EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 1/28/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Inforum: Standing Rock withdraws from environmental review of Dakota Access Pipeline
Norfolk Daily News: Carbon pipeline questions answered during open house
Associated Press: BP fined $100,000 for Olympic Pipeline spill near Woodinville
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Press release: Court Finds Massive Offshore Oil Lease Sale in Gulf Based on Faulty Legal Analysis
New York Times: Federal Court Revokes Oil and Gas Leases, Citing Climate Change
Politico: CBD SUES TO PAUSE CALIFORNIA OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS
The Hill: Democratic Ex-Senators Join Pro-Gas Organization
STATE UPDATES
Press release: 100-Plus Environmental Groups Urge Agriculture Secretary to Block Oil Train Railway Through Utah, Colorado
Energy News Network: Minnesota cities hope climate emergency resolutions add urgency to responses
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Hawaii State Senate committees consider measure prohibiting underground fuel tanks near aquifer
EXTRACTION
Financial Times: Oil and gas groups keep drilling despite green energy push
Daily Herald Tribune: Alberta on-track to reduce methane emissions to 45% of 2014 levels by 2025
Wall Street Journal: For Big Oil’s Future, Look to Big Tobacco’s Past
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Living near or downwind of unconventional oil and gas development linked with increased risk of early death
New York Times: Did I Turn Off the Stove? Yes, but Maybe Not the Gas
InsideClimate News: Gas Stoves in the US Emit Methane Equivalent to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Half a Million Cars
CLIMATE FINANCE
OilPrice.com: Are Activist Investors To Blame For High Oil Prices?
Bloomberg: Canada’s Oil Sands Stocks Surge Even as Climate-Conscious Exit
Canadian Underwriter: Insurers holding difficult conversations with carbon-producing clients as ESG awareness grows
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Perth Courier: Enbridge Gas assists Perth Fire Services in supporting firefighter training
OPINION
Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan: Letter: Pipeline Problems
Globe and Mail: Tomorrow, tomorrow, we’ll clean up that old orphan oil well tomorrow
Troy Media: Canada needs a better strategy to transition to a low-carbon future
Colorado Sun: Opinion: It’s not just the fuel Colorado burns. It’s also the fuel Colorado exports
PIPELINE NEWS
Inforum: Standing Rock withdraws from environmental review of Dakota Access Pipeline
Adam Willis, 1/27/22
“The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe announced Thursday, Jan. 27, that it has withdrawn its participation in the federal government’s ongoing environmental assessment of operations of the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Inforum reports. “Leaders from the tribe pointed to a lack of transparency by the operators of the pipeline and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the environmental review process, as well as recently low water levels in the Missouri River and its Lake Oahe reservoir that they said would exacerbate damages if oil were to escape from the pipeline. Doug Crow Ghost, Administrator of the Tribe’s Water Resources Department, said in a statement Thursday that water levels in the lake are 12 feet below where they stood two years ago, “but the Corps continues to release water at Oahe as if it is business as usual.” The Standing Rock leaders told Inforum that the Army Corps has not shown them a complete, unredacted version of the pipeline operators' plans for an emergency response in the case of a leak, and Crow Ghost told Inforum the response plans he has seen do not account for the recent low water levels, which have made key access points to the lake unusable… “Standing Rock Tribal Chairperson Janet Alkire, who was elected to her post last fall, told Inforum the Army Corps has two options to ensure the safety of tribal members, either "raise Lake Oahe to safe levels or shut down the Dakota Access pipeline immediately." “...A spokesperson for the GAIN Coalition, an organization supportive of Dakota Access, told Inforum that Standing Rock "continues to promote misinformation” about the pipeline, and expressed confidence that the results of the environmental review will show that it is operating safely.”
