EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 1/26/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Bloomberg: Key U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline in Doubt After Court Ruling
Roanoke Times: Mountain Valley Pipeline loses permit to cross through Jefferson National Forest
KTIV: Heartland Greenway holds public meeting to discuss a proposed pipeline in Siouxland
Globe Gazette: Floyd County residents raise concerns over carbon pipeline
953MNC.com: Safety, financial concerns around line 5 tunnel proposal being raised by groups in Michigan
APG-WI.com: Line 5 hearing scheduled for Feb. 2
Mansfield News Journal: Pressure release valve opens, causes loud noise in Weller Township
Bloomberg: Spectra-Enbridge $3.3 Billion Buyout Lawsuit Ends in Settlement
WASHINGTON UPDATES
CBS News: Congress is spending billions on carbon capture. Is it a climate savior or a boondoggle?
E&E News: Judges appear skeptical of Big Oil’s climate claims
Reuters: 'We're in trouble:' U.S. envoy urges faster action on climate goals
Bloomberg: Biden’s Electric Vehicle Push Unites Warring Oil and Corn Allies
STATE UPDATES
Reuters: Top U.S. oil states vie for carbon capture oversight to speed up permits
Bismarck Tribune: Project Tundra's carbon storage plans approved by North Dakota regulators
Cheyenne Post: WSGS Publishes Report on Groundwater Level Changes due to CBNG Production in the Powder River Basin
Colorado Sun: Colorado groups threaten to sue EPA for delaying penalties on Front Range ozone pollution failures
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: $1B orphaned oil and gas well cleanup bill estimate leaves out 'most expensive part,' critics say
Reuters: Canada watchdog says funds for inactive oil well clean-up may fall short
Bloomberg: Oil at risk of hitting $150 threatens world economy: JPMorgan
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Lakeland PBS: Cass Lake Fire Department Receives Donation from Enbridge
OPINION
Edmonton Journal: It’s Big Oil, not environmentalists, who are foreign-funded
The Hill: Net-zero emissions pledges matter
Albuquerque Journal: Editorial: Hydrogen deserves more scrutiny than short session
PIPELINE NEWS
Bloomberg: Key U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline in Doubt After Court Ruling
Gerson Freitas Jr and Maya Earls, 1/25/22
“A major U.S. natural gas pipeline project that’s crucial for shale drillers in the Appalachians is now in doubt after a court rejected its permit to cross a national forest in the Virginias,” Bloomberg reports. “ The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday tossed the federal government’s approval for Equitrans Midstream Corp.’s $6.2 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline to go through Jefferson National Forest, sending the shares of the company slumping the most since March 2020… “Equitrans shares lost 17% in New York, the biggest decline since March 2020, with the plunge triggering a circuit breaker. Utility giant NextEra Energy Inc., which also owns a stake in the project, fell 8.3% to the lowest level since July. The announcement that Jim Robo is stepping down as chief executive officer also weighed on the Florida utility shares… “The decision likely means the conclusion of the pipeline, which is already four years behind schedule and costs almost twice as much as initially planned, may be pushed back into 2023, according to Brandon Barnes, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. The ruling also “doesn’t bode well” for another pending case in the same court related to a key species permit that spans much more of the unconstructed pipeline, Barnes added.
Roanoke Times: Mountain Valley Pipeline loses permit to cross through Jefferson National Forest
Laurence Hammack, 1/25/22
“For the second time, a federal appeals court has thrown out government approvals for a natural gas pipeline to pass through the Jefferson National Forest,” the Roanoke Times reports. “A written decision Tuesday from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marked the latest of many setbacks for the Mountain Valley Pipeline since construction began in 2018. A three-judge panel of the court found that the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management failed to properly predict — and to prevent — erosion and sedimentation problems caused by building the massive infrastructure project. Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote in the panel's unanimous decision that the agencies "erroneously failed to account for real-world data suggesting increased sedimentation along the pipeline route." The ruling sends the permit back to the Forest Service and BLM for reconsideration. The first time the court did that, in July 2018, it took two years for the agencies to approve a second permit — which now has also been found lacking by the Fourth Circuit… "Again the courts have served as a backstop for agencies that failed to protect the public and our resources from this dangerous and destructive project," David Sligh of Wild Virginia, one of the environmental groups that challenged the permit, said in a statement. "The Forest Service and BLM have now been shown to have ignored important scientific information and bypassed there own rules for the second time, all to allow a private corporation to use and abuse the public resources they are supposed to protect and preserve for us all."
