EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 12/11/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: TC Energy's Coastal GasLink seeks C$1.2 billion from pipeline contractor over delays
CBC: Amnesty International reports 'ongoing violations' of human rights on Wet'suwet'en territory
BIC: Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion may come on line early next year
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Illinois farmers want carbon pipeline moratorium, eminent domain protection
Summerland Advocate: Loos featured at carbon pipeline, property rights forum
Mining Journal: U.P. residents talk Line 5 tunnel
Appalachian Chronicle: ‘Following the Water’ Provides a Trail Straight to the MVP in West Virginia Flash Floods
Dominion Post: Hope Gas pipeline project receives more support; Hope objects to FOIA request for project information from The Post
Seattle Times: Gasoline pipeline leaks near Mount Vernon, spilling into creek
Rigzone: US Industry Group Backs Pipeline Safety Bill
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Law firm behind Juliana kids climate case takes on EPA
E&E News: Biden’s new offshore ally: Oil majors
E&E News: White House Unveils ‘Ocean Justice’ Plan At Climate Talks
Common Dreams: Republicans Advance Boebert Plan Forcing Taxpayers to Foot Bill for Big Oil's Mess
E&E News: New Rules Will Guide How Native American Remains Are Handled
STATE UPDATES
Vail Daily: Proposal for trains carrying oil through Eagle County suffers another setback, but isn’t dead yet
Midland Reporter-Telegram: Outreach, collaboration key to realizing carbon projects
Grand Junction Sentinel: BLM slates meetings on oil, gas revisions to benefit big-game habitat in Colorado
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Saudi Arabia Is Trying to Block a Global Deal to End Fossil Fuels, Negotiators Say
Washington Post: Banning fossil fuels is now a make-or-break issue at climate talks
Reuters: Dutch-led coalition moves to phase out fossil fuel subsidies at COP28
Politico: John Kerry warns against carbon capture’s ‘great facade’ as a climate cure-all
DeSmog: Report: Canada and U.S. Are Top Public Funders for CCS with Nations Prepared to Inject $200 Million More
Guardian: At least 475 carbon-capture lobbyists attending Cop28
Associated Press: Some nations want to remove more pollution than they produce. That will take giving nature a boost
Guardian: ‘Magical’ tech innovations a distraction from real solutions, climate experts warn
The Hill: Al Gore says it’s ‘ridiculous’ that UAE hosted climate conference
Associated Press: At COP28, Indigenous women have a message for leaders: Look at what we’re doing. And listen
Canadian Press: As fossil fuel executives descend on UN climate summit, some ask ‘what are COPs about?’
NPR: Oil companies are embracing terms like 'lower carbon.' Here's what they really mean
Bloomberg: Dubai Plans to Cut Carbon Emissions in Half by End of Decade
Bloomberg: Occidental to Buy Oil Driller CrownRock in $12 Billion Deal
Press release: The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers responds to the federal government emissions cap framework
DeSmog: Meet the ‘Extreme’ Atlas Network Groups Fighting Canada’s Oil and Gas Emissions Cap
The Hill: Renewables’ growing price advantage over fossil fuels paves way for industry dominance
Utility Dive: Blue hydrogen won’t hit DOE price target without byproduct sales and low fuel costs: report
CLIMATE FINANCE
Axios: Between the lines of BlackRock's debate rebuttal
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Collingwood Today: Enbridge fuels firefighter training with cash donation
OPINION
Toledo Blade: Editorial: Everything energy policy
New York Times: Carbon Capture Won’t Save Us From Climate Change
Financial Post: Jack Mintz: Justin Trudeau’s existential problems with oil and gas
Calgary Herald: Investors try to decode message sent by Ottawa's emissions cap on oil and gas
Calgary Herald: U of A can help push province closer to its carbon neutral goals
Wall Street Journal: The Truth About Net Zero, at Last
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: TC Energy's Coastal GasLink seeks C$1.2 billion from pipeline contractor over delays
Rod Nickel, 12/11/23
“Coastal GasLink, a Canadian natural gas pipeline partnership operated by TC Energy (TRP.TO), is seeking C$1.2 billion ($737 million) from one of its main contractors for construction delays and may be liable for a similar amount if an arbitrator rules against it, court documents showed ahead of a hearing this month,” Reuters reports. “Construction of C$14.5 billion Coastal GasLink (CGL), which TC began planning in 2012, finished in October at more than double its original budget. Private equity firm KKR & Co (KKR.N) and Alberta pension manager AIMco jointly own 65% of the limited partnership and TC owns the remaining 35%. The dispute over the project that will supply Canada's first liquefied natural gas export facility around 2025 highlights the extreme difficulties operators face in building Canadian pipelines. The Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which aims to boost oil exports, has also faced delays and soaring costs. The 670-km (416-mile) CGL through British Columbia's Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast was delayed by mudslides, a six-month pandemic work stoppage, sometimes violent protests and steep terrain that forced TC to use ski lifts to transport pipe. CGL also terminated contractor Pacific Atlantic Pipeline Construction's (PAPC) contract last year alleging poor performance and is claiming C$1.2-billion for the cost of finding new contractors, Blaine Trout, TC's vice-president in charge of CGL, said in court on Nov. 17… “CGL will likely provide little financial return to TC after impairments, TC's chief financial officer said in November.“
CBC: Amnesty International reports 'ongoing violations' of human rights on Wet'suwet'en territory
Brett Forester, 12/11/23
“Amnesty International is calling for an immediate halt to Coastal GasLink pipeline construction and the withdrawal of police and private security forces from Wet'suwet'en territory in northern B.C., citing what it considers ongoing human rights violations against activists resisting construction,” CBC reports. “In a report released Monday, the global human rights group describes "the years-long campaign of violence, harassment, discrimination, and dispossession" Wet'suwet'en members and their allies faced while fighting the project. "What we learned and uncovered is really, really concerning," Melak Mengistab Gebresilassie, Amnesty's corporate accountability and climate justice campaigner in Canada, told CBC… “Although the company signed benefit agreements with 20 elected band councils along the project's route in 2018, including five of six elected Wet'suwet'en band councils, several Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders say band councils do not have authority over traditional territories beyond reserve boundaries and the company does not have consent to cross their territory, about 780 kilometres northeast of Vancouver… “After a spring 2023 research mission, Amnesty is expressing concern about reports of heavy-handed police raids, aggressive and intrusive surveillance tactics, intimidation, arbitrary arrests and detention, racial discrimination, and criminalization of pipeline opponents. The conduct amounts to "a concerted effort by the state to remove Wet'suwet'en land defenders from their ancestral territory to allow pipeline construction to proceed," the non-governmental organization says in its report. "These actions have also resulted, and continue to result, in ongoing violations of the human rights of Wet'suwet'en land defenders and their supporters." The advocacy organization recommends the project halt until the Crown adequately discharges its duty to consult Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and secures their free, prior and informed consent.”
BIC: Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion may come on line early next year
12/8/23
“Work on Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project is reportedly over 95% complete, and project officials expect construction to conclude early next year,” BIC reports. “...The Canadian government acquired the pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $3.3 billion in 2018 and formed the Trans Mountain Corporation (TMC) to oversee and manage the pipeline and the expansion project. The pipeline expansion, which consists of added pipeline capacity that generally runs along a similar route to the current pipeline, has faced several legal challenges from environmental activists and Canadian First Nations groups… “Given the limited ability to export Canada’s crude oil to waterborne markets, the only viable destinations for most of Canada’s crude oil are nearby refinery hubs via pipelines or costly rail shipments… “Significant opposition to the pipeline expansion has created uncertainty for the project throughout its development… “On November 30, CER approved preliminary interim tolls for the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline system, contingent on additional information being provided by December 15. The pricing approval is another indicator that the expansion may soon be ready to begin moving crude oil.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Illinois farmers want carbon pipeline moratorium, eminent domain protection
JARED STRONG, 12/8/23
“Members of the Illinois Farm Bureau adopted policies this week that support a temporary moratorium on new carbon dioxide pipelines and a prohibition of eminent domain to construct them,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “The actions taken show that our organization’s process continues to work and reflects the opinions of a majority of IFB members,” Bill Bodine, the group’s director of business and regulatory affairs, told the Dispatch. “Our members added to our existing policy supporting pipeline transportation of carbon dioxide captured from ethanol and fertilizer plants by including additional requirements for how the projects should be regulated.” The policies were approved Monday by member delegates at the IFB’s annual meeting. About 330 delegates represented about three-quarters of the state’s farmers… “But the proposals have caused rifts in the agricultural community between those who prioritize higher corn prices and those who worry about the pipelines’ safety, damage to land, and the threat of eminent domain to construct and operate the pipelines against the wishes of landowners. The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation supported legislation this year that would have limited eminent domain for the projects, sought more-detailed information about the safety risks associated with one of the pipeline projects, and urged state regulators to consider those risks when determining pipeline routes… “The policies adopted in Illinois include support for: A temporary moratorium on carbon dioxide pipeline approvals until federal regulators finalize new safety rules for them, which is expected to happen late next year. Engineers for the Illinois Commerce Commission, which has the authority to approve the pipeline projects, have also recommended that new pipeline permits should wait for those rules… “State legislation that prohibits the use of eminent domain to construct and operate the pipelines.”
