EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/30/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Common Dreams: 30 Groups Demand Pause on Carbon Pipeline Approvals
Cedar Rapids Gazette: Linn supervisors consider safety rules that could affect pipeline
Augusta Free Press: Forest Service promises its own environmental impact statement on Mountain Valley Pipeline
Bloomberg: TC Energy Dives as LNG Pipeline Is Hit With Higher Costs Again
Press release: Enbridge Completes Partnership Agreement in Woodfibre LNG
The Tyee: Will BC Support Future Pipeline Development?
News 360: At least 19 injured after ethane pipeline explosion in Veracruz, Mexico
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Salon.com: Ro Khanna counters Joe Manchin's pipeline bill by trying to force vote on $15 minimum wage
E&E News: What's the best way to regulate CCS? 2 competing visions.
The Hill: Biden administration approves Gulf oil terminal opposed by Texas city
Washington Post: Biden to honor tribes with Nevada national monument, his biggest yet
Western Environmental Law Center: Proposed BLM methane waste rule less disappointing than expected, could be much better
STATE UPDATES
Salt Lake Tribune: Researcher says ancient agricultural fields are threatened by oil and gas near Chaco
Sacramento Bee: ‘Unconscionable’: California oil companies facing new tax are no-shows at gas price hearing
EXTRACTION
Oil & Gas Journal: EIA: Europe’s LNG import capacity set to expand by one-third by end 2024
Press release: Enbridge and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures to Explore the Development of a CO2 Pipeline Transportation and Sequestration Hub near Corpus Christi, Texas
Wall Street Journal: Products Made With Captured Greenhouse Gas Are Reaching Commercial Scale
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
E&E News: Colorado: Capital of ‘responsibly sourced’ oil and gas
OPINION
Hartley Sentinel: LETTERS: CO2 pipeline landowners hold the line against Summit Carbon Solutions
Cardinal News: Manchin’s deal on Mountain Valley Pipeline is in jeopardy
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Editorial: Cambria methane leak shows need for new EPA regulations
PIPELINE NEWS
Common Dreams: 30 Groups Demand Pause on Carbon Pipeline Approvals
11/29/22
“Yesterday, 30 groups sent a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) requesting that the federal agency issue an advisory to states recommending that they refrain from permitting any new carbon dioxide pipelines until the PHMSA regulations are final,” Common Dreams reports. “Groups also requested that the agency hold a public meeting on the urgent need for a rigorous rulemaking. PHMSA announced its carbon pipeline safety rulemaking in May, citing serious safety concerns with current regulations, laid bare by a 2020 rupture in Satartia, Mississippi that forced the evacuation of 200 people and sent 45 to the hospital. California has already established a moratorium on certain carbon pipeline projects until PHMSA finalizes its regulations… “The request for federal action to safeguard public health, safety and the climate, comes as carbon pipeline corporations scramble to profit off of massive federal taxpayer subsidies. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law this year, raised Section 45Q tax credits 70%; as a result, three companies proposing carbon pipelines in the Midwest are poised to cash in on $40 billion taxpayer dollars. “Carbon capture and the hazardous pipelines it relies on are a danger to public health, safety and our climate. It would be ludicrous to allow pipeline corporations eager to cash in on a gold rush of federal subsidies to run roughshod over communities while the federal government is still evaluating the explicit dangers of those proposals. PHMSA must direct states to halt carbon pipeline approvals — these projects are far too dangerous to proceed,” said Food & Water Watch Policy Director Jim Walsh… “Original letter signatories include 350.org, Bold Alliance, Science and Environmental Health Network, Climate Investigations Center, Food & Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility and Great Plains Action Society.”