KTIV: Heartland Greenway holds public meeting to discuss a proposed pipeline in Siouxland
Hailey Barrus, 1/25/22
“Leaders with Heartland Greenway Nebraska held a public meeting Tuesday night to discuss a Carbon Capture Pipeline that could run through several Siouxland counties, including Dakota County,” KTIV reports. “The proposed pipeline would stretch 1,300 miles across several northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa counties… “We think it is really important to bring our teams out into the communities across the proposed footprint of the project so that we can have two-way conversations. Sharing information about the project proposal as well as gathering feedback and information from landowners, tenants, and community members from across that footprint,” Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs with Navigator CO2 Ventures, told KTIV. “The biggest community concern is eminent domain, and landowners are worried about the negative effects of having the pipeline run through their properties. “About 70% of Nebraskans are opposed to eminent domain being used for private gain. So it is one thing for a corporation to come in and build trust with the community and build a project, then there is another for a corporation to come in and say too bad we are going to take your land anyway,” Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, told KTIV.
Globe Gazette: Floyd County residents raise concerns over carbon pipeline
Zachary Dupont, 1/25/22
“Carbon capture pipelines have been a hot topic in North Iowa over the last year, and one of the projects is making progress towards its next phase,” the Globe Gazette reports. “On Monday, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and Navigator CO2 Ventures hosted a public information meeting in Floyd County over Navigator's Heartland Greenway carbon capture pipeline… “Meeting participants spent over two hours asking questions to both Navigator and the Iowa Utilities Board, with several concerns being raised. One of the biggest concerns related to safety issues of the pipeline. "It's not going in your backyard, it's going in my backyard," one attendee said to Navigator's spokespeople… “Another focal point of concern for attendees was the use of eminent domain… “Concerns were raised by residents both not wanting the pipeline to be built through their land, and over the fair negotiation of easement prices on land in the event eminent domain were to be invoked… “However, when pressed by another attendee to answer "yes or no" on whether Navigator was still considering the use of eminent domain on the project, Monica Howard, Navigator Heartland Greenway's senior director, responded with, "yes."
953MNC.com: Safety, financial concerns around line 5 tunnel proposal being raised by groups in Michigan
By Josh Williams, 1/25/22
“Advocates for protecting the waters of the Straits of Mackinac are raising safety and financial concerns about a Canadian natural gas company’s proposal for an underwater pipeline tunnel,” 953MNC.com reports. “Enbridge Energy currently operates the Line 5 pipeline, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac, and now they’re proposing to replace it with a tunnel to run the pipeline through. But experts say the current plan has major safety flaws. Sean McBrearty, Michigan legislative and policy director for Clean Water Action and campaign coordinator for Oil and Water Don’t Mix, told 953MNC.com Enbridge filed papers with the federal Energy Regulatory Commission claiming they plan to depreciate all of their pipelines within 20 years. But he said the contract with the state to build and operate the pipeline in the tunnel is for 99 years… “Oil and Water Don’t Mix and other groups are calling on Enbridge to suspend activities on the tunnel project until the contract is reviewed. Brian O’Mara, an environmental engineer with decades of tunneling experience, said the poor quality of the bedrock will make completing the tunnel challenging. He pointed out it is possible an explosion or fire would put workers at risk and many thousands of gallons of natural-gas liquids could be released into the Great Lakes.”
APG-WI.com: Line 5 hearing scheduled for Feb. 2
1/25/22
“The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is seeking public review and comment on a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Enbridge Energy Co. Line 5 pipeline relocation project in Ashland, Bayfield and Iron counties,” APG-WI.com reports. “Enbridge has applied for waterway and wetland crossing permits and a construction site erosion control permit from the DNR to relocate Line 5. The purpose of the environmental impact statement is to inform decision makers and the public about the proposed project, alternatives and the associated environmental and socio-economic impacts. The DNR will host a virtual public hearing regarding the environmental impact statement on Feb. 2. Members of the public also have the opportunity to submit written comments on the draft environmental impact statement through March 4, 2022… “In compliance with the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act, the DNR and its consultants have completed a detailed analysis of the proposed project, various alternatives and the associated impacts. Construction of the proposed relocation would affect approximately 135 acres of wetland, including the conversion of approximately 34 acres of wooded wetland to non-wooded wetland, and permanent fill of less than 0.03 acres of wetland.”
