EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 12/21/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Truthout: Climate Campaigners Slam Fresh Federal Approvals for Mountain Valley Pipeline
WV Gazette Mail: Feds OK Mountain Valley Pipeline rate hikes for skyrocketing costs
Appalachian Voices: Communities continue to seek safety measures for Mountain Valley Pipeline
Reuters: Canada regulator denies Trans Mountain variance due to pipeline integrity, environmental concerns
Guardian: Gas pipeline expansion could fuel Pacific north-west climate emergencies
Kemmerer Gazette: Williams seeks local pipeline expansion
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Associated Press: Supreme Court will hear challenge to EPA rule limiting downwind power plant pollution in 10 states
E&E News: Supreme Court takes up fight over EPA smog crackdown
E&E News: Tribes File First Climate Deception Lawsuits Against Oil Companies
Press release: 170 Scientists to Biden: Reject CP2 LNG Terminal and All New Fracked Gas Infrastructure
Associated Press: Oil companies offer $382M for drilling rights in Gulf of Mexico in last offshore sale before 2025
E&E News: Congressional Mandates Trumped NEPA Lawsuits In 2023
E&E News: Small Oil And Gas Companies Lack Policies To Cut CO2, Methane
Politico: The House Lawmakers Betting On Energy — In The Stock Market
The Hill: College Democrats blast Biden for climate ‘indifference’ after COP28
E&E News: House GOP Scrutinizes Biden Oil And Gas Royalty Audits
E&E News: Green groups close out a rough year
STATE UPDATES
Casper Star Tribune: Wyoming issues first carbon sequestration permits. National leaders take note
The Lens: Public outcry against carbon capture in Louisiana growing
Baytown Sun: Carbon Capture and Storage just may save the planet
Daily Montanan: Climate case plaintiffs tell Montana Supreme Court to deny state’s ask for pause on decision
Oregon Capital Chronicle: Court rules Oregon’s landmark climate change regulations invalid in case brought by gas utilities
Colorado Public Radio: How a utility company fought to keep two Colorado towns hooked on fossil fuels
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada strikes first deal to backstop carbon credit prices
Fairview Post: Energy Minister Brian Jean blasts industry reliance on transient workers, camps
GlobalNews.ca: Toxic chemicals from oil spills, wildfire smoke found in B.C. killer whales
Upstream: Equinor-led carbon capture project to yield ‘way lower’ returns than oil and gas, but plans could improve profits
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Chattanoogan: 4-H Robotics Club Awarded Grant From Enbridge Inc.
CTV: Enbridge donation boosts firefighting in Markstay
OPINION
Globe and Mail: Canada must stop treating its Big Oil as some sacred cow
PIPELINE NEWS
Truthout: Climate Campaigners Slam Fresh Federal Approvals for Mountain Valley Pipeline
Jessica Corbett, 12/20/23
“Frontline climate campaigners renewed pledges to continue fighting against the Mountain Valley Pipeline on Tuesday, when U.S. federal regulators decided that MVP could raise its gas transportation rates and have more time to build an extension,” Truthout reports. “The federal government claims to recognize the urgency of the climate crisis while allowing the fossil fuel industry to further it,” said Russell Chisholm, managing director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition, in response to the pair of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders. “During the past decade of repeated delay, budget increase, and environmental violation, thousands have resisted the reckless Mountain Valley Pipeline and its Southgate extension, and we are never going away,” he vowed. “Our resistance is the fossil fuel industry’s greatest nightmare; we are only growing more powerful.” “...The new FERC order allowing the rate hikes — which critics worry will be passed on to customers — notes that MVP now estimates construction will cost over $6.6 billion, rather than the earlier estimate of $3.7 billion. It also says that MVP, a joint venture involving five energy companies, “asserts that the primary drivers of the increased costs were permitting delays caused by ongoing legal challenges to the project, which have persisted since construction began in early 2018.” “...Jessica Sims, Appalachian Voices’ Virginia field coordinator, responded that “the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s delay and ballooned construction costs are owed to the company’s insufficient planning and choice of route, deficient permit applications, and lax construction practices. The resulting violations, fines, permit vacations, and consent orders are of the company’s own making and they should not have been granted permission to financially pass those mistakes on to consumers.” Along with the rate order, FERC Commissioners Mark Christie, Allison Clements, and Willie Phillips approved a three-year extension for MVP to complete the North Carolina project… “Appalachian Voices North Carolina program manager Ridge Graham called the move “appalling” while Jason Crazy Bear Keck, co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, said that “we are extremely disappointed but never surprised by the results of a system created for profit.”
