EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 12/6/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Oregon Public Broadcasting: Battle over Jordan Cove energy project is over after developers pull plug
Virginia Mercury: Virginia regulatory board denies Mountain Valley Pipeline compressor station permit
Star Tribune: Enbridge says aggressive climate policies shortening life of its pipelines
Grand Forks Herald: Massive Midwest pipeline, a test for North Dakota's carbon capture goals, hits landowner snags
AgWeek: World's largest carbon capture pipeline aims to connect 31 ethanol plants, cut across Upper Midwest
KCRG: Neighbors come together to discuss proposed carbon dioxide pipeline
WV News: FERC defends Mountain Valley Pipeline orders in court filing
Journal Courier: Gas pipeline gets temporary reprieve from shutdown
Missouri Independent: Under pressure from regulators and elected officials, Spire tones down pipeline messaging
Canadian Press: Trans Mountain pipeline restarts after three-week shutdown during B.C. storms
Waging Nonviolence: Dakota Access Pipeline resister stands with integrity in face of long prison sentence
Traverse City Record Eagle: TC could declare water a human right
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: THE ADMIN'S OIL AGENDA
CNN.com: Banning US oil exports would be a 'gift to OPEC and Putin,' Big Oil CEO says
Washington Post: Lawmakers demand oil and gas firms divulge methane leak data
Casper Star-Tribune: Cheney bill would pay states for oil and gas leasing, even when sales aren't held
STATE UPDATES
Politico: LNG WATCH
Fort Collins Coloradoan: Oil company hasn't replaced leaking tanks near Fort Collins despite months of complaints
EXTRACTION
Press release: Native and Black Frontline Leaders and Supporters Demand World Petrochemical “congress” Stop Destroying Native Lands, Polluting Communities, and Fueling Climate Change
CBC: Banned for decades, releasing oilsands tailings water is now on the horizon
Guardian: Exclusive: oil companies’ profits soared to $174bn this year as US gas prices rose
Associated Press: BP agrees to $500K penalty, soot limits at Indiana refinery
CLIMATE FINANCE
Associated Press: San Diego will stop investing in fossil fuel industry to avoid contradicting city climate goals
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Guardian: Why some of your favorite podcasts are filled with oil company ads
OPINION
Mail Tribune: The bell finally tolls for Jordan Cove
Vancouver Sun: Vaughn Palmer: On Coastal GasLink, 'progress' sounds like an impasse
Globe and Mail: Alberta’s coffers are flush with cash from the oil sands. So why doesn’t it feel like a boom?
New York Post: The costs of Biden’s war on oil include higher gas prices
The Hill: Climate change comes to insurance
The Hill: Don't bank on an end to oil and gas handouts
PIPELINE NEWS
Oregon Public Broadcasting: Battle over Jordan Cove energy project is over after developers pull plug
Liam Moriarty, 12/1/21
“The bitter and protracted battle over the Jordan Cove Energy Project has finally come to a close. The Calgary-based Pembina company formally asked federal energy regulators Wednesday to withdraw authorizations for the proposed pipeline and liquified natural gas export terminal in southwest Oregon,” Oregon Public Broadcasting reports. “...The proposal raised concerns about environmental impacts to waterways and wildlife habitat. It was also expected to become the largest single emitter of greenhouse gasses in Oregon… “A coalition of affected landowners — plus environmental groups, tribes and the State of Oregon — appealed to FERC to rescind its authorization of the Jordan Cove project. When FERC declined, the group appealed to federal court. A recent ruling in the District of Columbia Circuit sent the case back to FERC, which led the commission to ask all parties to submit updated briefs. In particular, FERC asked Pembina to “clarify” their intentions. In response, Jordan Cove on Wednesday filed a brief effectively pulling the plug on the project, more than a decade in the making… “Allie Rosenbluth is the campaigns director at the Phoenix, Oregon-based environmental group Rogue Climate. She told OPB that, even though a series of regulatory and legal setbacks has made Jordan Cove look increasingly unlikely to actually be built, landowners in the pipeline’s path have had to live with the uncertainty about the future of their land. Now, Rosenbluth tells OPB, that’s over. “Landowners are no longer living under the fear of having their property seized. This project can’t move forward.” Rosenbluth tells OPB the success of the campaign against Jordan Cove show the power of sustained community action. “This just attests to the incredible work of landowners, tribes, Southern Oregonians and folks on the South Coast who have stood up to this project ... It shows that when our communities come together to stand up for our homes, we can win.”
Virginia Mercury: Virginia regulatory board denies Mountain Valley Pipeline compressor station permit
SARAH VOGELSONG, 12/3/21
“In a 6-1 vote, the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board on Friday voted to deny an air permit for a proposed compressor station in Pittsylvania that would be a key part of the Southgate extension of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline,” the Virginia Mercury reports. “I have concluded that when we equitably consider — not just consider, but equitably consider — the potential negative environmental consequences of this permit on these communities, granting this permit would not promote environmental justice,” Air Board member Hope Cupit said Friday, in the second day of hearings on the Lambert Compressor Station being held in Chatham. “If the Virginia Environmental Justice Act is to mean anything, and if we as a commonwealth are going to promote environmental justice, then the time has come to reject proposals like this one.” The board based its denial on a determination that the permit did not meet “fair treatment” requirements under the Virginia Environmental Justice Act passed in 2020 and that the site was not suitable for a compressor station given state law and the 2020 decision in a lawsuit over the siting of a compressor station for the canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline… “The decision came as a surprise in Virginia, where denials of air and water permits are rare. “I don’t think any of us were prepared to hope for a decision like this,” Taylor Lilley, an attorney with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation who has spearheaded the group’s opposition to the Lambert air permit, told the Mercury, after the decision. “It was a rare time that we got to see the board be so thorough and apply all the environmental provisions that have come down last year at once.”