Mansfield News Journal: Pressure release valve opens, causes loud noise in Weller Township
1/25/22
“A pressure release valve opened Sunday night at TC Energy, 2385 Cotter Road,” the Mansfield News Journal reports. “A number of people reported hearing a loud noise coming from the facility, which has headquarters in Calgary, Alberta… “The call came in at 7:27 p.m. Company officials and employees from Columbia Gas responded to the scene, along with the Franklin Township Fire Department, which covers Weller Township. Chief Randy Washburn told the Journal Franklin Township was on standby. He explained a pressure release valve is a safety valve, which reduces pressure and prevents ruptures. "Technicians shut it down," Washburn told the Journal. The corporate office of TC Energy Corp. did not immediately respond to a request from the News Journal for a comment on the incident.”
Bloomberg: Spectra-Enbridge $3.3 Billion Buyout Lawsuit Ends in Settlement
1/25/22
“Spectra Energy Partners LP’s former general partner will pay $7.5 million to resolve investor litigation over the pipeline operator’s $3.3 billion “roll-up” buyout by Enbridge Inc., according to a court filing Tuesday in Delaware,” Bloomberg reports. “The class action settlement, docketed in Delaware Chancery Court, would resolve claims that the general partner entity engineered the transaction as an end run around ongoing litigation challenging Spectra’s earlier sale of pipeline assets worth $1.5 billion to its parent company for less than $1 billion.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
CBS News: Congress is spending billions on carbon capture. Is it a climate savior or a boondoggle?
BY IRINA IVANOVA, 1/25/22
“While much of President Joe Biden's climate change agenda has stalled in Congress, there is one nascent — and controversial — technology for reducing carbon emissions that has received billions in public funds in 2020 and 2021: Carbon capture,” CBS News reports. “Last year's infrastructure legislation gave the largest amount of funding ever to carbon capture projects — at $12 billion. Those funds come on top of $5 billion in the Energy Act of 2020. And lawmakers are debating dramatically increasing funding for carbon capture in the stalled Build Back Better Act… "There is no solution to get to net-zero without carbon capture technology," Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, told reporters last week. Globally, we will need to capture about 4 billion to 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually in order to meet climate goals, Julio Friedmann, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, told CBS. He noted that in most sustainable climate models, carbon capture plays as big a role as renewable energy. "Carbon capture on power plants looks as big as solar, or wind. It's bigger than nuclear in most of these models. It's as big as stopping eating meat," he told CBS. But environmentalists are skeptical of funding a technology they say is too expensive and rarely works, as many high-profile carbon capture projects shutter or run into snags… "We've got 10 years to solve the climate crisis and we need to spend our money wisely," John Noël, senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace, told CBS. "Putting it in things that we know work makes more sense than funding something that's been promised for 20 years and still is ending up in failed projects."
E&E News: Judges appear skeptical of Big Oil’s climate claims
By Lesley Clark, 1/26/22
“A panel of judges appeared skeptical yesterday of giving federal courts exclusive rights to hear climate change cases against fossil fuel firms,” E&E News reports. “During oral arguments, three judges of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals repeatedly quizzed an attorney for BP PLC and other oil and gas companies on why Baltimore’s case asking industry to pay up for climate impacts belongs before federal — rather than state — judges. It’s a question that has stymied court action on lawsuits by state and local governments that are seeking industry compensation for spewing planet-warming emissions. “...But Judge Stephanie Thacker, one of 4th Circuit judges that heard the Baltimore case for the second time yesterday, questioned whether the companies’ argument was so broad that it would mean that any case involving climate change or global emissions “would always be federal jurisdiction, no matter what the claims are actually in the complaint.” “...She also questioned Shanmugam’s argument that the Clean Air Act would actually displace federal common law once Baltimore’s case moves beyond the jurisdictional issue and is argued on the merits… “Advocates for the state and local climate challengers hailed the 4th Circuit hearing, noting that before the Supreme Court issued its decision last year, federal appeals courts had largely ruled in favor of keeping the liability cases at the state level. “Judges so far have consistently rejected Big Oil’s efforts to mischaracterize these cases, and it was clear again today that the Fourth Circuit panel was skeptical of the companies’ arguments,” Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement.”
