EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 1/6/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint: Wet’suwet’en Water Protectors Evade RCMP as Police Mobilize For Raid
Reuters: TC Energy says Keystone pipeline shut because of extreme cold
Mother Jones: USDA Secretary Vilsack’s Son Now Works for a Controversial Ethanol Pipeline Project
Grand Island Independent: $4.5 billion carbon pipeline project coming to Hall County
Ames Tribune: Navigator C02 Ventures — 2nd of 2 proposed carbon capture pipelines — to hold Story, Boone meetings
Burnaby Beacon: Trans Mountain tank farm fire lanes not meeting the ‘basic minimum’: city
Press release: New USGS Research Highlights the Use of Earthquake Science for Assessing Risk to Gas Pipelines
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: ROOM FOR AGREEMENT
The Hill: Interior: US has twice as many abandoned oil and gas wells as previously thought
Associated Press: Oil, gas leasing on federal land to resume in first quarter
Politico: What To Watch At DOE, FERC, Interior In 2022
STATE UPDATES
Politico: Navajo Leaders Say Chaco Oil Freeze Puts Elder Income At Risk
E&E News: N.Y. governor backs nation’s first statewide gas ban
EXTRACTION
Financial Times: Canada minister defends oil sands despite pursuing emissions cuts
Guardian: Life after Deepwater Horizon: the hidden toll of surviving disaster on an oil rig
OPINION
The Gazette: Iowans beware of ethanol ‘greenwashing’
The Hill: For the sake of the planet, Build Back Better must be salvaged
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint: Wet’suwet’en Water Protectors Evade RCMP as Police Mobilize For Raid
1/4/22
“Two weeks after Wet’suwet’en water protectors evicted Coastal GasLink workers and occupied a key pipeline drill site, water protectors executed a strategic retreat to avoid arrest and violence at the hands of dozens of militarized RCMP. Before a large scale mobilization by police, water protectors vanished into the woods, evading police violence and criminalization. We expect an imminent assault on our people at the direction of Coastal GasLink as we continue to occupy and utilize our yintah. “Our warriors are not here to be arrested. Our warriors are here to protect the land and the water, and will continue to do so at all costs,” stated Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham), a wing chief of the Cas Yikh people. “Every time that the RCMP, the C-IRG, has come in to enforce CGL’s injunction they have done violence against our women. They have imprisoned our Indigenous women and our warriors. We will not allow our people to be political prisoners.” For the fourth time in four years, the RCMP appeared to mobilize for a large-scale assault on unceded Wet’suwet’en land, booking dozens of hotel rooms to bring police from throughout the province to facilitate pipeline construction and to assert control over unceded lands at gunpoint. Water protectors have blocked drilling beneath Wet’suwet’en headwaters for more than 70 days. In the last couple of days there have been increased patrols by non-local RCMP, C-IRG, and helicopter surveillance over private Wet’suwet’en residences far from any project worksites… “I don’t think Coastal Gaslink, the government, or the police understand that the Wet’suwet’en have been here for thousands of years. Despite all the money and effort C-IRG and CGL utilize in an effort to get rid of us, we are never going away. Ever,” says Sleydo’.
Reuters: TC Energy says Keystone pipeline shut because of extreme cold
1/5/22
“TC Energy’s 590,000-barrels-per-day Keystone oil pipeline was shut down on Tuesday evening for unplanned maintenance, the company said on Wednesday, as parts of western Canada grappled with frigid winter weather,” Reuters reports. “TC said efforts to restart the pipeline, which ships crude from the oil sands province of Alberta to the U.S. Midwest, were being challenged by extremely cold temperatures at its Hardisty terminal in central Alberta… “The company told Reuters the unplanned maintenance on Keystone began at around 8.00 p.m. on Tuesday. TC’s Gulf Coast operations in the United States are uninterrupted.”