Star Tribune: Enbridge says aggressive climate policies shortening life of its pipelines
Mike Hughlett, 12/5/21
“Faced with growing uncertainties over the future of fossil fuels, Enbridge wants to cut by a decade the estimated economic life span of its Upper Midwest pipeline system, which includes the newly built Line 3,” the Star Tribune reports. “Enbridge's acknowledgement of growing climate policy pressure on its pipelines' longevity came in federal regulatory filings earlier this year. Last week, Indigenous environmental group Honor the Earth asked Minnesota regulators to "promptly" start setting up a decommissioning fund for new Line 3, given a possible shorter-than-expected life span… “As part of its approval of the Line 3 project, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission mandated a decommissioning fund for the pipeline's eventual demise. However, the fund has not been established, nor have any details on how much money Enbridge must pay into it. "We thought it was useful to put some pressure on them," Paul Blackburn, an attorney for Honor the Earth, told the Star Tribune… “In past depreciation analyses, Enbridge had set the economic life of its Lakehead system at 30 years, Honor the Earth said in a filing with the PUC. But Enbridge's 2020 depreciation study marked a "dramatic change," reducing the system's life span to 20 years, the filing said… “Blackburn, of Honor the Earth, questioned how one piece of Enbridge's sprawling Midwestern pipeline network could have a longer life than the rest. "I don't think it makes sense that the rest of the pipeline system could be shut down in 2040 and Line 3 would still be there."
Grand Forks Herald: Massive Midwest pipeline, a test for North Dakota's carbon capture goals, hits landowner snags
Adam Willis, 12/5/21
“In early September, AJ Blohm was moving cattle on her family farm in central North Dakota when a neighbor approached her with what sounded like a bizarre proposal. A company in Iowa was considering her property as part of the destination for tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide, she soon learned. They could pay her to bury it forever thousands of feet below her land,” the Grand Forks Herald reports. “The project introduced by Blohm’s neighbor, who was working for the Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions, is the $4.5 billion Midwest Carbon Express… “Kurt Swenson, a landowner south of Blohm, is one of those holdouts in a loosely-formed group that he told the Herald accounts for up to 20,000 to 25,000 acres, or about 15%, of Summit's total evaluation area. He stressed his overall support for the project but said he sees the lease offer from Summit as a non-starter… “But he also worries about the land damages and safety risks that come with piping and injecting so much carbon dioxide into the ground if Summit can’t be held responsible for what happens. “That’s what we’re facing — is that threat,” Swenson told the Herald, “of taking our private property so that somebody else can enrich themselves.” “...If North Dakota is going to be the "garbage disposal" for Summit's carbon dioxide, Swenson told the Herald the company should be paying landowners at a rate that aligns them with the project. And Swenson argued that the company will be hard-pressed to make the case that its project is offering the public benefit needed to justify eminent domain. That question could prompt legal fights over Summit's project or others like it down the line, he told the Herald… “Both landowners and environmental groups like the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club have cited the safety of carbon dioxide transport as a chief concern. Dozens of people were hospitalized after a carbon dioxide pipeline ruptured last year in Mississippi. And skeptics of carbon capture argue that while companies insist that injected carbon dioxide will hold in its underground chamber forever, the process still hasn't been tried at the scale being pursued by companies today.”
AgWeek: World's largest carbon capture pipeline aims to connect 31 ethanol plants, cut across Upper Midwest
Jeff Beach, 12/6/21
“Spanning five states and involving at least 31 ethanol plants connected by 2,000 miles of pipeline, an Iowa company is poised to make a major investment in low-carbon fuel,” AgWeek reports. “Summit Carbon Solutions, an offshoot of Summit Agriculture Group, is behind the $4.5 billion Midwest Carbon Express project, with the goal of sending 12 millions tons of CO2 annually to western North Dakota, where it can be stored underground.. “The company already has held a series of public meetings in Iowa and is reaching out to landowners along its proposed route. But it has yet to apply for a permit in any of the five states: Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. That will likely happen sometime in the first quarter of 2022, Jake Ketzner, vice president of governmental affairs with Summit Carbon, told AgWeek... “Groups seeking to protect the environment and protect the rights of landowners are mobilizing to keep Summit from steamrolling the project through. Peg Furshong is the director of CURE, which stands for Clean Up the River Environment, an organization that calls itself a rural social justice group in Minnesota. She told AgWeek her group, along with other groups concerned about the environment in other states along the route, have been trying to learn as much as they can about carbon pipelines in a short amount of time. “There’s a whole lot of stuff we still need to know,” she told AgWeek. “What I do know is that landowners and farmers along the route need an ally.” Summit has yet to hold public meetings in Minnesota, but at those meetings, “the only information they're going to get is from people who want something from them.” She said the main goal of her group right now is to “slow it down” so that people have time to make good decisions. She doesn’t want landowners to rush into signing a voluntary easement, because once they do, “they can’t get it back, even if the pipeline isn’t built.” She said Minnesota doesn’t even have rules in place for carbon pipelines. She said the rules that exist specify other types of pipelines, such as oil.”