Reuters: 'We're in trouble:' U.S. envoy urges faster action on climate goals
By Valerie Volcovici, 1/25/22
“The world is "not on a good track" to meet a global goal to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and must intensify efforts to move away from fossil fuels this decade, John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate change, said on Monday,” Reuters reports. “We're in trouble. I hope everyone understands that," Kerry told an event called Building Momentum to UN COP27 hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and officials from Egypt, the host of the next UN climate summit. Kerry told the event he is concerned about the recent uptick in the use of coal globally and about plans to build new coal plants without carbon capture technology… "Most countries have the ability to deploy very significant additional amounts of renewables and they're not choosing to do that," he said, adding that sticking with coal or planning to build out natural gas infrastructure would lock in decades of additional greenhouse gas emissions. Many Chamber of Commerce members support building more natural gas-fired power plants while the country transitions to renewables, and Kerry told the group he "is for gas" but only if it includes carbon capture technology. "If it's abated - terrific. If you can capture 100% (of the carbon and methane emissions} and it makes it affordable - that's wonderful. But we're not doing that," he said.
Bloomberg: Biden’s Electric Vehicle Push Unites Warring Oil and Corn Allies
Jennifer A Dlouhy, 1/24/22
“Lawmakers who support the rival petroleum and ethanol industries have joined forces to oppose the Biden administration’s push to electrify the federal vehicle fleet, marking a rare moment of unity between oft-warring interests,” Bloomberg reports. “Fifty Republicans -- -- including 17 from oil-rich Texas and 21 from the Corn Belt -- warned President Joe Biden that his executive order requiring the federal government to purchase only zero-emission vehicles risks forfeiting climate progress and will make the U.S. dangerously dependent on China. The effort reflects a public detente between warring oil and biofuel interests, which see electric vehicles as a common enemy. Biden’s executive order, issued in December, requires federal agencies buying light-duty vehicles to make those zero-emissions models by the end of fiscal year 2027. Because almost all critical minerals required to manufacture electric vehicles are sourced from China or countries where China is a significant investor and influence, “this executive order creates a dependency on foreign adversaries,” said the lawmakers in a letter released Monday, spearheaded by Representatives Ashley Hinson of Iowa and August Plfuger of Texas. The EV-procurement mandate, the lawmakers say, also ignores the opportunity to immediately cut costs and emissions using high-octane liquid fuels, ethanol and renewable diesel.”
STATE UPDATES
Reuters: Top U.S. oil states vie for carbon capture oversight to speed up permits
By Liz Hampton, 1/26/22
“Top U.S. oil-producing states are trying to wrest oversight of carbon capture wells from federal regulators, hoping to speed the oil industry's preferred approach to combating climate warming amid calls for limits on fossil fuel production,” Reuters reports. “...The rules governing the carbon-injection wells for most states require federal approval with the first permits taking around six years to win a green light. Oil states, including Texas and Louisiana, want to take over permit reviews and enforcement authority, also known as primacy, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas storage sites. The third-largest oil producing state, North Dakota, won oversight in 2018 and issued its first permit last year after an eight-month review. New Mexico, the second largest oil producer after Texas, has begun initial discussions with the EPA for applying to regulate carbon sequestration wells, an official told Reuters. States must demonstrate their own regulations are as stringent as the EPA's… “Some environmentalists worry that delegating enforcement authority to the states for these carbon sequestration wells could lead to inconsistent rules, lax monitoring and potential hazards such as carbon returning to the atmosphere. "Rather than a patchwork of state regulations, we need a science-based federal backstop of consistent and strong regulations to guarantee that carbon is actually sequestered and sequestered permanently," Patrick Drupp, a clean air expert at the Sierra Club, told Reuters. The environmental group opposes carbon sequestration in cases where it promotes the continued burning of fossil fuels instead of a faster move to renewable energy, he told Reuters.