Summerland Advocate: Loos featured at carbon pipeline, property rights forum
LuAnn Schindler, 12/1/23
“Trent Loos, a sixth-generation rancher from central Nebraska, will be the featured speaker at Dec. 4 forum in Neligh,” the Summerland Advocate reports. “Loos, who hosts Loos Tales, a daily radio show airing on 100 radio stations in 21 states, highlights issues facing American food producers. Now, he's fighting against carbon capture pipelines, which he says threaten property rights and food production in America's heartland… “Other guest speakers include South Dakota State Representative Karla Lems, Iowa Congressman Steve King, Franklin County Planning and Zoning's Larry Sailor and Doyle Turner, alternative fuels.”
Mining Journal: U.P. residents talk Line 5 tunnel
DREYMA BERONJA, 12/11/23
“Upper Peninsula residents voiced their support and concern about the proposed Line 5 tunnel through online public comment submissions for the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority meeting on Thursday,” Mining Journal reports. “Residents across the state had the opportunity to share their opinions on the proposed tunnel either in-person during the meeting or by submitting comments online. Many online submissions came from U.P. residents with mixed reviews. Marquette resident Dr. Scott Emerson questioned the safety and risks that would come if Enbridge’s Line 5 were to be built. He asked if Line 5 was built and spilled like the Kalamazoo River oil spill, would the MSCA and state would be responsible for “the expense of any cleanup.” “Will Enbridge be required to have at least a $5 billion performance bond deposited with the state up front for the ‘life’ of the tunnel, so Michigan taxpayers (the employers of the MSCA) are not left with a catastrophic environmental cleanup due to no fault of their own? Does the liability of destruction of Great Lakes waters and shore flow to Enbridge, MSCA and its board, the state, the feds– who will be the responsible defendant?” he said. “Can the state and the MSCA close the operation of the tunnel once it is built at any time sooner than the year 2122?” “...Overall, the Upper Peninsula residents who weighed in voiced their support for the proposed tunnel… “Another Marquette resident, Dr. Matthew Songer, said he is in support and said many residents are “living on the edge financially” and their finances are strained due to the increase in energy costs that are associated with green energy projects… “Ishpeming Mayor Jason Chapman said the proposed Line 5 is “critical” for rural residents, especially in the U.P. where many propane users get their source of fuel for heat from Line 5 once the natural gas is converted into propane.”
Appalachian Chronicle: ‘Following the Water’ Provides a Trail Straight to the MVP in West Virginia Flash Floods
Michael M. Barrick, 12/10/23
“When the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) had just started surveying in the mountains of North Central West Virginia in 2015, landowner and farmer Robert McClain wrote the MVP – twice – warning of catastrophic flooding and other dangers to his farm and surrounding community if the MVP stuck to its plans,” the Appalachian Chronicle reports. “He never received an answer from the MVP to those letters, but McClain, 77, now looks to be a prophet. Or perhaps he is simply a West Virginian who knows that water flows downhill. Because even though the MVP never answered McClain’s letters, a flash flood that occurred on Sept. 9, 2023 has demonstrated that MVP can’t ignore gravity… “The water had gotten nearly four feet high where they first come onto their land, Justin found the next day… “So on Sunday, the cleanup began – by Justin, Robert, and a neighbor. Not present to help were MVP employees, or any local or state officials… “The water flooded their front pasture, leaving rocks, debris and sediment behind. Debris littered the road and was caught in their fence. The extent of the water overflowing their pasture on Sept. 9 is captured in the two photos of the same barn, seen below. A neighbor took a photo of the flooded pasture… “Beginning locally, they spoke with George Eidel, the Floodplain Manager and Director of the Office of Emergency Services for Doddridge County. He visited the McClain family residence on the Monday following the Saturday rainstorm. While Justin claimed that Eidel said the MVP ROW was responsible, in an interview with me a few days later, Eidel said, two inches of rain fell and he blamed the flooding on a culvert adjacent to the county road… “Because the culvert is on private property (of a McClain neighbor), the MVP and the West Virginia Department of Transportation (DOT) are not responsible for cleaning or replacing the culvert said Eidel; it is the responsibility of the landowner… “So, where did all that water come from? West Virginia Rivers worked to make sure that question is answered. The organization commissioned an independent assessment on behalf of the McClain family called a Surface Flow Analysis. Downstream Strategies of Morgantown conducted it. It leaves no doubt that water is channeling off of the MVP ROW onto the McClain property.”
Dominion Post: Hope Gas pipeline project receives more support; Hope objects to FOIA request for project information from The Post
David Beard, 12/10/23
“Hope Gas’ Morgantown pipeline project received another letter of support this past week. And anticipating Public Service Commission approval of the project, the company took some steps to expedite resolution of the case. But also on Friday, it filed its objection to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Dominion Post regarding protected information about project maps and certain costs and revenues,” the Dominion Post reports. “...Hope also filed a motion to cancel the scheduled Dec. 19 evidentiary hearing, given that there are no factual issues in dispute… “Hope filed its application to build the pipeline on Sept. 22, with cost and revenue information redacted and maps and drawings not included in the public version. Then in an Oct. 12 filing, Hope sought a protective order to keep the information confidential and gave this explanation as to why… “In a Nov. 13 order, the PSC denied Hope’s request for protective treatment for total estimated project costs. But it allowed Hope to keep confidential other information, such as projected revenue from expanded service allowed by the new pipeline, the cost of Columbia Gas building a new interconnection at Wadestown, and the maps and drawings… “In response to that order, on Nov. 27, The Dominion Post filed a FOIA request with the PSC, quoting the order and requesting the remaining protected information. In a subsequent email to the PSC – which has not yet appeared on the case page – we noted that The Dominion Post serves the affected area and its readers have a direct interest in the project… “Hope’s attorney filed its objection on Friday. The response said, “Hope appreciates the commission’s order and opportunity to further respond as to why the subject confidential information should not be disclosed; however, Hope’s argument, law, and reasons for not disclosing the confidential information, including the material negative impact on ratepayers such disclosure would result in, have been fully provided in [prior filings].”
Seattle Times: Gasoline pipeline leaks near Mount Vernon, spilling into creek
Lauren Girgis, 12/10/23
“A pipeline leaked Sunday south of Mount Vernon, spilling gasoline into a nearby ditch and creek and closing an elementary school,” the Seattle Times reports. “The Olympic Pipeline leaked on the north side of Highway 534 in Skagit County, and the highway is closed from the Interstate 5 offramp to Bulson Road, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology. A vault connected to the pipeline spilled gas into Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek, and responders are recovering gas from the water. Gasoline spilled out of a vault along the pipeline, so there is no rupture out of the pipeline itself, Department of Ecology spokesperson Ty Keltner told the Times. Crews have placed containment booms in Fisher Creek and other waterways connected to Hill Ditch to prevent the gas from spreading, Keltner told the Times. Conway School, a nearby K-8 school in Mount Vernon, will be closed Monday due to the spill… “Air monitoring has been performed at nearby homes and gasoline vapor concentrations are within safe limits, according to the Department of Ecology. An inspector from the Northwest Clean Air Agency is on site. The pipeline, owned by BP, runs along a 299-mile corridor from Blaine to Portland delivering fuel to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Harbor Island. The pipeline exploded in 1999 in Bellingham, killing three people.”