KCRG: Neighbors come together to discuss proposed carbon dioxide pipeline
Brian Tabick, 12/5/21
“People who received notice that a liquid carbon dioxide pipeline was to be built in Iowa and run through parts of southern Linn County voiced their concerns about the project Saturday,” KCRG reports. “Texas-based company Navigator CO₂ Ventures proposed the 1,300-mile underground structure to the Iowa Utilities Board. That’s the state agency that oversees pipelines within the state. A group of concerned citizens met at the Lisbon Community Center where they questioned Navigator’s plans to store the liquid carbon dioxide, the impacts on the land, and if the project is as green as the company says it is. “We wanted to call this meeting very urgently to get the issues out there,” Jessica Wiskus, of Linn County, told KCRG. Wiskus is one of the people who received notice that the pipeline would go through her property.”
WV News: FERC defends Mountain Valley Pipeline orders in court filing
by Charles Young, 12/5/21
“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a defense of its decision to allow construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project to resume,” WV News reports. “In a Nov. 19 filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in response to the latest legal challenge brought against the pipeline project by a coalition of environmental advocacy groups, FERC said its October 2020 orders were made in the best interest of the public… “FERC “reasonably determined that pipeline construction and restoration was in the best interest of the environment and landowners, given that the entire Mountain Valley Pipeline route had been disturbed and construction of pipeline facilities was 85 percent complete,” the agency’s filing reads. Although FERC acknowledged construction would have “some environmental impacts,” FERC “reasonably concluded” those impacts would be “outweighed by the benefits of completing construction and moving to final restoration,” according to the filing. In defense of its extension order, FERC pushed back against the Sierra Club’s claims there is no longer market demand for the natural gas the pipeline is intended to transport. “This assertion is contradicted by the fact that three shippers who contracted to use the pipeline, including the shipper contracting for the greatest share of the pipeline’s capacity, filed comments reaffirming their need for the pipeline,” the FERC filing reads. “No shipper, potential customer or state regulatory commission filed comments claiming otherwise.”
Journal Courier: Gas pipeline gets temporary reprieve from shutdown
David C.L. Bauer, 12/6/21
“A federal agency has given a temporary reprieve to a natural gas pipeline through Illinois and Missouri that owners warned was otherwise days away from shutting down,” the Journal Courier reports. “The decision does not, however, address the future of the $280 million STL Pipeline, owned by St. Louis-based Spire Inc… “Although granted approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2018 and built in 2019, the pipeline has been mired in legal action much of the time since then. A federal appeals court dealt a significant blow to its operation in June, ruling that the regulatory commission didn't adequately demonstrate the pipeline was needed. The ruling gave support to a lawsuit filed in January 2020 by the Environmental Defense Fund that argued the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision to issue an operating certificate came despite "serious deficiencies" and without proof the pipeline was necessary and beneficial. That justification is "a legal safeguard meant to protect customers from unnecessary costs, and landowners from inappropriate condemnation of their property," according to an Environmental Defense Fund statement… “Federal regulators on Friday issued a temporary permit that will keep the pipeline operational through the winter and until a determination can be made about the conduit's fate. Spire Missouri President Scott Carter told customers in an email that the temporary permit will allow the company to focus on "the long-term certificate for the pipeline."
Missouri Independent: Under pressure from regulators and elected officials, Spire tones down pipeline messaging
ALLISON KITE, 12/3/21
“Under pressure from Missouri regulators, and with assurances from federal regulators that certainty would come soon, Spire Missouri ratcheted down its campaign warning St. Louis area customers they could experience outages this winter,” the Missouri Independent reports. “Spire was widely criticized by state and federal regulators and environmental groups when it sent an email to St. Louis area customers warning of dire consequences if the Spire STL Pipeline shuts down. The pipeline, an affiliate of Spire Missouri, supplies natural gas to the utility’s customers in St. Louis and is awaiting authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to keep operating through the winter… “Environmental advocates and local officials in St. Louis called Spire’s warnings of potential outages fear mongering and a “manufactured crisis,” and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush told the Independent her constituents were frightened they could lose heat and freeze this winter. “Their priority should be doing what they can to provide quality service….and that quality service looks like not self dealing and not causing panic to the very people that keep your company afloat,” Bush told the Independent, and also expressed alarm at the substantial hike Spire customers will see on their bills because of higher-than-normal natural gas prices in the aftermath of the February deep freeze. Staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission said Spire’s November email appeared an attempt “to mobilize public opinion, through fear” to pressure federal regulators. The commission ordered Spire to turn over copies of communications with its customers and draft a new notice to customers that PSC staff would approve. That notice went out Wednesday.”