WV Gazette Mail: Feds OK Mountain Valley Pipeline rate hikes for skyrocketing costs
Mike Tony, 12/21/23
“Federal regulators have granted relief for Mountain Valley Pipeline developers who have absorbed massive project cost increases stemming from delays rooted in the project’s long history of environmental issues,” the WV Gazette Mail reports. “The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday approved developers’ proposal to nearly double transportation rates paid by gas shippers for the planned 303.5-mile gas pipeline. The FERC rejected opponents’ arguments that the developers shouldn’t get to recoup cost overruns due to permitting delays they said developers brought on themselves through project mismanagement. “The Mountain Valley Pipeline’s delay and ballooned construction costs are owed to the company’s insufficient planning and choice of route, deficient permit applications and lax construction practices,” Jessica Sims, Virginia field coordinator for Appalachian Voices, told the Mail… “In September, Mountain Valley asked the FERC to approve rates designed using a cost of total first-year cost of service of nearly $1.3 billion — almost double its 2015 proposal of approximately $710 million for fixed costs.”
Appalachian Voices: Communities continue to seek safety measures for Mountain Valley Pipeline
Jessica Sims, 12/20/23
“Along the route of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, citizen monitors have watched a frenzy of workers hurriedly lower sun-bleached and degraded pipe into trenches, burying as much material as possible,” Appalachian Voices reports. “Although safety concerns led the agency tasked with pipe safety, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, to issue a consent agreement, the agreement has not brought peace of mind. The menacing speed at which pipe is meagerly spot-coated, lowered and buried is causing deep concern across the region. Unsafe materials can mean unsafe conditions should the project ever become operational. That basic hope that developers are acting safely, using best practices for processes and using the most effective materials available seems less and less likely. Sedimentation runoff into waterways continues, and citizen monitors work hard to document and report instances of runoff into creeks, dust plumes from construction sites and construction workers disobeying the established conditions of their permits. It is a reality that residents didn’t ask for and continue to oppose — and their dedication to keep their communities safe remains incredible. As Mountain Valley Pipeline attempts to hurriedly finish construction, significant safety concerns remain — and new ones have emerged… “MVP has submitted hundreds of variance requests: from changing crossing methods, to adding roads, to adjusting locations for bore sites. A variance submitted on Aug. 4 stood out for two reasons — the potential hazard it described, and the speed at which commissioners approved it… “This mad dash for variance requests has continued since August, with requests to use water from nearby streams, change construction impacts to wetlands from temporary to permanent and build new access roads, among the dozens of recent variances. This reinforces suspicions that the project was poorly planned and executed at each step.”
Reuters: Canada regulator denies Trans Mountain variance due to pipeline integrity, environmental concerns
Nia Williams, 12/20/23
“The Canada Energy Regulator said on Wednesday it denied a variance request from the Trans Mountain expansion project because the application did not adequately address concerns about pipeline integrity and environmental protection impacts,” Reuters reports. “Trans Mountain had asked to be allowed to install smaller-diameter pipe in a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) section of the oil pipeline's route after encountering "very challenging" drilling conditions due to the hardness of the rock in a mountainous area between Hope and Chilliwack in the province of British Columbia. In a statement outlining reasons for its decision, the CER said it had concerns about the quality of materials Trans Mountain planned to use, and that Trans Mountain did not demonstrate how it would conduct in-line inspections or adequately address potential environmental impacts… “Last week the Canadian government-owned corporation asked the regulator to reverse its variance decision on the grounds that it could cause a "catastrophic" two-year delay and billions of dollars in losses… “Asked what a two-year delay might mean for the federal government's plans to sell the pipeline once it is complete, Canada's deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, told reporters in Calgary the government was "absolutely committed" to getting the project done.”
Guardian: Gas pipeline expansion could fuel Pacific north-west climate emergencies
Hilary Beaumont, 12/19/23
“Construction could start before the new year on a gas pipeline expansion through the Pacific north-west that state officials say will undermine the region’s renewable transition and further fuel climate emergencies,” the Guardian reports. “... Lawmakers in Washington, Oregon and California have passed some of the country’s most stringent laws to move away from fossil fuels, but they say the federal commission that greenlit the project threatens to undermine that progress. “Our state, and the whole west coast, has numerous laws that will restrict the appetite for gas in the years to come,” Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, who signed a law in 2021 that set caps for the state’s largest emitters, told the Guardian. “And they essentially ignored that.” In October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) approved the expansion of GTN Xpress, a pipeline that carries gas from fracking fields in Western Canada through Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California… “Critics say upgrading compressor stations helps GTN Xpress bypass some regulations. In November, attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and California and environmental groups filed a joint petition asking Ferc withdraw its “deficient, unlawful order authorizing the GTN Xpress Project”, arguing that Ferc failed to critically assess the project’s climate impacts. They also said the plan did not account for state laws that would decrease gas demand. Ferc has until 22 December to respond. “Ferc is a completely captured agency that is failing to do its responsibility under the law,” Jeff Merkley, an Oregon senator, told the Guardian. “In their mind, ‘need’ simply means the fossil fuel companies want to do it, and so they rubber-stamp it.” “...Indigenous groups, including the Indigenous Environmental Network and the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, say the project contributes to a climate crisis that puts native species, like steelhead trout and salmon, at risk… “If Ferc denies the petition to stop the project, TC Energy can begin construction, although opponents will probably appeal through federal court. “We intend to enforce our laws,” Inslee told the Guardian. “If you do this construction, and we enforce them, you’ll have a stranded asset, you’ll have a bunch of compressors sitting there and a pipeline you can’t use but you made the ratepayers pay for it.”
