EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/22/21
PIPELINE NEWS
CBC: Advocates call for release of journalist, filmmaker arrested at pipeline protest in B.C.
Open letter: Amnesty International urges federal government, BC and RCMP to protect the rights of Wet’suwet’en land defenders
The Varsity: “We can’t wait anymore”: Protestors rally against Coastal GasLink pipeline
Organization for World Peace: Canada And Indigenous Sovereignty: The Case Of The C.G.L. Pipeline
Rogue Climate: FERC Commission votes to reexamine the Jordan Cove LNG Project approval
Michigan Advance: Enviros, tribal leaders face right-wing, pro-Line 5 ‘echo chamber’
Delaware Valley Journal: Latest PUC Ruling Keeps Pipeline On Track As Opponents Lose Steam
E&E News: FERC meeting: Pipelines, blackouts and ‘fearmongering’
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri regulators, worried Spire is stoking fear, order the company to write letter to customers
Energy News Network: Spire pipeline flap in Missouri reveals deeper questions about natural gas
Radio Iowa: Woodbury County residents express concern about carbon dioxide pipeline
S&P Global: Trans Mountain Pipeline outage likely to last another week
The City: Feds Launch a Second Civil Rights Investigation Into Brooklyn Gas Pipeline
InsideClimate News: Concerns Linger Over a Secretive Texas Company That Owns the Largest Share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Associated Press: Dems confident on methane fee as budget bill moves to Senate
E&E News: Fight escalates over FERC gas, climate reviews
E&E News: Haaland strikes slur for Indigenous women from federal lands
STATE UPDATES
O.C. Register: Sheen near site of Huntington Beach oil spill investigated
Denver Post: Warnings of orphan and zombie wells spark debate on bonding by oil, gas companies
EXTRACTION
Natural Gas Intelligence: Biden, Trudeau, López Obrador Pledge to Curb Oil and Gas Methane Emissions in Trilateral Summit
NBC News: Indigenous groups say Big Oil’s pollution threatens their existence in Canadian forest
Globe and Mail: Could green energy be key to replacing the oil and gas workers who’ve vanished from Calgary’s core?
NPR: Giving up gas-powered cars was a fringe idea. It's now on its way to reality
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Muskoka411: Orillia Fire Dept. Gets Help From Enbridge Gas To Reduce Fire And Carbon Monoxide Deaths Through Safe Community Project Zero
OPINION
The Hill: Union labor can enable hydrogen's carbon-cutting potential
MSNBC: Velshi: Oil drilling is wildly profitable. But some things are more important
News-Gazette: Ban on crude-oil exports could send gas prices even higher
Inforum: Hennen: New pipeline will link east and west in North Dakota
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pipeline delivers for southwestern Pennsylvania
Bloomberg: Global Methane Pledge Offers Reason for Cautious Optimism
PIPELINE NEWS
CBC: Advocates call for release of journalist, filmmaker arrested at pipeline protest in B.C.
Kate Partridge, 11/21/21
“Press freedom advocates are calling for the release of photojournalist Amber Bracken and documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano, who were arrested Friday at a resistance camp established by opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline at a work site west of Prince George, B.C.,” the CBC reports. “The RCMP confirmed Sunday the pair are still in custody, awaiting a court date Monday morning, along with 13 other people who were arrested Friday. The RCMP have acknowledged both Bracken and Toledano identified themselves as independent journalists. On Sunday, the Committee to Protect Journalists, a U.S.-based organization that promotes press freedom worldwide, issued a statement calling for the release of Bracken and Toledano. The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) weighed in on Saturday, demanding their release along with their belongings and footage… “On Sunday, two federal cabinet ministers expressed concern about the arrests. In a Twitter thread, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendocino said journalists play an essential role in Canada's democracy. "In order to fulfill that role, journalists must be able to work free from threats, intimidation or arbitrary state action."mCrown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller also weighed in on Twitter, writing, 'journalists have a right to cover current events in this country… “A total of 29 people have been arrested so far along the Morice River Forest Service Road, south of Houston in B.C.'s northern Interior.”
Open letter: Amnesty International urges federal government, BC and RCMP to protect the rights of Wet’suwet’en land defenders
11/19/21
“Amnesty International is writing with grave concern over the arrival on November 17 and 18 of new contingents of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers in Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia to join existing RCMP and Community Industry Response Group officers. The increased police presence has raised alarm and fear within the communities and escalated existing tensions. Already there are reports of multiple arrests made by officers who moved in today. We are concerned that additional arrests are likely and the risks of escalation this situation brings.”