Bismarck Tribune: Project Tundra's carbon storage plans approved by North Dakota regulators
AMY R. SISK, 1/21/22
“North Dakota regulators have approved underground storage plans for the Project Tundra carbon capture effort in Oliver County northwest of Bismarck,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “The three-member Industrial Commission voted unanimously Friday to approve several orders related to the project intended to capture climate-warming emissions from the Milton R. Young Station coal-fired power plant operated by Minnkota Power Cooperative. Minnkota has worked for years to develop the project, which involves injecting carbon dioxide from the plant into rocks deep underground for permanent storage… “Minnkota has not yet made a final decision on whether to construct the $1 billion Project Tundra, but it expects to decide late this year, the co-op said Friday… "Project financing and other details are still in the works. A federal tax credit is helping to push carbon capture efforts such as Project Tundra forward… “The co-op is also considering applying this year for loan assistance through the state’s new Clean Sustainable Energy Authority, spokesperson Ben Fladhammer told the Tribune. Minnkota told the Tribune last fall that it is also seeking a federal loan guarantee in the ballpark of $700 million… “Helms conveyed the researchers' assurances to the commission on Friday and added that various monitoring wells and other measures will gauge where the plume of carbon dioxide expected to form underground is located. He said 79% of affected landowners have consented to the project, and the rest whose property will be included will be equitably compensated. Dakota Resource Council Executive Director Scott Skokos said in a statement to the Tribune that he was not surprised by Friday's vote given that the governor and congressional delegation "have been some of the biggest boosters for carbon capture for coal and other industries in North Dakota," adding that they "refuse to see that carbon capture is risky." Other projects attempting to use the emerging technology at coal plants have faced larger-than-expected costs and technical problems.”
Cheyenne Post: WSGS Publishes Report on Groundwater Level Changes due to CBNG Production in the Powder River Basin
1/24/22
“A new study by the Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) examines groundwater level responses in the Tertiary sandstone aquifers associated with coalbed natural gas production in the Powder River Basin,” the Cheyenne Post reports. “...Between 2001 and 2019, the Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyoming produced more than 6.1 trillion cubic feet of coalbed natural gas (CBNG) and nearly one million acre-feet of groundwater from coal seams in the Fort Union and Wasatch formations that form the lower Tertiary aquifer system. Annual CBNG production in the PRB peaked in 2009 at more than 556 billion cubic feet, or 2.1 percent of all U.S. natural gas production for that year. Since then, annual gas production has declined by 83 percent to 92.6 billion cubic feet during 2019… “The study shows that groundwater levels have declined by more than 100 feet in some deep sandstone aquifers located more than 600 feet below the surface that are separated from a producing coal seam by less than 200 feet. Smaller declines were observed in shallower sandstones located more than 200 feet from a developed coal seam. Typically, groundwater levels in the affected sandstone aquifers briefly rise by several feet for a few months after CBNG production ceases, but this rapid recovery frequently decreases to one foot or less annually after a year or two.”
Colorado Sun: Colorado groups threaten to sue EPA for delaying penalties on Front Range ozone pollution failures
Michael Booth, 1/25/22
“Colorado environmental groups are warning the EPA they will sue the federal agency for missing a deadline to place northern Front Range counties in the “severe” category for ozone pollution,” the Colorado Sun reports. “Under Clean Air Act laws, the EPA should have placed nine Front Range counties in a more restrictive category requiring more pollution cuts by Jan. 20, according to the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians, which filed separate notices warning of their intent to sue. Stamping the northern Front Range with a “severe” ozone problem – similar to only a few metro areas in Southern California – would force immediate action on the oil and gas industry and other sources of ozone-causing emissions, WildEarth Guardians’ Jeremy Nichols told the Sun. Regional air quality officials said the “severe” designation would also trigger a federal requirement for all vehicle gasoline to be reformulated to be less volatile in summer months, possibly raising the cost, beginning in 2023. Other possible long-term recommendations to get back under EPA limits include restrictions on the sale of gas-powered lawn mowers and other 2-cycle engines, and incentives to trade in old ones… “The environmental groups told the Sun they are baffled at the EPA’s delay under a more green-friendly Biden administration, and that Gov. Polis and other state officials have signaled the downgrade to “severe” for the region was coming. Polis directed state agencies to not argue their way out of the downgrade, and instead redouble efforts to cut ozone-causing pollution… “Given that state officials are prepared for the downgrade, Center for Biological Diversity Colorado counsel Robert Ukeiley told the Sun, “it is absolutely inexcusable that EPA is illegally delaying these lifesaving protective measures.”
