EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 12/22/23
(Note to Readers: The next edition of “Extracted” will be published on January 4, 2024.)
PIPELINE NEWS
North Dakota Monitor: Counties argue for local pipeline control; Summit seeks state preemption
KFYR: Summit Carbon Solutions challenging county pipeline ordinances
South Dakota Searchlight: CO2 pipeline debate has resulted in divisions among ethanol proponents
Politifact: Vivek Ramaswamy says Iowa can’t use eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines. That remains to be seen.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Solution to prevent erosion along Line 5 still awaiting approval from Bad River Band
Public News Service: Line 5 moves forward, despite wildlife advocates' calls for shutdown
Associated Press: North Dakota lawsuit over DAPL costs proceeds to trial; federal judge won't dismiss case
The Journal: ‘A legacy spill’: Oil pipeline ruptures on rural Shiprock grazing land
Pullman Radio: WA State Regulators Want Local Farmer Charged With Misdemeanor In Pipeline Rupture Case
Herald-Star: Jefferson County commissioners green light pipeline deal
Food & Water Watch: On the Ground in the Fight Against Carbon Pipeline Scams in Iowa
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Carbon Herald: Carbon Capture Coalition Urges Congress To Adjust 45Q
E&E News: EPA plans first California CO2 storage permits
E&E News: Want To Talk Rules? The White House Just Made It Easier
Common Dreams: Gulf Drilling Leases Decried As Another Biden Climate Failure
STATE UPDATES
Seattle Times: Two PNW tribal nations sue oil companies over costs of climate change
The Advocate: What's next for carbon capture sequestration in Livingston Parish?
Press release: Overseas Shipholding Group Awarded Federal Grant to Develop Captured Carbon Terminal at Port Tampa Bay
CalMatters: In 2024, who will California voters believe more: Oil companies or Jane Fonda?
EXTRACTION
The Tyee: Dump All Your Carbon Emissions in Alberta, Pitches Smith
iHeartRadio: Teck Carbon Capture Pilot Plant Launched in Trail
Guardian: Cash and luxury travel: how US utilities keep fossil fuels in new homes
CLIMATE FINANCE
WIRED: Your Money Is Funding Fossil Fuels Without You Knowing It
Bloomberg: New York Urges Banks to Beef Up Reviews of Climate Change Risk
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: Adventure Awaits Wyoming Youth in Outdoor Classroom
Woodstock Sentinel-Review: Enbridge donation provides EZT fire department with training materials
The Intelligencer: Enbridge teams up with Quinte West Fire for Safe Community Project Zero
OPINION
Houston Chronicle: Carbon capture lets Big Oil off the hook. We’re footing the bill.
Midland Reporter-Telegram: EPA Methane Rule Is Step In Right Direction
PIPELINE NEWS
North Dakota Monitor: Counties argue for local pipeline control; Summit seeks state preemption
JEFF BEACH, 12/21/23
“Attorneys for Burleigh and Emmons counties in North Dakota argued that their local hazardous liquid pipeline ordinances are reasonable protections for residents and still allow pipeline development,” North Dakota Monitor reports. “...After a nearly two-hour hearing, the three-person commission did not vote and it is not clear when it might issue a ruling… “Steve Leibel, an attorney for landowners, argued that the preemption issue is different for two parts of the pipeline approval process. He argued state law favors local ordinances in obtaining a certificate for the route, but that state law trumps local regulations when it comes to the permit to actually build the pipeline… “Lawyers arguing in favor of local control and Summit’s attorney both cited the same letter to support their arguments. The letter was from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the federal agency that regulates pipelines, to Summit CEO Lee Blank. Burleigh County State’s Attorney Julie Lawyer argued the letter shows that PHMSA authority “is for the safety and construction of the pipeline. They don’t deal with zoning regulations. They don’t deal with setbacks – that’s left up to the individual local authorities.” Bismarck landowner attorney Randy Bakke followed up on comments by attorney Derrick Braaten, attorney for Emmons County. “That’s saying that they recognize that local governments exercise that jurisdiction, and that’s precisely what Emmons County did here,” Bakke said… “The hearing in Bismarck drew a standing-room-only crowd, including attendance from Continental Resources Executive Chairman Harold Hamm and North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness.”
KFYR: Summit Carbon Solutions challenging county pipeline ordinances
Bella Kraft, 12/21/23
“Summit Carbon Solutions is challenging two North Dakota counties that passed laws about pipeline setup requirements that differ from state law,” KFYR reports. “...Summit said the increased setback lines in the new ordinances are too restrictive and create an unreasonable burden because there is less land to run the pipeline on… “Burleigh County attorneys and the landowners said the ordinances are not directed at Summit but rather at all hazardous liquid pipelines. They also said the North Dakota Century Code gives counties the power to regulate properties. “With that zoning ordinance that was passed in Burleigh County, there are multiple townships where that zoning ordinance does not apply, they would have to adopt their own. So there is still a pathway through Burleigh County outside of the Burleigh County zoning ordinance where Summit could reroute their pipeline,” said Burleigh County State’s Attorney Julie Lawyer.”