Cedar Rapids Gazette: Linn supervisors consider safety rules that could affect pipeline
Gage Miskimen, 11/29/22
“With a company proposing a carbon dioxide capture pipeline to run through a portion of Linn County, the county’s Board of Supervisors will consider an ordinance next week to regulate setbacks of pipelines “carrying hazardous materials,” the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports. “Wolf Carbon Solutions of Colorado, one of three companies pursuing underground C02 pipelines in Iowa, is proposing a liquid carbon dioxide sequestration pipeline between Cedar Rapids and Decatur, Ill… “Wolf also wants to find other industrial clients to tie into the project, which would be eligible for federal tax credits. The supervisors will be voting on first consideration of the ordinance at its Monday meeting, the same day Wolf begins its second round of informational meetings with the public over its plans. Another pipeline company, Summit Carbon Solutions, filed lawsuits against Story and Shelby counties earlier this month after the counties adopted setback ordinances. Summit argued that the county supervisors there adopted ordinances that attempt to preempt oversight from the Iowa Utilities Board and the federal government. The cases currently are in U.S. District Court… “Linn County Planning and Development Director Charlie Nichols said that since a carbon pipeline disaster in Mississippi two years ago, the federal code hasn’t been updated, so he wants the county ordinance to offer an extra layer of protection. “If there is a lawsuit, we will handle it at that time. We have tried to be flexible enough in this code focusing on health, safety and welfare while providing a path where these projects can be built,” Nichols told the Gazette. “We are trying to make it so the project is possible but adding in extra protections. My hope is we don’t get sued and the pipeline company is reasonable and Iowa Utilities Board respects the ordinance and the pipeline company doesn’t challenge it.” Nichols told the Gazette he thinks it’s important for the public to know whether counties can enforce setbacks on pipelines, since it’s never been tested until recently. “It’s possible the Iowa Utilities Board grants the certificate and ignores our code, but we’re writing these ordinances in good faith while trying to be reasonable and protect safety. We are just trying to do something to add an extra measure of safety,” Nichols told the Gazette.”
Augusta Free Press: Forest Service promises its own environmental impact statement on Mountain Valley Pipeline
Rebecca Barnabi, 11/29/22
“A Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement can be expected from the United States Forest Service (USFS) before a final statement next summer on the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” the Augusta Free Press reports. “The USFS’s statement is necessary after the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the 2017 and 2021 Forest Service Records of Decisions, and would address the proposed crossing of 3.5 miles on the Jefferson National Forest by the pipeline. According to a press release, the proposed pipeline project “is inconsistent with Land Management Plan standards without an amendment.” “...How is the public supposed to trust that the U.S. Forest Service and President Biden will do their duty to protect them when Biden is supporting legislation that builds unnecessary fossil fuel pipelines and weakens our environmental protections during a climate emergency?” Mountain Valley Watch Coordinator and frontline MVP organizer Russell Chisholm said in the press release. “Their intentions match the boondoggle that the Mountain Valley Pipeline has been for nearly a decade. Our lives are on the line, so we are going to continue to rally together to pressure Congress, the Biden administration and federal agencies to ensure the just, green future we deserve — free of new, needless fossil fuel projects and inadequate protections.” “...He added the pipeline’s completion is “extremely unlikely” given the numerous delays, budget increases, national opposition and the latest news from USFS. “The company should recognize this reality and put an immediate stop to their efforts to destroy our mountains and homes for the sake of their own financial gain during a climate catastrophe,” Chisholm said.
Bloomberg: TC Energy Dives as LNG Pipeline Is Hit With Higher Costs Again
Robert Tuttle, 11/29/22
“TC Energy Corp. warned of higher costs for its Coastal GasLink pipeline, adding another financial hurdle for a project that will supply Canada’s first major liquefied natural gas export plant,” Bloomberg reports. “Wage increases, a shortage of skilled labor and disputes with contractors have contributed to a “material increase” in the cost of building the pipeline that will run from gas fields in eastern British Columbia to the coastal port of Kitimat. Management will give a new cost estimate early next year and its funding requirements will also rise, the company said in a statement Tuesday… “The pipeline, which will feed the Shell Plc-led LNG Canada plant, has been plagued by higher expenses because of construction delays caused by Covid-19 and protests. In July, TC Energy raised the estimate by 70% to C$11.2 billion ($8.2 billion).”