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: $1B orphaned oil and gas well cleanup bill estimate leaves out 'most expensive part,' critics say
Bob Weber, 1/25/22
“The parliamentary budget officer has found the cost of cleaning up orphaned oil and gas wells in Alberta and Saskatchewan already dwarfs the money collected from industry to pay for it,” the Canadian Press reports. “But critics immediately called Yves Giroux's estimated $1 billion by 2025 price tag a massive underestimate. "It's a great disappointment," Regan Boychuk of the Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project, a group whose research was cited in Giroux's report, told CP. "They left out the most expensive part." “...But the report is careful to mention what it doesn't include. The cost doesn't include cleanup of pipelines or other energy infrastructure on the land. It doesn't include oilsands. It does not include 7,400 wells that are considered abandoned but not yet orphaned. If those wells were included, the report says current liability would more than double to $801 million. It doesn't include liability from the 225,000 wells in Alberta and Saskatchewan that are considered inactive or plugged. Nearly two-thirds of all wells in those provinces no longer pump, the highest percentage ever, and most wells declared inactive never start again. Nor does it include the full cost of cleanup. The report only considers the cost of tidying up the land surface and removing equipment. It doesn't consider the costs of remediating ongoing contamination from underground chemicals or leakage… “The report estimates the cost of plugging and reclaiming a well to be about $78,000. That's less than half the estimate from the Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project.”
Reuters: Canada watchdog says funds for inactive oil well clean-up may fall short
By Nia Williams, David Ljunggren, 1/25/22
“Funds allocated by the Canadian government to help clean up the country’s orphan oil and gas wells may fall short if the main oil-producing province of Alberta continues to allocate the money to financially viable companies, the parliamentary budgetary watchdog said on Tuesday,” Reuters reports. “About half the funds in Alberta went to 10 companies that are expected to remain financially viable over the next few years, including some of Canada’s largest energy producers - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, Imperial Oil, and Cenovus Energy, budgetary officials said. All have benefited from surging oil prices in recent months… “There are approximately 225,000 inactive and plugged wells in Alberta and Saskatchewan, the two largest energy-producing provinces. Around 11,000 are orphans and the watchdog estimates the clean-up cost for those wells will reach C$1.1 billion by 2025. While the amount set aside by Ottawa should be enough to cover the orphan well clean-up cost, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux warned the funding could fall short if Alberta continued to allocate federal money to firms that are not in financial trouble. “If that trend continues, it’s possible that the funding set aside would not be sufficient to clean up all of the inactive orphan wells into the future,” Giroux told a conference call.
Bloomberg: Oil at risk of hitting $150 threatens world economy: JPMorgan
Simon Kennedy, 1/25/22
“The price of oil hasn’t even reached US$100 a barrel, but that’s not stopped economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from war-gaming what a surge to US$150 — this quarter — would mean for the world economy,” Bloomberg reports. “In a report published Friday, economists including Joseph Lupton and Bruce Kasman warned that such a shock would be enough to reduce global growth by more than three quarters, to around 0.9 per cent in the first half of the year — versus the 4.1 per cent they currently forecast. Inflation at the worldwide level would also more than double, to 7.2 per cent rather than the projected 3 per cent, in the bank’s scenario. That could potentially force central banks to constrain monetary policy even faster than they now intend, the analysts said.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Lakeland PBS: Cass Lake Fire Department Receives Donation from Enbridge
Emma Hudziak, 1/25/22
“The Cass Lake Fire Department was in desperate need of a new generator and items of interest for their fire station,” Lakeland PBS reports. “With the help from Community Liaison Diane Osceola and Enbridge Energy, they were able to collectively reach that goal. Osceola told PBS that the fire department was very excited for this donation, seeing as how there’s not a lot of funding for fire departments throughout this region, and that every little bit helps… “Enbridge Energy Tech Supervisor Jon Cleveland told PBS he strongly believes that it is still good that larger corporations such as Enbridge find the value in supporting their local communities.”