Rigzone: US Industry Group Backs Pipeline Safety Bill
Jov Onsat, 12/8/23
“The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) has expressed support for proposed legislation that would toughen safety and disclosure standards for energy pipelines,” Rigzone reports. “The House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved this week the bipartisan HR 6494, introduced November 29 to reauthorize safety programs under the Pipeline Efficiency and Safety (PIPES) Act for the next four years. The measure orders the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to adopt rules allowed by Congress in previous laws to improve pipeline operations, level up criminal penalties for pipeline damage or disruption, toughen civil penalties on operators that breach safety rules, grow the relevant workforce and expand practices that prevent excavation damage, among others… “In support INGAA president and chief executive Amy Andryszak said, “INGAA is most encouraged by language in the proposed text that requires the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to issue a final class location rule three months after enactment”... “INGAA also welcomed the requirement for the PHMSA to address purported regulatory shortcomings concerning the maximum allowable operating pressure for legacy pipelines. INGAA expressed hope the bill would be adopted into law next year… “On the other hand a proposed rule by the PHMSA for gas pipeline safety has been opposed by industry associations including the American Petroleum Institute (API), as well as Republican lawmakers.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Law firm behind Juliana kids climate case takes on EPA
Lesley Clark, 12/11/23
“The law firm that won a landmark climate victory on behalf of young Montanans is filing its second lawsuit against the federal government, accusing the nation’s chief environmental steward of violating young Californians’ constitutional rights to a healthy life,” E&E News reports. “In documents filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and shared exclusively with E&E News, 18 young Golden State residents between the ages of 8 and 17 say EPA discriminates against children by allowing dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions. “There is one federal agency explicitly tasked with keeping the air clean and controlling pollution to protect the health of every child and the welfare of a nation — the EPA,” Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel at the Oregon-based law firm Our Children’s Trust, told E&E. “The agency has done the opposite when it comes to climate pollution, and it’s time the EPA is held accountable by our courts for violating the U.S. Constitution and misappropriating its congressionally delegated authority.” Federal environmental regulators, the lawsuit claims, “forged an unlawful path” by failing to keep climate pollution at a level that protects children, who are more vulnerable to rising temperatures, raging wildfires and other effects of a warming planet. “EPA has exceeded its delegated authority and injured the lives, health, welfare, safety, security, dignity, happiness, potential for longevity, and an open livable future of plaintiffs, as children, in violation of the United States Constitution,” the lawsuit says. Genesis B. v. EPA is the second federal challenge and the latest in a series of youth climate cases handled by Our Children’s Trust. The law firm scored a major win in August when a Montana judge ruled in the nation’s first youth-led climate trial that state regulators had violated young people’s constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The case — Held v. Montana, which is currently on appeal — has galvanized youth activists across the globe and is driving momentum for a burgeoning raft of litigation over planet-warming emissions, including what is likely to be the second-ever kids’ climate trial next year in Hawaii.”
E&E News: Biden’s new offshore ally: Oil majors
Heather Richards, 12/11/23
“The Biden administration has gained an unlikely ally in its efforts to charge a hefty premium for offshore drilling: major oil companies,” E&E News reports. “The current proposal — which the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released earlier this year — aims to prevent the public from having to pay to clean up abandoned oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. As written, an estimated $9 billion in new cleanup insurance that would be required by the regulations would fall disproportionately to smaller oil companies, which are now scrambling to push BOEM to rewrite the provision before a final version is published next year… “The rules, part of the clean energy-focused White House’s attempt to overhaul the nation’s oil and gas program, would also protect some of the biggest drillers in the country from cleaning up abandoned wells when smaller firms go bust. The proposal comes after a spate of bankruptcies in the offshore oil and gas sector in which midsize firms attempted to abandon billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure. But the plan has produced a wave of disapproval from critics who say it may not offer additional protections to everyday citizens. “It’s not really the taxpayers that are getting insulated,” Rahul Vashi, co-chair of the oil and gas practice at the law firm Gibson Dunn, told E&E. “It’s the prior owners that are getting insulated, because there’s already a regime here that says, ‘If I weren’t able to foot the bill, the government will go back to who owned it before me.’” “...But the new draft rules have put the Biden administration in the unusual position of siding with major oil companies like Chevron, Shell and BP. The firms are on board with key aspects of the proposal because it could help shield them from covering cleanup of wells they formerly owned.”
E&E News: White House Unveils ‘Ocean Justice’ Plan At Climate Talks
Robin Bravender, 12/8/23
“The Biden administration Friday unveiled a new ‘ocean justice strategy’ aimed at easing environmental burdens for communities that rely on the ocean,” E&E News reports. “White House officials announced the new strategy Friday during the United Nations climate talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. “The ocean is a life source for us all, but because of historic injustices and underinvestment, some communities are hit harder by devastating climate change impacts,” said White House Council for Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. The new strategy, she said, “will help to address historic inequities, improve the well-being of people in communities connected to the ocean, and safeguard a healthy ocean for everyone.” The announcement is part of the administration’s broader environmental justice push, which aims to advance policies that benefit communities that have historically been overburdened by pollution. Some communities near the ocean and others that depend on marine resources are “disproportionately burdened by the negative outcomes of human activities in and around the ocean, such as coastal flooding, climate change, pollution, and overfishing,” the White House said.”
Common Dreams: Republicans Advance Boebert Plan Forcing Taxpayers to Foot Bill for Big Oil's Mess
JESSICA CORBETT, 12/6/23
“Fossil fuel industry-funded Republicans on the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee voted Wednesday to advance Rep. Lauren Boebert's bill that would saddle taxpayers with the massive cost of cleaning up oil and gas wells on federal lands,” Common Dreams reports. "Corporations awarded a lease to drill on federal land must post a bond. If the leasing corporation abandons an exploration site, goes bankrupt, or fails to plug a well securely, the posted bond covers the cost of doing so," Public Citizen explained this week in a statement opposing the proposal. The Colorado Republican's Restoring American Energy Dominance Act (H.R. 6009) would block a proposed rule from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) revising federal regulations "to update the fees, rents, royalties, and bonding requirements related to oil and gas leasing, development, and production" in line with the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden last year… “Based on a BLM review of the costs to plug orphaned wells, the rule—strongly opposed by polluting oil and gas companies—would raise the minimum lease bond amount to $150,000 and the minimum statewide bond to $500,000. It would also end the use of nationwide bonds… “In the leadup to the vote, Accountable.US highlighted that the "Big Oil-backed, far-right extremists" on the Republican-led committee have taken at least $3.8 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry during their political careers.”
E&E News: New Rules Will Guide How Native American Remains Are Handled
Michael Doyle, 12/8/23
“Museums and universities will need to step up efforts to repatriate Native America remains to tribes under new rules finalized this week,” E&E News reports. “Whittled by compromise and yet still far-reaching, the rules for administering the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act were rolled out as a highlight of the two-day White House Tribal Nations Summit. “Finalizing these changes is an important part of laying the groundwork for the healing of our people,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said. Haaland, the first Native American to head the Interior Department, emphasized the benefits for tribes that will ensue from the new rules for the 1990 law. The statute requires museums and federal agencies to identify and repatriate Native American human remains, funerary items and objects of cultural significance currently in their collections.”
STATE UPDATES
Vail Daily: Proposal for trains carrying oil through Eagle County suffers another setback, but isn’t dead yet
Scott Miller, 12/7/23
“The prospect of oil-filled trains from Utah rolling next to the Colorado River suffered another setback this week,” Vail Daily reports. “A Dec. 4 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected a motion to rehear challenges to the Uinta Basin Railway. That proposal was for an 88-mile line linking wells in the Uinta Basin to the Union Pacific Railroad’s main line… “The prospect of trains carrying crude oil, as much as 350,000 barrels per day, quickly got the attention of Eagle County officials shortly after the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the proposal in late 2021. Eagle County was among the first governments to oppose the plan, joining several environmental groups. Other local, state and federal officials have joined the effort to stop the trains. Eagle County Attorney Bryan Treu told Vail Daily the appeal of the earlier decision was “The equivalent of a Hail Mary (pass) from Utah that fell incomplete.” The rejection of the appeal fit on a single page, Treu told Vail Daily. Eagle County Commissioner Matt Scherr told Vail Daily if the applicants decide to continue with the rail plan, they’ll have to re-apply “with a much more robust discussion about impacts.”