Press release: Enbridge Completes Partnership Agreement in Woodfibre LNG
11/29/22
“Enbridge Inc. announced today that it has completed the previously announced transaction relating to its partnership agreement with Pacific Energy Corporation Limited (Pacific Energy) to jointly invest in the construction and operation of the Woodfibre LNG project, located near Squamish, B.C. Enbridge now has a 30% ownership stake in the Woodfibre LNG project, with Pacific Energy retaining the remaining 70% stake in the project. Pacific Energy and Enbridge will each make pro-rata contributions during construction through a combination of expected asset level financing and equity investments. In exchange for its capital contribution, Enbridge will receive a preferred equity interest that provides predictable future cash flows. The partners will jointly participate in the project's execution and governance of ongoing operations, while Pacific Energy retains responsibility for daily operations. Preliminary construction activities, including site preparation are underway. The project remains on track for its targeted in-service date of Q4 2027.”
The Tyee: Will BC Support Future Pipeline Development?
Amanda Follett Hosgood, 11/30/22
“At the recent COP27 conference in Egypt, B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman was asked about the future of liquified natural gas in B.C.,” The Tyee reports. “...Heyman appeared to sidestep. “First of all, I want to clarify, I have never said, and I don’t believe our government has said, that LNG is a good way to bring down emissions,” he said. “We inherited a number of certificated projects and one had the support of the government to go forward.” That project is Coastal GasLink, the 670-kilometre gas pipeline under construction through northern B.C. that will deliver natural gas to the LNG Canada export terminal, also under construction in Kitimat, where it will be liquified and shipped to Asian markets. Coastal GasLink has become a flashpoint for environmental concerns and Indigenous rights in the province, with the project proceeding despite opposition from Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary leadership… “It’s unclear whether the provincial government and B.C.’s new premier, David Eby, would apply the same approach to three additional gas pipelines currently authorized for the province’s north… “The Tyee made repeated requests to the premier’s office for comment on whether he would support more pipeline development in the North. The requests were forwarded to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, which said it consulted with several other ministries before providing its response — a link to the BC Oil and Gas Commission’s website… “Eby has yet to release a climate policy or publicly discuss liquified natural gas development since taking office. It’s unclear how the province might proceed given the three proposed pipelines all hold environmental certificates, yet also face potential opposition from northern Indigenous communities. Shannon McPhail, executive director of Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, told the Tyee the province shouldn’t be moving ahead with more pipelines until it has addressed existing conflicts and environmental issues with Coastal GasLink. In addition to Indigenous opposition, the project has been issued nearly $250,000 in fines for damage caused to watersheds. “It is completely irresponsible to even entertain the idea of other pipelines through this incredible, iconic salmon-bearing watershed when the issues with CGL are so terrible, without resolution. With the way that things have changed since those other pipelines have been permitted, how can we even consider entertaining this?” McPhail told the Tyee.
News 360: At least 19 injured after ethane pipeline explosion in Veracruz, Mexico
Daniel Stewart, 1129/22
“An explosion resulting from work to control an ethane leak in a Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) pipeline has left at least 19 people injured in the Mexican municipality of Agua Dulce, in the state of Veracruz,” News 360 reports. “As detailed in a press release by the Secretary of Civil Protection of the area, Guadalupe Osorno, the number of injured people has risen from 11 to 19, although most of them have only first degree burns, and are being treated in medical centers. The explosion took place at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Tuesday during maneuvers being carried out by Pemex workers, State Civil Protection and the Mexican Army, who were trying to plug a leak in the gas pipeline, until it exploded, as reported by 'El Universal'. So far, the fire is still active and is in the process of being controlled by the Mexican authorities who have been on the scene since the beginning of the leak.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Salon.com: Ro Khanna counters Joe Manchin's pipeline bill by trying to force vote on $15 minimum wage
CANDICE COLE, 11/29/22
“Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., tells TYT he is pushing to attach a $15 federal minimum wage to the annual military spending bill Democrats are working to pass by the end of the year,” Salon.com reports. “The move is a direct response to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., attempting the same tactic to pass his controversial legislation to fast-track permitting for energy projects.vBefore the elections, Manchin failed to get support from either progressives or conservatives for his bill, which would make it easier for energy companies to steamroll community opposition. He is now facing an uphill battle, having said he'll try to get it passed by attaching it to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Khanna, a vocal opponent of Manchin's bill, responded today, saying, "I am pushing for requiring a $15 wage as part of the NDAA." He said, "If the big oil industry wants to hold the NDAA hostage to weakening environmental protections, then progressives should demand a $15 wage as part of securing our votes. We can call the progressive deal the deal for the American people to finally get a raise." “...While ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees reportedly have no interest in attaching Manchin's bill to the NDAA, there's a chance it could still happen. Or that elements of Manchin's bill could appear in other legislation.”