South Dakota Searchlight: CO2 pipeline debate has resulted in divisions among ethanol proponents
JOSHUA HAIAR, 12/21/23
“A carbon pipeline project aimed at reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions from the Midwest ethanol industry is irritating some within that very industry,” South Dakota Searchlight reports. Summit Carbon Solutions aims to transport carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to an underground storage site in North Dakota. Its CEO, Lee Blank, recently emphasized the importance of the pipeline for the ethanol industry in an interview with South Dakota Searchlight… “Company spokesperson Sabrina Zenor said not having the pipeline would break the Midwest ethanol industry. Some opponents are anti-ethanol, she told Searchlight… “Meanwhile, some corn farmers who have long supported the ethanol industry were alarmed by Summit’s use of eminent domain to acquire private land for the pipeline, against the will of about 160 South Dakota landowners. That happened before the pipeline project’s permit hearing with state regulators. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke said members feel betrayed. They supported the growth of the ethanol industry, only to face what they perceived as an infringement on their property rights. “You, the farmers, made this industry,” Sombke said during a panel discussion on property rights at the organization’s 108th annual convention in Huron in November. Sombke is furious over Summit’s allegation that pipeline opponents are anti-ethanol. “There is nobody in this state that’s worked harder for ethanol than me or this organization,” he told Searchlight. “You should all be damn proud of that.” “...Ed Fischbach farms corn in Spink County and sells it to the ethanol industry. Today he leads South Dakotans First, a coalition of landowners and others opposed to the pipeline. “Never in my wildest dreams, with all we’ve done for ethanol and these companies, did I think they were going to come back and ask me to give up my land, and you to give up your land so that they could improve their bottom line,” Fischbach said at the Farmer’s Union Convention… “Protect South Dakota’s Future wasn’t the only group of politically connected proponents to recently join the conversation. South Dakota Ag Alliance, co-founded by Rob Skjonsberg and Jason Glodt, prominent political figures in the state, will advocate for policies to complete the pipeline while trying to ensure opponent landowners do not feel cheated. Meanwhile, some D.C. ethanol lobbyists are irritated by Summit’s claim that the industry faces a bleak future without its carbon-capture project. “The ethanol industry isn’t going anywhere,” David Hallberg, an ethanol lobbyist and founder of the Renewable Fuels Association, told Searchlight. “They should stop saying that.”
Politifact: Vivek Ramaswamy says Iowa can’t use eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines. That remains to be seen.
Louis Jacobson, Samantha Putterman, 12/21/23
“In campaign stops, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been railing against the government using eminent domain to build carbon capture pipelines on private land. Ramaswamy incorporated the topic into his stump speech in Iowa, an agricultural state and the first to vote in the primary season, and at the fourth Republican presidential debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama,” Politifact reports. “...However, CO2 pipelines are a relatively new type of infrastructure, and using eminent domain to build them hasn’t been widely tested in U.S. courts. In Iowa, CO2 pipeline projects have sparked legislative fights and legal battles. Given the legal uncertainties, we won’t offer a Truth-O-Meter rating on Ramaswamy’s remark… "Is this a public use? No, it is not. These are private companies being showered, billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money upon them. Those are companies, not the state," Ramaswamy said in the speech. He added that he thought the Summit Carbon Solutions multistate project was neither convenient nor necessary… “Constitutional and environmental law experts expressed doubt that using eminent domain to build a carbon dioxide pipeline is clearly unconstitutional… "These are arguments being made in Iowa and in other states," Alexandra Klass, a University of Michigan law professor, told Politifact. "But the courts haven't yet decided the issue, so it's not a foregone conclusion that courts would accept such an argument." “...Some landowners and environmentalists have resisted CO2 pipeline projects, wary of leaks and water contamination. In 2020, a CO2 pipeline ruptured in Mississippi, sickening dozens of residents… “Eminent domain attorneys, such as Justin Hodge, a Texas lawyer who represents landowners, told Politifact that although pipelines might be needed infrastructure, they often come at landowners’ expense. Landowners are terrified and have to deal with "very sophisticated companies with legal teams," Hodge told Politifact. "Most just sign the paperwork, which is a terrible thing."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Solution to prevent erosion along Line 5 still awaiting approval from Bad River Band
Laura Schulte, 12/21/23
“The erosion along the a pipeline near the Bad River in northern Wisconsin still hasn't been fixed, but parties are working towards a solution as the state prepares to plunge into winter,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. “Enbridge, a Canadian oil company, proposed to place tree trunks along the bank of the Bad River in order to prevent more soil from washing away from the shore and the pipeline it supports. The company is still waiting for key approvals from the Bad River Band, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers… “In order to place the solution, approval needs to be granted by the Bad River Band, because this portion of Line 5 runs through the reservation. That approval is vital, and without it, the project can't move forward… "This a very, very sensitive issue in terms of tribal diplomacy and their authority and their perspectives on this," DNR’s Pils told the Sentinel. "Ultimately, they would be the ones who would be impacted the most and first by any such event." So far, proposals by the company to place rocks or sand bags have been declined, Pils told the Sentinel… “The solutions were proposed after a meandering channel of the Bad River that has got too close to the buried pipeline this spring after rushing waters caused by winter snow melt and heavy rains. The tribe argued in past court documents that if the erosion were to reach the pipe, the footing could be washed away and cause the pipeline to rupture and oil to enter the Bad River and other waters that flow into Lake Superior… “Enbridge's reroute project is still awaiting crucial permits from the DNR and the Army Corps. of Engineers, which would allow construction to begin.”