Mother Jones: USDA Secretary Vilsack’s Son Now Works for a Controversial Ethanol Pipeline Project
Tom Philpott, 1/5/22
“To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s agribusinesses and farms, US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack favors a “market-oriented, incentive-based, voluntary” approach—one that wields the carrot of government largess, not the the stick of regulation. In November, his son, veteran corporate lawyer Jess Vilsack, took a job with an Iowa outfit that could cash in from such a suite of policies.,” Mother Jones reports. “The company, Summit Agricultural Group, has recently launched a private equity arm with a bold and controversial plan to build a $4.5 billion, 2,000-mile pipeline to capture carbon dioxide emitted by 31 corn ethanol plants in the Midwest and bury it underground in North Dakota. The pipeline will rely on ethanol-friendly policies and subsidies that Jess’s father has been advocating for his entire political career… “Summit Carbon Solutions’ business model relies heavily on federal farm and energy policies that are friendly to big agribusiness. Corn-based ethanol is propped up by billions of dollars in annual crop subsidies—administered by the USDA—and by the Renewable Fuel Standard, a federal law that requires the gasoline industry to use 15 billion gallons of ethanol annually… “Jess Vilsack’s employment could potentially obligate Tom Vilsack to recuse himself from decisions that directly affect the pipeline project… “Meanwhile, the Summit Carbon Solutions project is generating significant controversy on the ground, in farm and environmental circles in the Midwest. To push through its 2,000 mile pipeline, which cuts through Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota (map here), hundreds of landowners in an intensely farmed region will either have to cooperate or face the prospect of being forced to cede land under eminent domain. Dozens of landowners along the route are “refusing to cede their property to the project,” Reuters’ Leah Douglas reported in November… “But it’s not a great look for Jess Vilsack to be working for a firm whose business model leans on federal policy for profitability, at a time when his father is deeply involved in making it.”
Grand Island Independent: $4.5 billion carbon pipeline project coming to Hall County
Brandon Summers, 1/5/22
“A carbon capture pipeline is coming to Hall County,” the Grand Island Independent reports. “Summit Carbon Solutions of Ames, Iowa, is planning a carbon capture and storage project across Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska… “The underground pipeline will run through Hall, Hamilton, Merrick and York counties. Chris Peterson, president of Lincoln-based CP Strategies, spoke about the upcoming project during a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting of the Hall County Board of Commissioners, which he said will benefit local ethanol refineries. There was no action required of the Hall County commissioners. Summit Carbon Solutions will work directly with landowners to secure the easements. “Hall County is one of 14 counties the pipeline project is planned to traverse,” Peterson said. “We are making an effort to be in front of county boards in each of those 14 counties.” “...Green Plains Inc. plants in Wood River, Central City, York and Atkinson, as well as Husker Ag LLC in Plainview and Louis Dreyfus Plant in Norfolk, are involved.” “...Commissioner Scott Sorenson that while the project sounds “exciting” and has “some potential” he voiced concerns from private landowners about the easements. “If we’re talking about a four-inch pipe, why do we need a 50-foot permanent easement?” he asked. “They’re nervous about you guys wanting to come back in two years and put in another pipe that’s 12-inch or 24-inch.” Peterson said a larger pipe may be necessary if more partners are brought on, but the easement agreement will have provisions for access and notification… “Commissioner Gary Quandt worried the project would be like the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was abandoned after its permit was revoked in January. “Is there a plan that, say, 10 to 15 years down the road if they would have to close this pipeline, the pipe will be pulled back up? Is there a plan?” he asked. Peterson said the project is intended to run in perpetuity with Summit asking for reapproval of easements from landowners after 25 years.Peterson emphasized that the pipeline is intended for carbon dioxide alone, and no other substances, and there are no plans to run other pipes in the easements. Commissioner Karen Bredthauer shared her concerns about a potential waste of ag land with such a large easement existing in perpetuity.”