Norfolk Daily News: Carbon pipeline questions answered during open house
By JERRY GUENTHER, 1/27/22
“For the second time this month, a company shared plans with the public about a proposed carbon pipeline that would cross Madison County,” the Norfolk Daily News reports. “Heartland Greenway representatives shared information Wednesday evening during a two-hour open house at the Battle Creek Clubhouse with those interested… “Burns-Thompson told the News her company focuses on safety, including going beyond federal regulations, such as structures. While federal regulations require the pipeline to be 25 feet from structures, her company proposes to be located “hundreds of feet” from structures, she told the News… “Outside of the Battle Creek Clubhouse, there was a representative of Nebraska Easement Action Team (NEAT) handing out flyers. The flyer describes NEAT as a nonprofit that helped to stop the Keystone XL pipeline from using eminent domain. It states that it is now working with landowners to prevent corporations from using eminent domain for carbon pipelines… “Representatives of the company are meeting with landowners along the route to attempt to purchase easements. Heartland Greenway will hold a virtual open house on Friday, Jan. 28, at 11:30 a.m. Anyone who would like to participate in the open house may register at https://heartlandgreenway.com/nebraska-informational-open-houses”
Associated Press: BP fined $100,000 for Olympic Pipeline spill near Woodinville
1/27/22
“The Washington State Department of Ecology is fining BP $100,000 for two pipeline spills near Woodinville,” the Associated Press reports. “...The next day, a landowner smelled fuel and spilled gasoline was found in the area… “The Department of Ecology says BP did not adequately tighten fittings and failed to perform the leak checks at normal operating pressure. In 1999, the Olympic Pipeline spilled almost 300,000 gallons of gasoline into Whatcom Creek in Bellingham, causing an explosion that sent a massive fireball through the heart of Bellingham. That explosion killed two young boys who were playing along the creek and an 18-year-old who was fishing upstream.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Press release: Court Finds Massive Offshore Oil Lease Sale in Gulf Based on Faulty Legal Analysis
1/27/22
“Today, The D.C. District Court invalidated the Department of Interior’s decision to offer 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing, marking a pivotal victory in the fight to defend Gulf communities and the planet from the worsening climate crisis. The Court held that Interior failed to accurately disclose and consider the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the lease sale, violating a bedrock environmental law. Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of Healthy Gulf, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and Friends of the Earth on Aug. 31 against Secretary of the Interior Debra Haaland and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management following the notice of lease sale 257. The lawsuit argued that the 2017 environmental analysis that the Biden administration relied on to hold the sale is fatally flawed. The sale was not only counter to the administration’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 50% to 52% by 2030 and meet our climate commitments, but it is illegal and based on previously debunked environmental analysis. The D.C. district court decision holds Interior accountable for grossly underestimating the climate impacts and risks to Gulf communities before deciding to hold the largest oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history. This ruling ensures our waters and coasts will be protected from additional harmful drilling and eventual spills in the Gulf, where the fossil fuel industry is already sitting on 8 million acres of leases on public waters. A clean energy transition is essential for Gulf communities and our increasingly warming planet.”
New York Times: Federal Court Revokes Oil and Gas Leases, Citing Climate Change
Lisa Friedman, 1/27/22
“A federal judge on Thursday canceled oil and gas leases of more than 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, ruling that the Biden administration did not sufficiently take climate change into account when it auctioned the leases late last year,” the New York Times reports. “The decision by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a major victory for environmental groups that criticized the Biden administration for holding the sale after promising to move the country away from fossil fuels. It had been the largest lease sale in United States history. Now the Interior Department must conduct a new environmental analysis that accounts for the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the eventual development and production of the leases. After that, the agency will have to decide whether it will hold a new auction. “This is huge,” Brettny Hardy, a senior attorney for Earthjustice, one of several environmental groups that brought the lawsuit, told the Times. “This requires the bureau to go back to the drawing board and actually consider the climate costs before it offers these leases for sale, and that’s really significant,” Ms. Hardy told the Times, adding, “Once these leases are issued, there’s development that’s potentially locked in for decades to come that is going to hurt our global climate.” “...The lawsuit alleged that the Interior Department relied on an outdated environmental analysis conducted by the Trump administration that concluded additional drilling in the Gulf would not increase greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental groups said that analysis did not consider new information about the impact of offshore drilling on rising global temperatures.”