The Varsity: “We can’t wait anymore”: Protestors rally against Coastal GasLink pipeline
By Jadine Ngan, Khatchig Anteblian and Alyanna Denise Chuaj, 11/21/21
“On November 20, protestors blocked off the intersection of Bloor and Spadina to oppose the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline slated to go through uncededed Wet’suwet’en land. The solidarity rally was a continuation of the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s years-long protest against TC Energy’s construction of a multi-billion-dollar, 670-kilometre long natural gas pipeline,” The Varsity reports. “...Last Thursday, the RCMP arrested more than 10 people near Houston, BC, including Wet’suwet’en Elders, legal observers, and journalists. Before that point, members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation had blocked access to roads leading to the pipeline project in order to prevent pipeline workers from accessing the site. In response to the arrests, Brooks told the Varsity, “What did the RCMP do? They didn’t help people. They didn’t rescue people. Instead, they arrested Indigenous people and their supporters and allies, and they’re [still] holding them.” She added, “That’s why we’re here — to pray, and to speak about this, and show that we do not consent to these terrible things happening on the land.”
Organization for World Peace: Canada And Indigenous Sovereignty: The Case Of The C.G.L. Pipeline
CE Malley, 11/21/21
“Last Sunday, members of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation reissued an eviction notice enforcing Coastal GasLink (C.G.L.) pipeline workers’ evacuation from the nation’s traditional lands. The clan gave eight hours of leeway for workers at two work camps along the Morice River Forest Service Road outside Houston, British Columbia to leave the area or be caught behind blockades,” the Organization for World Peace reports. “The notice was reissued after two years of the Canadian government ignoring Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs’ requests to remove C.G.L. workers and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P) from unceded territories. Now, tensions are escalating along the blockade route… “According to Gidimt’en camp spokesperson Sleydo’ Molly Wickham in an interview for The Narwhal, the members were “sending a clear message to the province, to Canada, and they weren’t acting on it – they weren’t hearing what we were saying – so we had to get a little bit louder.” “...Despite this, the Canadian government still shows a fundamental lack of respect for the relationship between their country and Indigenous nations. In the case of the C.G.L. pipeline, Canadian officials did not respect the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s sovereignty, but expected it to respect Canadian laws regardless. This can be seen in the interlocutory injunction’s language, with Marguerite Church saying that “the defendants may genuinely believe in their rights under Indigenous law … but the law does not recognize any right to blockade and obstruct [C.G.L. workers] from pursuing lawfully authorized activities.” This wording shows an unequal assumption of sovereignty.”
Rogue Climate: FERC Commission votes to reexamine the Jordan Cove LNG Project approval
11/18/21
“Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requested a briefing on whether to suspend their conditional approval of Pembina’s proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline in Southern Oregon. FERC Chairman Richard Glick remarked that the Commission made numerous mistakes by approving Jordan Cove LNG, and the briefing request asked Pembina to clarify whether they intend to continue pursuing the project… “This order was in response to numerous lawsuits (lead case Evans vs. FERC, No. 20-1161) brought by affected landowners, Tribes, community organizations, and the state of Oregon arguing that the FERC authorization should be overturned since FERC failed to consider critical information about the proposed facility, including impacts to private property rights, Tribal resources, the environment, and that it is not in the public interest. The FERC Commissioners unanimously voted today to request a briefing specifically to review the Jordan Cove LNG project authorization under sections of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) which allows the developer to seize private property under eminent domain. FERC has set a deadline of December 1, 2021, for initial briefs and December 15, 2021, for reply briefs, and has specifically directed Pembina to clarify whether it plans to move forward with Jordan Cove LNG and the Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline. FERC must decide whether to stay the certificate by the end of January.”
Michigan Advance: Enviros, tribal leaders face right-wing, pro-Line 5 ‘echo chamber’
LAINA G. STEBBINS, 11/22/21
“For years, Canadian pipeline company Enbridge has been pushing back against opponents of its controversial Line 5 oil pipeline by arguing that, should it be shut down, fuel prices would shoot up and propane supply would suffer,” the Michigan Advance reports. “However, a shutdown doesn’t appear to be imminent, as Enbridge is locked in an array of court battles to keep the state from acting to do so and scored a victory last week. But Republicans in Michigan and elsewhere have locked onto that messaging and have been frequently mirroring Enbridge’s warnings — regardless of the veracity of the claims. Line 5 supporters have not only preemptively blamed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for rising gas prices caused by a shutdown, but have also insinuated that President Joe Biden is involved in the effort, despite the Democrat’s lack of a public stance on Line 5. “It’s all politics,” David Holtz, spokesperson for the anti-Line 5 Oil & Water Don’t Mix coalition, told the Advance. “What’s coming out of the right-wing echo chamber nationally is ridiculous. They’re trying to simply use Line 5 as a cudgel against President Biden on energy prices, when the fact is, Line 5 has really nothing at all to do with energy prices. “Gas prices go up and down. Right now, they’re up. Line 5 has little to do with prices at the pump,” Holtz said. Tribal citizens have long complained about Enbridge’s messaging tactics, some of which attempt to portray an “understanding” between the company and tribes, which they characterize as misleading and manipulative. All 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan are publicly opposed to Line 5 and its tunnel-enclosed replacement project. “It’s a media tactic by Enbridge to do that, to raise questions as much as possible, to fearmonger, which seems to be a great tool of the right,” Holly T. Bird, a Traverse City-based Pueblo/Yaqui/Apache attorney and longtime Indigenous activist, told the Advance. “It really elevates that whole concern by people that they’re going to experience much higher gas prices and experience scarcity when it comes to fuel. And really, the evidence is very much to the contrary.”
