equity, justice, and public engagement provisions.”
Bloomberg: What Are Carbon Offsets? Are They a Credible Climate Solution?
Ben Elgin and Akshat Rathi, 10/31/23
“...In many cases, it may prove too costly to go all the way to zero. That’s where the concept of carbon offsets comes in, though their use is controversial,” Bloomberg reports. “The idea is that when a company, government or individual releases greenhouse gases, they can pay someone else to remove an equivalent amount of climate pollution from the atmosphere. If, say, a company operates a fleet of diesel-powered trucks that generates 100 tons of carbon dioxide annually, it might pay a landowner to plant trees that absorb an equal amount of CO2. In theory, the trees cancel out — or offset — the impact of the trucks… “By allowing companies or governments to pay — and take credit — for cheaper emission reductions beyond their own field of activity, the cost of addressing climate change becomes less formidable. That’s if those promised reductions are real, which is often not the case… “But as criticism mounted over the effectiveness of offset projects, the market has lost steam. In 2022, companies bought slightly fewer offsets “due to fears of reputational risk from purchasing low-quality credits,” according to BloombergNEF… “In one case, Bloomberg Green found that the largest carbon reforestation project in North America sold millions of offsets, even though most of its participating landowners had already planted their trees — sometimes more than a decade earlier — through a government program… “There’s a notion that offsets have turned into a “get-out-of-jail-free” card for big polluters. A growing number of scientists are raising doubts about the effectiveness of the market, and some sellers of offsets have joined the call for more guidelines.”
Press release: FRACKING SCIENCE COMPENDIUM 9.0 International Release & Briefing Webinar
10/31/23
“On Wednesday, November 8, 2023 please join scientists and health professionals for a webinar release and briefing of the Fracking Science Compendium, a major new report that synthesizes findings from over 2,500 scientific studies, government reports, and journalistic findings. The experts, who have tracked and assessed the data for over a decade, will provide a critical accounting of the health and climate implications of drilling and fracking, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and gas stoves, among other gas-related impacts. The webinar will feature renowned experts Sandra Steingraber, PhD; Ted Schettler, MD, MPH; Bob Howarth, PhD; and Kathy Nolan, MD, MSL. The report – the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking (9th Edition) – is being released by Concerned Health Professionals of New York (a program of the Science and Environmental Health Network) and Physicians for Social Responsibility (winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize). By bringing together and analyzing the evidence comprehensively, the report uniquely provides an assessment of the full impacts of fracking and state of the industry. The release of the report comes ahead of the international UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) at the end of November. The presenters will give an overview of the science demonstrating that increases in drilling, fracking, LNG, and gas appliance use in homes and buildings are incompatible with necessary climate actions and pose severe health impacts and risks to communities. They will speak about a path to the future that protects public health and the environment. The report and webinar briefing is open and will be of interest to elected officials, government regulators, journalists, environmentalists, public health professionals, members of the public, and others.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: Biden’s climate fight now has a Fed problem
JASPER GOODMAN, 10/31/23
“President Joe Biden’s clean energy plan is facing an unexpected threat: banking regulators,” Politico reports. “Biden is trying to funnel federal money to clean energy projects using billions of dollars in tax credits. The renewables industry relies heavily on large lenders to finance those developments: Banks and other backers invested $19 billion last year in projects like solar and wind power in return for the credits and other benefits. But now impending rules to make large banks less risky would also make it a lot more expensive for them to make those investments. The proposed bank rules are setting up a collision between the effort to transition away from fossil fuels and the push to ensure banks don’t tank the global financial system. The renewables industry is warning the change could undo gains made by the president’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. The outcry shows how competing priorities can force tough choices in Washington. It could help Wall Street in broader efforts to water down banking regulations that have been in the works since the 2008 global financial crisis. At the same time, it’s forcing Democrats to scramble to prevent a conflict between their goals of fighting climate change and shoring up big banks”.
Guardian: Banks pumped more than $150bn in to companies running ‘carbon bomb’ projects in 2022
Ajit Niranjan, 10/31/23
“Banks pumped more than $150bn last year into companies whose giant “carbon bomb” projects could destroy the last chance of stopping the planet heating to dangerous levels, the Guardian can reveal. The carbon bombs – 425 extraction projects that can each pump more than one gigaton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – cumulatively hold enough coal, oil and gas to burn through the rapidly dwindling carbon budget four times over. Between 2016 and 2022, banks mainly in the US, China and Europe gave $1.8tn in financing to the companies running them, new research shows. The climate rhetoric did not match up with what was happening on the books, Shruti Shukla, an energy campaigner at the National Resources Defense Council, which was not involved in the investigation, told the Guardian. “We need to rapidly decline our production of fossil fuels and support for fossil fuels, whether that’s regulatory or financial.” The carbon bombs, which were first identified in an academic database by the Guardian and partners last year, are the single biggest sources of fuels that release planet-heating gas when burned. Data for Good and Éclaircies, two French non-profits, and several European media outlets have now used publicly available data to map out the companies that operate the carbon bombs and the banks that finance them… “Between 2016 and 2022, the research shows, banks in the US alone were responsible for more than half a trillion dollars of finance to companies planning or operating carbon bombs. The single biggest financier was JPMorgan Chase, providing more than $141bn, followed by Citi, with $119bn, and Bank of America, with $92bn. Wells Fargo was the seventh-biggest financier, with $62bn. Also in the top 10 were three Chinese banks – ICBC, Bank of China and Industrial Bank (China) – and three European ones – BNP Paribas, HSBC and Barclays. The bulk of the money they provided was general corporate financing to operators, rather than direct loans for projects to dig up fossil fuels. In 2022, direct and indirect financing of carbon bombs came to an estimated $161bn.”