Politico: CBD SUES TO PAUSE CALIFORNIA OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS
Matthew Choi, Ben Lefebvre, 1/27/22
“The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Interior and Commerce departments Wednesday to stop authorizations for new oil and gas activities on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf,” Politico reports. “The lawsuit comes in the aftermath of last year’s oil spill that stained the Southern California coast, leading to a parade of state and federal investigations into the pipeline at the center of the spill and its operator. The CBD lawsuit goes further, saying the administration is violating the Endangered Species Act and Administrative Procedure Act in its authorizing of oil and gas activities off the California coast to begin with. The lawsuit says the agencies based their approvals on a 2017 ESA review by Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service, which the suit alleges was shoddily done. A spokesperson for NOAA declined to comment on pending litigation. CBD threatened to sue the administration last October in the first major legal challenge against the administration in the spill's aftermath. Curbing offshore oil and gas activities in the nation’s oceans is a key priority for several progressive and environmentalist lawmakers. The House-passed version of Democrats’ reconciliation package would ban future leasing off the Atlantic, Pacific and Eastern Gulf coasts, though the Senate Energy bill text did not include the ban.”
The Hill: Democratic Ex-Senators Join Pro-Gas Organization
Rachel Frazin, 1/26/22
“Former Democratic senators Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Mary Landrieu (La.) are joining a group that promotes natural gas,” The Hill reports. “A press release from the group, called Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, said the ex-senators would be joining its leadership council, which seeks to promote the use of the fossil fuel in the energy transition. While natural gas releases fewer planet-warming emissions than fuels like coal and oil when burned, many climate advocates are critical of it. They note that it still releases greenhouse gas emissions into the air when burned, unlike clean energy sources such as solar, wind and nuclear, and point out that it has additional releases during production and processing. In an interview, Heitkamp told the Hill in the role, she’ll be working toward ‘changing hearts and minds of people in the climate movement’ so that they view natural gas more favorably. Landrieu said they’d be more focused on supporting natural gas generally than on honing in on specific policies or ideas. ‘We’re not lobbying for any federal or state or local policy, just touting the science and the benefits of this really remarkable asset,’ she told the Hill.
STATE UPDATES
Press release: 100-Plus Environmental Groups Urge Agriculture Secretary to Block Oil Train Railway Through Utah, Colorado
1/27/22
“More than 100 environmental organizations, representing millions of supporters across the country, urged Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack today to block a proposed right-of-way through a Utah national forest that would enable construction of the Uinta Basin Railway. The railway’s construction would result in a quadrupling of fossil fuel production in northeast Utah’s Uinta Basin, worsening dangerous smog in an area that already violates federal pollution standards because of oil and gas extraction. Railway developers plan to run up to 10 two-mile-long oil trains per day through drought-stricken, wildfire-prone landscapes in Utah and Colorado, including a long stretch of the Colorado River, the source of drinking water for 40 million people. “The harm from this proposed railway will exacerbate the climate emergency, increase the risk of wildfires and oil spills, put pressure on our already strained rail system and increase pollution while undermining President Biden’s goals to address the climate crisis,” the letter said. The railway is expected to increase oil production in the Uinta Basin by up to 350,000 barrels a day. That’s conservatively estimated at 53 million tons of carbon dioxide per year — equivalent to emissions from six of Utah’s dirtiest coal plants.
Energy News Network: Minnesota cities hope climate emergency resolutions add urgency to responses
Frank Jossi, 1/27/22
“St. Paul last week joined a growing list of Minnesota cities passing climate resolutions aimed at adding urgency to state and local climate actions,” Energy News Network reports. “More than a dozen local governments in the state either have or are expected to pass climate emergency resolutions this month as part of an initiative by the Minnesota Cities Climate Caucus. A suburban city council member, Larry Kraft of St. Louis Park, formed the caucus last year with support from the Great Plains Institute, an environmental nonprofit group that facilitates the meetings… “Members hope the resolutions will add pressure on state lawmakers to do more to reduce emissions, such as updating the state building code during this year’s session, while also motivating city staff to do the same through more aggressive action, emphasizing programs assisting underserved communities… “Before the group formed, just three local governments in Minnesota had made similar declarations: Minneapolis, Duluth, and Crystal Bay township. Globally, more than 2,000 government units in 34 countries have passed climate emergency resolutions.”