Delaware Valley Journal: Latest PUC Ruling Keeps Pipeline On Track As Opponents Lose Steam
Michael Graham, 11/19/21
“A case that began with demands for the Mariner East pipeline to be shut down has ended with a $2,000 fine, and a growing realization that the $6.1 billion energy project is now all but certain to be completed,” the Delaware Valley Journal reports. “A unanimous vote by the Pennsylvania Utility Commission (PUC) Thursday upheld an administrative law judge's settlement in the "Safety Seven" case, brought by a group of Chester and Delaware County residents and the Andover Homeowners Association. During testimony in the 2019 hearing, opponents of the pipeline called it an imminent danger to their community and asked the PUC to end the entire project. "Shut down Mariner East before it kills us, pipeline foes implore," read the headline in the Inquirer. Instead, the state's utility regulator ordered Energy Transfer, the company constructing the nearly-completed pipeline, to pay a modest fine, re-work some of its public communications and conduct a "depth of cover" and "distance between other underground pipelines/structures" survey regarding Mariner East 1 and the 12-inch workaround pipelines "as long as they are purposed for carrying highly volatile liquids." “...The resolution of the "Safety Seven" case sends yet another signal that green activists hoping to shut down the Mariner East pipeline are running out of options… “While the company has paid around $16 million in fines, efforts by political opponents of the pipeline to stop the project have been fruitless.”
E&E News: FERC meeting: Pipelines, blackouts and ‘fearmongering’
By Miranda Willson, 11/19/21
“A Midwestern natural gas pipeline jeopardized by a recent court order is poised to remain in operation this winter, but the developer behind the project should stop trying to scare the public, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick said yesterday,” E&E News reports. “The comments about "fearmongering" from Glick, a Democrat, regarding the Spire STL pipeline, a 65-mile project that supplies natural gas for 650,000 Missourians, came during FERC’s monthly meeting, where the agency fired debate on everything from whether it is to blame for inadequate gas supplies to eminent domain for fossil fuel projects… “Although FERC did not take action yesterday to extend the company’s temporary certificate, Glick said it was his “intent” for the commission to act on Spire’s application before Dec. 13. At the same time, he said Spire should “turn down the rhetoric," echoing concerns raised by some elected officials in Missouri about the company’s alleged "fear campaign." “Scaring people that they’re going to be freezing to death this winter is beyond the scope of what companies should be able to do in their advocacy efforts,” Glick said during a call with reporters after the meeting… “In an order denying several requests for rehearing on the temporary certificate, FERC rejected calls to halt the company’s use of eminent domain following the court’s vacatur of the original permit. That decision is a blow to landowners affected by the pipeline, who had asked FERC to clarify that a temporary certificate does not allow companies to forcefully take people’s property… “FERC declined to act on the eminent domain proceedings because it lacks the authority to do so, Glick told reporters after the meeting.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri regulators, worried Spire is stoking fear, order the company to write letter to customers
Bryce Gray, 11/21/21
“State regulators, concerned that the St. Louis natural gas utility Spire has been stoking fear of winter gas shortages, ordered the company to prepare a letter to customers — by the end of the day Friday — describing the outlook for its gas supply “as accurately as possible,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. “The sternly worded order by the Missouri Public Service Commission shows that staff members at the agency share concerns with Spire critics, who have blasted the utility’s recent campaign claiming that St. Louis customers could lose gas service at points this winter if the company’s legally jeopardized Spire STL Pipeline shuts down. The PSC’s motion Thursday said that the company’s recent messaging to its regional customers — including emails and letters sent with bills — “appear to reflect an attempt by Spire to mobilize public opinion, through fear, in order to potentially pressure federal authorities” now tasked with determining the pipeline’s future. Spire responded defiantly on Friday. The company said it would “continue to communicate the facts to our customers about potential natural gas service disruptions if the STL Pipeline is taken out of service.” “...But on Nov. 4, after a series of legal maneuvers failed to reverse the court’s decision, Spire sent a letter to 650,000 regional customers. “We want to keep you informed and prepared for potential natural gas disruptions — and outages — this winter if the pipeline is not kept in service,” the letter said. The message outraged elected officials, critics and customers. Several alleged Spire was “fearmongering.”