Canadian Press: Trans Mountain pipeline restarts after three-week shutdown during B.C. storms
12/5/21
“The Trans Mountain pipeline has restarted following a three-week precautionary shutdown during a series of storms that battered southern B.C., causing extensive flooding and landslides,” the Canadian Press reports. “Trans Mountain Corp. says in a statement the pipeline was safely restarted Sunday after all necessary assessments and repairs were completed. It says some of that work included the construction of “protective earthworks” after flooding exposed sections of the 1,150-km pipeline that carries 300,000 barrels per day of petroleum products from Alberta to B.C… “It says additional work in the coming weeks will include the “armouring of riverbanks” and adding ground cover or relocating sections of the pipeline. The B.C. government had asked residents to limit their fuel purchases to 30 litres per visit to a gas station until Dec. 14 in response to the shutdown, and there’s no immediate word on when the rationing order will be lifted.”
Waging Nonviolence: Dakota Access Pipeline resister stands with integrity in face of long prison sentence
Cristina Yurena Zerr, 12/2/21
“On June 28, the federal court in Des Moines, Iowa was silent and filled to capacity. Fifty people were there to witness the sentencing of 40-year old Jessica Reznicek, charged with “conspiracy to damage an energy production facility” and “malicious use of fire.” The prosecution, asking for an extended sentence, argued that Reznicek’s acts could be classified as domestic terrorism,” Waging Nonviolence reports. “This was not the first time Reznicek had been on trial, but this time she was facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years… “That’s why Reznicek and Montoya burned five machines at a pipeline construction site in Iowa on election night in November 2016. They would later change their methods, using a welding torch to dismantle the pipeline’s surface-mounted steel valves, delaying construction by weeks. “After the success of this peaceful action, we began to use this tactic up and down the pipeline, throughout Iowa,” the two women say… “A month after Reznicek is sentenced to eight years in prison, they launched a campaign called “Water Defenders Are Never Terrorists.” Within a few weeks, they were able to collect thousands of signatures. Their goal: a petition to President Joe Biden and Congress demanding the terrorism charges be dropped.”
Traverse City Record Eagle: TC could declare water a human right
12/5/21
“A nonprofit that focuses on clean water issues wants Traverse City commissioners to declare access to water and sanitation as a basic human right,” the Traverse City Record Eagle reports. “For Love of Water, a Traverse City-based organization that has been active in the fight against Enbridge’s Line 5, wants city commissioners to adopt a resolution acknowledging water is necessary for life, rejects treating markets as a tradable commodity and affirms the city’s support for keeping the Great Lakes in the public trust, among other points… “The resolution points to a United Nations estimate that future water scarcity will impact 1.8 billion people by 2025 because of climate change, population growth and water overuse. Public trust is also an issue in a lawsuit Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed against Enbridge challenging Line 5’s presence in the Straits of Mackinac.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: THE ADMIN'S OIL AGENDA
Matthew Choi, 12/2/21
“The Biden administration’s fossil fuel strategy is sending mixed signals to environmentalists and the oil and gas industry, making no one happy,” Politico reports. “Green groups had held onto President Joe Biden’s campaign pledge to end federal oil and gas leasing as an indicator of an aggressive climate agenda but were disappointed that the Interior Department’s latest review on the leasing program didn’t call for an end to new lease sales. They’ve also raised the alarm about new lease sales for exploration in the Gulf of Mexico after a federal court found the administration’s pause earlier this year was unlawful. Meanwhile, energy groups see hostility toward their industry from the administration, which revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and tabled new oil and gas leases for months while it conducted its review of the program. The administration is also appealing the court order pushing it to resume sales and moving to include environmental and health considerations when processing drilling permits… “The administration’s “actions have not been as detrimental as the oil and gas industry associations claim, nor as bad as the environmental community seems to think,” Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, told Politico. “Still, their work to date does not seem to have a terribly elegant strategy associated with it.”
CNN.com: Banning US oil exports would be a 'gift to OPEC and Putin,' Big Oil CEO says
Matt Egan, 12/3/21
“President Joe Biden has already launched the biggest intervention into energy markets in a decade. Big Oil is nervous he's not nearly done yet,” CNN.com reports. “For weeks, Democrats have been calling for Biden to go even further than releasing strategic oil reserves by banning US oil companies from shipping oil overseas. Despite pressure from lawmakers in his party, Biden has so far refrained from taking the more extreme step of banning oil exports. A spokesperson from the White House declined to comment. But American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers told CNN that the powerful oil-and-gas trade group is "absolutely" taking the risk of an export ban seriously, including by leaning on moderate Democrats to talk White House officials out of the idea. "We're marshalling all of our forces. We're doing everything we can," Sommers told CNN. Sommers warned that not only would an export ban backfire on US drivers by jacking up prices at the pump, it would help foreign producers by boosting their revenue and market share. "It would be a gift to OPEC and Putin," the API CEO told CNN, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last month, nearly a dozen Congressional Democrats urged Biden to address high gas prices by exploring an export ban. "A ban on US crude oil exports will boost domestic supply and put downward pressure on prices for American families," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden. Sommers made exactly the opposite point, arguing an export ban would cause gasoline prices to move higher, not lower. He pointed to how oil is a globally-traded commodity and the world market relies on 3 million barrels a day of US exports.”