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Hawaii State Senate committees consider measure prohibiting underground fuel tanks near aquifer
1/27/22
“The Senate Committees on Health & Agriculture and Environment held a hearing this afternoon to consider a bill that would prohibit the operation of, and renewal of, underground fuel storage tank permits located within one-half mile from an aquifer,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.
EXTRACTION
Financial Times: Oil and gas groups keep drilling despite green energy push
Tom Wilson, 1/27/22
“Global energy groups are under unprecedented pressure to run down their fossil fuel operations,” the Financial Times reports. “The world’s most influential energy body has said no more exploration is needed to meet future demand, but “supermajors” are still hunting for undiscovered oil and gas in remote regions… “The majors are still exploring and say much less about it than they used to,” Andrew Latham, vice-president for exploration at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, told FT. “You have to be a real specialist sector watcher to know these kinds of things [because] they don’t talk about it.” “...For decades the exploration division was the beating heart of an oil company. The world’s most successful oil executives took pride in their ability to find crude in even the most hostile of environments and companies were judged on their capacity to replace the barrels they were pumping out of the ground. The growing pressure on oil companies to reduce production and shift to cleaner forms of energy has changed that calculation… “All the supermajors — BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips — have made varying degrees of commitment to cut emissions by 2050. Achieving those targets will require some huge reductions in production. However, the continued exploration activity, particularly in countries such as Namibia with no history of oil production and no oil infrastructure, suggests many of the companies foresee strong demand for decades to come.”
Daily Herald Tribune: Alberta on-track to reduce methane emissions to 45% of 2014 levels by 2025
Jonathan Van der Veen, 1/27/22
“The first provincial status report on methane emissions, for Alberta, displays that the province is on track to hit its emission reduction targets from its oil and gas sectors by 2025,” the Daily Herald Tribune reports. “The data from this report shows that methane emissions from the oil and gas industries has decreased roughly 34% between 2014 and 2020. So, based on the rate of progress, Alberta is on-track to reach its methane emission reduction target of 45% by 2025. Since emissions were reduced by 34% in 6 years, a further 11% in 5 more years doesn’t seem that out of reach… “Sonya Savage, Minister of Energy also made a statement following the release of the emissions report, saying, “Alberta’s energy industry continues to be a leader in emissions reductions while also striving to meet growing global demand for responsibly produced and reliable energy. These results show how seriously the sector takes emission reductions and how a combination of technology, innovation and collaboration will help our province and all of Canada meet its climate goals.”
Wall Street Journal: For Big Oil’s Future, Look to Big Tobacco’s Past
James Mackintosh, 1/27/22
“If you want to know the future of Big Oil, look to the past of Big Tobacco. Depending on who you believe, they will be either greenwashed money machines or transformed businesses dedicated to reversing the damage done by their old products to the planet and health. Confusingly, they might be both,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “From the 1980s until a few years ago, Big Tobacco was a money machine. Cigarette sales fell a little pretty much every year, but prices rose more than enough to compensate and profit margins were, well, to die for. New technology changed everything. The development of e-cigarettes, and to a lesser extent heated tobacco, overthrew the business model and the marketing. Now, Big Tobacco is trying to present itself as a leader on environmental, social and governance issues—and even health.”
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Living near or downwind of unconventional oil and gas development linked with increased risk of early death
1/27/22
“Elderly people living near or downwind of unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD)—which involves extraction methods including directional (non-vertical) drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—are at higher risk of early death compared with elderly individuals who don’t live near such operations, according to a large new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The results suggest that airborne contaminants emitted by UOGD and transported downwind are contributing to increased mortality, the researchers wrote. “Although UOGD is a major industrial activity in the U.S., very little is known about its public health impacts. Our study is the first to link mortality to UOGD-related air pollutant exposures,” said Petros Koutrakis, professor of environmental sciences and senior author of the study… “The closer to UOGD wells people lived, the greater their risk of premature mortality, the study found. Those who lived closest to wells had a statistically significant elevated mortality risk (2.5% higher) compared with those who didn’t live close to wells. The study also found that people who lived near UOGD wells as well as downwind of them were at higher risk of premature death than those living upwind, when both groups were compared with people who were unexposed.”