Public News Service: Line 5 moves forward, despite wildlife advocates' calls for shutdown
Farah Siddiq, 12/22/23
“Conservation groups in Michigan and the Great Lakes region say they'll keep calling for an orderly shutdown of the Line 5 oil pipeline, despite the latest green light from the Michigan Public Service Commission.” Public News Service reports. “The commission has ruled Enbridge Energy can install a new 30 inch diameter pipeline segment in its Great Lakes Tunnel. But Beth Wallace - the manager of the Great Lakes Freshwater Campaign at the National Wildlife Federation - warned that an oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac would threaten wildlife, just as groups like hers are working to restore habitat in the Great Lakes region, including for endangered species like the piping plover. "The Environmental Protection Agency alone has spent over $3 million to restore that habitat, which would be completely wiped out," Wallace told PNS, "as well as other endangered species, like turtles. If we prolong this pipeline because of the tunnel or the reroute, we're not only extending that risk, but we're adding new harm." “...Wallace told PNS Line 5 also poses threats to clean drinking water, as well as tribal nations' treaty rights in the area.”
Associated Press: North Dakota lawsuit over DAPL costs proceeds to trial; federal judge won't dismiss case
JACK DURA, 12/22/23
“A court fight over whether the federal government should cover North Dakota's $38 million in costs of responding to the lengthy protests of the Dakota Access oil pipeline years ago near its controversial river crossing will continue as a judge said the case is “ripe and ready for trial,” the Associated Press reports. “The state filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking $38 million. The lawsuit’s bench trial was scheduled earlier this month to begin Feb. 15, 2024, in Bismarck before U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor, estimated to last 12-13 days. Traynor on Wednesday denied the federal government's motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case, and granted the state's motion to find that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “failed to follow its mandatory permitting procedures” for the protest activities on its land, among several rulings he made in his order… “North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley told AP negotiations continue with the federal government as the trial looms… “A public comment period recently ended on the draft of a court-ordered environmental review of the pipeline's river crossing. The process is key for the future of the pipeline, with a decision expected in late 2024. The document laid out options of denying the easement and removing or abandoning the line's river segment, granting the easement with no changes or with additional safety measures, or rerouting the pipeline north of Bismarck.”
The Journal: ‘A legacy spill’: Oil pipeline ruptures on rural Shiprock grazing land
Alx Lee, 12/21/23
“Beverly Maxwell was traveling out of state when she received a phone call Dec. 11 from a neighbor about oil overflowing onto her grazing land on the Navajo Nation,” The Journal reports.”A worker from the Shiprock Chapter was out grading the roadway, Navajo Route 5071 northwest of the city, as a part of maintenance and hit the Running Horse Pipeline, which transports crude oil from Utah to New Mexico. Because there was no emergency shutoff valve near the site, the leaking oil would continue to flow for about a half-mile, Maxwell told the Journal. “I don’t have information as to when that flow stopped, but the flow was enough to travel at least a half a mile down from the pipeline that was breached here,” she told the Journal… “On Dec. 19, more than than a week after the pipeline was damaged, Maxwell received a phone call from Navajo Nation EPA and a public affairs representative from Navajo Nation Oil and Gas. She said she received information but no resolution to the leak… “We as impacted families here in the area, over time we’re the ones that are going to be here having to worry about whether our livestock are going to be safe, whether our health is going to be safe, our grand kids,” she told the Journal… “I live two football fields in that direction and when I woke up in the morning, I smelled it,” said Broderick Mark, who lives close to the site. He added that the site of the pipeline construction is a bus stop for children in the area, and his nieces and nephews from the area said they could not go outside to play because of the odor.”