Energy News Network: Spire pipeline flap in Missouri reveals deeper questions about natural gas
Kari Lydersen, 11/22/21
“Spire Missouri has spent weeks telling its St. Louis-area natural gas customers that they might go without heat this winter, all because of a legal challenge to a pipeline one of its affiliate companies built in 2018,” Energy News Network reports. “The claims have prompted rebuke from clean energy advocates and elected officials who say the utility is needlessly and disingenuously spreading alarm and fueling threats against an environmental organization… "Demand for natural gas in the St. Louis area is projected to remain flat or decline, as filings by Spire and its opponents have acknowledged. Clean energy advocates say rather than building new pipelines and natural gas infrastructure, the state should be investing in energy efficiency, electrification and renewable electricity generation that can replace natural gas. As they see it, Spire was hoping to build public support for natural gas by stirring up emotions over the pipeline permit even though there was virtually no chance FERC would order the pipeline shut down during the winter. “The (STL) pipeline is part of the industry’s larger goal of putting infrastructure in the ground to make it harder to make the necessary transition, the transition we have to make if we are going to battle catastrophic climate change, away from their very dangerous product, methane gas,” Michael Berg, Missouri Sierra Club political director, told ENN. “It’s part of a larger strategy of Spire and the gas industry.”
Radio Iowa: Woodbury County residents express concern about carbon dioxide pipeline
BY DAR DANIELSON, 11/19/21
“A group of Woodbury County residents appeared at the county supervisors’ meeting this week with concerns about the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions carbon dioxide pipeline,” Radio Iowa reports. “Gale Palmquist of rural Lawton says the pipeline would cross her property. “I am objecting to this proposal. Northern Natural gas already has a pipeline on our property — it has not been a congenial relationship. We have spent thousands of dollars repairing the damage they created on some of our more productive farmland,” Palmquist says,” I do not want to go through this again with another pipeline.” Palmquist’s family has farmed the land since the 1800s… “Supervisors chair Rocky De Witt told the residents he is sympathetic to their concerns. “Not to mention the right of way that is a concern to these folks that they can’t do anything — develop their ground or dig too deeply,” De Witt says. “Several of the landowners out there have done some tile work, some underground drainage. And once that gets violated it’s impossible to fix correctly, and then again because the right of way then belongs to the pipeline company and they will never get that back. So yes, there are some legitimate concerns going forward with what this pipeline can do.”
S&P Global: Trans Mountain Pipeline outage likely to last another week
Jordan Blum, Laura Huchzermeyer, 11/20/21
“The Trans Mountain crude oil and products pipeline in Western Canada likely will remain closed for another week after record rainfall triggered severe flooding and landslides in British Columbia, resulting in the longest shutdown in the pipeline's nearly 70-year history, officials said Nov. 19,” S&P Global reports. “The combination of the 300,000 b/d of oil equivalent pipeline closure -- as well as rail shutdowns from both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways -- is causing oil and fuel shortages in parts of British Columbia, especially in the Victoria area. The Trans Mountain Pipeline was shuttered on Nov. 14. In a late Nov. 19 statement, Trans Mountain said teams are beginning helicopter operations in the Coldwater River region of British Columbia to remove fallen trees and debris that are hampering detailed inspection of the pipeline. "There are multiple areas of the pipeline between Hope and Merritt where pipeline cover needs to be restored and there are other sections that we may decide to cut-out and replace entirely, for example long sections that have been fully exposed to river course changes," Trans Mountain said. "As a precaution, Trans Mountain is deploying spill-response equipment trailers to areas where we will be working.”
The City: Feds Launch a Second Civil Rights Investigation Into Brooklyn Gas Pipeline
BY SAMANTHA MALDONADO, 11/19/21
“A second federal agency is kicking off a civil rights probe into the approval of part of a natural gas pipeline snaking through Brooklyn,” The City reports. “The U.S. Department of Transportation will investigate whether the state Department of Public Service violated of federal discrimination laws when the Public Service Commission gave thumbs up to National Grid’s North Brooklyn Pipeline in August, according to a letter from DOT sent Friday and obtained by THE CITY. The investigation is the second of its kind in response to a complaint filed in August by lawyers on behalf of several Brooklyn community groups. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is examining the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s actions in a related probe announced in October. “We’re really glad the DOT is investigating because it’s a terrible precedent and really harmful for these communities, and it’s just kind of another way that state agencies skirt the law to allow infrastructure to be built in communities of color without adequate protection,” Anjana Malhotra, a lawyer at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, who filed the complaint, told The City. She added the results of the probe could snag the last phase of construction of the pipeline, which is set to stretch from Brownsville to Greenpoint. The complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and Department of Transportation alleged the location and operation of the pipeline and related projects discriminate against communities of color that live along the nearly seven-mile route. The complaint, which charges violations of federal and state environmental and civil rights laws, alleged National Grid misled the public about the nature of the pipeline project — and that the Public Service Commission, as part of the Department of Public Service, improperly approved it.”