E&E News: What's the best way to regulate CCS? 2 competing visions.
Carlos Anchondo, 11/30/22
“Environmental groups and a new industry coalition offered sharply different views this week on the future of carbon capture and how to improve oversight as its use expands,” E&E News reports. “Green organizations are calling for a pause on approvals of carbon dioxide pipelines, while six energy and financial services companies launched a new initiative to foster greater trust around CO2 capture, transport and storage. Both announcements pointed to an expected boom in new carbon capture projects in the United States, citing the passage of recent legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act and last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law… “That is where the shared vision ended, however. The environmental groups said they want the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to call for a pause on permit approvals for CO2 pipelines, detailing what they described as regulatory and knowledge gaps around the safe transport of CO2. The groups said there’s currently no requirement that an odorant be added to CO2 to aid in its detection. That's one of the areas they said needs improvement. Meanwhile, the industry group — which includes climate data analytics and assessment firm Project Canary — introduced a new initiative that supports “third-party independent environmental assessments and data measurement” for carbon capture and storage (CCS)... “Jim Walsh, policy director for the group Food & Water Watch, dismissed Project Canary in an email as “little more than a thinly veiled scheme to greenwash a climate scam and deter federal oversight of dangerous CO2 pipelines.” “...On Monday, 30 environmental and advocacy groups — including Food & Water Watch, the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org — sent a letter to PHMSA, calling on the agency to issue an advisory to states recommending they don’t permit new CO2 pipelines until updated PHMSA regulations are in place… “On Tuesday, a PHMSA spokesperson told E&E the agency doesn’t have the “statutory authority to prescribe pipeline routing or siting or the authority to implement a moratorium on all pipeline construction.” “PHMSA is currently working to strengthen regulations and guidance materials to clarify requirements on emergency response, design and integrity management related to CO2 pipelines, in addition to others,” the PHMSA spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the agency received the letter from the environmental groups and plans to respond. The PHMSA spokesperson told E&E the agency "will have a proposal for public comment in the new year."
The Hill: Biden administration approves Gulf oil terminal opposed by Texas city
ZACK BUDRYK, 11/23/22
“Federal regulators this week approved a new oil terminal in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas over the objections of local activists, who argued the move contravenes the Biden administration’s stated climate goals,” The Hill reports. “The Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration formally granted the license Nov. 21, ending a process that began under the Trump administration three years ago. The Sea Port Oil Terminal would be located offshore of Freeport, Texas, with a capacity of 2 million barrels a day. The project would involve two pipelines running through the city of Surfside Beach, where the City Council unanimously voted in opposition to the project in March 2020. Greenpeace blasted the Biden administration’s approval of the terminal, pointing to an environmental impact statement published in July projecting the terminal would generate 83,000 tons of carbon emissions per year through the construction process alone, with a projected total of 219 million tons a year in downstream refining and combustion emissions… “When we say oil and gas companies are sacrificing communities to make a buck this is exactly what we’re talking about. We have less than a decade to cut emissions by half. Approving new oil and gas projects is not a bridge, it is an on-ramp to planetary collapse,” Destiny Watford, climate campaigner at Greenpeace US, told The Hill. “It is peak hypocrisy for President Biden and [Transportation] Secretary Pete Buttigieg to shorten the fuse on the world’s largest carbon bomb by greenlighting additional oil export terminals right after lecturing the world about increasing climate ambitions at COP27.”
