EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/4/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint [VIDEO]: The RCMP attempted to come in to Coyote Camp and failed, for the first time since they were walked out by our Haudenosaunee relatives
The Tyee: Jailed Wet’suwet’en Chief Has a Friendly Warning for Coastal GasLink
Facebook: Indigenous Environmental Network: These images were taken yesterday at the Enbridge Line 3 crossing of the Mississippi River
The Progressive: At the End of Line 3: How Superior, Wisconsin, Became a Sacrifice Zone
FracTracker Alliance: CHICKAHOMINY PIPELINE PROJECT TRIES TO EXPLOIT AN APPARENT REGULATORY LOOPHOLE
MLK50: Why do local environmentalists object to City Council’s proposed anti-pipeline ordinance?
KOSA: State and local agencies investigate pipeline leak in Reeves County
Civil Beat: Congressional Delegation Calls For Investigation Into Red Hill Pipeline Leak At Pearl Harbor
Pipeline Journal: Canadian Oil Producers Bet On New Pipeline Route To Gulf Coast
Reuters: Energy Transfer's NGL exports doubled over last 18 months -company
Deadline: ‘On Sacred Ground’: Concourse Boards Dakota Access Pipeline Movie With William Mapother & David Arquette
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: With Methane and Forest Deals, Climate Summit Offers Hope After Gloomy Start
Politico Morning Energy: ANOTHER TEST FOR FERC
Associated Press: US says oil, gas sales damage climate — but won’t stop them on public lands in the West
STATE UPDATES
Bismarck Tribune: Project Tundra carbon storage hearing focuses on leaks
Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota Republicans blast Biden's methane proposal; Dakota Resource Council lauds plan
Press release: Feinstein, Padilla Statement Supporting Closure of Aliso Canyon
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Greta Thunberg Attacks CO2 Offset Projects as ‘Greenwash’ at COP26
National Observer: Major oil sands producer says GHG caps are OK if emission reductions happen slowly
Wall Street Journal: Tariffs to Tackle Climate Change Gain Momentum. The Idea Could Reshape Industries
Gizmodo: 10 Facebook Publishers Responsible for Nearly 70% of Climate Change Denial Content
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: U.S. agrees to end fossil fuel financing abroad
Financial Times: Banks’ green pledges under scrutiny
Guardian: The dark secrets behind big oil’s climate pledges
Insure Our Future: U.S. INSURANCE COMPANIES UNDERMINE CLIMATE TARGETS BY SUPPORTING OIL & GAS EXPANSION AND PROVIDING A LAST LIFELINE TO COAL
Reuters: Bank of Canada plans new tools to assess climate impact on economy
OPINION
Guardian: Cop26 has to be about keeping fossil fuels in the ground. All else is distraction
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Oilpatch seeks answers on emissions cap amid fears of throttled production
Financial Post: Before you blast the oilsands, check your own carbon footprint — and get ready to plant a lot of trees
Guardian: Why is Trudeau pressuring Michigan to keep a dangerous oil pipeline open?
Traverse City Record Eagle: Opinion: Line 5's clock is ticking even louder in the Great Lakes
Park Rapids Enterprise: LETTER: Enbridge fails to meet aquifer cleanup deadline
Roanoke Times: Letter: Pipeline still has significant opposition
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint [VIDEO]: The RCMP attempted to come in to Coyote Camp and failed, for the first time since they were walked out by our Haudenosaunee relatives
11/3/21
“The RCMP attempted to come in to Coyote Camp and failed, for the first time since they were walked out by our Haudenosaunee relatives. At a time when world leaders, including Justin Trudeau, are feigning concern over impending climate chaos at the COP26 summit our yintah is being invaded for a fracked gas pipeline. Dinï ze’ Woos is the caretaker and only authority on these lands. We will not surrender. We have been tasked by our ancestors and Dinï ze’ and Tsakë ze’ with protecting Wedzin Kwa for the future generations. The government continues to enact genocide on our people and try to force through destruction without Free, Prior and Informed Consent. We will not allow it. We can not. Our responsibilities are too great. Join us. https://www.yintahaccess.com”
The Tyee: Jailed Wet’suwet’en Chief Has a Friendly Warning for Coastal GasLink
Amanda Follett Hosgood, 11/3/21
“Chief Dsta’hyl is often jovial — even while attempting to seize the trucks and equipment of a pipeline company building a route through his clan’s territory,” The Tyee reports. “In videos posted to social media last week, he banters with pipeline workers as he removes batteries from the machinery (10 in total, based on one video), while explaining that he’s confiscating the equipment to force the company, Coastal GasLink, to meet with the clan. Last week, Dsta’hyl was arrested and charged with theft over $5,000 for his part in decommissioning the equipment. He spent one night in jail as lawyers hammered out the terms of his release, which came with restrictions on his return to the territory. But despite the conflict that erupted over the past week on Likhts’amisyu territory — a clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation — Dsta’hyl has mostly positive things to say about the workers. Though occasionally racist or aggressive, they are largely friendly and helpful when he’s on the territory monitoring pipeline construction for the clan, he told the Tyee… “He and another Likhts’amisyu Chief, Tsebesa, were attempting to monitor pipeline work on the territory when Coastal GasLink workers denied them access… “So, they were blockading all of the hereditary Chiefs off of their own territory,” he told the Tyee. “Once they did that, I basically said, ‘We’re not going to go anywhere. We’re going to stay right here for as long as it takes for you to let us in.’” “I was really forthright with the RCMP about my intentions,” he says. “[Coastal GasLink] is dealing with the RCMP, but they won’t deal with us. They won’t talk to us.... Everybody I saw out on our territory, they’re all contractors, and that gives them complete deniability for anything that goes wrong out there.” Concerns over damage to the territory aren’t unfounded. Twice over the past year, Coastal GasLink has been warned by the BC Environmental Assessment Office about damage to watersheds as a result of pipeline construction, including the threat of administrative penalties that could cost the company millions of dollars. It has also been warned about blocking access to Wet’suwet’en members tasked with monitoring pipeline construction, something the Environmental Assessment Office determined was “consistent with and a component of traditional use” in an inspection report issued this summer.”