Pullman Radio: WA State Regulators Want Local Farmer Charged With Misdemeanor In Pipeline Rupture Case
Evan Ellis, 12/21/23
“A Washington State Agency wants the farmer who ruptured a pipeline near Pullman causing a massive natural gas outage to be charged with a misdemeanor,” Pullman Radio reports. “...The investigation found that Brad Meyer was digging four-inch drain line with a tractor and implement when he hit and ruptured the pipeline North of Pullman. Investigators believe that Meyer broke state law when he allegedly failed to notify a call center before digging and didn’t have an excavation confirmation code that’s required when working within 35 feet of a pipeline. Investigators asked the commission to request that the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office charge Meyer with a misdemeanor for violating the law regarding the confirmation code… “The commissioners unanimously approved the request to send the case to the prosecutor’s office for review. The investigators told the board that the outage was one of the largest in the nation’s history costing over 5 million dollars… “The rupture caused about 37,000 Avista Utilities customers on the Palouse and in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley to lose natural gas for up to a week.”
Herald-Star: Jefferson County commissioners green light pipeline deal
CHRISTOPHER DACANAY, 12/22/23
“The Jefferson County commissioners Thursday signed documents that give the green light to the first of seven oil and gas pipelines in the county,” the Herald-Star reports. “The commissioners signed the standard right-of-way and temporary access road agreements with MarkWest Energy Partners LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of MPLX LP. In exchange for the pipeline, which will occupy about 2,092 square feet of property in the Jefferson County Airpark’s grounds, MarkWest has agreed to pay the county $156,000. This first of seven pipelines needed to be expedited based on budgetary reasons, Commissioner Tony Morelli said, adding that MarkWest’s investments will be “positive” for the county. In total, MarkWest will be investing more than $15 million in the project, portions of which will go to individual landowners within the county.”
Food & Water Watch: On the Ground in the Fight Against Carbon Pipeline Scams in Iowa
Mia DiFelice, Kat Ruane, 12/21/23
“Amid environmental and economic crises in rural America, corporations are pushing dangerous climate scams. Here’s the story of a fight against one of the biggest: carbon pipelines,” Food & Water Watch reports. “...During that Board meeting, folks from a company called Wolf Carbon Solutions spoke about plans they had for a carbon pipeline project… “In August 2022, the Stoefens made a disconcerting discovery. A local newspaper published a map of the route Wolf proposed for its pipeline — and it seemed to cross right through their property. They hadn’t received any notice of the possibility. In fact, they wouldn’t even get confirmation until they spoke with one of Wolf’s land agents at a public meeting. So Susan and Jerry began asking questions, and what they discovered only heightened their concerns… “The Wolf pipeline was even more alarming, given how close it would be to their home — and the fact that it would carry potentially deadly CO2. Compared to oil and gas, CO2 pipelines are severely understudied, especially when it comes to safety and accident response… “However, with projects like Wolf’s, the ethanol industry is making a cynical ploy to boost its image. It claims carbon capture and storage can reduce ethanol’s climate impact by collecting CO2 emissions from facilities and storing them underground. But carbon capture is an expensive climate scam. It has been proven to fail in pilot projects across the globe. And it gives dirty industries like ethanol license to continue business as usual. Perhaps that doesn’t concern pipeline corporations, because they’ll benefit whether it’s good for the climate or not. Federal subsidies promise them $85 per ton of carbon captured. Amid a sea of other proposed projects, Wolf’s alone could cost taxpayers roughly $1 billion per year.1 Yet, there are few policies in place to verify that companies actually capture carbon… “The Stoefens are skeptical that carbon capture will make ethanol climate-friendly. “The whole idea of it, these carbon pipelines, is not a good solution to the problem of carbon,” Susan said. “It’s just going to allow businesses to create carbon.” The real solution is to cut carbon emissions at the source.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Carbon Herald: Carbon Capture Coalition Urges Congress To Adjust 45Q
Violet George, 12/21/23
“Earlier this month, the Carbon Capture Coalition joined over 50 other organizations in a call to Congress for adjustments on the 45Q tax credit,” the Carbon Herald reports. “...Some of the signatories include 8 Rivers Capital, BASF, Baker Hughes, CarbonFree Chemicals, Chart Industries, Equinor, Heirloom, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, NET Power, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, Summit Carbon Solution, Svante, United Airlines, and others… “Namely, the suite is focused on: indexing 45Q for inflation beginning immediately; and creating parity between credit levels for projects utilizing captured CO2 as a feedstock to manufacture valuable products and those associated with geologic storage… “And for the second part of the suite, currently, there is a disparity of $25 per ton of CO2 between projects that store it away permanently and reuse the planet-warming gas to create valuable products. As a result, there is no real incentive for anyone to utilize captured CO2 emissions. And for direct air capture (DAC) solutions, that disparity rises to $50 per ton, posing a major roadblock for the technology’s large-scale deployment.”