Washington Post: Lawmakers demand oil and gas firms divulge methane leak data
Steven Mufson, 12/3/21
“The House Science Committee has notified the chief executives of 10 major oil companies that they must disclose more data about their emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, in one of America’s biggest oil and gas producing regions,” the Washington Post reports. “The lawmakers wrote late Thursday that the companies’ current approach to monitoring methane emissions in the Permian Basin is inadequate, and that they must do more to curb a pollutant that more than 100 other countries have pledged to cut by 30 percent by the end of the decade. The commitment, launched by the United States and the European Union, marked one of the highlights of last month’s U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. “The United States cannot achieve its targeted reduction in methane emissions under the Global Methane Pledge without a swift and large-scale decline in oil and gas sector methane leaks,” Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, wrote in a letter to the chief executives. “The existence of these leaks, as well as continued uncertainty regarding their size, duration, and frequency, threatens America’s ability to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.” “...The congressional request demands that the companies disclose information about their own intermittent, large emission leaks, and how they found them. It also asked operators how their methods for calculating emissions differed from those required by the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas reporting program.”
Casper Star-Tribune: Cheney bill would pay states for oil and gas leasing, even when sales aren't held
Nicole Pollack, Victoria Eavis, 12/2/21
“Days after the Biden administration released its long-awaited review of the federal oil and gas leasing program, Rep. Liz Cheney introduced a bill Wednesday intended to safeguard states’ revenue from future leasing disruptions,” the Casper Star-Tribune reports. “...The Payment in Lieu of Lost Revenues, or PILLR, ACT would compensate states for the rentals, bonuses, royalties and severance taxes lost as a result of “an order, moratorium, pause or other action” instituted by “the President, the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, or other designated official.” A federal leasing moratorium is not currently in place. It’s not yet clear what types of federal actions, beyond bans on leasing, could cause leasing to be “otherwise affected in a manner that results in lost revenue,” qualifying states for compensation. While the bill’s proponents stress the security it would provide to oil and gas producers like Wyoming, opponents worry that it could restrict the ability of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to assess the climate impacts of the leasing program in accordance with existing environmental regulations.”
STATE UPDATES
Politico: LNG WATCH
Matthew Choi, 12/3/21
“Venture Global LNG filed with FERC on Thursday to construct and operate a proposed $10 billion LNG export facility in Louisiana that would hold 20 million metric tonnes of LNG per annum,” Politico reports. “The proposed terminal comes as countries around the world are struggling to meet gas needs, and amid growing concerns that increased U.S. exports are driving up domestic fuel prices.”
Fort Collins Coloradoan: Oil company hasn't replaced leaking tanks near Fort Collins despite months of complaints
Jacy Marmaduke, 12/6/21
“Von Bortz thought filing a complaint with the state would put an end to air pollution from an oil and gas site near his home. It hasn't been that simple,” the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports. “He and Amy Smith have been afraid to open their windows all year. The two are co-owners of Rescued Friends Animal Sanctuary, where they care for abused and neglected farm animals just north of Fort Collins. They’ve lived next to the sanctuary for close to five years, about 1,000 feet south of Prospect Energy’s Krause tank battery site — a storage facility for crude oil and produced water from the company’s nearby oil wells. The tanks have been sporadically leaking an unknown quantity of air pollutants for more than two years. State regulators, Prospect Energy staff and environmental nonprofit Earthworks have documented illegal hydrocarbon emissions from the site on more than a dozen occasions, and Coloradoan journalists viewed pollution from the site through a specialized infrared camera during a November visit with an Earthworks employee...“They keep saying, ‘We fixed it, we fixed it,’ and we keep showing that it's not fixed,” Bortz told the Coloradoan… “The cycle of complaints and short-term fixes highlights shortcomings in the layered landscape of oil and gas regulations in Northern Colorado, environmental advocates tell the Coloradoan. And, they add, it demonstrates the need for real-time air quality monitoring to detect leaks when they happen and fortify accountability for oil and gas operators.” “...The state needs some kind of “three strikes and you’re out” policy for an industry whose mishaps can have serious and even fatal repercussions for communities, Jonathan Singer, a former state legislator who’s now executive director of the League of Oil and Gas Impacted Coloradans, told the Coloradoan.”