Ames Tribune: Navigator C02 Ventures — 2nd of 2 proposed carbon capture pipelines — to hold Story, Boone meetings
Danielle Gehr, 1/5/22
“The second company to propose a carbon-capture pipeline, Navigator C02 Ventures, will make its case to Boone and Story county stakeholders Thursday,” the Ames Tribune reports. “Navigator's presentations on its Heartland Greenway project come after farmers in Story and Boone counties spoke out at public meetings last fall against Summit Carbon Solutions' Midwest Carbon Express… “The company's vice president of government and public affairs, Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, is a native Iowan with a background in agriculture and is leading the project's outreach effort… “Like Summit, Navigator says the Heartland Greenway project has the potential to create jobs — 8,000 in construction and 80 permanent positions along the pipeline. The company argues that, by going net-zero, the plants participating in the project will gain more of an edge in markets like California, where policy is going more green… “The Story County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in December condemning the possibility of the use of eminent domain for either project… “Last fall, Boone and Story counties' farmers argued the project would have lasting impacts on their land, much like the Dakota Access Pipeline. Some impacted by the Dakota pipeline also fall on Summit's planned pipeline route.”
Burnaby Beacon: Trans Mountain tank farm fire lanes not meeting the ‘basic minimum’: city
Dustin Godfrey, 12/31/21
“Burnaby’s fire chief is insisting the city’s fire access lane regulations are the “basic minimum standard” and should not be dismissed by the Canada Energy Regulator,” the Burnaby Beacon reports. “The comment came in an affidavit filed by Fire Chief Chris Bowcock on Dec 22 in response to an application by Trans Mountain. The application sought to skirt the city’s bylaws and instead to rely on BC Building Code standards in the expansion of its Burnaby Mountain tank farm. In particular, the federally owned pipeline company wanted to rely on less stringent rules around the width of the fire services access lane and the turning radius. Burnaby bylaws require a lane width of at least 7.3m and a turning radius of 13m, while the Building Code requires only 6m and 13m. In its submissions, first reported by Burnaby Beacon in early December, Trans Mountain cited its experience with the City of Burnaby frustrating its work by taking too long with permitting. Earlier this year, the CER ruled that Trans Mountain could circumvent a section of Burnaby’s tree bylaw. Trans Mountain argued the city is similarly arbitrarily bogging down the process to prevent work on the pipeline expansion. But in his affidavit, first reported by National Observer, Bowcock said the refusal to provide permits on the basis of the fire lanes is about safety. “As fire chief, I view these requirements as the basic minimum standard for commercial and industrial development projects,” he wrote… “It is Trans Mountain’s failure to follow the fire services bylaw and building bylaw that has prevented the issuance of permits, and it is Trans Mountain resistance to following these city obligations that has led to any time delays.”
Press release: New USGS Research Highlights the Use of Earthquake Science for Assessing Risk to Gas Pipelines
12/22/21
“A new study from the USGS in the ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, “Earthquake Risk of Gas Pipelines in the Conterminous United States and its Sources of Uncertainty,” highlights the need to continue efforts to systematically quantify nationwide earthquake risk to gas pipelines in the United States, which manages the largest gas pipeline network in the world. Unlike water and wastewater pipelines, the gas pipeline network is largely owned and managed by private operators, pursuant to regulations from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Since most gas pipelines are buried several meters below the ground surface, they are vulnerable to the compounding effects of an earthquake… “Gas pipelines are vulnerable to the compounding effects of an earthquake, such as strong shaking, fault ruptures, landslides and liquefaction. The assessment and subsequent mitigation of earthquake-related risk to gas pipelines remains an active area of research.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: ROOM FOR AGREEMENT
Matthew Choi, 1/5/22
“Sen. Joe Manchin affirmed that there’s a fair amount of consensus between him and the rest of the Democratic caucus on the climate portions of the Build Back Better Act,” Politico reports. “Speaking with reporters Tuesday, the West Virginian said “the climate thing is one that we probably could come to an agreement much easier than anything else,” echoing an optimistic mood his climate-focused peers have been projecting in the days since Manchin voiced his opposition for the overall package last month. “Sen. Manchin’s comments are very encouraging," climate hawk Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) told Politico. "I continue to seek ways to work with him, and look forward to passing serious climate provisions that meet scientific emission reduction targets.” “...Good things come to those who wait: But Manchin emphasized that this was just a reassertion of his position since he first shook up the hill by rejecting the overall package. And he tempered any hopes for major breakthroughs on the bigger bill in the next few days, saying “there is no negotiations going on at this time.” (Other Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said discussions will continue off the floor)... “The stakes: Without the climate provisions of BBB, Smith doubted executive action alone will be able to reach the administration’s emissions goals of 50-52 percent emissions reductions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The Obama administration largely led its environmental drive via the regulatory route after the collapse of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill a decade ago, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus is pushing for President Joe Biden to take executive action to get the ball rolling on BBB’s agenda while the legislation ferments on the Hill. “But I also don't think that regulatory action is a substitute for congressional action,” Smith told Politico.