E&E News: EPA plans first California CO2 storage permits
Carlos Anchondo, 12/21/23
“EPA has published draft permits for four proposed carbon dioxide injection wells in California’s Kern County — the first the agency could issue for the Golden State,” E&E News reports. “The so-called Class VI wells would inject CO2 taken from a planned hydrogen plant, the Elk Hills oil and gas field and a proposed direct air capture facility, according to a draft permit and a public notice posted Wednesday. The CO2 would be moved from the facilities via pipeline, pressurized and then injected into geologic formations using the Class VI wells, EPA said in its notice. Permit applications for the well type have climbed at EPA as the Biden administration works to make carbon capture and removal projects a key pillar of its strategy to address climate change. To date, EPA has only issued two permits that have led to active CO2 wells, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report released this month. Those permits are for an ethanol plant in Decatur, Illinois. EPA has also issued two draft permits for wells in Indiana.”
E&E News: Want To Talk Rules? The White House Just Made It Easier
Kevin Bogardus, 12/21/23
“The Biden administration’s chief regulatory nexus wants to boost public involvement in its own meetings reviewing rules proposed across the federal government,” E&E News reports. “The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, led by Richard Revesz, on Wednesday issued guidance to encourage ordinary citizens to jump into rulemaking by requesting meetings as part of the White House regulatory hub’s review process. Attempting to improve the usefulness of the meetings, authorized under Executive Order 12866, is another step by President Joe Biden to reshape the regulatory process as his administration barrels ahead on major energy and environmental rules. Sam Berger, associate administrator at OIRA, said in a blog post that the president called on the rules office to expand the range of people it hears from, ‘including those from underserved communities, while also increasing the effectiveness and transparency of those meetings.’ ‘This guidance is part of a broader effort by OIRA to encourage public engagement from those that have not historically engaged with the regulatory process,’ Berger said.
Common Dreams: Gulf Drilling Leases Decried As Another Biden Climate Failure
Jessica Corbett, 12/21/23
“Climate campaigners are calling out U.S. President Joe Biden for holding a court-ordered auction for drilling rights in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico this week as they demand far bolder action on the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency,” Common Dreams reports. “After a drawn-out legal battle over 73 million acres important to the endangered Rice’s whale as well as local fishing and tourism, Lease Sale 261 was held Wednesday and raised $382 million from 26 companies including Anadarko, BP, Chevron, Hess, Equinor, Repsol, and Shell. With the sale, “we’re again seeing our waters and environment sold off at bargain prices to oil and gas companies, just devastating after a year of record-breaking heat,” Healthy Gulf campaign director Raleigh Hoke told Common Dreams. “Communities of the Gulf Coast are tired of being a sacrifice zone, and the Biden administration disappointingly missed a historic opportunity to protect our people and planet and solidify his commitment to climate justice by standing up to Big Oil.’”
STATE UPDATES
Seattle Times: Two PNW tribal nations sue oil companies over costs of climate change
Isabella Breda, 12/21/23
“Major oil companies for decades deliberately sought to downplay and discredit scientific warnings about the central role of fossil fuels in causing climate change, alleges two lawsuits filed this week by the Makah and Shoalwater Bay tribes,” the Seattle Times reports. “The lawsuits filed in King County Superior Court name ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 as defendants, and seek compensation for the millions of dollars already spent, and likely to be spent in the future, for the tribes to respond to climate-induced disasters such as extreme heat, drought, wildfire, shoreline erosion, sea level rise and flooding. The lawsuits allege the companies have known fossil fuels would cause catastrophic climate change since at least 1959, but continued marketing massive quantities of oil and gas. They allege the oil companies tried to mislead the public by funding op-eds and advertisements in Seattle and national newspapers that claimed the science of climate change was uncertain or lacking evidence.”
The Advocate: What's next for carbon capture sequestration in Livingston Parish?