New York Times: Did I Turn Off the Stove? Yes, but Maybe Not the Gas
Raymond Zhong, 1/27/22
“Gas stoves leak significant amounts of methane when they are being ignited and even while they are turned off, according to a new report, adding to the growing debate over the effects of gas-powered appliances on human health and climate change,” the New York Times reports. “The small study — based on measurements from cooktops, ovens and broilers in 53 homes in California — estimated that stoves emit between 0.8 and 1.3 percent of the natural gas they consume as unburned methane, a potent greenhouse gas. During the course of a typical year, three-quarters of these emissions occur when the devices are shut off, the study showed, which could suggest leaky fittings and connections with gas service lines. Over a 20-year period, emissions from stoves across the United States could be having the same effect in heating the planet as half a million gas-powered cars, the study estimated… “Dr. Lebel, Dr. Jackson and two co-authors used plastic sheets to seal off kitchens in private homes, Airbnb rentals and properties for sale or rent. They found that on average, igniting a burner on a gas stove emitted about the same amount of methane as did leaving it on and burning for 10 minutes. Gas ovens emitted methane at a higher rate than cooktop burners, they found, because ovens periodically ignite and extinguish their main burner to maintain the set temperature… “It’s almost an inevitable byproduct of the natural gas supply chain,” Dr. Jackson told the Times. “Every coupling, every fitting, has the potential to leak, especially over time as the stoves sit there for years.”
InsideClimate News: Gas Stoves in the US Emit Methane Equivalent to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Half a Million Cars
Phil McKenna, 1/27/22
“Natural gas stoves emit far more methane than previously thought, as well as harmful nitrogen oxides in concentrations that can quickly exceed federal safety standards, researchers at Stanford University report,” according to InsideClimate News. “The findings, published Thursday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, come as a growing number of cities and states look to phase out gas-fueled appliances in homes in favor of more climate-friendly electric alternatives. “We’re systematically underestimating the climate impact of gas appliances,” Rob Jackson, an earth system science professor at Stanford University who helped lead the research, told ICN. “And we’re standing over stoves that are emitting pollutants that we breathe.” Running gas ovens and stove top burners in small kitchens with poor ventilation resulted in emissions that within a few minutes surpassed the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety standards for outdoor air concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, an irritant that can aggravate asthma and may contribute to the development of the disease. The agency does not have a separate safety standard for indoor air concentrations of nitrogen dioxide… “One of the most surprising findings of the current research was that the vast majority of methane emissions—76 percent—came from slow but steady leaks in stove piping and fittings when the stove was not in use.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
OilPrice.com: Are Activist Investors To Blame For High Oil Prices?
By Irina Slav, 1/27/22
“Global oil supply is falling short of demand, and whatever the morals of fossil fuels, most investors invest not because it’s the moral thing to do but because they want to make money,” OilPrice.com reports. “...The oil industry is going through a reputation crisis right now coupled with the rise of the activist investor whose goal is not only to make money but also to force companies to become more environmentally, socially, and corporately responsible. The ESG trend in investing has been gathering speed, and fast. Activist investors with an ESG agenda focused primarily on the E have been challenging oil companies’ priorities, and they are becoming increasingly successful. Even Exxon earlier this year announced plans to become a net-zero company by 2050. In the meantime, they remain reluctant to boost production… “The telltale sign that ESG is indeed affecting the industry is the distinction between how public companies—subjected to ESG pressure—are responding to higher oil prices, versus how private companies—who don’t need to make any shareholders happy—are responding… “The ESG investing trend is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Some investors are upping and leaving the oil industry altogether because of this force. Luckily for oil companies, there is always another buyer with perhaps a little lower environmental standards and a little stronger focus on profits.”
Bloomberg: Canada’s Oil Sands Stocks Surge Even as Climate-Conscious Exit
Robert Tuttle, 1/27/22
“Canada’s oil companies are outperforming their energy-producing peers as the highest oil prices in seven years brings a windfall of cash,” Bloomberg reports. “...Benefiting from relatively low operating costs, Canadian oil sands producers including Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Imperial Oil Ltd. and MEG Energy Corp. have been padding their cash balances, allowing them to pay down debt faster than expected and return more money to shareholders through buybacks or increased dividends… “Shares of the Canadian producers are rising even as companies face a torrent of environmental opposition due to the Alberta oil sands relatively high carbon emissions. The hostility has spurred divestment from major funds including Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, which said in September that it will sell billions of dollars worth of oil assets, including large equity stakes in Canada’s top crude producers.”