Washington Post: Biden to honor tribes with Nevada national monument, his biggest yet
Dan Michalski, 11/30/22
“From the highway, Spirit Mountain — a 5,642 foot-high peak — appears gray. But at times, it glows a majestic pink. For the Fort Mojave and 11 other tribes, these mystical rocks are the site from which their ancestors emerged,” the Washington Post reports. “There’s a spiritual connection that makes us Mojave people,” Tim Williams, chair of the tribal council, told the Post. “If it’s not protected, our generation will not have done our job.” Two decades ago, Congress preserved the mountain — called Avi Kwa Ame (ah-VEE-kwah-may) in Mojave — and 33,000 acres around it as wilderness. Now the Biden administration is readying a proclamation that could put roughly 450,000 acres — spanning almost the entire triangle at the bottom of the Nevada map — off limits to development under the 1906 Antiquities Act. President Biden will commit on Wednesday at the White House Tribal Nations Summit to protecting the area, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision was not yet public. Biden hopes to visit the area soon, the official added. The transformation of this 700-square-mile wedge between California and Arizona is likely to rank as the largest act of land conservation that Biden will undertake this term. The designation enjoys the support of tribes, local officials, environmental groups and the rural business community but has frustrated some renewable energy advocates, who warn it could undercut the nation’s climate goals.”
Western Environmental Law Center: Proposed BLM methane waste rule less disappointing than expected, could be much better
11/28/22
“Weeks after President Biden’s remarks at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt and following nearly 18 months of internal agency deliberations, conservation groups expressed their disappointment today in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) proposed rule to prevent the waste of publicly owned energy resources,” according to the Western Environmental Law Center. “The proposed rule requires little from the oil and gas industry beyond increasing royalties on wasted gas. It fails to address routine, intentional venting and flaring as well as other forms of waste. BLM has clear authority and a statutory duty under the Mineral Leasing Act to prevent the waste of publicly owned resources such as gas… “To do so, however, the Bureau must look beyond royalties and reinforce the agency’s clear authority — as outlined in the rule — to take specific and affirmative steps to eliminate the waste of gas caused by venting and flaring. We are encouraged by the preliminary additional safeguards articulated by the rule but those provisions must clearly articulate the Bureau’s duty, in addition to its authority, to tackle waste from venting and flaring.” “...Venting and flaring also emit other harmful pollutants including ozone-forming volatile organic compounds and hazardous pollutants such as benzene and hydrogen sulfide that significantly harm the health of people in communities near oil and gas development. States such as New Mexico and Colorado have already demonstrated that strong venting and flaring regulations are possible. BLM must revise its rule in pursuit of similar standards. Conservation groups successfully intervened in a case to reinstate President Obama’s previous BLM methane waste rule and will continue to hold BLM accountable for the use of Tribal and public resources.”
STATE UPDATES
Salt Lake Tribune: Researcher says ancient agricultural fields are threatened by oil and gas near Chaco
Hannah Grover, 11/27/22
“When the ancestral Puebloans lived in the Chaco Canyon area, they chose to locate their great houses in areas with high agricultural productivity, according to a new study in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “Lead author Wetherbee Dorshow told the Tribune these ancient agricultural fields can be hard to identify. And encroaching oil and gas development in the region could threaten the fields. “There are a lot of areas there that have never been surveyed and we don’t know a ton about,” he told the Tribune. “There’s also a lot of oil and gas in areas that are highly sensitive.” “...Dorshow’s team used GIS—or geospatial imaging—to identify areas that the ancestral Puebloans may have farmed during the time period archaeologists refer to as the Great House period, which stretches from 850 A.D. to 1200 A.D… “The researchers also looked at where oil and gas development is occurring and found a lot of it overlaps with where agricultural fields likely were located… “Dorshow told the Tribune oil and gas extraction is not going to stop in the Chaco area, but, by looking more closely at where the agricultural fields would have been, projects can be moved to avoid impacting the fields. That could mean changing the route a pipeline takes to avoid cutting through an ancient agricultural field… “Oil and gas development in the Chaco area has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, leading to the State Land Office placing a moratorium on new leases on state lands within 10 miles of the park in 2019 and the federal government following suit last year by implementing a 20-year moratorium… “Environmental and Indigenous advocates say the U.S. Department of the Interior is not doing enough to protect the Greater Chaco region, which also includes sites sacred to the Navajo people.”