Kemmerer Gazette: Williams seeks local pipeline expansion
Rana Jones, 12/19/23
“Natural gas company Williams Pipeline has applied for an expansion project that would increase capacity to Opal, a major regional natural gas hub in Wyoming, to meet growing regional and west coast demand,” the Kemmerer Gazette reports. “The MountainWest Overthrust pipeline project is an expansion of the existing pipeline system and will be regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure cooperation with other state, local and federal regulatory agencies, and community stakeholders… “The project consists of multiple pigging modifications, valve updates and an additional compressor unit added to the Point of Rocks and Rock Springs compressor stations along the MountainWest system. The company has determined approximately 518 total employees will work on the project, including both Williams employees and construction workers. According to Williams MountainWest, the estimated labor income is $30,846,877 and estimated state and local taxes will be $1,144,653.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Associated Press: Supreme Court will hear challenge to EPA rule limiting downwind power plant pollution in 10 states
MARK SHERMAN, 12/20/23
“The Supreme Court will hear arguments in February on whether the Environmental Protection Agency can continue enforcing its anti-air-pollution “good neighbor” rule in 10 states, an effort to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution,” the Associated Press reports. “The high court put off a decision on whether to halt enforcement of the rule Wednesday, allowing it to stay in effect at least until after it hears arguments during its February session. The rule is being challenged by three energy-producing states — Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia — as well as industry groups and individual businesses. The EPA declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions to the Justice Department. The Justice Department also declined to comment… “States that contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog, are required to submit plans ensuring that coal-fired power plants and other industrial sites don’t add significantly to air pollution in other states. In cases where a state has not submitted a “good neighbor” plan — or where EPA disapproves a state plan — the federal plan was supposed to ensure that downwind states are protected… “Industry groups criticized the plan as having an anti-coal bias that would drive up the cost of electricity.”
E&E News: Supreme Court takes up fight over EPA smog crackdown
Pamela King, Sean Reilly, 12/20/23
“The Supreme Court will soon consider a case that has the potential to deal a massive blow to the Biden administration’s goals of cleaning the air and weaning power plants off of coal,” E&E News reports. “In a short order issued Wednesday, the justices responded to requests by power companies, natural gas pipelines and Republican-led states to immediately block EPA’s latest “good neighbor” rule by scheduling an hour of oral argument on the matter during its February sitting. The Supreme Court’s decision to proceed with oral arguments, as opposed to summarily rejecting the stay applications, is a setback for EPA, which had previously warned that a freeze on implementation would harm people live in downwind states… “In their bids for emergency relief from the Biden administration’s March rule, industry groups and red states told the Supreme court that EPA’s requirements were too difficult to achieve and could threaten power supply… “Environmental lawyers told E&E the fact that the industry and state requests have been pending for months indicates that there is no emergency for the Supreme Court to resolve.”
E&E News: Tribes File First Climate Deception Lawsuits Against Oil Companies
Lexley Clark, 12/21/23
“Native American tribes are joining the sprawling legal battle over oil companies’ responsibility to help pay for climate impacts,” E&E News reports. “The Makah Indian Tribe and the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe each filed lawsuits Wednesday in Washington state’s King County Superior Court against Exxon Mobil, Shell and others, becoming the first tribal governments to sue the oil industry for deceiving the public about the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions. If successful, climate liability lawsuits like the ones filed by the tribes could force oil companies to pay local governments billions of dollars to address wildfires, flooding and other effects of a warming planet. “We are seeing the effects of the climate crisis on our people, our land, and our resources,” said Makah Tribal Council Chair Timothy Greene. “The costs and consequences to us are overwhelming.” The lawsuits accuse the oil industry of ‘deceptive and unfair conduct’ and ask that companies ‘pay for the damage their deceptive conduct has caused and will cause for decades to come.’ The complaints come as climate litigation on the West Coast intensifies, with California in September becoming the largest state in the country to file a climate lawsuit. Oregon’s Multnomah County joined the fray in June.”