InsideClimate News: Concerns Linger Over a Secretive Texas Company That Owns the Largest Share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
By David Hasemyer, 11/22/21
“Environmental organizations and pipeline experts continue expressing concerns about a secretive Texas petroleum company with a spotty safety record that acquired the largest share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline last year as thawing permafrost and flooding linked to climate change threatened the massive oil conduit,” InsideClimate News reports. “The Regulatory Commission of Alaska voted 4-1 in December 2020 to allow Hilcorp Energy Co. to acquire BP’s Alaska oil and gas assets for $5.6 billion, a transaction described as the biggest Alaskan business deal in a generation. It involved one of the state’s most important pieces of economic infrastructure. The acquisition, which included the oil giant’s 49 percent share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), received approval despite hundreds of comments from opponents who said they did not believe Hilcorp had either the expertise or the resources to protect the pipeline from intensifying climate change. Much of the opposition centered on Hilcorp’s refusal to publicly reveal internal financial documents, which the commission permitted through issuance of a disclosure waiver in the runup to the sale. The decision followed a pattern of protection afforded Hilcorp by the commission, which had ruled in favor of keeping the company’s finances secret on 19 occasions since it began operations in Alaska in 2012. The approval provoked a strongly worded dissent from Commissioner Stephen McAlpine, a two-term lieutenant governor of Alaska whose time on the commission ended earlier this year. “I believe that airing these documents publicly and subjecting the entire transaction to intense debate far outweighs the petitioners’ interest in keeping them confidential,” McAlpine said in his written opposition.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Associated Press: Dems confident on methane fee as budget bill moves to Senate
By MATTHEW DALY, 11/22/21
“A Democratic plan to impose a fee on methane emissions from oil and gas wells has cleared a key hurdle, but it faces strong opposition from the oil and gas industry and criticism by centrist Sen. Joe Manchin,” the Associated Press reports. “The proposed fee on methane — a powerful pollutant that contributes to global warming — was included in a huge social and environmental policy bill passed by House Democrats last Friday. As the bill moves to the Senate, attention again will focus on Manchin, a West Virginia moderate who has already forced fellow Democrats to abandon one of their biggest climate proposals: a clean-electricity program that would boost wind and solar power while phasing out coal- and gas-fired power plants. Manchin, whose state is a leading producer of coal and natural gas, has said he worries a methane tax could be used to drive energy companies out of business. He said before the House vote that he wants to make sure the fee is structured to incentivize innovation and not just “punish” energy companies “for the sake of punishing” them. A spokeswoman for Manchin declined to comment after the House vote, but Democrats in the House and Senate said they are confident the fee will remain in the Senate bill, despite a 50-50 split in the chamber that gives every Democrat veto power. Republicans unanimously oppose the bill… “This is a tax on American natural gas that makes us less competitive,″ Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of the American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s top lobbying group, told AP. “At a time of rising energy costs, it’s a flawed policy to raise costs on energy producers,″ he said, adding that he is hopeful the Senate will eliminate the fee.
E&E News: Fight escalates over FERC gas, climate reviews
By Carlos Anchondo, Niina H. Farah, 11/22/21
“Federal energy regulators wrestled last week with the emerging question of how they can account for greenhouse gas emissions when reviewing new natural gas projects,” E&E News reports. “Charged with approving major energy projects such as natural gas pipelines and export terminals, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission historically has not considered proposed projects’ contributions to climate change, a position that has drawn criticism from environmental groups, legal experts and Richard Glick, the commission’s Democratic chairman. Still, others say FERC’s authority is narrowly defined by Congress and doesn’t include mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. At the outset of a technical conference FERC on Friday, Glick emphasized the importance of the agency’s addressing climate change impacts, asserting that doing so creates “greater certainty” for industry. He noted that the discussion came on the heels of recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that found FERC should do more to assess emissions impacts when determining the need for pipelines and other energy projects. “If you look at the numerous court decisions on natural gas and [liquefied natural gas] facilities, whether it’s been on greenhouse gas emissions or need or whatever else, it’s very clear that when we don’t do our job when we pursue the certification process or the LNG process, the courts are going to send it back to us,” Glick said. When FERC is forced to revisit previous decisions following court orders, Glick said, it leads to increased costs, the consumption of more agency time and even the termination of projects.”
E&E News: Haaland strikes slur for Indigenous women from federal lands
By Jennifer Yachnin, 11/19/21
“Interior Secretary Deb Haaland took steps today to speed the erasure of offensive monikers from public lands — including a blanket order that will eliminate an offensive term for Native American women from more than 650 federal sites,” E&E News reports. “Haaland, the first Native American to helm Interior, issued a pair of secretarial orders aimed at streamlining the process for amending place names, including the creation of a federal advisory committee to review and recommend changes. "Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands. Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage — not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression,” Haaland said in a statement. Under Secretarial Order 3404, Haaland today declared "squaw" a derogatory term — noting its use as an "offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women" — and directed the creation of a 13-member Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force to identify and recommend new names for sites that include the term.”