Canadian Underwriter: Insurers holding difficult conversations with carbon-producing clients as ESG awareness grows
Alyssa DiSabatino, 1/27/22
“With environmental, social and governance (ESG) awareness on the rise, insurance companies are starting to hold difficult conversations with their long-standing carbon-producing partners, three P&C insurance company executives told Canadian Underwriter. “In compliance with the federal government mandating all financial services to come up with carbon reduction metrics by 2030 and 2050, many insurers have begun, or will begin, restricting coverage for some high-polluting clients in sectors such as energy, oil and gas and, notably, the Athabascan oil sands. “It’s a difficult conversation with these key clients. So, there are particularly the Western oil sands clients, who’ve been clients for many big commercial insurers for probably four decades,” Bernard McNulty, chief agent and head of claims in Canada at Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty, told CU. “They’ve been great partners, we understand their risk, but this ESG framework is very important for the future of all of us. We’re going to implement this framework, and that means cutting capacity dramatically to those companies.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Perth Courier: Enbridge Gas assists Perth Fire Services in supporting firefighter training
1/27/22
“Enbridge Gas is helping Perth Fire Services purchase firefighting training materials, through Safe Community Project Assist — a program with the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council that supplements existing training for Ontario volunteer and composite fire departments in the communities where Enbridge operates,” the Perth Courier reports. “At Enbridge Gas, safety is our priority. We’re proud to support Ontario firefighters who share our commitment to keeping our communities safe,” Jean-Benoit Trahan, Director, Eastern Region Operations & Gazifere Operations, Enbridge Gas, told the Courier. “This year’s $250,000 donation from Enbridge Gas will be shared by 50 Ontario fire departments, including Perth Fire Services. Funds will be used to purchase educational materials for firefighters to enhance life-saving techniques… “Training is a top priority for our members. Receiving education materials to support our department is crucial to our viability and ability to protect the Perth community into the future,” fire chief Trevor Choffe told the Courier. “On behalf of our service, I want to thank Enbridge Gas and Safe Community Project Assist for this wonderful donation.”
OPINION
Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan: Letter: Pipeline Problems
Peggy Hoogestraat, Chancellor, 1/27/22
“This concerns two possible carbon dioxide pipelines built by Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC,” Peggy Hoogestraat writes for the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. “My experience with the process of the permitting of the Dakota Access Pipeline, as well as the construction and reclamation of DAPL, can be shared with you. All three pipelines mentioned here are owned by private investors for private gain. DAPL implied that their oil pipeline would help keep gasoline prices down. It was proven that the price of oil is out of their hands! DAPL said technology is so advanced that oil spills would be minimal. There has already been an oil leak on my property, as well as many other leaks. Summit is using the cover of “protecting the environment” as a convincing factor. Like DAPL, there are so many issues that will affect the environment and Summit doesn’t have the magic solution… “The carbon pipeline companies are promising to create a secure future for farming and ethanol. In the big picture, this is not in their control.Most landowners affected by the DAPL are sad to see additional pipelines coming to South Dakota. Many of the PUC conditions set for the construction and reclamation of the oil pipeline were ignored by the crews crossing the state. Landowners were involved with protecting their property as best as possible. Landowners lost income, experienced health issues, and spent countless hours trying to protect their property. Hopes, dreams and soil were destroyed… “Today, landowners can say NO to survey permission and to generic easement agreements. The process of bringing a pipeline through our state is very complicated. No government entity will help the landowners while legislators fail to protect their own citizens.”