Facebook: Indigenous Environmental Network: These images were taken yesterday at the Enbridge Line 3 crossing of the Mississippi River
11/3/21
“These images were taken yesterday at the Enbridge Line 3 crossing of the Mississippi River near the Headwaters. Enbridge failed to disclose these accidents to regulatory agencies and now the damage can be seen. All footage has been forwarded to AG Keith Ellison, US Army Corps, Clearwater Cty Sheriff, EPA, and other agencies. Construction may be done, but this isn't over! #StopLine3 #HonorTheTreaties #1855Treaty #1863OldCrossingTreaty #BuildBackFossilFree Images by Ron Turney”
The Progressive: At the End of Line 3: How Superior, Wisconsin, Became a Sacrifice Zone
MEGHAN KRAUSCH, 11/3/21
“Superior, Wisconsin, is a small city of 27,000 people in the northwestern corner of the state. The city straddles the Minnesota border and the shore of Lake Superior and serves as the terminus for the widely opposed Enbridge Line 3 and Line 5 pipelines. It’s also been the site of several environmental disasters in recent decades,” The Progressive reports. “I bought a home in Superior in 2016 and planned to spend the rest of my life there. I was living and working there in 2018 when the Husky refinery exploded, forcing everyone within a 3-mile radius and 10 miles to the south to evacuate from our homes, schools, and workplaces. Now there is a November 3 deadline to respond to a class action settlement—residents are eligible for $150 apiece and a household maximum of $300, and if we do not respond at all we lose our right to sue—although the regulatory agency responsible, the Chemical Safety Board, has yet to issue its conclusions about what happened. In Superior, both the refinery, now owned by Cenovus, and its partner, Enbridge, are an inescapable presence. “They throw enough money around that no one wants to touch them,” Adam Ritscher, a former Douglas County Board Supervisor, told the Progressive. This has much more impact than the jobs, he says, because in the end they don’t employ a lot of locals… “Because Superior has a history of environmental disasters, the city is what is referred to as a “sacrifice zone.” “...Snowdon feels that communities like Superior, towns that are “not affluent” and have small economies, are “preyed upon” by large corporations. “It’s the same thing they tell northern Minnesota and tribal nations: ‘Don’t worry about this right now, you need these jobs,’” she says.
FracTracker Alliance: CHICKAHOMINY PIPELINE PROJECT TRIES TO EXPLOIT AN APPARENT REGULATORY LOOPHOLE
Karen Edelstein, 11/1/21
“A new 1.6 gigawatt gas-fired power plant has been proposed outside of Richmond, Virginia, and would be larger than any of the other gas plants in Virginia,” FracTracker Alliance reports. “Although until late this summer, the source of fuel to the power plant was unclear, the Chickahominy Pipeline LLC company now plans to build a supply line to the facility in order to deliver fuel to the plant, running through Louisa, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Charles City Counties. This new pipeline company and power plant are being proposed by a subsidiary of Balico, Inc., run by Washington, DC-area entrepreneur Irfan Ali… “With no track record, or even a simple website, the Chickahominy Pipeline plan has encountered skepticism and resistance from the local community… “Ordinarily, a new pipeline would require regulatory approval for construction and for tapping into a major transmission conduit – such as the nearby Transco Pipeline… But because the pipeline would serve two or fewer customers, Chickahominy has maintained that they can sidestep Virginia State Corporation Commission’s regulatory approval process that oversees public utilities. Nevertheless, this plan seems to have shifted in recent weeks to include a direct hook-up to the Transco Pipeline via a new pipeline that would parallel the existing VNG pipeline for much of its route… “Because the Chickahominy Pipeline proposal is attempting to circumvent detailed regulations, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) does not seem to have been developed at this time. Cari Tretina, Henrico County Chief of Staff, told FracTracker, “The most concerning aspect is that this proposed project runs through floodplains, wetlands and specifically right through the Chickahominy [River].” “...Nearly 7000 people live within a half mile of the pipeline route. Additionally, the proposed pipeline route crosses approximately 27 freshwater wetlands, 77 forested-shrub wetlands, and 64 riverine wetlands. These hydrological features may be impacted by both pipeline construction and maintenance.”
MLK50: Why do local environmentalists object to City Council’s proposed anti-pipeline ordinance?