Press release: 170 Scientists to Biden: Reject CP2 LNG Terminal and All New Fracked Gas Infrastructure
12/19/23
“Just days after the close of the COP28 climate summit, 170 scientists sent a letter to the Biden administration today urging it to reject the proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility in Louisiana. The letter cited the enormous impact the proposal would have on global climate pollution – about 20 times that of the recently-approved Willow oil drilling project in Alaska. Original signers of the letter include noted climate and environmental scientists Rose Abramoff, Robert Howarth, Mark Jacobson, Peter Kalmus, Michael Mann, Sandra Steingraber, Farhana Sultana and Aradhna Tripati. The letter points out that the project is part of broader LNG buildout that will have enormously negative consequences: “Taken together, if all U.S. projects in the permitting pipeline are approved, they could lead to 3.9 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, which is larger than the entire annual emissions of the European Union… We implore you to turn back from this course, reject CP2 and other fossil fuel export projects, and put us on a rapid and just trajectory off fossil fuels.“ The scientists’ letter comes on the heels of one sent last week signed by more than 230 climate, environmental justice, public health, faith and community organizations, also urging Biden to reject CP2. It highlights a forthcoming study by Cornell University climate scientist Robert Howarth that shows, even in the best-case scenarios, LNG is at least 24 percent worse for the climate than coal. Venture Global is seeking approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to construct CP2 LNG. The export terminal would facilitate the largest volume of LNG ever approved for export. At full volume, the lifecycle emissions of burning that much gas will add up to 190 million tonnes of CO2e each year – equivalent to the emissions from more than 42 million gas-powered cars or 51 coal-fired power plants.”
Associated Press: Oil companies offer $382M for drilling rights in Gulf of Mexico in last offshore sale before 2025
MATTHEW BROWN AND MATTHEW DALY, 12/20/23
“Oil companies offered $382 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday after courts rejected the Biden administration’s plans to scale back the sale to protect an endangered whale species,” the Associated Press reports. “The auction was the last of several offshore oil and gas lease sales mandated under the 2022 climate law. It comes as President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration tries to navigate between energy companies seeking greater oil and gas production and environmental activists who want to stop new drilling to help combat climate change… “The dollar amount of the successful bids marked a sharp increase from the previous sale in March 2023, when the Interior Department awarded leases covering about 2,500 square miles (6,500 square kilometers) for $250 million… “Wednesday’s online auction was originally scheduled for September but got delayed by a court battle after the administration reduced the area available for leases from 73 million acres (30 million hectares) to 67 million acres (27 million hectares) as part of a plan to protect the endangered Rice’s whale… “A federal judge in southwest Louisiana ordered the sale to go on without the whale protections, which also included regulations governing vessel speed and personnel. Environmental groups appealed, but the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last month rejected their arguments against the sale and threw out the plans to scale it back… “Environmental groups criticized the five-year plan as a “missed opportunity” to stop the expansion of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and address climate change. “New oil and gas operations (in the Gulf) will only bring more health risks to Gulf Coast communities and slow our transition to a clean-energy economy,’' Earthjustice attorney Brettny Hardy told AP.
E&E News: Congressional Mandates Trumped NEPA Lawsuits In 2023
Niina H. Farah, 12/2123
“From Alaska to the Gulf Coast, the oil and gas industry and its allies scored key victories in legal battles this year to advance fossil fuel development over green groups’ claims that project approvals violated a bedrock environmental law,” E&E News reports. “Environmentalists asked courts to strike down fiercely contested offshore lease sales and a controversial gas pipeline — even after Congress passed bills requiring the projects to go forward — because, challengers alleged, federal regulators had failed to take a ‘hard look’ at their environmental impact, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. Judges were unconvinced that the groups’ NEPA claims could override congressional action. When Congress passes laws — such as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act or 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act — that direct the government to conduct a lease sale or greenlight a pipeline, NEPA lawsuits don’t stand a chance, Keith Hall, director of Louisiana State University’s Energy Law Center, told E&E. “I think that gets rid of NEPA.”
E&E News: Small Oil And Gas Companies Lack Policies To Cut CO2, Methane
Shelby Webb, 12/21/23
“Many small U.S. oil and gas producers have no plans to reduce planet-warming emissions or invest in renewables, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas,” E&E News reports. “Only 18 percent of the small exploration and production firms polled for the quarterly Energy Survey said they had plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. About 34 percent planned to reduce methane emissions, 27 percent aimed to reduce flaring and 4 percent said they would invest in renewables. That was in stark contrast to large oil and gas firms, most of which said they had plans to reduce CO2 emissions, methane emissions and flaring (or burning off natural gas). Such firms were defined as those that produce 10,000 or more barrels of crude a day, The survey — which polled 114 energy firms based in Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana — found other key differences among large and small producers, Kunal Patel, a senior business economist with the Dallas Fed, told E&E”
Politico: The House Lawmakers Betting On Energy — In The Stock Market
Ben Lefebvre, 12/21/23
“For example, four committee Republicans, including Chair Bruce Westerman, own shares in Chevron, one of the largest oil companies in the United States,” Politico reports. “Chevron would benefit directly from a bill sponsored by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) called the Restoring American Energy Dominance Act. That bill would block the Biden administration’s plan to raise the fees and royalty rates companies pay to extract fossil fuels from federal land. Boebert, whose only financial holding is a BlackRock fund with relatively few energy companies, said the bill was needed “to counter the Biden administration’s efforts to destroy the oil and gas industry.” Westerman, an Arkansas Republican who as committee chair decides which bills will get hearings and ultimately receive votes to advance to the House floor, called Boebert’s bill “an essential tool bill that will prevent unelected bureaucrats from leaving America dependent on foreign adversaries to meet our energy needs.” He also owns between $15,000 and $50,000 of iShares TR Global Energy, a BlackRock fund that consists almost entirely of fossil fuel company stocks, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron, according to his latest financial disclosure forms. Those two oil companies are among the largest holders of oil leases on federal lands, according to an analysis by government watchdog group Accountable.US.”