STATE UPDATES
O.C. Register: Sheen near site of Huntington Beach oil spill investigated
NATHANIEL PERCY, 11/20/21
“Officials were investigating the possibility of another oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach after a sheen was seen on the water for a time in the vicinity of the damaged pipeline Saturday afternoon, Nov. 20, authorities said,” the O.C. Register reports. “Pollution responders were investigating a 30-foot-by-70-foot sheen, Jenna Driscoll, liaison officer with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the Register. The source of the sheen had not been determined, and it was not known when it was first spotted… “The pipeline has been shut down since the original spill on Oct. 2. “It could be nothing, it could be something, but we want to be sure we get an investigation out quickly,” Foley told the Register. “We’re all in. We don’t want to repeat what happened last time.” In October, an estimated 26,000 gallons of oil spilled into the ocean and came ashore from Huntington Beach to Dana Point after an anchor from a cargo ship struck and ruptured the pipeline, officials said.”
Denver Post: Warnings of orphan and zombie wells spark debate on bonding by oil, gas companies
JUDITH KOHLER, 11/22/21
“Proposed reforms meant to ensure taxpayers don’t get stuck paying to clean up oil and gas sites could actually leave the public open to eventually covering billions of dollars in costs, environmentalists and local governments contend,” the Denver Post reports. “The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates the industry, is considering new rules to make sure companies have the money to properly close wells, remove equipment and clean up the site. But the latest draft of the rules is a big step backward, local elected officials, community and environmental activists told the commission in recent hearings. A third version of the proposals is due out Dec. 7, with hearings scheduled in January and February. At the heart of the proposals is making sure companies have the money to close and clean up wells or that there are funds to cover the costs if a company goes bankrupt or walks away without doing the work.An update of what the commission calls financial assurances from oil and gas companies is mandated by Senate Bill 181, a 2019 law that directed an overhaul of the state’s rules and prioritized public health and environment when regulating the industry. Critics say revisions by the COGCC staff to earlier proposals don’t comply with SB 181’s directive that every operator provide assurance that it’s financially capable of meeting all its obligations under the law.”
EXTRACTION
Natural Gas Intelligence: Biden, Trudeau, López Obrador Pledge to Curb Oil and Gas Methane Emissions in Trilateral Summit
ANDREW BAKER, 11/19/21
“President Biden, joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday pledged to create a “North American strategy on methane and black carbon” during a trilateral summit this week in Washington, DC.,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “The strategy will aim “to reduce methane emissions from all sectors, especially oil and gas,” the White House said. “We will also focus on reducing black carbon from diesel vehicles and engines, flaring, wood-burning appliances, and shipping.” Biden and Trudeau “reiterated their pledge to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to enhance 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets, and they affirmed the Global Methane Pledge,” the White House said… “In addition to tackling methane emissions, Biden and Trudeau “plan to expand clean electricity, grow zero-emissions vehicles and charging infrastructure, and accelerate carbon sequestration,” the White House said. “They will work to reduce oil and gas sector emissions and end new direct public support for unabated fossil fuels internationally by the end of 2022.”
NBC News: Indigenous groups say Big Oil’s pollution threatens their existence in Canadian forest
Nicholas Kusnetz, 11/21/21
“The land around Jean L’Hommecourt’s cabin was once miles away from the noise of the world. On long summer days, she would come with her mother to gather berries from the forest and to hunt moose when the leaves turned yellow and the air crisp,” NBC News reports. “But over the last two decades, the cabin has been surrounded by the expanding mines of Alberta’s tar sands, where oil companies have dug vast open pits to extract a heavy form of crude called bitumen. L’Hommecourt and her Indigenous community of Fort McKay, about 35 miles north of Fort McMurray, have watched as the companies have replaced their traditional lands with a 40-mile string of mines, stripping away subarctic boreal forest and wetlands and rerouting waterways. “It’s an invasion of our territory, invasion of us trying to be out on the land,” L’Hommecourt told ICN. Over the years, more and more workers have shown up in the area, stopping her along the road to tell her that she couldn’t hunt moose or that she was trespassing. “‘You’re the trespasser,’” she tells them. “‘I shouldn’t have to be answering your questions — you answer mine.’” The mines’ ecological impacts are so vast and so deep that L’Hommecourt and other Indigenous people here — mostly from the Dene and Cree First Nations — tell ICN the industry has challenged their very existence, even as it has provided jobs and revenue to Native businesses and communities. People in this region have long suspected that the tar sands mines were poisoning the land and everything it feeds.”
Globe and Mail: Could green energy be key to replacing the oil and gas workers who’ve vanished from Calgary’s core?