EXTRACTION
Press release: Native and Black Frontline Leaders and Supporters Demand World Petrochemical “congress” Stop Destroying Native Lands, Polluting Communities, and Fueling Climate Change
12/6/21
“Native and Black frontline groups have a long history of resistance to petrochemical exploitation of native lands and frontline communities. Today at 11:00 AM at Discovery Green, in Houston, the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation, Port Arthur Community Action Network, other frontline communities and their supporters state demands to oil, gas, and plastics corporations meeting as the World Petrochemical “congress”.“As long as petroleum chemicals are around it's going to affect the environment from the beginning to the end and it might be fifty years before there’s clean water again that you can drink from a stream,” said Juan Mancias, Tribal Chairman and Facilitator of Future Leadership of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation. “We want you to respect the beauty of the whole creation instead of trying to destroy what is here. It was made for all of us and not just for the petroleum companies to make money. Every time you uncover a sacred site, you’re promoting the American holocaust and the genocide of the native original people of Texas. Don’t ponder on remembering the Alamo. Ponder on remembering what is left of so-called Texas, what we call Somi Se’k.” The frontline groups and supporters from across the US and beyond borders demand that participants in the meeting: * Stop Fossil Fuels Projects * Immediately Divest from Extractive Industries * Invest in Restorative and Sustainable Frontline Solutions * Stop Destruction of Native Lands and Formerly Enslaved People’s Burial Sites * Pay Reparations to the Global South and for a Just Recovery from Native Genocide and from Slavery * Respect Language Justice, Voting Rights and the Will of the People. “
CBC: Banned for decades, releasing oilsands tailings water is now on the horizon
Kyle Bakx, 12/6/21
“The federal government has begun developing regulations to allow oilsands operators in northern Alberta to begin releasing treated tailings water back into the environment, something that's been prohibited for decades,” the CBC reports. “Currently, companies must store any water used to extract oil during the mining process because it becomes toxic. The massive above-ground lakes are known as tailings ponds, which are harmful to wildlife and have resulted in the death of birds who land on the water, on multiple occasions. For years, local Indigenous groups have raised concerns about contamination from development, and how tailings ponds could further pollute their land and drinking water. But now, industry leaders and some scientists are convinced the water can be treated enough so it can be safely discharged and they say it can reduce the environmental risk of storing an ever-increasing volume of tailings… "The biggest challenge is that we have a massive amount of water that needs to be treated," Mohamed Gamal El-Din, a University of Alberta professor who specializes in oilsands tailings water treatment, told the CBC. “In order to return tailings ponds water to the environment, the water does not need to be clean enough to drink, he told the CBC, but safe enough to meet the government's forthcoming standards. It's similar to how towns and cities across the country treat sewage to the point where it can be released to the environment. In both situations, Gamal El-Din said the fluids can be purified to a point where it can be drinkable water, but municipalities and industry have deemed that too costly. "There are technologies that can do that," he told the CBC, but "it's not economically feasible." “...Some experts are quick to point to examples in some other countries where harmful mining water was unexpectedly released because infrastructure failed, including a dam disaster in Brazil that killed 270 people. They argue that continuing to build more tailings ponds in the oilsands region only heightens the risk of an unexpected release, which could damage the environment even more.”
Guardian: Exclusive: oil companies’ profits soared to $174bn this year as US gas prices rose
Oliver Milman, 12/6/21
“The largest oil and gas companies made a combined $174bn in profits in the first nine months of the year as gasoline prices climbed in the US, according to a new report,” the Guardian reports. “The bumper profit totals, provided exclusively to the Guardian, show that in the third quarter of 2021 alone, 24 top oil and gas companies made more than $74bn in net income. From January to September, the net income of the group, which includes Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP, was $174bn… “The Biden administration has warned the price hikes are hurting low-income people, even as it attempts to implement a climate agenda that would see America move away from fossil fuels, and has released 50m barrels of oil from the national strategic reserve to help dampen costs. But oil and gas companies have shown little willingness so far to ramp up production to help reduce costs and the new report, by the government watchdog group Accountable.US, accuses them of “taking advantage of bloated prices, fleecing American families along the way” amid ongoing fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. “Americans looking for someone to blame for the pain they experience at the pump need look no further than the wealthy oil and gas company executives who choose to line their own pockets rather than lower gas prices with the billions of dollars in profit big oil rakes in month after month,” Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, told the Guardian.
Associated Press: BP agrees to $500K penalty, soot limits at Indiana refinery
By John Flesher, 12/2/21
“Oil giant BP agreed Thursday to pay a $512,450 penalty and reduce soot emissions from its Whiting refinery in Indiana under an agreement with regulators and activists who accused the company of violating an earlier deal,” the Associated Press reports. “The U.S. District Court settlement modifies a previous consent decree that required BP Products North America Inc. to limit releases from the sprawling facility on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. “Today’s agreement should significantly reduce fine particle pollution from BP’s refinery and ensure that violations of emission limits are reported and quickly corrected,” said Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project and a former enforcement director with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency… “Environmental groups sued the company in 2008. A 2012 settlement involving six groups, EPA and Indiana required the refinery to meet emissions limits, with compliance measured through periodic stack tests. Environmentalists filed another suit in 2019, saying the refinery had exceeded the limits numerous times and failed repeatedly to operate pollution control equipment as required.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Associated Press: San Diego will stop investing in fossil fuel industry to avoid contradicting city climate goals