Midland Reporter-Telegram: Outreach, collaboration key to realizing carbon projects
Mella McEwen, 12/9/23
“There are two reasons carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are being discussed: Energy security and climate change,” according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “ CCS, Joanna Walker, geologist with Tetra Tech, told attendees at the CO2 Conference is a bridge to alternative energy options and is an option for long-term fossil fuel use, if needed… “There are challenges as the Biden administration pushes to develop low-carbon or negative-carbon energy. Those include operational monitoring of CCS projects, a water quality threshold, financial assurance, estimating the cost of the potential impact of the project, data management, materials selection and geochemistry, area of review calculations and public support and regulatory collaboration. Opposition to such projects can center around the injection wells, subsurface pipelines, the construction of pipelines and concerns about the risks of seismicity, infrastructure failures and contamination of water. Those concerns come not just from the public but regulators, she added. Companies planning CCS projects must utilize outreach to gain support, including coordinating with state and federal regulators, sending out notifications of the project, holding public hearings, soliciting public comment and reaching out to a broad set of stakeholders. Take the opportunity to translate complex information to audience-appropriate levels. “You want to speak to the community to ensure they understand what you’re doing, that you’re aware of the risks and have ways to address them,” she told MRT. Regulators focus on the regulations and don’t care about a project developer’s schedule or costs, which is why it’s important to meet with them early and often throughout the process, she told MRT.
Grand Junction Sentinel: BLM slates meetings on oil, gas revisions to benefit big-game habitat in Colorado
DENNIS WEBB, 12/6/23
“The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled several virtual and in-person meetings on its proposed revisions to oil and gas decisions in local resource management plans in Colorado to better protect migration corridors and other important big-game habitat,” the Grand Junction Sentinel reports. “...It is evaluating several management alternatives, including its preferred one that is aligned with state Energy and Carbon Management Commission rules for oil and gas development in elk, mule deer, pronghorn and bighorn sheep high-priority habitat. Where lands are open to oil and gas leasing under existing local BLM management plans, the alternative prescribes measures consistent with the state rules for conserving high-priority habitat. One of those measures limits well pads to one per square mile, but allows waivers and modifications of that requirement in some circumstances.”
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Saudi Arabia Is Trying to Block a Global Deal to End Fossil Fuels, Negotiators Say
Lisa Friedman, Brad Plumer and Vivian Nereim, 12/10/23
“Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading exporter of oil, has become the biggest obstacle to an agreement at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, where countries are debating whether to call for a phaseout of fossil fuels in order to fight global warming, negotiators and other officials said,” the New York Times reports. “The Saudi delegation has flatly opposed any language in a deal that would even mention fossil fuels — the oil, gas and coal that, when burned, create emissions that are dangerously heating the planet. Saudi negotiators have also objected to a provision, endorsed by at least 118 countries, aimed at tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030. Saudi diplomats have been particularly skillful at blocking discussions and slowing the talks, according to interviews with a dozen people who have been inside closed-door negotiations. Tactics include inserting words into draft agreements that are considered poison pills by other countries; slow-walking a provision meant to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change; staging a walkout in a side meeting; and refusing to sit down with negotiators pressing for a phaseout of fossil fuels. The Saudi opposition is significant because U.N. rules require that any agreement forged at the climate summit be unanimously endorsed. Any one of the 198 participating nations can thwart a deal. Saudi Arabia isn’t the only country raising concerns about more ambitious global efforts to fight climate change. The United States has sought to inject caveats into the fossil fuel phaseout language… “But Saudi Arabia has stood out as the most implacable opponent of any agreement on fossil fuels. “Most countries vary on the degree or speed of how fast you get out of fossil fuels,” Linda Kalcher, a former climate adviser to the United Nations who has been in negotiating rooms this week, told the Times. Saudi Arabia, she told the Times, “doesn’t even want to have the conversation.”
Washington Post: Banning fossil fuels is now a make-or-break issue at climate talks
Chico Harlan and Timothy Puko, 12/10/23
“For 30 years, with temperatures and sea levels rising, global negotiators have managed to discuss the health of the planet without addressing the root cause of the problem. In meeting after meeting, document after document, even in the landmark 2015 Paris agreement, one phrase has been conspicuously absent: any mention of fossil fuels,” the Washington Post reports. “But that could be on the verge of changing. At this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference in Dubai, known as COP28, nations have at last turned their attention to this highly contested driver of planetary warming and are considering historic language pledging to close out the era of coal, oil and gas. COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber, who runs both the state-run oil company and renewable energy arm of the United Arab Emirates, has vowed the summit will conclude with some form of agreement on fossil fuels… “Some oil-rich nations want no language at all. Some, such as the United States, support a “phasedown” of fossil fuels. Others see that as far too weak, and are demanding a clear timeline for a “phaseout” of fossil fuels. Such a move would mark a belated recognition that the past strategy — of pledging to reduce emissions without overtly saying how — has not been sufficient… “After more than a week of talks in Dubai, countries have just a few days — and sleepless nights — left to figure out the language of a potential agreement. In so doing, they are confronting many of the sticking points that stymied talk about fossil fuels in past years, even with the clear-cut science. There are influential lobbying groups, vast financial interests, and plenty of contradictions: Some countries advocating for a reduction in fossil fuels, such as the United States, continue to ramp up their oil and gas production… “This is really difficult stuff. We are talking about the future of humanity, the future of economic structures and geopolitics,” Hana AlHashimi, the lead negotiator for the United Arab Emirates, told the Post… “Video from a nonprofit group, shared with journalists who are not allowed inside the meeting rooms, showed a Saudi negotiator saying there were still “key divergences.” “We have raised our consistent concerns with attempts to attack energy sources instead of emissions,” he said.
Reuters: Dutch-led coalition moves to phase out fossil fuel subsidies at COP28
Gloria Dickie and Kate Abnett, 12/9/23
“A Dutch-led coalition of a dozen nations committed on Saturday to publish an inventory of their own fossil fuel subsidies within a year, with the aim of creating a clear strategy for eliminating them,” Reuters reports. “...Global subsidies for fossil fuels have since soared, rising by $2 trillion over the past two years to hit a record $7 trillion in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "We cannot phase out fossil fuels without tackling fossil fuel subsidies," said Dutch climate minister, Rob Jetten, at the U.N. climate summit COP28 in Dubai. "We must ensure the right economic incentives are in place." “...It was backed by Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain. China, which did not join the new coalition, last year provided $2.2 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies, amounting to 12.5% of the country's total GDP, the IMF found. The United States, which the IMF estimates spent around $760 billion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2022, also did not sign on.”
Politico: John Kerry warns against carbon capture’s ‘great facade’ as a climate cure-all
KARL MATHIESEN, 12/9/23
“Some countries at the COP28 climate talks are lying about the potential for capturing the greenhouse gases fossil fuels emit, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said,” Politico reports. “Kerry was speaking at an event on Friday evening on the sidelines of the U.N. COP28 climate talks in Dubai, where the nations of the world are wrangling over the draft of a pledge to end fossil fuel use… “Negotiators from Riyadh argue carbon pollution can be largely captured and buried using scrubbing technology that Kerry said remains largely unproven at the needed scale. “There are people here who want to just continue business as usual. And the great facade is: ‘Oh no, we'll be able to capture everything,’” said Kerry, his voice hoarse from a chest cold. “No scientist tells me we can capture it all. Can't do it. Can we capture some? Yes, and by the way, I'm for it.” Kerry said it was up to the gas industry "to show us they can capture all those emissions, to tell us whether it's really going to be part of the future. But don’t lie to people and tell them it's green. And don't pretend to people that that's the main alternative." “...The EU is arguing for the deal at COP28 to include a stipulation that carbon capture and storage (CCS) only be used for the hardest sectors to cut out the use of fossil fuels, such as the manufacture of cement. “Make no mistake, we cannot CCS ourselves out of the problem,” said EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra at a press conference Friday, adding that carbon capture and storage was “a minor part of the solution space.”