OPINION
Edmonton Journal: It’s Big Oil, not environmentalists, who are foreign-funded
Gordon Laxer, 1/25/22
“Did it not dawn on CAPP that crusading against a pittance of foreign funding of environmentalists trying to block the transportation and carbon pollution of oilsands oil would blow back and reveal just how foreign funded CAPP and Big Oil in Canada are?,” Gordon Laxer writes in the Edmonton Journal. “The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) may rue the day they made foreign funding a public issue. Three years ago, CAPP head Tim McMillan launched a crusade against “foreign-funded, anti-pipeline” activists. “We have been the victims of a very well-orchestrated, well-planned foreign-funded attack,” he charged… “To find out how foreign funded CAPP is, I researched the extent of foreign ownership of the corporations on CAPP’s board of governors. Foreign-owned means foreign-funded. The Allan inquiry found that the annual trickle of foreign funding so small, it was less than the cost of the inquiry itself… “Although the majority of oil corporations operating in Canada list their headquarters in Calgary, my research shows that their Canadian-ness is an inch deep. Of the 48 corporations on CAPP’s 2020 board of governors, 30 were confirmed to be fully or majority foreign-owned. There was insufficient data to definitively confirm the ownership of seven more corporations on CAPP board members, but the available data shows that they too are very likely foreign-owned. Combined, that makes 37 of 48 CAPP’s corporate board members — 77 per cent — that are fully or majority foreign-funded. They produce about 97 per cent of the oil by corporations on CAPP’s board. In contrast, majority Canadian-owned corporations produced less than three per cent of it and are small players engaged in the declining conventional oil sector.”
The Hill: Net-zero emissions pledges matter
Chuck McConnell was assistant secretary of Energy in the Obama administration. His is the head of the Center for Carbon Management in Energy at the University of Houston, 1/25/22
“ExxonMobil’s recently announced pledge of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is another key commitment from the energy industry and a signal that the energy transition is in full thrust — and requires action and not just words,” Chuck McConnell writes for The Hill. “This pledge is much the same as many other companies in oil and gas, petrochemicals, electric power, steelmaking and a host of other manufacturing enterprises… “Let us also not confuse the mission to be the elimination of fossil fuels. Right now, the mission must be to reduce and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. Let us recognize that the demand of energy will grow some 50 percent over the next 30 years along with the growing global population through 2050 as well. We cannot grow by subtraction… “Industries get criticized for “defending their business interests” and I find that narrow perspective uniquely unproductive — and absurd… “So, given that emissions reductions and getting to net zero is our mission, and that industries are not only pledging reductions but committing to investing in game-changing technologies such as carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), why do some of us choose cynicism over celebration? The goal is to get to net-zero emissions and not in a way that will lessen our standard of living or stifle growth. Sustainable, meaningful, verifiable emissions reductions is the answer. Net-zero pledges and action plans will deliver the sustainable investments and action by industry that is essential, to achieve net-zero emissions and the real transformation that comes with it.”
Albuquerque Journal: Editorial: Hydrogen deserves more scrutiny than short session
EDITORIAL BOARD, 1/25/22
“Hard to imagine the Legislature giving a stiff arm to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s priority to make New Mexico a “hydrogen hub,” but that’s exactly what it should do — for this session,” the Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board writes. “...But, as the Journal has extensively reported, many questions remain about hydrogen’s ability to actually lower carbon emissions. The problem isn’t with the end product, but with the process of producing it from methane, which New Mexico has in abundance. In this short 30-day session, the Legislature is already facing a plateful of initiatives. The governor wants to green light a legal framework to make trial production projects possible — without giving lawmakers the time to debate the merits of hydrogen as a clean energy alternative. In other words, the Legislature could commit the state to spending resources developing technology that may ultimately prove to be too costly, too resource-intensive or too lacking in decarbonization gains to have large-scale application. We don’t have a professional legislature that can deal with complex issues in short order. This 30-day session is packed with pressing budget and crime issues, so it’s hard to believe hydrogen will get the scrutiny it needs. It should be tabled to give the Legislature time to reasonably conclude there’s a definite return on investment — or not.”