The Hill: College Democrats blast Biden for climate ‘indifference’ after COP28
FILIP TIMOTIJA, 12/20/23
“College Democrats demanded the Biden administration end the Willow Project, cut oil drilling on federal lands and zero in more on tackling climate change, blasting the president’s “indifference” toward climate change in the wake of the COP28 conference,” The Hill reports. “The college outreach arm of the Democratic National Committee urged the administration to deliver on its climate promises and demanded Congress pass pro-environmental legislation in a letter to President Biden shared with The Hill on Wednesday. “With every waking moment of indifference in regards to the issue of climate change, we sink progressively deeper into a global environmental crisis,” the group wrote. “Its impacts, ranging from rising sea levels, unprecedented climate shifts, increased frequency of natural disasters, and worsening of air and water quality, have placed the planet that young people are destined to inherent in jeopardy.”
E&E News: House GOP Scrutinizes Biden Oil And Gas Royalty Audits
Nidhi Prakash, 12/20/23
“House Republicans are investigating how the Biden administration calculates and enforces oil and gas royalties, citing ‘a potential lack of internal controls.’” E&E News reports. “House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chair Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) requested the information in a letter to the director of Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue on Wednesday. The lawmakers laid out several concerns, including allegations the office has “repeatedly refused to accept overpayments that were identified during audits,” and has not refunded companies that have overpaid. The Republicans said they have reports of inconsistencies between audits, and that guidance for companies and interpretation of current regulations are not clear. “The Committee is concerned that the purported conduct may encourage conflicts of interest and uncertainty in the calculation of federal royalties,’ said the letter.”
E&E News: Green groups close out a rough year
Robin Bravender, 12/20/23
“It was supposed to be a great year for environmental groups,” E&E News reports. “After years of failing to clinch big climate change legislation, environmental groups were elated when President Joe Biden signed a massive new climate law in 2022, marking a huge win for their movement. But 2023 was a rough one for some of the biggest national environmental organizations that helped push that climate legislation across the finish line. Layoffs, budget woes, and clashes between management and unions took a toll on morale. Donations that had poured in during the Trump administration dried up after the climate-friendly Biden team entered the White House and plowed ahead on an ambitious agenda to slash emissions. And green groups that had structured themselves around getting a climate law scrambled to reconfigure after its passage. Instead of taking a victory lap, the environmental movement was left reeling. Groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife laid off employees this year as they announced restructuring. The Environmental Defense Fund offered buyouts and warned staff that layoffs could be coming. Those groups all cited budget woes. “I think this was really a moment of shifts in strategy,” Christy Goldfuss, NRDC’s executive director, told E&E. For years, environmental groups organized around getting “the huge federal policy win,” she told E&E. Following the enactment of the climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, “the fight is far more about getting dollars on the ground into communities, getting things built — which has not been traditionally where the environmental movement has been focused, and it’s just a different skill set to match these economic development principles with climate policy.” So it’s natural, Goldfuss told E&E, “that there’s going to be a resetting of priorities and resetting of strategy.” “...Another theme across big green groups this year: continuing fights between management and employee unions.”
STATE UPDATES
Casper Star Tribune: Wyoming issues first carbon sequestration permits. National leaders take note
Zakary Sonntag, 12/19/23
“Wyoming last week issued its first permits for the permanent underground storage of CO2, a mile marker in a wider climate agenda that places the state at the forefront of an industry practice considered vital to the national energy strategy,” the Casper Star Tribune reports. “... Wyoming is one of only two states awarded “primacy” for Class VI well regulation, a status that gives the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) authority to administer the CO2 storage permits. “First steps are important, but these first permits did not come without a lot of preparatory work by both DEQ and Frontier Carbon Solutions,” Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement… “The concern was addressed in Washington last month before the Senate Natural Resources Committee, where industry experts and administrators testified about causes and possible solutions to what has become a backlog of 169 pending permits for Class VI wells, a tenfold increase from just three years earlier… “Frontier Carbon Solutions’ three permits took 10 months to go through the review process. Compared to the federal EPA process, this is a relatively short time,” Wyoming’s Lily Barkau, who was recently tapped to serve on the White House CCSU Task Force, told the Tribune… “A huge component of the infrastructure challenge is CO2 pipelines able to carry carbon to safe storage destinations… “Barkau explained that there is currently no federal legal definition for pore space. Nor does it offer clarifications of pore space ownership in situations with split estates, as happens when surface rights and mineral rights are held by separate entities… “Next steps In Wyoming: Frontier Carbon Solutions in the coming months will begin construction, drilling, and testing of the injection wells to clearly identify and define the underground storage area. Afterward a unitization order for the pore space must be issued by the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Once granted, captured carbon can then be injected.”