Globe and Mail: Tomorrow, tomorrow, we’ll clean up that old orphan oil well tomorrow
THE EDITORIAL BOARD, 1/28/22
“Old oil and natural gas wells pockmarking the Prairies is a problem that has been growing for years,” the Globe and Mail Editorial Board writes. “...Then there’s the problem of “orphan” wells. Former owners went bust, leaving previously profitable oil and gas assets to rot – sometimes leaking potent greenhouse gases such as methane. The PBO counted 8,600 orphan wells in Alberta in 2020, up more than tenfold over a decade. In Saskatchewan, the number quintupled in five years, to 1,500. The way things are supposed to work is according to the polluter pays principle. It’s simple: The people who profit from pulling resources from the ground should assume the costs, too. They’re supposed to pay on the back end, to make sure no mess is left behind. But for many thousands of orphan wells on the Prairies, that hasn’t been the case, despite attempts to improve laws and regulations over the years. The result is privatized profits and socialized liabilities. They get the oil; you pay for the cleanup… “With oil near US$90 a barrel and predictions of record revenue and cash flow for the industry in 2022, now is an ideal time to demand more of oil companies. Amid a commodity price windfall, there are big outstanding liabilities which have gone unpaid for years, and looming future liabilities, which will have to be paid one day. There’s no time like the flowing cash flow present to tackle the challenge.”
Troy Media: Canada needs a better strategy to transition to a low-carbon future
Eric Newell is Chancellor Emeritus at the University of Alberta and former CEO at Syncrude Canada Ltd. Perry Kinkaide is President of Kinkaide Enterprises Inc. and a former managing partner at KPMG Consulting, 1/27/22
“Balancing energy, the environment and the economy is critical. Yet current climate policies and plans – including Canada’s – are designed to phase out fossil fuel production entirely as rapidly as possible, largely ignoring the several decades-long transition required to develop reliable alternative energy systems,” Eric Newell and Perry Kinkaide write for Troy Media. “...Simply put, hydrocarbons – oil and natural gas – are required if we are to effect an orderly transition to low-carbon, net-zero emissions energy systems… “Motive power sources, such as electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered fuel cells, will take time to fully develop the infrastructure for required minerals, facilities and distribution systems. Moreover, the premature shutdown of hydrocarbon energy ignores domestic and international geopolitical realities, supply disruptions and unusual weather patterns that can trigger unacceptable energy shortages. This can lead to very volatile high energy prices and “energy crises,” as experienced recently in Western Europe and China. In fact, hydrocarbons will remain a source of energy and materials even after transitioning to net zero. Yet, in Canada, the Trudeau government has introduced extraordinary regulatory requirements limiting access to export markets, resulting in pipeline cancellations. Burdensome energy decision processes – including regulatory approvals that are subject to reversal – destroy investor confidence and have caused the flight of foreign investment capital from Canada’s energy and natural resources sectors.”
Colorado Sun: Opinion: It’s not just the fuel Colorado burns. It’s also the fuel Colorado exports
Mike Chiropolos, 1/27/22
“Gov. Jared Polis’ 2021 Greenhouse Gas Reductions Roadmap steers Colorado in the right direction on electricity and transportation, but excludes action on the biggest contributor to climate change originating in Colorado,” Mike Chiropolos writes for the Colorado Sun. “Greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels are the main causes of human-induced climate change. The bad news is that Colorado’s climate action plan ignores more than half of our emissions because it excludes the oil and gas it exports… “Ten points make the case for Colorado to walk its climate talk by phasing down oil and gas exports. First, facts: exported oil and gas accounts for 60% of all greenhouse-gas emissions originating in Colorado, according to the Roadmap documents. The fuel might not be burned here, but it originates here. As the country’s No. 6 oil and gas producer, Colorado matters… “Fourth, math: if we exclude from Colorado’s calculations the emissions that ultimately are created by fuels that Colorado exports elsewhere, we won’t reduce emissions enough to achieve our climate goals – as states, countries or a planet. When it comes to carbon reduction, the Colorado Roadmap is pointing us in the wrong direction. It allows total emissions to increase from approximately 280 million metric tons in 2020 to an estimated 305 million in 2030. Even if Colorado cuts its own greenhouse-gas emissions by 90% from 2005 through 2050, that gain would be largely cancelled out by the gases from exported crude oil and fossil gas emissions, under production forecasts… “Colorado’s current approach is the equivalent of China shutting down coal power plants, but ramping up mining for coal exports that cancel out domestic greenhouse-gas reductions. By phasing down oil and gas permits a few percent a year until targets are met, Colorado will accelerate the national and global transition that benefits everybody.”