Sacramento Bee: ‘Unconscionable’: California oil companies facing new tax are no-shows at gas price hearing
MAGGIE ANGST, 11/29/22
“Are oil companies exploiting Californians to rake in record profits? How can state regulators stop refineries from shutting down for maintenance at the same time? What are the best approaches to prevent future gasoline price spikes in the Golden State? As state regulators and legislators try to better understand what’s driving California’s high gas prices and weigh whether Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to tax oil company profits could be the answer, one thing is clear: they need more information and data from the companies producing and distributing the gasoline,” the Sacramento Bee reports. “The California Energy Commission pursued those questions at a Tuesday meeting where they heard from industry analysts. Commission members did not, however, get any help from the companies that produce more than 90% of the state’s gasoline. Chevron, Marathon, PBF Energy, Phillips 66 and Valero — all declined to participate in the hearing. In letters to the commission, most said speaking publicly about their operations, maintenance and inventory levels would force them to divulge trade secrets. PBF Energy, however, added that “the politicization of this issue by Governor Newsom, heightened by the misleading information he released and commented on related to our (2022 3rd quarter) earnings, precludes us from participating in this hearing.” “...Newsom called the reasoning by oil companies “pathetic” and vowed to “hold these companies accountable.” “Every Californian deserves to know why we were being fleeced at the pump even as gas prices declined across the country and crude oil prices were going down,” Newsom said in a statement. “The oil industry had their chance today to explain why they made record profits at our expense but they chose to stonewall us.”
EXTRACTION
Oil & Gas Journal: EIA: Europe’s LNG import capacity set to expand by one-third by end 2024
11/29/22
“LNG import capacity in the European Union (EU) and the UK will expand by 34%, or 6.8 bcfd, by 2024 compared with 2021, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA),” Oil & Gas Journal reports. “...Expansions of import, or regasification, capacity will total 5.3 bcfd by end 2023 and grow further by an additional 1.5 bcfd by end 2024, EIA said… “Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the reduction in natural gas pipeline imports from Russia that followed, European countries have reactivated development of previously dormant regasification projects and have started development of new projects. Many of the new regasification projects in Europe can be developed relatively quickly by chartering floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) and by building pipelines to transport regasified natural gas to connecting pipelines onshore. Other regasification projects in Europe will expand capacity at the existing onshore terminals and implement upgrades to increase existing terminals' throughput. So far this year, about 1.7 bcfd of the new and expanded LNG regasification capacity has been added in the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Italy, and Germany… “Regasification terminals currently under construction in 7 EU countries could add an additional 3.5 bcfd of new capacity by end 2023.”
Press release: Enbridge and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures to Explore the Development of a CO2 Pipeline Transportation and Sequestration Hub near Corpus Christi, Texas
11/30/22
“Enbridge Inc. and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a subsidiary of Occidental (NYSE: OXY), today announced that the parties intend to work towards jointly developing a carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration hub in the Corpus Christi area of the Texas Gulf Coast. Enbridge and OLCV signed a letter of intent to explore this joint project, which would provide a complete CO2 solution for area emitters through the development of a pipeline transportation system and sequestration facility… “The hub is expected to provide CO2 solutions for Enbridge's proposed facilities as well as other point source emitters in the Corpus Christi area. Enbridge and OLCV would jointly market the CO2 pipeline transportation and sequestration services to other third-party CO2 point source emitters in the Ingleside and Corpus Christi areas… "This is a unique opportunity for two organizations to pair complementary skill sets in a way that decarbonizes our own facilities and provides a platform for our industrial neighbors who are also seeking to reduce their emissions," said Colin Gruending, Enbridge Executive Vice President and President, Liquids Pipelines.