Carrington J. Tatum and Jacob Steimer, 11/3/21
“Byhalia Pipeline opponents’ fight for legislation to prohibit such developments will extend at least two more weeks while the Memphis City Council addresses community concerns about last-minute changes to a proposed ordinance,” MLK50 reports. “The council on Tuesday delayed a final vote on two pipeline-regulating measures after Memphis’ anti-pipeline coalition asked for time to read changes meant to address what they saw as loopholes in the original language in the ordinance that applied only to the city… “The council agreed to push their decision on the ordinances to Nov. 16 at the request of pipeline opponents, including Memphis Community Against the Pipeline, Protect Our Aquifer and The Climate Reality Project: Memphis and Mid-South Regional Chapter. Group members requested a delay so they’d have time to read the amended right-of-way ordinance, which was not made public before the meeting. The advocates took issue with oil pipelines being included in the definition of public utilities and an earlier exemption they say would have allowed for the construction of a new pipeline despite the regulation… “Meanwhile, council attorney Allan Wade worked on a broader alternative ordinance. For months, Wade has advised the council against adopting the setback, arguing it wouldn’t stand up in court if a company sues… “Environmentalists aren’t opposed to Wade’s ordinance — if their issues are addressed — but don’t want it to replace the setback, they told the council Tuesday evening.”
KOSA: State and local agencies investigate pipeline leak in Reeves County
11/3/21
“Authorities are investigating after discovering a pipeline leak underneath the Pecos River in Reeves County,” KOSA reports. “According to Jerry Bullard with the Emergency Management Department in Reeves County, a land owner contacted them back on October 27th about the pipeline leak in the river, 8 miles north on FM 1216. Near the river, officials say the gas readings were “alarming” and that there were dead animals such as rats, birds and a wild hog. The leak is about 6 to 8 feet below the river where an unnamed oil and gas company has 3 8-inch lines marked where they cross the river. The Texas Railroad Commission, The Texas Commission On Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration have all been notified,” KOSA reported.
Civil Beat: Congressional Delegation Calls For Investigation Into Red Hill Pipeline Leak At Pearl Harbor
Christina Jedra, 11/3/21
“Hawaii’s congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Department of Defense’s Inspector General to investigate whether the Navy “covered up evidence or intentionally delayed” notification to Hawaii regulators earlier this year about a pipeline leak into Pearl Harbor,” Civil Beat reports. “The request follows reporting by Civil Beat last month that found Navy officials had enough evidence in January to conclude a pipeline attached to its Red Hill fuel facility was leaking fuel into Pearl Harbor, according to Hawaii Department of Health standards. However, officials did not share that information with DOH until May. Officials learned that the pipeline had failed leak detection testing just days before hearings in which the Navy was arguing its case for a DOH permit. But during those hearings, the Navy never mentioned the leak. In emails, Navy officials worried how the leak might impact their ability to secure a permit from DOH, noting it was a “sensitive time.” In a letter to Acting DOD Inspector General Sean O’Donnell on Wednesday, Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and Reps. Ed Case and Kai Kahele called for an independent probe. They want investigators to determine whether Navy officials “delayed investigation or notification out of concern it might influence its ability to secure an extension of Red Hill’s state operating permit,” the letter states.
Pipeline Journal: Canadian Oil Producers Bet On New Pipeline Route To Gulf Coast
11/3/21
“Canadian oil producers are set to enjoy higher prices on the crude they sell to the U.S. refiners as a strategic south-to-north pipeline nears reversal. The event could raise prospects of the oil industry domestically,” Pipeline Journal reports. “According to energy markets consultancy RBN Energy, Marathon Pipeline LLC (Based in Ohio) filed tariffs for transportation of crude oil on the Capline Pipeline running from Patoka, Ill, all the way to St. James, Louisiana effective from October 25, 2021. Capline is the largest pipeline running from south to north, conveying 1.2 million barrels of oil each day. However, since 2017, the pipeline’s owner, Marathon Pipeline, has been working on the plan to reverse the flow, allowing light and heavy oils to flow from U.S.’s storage hub in the Midwest to the Gulf Coast’s major refineries.”
Reuters: Energy Transfer's NGL exports doubled over last 18 months -company
By Stephanie Kelly, 11/3/21
“Energy Transfer's (ET.N) percentage of global natural gas liquids (NGL) exports has doubled over the last 18 months to nearly 20%, or more than any other company or country for the third quarter 2021, the company's co-chief executive said on Wednesday,” Reuters reports. “The company expects its total NGL export volumes from its Nederland terminal to continue to increase throughout next year. Meanwhile, the company's NGL transportation and fractionation, as well as its NGL refined products terminals volumes reached new records, Long said during the company's third quarter earnings call… “Additionally, the company's crude oil storage at its Nederland terminal is fully contracted, Long said during the company's third quarter earnings call.”