JEFFREY JONES, 11/21/21
“No investment company has more of an oil-patch pedigree than ARC Financial Corp. Over the past quarter century, the private-equity firm has raised more than $6-billion to inject into Calgary’s fossil-fuel-driven economy, and has backed some of the best known oil companies,” the Globe and Mail reports. “That’s why local business leaders felt a tremour last spring when ARC, which provided early funding for the likes of ARC Resources and Seven Generations Energy, announced it would seek investments in companies focused on the transition to low-carbon energy. ARC is the most prominent energy-focused financial player to have widened its investment hunt to include opportunities in areas such as renewable energy and carbon capture, utilization and storage. But others have made similar changes in direction over the past year. These moves have not been purely altruistic. Green tech is one area where Calgary’s business community and city officials see major growth in the coming years, as global investors seek the twin objectives of financial returns and impact in the fight against climate change… “Even if oil and gas continue their rebound, the industry won’t have the same job-creating power it had before. Technological developments over the past decade have allowed companies to produce a barrel of oil with far fewer people. In addition, it is not clear how many of the workers who remain will return to the office once the pandemic ends… “Experts warn the clean-energy industry is far less labour-intensive than oil and gas was at the height of the last boom, meaning it alone can’t support a rebound to full downtown office occupancy. Many of the players are still in the startup stage, with dozens of employees, rather than thousands”.
NPR: Giving up gas-powered cars was a fringe idea. It's now on its way to reality
CAMILA DOMONOSKE, 11/20/21
“A few years ago, when the advocacy group Coltura called on America to stop using gasoline, it prompted mockery,” NPR reports. “Coltura had been waging a war against gasoline for a few years by this point, but its primary weapons were things like music and performance art. One piece featured actors inside a clear plastic bubble panicking as it filled with simulated exhaust. Then in 2017, Coltura's co-executive director, Matthew Metz, published an op-ed calling for Washington state to phase out gas-powered cars completely. A Seattle columnist wrote an article about Metz, with the word "crazy" featuring prominently. A lot has changed in four years. Tesla is now the world's most valuable automaker. Multiple automakers say they will cease production of gas- and diesel-powered cars within the next two decades. And what was once a fringe idea is now part of a global trend: momentum is building for the idea that zero-emission vehicles, primarily electric ones, are the future of the auto industry. "More and more countries are announcing targets to to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles at the national level," Sandra Wappelhorst, who has tracked this trend for the International Council on Clean Transportation, told NPR earlier this year.
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Muskoka411: Orillia Fire Dept. Gets Help From Enbridge Gas To Reduce Fire And Carbon Monoxide Deaths Through Safe Community Project Zero
11/21/21
“The City Orillia Fire Department, Enbridge Gas, and the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council are working to improve home safety and bring fire and carbon monoxide-related deaths down to zero,” Muskoka411 reports. “The Orillia Fire Department received 216 combination smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms through Safe Community Project Zero, a public education campaign that will provide over 16,600 alarms to residents in 70 municipalities across Ontario… “This year, Enbridge Gas invested $500,000 in Safe Community Project Zero, and over the past 13 years, the program has provided more than 68,000 alarms to Ontario fire departments.”
OPINION
The Hill: Union labor can enable hydrogen's carbon-cutting potential
Mark McManus is the General President of the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters, 11/19/21
“While the results of the discussions at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, are still being analyzed, there is no doubt that an all-of-the-above energy approach built by skilled union labor is required to meet our ambitious shared climate goals,” Mark McManus writes for The Hill. “There is broad consensus that a greener future must address high emissions sectors like energy transport, steel and manufacturing, long haul trucking, maritime cargo, and transportation. Hydrogen is well poised to meet this challenge, as are the thousands of men and women of organized labor — especially the more than 359,000 men and women of the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) — who are America’s best asset for building the 21st-century energy economy… “Hydrogen produced from renewable energy can be blended with natural gas for use in our nation’s existing pipeline network. This already-existing infrastructure means hydrogen can travel from production centers to end users, reducing carbon intensity and emissions along the way. Even better, existing technologies allow hydrogen to be sourced, produced, and used domestically in all 50 states. That means red states and blue states both stand to benefit from jobs tied to increased hydrogen production, infrastructure, and value chain growth. As Congress passed the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, hydrogen is poised to play a critical role in the future of energy infrastructure in the United States. With $8 billion in funding over five years to support hydrogen fuel production and the construction of four new regional hubs, and an additional $1 billion for demonstration and commercialization aimed at cost reduction, the Act shows Congress is delivering on this bold promise to pursue an all-of-the-above energy approach.”
MSNBC: Velshi: Oil drilling is wildly profitable. But some things are more important
11/21/21
“Fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and Chevron have leased the rights to drill on federal oil and gas reserves in the Gulf,” Ali Velshi comments for MSNBC. “The companies bid on 308 tracts totaling 2,700 square miles for a combined $192 million. It’s one of the largest oil and gas leases in American history. Scientists say the world needs to be well on its way to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030. Or risk climate change calamity. This latest round of oil & gas leases means companies can produce oil long past that deadline. We are going to have to decide that some things, like an earth that can continue to sustain human life, are actually more important than cheap and convenient but filthy, deadly energy. And until we make that decision, wildfires will burn hotter, hurricanes will hit harder, and glaciers will melt faster.”