BY DAVID GARRICK, 12/1/21
“San Diego will soon join New York, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and many other cities that no longer invest their financial reserves in the fossil fuel industry because that contradicts municipal efforts to fight climate change,” the Associated Press reports. “San Diego will prematurely sell off a recent $17 million investment in Chevron before the new policy, which the San Diego City Council approved last month, takes effect Jan. 1… “Mayor Todd Gloria says the policy aligns city investments with city values and will boost progress on San Diego’s climate action goals by not providing financial support to corporations that increase greenhouse gas emissions. “In order for San Diego to be a global leader on climate, our actions must match our words,” Gloria said after the council’s 8-1 vote. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said aggressive action by cities is needed to stop accelerating climate change. “Divestment from fossil fuel companies and other extractive industries is a significant step to align our policies, plans and pocketbooks with the moral imperative to take immediate climate action,” he said. “By removing the power of these industries in our economy, we shift that power toward equitable climate solutions. While this will not fix our climate crisis, it is an important step.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Guardian: Why some of your favorite podcasts are filled with oil company ads
Amy Westervelt, 12/4/21
“If you’re a regular listener of the New York Times podcast The Daily, you would have heard an ad for ExxonMobil’s carbon capture investments more than once in November,” the Guardian reports. “The ad – which coincided with the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow – told listeners that carbon capture technology could remove more than 90% of CO2 emissions from “carbon-intensive industries” and that the company was working to “deploy this technology at scale”. It gave the sense of an oil company tackling the climate crisis with technology that could solve it – and quickly… “While the FCC actively regulates advertising, the FTC works differently. It generally won’t investigate anything until a complaint is made and even then an investigation is not guaranteed. The FTC has had “green guides” for environmental marketing claims in place for environmental claims for more than 30 years, but the first complaint ever filed against an oil company for greenwashing came in 2021 against Chevron… “The challenge with the FTC’s guidelines, including the green guides, is that they tend to be product based and specific: your product is either made with recycled materials or not, you either take back and recycle packaging or you don’t. All of which leaves podcast and newsletter publishers and social media platforms to develop their own guidelines and factchecking processes. This is made harder by the industry’s advertising strategy – oil companies almost never advertise their products, opting instead to advertise ideas, particularly the idea that they’re working hard to address the climate crisis. ExxonMobil’s ad in The Daily, for example, emphasizes its work to scale up carbon capture as a climate solution. Yet the company currently captures less than 1% of its emissions, according to a report by the activist hedge fund Engine No 1, and uses some of the captured CO2 to extract more fossil fuels through a process called enhanced oil recovery.”
OPINION
Mail Tribune: The bell finally tolls for Jordan Cove
Mail Tribune Editorial Board, 12/2/21
“After more than 15 years, a change of ownership and a flip-flop from importing to exporting liquefied natural gas, the Jordan Cove LNG terminal and the pipeline that would have fed it are history. That will come as a tremendous relief to the property owners who still faced the prospect of eminent domain proceedings that could have taken their land,” the Mail Tribune Editorial Board writes. “...Wednesday’s announcement ends a long saga that started with a proposal to import liquefied natural gas from Asia. When that project was given federal approval in 2009, domestic gas supplies were dwindling and prices were on the increase. It would have been cheaper to ship supercooled, compressed gas across the Pacific than to produce it here. And building the port and the pipeline would mean good jobs for the Oregon economy. But in three years, new domestic wells began producing huge quantities of gas and prices fell. Importing gas from Asia no longer made economic sense. The project’s backers asked FERC to withdraw its approval and instead accept an application to export gas instead. That made more sense for the company, but not so much for Oregonians. The export project would benefit Pembina, and U.S. and Canadian gas suppliers who would have a new way to get their gas to foreign markets. It would benefit Oregonians only to the extent that some of them might get temporary jobs building the pipeline, and it would pay tax revenue to the counties the pipeline would cross… “But many property owners along the 229-mile pipeline route across Southern Oregon staunchly opposed the prospect of a 3-foot-diameter pipe carrying flammable gas across their land. FERC approved the project in March 2020, on the condition that Pembina secure all necessary state permits before starting construction. The approval did, however, give the company permission to begin eminent domain actions to secure easements anyway. That threat is now lifted.”
Vancouver Sun: Vaughn Palmer: On Coastal GasLink, 'progress' sounds like an impasse
Vaughn Palmer, 12/1/21
“The lingering showdown over the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline is forcing the New Democrats to address a credibility gap over their promises of Indigenous reconciliation and climate action,” Vaughn Palmer writes for the Vancouver Sun. “This, after all, is a government that enshrined in legislation the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples… “Yet the B.C. NDP government has drawn international condemnation over the RCMP arresting Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and followers for blocking construction of a fossil fuel pipeline through their traditional territory… “We are a long way away from the reconciliation that this government has promised Indigenous nations,” charged MLA Olsen, who is also a member of the Tsartlip First Nation. “This government soaks in the accolades of passing the (UN) declaration act but then is unwilling to change the racist government structures that have created the conflict that we face today. “Instead, what we have from this B.C. NDP government are more of the same divide-and-conquer tactics gift-wrapped in meaningless political rhetoric and empty promises.”
Globe and Mail: Alberta’s coffers are flush with cash from the oil sands. So why doesn’t it feel like a boom?