The Lens: Public outcry against carbon capture in Louisiana growing
Terry L. Jones, 12/21/23
“Communities of people across south Louisiana say that they want to protect themselves from what they consider to be a risky and possibly dangerous prospect of having tons of carbon dioxide injected underground to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions,” The Lens reports. “A state legislative task force is now exploring the impacts this could have in Louisiana. But those living in lower income or majority-minority communities worry that voices from neighborhoods that are whiter and galvanize more quickly will have a greater say in where these projects go — or if they will be built… “One of the nation’s potential hotspots for CCS, Louisiana has at least 20 underground carbon dioxide storage projects in the planning or development stages, most concentrated in the southeastern part of the state. In addition, a sprawling network of pipeline expansions to carry the gas is planned, much of it to be funded through provisions and tax credits in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that have ignited the CCS industry. But the lack of minority voices so far in the process has Jade Woods, a representative from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for International Environmental Law, worried that state leaders won’t realize how widespread opposition to CCS is in Louisiana. “The problem we’re seeing is that some communities have more power than others; that goes back to access to land, resources and education,” Woods told The Lens. “There are folks on the ground who are doing a lot of work, even if they aren’t able to show up in strong force to some of these task force meetings. I want to make sure that doesn’t get lost.” “...Sharon Lavigne, a leader of Rise St. James, a grassroots environmental advocacy group in her predominantly Black community, told the Lens her neighbors are mostly unaware of how carbon capture and sequestration works. “Lots of people don’t understand it,” she told The Lens. “They think it’s a good thing because they don’t know the health effects of it.”
Baytown Sun: Carbon Capture and Storage just may save the planet
Carol Skewes, 12/20/23
“Members of the Houston CCS Alliance spoke to the Rotary Club of Baytown recently about carbon capture and storage, how it works, and why it is vital. The group emphasized how Carbon Capture and Storage is safe and proven,” the Baytown Sun reports. “...Ramanan Krishnamoorti, PhD, of the Division of Energy and Innovation at University of Houston, gave an enlightening explanation which put CCS in simplistic terms. “How do we make sure we have affordable, reliable and sustainable energy? We look at CCS as a collaborative partnership.” “...If you capture it and use it for enhance oil recovery, it is $60 per ton. You can make money. “It does good for all of us. There is an enormous economic opportunity… “It’s an incredible economic opportunity to help the world become a cleaner place, but also provide that global, technical leadership in an area that is going to continue to grow globally… “Paul Guilfoyle, ExxonMobil Venture Executive, spoke on how the Baytown Blue Hydrogen Project ties into CCS: “...ExxonMobil just purchased Denbury, an oil and gas company. They do CCS. They have a pipeline from Friendswood to the eastern part of Mississippi, Denbury Gulf Coast Pipelines… “We will be providing these services for ourselves, and also for industry.” “...Currently, members of the Houston CCS Alliance include: Air Liquide, BASF, CALPINE, Channelview Cogeneration, Chevron, DOW, ExxonMobil, INEOS, Linde, Shell, lyondelbasell, Marathon and Phillips 66. Other partners include: the Greater Houston partnership, Texas Association of Business, Texas 2036, East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA), Houston Wilderness, Texas Chemical Council, Baytown Chamber of Commerce, Texas Oil and Gas Association, Texas Association of Manufacturers, Houston Port Region Economic Alliance, City of Houston, Chambers County, Harris County, Jefferson County and the University of Houston.”
Daily Montanan: Climate case plaintiffs tell Montana Supreme Court to deny state’s ask for pause on decision
BLAIR MILLER, 12/18/23
“Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs in the Held v. Montana climate change case told the Montana Supreme Court it should deny the Department of Justice’s request to pause the district court’s decision in part because they say the state attorneys did not follow proper legal procedure in filing the request,” the Daily Montanan reports. “The attorneys for the 16 plaintiffs also argue that the case record already shows Montana to be in violation of its state constitution by not accounting for greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts when issuing permits under the Montana Environmental Policy Act… “But on Dec. 1, the state filed a similar request with the state Supreme Court, asking the justices to pause Seeley’s August decision while they appeal the case… “But in Friday’s response to the defendants’ latest request for a pause, the plaintiffs’ attorneys not only outline the reasons they believe the defendants are wrong, they tell the Supreme Court that the state’s request was not filed in accordance with Montana court rules of appellate procedure… “Further, they say the defendants’ argument – that Seeley’s order with respect to the provision of the state constitution that provides for “a clean and healthful environment” presents new and unsettled legal questions which should be grounds for a stay – do not meet the standard for the Supreme Court to pause Seeley’s order… “Four days after filing the request for a pause on Seeley’s decision with the court, the defendants’ attorneys also asked for an extension of time to file their full appeal. That was granted, and the appeal is due by Feb. 13, which will be six months after Seeley issued her order on Aug. 14 and four months after the defendants filed their notice of appeal.”