JACQUELINE DeROBERTIS, 12/22/23
“Livingston Parish officials have quietly continued to impose — and extend — regulations to rein in carbon capture sequestration projects in the parish after a backlash over two projects by large companies stirred resident anger in the past year,” The Advocate reports. “...However, environmental organizations have strongly criticized the technology, arguing it is too risky and ineffective. Livingston Parish residents became aware last fall that two such projects were slated for the parish — one that would inject carbon dioxide deep underground in Lake Maurepas, the other slated for the Holden area. An immediate outcry arose as many expressed anxieties about the technology's safety, despite reassurances from the companies. The project involving Lake Maurepas has received the most vocal pushback. Air Products, an international corporation that sells gases and chemicals for industrial uses, plans to build a blue hydrogen manufacturing plant near Ascension Parish's Burnside area that would extract methane from natural gas. The carbon dioxide produced in the process would be captured and put under pressure, turning it into a liquid that would then be injected under the lake. Since the initial uproar, Livingston Parish officials have striven to heed resident concerns, first passing a temporary moratorium on Class VI injection wells, which are used to store carbon dioxide. That moratorium passed and was extended earlier this year, but will again face a council vote in early January to extend the measure for either 24 months or until the parish passes zoning for all districts. District 9 Councilman Shane Mack, who recently won his bid for a statehouse seat previously held by his brother, proposed the update by pointing out parishwide zoning is impending but could take a couple of years to complete. Keeping the moratorium in place would protect property owners from having Class VI injection wells built too near their residences… “Mack also introduced an ordinance in early December outlining proposed private property land-use regulations for Class VI injection wells. That ordinance passed with no discussion or opposition in what may well be the last council meeting before the new year — and before a new council takes over… “Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for Air Products, added that Livingston Parish will be receiving its first payment of $460,540 from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources in the coming weeks, an amount expected to increase "dramatically" when sequestration begins.”
Press release: Overseas Shipholding Group Awarded Federal Grant to Develop Captured Carbon Terminal at Port Tampa Bay
12/21/23
“Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (the “Company” or “OSG”), a leading provider of energy transportation services, announced today that the Company has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the United States Department of Energy (“DOE”) to study the development of its proposed Tampa Regional Intermodal Carbon Hub (“T-RICH”). The study is intended to evaluate the commercial feasibility of developing an intermediate storage hub at Port Tampa Bay for CO2 captured from industrial emitters across the State of Florida. T-RICH would receive, store, and process two million metric tons of CO2 per year, which would be transported by OSG vessels across the Gulf of Mexico for permanent underground storage. This storage and transport hub will be the first of its kind in the nation and could be scaled to meet expanded volumes of captured CO2.”
CalMatters: In 2024, who will California voters believe more: Oil companies or Jane Fonda?
Jim Newton, 12/21/23
“California’s referendum process was designed to be a check on big business. More than a century later, it’s used much differently. The latest clash pits oil companies against a familiar yet unsurprising foe: Jane Fonda,” CalMatters reports. “...Yet next fall Californians will consider a referendum sponsored by big business to undo the act of the peoples’ elected leaders – a recurring theme in recent years. The specific matter at issue is Senate Bill 1137, a 2022 law that bans oil drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals and the like. Oil companies responded by circulating petitions to challenge the legislation with a referendum, and voters will get the opportunity to decide its fate next year. “It’s an egregious attack on democracy,” actress and activist Jane Fonda (yes, that Jane Fonda) told CalMatters. “It’s the most egregious attack on democracy and public health I’ve ever seen.” At its core, the referendum is one of “environmental justice,” Fonda, who is helping organize the opposition, told CalMatters. In a state where some 2.7 million people live within a few thousand feet of an oil well, public health advocates made their case that buffer zones were in the public interest, and their elected leaders responded. That is how representative democracy is supposed to work. The referendum seeks to undo that, and it does so by marshaling a tool historically intended to curb the power of big business.”
EXTRACTION
The Tyee: Dump All Your Carbon Emissions in Alberta, Pitches Smith
Graham Thomson, 12/22/23
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has a solution to Canada’s carbon emissions: dump them underground in Alberta,” The Tyee reports. “Smith is a proponent of carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, where carbon dioxide emissions are captured from large industrial emitters, turned into a fluid and injected underground via pipeline. She is such a booster of the technology that during a Dec. 7 news conference from Dubai, where she was attending the COP28 climate summit, she was irrepressibly positive about CCS’s future. “We have mapped out our entire basin for doing carbon sequestration, which should allow us to store up to or more than 100 billion tonnes of emissions [in Alberta],” said Smith. “Keep in mind we only produce 256 million tonnes of emissions a year [in Alberta] so we have ample room to be able to sequester all of our emissions, all of Canada’s emissions and more for many decades to come.” It is an extravagant claim, to say the least. But does she mean it? I asked her that question during a year-end interview on Dec. 20 in Calgary, pointing out that to be able to transport CO2 from all over the country to Alberta would mean building an immense pipeline infrastructure… “So what we would do is we would capture the CO2, inject nitrogen, transport it as ammonia and send it to Japan.... That way we are sequestering the CO2 emissions that might otherwise be produced in Japan.” “...But let’s say we could capture all 87 million tonnes of emissions from heavy industrial smokestacks every year, and let’s say Albertans won’t be protesting in the streets against becoming the country’s dumping ground; how would we transport it from all over the country to Alberta? Does she have a plan for the infrastructure? Smith ducked the question repeatedly and talked about using CCS to reduce emissions from cement plants in Alberta and using carbon capture for Alberta’s proposed multibillion-dollar “blue hydrogen” economy where natural gas is turned into hydrogen and the CO2 emissions are pumped underground… “Vaclav Smil, a pragmatic environmental scientist with the University of Manitoba who understands the importance of fossil fuels to the world economy, calls large-scale CCS “magical thinking.” The author of more than 40 books, Smil told The Tyee that to sequester a billion or more tonnes of CO2 per year in the United States “would necessitate the creation of an entirely new gas capture-transportation and storage industry that every year would have to handle 1.3 to 2.4 times the volume of current U.S. crude oil production, an industry that took more than 160 years and trillions of dollars to build.”