DeSmog: Report: Canada and U.S. Are Top Public Funders for CCS with Nations Prepared to Inject $200 Million More
Taylor Noakes, 12/8/23
“Canada is the world’s second leading source of public funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, according to a new report, even though many experts say CCS is a greenwashing cover to pump more oil,” DeSmog reports. “Oil Change International’s study, “Carbon Capture’s Publicly Funded Failure,” shows the Canadian government has given at least $2.2 billion (USD) in public subsidies to CCS efforts, out of a total of $20 billion worldwide.** Globally, the United States and Canada invest the most public money into the controversial technology, with the United States contributing $8 billion, the report states. The study also identifies about $200 billion more in public subsidies approved for CCS projects across the globe in the coming years.This injection of funds means CCS will continue to expand, even though 79 percent of operating carbon capture capacity around the world uses the captured carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce more oil, according to the report. “Carbon capture is a scam,” Lorne Stockman, research co-director of Oil Change International and lead researcher of the study, told DeSmog… “It requires a lot of energy to run capture facilities and compress the carbon dioxide gas for transportation to where it is injected underground or used in other processes,” Stockman told DeSmog. “It is, therefore, both an energy and money drain on our economy that is unnecessary for most of the energy services we require.” “...How the Canadian government will actually go about measuring or verifying how much carbon is sequestered versus how much is used in EOR seems like an impossible task, Julia Levin, associate director, National Climate, for Environmental Defence, told DeSmog. “Verifying actual capture rates was always a real weakness with this tax credit,” Levin told DeSmog. Compared with the 45Q tax break in the United States, which only delivers tax credits for verified captured tons, an IRS investigation found that 87 percent of the claimed tons were never verified, she told DeSmog. “It seems to me that they’re mostly just going to rely on industry reporting, and we know how well that works out.”
Guardian: At least 475 carbon-capture lobbyists attending Cop28
Nina Lakhani, 12/8/23
“Cop28 organisers granted attendance to at least 475 lobbyists working on carbon capture and storage (CCS), unproven technologies that climate scientists say will not curtail global heating,” the Guardian reports. “The figure was calculated by the Centre for Environmental Law (Ciel) and shared exclusively with the Guardian, and is the first attempt to monitor the growing influence of the CCS subset of the fossil fuel industry within the UN climate talks. CCS, or CCUS (which includes “utilisation”) is being pushed hard at the summit by fossil fuel and other high-pollution industries, as well as by the biggest greenhouse gas emitting countries… “Lili Fuhr, the director of Ciel’s fossil economy programme, told the Guardian: “The force with which the fossil fuel industry and their allies are coming to Dubai to sell the idea that we can ‘capture’ or ‘manage’ their carbon pollution is a sign of their desperation. CCS is the fossil fuel industry’s lifeline and it is also their latest excuse and delay tactic. We must not let an army of carbon capture lobbyists blow a gigantic loophole into the energy package here at Cop28.” “...The carbon capture bloc is one of the largest – outnumbering official Indigenous representatives by 50%, as well as several of the most climate-affected countries, including Somalia (366), Niger (135), Guinea-Bissau (43), Tonga (79), Eritrea (7), Liberia (197), and Solomon Islands (56)... “CCUS has been promoted at Cop28 in high-level meetings and dozens of side events. On Tuesday, the “carbon management challenge” was launched by several countries, including the UAE, Australia, Canada, Egypt, the EU, US, Japan and Denmark, announcing government support for CCUS and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies… “Rachel Cleetus, the climate and energy policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the Guardian: “Fossil fuel and narrow political interests are choosing to obfuscate and water down the text being negotiated for the final Cop28 agreement, despite the clarity science brings to the necessity of a phase-out. The reality is that CCS/CCUS cannot contribute meaningfully to emission reductions in this critical decade … The core, unavoidable task remains making deep, direct cuts in fossil fuel use. There are no escape hatches.”
Associated Press: Some nations want to remove more pollution than they produce. That will take giving nature a boost
DAVID KEYTON, 12/11/23
“Why promise net zero emissions when you can go even lower, such as negative emissions?,” the Associated Press reports. “As countries at the COP28 climate talks are wrangling over ways to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, a Danish-led group of countries has decided to set the ultimate goal: to remove more carbon dioxide, the main source of global warming, from the atmosphere than they emit. The Group of Negative Emitters was launched Sunday in Dubai by Denmark, Finland and Panama, and aims to reach that goal by slashing emissions, protecting and expanding forests, and investing in new technologies… “For the rich Nordic country, the strategy is threefold. It will cut emissions, especially in the energy sector, expand forests, and invest in carbon capture and removal technology that traps planet-warming emissions from reaching the atmosphere and then transport it to where it can be permanently stored underground. Many experts say the technology to capture carbon and store works but is expensive… “Decades of carbon capture have shown it to be ineffective, uneconomic, and risky for communities. The very industry that has brought us to the brink of climate catastrophe will not save us from it,” Nikki Reisch, Climate and Energy Program Director at the Center for International Environmental Law, told AP… “Finland’s Mykkänen told AP carbon capture might still sound like “voodoo,” but he’s confident the technology will be normalized within 10 to 15 years as countries invest in it and costs are driven down.”
Guardian: ‘Magical’ tech innovations a distraction from real solutions, climate experts warn
Oliver Milman, 12/9/23
“Machines to magic carbon out of the air, artificial intelligence, indoor vertical farms to grow food for our escape to Mars, and even solar-powered “responsible” yachts: the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai has been festooned with the promise of technological fixes for worsening global heating and ecological breakdown,” the Guardian reports. “...Some of the innovations feel particularly apt for the United Arab Emirates, a petrostate and coastal playground of the super-rich, such as an event to promote “responsible yachting”, held on Tuesday… “But this fixation has alarmed some scientists and climate activists, who warn that technologies are being used to distract from the primary task of stopping fossil fuels being burned. Cop28’s president, Sultan Al Jaber, also the head of the UAE’s national oil company, has questioned the feasibility of a fossil fuel phase-out… “It’s frightening because they see this as a new business opportunity, a new way to make money and continue as before,” Pierre Friedlingstein, a climate researcher at the University of Exeter, told the Guardian, of the hopes being ladled upon carbon removal technologies… “Despite its small scale, voluminous carbon removal techniques are relied upon in many climate models and plans by countries and companies to avoid breaching a 1.5C rise in global temperatures since pre-industrial times and unleashing catastrophic heatwaves, droughts, floods and other impacts… “Greater efforts will be needed on “carbon management” – which includes directly removing carbon as well as capturing emissions at their source from industrial facilities and somehow storing them – if climate goals are to be met, negotiators from countries including the US, UK, Brazil and Kenya agreed at Cop28 on Wednesday. Keeping to 1.5C is “simply not possible” without the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS), said John Kerry, the US climate envoy, at the meeting. “This is not a US position, it’s a matter of science,” he said. “If we don’t have carbon capture, we can’t get to net zero.” Kerry acknowledged the yawning gap to the amount of emission reduction needed, but added: “We’ve got to try.” Capturing carbon is no substitute for cutting emissions and ramping up clean energy, agreed Majid Al Suwaidi, the UAE’s lead climate negotiator, but “the reality is, we need to deal with the energy systems we have while we build the energy systems we want”... “An extra 86bn tonnes of greenhouse gases could be released by 2050 if CCS is relied upon but underperforms, a new report by Climate Analytics has warned, while a major buildout and use of this technology will cost the world an extra $1tn a year, a separate study by Oxford University has found.”