Oregon Capital Chronicle: Court rules Oregon’s landmark climate change regulations invalid in case brought by gas utilities
ALEX BAUMHARDT, 12/20/23
“Oregon’s second highest court ruled in favor of natural gas utilities seeking to invalidate the state’s landmark climate program,” the Oregon Capital Chronicle reports. “The state’s Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the three-year-old Climate Protection Program is invalid on a technicality. Judges James Egan and Jacqueline Kamins said that the state’s Environmental Quality Commission did not fully comply with disclosure requirements in 2021 when it voted to create emissions rules that exceed federal rules and affect entities holding industrial air pollution permits under the federal Clean Air Act… “Lauren Wirtis, communications officer for the environmental quality department told the Chronicle officials will continue to work with counsel at the Oregon Department of Justice on how to move move forward. “We consider this an administrative ruling,” Wirtis told the Chronicle. “It doesn’t deter us from ensuring this plan is fully implemented.” She told the Chronicle among the possible options the agency and the justice department are considering are to appeal the case to the Oregon Supreme Court or potentially go through an administrative process to address the procedural problem… “It requires fossil gas companies operating in the state to gradually reduce their emissions, getting to 50% reduction by 2035 and 90% by 2050. At least 26% of the reductions will have to come from the natural gas utilities… “Lawyers for the state’s natural gas utilities – NW Natural, Avista Corporation and Cascade Natural Gas Corporation – challenged the Environmental Quality Commission and the Department of Environmental Quality over the 2021 rules.“
Colorado Public Radio: How a utility company fought to keep two Colorado towns hooked on fossil fuels
Sam Brasch, 12/21/23
“Once a sleepy coal mining town, Crested Butte, Colo., has transformed itself into a year-round tourism magnet,” Colorado Public Radio reports. “...Now, Mayor Ian Billick fears that's all under threat — from climate change. A biologist, Billick leads the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, an alpine field research station located nearby… “After a decisive victory in 2021, he led a push to cut the town's largest source of climate-warming pollution: buildings. To address the problem, he proposed banning natural gas in new homes and businesses — one strategy experts say could reduce emissions and help the U.S. meet its climate goals… “But the push put Billick on a collision course with Atmos Energy, the town's natural gas provider and the largest gas-only utility in the country. In public hearings and private meetings, the Dallas-based company argued the city's plan would restrict consumer choice and further increase the community's high cost of living. The utility further claimed that the newest generation of heat pumps — an efficient source of electric heating and cooling — couldn't handle the harsh mountain climate's cold temperatures and high elevation. Researchers and installers say that's not true. Across the country, local gas companies and their powerful trade association have fought similar all-electric building standards — and won. Those efforts have alarmed environmental advocates and utility watchdogs, who worry utilities are using customer dollars to block one of the best strategies to limit climate pollution from buildings, which are responsible for about 13% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Gas utilities see natural gas bans as a threat to their business, David Pomerantz, the executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a climate advocacy and utility watchdog group, told CPR. "They are scared about building electrification, and they are lobbying aggressively.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada strikes first deal to backstop carbon credit prices
Nia Williams, 12/20/23
“Canada on Wednesday signed its first deal to backstop future carbon prices, a step that would help bring price certainty to firms looking to invest in carbon capture and storage projects that are key to cutting emissions,” Reuters reports. “The Canada Growth Fund (CGF), a federal clean-tech financing agency, would invest C$200 million ($150 million) in carbon capture and storage developer Entropy Inc, a unit of oil and gas producer Advantage Energy (AAV.TO), the fund said in a statement. Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and carbon capture and storage projects are seen as vital to cutting emissions from Alberta's highly-polluting oil sands without slashing production… “The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has offered massive incentives to clean tech companies, leaving Canada behind in attracting investments in new, low-carbon technologies. Canada set up the C$15 billion CGF last year to help attract private investment in clean tech by mitigating financing risks.”
Fairview Post: Energy Minister Brian Jean blasts industry reliance on transient workers, camps
Vincent McDermott, 12/20/23
“Alberta Energy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean says oil companies rely too much on transient workers, and the work camps housing this mobile labour force hurts nearby communities,” the Fairview Post reports. “The topic is common in the local politics of Fort McMurray, which Jean represents in the legislature. But Jean says using commuter workers hurts cities and towns across Alberta, regardless of the industry. When workers are housed temporarily in work camps instead of settling locally, Jean told the Post Alberta and municipalities lose billions of dollars in tax revenue, housing and retail opportunities. “I’m so proud of our industry and so ashamed of the major players. Their efforts towards community building is shameful,” Jean told the Post. “...The impacts work camps were having on Lac La Biche were a top complaint Jean heard at a recent open house… “We’ve heard from plenty of sources that the camps are just not good environments. It’s not good for divorces, it’s not good for crime or civil problems,” he told the Post.