Deadline: ‘On Sacred Ground’: Concourse Boards Dakota Access Pipeline Movie With William Mapother & David Arquette
By Andreas Wiseman, 11/3/21
“Concourse Media has launched world sales rights during the virtual AFM on social impact drama-thriller On Sacred Ground, starring William Mapother, David Arquette, Amy Smart, Kerry Knuppe, Frances Fisher, Irene Bedard and Mariel Hemingway,” Deadline reports. “Directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell, the film is based on the true 2016 events during the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline that runs through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota on land that is owned by the Lakota “Sioux” Tribe. We’re told that the filmmakers worked alongside the Sioux tribe to ensure their depiction of the events to ensure their story was accurately told. The film follows Daniel (Mapother), a journalist and Afghanistan War veteran, and Elliot (Arquette), an oil company executive, who find themselves on opposite sides of the fight during the construction of the contentious pipeline. As the story unfolds, Daniel starts to align himself more with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe than the oil company he was hired to write about favorably, and the two characters go down separate paths as the events unfold during one of the most heated protests and confrontation with Native American tribes in modern US history.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: With Methane and Forest Deals, Climate Summit Offers Hope After Gloomy Start
By Jim Tankersley, Katie Rogers and Lisa Friedman, 11/2/21
“The world leaders gathered at a crucial climate summit secured new agreements on Tuesday to end deforestation and reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane, building momentum as the conference prepared to shift to a more grueling two weeks of negotiations on how to avert the planet’s catastrophic warming,” the New York Times reports. “Capping off two days of speeches and meetings, President Biden on Tuesday said the United States pledged to be a “partner” with vulnerable countries confronting climate change, while expressing confidence that his own domestic climate agenda is on track to pass Congress despite the wobbling of a key Senate Democrat this week. Mr. Biden told reporters the meeting had re-established the United States as a leader on what he has called an existential threat to humanity, saying America would keep raising its climate ambitions and that his engagement on the issue had drawn thanks from other heads of state. He also reproached President Xi Jinping of China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, along with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, for not attending the summit. “We showed up. We showed up,” Mr. Biden said at a news conference at the United Nations summit on climate change, known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland. “The fact that China is trying to assert, understandably, a new role in the world as a world leader, not showing up? Huh. The single most important thing that’s gotten the attention of the world is climate.” The most consequential agreements reached on Tuesday came in areas where Mr. Biden said the United States was poised to move aggressively: reducing methane emissions and protecting the world’s forests.”
Politico Morning Energy: ANOTHER TEST FOR FERC
Matthew Choi, 11/3/21
“A federal appeals court decision is highlighting questions about how FERC considers the public necessity and environmental impacts of natural gas infrastructure,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered FERC to consider pausing its certificate for the Jordan Cove LNG facility, after oral arguments last week alleged it could be another case of self-dealing and a project without provable necessity. Cases dealing with similar issues related to the Spire STL pipeline and two Texas LNG facilities are pending before the commission.”
Associated Press: US says oil, gas sales damage climate — but won’t stop them on public lands in the West
Matthew Brown, 11/3/21
“The Biden administration is planning to sell oil and gas leases on huge tracts of public land in the U.S. West, despite the Interior Department’s conclusion that doing so could cost society billions of dollars in climate change impacts, according to government documents,” the Associated Press reports. “Administration officials announced last week that government regulators for the first time will analyze greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels extracted from government-owned lands across the U.S. Burning those fuels accounts for about 20% of energy-related U.S. emissions, making them a prime target for climate activists who want to shut down leasing. President Joe Biden campaigned on pledges to end new drilling on public lands. Hundreds of parcels of land that companies nominated for leasing were dropped from the sales because of concerns about wildlife being harmed by drilling rigs. Yet officials with the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management told AP for now there’s little they can do to prevent the broad climate change impacts from burning fuels extracted from the remaining parcels. That’s in part because they can’t discern the significance of emissions from government-owned fuel reserves versus other sources, officials wrote in newly released documents… “The administration’s decision not to cite the climate costs as a reason to limit leases frustrates environmental activists and others who have urged curbs in government fossil fuel sales. Harvard University economics professor James Stock told AP it was confusing for the administration to put a dollar value to greenhouse emissions, but then assert that such impacts are impossible to discern because of the global nature of climate change. “To say it’s too hard, they can’t do that — that’s simply not true. All of those calculations have been done,” Stock told AP. “This is very surprising to me and inconsistent with the Biden administration’s climate goals.”
STATE UPDATES
Bismarck Tribune: Project Tundra carbon storage hearing focuses on leaks
AMY R. SISK, 11/3/21
“Scientists working on a carbon capture project at Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Milton R. Young Station sought to offer assurances at a hearing Tuesday that the plant’s emissions would not leak once injected underground,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “The North Dakota Oil and Gas Division heard hours of testimony from co-op leaders and experts who have worked with the company on the $1 billion Project Tundra. Much of the hearing was highly technical in nature, focusing on the geologic characteristics and computer modeling of the rock formations where carbon dioxide would be stored… “The Broom Creek formation is sealed by a thick layer of impermeable rock on top meant to keep the carbon dioxide in place. A porous formation lies atop it with more impermeable rock above that would trap carbon dioxide “in the unlikely case of a leak,” said Amanda Livers-Douglas, a principal geoscientist with the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center. “We don’t expect there to be a leak,” she said… “Several people who submitted written comments to the division about Project Tundra expressed concern about the potential for leaks. A Texas-based geoscientist and carbon capture consultant, Daniel Zebrowski, wrote on behalf of several surface owners with property in the project area that Minnkota's evaluation of key data needed in its permit application to the state was incomplete. He said “there is potential for leakage of the CO2 from the injection formation” and that a leak could contaminate water sources. He provided numerous pages of technical analysis to back up his claims… “The Dakota Resource Council also submitted comments. The environmental group pointed to a document in Minnkota’s application that outlines risks associated with the project, specifically to a line that labels a loss of mechanical integrity of an injection well as “likely.”
Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota Republicans blast Biden's methane proposal; Dakota Resource Council lauds plan
AMY R. SISK, 11/2/21
“North Dakota Republican officials on Tuesday denounced the Biden administration's wide-ranging plan to reduce methane emissions, saying it will harm the energy industry and drive up home heating costs for consumers,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “A leading environmental group in the state said the federal plan will help save the planet by reducing pollution and addressing climate change… “Gov. Doug Burgum told the Tribune he thinks the way to address methane emissions "is through innovation, not redundant and burdensome regulations that will only drive energy production overseas where it is produced less cleanly and efficiently.” Burgum also touts innovation as a way to make North Dakota carbon neutral by the end of the decade -- a goal he announced last spring. Carbon neutrality involves striking a balance between CO2 released from within the state and the amount of emissions contained or offset in some way. Burgum envisions meeting the goal while maintaining robust oil and coal industries in North Dakota. The governor did not mention methane in announcing the goal… “North Dakota's all-Republican congressional delegation also blasted the methane proposal. Sen. John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, touted recent gains in North Dakota in the capture of natural gas in the oil fields, leading to reduced wasteful flaring.”
Press release: Feinstein, Padilla Statement Supporting Closure of Aliso Canyon
11/2/21
“Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.) today released the following statement on the 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak: “More than six years after the well failure at Aliso Canyon endangered the health of more than 7,000 families, it is increasingly clear that we must close this facility in order to protect the safety of Californians. It is critical that the California Public Utility Commission outline concrete steps to close this facility while ensuring the reliability of our power grid as we continue the transition to cleaner electricity, heating and cooling. We must permanently close Aliso Canyon to ensure that it is no longer a threat to public safety. “The 2015 blowout at Aliso Canyon resulted in the largest natural gas leak in U.S. history, releasing hundreds of thousands of tons of methane and other toxic chemicals into the air and severely impacting the health and welfare of thousands of residents in the northern Los Angeles community of Porter Ranch and surrounding areas. “After the leak, then-Governor Brown directed the Public Utilities Commission to undertake an orderly phase out of the Aliso Canyon facility by 2027, and Governor Newsom reaffirmed that decision in 2019. We look forward to working in a strong federal-state partnership to achieve these goals.”
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Greta Thunberg Attacks CO2 Offset Projects as ‘Greenwash’ at COP26
By Jess Shankleman and John Ainger, 11/3/21
“Greta Thunberg chose the day that finance chiefs rallied trillions of dollars to deploy in the fight against climate change to make her presence felt at COP26,” Bloomberg reports. “Thunberg and other activists from Greenpeace and the Indigenous Environmental Network appeared at a panel at the climate summit to raise awareness about “greenwashing” and the dangers of relying on carbon offsets to cut emissions. Her presence drew a crush of people into the meeting space despite social distancing rules. The Swedish environmentalist sat at the back of the room but tweeted earlier Wednesday that fossil fuel companies and banks are trying to “give polluters a free pass to keep polluting.” Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who’s leading a task force of hundreds of large polluters and sustainability experts to scale up the voluntary carbon offset market, arrived at the event after Thunberg. Protests threatened to overshadow Day Three of the UN climate change summit in Glasgow that was dedicated to finance’s role in saving the planet… “Yet outside the conference rooms where the financial elite talked up their plans, frustration grew among COP26 participants who said they’d been shut out of discussions and criticized the commitments as too little, too late.”
National Observer: Major oil sands producer says GHG caps are OK if emission reductions happen slowly
Amanda Stephenson, 11/4/21
“The chief executive of one of Canada's major oilsands producers said he's not opposed to a federal cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, as long as the government realizes that large-scale emissions reductions will take years to achieve,” the National Observer reports. “In an interview Wednesday, Cenovus Energy Inc. CEO Alex Pourbaix drew a comparison between Canada's current decarbonization plan and the multi-billion dollar campaign to reconstruct Europe after the Second World War. “It’s kind of like the equivalent of the Marshall Plan after World War Two," Pourbaix said. "This is something that can be done, but there are limitations on how quickly it can be done, and it very much has implications on Canadians’ quality of life with the cost of doing these things." “...Pourbaix pointed out that Cenovus and four other major oilsands companies have already committed to the same goal, through a formal alliance announced earlier this year called the Oil Sands Pathways to Net Zero. “So the concept of a cap is not really problematic," he said. "The bigger issue is what is the cap, and if there are interim targets, what are they and when are they achievable by."
Wall Street Journal: Tariffs to Tackle Climate Change Gain Momentum. The Idea Could Reshape Industries.
Yuka Hayashi and Jacob M. Schlesinger, 11/2/21
“Governments in the U.S., Europe and other developed nations are embarking on a climate-change experiment: using tariffs on trade to cut carbon emissions,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The idea has the potential to rewrite the rules of global commerce. Policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic are looking at targeting steel, chemicals and cement. The tariffs would give a competitive advantage to manufacturers in countries where emissions are relatively low.”