The Hill: Al Gore says it’s ‘ridiculous’ that UAE hosted climate conference
LAUREN SFORZA, 12/10/23
“Former Vice President Al Gore on Sunday said it was “ridiculous” that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — a major oil-producing country — hosted the COP28 climate summit,” The Hill reports. “Well, it’s kind of ridiculous,” Gore said when asked on CNN’s “State of the Union why the UAE hosted the climate conference. “It should not be, although it’s not so much that it’s in a country that produces oil. It’s the appointment of the CEO of one of the biggest and least responsible companies on the planet to be the head of the conference.” “...Gore said al-Jaber’s company has plans “to expand production of both oil and gas by an enormous amount starting the minute the gavel bangs to end this conference.” He accused the host of having a conflict of interest due to his role as head of the oil and gas company. “The people of our world deserve to have some confidence that this process has integrity, and we’ve been seeing the fossil fuel polluters try to manipulate this process for a long time,” Gore said. “And the world is running out of patience because this, this is so serious. Now we’re in the hottest year ever measured. We’re seeing these extreme climate-related weather events causing havoc all over the world,” he continued.”
Associated Press: At COP28, Indigenous women have a message for leaders: Look at what we’re doing. And listen
UZMI ATHAR, 12/10/23
“With a sprig of leaves and rainwater carried from her island in the Philippines, Grace Talawag delivered a prayer and a blessing for her delegation and onlookers in a negotiation hall at the United Nations climate summit,” the Associated Press reports. “...The latter symbolizes her hope that negotiators at the COP28 talks “will listen to the voices of the Indigenous people” — especially Indigenous women who have traveled to the conference to share valuable insights into addressing some of the challenges of climate change. Frontline communities will exchange their best practices at the climate talks. But they’d still like to see a more inclusive summit that makes them an integral part of the global dialogue, Talawag told AP. “Even in the loss and damage fund we are not on board but just present as observers,” she told AP, referring to an agreement finalized on the eve of the talks for compensating developing nations hit by climate extremes. “This needs to change.” “...Shehnaaz Mossa, who oversees finance at SouthSouthNorth, a nonprofit that facilitates climate-resilient development, told AP it’s important to connect the meaningful efforts happening at the community level with larger discussions. Local communities, she told AP, understand their needs and have the knowledge to scale up solutions effectively. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a Chadian environmental activist and geographer, emphasized the importance of combining traditional knowledge with science to create effective solutions. “There is a need to get women from the Indigenous communities on the negotiation table because we have the solution and we are already implementing it on ground,” she said during a session focused on women’s contributions to building a climate-resilient world.”
Canadian Press: As fossil fuel executives descend on UN climate summit, some ask ‘what are COPs about?’
JORDAN OMSTEAD, 12/8/23
“The world’s major climate negotiations risk turning into a trade show spectacle of unchecked corporate influence, some observers warn, as a record number of delegates representing fossil fuel interests descend on the United Nations climate change conference known as COP28,” the Canadian Press reports. “Hundreds of delegates with links to fossil fuel interests, including from Canada, are turning up at this year’s climate summit currently under way in Dubai, according to recent analyses by climate organizations and news agencies. Despite making up a small share of the more than 80,000 registered attendees, the fossil fuel industry’s presence at COP28 could water down action when the world risks careening past its emissions targets, political economist Gordon Laxer told CP. “It’s the political power and influence of Big Oil which is stopping real action,” Laxer, a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta who researches the industry’s political influence, told CP. “There should not be oil lobbyists – period – at these international conferences on climate change.” At least 1,300 employees of organizations representing the fossil fuel industry are at COP28, according to an analysis by the Associated Press, three times higher than the news agency’s tally from last year. Kick Big Polluters Out, a coalition demanding an end to industry participation, put the number of people with industry ties at this year’s summit even higher, at 2,456… “They’re there to protect their own profits, delay and weaken climate action and sabotage progress that is so desperately needed,” Aly Hyder Ali, oil and gas program manager with the environmental advocacy organization Environmental Defence, told CP… “Former federal Liberal environment minister Catherine McKenna, in an interview ahead of the talks, told CP the conferences were “becoming like massive trade shows.” “That’s why I think we need to think about what are COPs about? What are we trying to achieve here with all of these people coming? Including, why do we have so many fossil fuel companies,” McKenna, who chairs a UN working group on net-zero emissions commitments, told CP. “I would love to think that they want to be part of the solution and want to transition, but they’ve done nothing to demonstrate that.”
NPR: Oil companies are embracing terms like 'lower carbon.' Here's what they really mean
Camila Domonoske, Julia Simon, 12/10/23
“Just a few years ago, oil companies said they felt unwelcome at United Nations climate talks. Not this year,” NPR reports. “This year's climate conference is taking place in the United Arab Emirates, a major oil and gas producing country that's looking to increase its oil production. And the oil industry has a big platform at the talks. The oil cartel OPEC has its own pavilion at this meeting, known as COP28, and giant oil companies are playing a prominent role, to the dismay of climate activists… “Most oil companies acknowledge that climate change is real. Yet they also argue strongly for the world's continued use of massive quantities of fossil fuels, which power both the global economy and their profits. But climate scientists say it's crucial to cut fossil fuel use sharply to avoid some of the worst effects of global warming… “Many oil companies talk about their support for "low carbon energy" and "lower carbon energy." “...He told NPR when companies push for more "lower carbon energy," it typically means continuing to produce and use oil and gas — but with somewhat cleaner extraction and processing methods. "You're just doing it with fewer emissions, but the end product still can have a lot of carbon in it," Mahdavi told NPR… “Or another key technology in the "low carbon" energy bucket is called "carbon capture and storage." That refers to capturing carbon pollution from fossil fuel production and industry, injecting it underground, and storing it before it reaches the atmosphere. But experts say carbon capture technology isn't fully proven: projects often haven't reduced as much emissions as they said they would and are often over budget. Climate scientists say that carbon capture can't reduce the bulk of emissions, and really reducing carbon requires using less fossil fuels… “Oil companies instead focus on "abating" emissions from producing and using fossil fuels, which means stopping at least some of the emissions from entering the atmosphere. The industry argues that carbon capture and storage — that "low-carbon" technology with a poor track record of success — could accomplish this. Experts have major concerns… “But "net zero" can be a slippery phrase. Some oil companies setting "net zero" targets are referring only to the emissions in their operations — not to the emissions from the oil they sell. So they might use solar panels and wind turbines to power oil drilling rigs and consider their "net zero" goals met, even as the oil they produce releases vast quantities of carbon pollution when it's burned as gasoline or jet fuel.”
Bloomberg: Dubai Plans to Cut Carbon Emissions in Half by End of Decade
Rakteem Katakey, 12/8/23
“Dubai, which is hosting the global COP28 climate summit, set a stricter target to cut its carbon emissions in half by the end of this decade,” Bloomberg reports. “The emirate already has an aim to achieve net zero discharges by 2050, in line with the United Arab Emirates’ national target. The UAE itself said in July it will reduce emissions by 40% in seven years from a business-as-usual level… “The country has been investing in renewable projects and carbon capture as it tries to showcase its green efforts.”
Bloomberg: Occidental to Buy Oil Driller CrownRock in $12 Billion Deal
Mitchell Ferman, 12/11/23
“Occidental Petroleum Corp. agreed to acquire Texas shale driller CrownRock LP in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $12 billion as consolidation heats up in North America’s most-prolific oil basin,” Bloomberg reports. “The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals, Occidental said Monday in a statement. The company plans to finance the deal by taking on $9.1 billion of new debt and issue about $1.7 billion of new shares.”
Press release: The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers responds to the federal government emissions cap framework
12/7/23
“Despite the federal government’s stated objective that the emission cap should not put a limit on Canadian oil and natural gas production, the unintended consequences of the draft framework announced today of a cap-and-trade system with an interim target of a 35% to 38% emissions reductions below 2019 by 2030 could result in significant curtailments – making this draft framework effectively a cap on production. At a time when the country’s citizens are experiencing a substantial affordability crisis, coincident with record budget deficits, the federal government risks curtailing the energy Canadians rely on, along with jobs and government revenues the energy sector contributes to Canada. An emissions cap on the upstream oil and natural gas industry is unnecessary, given the longstanding carbon policies which already have Canada well on its way to meet or exceed emission targets. The added complexity of yet another layer of carbon policy is potentially detrimental to established carbon markets that fund clean energy projects… “While the draft framework released today does allow for Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) and compliance flexibility, the trajectory and target remain problematic for industry as technology pathways will be challenging by 2030… “CAPP will raise our concerns through the consultation process and continue our efforts to work with the federal and provincial governments to ensure the draft framework released today does not become a cap on Canadian oil and natural gas production, allowing industry to continue its path of emissions reduction while growing Canada’s role as a secure provider of responsibly produced energy.”