iHeartRadio: Teck Carbon Capture Pilot Plant Launched in Trail
12/21/23
“Teck Resources Limited has announced the Carbon Capture Pilot Plant at its Trail Operation is now operating and successfully capturing carbon dioxide,” iHeartRadio reports. “...The plant separates CO2 from the Acid Plant flue gas at a rate of one tonne per day and will operate through 2024 for testing and data collection purposes. Teck says its Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage pilot project is also evaluating options for the utilization as well as the storage of the captured CO2 at the Trail Operation. Teck says it acknowledges the support of the CleanBC Industry Fund for its contribution towards the Pilot Plant Feasibility Study and development of the CO2 storage pilot project.”
Guardian: Cash and luxury travel: how US utilities keep fossil fuels in new homes
Dharna Noor, 12/21/232
“Dozens of US gas utilities, serving more than 35 million customers, offer builders and contractors incentives to keep fossil fuels in buildings, the Guardian has found. Washington state’s NW Natural offers builders $2,000 for each new single-family home they equip with gas appliances, while Texas’s Corpus Christi Gas offers $1,000. And in Minnesota, CenterPoint Energy participates in a program that offers paid vacations to builders who outfit homes with gas. Meanwhile, gas utility trade groups are training members to sell builders on the continued use of the planet-heating fossil fuel, including through trainings at conferences and webinars. “Stress the lifestyle benefits that come with a natural gas home,” one instructor said in a recording of a training session heard by the Guardian. The initiatives are part of gas interests’ decades-long effort to capture builders, contractors and real estate agents – trusted figures to homebuyers and developers – according to an investigation by the Guardian. It’s part of a larger influence campaign that dates back to collaborations with esteemed chefs like Jacques Pépin, newly unearthed archival documents show. The longstanding relationship between gas interests and the building sector could be a major impediment to decarbonizing buildings, which account for roughly one-third of US greenhouse gas emissions.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
WIRED: Your Money Is Funding Fossil Fuels Without You Knowing It
Matt Simon, 12/21/23
“When you drop money in the bank, it looks like it’s just sitting there, ready for you to withdraw. In reality, your institution makes money on your money by lending it elsewhere, including to the fossil fuel companies driving climate change, as well as emissions-heavy industries like manufacturing,” WIRED reports. “So just by leaving money in a bank account, you’re unwittingly contributing to worsening catastrophes around the world. According to a new analysis, for every $1,000 dollars the average American keeps in savings, each year they indirectly create emissions equivalent to flying from New York to Seattle. “We don’t really take a look at how the banks are using the money we keep in our checking account on a daily basis, where that money is really circulating,” Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, which published the analysis, told WIRED. “But when we look under the hood, we see that there's a lot of fossil fuels.” By switching to a climate-conscious bank, you could reduce those emissions by about 75 percent, the study found. In fact, if you moved $8,000 dollars—the median balance for US customers—the reduction in your indirect emissions would be twice that of the direct emissions you’d avoid if you switched to a vegetarian diet. Put another way: You as an individual have a carbon footprint—by driving a car, eating meat, running a gas furnace instead of a heat pump—but your money also has a carbon footprint. Banking, then, is an underappreciated yet powerful avenue for climate action on a mass scale. “Not just voting every four years, or not just skipping the hamburger, but also where my money sits, that’s really important,” Foley told WIRED. Just as you can borrow money from a bank, so too do fossil fuel companies and the companies that support that industry—think of building pipelines and other infrastructure.”
Bloomberg: New York Urges Banks to Beef Up Reviews of Climate Change Risk
Evan Weinberger, 12/21/23
“New York regulators want the banks they oversee to incorporate climate change into their risk management efforts, including assessing how the lenders would perform in extreme weather scenarios,” Bloomberg reports. “Banks will be encouraged to weigh the physical risks of climate change to their facilities, as well as to mortgages and other loans they issue and investments they hold, under final climate guidance released Thursday by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It comes exactly one year after the regulator proposed the guidelines.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: Adventure Awaits Wyoming Youth in Outdoor Classroom
12/21/23
“Science is cool anywhere, but nothing beats science outside of the classroom,” according to Enbridge. “...The Science Zone’s WYld Experiences outdoor adventure education program was established in 2020, when the Science Zone took its planned summer programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic… “Enbridge is committed to creating vibrant and sustainable communities near our operations, and we continued our support of The Science Zone this year with a $5,000 Fueling Futures grant to support the adventure camp programming—specifically targeted at purchase of equipment, such as a high-capacity mountain bike and cargo trailer for transportation purposes.”