Gizmodo: 10 Facebook Publishers Responsible for Nearly 70% of Climate Change Denial Content
Mack DeGeurin, 11/2/21
“Anyone who’s spent more than a few minutes online is likely acutely aware of the seemingly endless ocean of climate change denial content swirling across social media. But the vast misinformation maelstrom is largely being churned out by less than a dozen publishers,” Gizmodo reports. “According to a new report published on Tuesday from The Center For Countering Digital Hate, just 10 Facebook pages pushed 69% of all climate denial. Most of them were—shocker—megaphones of the political far right. To conduct the analysis, the group sifted through 6,983 climate denial articles featured in Facebook posts over the past year. Breitbart, the Western Journal, and Newsmax are the top purveyors of climate denial. Altogether, the report notes these publishers have a combined 186 million followers on major social media networks. In addition to fomenting and amplifying unnecessary hesitancy around addressing the world’s most pressing problem, these publishers also made a decent amount of money. According to the report, the top 10 publishers of climate change denial content received 1.1 billion page visits and raked in $3.6 million in advertising revenue from Google over the past six months.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: U.S. agrees to end fossil fuel financing abroad
Sara Schonhardt, 11/4/21
“The United States committed today with other countries to stop financing fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of next year, in a seismic shift that could stem the construction of natural gas and oil facilities in lower-income nations,” E&E News reports. “The pledge, announced at the global climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, could take billions of dollars away from future fossil fuel production and redistribute it to low-carbon energy projects such as wind and solar. The agreement covers "unabated" projects, which generally refers to fossil fuel facilities that don’t capture carbon dioxide emissions… “The announcement goes beyond a separate agreement by the world’s largest economies last weekend to end public financing for international coal power development. But the organizers of today’s commitment failed to attract every nation in the Group of 20, meaning some of the biggest financiers of fossil fuels, including Japan, South Korea and China, could continue building oil and gas infrastructure abroad.And it only covers new investments, so projects already in the pipeline would continue to be built. The pledge does not include liquefied natural gas — which countries produce domestically and export to be burned outside of their borders. U.S. exports of LNG have surged in recent years.”
Financial Times: Banks’ green pledges under scrutiny
Camilla Hodgson, Stephen Morris and Owen Walker in London and Olaf Storbeck in Frankfurt, 11/2/21
“As global leaders gather in Glasgow to hammer out a new climate deal, the financial sector faces growing calls to scale back its business with carbon-intensive sectors and live up to some of the promises it has already made to tackle global warming,” the Financial Times reports. “Scrutiny of banks’ lending has intensified in the run-up to COP26 in Scotland, the biggest meeting of its kind since the Paris climate deal was agreed. The financing of highly polluting fossil fuel industries has been one of the most contentious topics, leaving banks such as Barclays, Deutsche and BNY Mellon open to accusations of double standards. Across the global banking sector “too many fossil fuel restriction policies currently contain too much wiggle room, discretion or hazy definitions”, said analysts at Autonomous Research. High-profile investors including hedge fund manager Chris Hohn have also lambasted banks for continuing to service the fossil fuel industry, which he said was allowing “systemic risk” to build in the global financial system. The ties between financial institutions and fossil fuel companies stretch from funding coal mines, backstopping debt issuance and lending directly to power producers.”
Guardian: The dark secrets behind big oil’s climate pledges
Miranda Green and Siri Chilukuri for Floodlight, 11/4/21
“JPMorgan Chase won glowing headlines last year when the global investment bank unveiled a commitment to counter the climate crisis,” the Guardian reports. “The press amplified JPMorgan’s message – sometimes in JPMorgan’s own words. Fortune published a commentary article trumpeting the bank’s plans to “tackle climate change”... “JPMorgan would not pressure oil companies to lower their emissions. Instead, the firm would encourage them to become more efficient. They would focus on their “carbon intensity”. That metric has become a favorite of banks, oil companies and other big businesses. They’ve balked at requirements to cut overall climate pollution. But “carbon intensity” pledges have given companies a framework to keep investing in dirty fuels, while also expanding into pollution-capturing technology and cleaner energy. “They love the metric,” Jeanne Martin, senior manager of banking standards at ShareAction, a non-profit focused on responsible investment, told the Guardian. “They have committed to reducing intensity and financing to the oil and gas sector. But that doesn’t ultimately mean they will reduce oil and gas activities. It may actually increase at a faster rate.” Such “greenwashing”, experts say, allows companies to downplay the scale of the climate crisis – and continue contributing to the problem.”
Insure Our Future: U.S. INSURANCE COMPANIES UNDERMINE CLIMATE TARGETS BY SUPPORTING OIL & GAS EXPANSION AND PROVIDING A LAST LIFELINE TO COAL
11/3/21
“The U.S. insurance industry is undermining efforts to meet climate targets by continuing to support new oil and gas production, the Insure Our Future campaign reveals today in its fifth annual scorecard on insurers’ climate policies. The scorecard shows that no North American insurers have stopped providing insurance for new oil and gas projects, despite warnings from the International Energy Agency and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the planet cannot afford any fossil fuel expansion if it is to meet the 1.5°C Paris target. Globally, only three insurers have policies on new oil and gas: France’s AXA, Italy’s Generali and Australia’s Suncorp, while 14 have tar sands exit policies. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who is in Glasgow for COP26, said: “American insurers continue to underwrite new oil and gas projects and invest in fossil fuel assets that pose a massive risk to the future of the planet, as well as to the insurance industry itself. Insurers hold a lot of influence over the future of fossil fuels, and they have an opportunity to help lead the planet to safety.” Of the 10 North American companies evaluated: None have policies on oil and gas expansion, despite having the largest combined market share (43%) of global oil and gas underwriting premiums. AIG, Travelers, Chubb, Liberty Mutual, and The Hartford are among the largest global insurers of new oil and gas projects. Six of the 10 companies continue fossil fuel underwriting without any restrictions: AIG, Berkshire Hathaway, Travelers, W.R. Berkley, Everest Re, and Convex. Only two North American insurers have restricted insuring and/or investing in the tar sands oil sector: AXIS Capital and The Hartford.”