DeSmog: Meet the ‘Extreme’ Atlas Network Groups Fighting Canada’s Oil and Gas Emissions Cap
Geoff Dembicki, 12/9/23
“Within hours of Canada’s federal government announcing key details during COP28 about its plans to cap greenhouse gas emissions within the oil and gas sector, the country’s top conservative think tanks started sounding the alarm,” DeSmog reports. “Capping the energy sector’s emissions would deprive Canada of over $6.0 billion a year,” declared a media release from the Quebec-based Montreal Economic Institute, which was soon quoted extensively by the media outlet Business in Vancouver. The oil and gas sector is the top private sector contributor to the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), contributing nearly $200,000 last year according to figures from the think tank. A senior fellow with the Ottawa-based Macdonald Laurier Institute wrote an op-ed in the Edmonton Journal newspaper calling the policy “a slap in the face of Indigenous peoples,” while another expert associated with the institute deemed it “an arbitrary target” in a story for the Canadian Press. The Vancouver-based Fraser Institute added to the chorus with an opinion piece for a conservative publication called the Western Standard claiming that the cap is “threatening the employment of many Canadian workers.” These attacks on a federal climate policy meant to address Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions on the surface seems to have arisen organically. They came from vastly different parts of the country and appeared in a diverse range of media outlets. But experts who study the influence of conservative think tanks in Canada say there is a thread linking these attacks, which might not be obvious to the average person. The Macdonald Laurier Institute, the Montreal Economic Institute, and the Fraser Institute are all longtime members of the Atlas Network, a U.S.-based organization with nearly 500 partners worldwide dedicated to fighting government regulation and promoting the interests of oil and gas companies and other corporations. Atlas has previously received funding from foundations associated with the fossil fuel company Koch Industries, as well as ExxonMobil. It has for years been backing campaigns in Canada and globally to vilify climate protesters as dangerous extremists… “Critics say this is but one example of how conservative think tanks across the country draw from each other’s work to attack regulations that could potentially hurt the profits of oil and gas producers. “They are extremely dedicated to building up their network of compadres,” Neubauer told DeSmog. “They work together.”
The Hill: Renewables’ growing price advantage over fossil fuels paves way for industry dominance
SAUL ELBEIN, 12/10/23
“Renewables are reaching the point where they are outcompeting fossil fuels on price — setting the stage for their predicted dominance of the energy sector by midcentury,” The Hill reports. “When it comes to the surging demand for new electric generation, wind and solar prices are now the cheapest options almost everywhere, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Building new wind and solar projects is also cheaper than running existing coal plants, according to a report from Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan climate policy think tank… “And the IEA added that prices are falling further — particularly in the U.S., where the tax credits from the Democrats’ 2022 clean energy stimulus will begin to take full effect in 2024… “The country is passing a “tipping point” beyond which renewables are the status quo option, Timothy Lenton, chair of the climate department at the University of Exeter, told The Hill. Lenton told The Hill that by midcentury, even if climate policies remain no more generous than they are now, renewables will make up three-quarters of U.S. electricity production… “There’s a self-propelling, ever stronger feedback loop behind the transformation,” he told The Hill. The question now, he told The Hill, isn’t whether the change is going to happen. “Now it’s more about how fast or slow to go, and how hard are the incumbents going to fight to hold the status quo.”
Utility Dive: Blue hydrogen won’t hit DOE price target without byproduct sales and low fuel costs: report
Emma Penrod, 12/8/23
“Advances in technology could lower the cost of blue hydrogen, derived from natural gas, to $1.33-$1.40 per kilogram by the beginning of the next decade, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Department of Energy ’s National Energy Technology Laboratory,” Utility Dive reports. “Baring unforeseen advances, the blue hydrogen sector will fall short of the $1/kg goal established by the DOE in 2021. However, the sale of byproducts could enable blue hydrogen production at or below the DOE price benchmark, according to the report… “But both sets of projections exceed the $1/kg goal intended by the DOE to ensure low-carbon hydrogen is cost competitive with other fuels. To hit that benchmark will require subsidies or other measures, according to Alex Nevokshonoff, a senior associate with Enverus Intelligence Research. “The cost of natural gas alone would account for most of the $1/kg target,” Nevokshonoff told Utility Dive. “Sourcing natural gas from low-cost gas basins will be critical to achieving cost-competitive blue hydrogen, especially as LNG bolsters up gas prices later this decade.” “...The sale of byproducts such as argon or carbon black would have a far greater impact on the price of blue hydrogen — assuming strong markets for these products exist, according to the DOE. It may be possible to reach $1/kg low carbon hydrogen by pairing carbon capture with steam methane reforming — the most common means of producing hydrogen today, according to the DOE… “However, the DOE analysis concluded that these advanced conversion technologies would release more carbon emissions, even when paired with carbon capture, than steam methane reforming paired with carbon capture.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Axios: Between the lines of BlackRock's debate rebuttal
Ben Geman, 12/10/23
“BlackRock boss Larry Fink's response to Republican criticism about his support for environmental social governance says a lot about the politics of ESG and the 2024 presidential race,” Axios reports. “His Linkedin post responded to attacks on BlackRock in Wednesday's Republican presidential debate, rebutting assertions made about the investment giant's posture on oil and more. "The reality: BlackRock clients have more than $170 billion invested in American energy companies," he wrote. Fink also said that "another candidate accused BlackRock of pursuing an ideological agenda. The only agenda we have is delivering for our clients." Quick take: Fink sees anti-ESG policies from the political right — which target his firm and others — gaining enough traction that he felt compelled to respond. His post also highlights BlackRock's nuanced public messaging on climate and ESG (a term Fink has ditched), even as it continues backing efforts like a huge new climate fund unveiled at COP28… “Fink wrote that "I know why they call this the political silly season," but he appears to be taking attacks seriously.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Collingwood Today: Enbridge fuels firefighter training with cash donation
12/8/23
“Enbridge Gas has donated $5,000 to the Collingwood Fire Department to support firefighter training,” Collingwood Today reports. “Andrew Craig, operations supervisor for Enbridge Gas in the GTA west region, said, in a news release, Enbridge values safety and the work that firefighters do to protect the communities. The donation is part of a $250,000 contribution by Enbridge Gas Inc. through the Safe Community Project Assist program with the Fire Marshal's Public Safety Council… “On behalf of the Town of Collingwood and the Collingwood Fire Department, we would like to thank Enbridge and Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council for the very generous donation of $5,000 towards new training materials for our firefighters,” said Thurman in the news release.
OPINION
Toledo Blade: Editorial: Everything energy policy
THE BLADE EDITORIAL BOARD, 12/10/23
“Abundant, affordable energy is to the economy and our standard of living what oxygen is to life. That’s why energy-aware Toledoans are celebrating a recent decision by the Michigan Public Service Commission (“Mich. agency approves permit to build line 5 tunnel,” Saturday),” the Toledo Blade Editorial Blade writes. “The Michigan regulatory agency approved a permit to allow a new tunnel beneath the Straights of Mackinac to deliver crude oil to refineries, including PBF Refinery’s East Toledo facility. The existing pipeline known as Line 5 needs to be replaced and the Toledo refinery was in danger of closing if Michigan opposition to a replacement tunnel was successful. The decision drew bipartisan praise from the DeWine Administration and Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz. Support for the Canadian-owned Enbridge energy pipeline goes beyond saving jobs. We still need petroleum for fuel, and it’s premature to shut down or even hamstring the petroleum industry. President Biden’s day-one order ending construction of the Keystone energy pipeline is an example of unwise oil restrictions before alternative energy sources are ready to replace it… “The emerging facts make it clear self sufficiency should be the first priority of U.S. energy policy and the transition from fossil fuel to renewable alternatives will take longer than advocates estimate. Ohio and Toledo have staked out leadership positions in both fossil fuel and renewable energy production. All fuel sources are important and need development for the foreseeable future. Line 5 replaces aging infrastructure that serves a critically important industry. We should ensure continued supply of oil with modern equipment until the electric transition can take place.”