Woodstock Sentinel-Review: Enbridge donation provides EZT fire department with training materials
Lee Griffi, 12/21/23
“Enbridge Gas Inc. is helping the East Zorra-Tavistock Fire Department purchase required firefighting training materials,” the Woodstock Sentinel-Review reports. “The money comes from Safe Community Project Assist, a program with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Public Safety Fire Safety Council that supplements existing training for Ontario volunteer fire departments in communities where Enbridge operates… “Fire Chief Scott Alexander described the donation as invaluable to the more than 60 men and women who are volunteer firefighters across East Zorra-Tavistock.”
The Intelligencer: Enbridge teams up with Quinte West Fire for Safe Community Project Zero
12/21/23
“Enbridge Gas Inc. and Quinte West Fire and Emergency Services announced Tuesday they are working together to improve home safety and bring fire and carbon monoxide-related deaths down to zero,” The Intelligencer reports. “Quinte West Fire received 276 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms through Safe Community Project Zero – a public education campaign with the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council (FMPFSC) that will provide more than 10,000 alarms to residents in 50 municipalities across Ontario. This year, Enbridge Gas invested $315,000 in Safe Community Project Zero, and over the past 15 years, the program has provided more than 86,000 alarms to Ontario fire departments.”
OPINION
Houston Chronicle: Carbon capture lets Big Oil off the hook. We’re footing the bill.
John Beard is founder and CEO of the Port Arthur Community Action Network, a community-based organization in Texas, and a former employee of Exxon Mobil, 12/22/23
“After going into overtime negotiations, a historic agreement by delegates from more than 200 countries attending the annual U.N. Climate Change Conference made global headlines last week for referencing the need for a transition “away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner,” John Beard writes for the Houston Chronicle. “...What’s more, the agreement leaves giant loopholes for costly emissions reduction technologies that are unproven at best and that more likely will increase dangerous pollution. The promise that fossil fuel operations will capture and store the carbon they produce is repeated by the industry and governments alike, including the Biden administration. In reality, carbon capture has overwhelmingly been used to produce more oil and gas, and more greenhouse gases. An industry report showed that, of a dozen U.S. commercial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects in operation in 2021, over 90% were engaged in the process of “enhanced oil recovery.” The agreement reached at COP28 calls for carbon capture and storage for difficult-to-abate sectors such as concrete and steel production. It’s hard to imagine governments and industry won’t use this as cover to produce more oil and gas for all kinds of uses… “As a former oil and gas industry worker, I know all too well that these companies have only one thing on their minds: profits. They’ll do whatever it takes to continue business as usual, and CCS is just the fig leaf they needed. CCS empowers oil and gas companies to make money on both ends — from extracting and selling more oil and gas and from the supposed solutions to its pollution — thanks to massive government subsidies… “CCS was on everyone’s lips at COP; its many proponents were busy hosting panels and lobbying governments, leaders, anyone who’d listen. My colleagues and I represented U.S. frontline activists fighting CCS projects and other environmental degradation, which overwhelmingly risk the lives and communities of Americans already vulnerable to pollution, especially Black and brown and low-income people. Big Oil and Gas, with government assistance, plans to compound that risk by running all of this costly, dangerous CCS infrastructure squarely through those same communities that can least afford the risk… “We can’t afford to throw money away on pricey tech fixes that should be reserved for the industries hardest to decarbonize when we have real, affordable clean energy solutions today.”
Midland Reporter-Telegram: EPA Methane Rule Is Step In Right Direction
Joe Barton is a former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee and served in Congress representing the 6th congressional district of Texas from 1989-2019, 12/20/23
“Last December, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced a regulation aimed at imposing on energy companies a “one-size-fits-all” methane emissions reduction technology,” Joe Barton writes for the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “On December 2, the EPA released its final rule. While in principle, federal regulations on methane are the right thing to do, this rule still includes provisions that will create unintended consequences for holding back innovative solutions to reduce methane emissions. As the former Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, over 40 years I believe I have chaired more hearings on energy than any other current or former member of Congress. I believe it is much better to regulate oil and gas emissions at the state level, rather than at the federal level. I inserted a provision that left the regulation of hydraulic fracturing to the states in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as states can more finely tune their regulations that the federal government can. And frankly, our nation’s states would benefit from being able to take their own initiatives in the methane reductions space, rather than allowing the administration to force them into regulation that may not necessarily suit their robust needs.”