Reuters: Bank of Canada plans new tools to assess climate impact on economy
By Julie Gordon, 11/3/21
“The Bank of Canada said on Wednesday it would develop new models and data sources to better understand how climate change is affecting the economy, and vowed to include these findings in its quarterly forecasts to help markets price risks,” Reuters reports. “The central bank will assess how more frequent severe weather events and the transition to low-carbon growth affect potential output, the labor market and inflation… “Separately, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle said the steps needed to mitigate the effects of global warming would lead to massive restructuring and the risk that some parts of the economy would shrink. "Asset values across the financial system could be subject to sharp declines in valuation, which might generate credit and market losses, and it might increase the stress on the financial system," he told a climate panel in Toronto… “The BoC is one of the most active global central banks on climate issues among major oil-producing nations. Canada is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world, with much of its output coming from carbon-intensive oil sands.”
OPINION
Guardian: Cop26 has to be about keeping fossil fuels in the ground. All else is distraction
George Monbiot, 11/3/21
“In some respects, preventing climate breakdown is highly complicated. But in another, it’s really simple: we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground,” George Monbiot writes for the Guardian. “All the bluster and grandstanding, the extravagant promises and detailed mechanisms discussed in Glasgow this week amount to nothing if this simple and obvious thing doesn’t happen. A recent study in the scientific journal Nature suggests that to stand a 50% chance of avoiding more than 1.5C of global heating, we need to retire 89% of proven coal reserves, 58% of oil reserves and 59% of fossil methane (“natural gas”) reserves. If we want better odds than 50-50, we’ll need to leave almost all of them untouched. Yet most governments with major reserves are determined to make the wrong choice… “By 2030, governments are planning to extract 110% more fossil fuels than their Paris agreement pledge (“limit the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels”) would permit… Every speech and pledge and gesture at Glasgow this week is thistledown, by comparison to the hard facts of new coalmines, oil and gas fields. It’s the mining and drilling that counts: the rest is distraction. But distraction is big business. The oil corporations have spent many millions of dollars on ads, memes and films to convince us they’ve gone green... Everything about the relationship between nation states and the fossil fuel industry is perverse, stupid and self-destructive. For the sake of this dirty industry’s profits and dividends – overwhelmingly concentrated among a tiny number of the world’s people – governments commit us to catastrophe… And yes, it really is this simple. We have the technology required to replace fossil fuels. There’s plenty of money, which is currently being squandered on the destruction of life on Earth. The transition could take place in months, if governments willed it. The only thing that stands in the way is the power of legacy industries and the people who profit from them. This is what needs to be overthrown. The handwaving, the complexity, the grandiloquent distraction in Glasgow are designed above all for one purpose: not to accelerate this transition, but to thwart it.”
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Oilpatch seeks answers on emissions cap amid fears of throttled production
Chris Varcoe, 11/4/21
“A new federal limit on greenhouse gas emissions is coming for the Canadian oil and gas industry,” Chris Varcoe writes for the Calgary Herald. “Will it cause investment, jobs and production to shift outside of the country? Or will it activate massive spending in new emissions-reduction projects? So many questions. So little clarity. So much is at stake. “We are not particularly fussed by a cap on emissions, subject to a couple of provisos,” Cenovus Energy CEO Alex Pourbaix said in an interview Wednesday. “Those caps must correspond to the industry’s ability to actually, physically reduce its GHG emissions . . . These are things that cannot be done overnight.” A price on carbon needs to be applied globally “so that early movers like Canada, in terms of decarbonizing their economy, are not handicapped by other countries that have no interest in pricing carbon or putting any restrictions on their industry,” said Pourbaix… “Back at home, Ottawa remains in discussion with the sector on a proposed federal tax credit for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects, which would sequester CO2 emissions underground… “The group has said its longer-term plans could cost up to $75 billion over three decades; it is seeking federal assistance to help foot the bill. Alberta has called for at least $30 billion in federal incentives over the span of a decade.”
Financial Post: Before you blast the oilsands, check your own carbon footprint — and get ready to plant a lot of trees
Yadullah Hussain, 11/3/21
“While all climate eyes are on Chinese and American industries that billow out tons of carbon each year, and the Canadian oilsands that produces among the most carbon-intensive barrels on the planet, consumers’ individual emissions are largely overlooked,” Yadullah Hussain writes for the Financial Post. “The annual emission footprint of the humble dishwasher in your kitchen, for example, is 248 kilograms of CO2, while showers in a household over a year could set the planet back by 308 kg of CO2, according to a new report by Credit Suisse AG. These numbers may seem inconsequential compared with what industry generates and can be difficult for many of us to decipher, so the Swiss investment bank has introduced the ‘Treeprint’ concept, which stands for the number of mature trees needed to offset the emissions associated with a certain activity. To put that in perspective, using a dishwasher every day means you should plant three birch trees per year, while for daily showers it’s eight trees… “Credit Suisse calculates that average emissions for ‘upwardly mobile’, ‘high carbon’, and ‘travel focused’ consumers need to fall between 81 per cent and 88 per cent to meet Paris Agreement related climate change targets… “Overall, we estimate that the lifestyle of our sustainable consumer generates 2.6 (gigatonnes) of CO2 per year, putting it well within the maximum boundary for a sustainable lifestyle,” the bank said. “For some readers, adopting such a lifestyle in order to live sustainably may be difficult to accept; however, we note that in order to make our world more sustainable the ‘no-change’ scenario is simply unrealistic.”
Guardian: Why is Trudeau pressuring Michigan to keep a dangerous oil pipeline open?