Wall Street Journal: Products Made With Captured Greenhouse Gas Are Reaching Commercial Scale
Dieter Holger, 11/28/22
“Straws, bottles and packaging made with captured greenhouse-gas are starting to reach commercial scale, offering a way for businesses making and using everyday products to reduce emissions contributing to global warming,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Locking up greenhouse gas in ingredients that go into products can be costly compared with petroleum-based options and presents hurdles to building out enough infrastructure to capture emissions. Even so, big companies are increasingly willing to pay a so-called green premium for products that help reduce their carbon footprints by seeking alternatives to plastic and other materials made with petroleum… “If we could use carbon emissions as a resource to create useful products, then potentially we could create a consumer-driven pathway to reducing carbon in the air,” Newlight Chief Executive Mark Herrema, told the Times… “Newlight in 2020 opened its first commercial-scale factory in Huntington Beach. It manufactures foodware, such as cutlery, bowls and straws, for Shake Shack Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Hyatt Hotels Corp. among others… “The company took about a decade to develop a process using microbes that suck up methane or carbon dioxide to grow a biological material called polyhydroxybutyrate, which is used to make biodegradable resins that can replace plastic. The private company sources captured emissions from dairy farms, ethanol plants and landfills, and is expanding into coal mines and exploring direct-air capture… “Mr. Herrema told the Times Newlight is also in talks with Nike Inc. and Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. to use its materials in apparel and automotive machinery.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
E&E News: Colorado: Capital of ‘responsibly sourced’ oil and gas
Mike Soraghan, 11/30/22
“The Dream Weaver oil well pad is notable for what’s not here. No emissions. No flares. No tanker trucks rumbling in and out. Oil, gas and wastewater get whisked miles away by pipeline, not stored on site. Air monitors mounted on poles sniff for signs of methane leaks. The site has been declared by a rating firm to be more responsible than 75 percent of other operators,” E&E News reports. “That’s the future of oil and gas,” Brian Cain, chief sustainability officer for Civitas Resources Inc., told E&E, pointing to the equipment at the company’s 22-well site, masked by yellow-beige fencing. It is certainly the future Colorado oil and gas industry leaders want to see as they seek to reposition their state as the capital of “responsibly sourced” oil and gas. Oil companies here fought unsuccessfully in the state General Assembly to fend off some of the strictest drilling rules in the country (Energywire, Nov. 4). Now they’re marketing them as “the gold standard” as they try to sell utilities and others on the “Colorado Molecule.” That molecule, they say, is cleaner than the energy particles produced in other states, although the industry is careful to avoid using the term “cleanest” in promoting Colorado’s oil and gas… “Environmentalists scoff at the pitch, saying oil and gas is a dirty business that can’t be cleaned up with spin. How can anyone equate Colorado with clean air and clean molecules, they ask, when EPA recently downgraded the Denver area to “severe” ground-level ozone nonattainment? “You’re talking about really dirty fracking, or less dirty fracking,” Kate Christensen, an activist with 350 Colorado, told E&E. “Regulations, if they’re not enforced, don’t make a cleaner molecule.”