GlobalNews.ca: Toxic chemicals from oil spills, wildfire smoke found in B.C. killer whales
Elizabeth McSheffrey, 12/19/23
“Toxic chemicals from oil spills and wildfire smoke have been detected in 12 killer whales off the B.C. coast — the first time such hydrocarbons have been studied in orcas in the province,” GlobalNews.ca reports. “The dangerous substances were found in the muscle and liver samples of six Bigg’s killer whales and six southern resident killer whales, its endangered cousin. The research published in Scientific Reports also detected the transfer of the chemicals from mother to fetus in the womb. Study co-author Juan José Alava, principal investigator of the Ocean Pollution Research Unit at the University of British Columbia, called the whales the “canaries in the coal mine.” “They are telling us that our waters, our marine environment is contaminated by oil emissions and also fossil fuels — some of them coming from wildfires. That’s a reality,” he told Global News… “In the Bigg’s killer whales, researchers detected hydrocarbons that were mostly linked to forest fires and burning coal and vegetation, while in the southern residents, they found mostly those linked to oil spills and burning fossil fuels, like gasoline. It could be due to their different habitats, with the southern residents swimming in more polluted urban waters around the Salish Sea, they said… “He told GlobalNews the findings are especially critical as the southern resident killer whale population hovers around just 74 animals.”
Upstream: Equinor-led carbon capture project to yield ‘way lower’ returns than oil and gas, but plans could improve profits
Zsuzsanna Szabo, 12/21/23
“Norway’s cross-border Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project and the wider CCS sector are expecting “way lower” returns than they would receive from oil and gas sales, but Equinor is working on ways to take down the costs, Grete Tveit, the company’s senior vice president for low-carbon solutions, told Upstream. Northern Lights will be a world first in offering commercialised, full-chain carbon dioxide removal from international industry.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Chattanoogan: 4-H Robotics Club Awarded Grant From Enbridge Inc.
12/20/23
“The 4-H Gear Grinders, a 4-H robotics club that meets at the UT-TSU Extension Hamilton County office, was recently awarded a grant by Enbridge Inc. as part of its Enbridge Fueling Futures program,” the Chattanoogan reports. “The grant of $2,500 will be used to pay for robotics parts, supplies and equipment for the club as it participates in the FIRST Technical Challenge (FTC) robotics competition this school year… “According to the Enbridge website (www.Enbridge.com), the Enbridge Fueling Futures program is an example of the company’s corporate citizenship and commitment to “fueling quality of life within communities where we work and operate in North America.” Two things that the Fueling Futures program focuses on are empowering people to achieve their full potential and building potential in youth.”
CTV: Enbridge donation boosts firefighting in Markstay
Alana Everson, 12/20/23
“Gas company Enbridge made a donation to the Markstay Warren Fire Department on Tuesday to help pay for critical educational materials to help with training,” CTV reports. “...In total, Enbridge is donating $250,000 to 50 Ontario fire departments to purchase training materials. “One of our core values at Enbridge is safety and we take it very seriously so anything we can do to support local communities in enhancing safety,” said Matt Watson of Enbridge.”
OPINION
Globe and Mail: Canada must stop treating its Big Oil as some sacred cow
Mark Zacharias is the executive director of Clean Energy Canada, a program of the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University, 12/20/23
“COP28, the world’s foremost climate conference, is known for spawning tension and frustration, but this recent one seemed especially fraught,” Mark Zacharias writes for the Globe and Mail. “...The final wording of the COP28 agreement – which required consensus among all nations and the chair – codified a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems… “This outcome also presents a dilemma for Canada, which, while positioning itself as a climate leader, also happens to be the world’s fourth largest oil producer and fifth largest gas producer… “So how does a fossil-fuel producing nation square the circle with its climate ambitions and knowledge that fossil-fuel demand will drop in the coming decades, if not earlier? For Canada to be competitive in the future global economy, it must invest in industries that will be growing in the coming years, which it has been and is set to continue doing… “But for this country to truly be competitive, it also means that Canada must ensure that pollution from existing fossil-fuel production declines to both hit the country’s emissions targets and access markets increasingly concerned with carbon intensity… “The reality is that relying solely on carbon capture technology to cut oil and gas emissions will be enormously expensive and is still unproven at the scale required. It’s hardly an effective use of the public bank account when Canada’s critical minerals, automotive manufacturing and clean energy (to name a few) are poised for growth. Indeed, the evident prioritization of the CCUS tax credit both in terms of timing and generosity over its investment tax credits in cleantech and clean electricity raises some questions – especially when it should be the other way around. Canada has long had a cultural fixation on its fossil-fuel industry that has elevated it beyond its actual contributions to the economy, fanned in part by a series of Albertan premiers… “The world has agreed to transition away from fossil fuels, and evidence suggests the shift is already well underway. It’s time Canada faced this reality.”