Lana Pollack was appointed by President Obama to chair the US Section of the International Joint Commission. The IJC was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to assist the US and Canadian governments in managing and protecting waters shared by the two countries. The views expressed are Pollack’s, not those of the IJC, 11/4/21
“Canada would be apoplectic if the US government marched into a Canadian court and argued that the province of Ontario has zero authority over an American company operating an aging, corroded pipeline under Canada’s pristine Georgian Bay,” Lana Pollack writes for the Guardian. “Yet this is the exact approach Canada is taking in US courts by arguing that the state of Michigan has zero authority to order the shutdown of an aging and dangerous pipeline operated by a Canadian company under the Straits of Mackinac – where any spill would have catastrophic ramifications for the Great Lakes. Canada’s strained position is premised on ignoring the plain text of the 1977 US Canada Pipeline Treaty: “Pipeline[s] shall be subject to regulations by the appropriate governmental authorities … with respect to such matters as the following: (a) pipeline safety … ; (b) environmental protection.” “...While contested interests between the two countries are not rare, this Pipeline 5 altercation is unusual in two ways. First, Canada is demonstrating extraordinary gall in asserting that a state cannot seek adjudication in US federal or state courts. Second, the US government has not taken a position overtly defending one of its state’s sovereign interests in this dispute… “In the pipeline business, everything is always “safe” – until the day it isn’t. A massive winter rupture in the relatively confined fresh waters of Lakes Michigan and Huron would make California’s recent Huntington Beach rupture into the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean seem like a mere footnote.”
Traverse City Record Eagle: Opinion: Line 5's clock is ticking even louder in the Great Lakes
FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood is an environmental attorney working in Traverse City to keep the Great Lakes public and protected for all, 11/3/21
“Regarding Enbridge’s recent op-ed in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, we at FLOW agree with just these first four words: “The clock is ticking,” Liz Kirkwood writes for the Traverse City Record Eagle. “That “tick, tick, tick” sound, however, isn’t coming from Enbridge’s proposed tunnel. It is coming from an environmental ticking time bomb called Line 5 — Enbridge’s twin pipelines pumping oil nearly 20 years past their intended lifespan in raging currents at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. Since 2018, three anchors and cables have struck these patched and propped up pipelines. Each strike could have delivered a $6 billion blow to Michigan’s economy, jobs and natural resources, according to an MSU economic study, with oil coating beaches as California has recently experienced. Thankfully Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hears the Line 5 ticking time bomb. That’s why in November 2020, after a comprehensive review, she ordered Line 5 shut down by May. Enbridge, however, is defying that lawful order and public trust law too. Why stop now, when every day Line 5 pumps oil through the Great Lakes, it deposits another $1.5 million or more into Enbridge’s pocket? Plus the unlawful tunnel deal Enbridge struck in the dying days of the Snyder administration allows Line 5 to keep running until the tunnel is built, which might never happen considering the lack of public need for the tunnel and risk to the Great Lakes and climate during and after construction... “Don’t count on Enbridge to hear it, let alone defuse it or clean it up. It’s up to the state, its citizens, tribes, and the courts to protect the Great Lakes from Enbridge.”
Park Rapids Enterprise: LETTER: Enbridge fails to meet aquifer cleanup deadline
Barbara Draper, Minneapolis, 11/3/21
“In January, Enbridge punctured a clean water aquifer just 60 miles from Park Rapids,” Barbara Draper writes for the Park Rapids Enterprise. “Did they report the leak? No. An independent monitor found it five months later. The DNR ordered Enbridge to repair the damaged aquifer by Oct. 15. Did they? No. So far, 24 million gallons of groundwater have leaked out. The pipeline crosses over 200 rivers and streams in Minnesota, including the Mississippi, and borders Hubbard County. Enbridge has promised to immediately report oil leaks and to immediately clean them up. Hmmmm… It is Enbridge who Hubbard County decided to protect and join forces with when the county ordered their police to arrest our peaceful effort to bring attention to the dangers of Line 3. I hope Hubbard County will reconsider who it joins forces with next time. I’m going to share a short poem I wrote last year that speaks to why I was protesting the pipeline:”
Roanoke Times: Letter: Pipeline still has significant opposition
Mary Martha Woody, Martinsville, 11/3/21
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline, or MVP, continues to encounter significant public opposition, perhaps because it is dangerous, environmentally unfriendly, and an example of the way in which systemic racism operates in our country,” Mary Martha Woody writes for the Roanoke Times. “The pipeline, which was begun in 2018, would carry natural gas for more than 300 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia. It has been cited for violations of Virginia’s Stormwater Management Act because of runoff from cleared lands during construction, and the path of the pipeline crosses through the Jefferson National Forest as well as the Appalachian Trail. Both of these issues raise concerns about its environmental impact on forests, waterways and endangered species. Additionally, the MVP’s Southgate Extension plan, which would extend the pipeline from southern Virginia into central North Carolina, includes the Lambert Compressor Station in Pittsylvania County, thus placing the risk of methane gas leaks, toxic emissions and related health concerns in a predominantly poor, rural, African-American and Indigenous community. In the near future, the State Water Control Board will make a decision about giving the required water quality certification to the company building the pipeline. Anyone who has concerns about the Mountain Valley Pipeline should contact the Water Control Board to make their voices heard; this can be done through the Department of Environmental Quality website (deq.virginia.gov). Virginia is for lovers, especially lovers of fresh air, clean water, and safe communities.”