The Hill: Interior: US has twice as many abandoned oil and gas wells as previously thought
BY ZACK BUDRYK, 1/5/22
“The U.S. has more than double the amount of abandoned oil and gas wells than previously thought, according to a preliminary analysis by the Interior Department,” The Hill reports. “In a memo Wednesday, the department said there are currently more than 130,000 documented abandoned, or orphaned, wells. Comparatively, a 2019 report from the Interior documented a total of 56,600 orphaned wells across 30 states… “The bipartisan infrastructure bill President Biden signed into law in November of last year includes $4.7 billion to restore and plug orphaned wells. In December, the department released guidance on state applications for grants under the program. Since then, the majority of states, 26, have submitted notices of intent to apply for the grants, according to the memo. Nearly every state documented contained orphaned wells… “Plugging orphaned wells has been top priority for Interior Secretary Deb Haaland since her nomination. The White House’s budget request for fiscal 2022 also included a proposal to more than double the enacted 2021 budget for orphaned well cleanup and reclamation, which the administration said would create 250,000 union jobs. The White House’s more ambitious climate and social spending bill — which has not passed either chamber of Congress — would also put $41 billion toward environmental remediation, including reclamation of orphaned wells.”
Associated Press: Oil, gas leasing on federal land to resume in first quarter
1/4/22
“Oil and gas leasing on federal land is expected to resume early this year in North Dakota and Montana after the Biden administration halted the process nationwide last year,” the Associated Press reports. “The federal Bureau of Land Management is planning a lease sale for the first quarter of 2022, but has not finalized details… “President Joe Biden halted the leasing process after he took office last January when he issued an executive order announcing a review of the program “to restore balance on America’s public lands and waters to benefit current and future generations.” Oil- and gas-producing states, including North Dakota and Montana, sued to try to force leasing to continue and were successful last June when a court order required the federal government to resume the sales. North Dakota has filed a separate legal challenge with a hearing scheduled for Jan. 12 at the federal courthouse in Bismarck.”
Politico: What To Watch At DOE, FERC, Interior In 2022
1/5/22
“In Biden’s first year in office, it became clear he wouldn’t follow through on his big campaign promise to end oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters,” Politico reports. “In the end, his Interior Department this fall released a plan to modernize the oil and gas program. Over the next year, Interior will begin to churn out rules and regulations that are likely to determine what Biden’s impact on the legacy fossil fuel program will be over the long term, while the department also grapples with new mining regulations, tries to turbocharge the rollout of offshore wind and focuses on deployment of solar energy on public lands. Oil and gas reforms are expected to be front and center on the department’s agenda, which includes measures expected to make drilling on federal lands subject to higher environmental standards, from new offshore pipeline decommissioning standards to renewed limits on leasing in the prime habitats of imperiled species like the greater sage grouse. Some rulemakings will focus on greenhouse gas emissions. The Bureau of Land Management will kick off a rewrite of methane regulations for onshore oil and gas infrastructure, a second try at regulations first written by the Obama administration but unraveled through lawsuits brought by the oil and gas industry. Other oil and gas measures on the docket include rules for high-pressure, high-temperature oil and gas drilling offshore — a developing frontier for offshore drilling — and updated decommissioning standards for old offshore infrastructure like pipelines.