OPINION
Cleburne Times-Review: Letter: Much to fear from proposed carbon-capture project
Doug Scott, 10/31/23
“As a nearly lifelong resident, I would like to address a situation that has been brewing in Vigo County for years, but has recently came to light,” Doug Scott writes for the Cleburne Times-Review. “...Wabash Valley Resources proposes to build a high-pressure pipeline to carry carbon dioxide (CO2) miles away form its plant to sites in both rural Vigo and Vermillion counties. Which then will be forced underground for an indeterminate amount of time… “But let's take a moment, pulling the veneer of smiles and promises away, to look deeper into what is really being proposed here. Authored by then-state Sen. Jon Ford and state Sen. Mark Messmer, Indiana House Bill 451 was signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb on April 20, 2023. To summarize, this law allows Wabash Valley Resources to build its pipeline, enacting eminent domain when necessary, without ever being held liable for damages to the population, personal property or the environment in the event of a failure of any kind… “The proposed well sites will travel through our underground aquifer, which supplies water for not only those in the immediate area but those miles and miles away as well as in other states. I don't believe it takes much of a leap to know what will happen if our water were to become contaminated. Add that to the fact that recent seismic activity in the Wabash Valley would endanger any storage space under our water source. That should be a major source of concern… “It has been publicly stated by Wabash Valley Resources founder, Nalin Gupta, that house Bill 451 is "my law" and "I'd release the CO2 into the air, but then I wouldn't get paid." These statements speak volumes to what this company is really about. And then there is the public record of campaign donations nudging state and local officials to go along, all quite legal of course, yet hovering in a grey area of ethics… “In closing, the idea of pumping poison into the ground as an experimental storage solution, with no thought to the generations that could be affected, sickens and worries me for what may come.”
Globe and Mail: The perils of promising a costless energy transition
Andrew Leach is a professor of law and economics, and co-director of the Institute for Public Economics at the University of Alberta, 10/27/23
“Climate change is the environmental, political and societal challenge of our time. But we, as Canadians, have not always responded with our best efforts or grandest ideas,” Andrew Leach writes for the Globe and Mail. “...But one of these sound bites instead gives comfort to those pushing for much more stringent policies here in Canada: the assurance that governments can provide a “just transition” away from fossil fuels, with nobody left behind… “Promises of a just transition are going to run into two hard realities. First, the fossil-fuel energy industry, and in particular the oil and gas sector, is larger and more diverse than other industries to which Canadian governments have attempted to provide transitional support. Second, a policy-forced transition away from oil and gas is different from other economic transitions we have weathered in Canada because of the high wages earned by oil and gas workers, the significant government incomes that oil and gas extraction provides, and the very real potential for market signals to counteract government transition-planning… “Smaller communities that are heavily exposed to carbon-intensive industries will endure substantial economic costs from the transition, and there is no reason to expect that they will attract offsetting clean-energy investment… “The looming Canadian energy transition and the way it is discussed by progressive activists and politicians is uncharted territory. It will be more challenging than previous transitions in part because fossil-fuel workers earn far more than most, and these jobs comprise more than one-third of total employment in certain regions. It will be more challenging because the fossil-fuel sector is a huge government revenue generator. If, as is highly plausible, domestic policy forces both employment and revenue to drop in these industries before global markets dictate such a change, there will be regional tension as we have seldom, if ever, seen before in this country. We have never experienced a policy-forced transition of this sort in Canada, and I do not think we have ever seen politicians and pundits talk so readily about phasing out high-paying jobs.”
FOX News: Biden's War On Oil Drilling Threatens To Kill His Own Green Energy Goals: 'A Lot Of Uncertainty'
Thomas Catenacci, 10/31/23
“The Biden administration’s plan to hold a historically-low number of offshore oil and gas lease sales may indirectly threaten its offshore wind energy goals, thanks to a key provision in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),” Thomas Catenacci writes for FOX News. “The Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a congressionally-mandated five-year offshore oil lease plan last month that included just three fossil fuel lease sales through 2029. However, the IRA, Democrats’ climate and tax bill passed in August 2022, prohibits the DOI from issuing an offshore wind development lease unless the agency has offered at least 60 million acres for offshore oil and gas leasing at some point in the previous 12 months. ‘It’s constructively a time of moratorium on the issuance of offshore wind leases in those gap years. We recognized that as soon as they came out with the leasing program,’ Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), told Fox News Digital in an interview. ‘We were a bit surprised that they wouldn’t do oil and gas lease sales annually because annual sales are needed if they want to have uninterrupted wind lease sales in the offshore.’”
The Hill: Ideology First, Reality Last: Biden’s Offshore Energy Leasing Program
Benjamin Zycher is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, 10/30/23
“In the least surprising energy policy development in recent years, the Biden administration has proposed a five-year (2024-2029) offshore oil and gas leasing program that offers the smallest number of offshore lease sales in the history of the program — just three sales!,” Benjamin Zycher writes for The Hill. “Biden’s draft leasing program blocks leasing off the Alaskan coast, and in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The administration is in fact proud of this obstruction of private-sector investment in the national wealth embodied in fossil energy resources located in federal waters. The proposed leasing program will be aligned with the administration’s policy of ‘net-zero [U.S. greenhouse] emissions by 2050’ while meeting legal requirements ‘for future offshore renewable energy leasing … ensuring continued progress towards the administration’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 [while] protect[ing] against the potential for environmental damage.’ In apparent belief that the U.S. oil market is independent of the global market, the administration has forgotten that less domestic oil production only means more production overseas. After all, the administration’s net-zero climate obsession does not affect global demand for petroleum products. And notwithstanding the Biden administration’s fantasies, demand for oil and gas are virtually certain to increase over the next few decades.”