News-Gazette: Ban on crude-oil exports could send gas prices even higher
Seth Whitehead is executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Resources Board, 11/21/21
“USA Today reported on New Year’s Day 2020 that “$3 gas is becoming a distant memory” and “the main reason is the nation’s oil boom.” My, how things have changed in just 23 months,” Seth Whitehead writes for the News-Gazette. “...In response to the highest pump prices since 2011, the Biden administration has not only begged foreign adversaries to increase oil production — ignoring the fact that USA Today and other media outlets have acknowledged that domestic producers can remedy the situation — but has also floated the idea reinstating the U.S. crude-oil export ban that was lifted six years ago. Such a policy could actually send gasoline prices soaring even higher, which is the last thing Americans need with energy costs and inflation already spiking at an alarming rate… “So the simple laws of economics tell us that if crude-oil exports from the United States — world’s top oil producer — were banned, global supply would contract at the same time demand continues to surge as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic… “A crude-oil export ban would also result in a glut of domestically produced oil in the U.S. to go along with an undersupplied global market. If the Biden administration was serious about keeping gasoline prices low, it would do everything in its power to facilitate increased U.S. oil production to increase global supply and provide relief. Imposing a crude-oil export ban and further hamstringing our domestic oil producers will only ensure that America’s pump pain lingers on.”
Inforum: Hennen: New pipeline will link east and west in North Dakota
Scott Hennen hosts the statewide radio program “What’s On Your Mind?” On AM 1100, 11/20/21
“Ask anyone what the most impactful accomplishment from recently completed special session of the North Dakota Legislature and you'll likely get many different answers. While there were many things that were accomplished, some good and some bad, I think we should all agree that the state of North Dakota taking federal American Rescue Plan dollars and using it for infrastructure is a game-changer,” Scott Hennen writes for Inforum. “This infrastructure will connect western North Dakota oil and gas fields to eastern North Dakota, including places like Rugby, Bottineau and other communities along Highway 2 and Interstate 29 that currently don't have natural gas service. This will serve the industrial needs, grow new manufacturing facilities and have countless other benefits, including ending the reliance on Canadian natural gas in the population centers of eastern North Dakota. It took a $150 million state investment so far and the intent for another $150 million from the state to get plans for the pipeline started, but this will be a private sector project. Given the distance, it will be a multi-billion dollar pipeline… “This brings me to the reason why this is a very worthy investment of tax incentive dollars. Pipelines are the number one attack point among fossil fuel deniers and the “keep it in the ground” crowd. As they fly around in their jets, they'd like you and I to return to a buffalo commons. They want green energy to have a leg up. You only need to look at what President Joe Biden did on day one: canceled pipelines and took one-fourth of American energy production off line by preventing oil and gas exploration on federal lands. That's what's to blame for the price you're currently paying at the pump.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pipeline delivers for southwestern Pennsylvania
Kevin Sunday, Director, Government Affairs, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, 11/20/21
“Families and businesses are already paying high prices for energy due to inflation and a lack of infrastructure — and the situation could get worse if Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer doesn’t reverse course on trying to shut down a key pipeline,” Kevin Sunday writes for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “This project, Line 5, delivers up to 540,000 barrels per day of oil and natural gas liquids to heat homes and fuel vehicles in parts of the Great Lakes region, including southwestern Pennsylvania. Notably, Line 5 supplies the refineries that produce aviation fuel to Pittsburgh International Airport. Earlier this month, pipeline opponents cheered when erroneous reports implied the White House is studying closing the pipeline. It isn’t; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an environmental impact statement on project permits. But no one should cheer if Line 5 stops operating. The result would be energy shortages and even higher prices for home heating fuels like natural gas and propane — not to mention the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and jeopardizing billions of dollars in economic activity in the Great Lakes region.”
Bloomberg: Global Methane Pledge Offers Reason for Cautious Optimism
By The Editors, 11/19/21
“More than 100 countries have signed a first-of-its-kind pledge to cut emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, by 30% between now and 2030. The signatories represent 70% of the global economy, including six of the world’s top 10 methane polluters. In all the back and forth over the Glasgow climate talks, the importance of this breakthrough is easy to overlook,” the Bloomberg Editorial Board writes. “...A fast, easy, cheap win for the climate? It sounds too good to be true. And there’s reason to be cautious. For one thing, several notorious methane polluters — including Turkmenistan and Russia — still haven’t signed the pledge. And the commitment, like the Paris Agreement, is voluntary and lacks enforcement mechanisms. Its success will depend on countries holding themselves (and each other) accountable… “And environmentalists are rightly disappointed that Biden’s current proposals won’t stop fossil-fuel firms from routinely “flaring” methane, as some states already do. Elsewhere, too, the messiness of democratic politics and entrenched economic interests can prevent countries from taking simple, affordable steps to cut their emissions. Despite these challenges, the fact remains that slashing methane emissions is a fast, powerful, cost-effective way to reduce global warming, and new technologies have made ambitious cuts more realistic than ever. The United Nations notes that human-generated emissions could be cut by 45% by 2040 using current technology. The Global Methane Pledge is most welcome — but it’s feasible, and eminently desirable, to go further.”