STATE UPDATES
Politico: Navajo Leaders Say Chaco Oil Freeze Puts Elder Income At Risk
1/5/22
“Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez wrote a letter to the White House late last year warning that an oil and gas moratorium in northern New Mexico could slash income for elderly tribal members,” Politico reports. “In the letter obtained by E&E News, Nez and Navajo Vice President Myron Lizer also accused the administration of failing in its responsibility to consult with the Navajo Nation. Biden Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to helm the department, announced last year a two-year freeze on oil and gas leasing within 10 miles of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, an area in northern New Mexico sacred to many Native American tribes that also sits atop natural gas deposits. Haaland, who advocated for expanding protections against drilling near Chaco during her tenure as a Democratic congresswoman from New Mexico, said the administration would further consider extending the leasing freeze to 20 years, answering a longtime ask of several Pueblo leaders and environmental groups. Navajo leaders at the time quickly expressed reservations about a withdrawal and its impact on Navajo mineral owners in the area. Instead, they suggested a 5-mile buffer around the park — a compromise earlier offered by the Navajo Nation Council.”
E&E News: N.Y. governor backs nation’s first statewide gas ban
By David Iaconangelo, 1/6/22
“New York’s Democratic governor announced her backing yesterday for what would be the nation’s first statewide gas ban for new buildings, adding fuel to a simmering national battle,” E&E News reports. “Gov. Kathy Hochul’s support for a gas ban came through a 2022 policy blueprint released before her first State of the State address… “A statewide natural gas ban would raise the national bar for climate action for buildings, a top source of emissions and an area where state-level policymakers can exert an unusual degree of influence. While Hochul’s backing doesn’t guarantee a ban will become law, it will likely add momentum to similar plans already under consideration in the Democrat-controlled Legislature… “The blueprint calls for the state to pass legislation requiring all new buildings to use zero-emissions sources of heat by 2027. In practice, that would mostly require them to use electricity rather than fossil fuels, and it would follow in the footsteps of New York City, which became the largest U.S. city in December to ban the use of fossil fuels for building heat. The 2027 target "sends an unmistakable signal to the New York market, the nation, and the world that the future of buildings must be decarbonized," the blueprint said.
EXTRACTION
Financial Times: Canada minister defends oil sands despite pursuing emissions cuts
Derek Brower, 1/6/22
“Canada’s new natural resources minister has defended the country’s promotion of exports from its controversial oil sands projects even as he vowed to enforce “aggressive” greenhouse gas emissions cuts on the energy sector,” the Financial Times reports. “Jonathan Wilkinson, appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in October, said Ottawa was “going to be very aggressive in reducing emissions from the sector” and would work with other countries to drive down long-term crude demand. But he insisted Canada still had the right to keep pursuing exports from one of the world’s most carbon-intensive sources of oil. “For the [oil] demand that continues to exist, Canada needs to extract value from its resources, just like the United States, the United Kingdom in the North Sea, and Norway,” Wilkinson said. The minister’s comments highlight the tricky task facing the federal government of Canada, the world’s fourth-biggest crude producer and largest foreign supplier to the US, as it tries to decarbonise the economy without jeopardising an industry that accounts for about 5 per cent of GDP… “Wilkinson told the Financial Times the federal government was entitled to impose the new emissions limits, although it “would prefer to work collaboratively with our provinces”. “We believe that we have the jurisdiction and the authority to bring into play both the cap and the commitment with respect to reductions every five years,” he said.