New York Times: Carbon Capture Won’t Save Us From Climate Change
Peter Coy, 12/8/23
“Fighting climate change by sucking carbon dioxide out of the air with giant blowers seems like a brilliant idea. Why knock yourself out trying to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions when you can continue to produce the emissions and then snatch them back from the atmosphere? That solution reminds me of the little red vehicle with robotic arms that the Cat in the Hat uses to clean up the house that he, Thing One and Thing Two have just trashed. “Have no fear of this mess,” the Cat in the Hat tells the children. “I always pick up all my playthings,” Peter Coy writes for the New York Times. “But direct air capture of carbon, as the nascent technology is called, is not as reliable as Dr. Seuss’s three-wheeled deus ex machina… “It’s incredibly dangerous for the fossil fuel industry and its enablers in government to promote the idea that they can keep burning fossil fuels while pulling carbon out of the air or out of the smokestacks with technologies that consistently fail to deliver,” Collin Rees, the U.S. program manager at Oil Change International, wrote in an email… “The problem comes when direct air capture is seen as partly an alternative to vigorous efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions… “This gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years that I think it’s going to be very much needed,” Vicki Hollub, Oxy’s chief executive, said at a conference. That kind of talk worries climate scientists and activists… “Joseph Romm, a senior research fellow at the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media, sent me an article he wrote before the climate summit that called direct air capture a “trap” that “distracts from reducing CO2 emissions.” “...So is direct air capture a savior or a snare? I conclude that it’s a savior in the long run but a snare in the short run. The right combination is to spend money researching and developing the technology for when it’s eventually necessary but put the bulk of our effort into cutting emissions drastically. The Cat in the Hat won’t save us now.”
Financial Post: Jack Mintz: Justin Trudeau’s existential problems with oil and gas
Jack M. Mintz, 12/8/23
“Talk at the latest climate-change shindig in Dubai has centred around the future of the oil industry and whether countries should pledge to phase out oil and gas production entirely or simply transform the industry in decades to come. Canada always talks a deep-green game at these affairs but are we really ready to nail shut the oil and gas coffin?,” Jack M. Mintz writes for the Financial Post. “Maybe not. In Dubai Canada announced a cap-and-trade approach to oil and gas emissions but argued it won’t actually stop oil and gas production outright. The provinces, who yet again weren’t consulted, may not agree. Besides, promises are one thing. The record is another… “The irony — maybe even the hypocrisy — is that three countries in the Americas have increased their petroleum output even more than this Middle Eastern oil sheikhdom has: the U.S., Brazil and, yes, us: Canada… “The Trudeau government has pledged that 2030 oil and gas emissions will be 42 per cent lower than in 2005. This has led to tensions with the oil- and gas-producing provinces, which are resisting emissions caps for oil, gas and electricity… “But top producers like the U.S. and Canada are not holding back and governments aren’t stopping them. Phase-out is all short-term cost in pursuit of climate gains that won’t be realized for decades, if at all. Nor are politicians willing to eliminate the tax revenues and high-paying jobs the industry generates. With energy security crucial in an increasingly dangerous world, oil-consuming countries are finding that intermittent renewable energy and other high-cost energy sources are no substitute for fossil fuels. As the federal Liberals sink in the polls, they face a many-ways existential choice. Do they pursue their climate promises and phase out oil and gas? Or do they secure the benefits of oil and gas production for years to come? Or, a third option: do they say one thing but quietly do the other? Is it all, as Shakespeare would say, “much ado about nothing”?
Calgary Herald: Investors try to decode message sent by Ottawa's emissions cap on oil and gas
Chris Varcoe, 12/8/23
“As the oilpatch tries to figure out how a new federal emissions cap on the industry will work in the years ahead, their eyes are turning to a more immediate matter: its effect on investment,” Chris Varcoe writes for the Calgary Herald. “On Thursday, Ottawa unveiled the framework of its incoming limit on greenhouse gas emissions from the industry, adopting a cap-and-trade system to lower emissions by a target of 35 to 38 per cent (from 2019 levels) by the end of this decade. With flexibility measures being put in place, such as allowing companies to buy offsets credits, the actual emissions reduction could end up being 20 to 23 per cent. Industry executives say they will need to see the final regulations to understand the effect on future production and compliance costs. However, they are clear-eyed on the message it sends to investors in the Canadian oil and gas industry. “It will make it harder to attract foreign investment to come into Canada and it will also serve to cap, or make it a hindrance, to try and grow production. And I’m asking, why would you do that? You can still be a world leader in climate change,” Surge Energy CEO Paul Colborne told the Herald… “A report by CIBC Capital Markets analysts on Friday noted the bulk of expected industry reductions will come from cutting methane emissions and from the oilsands, where a large carbon capture and storage network is being planned… “While the U.S. presence has been growing in recent years, the emissions cap is a headwind for the sector, Raymond James analyst Jeremy McCrea told the Herald. “It’s one thing to have a carbon tax where everybody’s impacted, but it’s another thing to target a specific industry,” he told the Herald. “It feels very (much) in the crosshairs of the government. And that’s why some of the investors I’ve talked to have been wary here of how much capital they want to keep up in Canada.”
Calgary Herald: U of A can help push province closer to its carbon neutral goals
Bill Flanagan is president of the University of Alberta, 12/8/23
“Alberta has set an ambitious target to be a carbon-neutral — net zero — economy by 2050. Attending COP28, I had the opportunity to share some of the net-zero energy research happening at the University of Alberta and deepen our global collaborations. As a global leader in developing net-zero energy solutions, UA has a key role to play in ensuring a sustainable and prosperous future for Alberta’s energy sector,” Bill Flanagan writes for the Calgary Herald. “...In close collaboration with industry and government, and building on decades of leadership in energy research, UA has launched a major new research project — Canadian Net Zero Energy Solutions (CANZES) — to develop the technologies Alberta will need to achieve net zero by 2050… “We are focusing on five critical areas that will be essential for Alberta to achieve net zero by 2050: carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), hydrogen, critical minerals, resilient and smart electrical grids, and land and water reclamation. In all five areas, we will leverage our expertise in artificial intelligence and quantum science… “We are also examining ways to build public acceptance and trust, which are critical to the success of CCUS projects in Alberta and across Canada. CCUS research will also help Alberta capitalize on producing and using clean hydrogen… “Simply imposing caps on carbon will not create a sustainable emissions reduction plan. Instead, we can only realistically meet our emissions targets by developing the technologies that can make net zero a reality while sustaining access to affordable and reliable energy.”
Wall Street Journal: The Truth About Net Zero, at Last
By The Editorial Board, 12/8/23
“The great and good of politics and business have converged on Dubai this week for the global climate conference known as COP28, and by now they must wish they hadn’t. The event has done the one thing such confabs are supposed never to do, which is expose the truth about climate change and the race to net-zero carbon emissions,” the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board writes. “The truth-teller in chief is the event’s host, Sultan Al Jaber. He’s become a figure of hate on the eco-left since letting slip that he’s a net-zero skeptic. “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5 [degrees Celsius],” he said of the climate industry’s global temperature target during a virtual event last month. He warned that attempting to wean the world off fossil fuels would “take the world back into caves.” The net-zero apostles say the political leader and head of the state oil company in a major petroleum-producing country never should have been invited to host COP28. But then someone has to drill the oil that powers the private jets that ferry the bigwigs to these confabs. The bigger embarrassment for the climate left is that voters agree with Mr. Jaber. If you haven’t paid much attention to COP28 this week, perhaps you’ve read about the collapse of the net-zero agenda around the world… “The common denominator is reality. European countries, like the U.S., are discovering that no matter how hard they push on the net-zero string, costs never come down, green jobs never materialize to replace industrial employment, and the subsidy bill never declines. Meanwhile, Europe’s economies already are highly efficient in carbon emitted per euro of gross domestic product—and China and India keep building coal-fired power plants anyway. Developing economies don’t have the luxury of net-zero fantasies and understand they need fossil fuels for their people to enjoy rising prosperity. The alternative is the cave of Mr. Jaber’s telling, and it turns out that no number of elaborate climate summits will persuade ordinary people to return to the darkness.”