Andrew Leach is an energy and environmental economist and associate professor at the University of Alberta’s Alberta School of Business, 12/6/21
“Alberta is on a bit of a roll. Last week’s fiscal update from the provincial government projected a $12.4-billion deficit reduction for the year, and a further $13.4-billion reduction in the combined deficits over the next two fiscal years. Risks remain, but there is no denying that the fiscal picture in the province is much brighter than we’ve seen in years,” Andrew Leach writes for the Globe and Mail. “...What’s driving this change? A few factors are at play, but none more important than royalties from oil sands bitumen. Alberta’s bitumen bounty is now expected to increase by $13-billion over the next three years… “But with the oil companies and the government suddenly flush with cash, why does it not feel like a boom? To some, of course, it does. But that is certainly not the case for everyone. And the reasons become clear when we look at economic activity and investment levels over the long term… “The previous boom was, for all intents and purposes, an oil sands project construction boom. And there are three key factors preventing a return to those days. First, there remains substantial uncertainty about long-term oil prices… “Second, oil sands projects require long-term bets… “And, finally, there is climate change risk. As the world acts on climate change, oil sands projects have already found themselves vilified, and that’s only going to get worse. If companies aren’t jumping at the chance to make long-term investments in oil in general, they are going to be even less excited to make long-term investments in emissions-intensive oil. So, while higher oil prices and the royalty boom they bring may help Alberta’s government balance its budget, it’s going to take a lot more than that to make it feel like a boom again for the people of Alberta.”
New York Post: The costs of Biden’s war on oil include higher gas prices
By Deroy Murdock, 12/5/21
“Joe Biden is the kind of man who deliberately would steer his car into a ditch, crawl from the wreckage and then probe the ditch for criminal conduct,” Deroy Murdock writes for the New York Post. “Such nonsense mirrors Biden’s recent instructions to the Federal Trade Commission. Citing “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil-and-gas companies,” the president told the FTC to “bring all of the Commission’s tools to bear if you uncover any wrongdoing.” Is Biden cynical enough to blame Big Oil for a national fiasco that he concocted? Or is he so touchingly self-unaware that he misses the connection between higher pump prices and his own war on oil? “...Relying on the Middle East and Moscow for energy also undermines Biden’s environmental objectives. At the margin, Biden’s approach would generate more carbon dioxide. North American crude cleanly crosses US territory (and, to a degree, the Canadian border) via carbon-neutral pipelines. Conversely, Arab and Russian oil must traverse oceans and approach US ports on fuel-burning, emissions-generating supertankers. Like American reserves, OPEC’s and Russia’s oil also produces CO2 when consumed, but with the added disadvantage of destroyed American jobs. By killing Keystone on his first day as president, Biden obliterated 1,000 unionized positions, some 10,000 future jobs and $2.2 billion in wages. The president should pause his self-combusting, ecologically contradictory war on oil long enough to isolate the root cause of high energy prices.”
The Hill: Climate change comes to insurance
Bridget Pals is a legal fellow at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law. Michael Panfil is lead counsel and director of Climate Risk Strategies at the Environmental Defense Fund, 12/3/21
Natural disasters have cost the United States more than $600 billion over the past five years. With climate change, those costs are expected to continue increasing. Moving forward, managing and distributing these harms will become increasingly important. Insurance is one tool to do so. Unfortunately, the insurance system is also at risk from climate change,” Bridget Pals and Michael Panfil write for The Hill. “By changing the underlying risk profile of certain insurance products, climate change threatens insurers’ business model. At the same time, insurers also face risk as investors, as insurers’ assets may be overvalued due to unassigned climate risk… “Change is coming. On the investment side, a recent survey by BlackRock found that 95 percent of insurers expect climate change to affect how they build their investment portfolios. Regulators are also taking action, as evidenced by New York’s recent guidance, setting the expectation that insurers analyze their climate risk as both underwriters and investors and report that risk to stakeholders. These efforts are encouraging, but more are urgently needed. These solutions need to be incorporated across all 50 states… “But, as climate risks grow steeper and the climate bubble expands, it is necessary to align incentives in the insurance industry to prevent widespread defaults that would leave policyholders unprotected. Where insurers are absent from the market, policymakers must also examine who is bearing risk in society and how that burden can be shared. Other states should follow New York and take concrete steps to protect consumers and investors.”
The Hill: Don't bank on an end to oil and gas handouts
Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Kate DeAngelis is an international finance program manager with Friends of the Earth U.S., 12/4/21
“The United States announced that, consistent with President Biden's January executive order, it will end financing of oil and gas projects. Considering the likelihood of sizable exemptions, we remain skeptical,” Veronique de Rugy and Kate DeAngelis write in The Hill. “In spite of our differences – one of us is a libertarian who opposes all government-granted privilege to corporations, while the other is a progressive who believes government should provide a strong social safety net from cradle to grave and aid in the uptake of clean renewables – we agree that the government should not prop up wealthy, politically connected corporations. Yet that’s what the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) does, including for its wealthy friends in the oil and gas industry. On average, the industry receives roughly $20.5 billion annually in direct U.S. subsidies, and $121 billion in tax breaks. When the pandemic started, the industry was fast to claim between $3 billion and $7 billion in free money from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. In addition, several federal agencies go to great lengths to serve their friends in the oil and gas industry, with the full support of Republican and Democratic White Houses and Congresses. The Export-Import Bank is one such agency. Ex-Im describes its mission as “supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports.” While this may sound good, its devilishness is revealed in its details. Historically, 65 percent of Ex-Im financing has benefited 10 large domestic corporations, with 25 percent of its activities benefiting the oil and gas industry.”