OPINION
Hartley Sentinel: LETTERS: CO2 pipeline landowners hold the line against Summit Carbon Solutions
Bonnie Ewoldt, Milford resident and Crawford County Landowner, 11/24/22
“Landowners along the route of Summit Carbon Solutions’ hazardous CO2 pipeline are holding the line against the company’s strong-armed attempts to pressure us for our signatures,” Bonnie Ewoldt writes for the Hartley Sentinel. “After more than a year of working to get signed easements, Summit only has a little more than half of those needed. A KMZ map of the most recent Exhibit H file submitted to the Iowa Utility board shows more than 1,500 unsigned parcels remain. This private property will be targeted for eminent domain should Summit be granted a permit for a hazardous CO2 pipeline from the IUB. The IUB considers the company’s Exhibit H map incomplete and will not schedule a hearing at this time… “This is an astounding visual statement that show Iowa landowners are not signing away their farmland for an underground pipeline that carries hazardous industrial waste. Signing with Summit would involve three types of easements. The permanent easement gives Summit the right to access the property for construction of the pipeline and allows for continued access at any time, day or night… “A permanent easement is forever and stays with the property when sold or bequeathed to an heir. Once signed, Summit Carbon Solutions owns the easement in perpetuity. Even if the company fails to get a permit from the IUB, it can sell the easement to another entity for a different purpose without the landowner’s knowledge or consent… “Several easement maps have areas marked ATWS (additional temporary work space). It is needed to bore huge holes under roads, rivers, and other pipelines. Landowners are paid nothing for this space. In other words, the company will have the right to access the easement from any driveway on the property and drive across crops, pasture, farmyards from any point of entry, at any time, day or night – again, without the landowners’ knowledge or permission. Common sense tells us that when we sign an easement, we are literally “giving away the farm.” Considering the rebuke from the IUB and subsequent delay in setting a hearing date, Summit’s strong-arm methods will only grow tougher and their offers higher. Even so, we will not sign. Hundreds of Iowa landowners are not intimidated by the threat of eminent domain, and we will continue to hold the line.”
Cardinal News: Manchin’s deal on Mountain Valley Pipeline is in jeopardy
Dwayne Yancey, 11/30/22
“How’s this for irony? The biggest obstacles right now to fast-tracking the Mountain Valley Pipeline are Republicans and the biggest proponents are Democrats, one of whom has declared that “climate change is an emergency,” Dwayne Yancey writes for Cardinal News. “...More relevant to those of us on this side of the state line: Manchin’s permitting bill specifically fast-tracks the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would pump natural gas from northwestern West Virginia to an existing pipeline near Chatham. That pipeline has also been held up by one delay after another, some regulatory, some judicial, and right now has no end in sight… “July has now turned into November and we’re still waiting for a vote on Manchin’s bill. It’s increasingly looking as if Manchin made a bad deal: He traded his vote for a promise of future action, with no guarantee that it would happen… “The reason: Republicans may or may not have gotten over Manchin’s vote for the climate bill but now they see a way to do more than just punish him. They see a way to withhold a major legislative victory from him and perhaps make him vulnerable to a reelection challenge in 2024… “The point is: Pipeline opponents who felt they had been double-crossed by Schumer and Biden back in the summer now are probably feeling a lot better about things. The pipeline might still happen – that’s an entirely different matter – but it won’t be because Congress effectively mandated it get approved, thanks to some backroom deal.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Editorial: Cambria methane leak shows need for new EPA regulations
THE EDITORIAL BOARD, 11/26/22
“A catastrophic leak from a natural gas storage field in Cambria County likely released over one billion cubic feet of the potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The incident demonstrates the importance of tracking — and punishing — methane emissions, a priority recently moved forward by both Congress and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. It also shows the urgency of implementing state-level regulations to control methane emissions from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board writes. “...For the purposes of western Pennsylvania, most notable is the expansion of regulatory coverage to all methane emitters, including small and independently-owned oil and gas sites. Earlier this year, a study in the journal Nature found that these low-production sites, which account for only 6% of production, are responsible for up to half of the methane that leaks from oil and gas wells. Pennsylvania has 27,000 conventional oil and gas wells, the vast majority of which are low- or no-production. Meanwhile, a new rule from the state Department of Environmental Protection, providing for regular inspection of methane-leak-prone sites, would cover less than 100 of those wells. The Cambria leak demonstrates the limitation of such a rule — the incoming Shapiro administration should greatly expand the number of wells it covers… “If the new Congressional fee schedule were applied, that would incur a $14.4 million fee in 2024, and $24 million in 2027. Pennsylvania should also look to follow the feds’ lead in levying such fees. Extracting oil and gas from the Pennsylvania landscape is a venerable tradition that contributes to our regional economic and to national security. But it must be done right. Federal methane regulations demonstrate the right path forward for a more sustainable industry, and Harrisburg should follow.”