Guardian: Life after Deepwater Horizon: the hidden toll of surviving disaster on an oil rig
Eyal Press, 1/6/22
“On the morning of 21 April 2010, Sara Lattis Stone began frantically calling the burn units of various hospitals in Alabama and Louisiana. She was searching for news about her husband, Stephen, who worked on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico where a massive explosion had occurred,” the Guardian reports. “The blast took place the day before Stephen was scheduled to return home from his latest three-week hitch on the rig, a semisubmersible floating unit called the Deepwater Horizon… “A few weeks later, a Transocean representative reached out to him and, over a cup of coffee at Denny’s, offered him $5,000 for the personal belongings he’d lost on the rig, which he accepted. Then the representative asked him to sign a document affirming that he had not been injured. Stephen was dumbfounded. “I’m not signing this,” he told the representative. “I don’t know if I’m injured yet – this just happened.” “...A proud Louisianian and committed conservationist, Espinoza-Gala was not unmoved by the image of the pelican. But, like Sara Lattis Stone, she found it difficult to understand why the pelicans aroused more sympathy from politicians than the workers. “The widows were in these hearings, where they’re holding up pictures of birds instead of their husbands!” she said. For a long time, she told me, this enraged her. Eventually, she came to terms with it, reluctantly concluding that if not for the pelicans, the Deepwater Horizon disaster would probably have been ignored in Washington, the way most rig accidents were, owing to the low value placed on the lives of the people who did the dirty work. “If 11 workers would have died, nobody would have cared,” she said.
OPINION
The Gazette: Iowans beware of ethanol ‘greenwashing’
Thom Krystofiak is a founder of Climate Action Iowa. He is writer and software engineer living in Fairfield, 12/30/21
“Five years ago, the Dakota Access pipeline cut across 347 miles of Iowa farmland to transport over 20 million gallons of oil per day. Today, new pipelines are being planned,” Thom Krystofiak writes for The Gazette. “One of them, Heartland Greenway (also known as Navigator), will transport not oil but liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2). The pipeline will carry 15 million tons of CO2 each year, captured mostly from ethanol plants around Iowa. The plan is to permanently sequester this CO2 underground in southern Illinois. Is this a good idea? That depends on one’s perspective… “A second perspective (the farmers’ view) is that this pipeline will slash through 30 Iowa counties. Most farmers do not want their land torn open and their soil and tiling disturbed to allow corporations to gain financial advantages. And they especially do not want to be told that they have no choice in the matter. Farmers recount all kinds of problems they have had with past pipelines, including damaged and improperly repaired tiling, soil compaction and reduced yields. A third perspective (the view of those concerned about the climate) is that the pipeline’s ultimate purpose is to help ethanol plants to thrive. Ethanol is a gasoline additive, completely bound up with fossil fuels, and so the pipeline would effectively extend our use of these fuels. Transportation is the highest single driver of climate change. Far, far more CO2 will be released by vehicles using ethanol-added fuel than will be recovered by this pipeline. Our tax dollars should not be used to subsidize an industry rooted in the past, but should instead be invested in forward-looking projects that support a rapid transition to a sustainable, carbon-free energy future (including electric vehicles and their supporting infrastructure) — a transition that is our only hope to avert the worst threats of the climate crisis.”
The Hill: For the sake of the planet, Build Back Better must be salvaged
Dr. Stuart P.M. Mackintosh is executive director of the Group of Thirty and author of “Climate Crisis Economics,” 1/5/22
“Let us not sugarcoat an ugly New Year's reality. President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) bill — the centerpiece of his domestic and climate change agenda — is on life support after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) declared on Fox News that he would not vote for it,” Dr. Stuart P.M. Mackintosh writes for The Hill. “The success of Biden’s presidency and the likely outcome of the 2022 midterms rests in part on whether BBB’s policies can be brought back from the dead. This is no trifling domestic political debacle among Democrats: Achieving global climate change goals depends on the U.S. starting to implement Biden’s net-zero carbon emissions plan today — not two (or god forbid) four or more years from now. We have no extra time. Build Back Better and its climate change policies need to be saved or salvaged. So what, if anything, can be done? “...By breaking up the bill into pieces, the administration can focus on congressional action backed by support from voters, industries and other actors. The Biden administration can also use regulation, state-level coordination and rulemaking to achieve its goals… “Build Back Better is likely dead. Long live the many pieces of Build Back Better. Democrats must not give up. They must use every lever at their disposal, including the bully pulpit. Keep pushing to get through what are still essential policies for all Americans — and for the planet.”