EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 2/10/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Kansas City Star: Keystone Pipeline operator identifies what caused the record-setting Kansas oil spill
Reuters: TC Energy says stress, weld fault caused Keystone oil spill
TC Energy: TC Energy shares initial investigation findings, revised release volume and actions
Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Carbon pipeline bill clears the House floor in victory for South Dakota landowners
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Pipeline company seeks court decision on land survey injunction
Harlan Newspapers: Supervisors Remind Pipeline Company And Landowners Zoning Ordinance Will Be Enforced
Journal Courier: Counties weighing money for carbon pipeline
Grist: Documents show how a pipeline company paid Minnesota millions to police protests
Los Angeles Times: Shipping companies agree to pay $45 million in O.C. oil spill lawsuits
Roanoke Times: Lawsuits claiming malicious prosecution in Mountain Valley Pipeline case settled
WASHINGTON UPDATES
InsideEPA: Manchin, White House Said To Discuss ‘Phase 2’ NEPA Permitting Rule
E&E News: Permitting Push Sees Bipartisan Interest At House Hearing
Washington Post: Targeting the methane fee
Washington Post: Republicans want to repeal climate programs. It might backfire.
Reuters: LNG developer NextDecade blasts inaction by U.S. energy regulator
InsideEPA: Oil Group Downplays Effect Of NEPA GHG Ruling But Urges Hill Response
Casper Star-Tribune: Environmental groups again back feds on oil and gas leasing
STATE UPDATES
Los Angeles Times: L.A. is shutting down its largest gas plant — and replacing it with an unproven hydrogen project
Prairie Public Broadcasting: PSC approves expansion of Basin Electric's 'Pioneer Station,' in Williams County
EXTRACTION
E&E News: War, politics, business make 1.5 C target far-fetched — experts
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Will Canada Answer the Call for LNG? ‘It’s a TBD,’ Says Enbridge Head
Environmental Defence: Statement from Indigenous and environmental experts on Imperial Oil’s tailings pond 5.3 million litres leak
Canadian Press: Alberta to pilot oil and gas royalty breaks for legally required well cleanup
Harvard Kennedy School: There’s groundbreaking new science to help cut methane emissions, but is there the political will?
CLIMATE FINANCE
Washington Post: Gunning for the green bank
Guardian: NatWest to end new business loans for oil and gas extraction
OPINION
Prism Reports: Enbridge’s Line 5 threatens Indigenous land and peoples
The Repository: Letter to the editor: No, natural gas is not 'green energy'
The Federalist: Republicans Missed Big In House Hearing On American Energy
PIPELINE NEWS
Kansas City Star: Keystone Pipeline operator identifies what caused the record-setting Kansas oil spill
NATALIE WALLINGTON, 2/9/23
“Structural issues caused by “bending stress on the pipe” and “a weld flaw” are to blame for the Keystone Pipeline’s oil spill in rural northern Kansas earlier this winter, according to pipeline operator TC Energy,” the Kansas City Star reports. “Just over two months after the spill, the Canadian company released the results of a mechanical analysis on the failed pipe on Thursday… “TC Energy also revised its estimated spill volume to 12,937 barrels of oil — slightly lower than the 14,000 barrel estimate it initially released. The new volume is equal to around 543,354 gallons. The spill is still the largest in the pipeline’s history, and larger than all of its previous spills combined. “The failure analysis reaffirms it’s only a matter of time before another weld fails or (a) design error causes environmental disaster like this again, or worse,” wrote Kansas Sierra Club lobbyist Zack Pistora in a press release Thursday. “TC Energy doesn’t need a slap on the wrist – it needs real consequences.” The Star previously reported that the section of the pipeline connected to the spill was removed in December, several weeks after the spill occurred. No photos of the impacted pipeline segment have been released so far by TC Energy or regulators like the EPA. “Such avoidance of pictures unfortunately is becoming more frequent in too many pipeline ruptures,” Richard Kuprewicz, an independent pipeline advisor who has testified before Congress on pipeline safety and has over 20 years of experience advising on pipeline operation and regulation, told the Star. TC Energy said that it is decreasing the pressure inside the pipeline and investigating other spots where similar welding flaws may exist. Government records show that certain sections of the pipeline have been operating at an above-standard pressure since 2017, but it is unknown whether the impacted section of the pipeline was one of them. TC Energy said that a high pressure was not responsible for the spill.”
Reuters: TC Energy says stress, weld fault caused Keystone oil spill
Arunima Kumar and Rod Nickel, 2/9/23
“Pipeline operator TC Energy Corp said on Thursday a combination of factors including bending stress on the pipe and a weld flaw might have led to the Keystone oil spill and that it was expecting $480 million in costs related to the incident,” Reuters reports. “The pipeline regulator's investigation into the leak is continuing and it will release its own analysis of what caused the spill, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters… “The earlier estimate of the spill was a maximum of 14,000 barrels. The revised volume is the actual measured volume of crude oil injected during the refill of the pipeline system during its restart. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, based on its independent calculation, "continues to work from this initial estimated discharge volume" of 14,000 barrels, a spokesperson told Reuters… "A bad weld from a fabrication facility is troubling - it adds to the list of manufacturing and construction issues that have plagued this pipeline," Bill Caram, executive director of Pipeline Safety Trust, a U.S. advocacy group against pipeline hazards, told Reuters… “Land movement likely caused a bad weld to break and bending stress on the pipe, Caram told Reuters, adding that Keystone's permit requires it to mitigate such threats.”
TC Energy: TC Energy shares initial investigation findings, revised release volume and actions
2/9/23
“We continue to progress our remediation and the root cause investigation at our Keystone Milepost-14 incident site in Washington County, Kansas, with the following updates of note: We have advanced our root cause investigation with the completion of an independent mechanical and metallurgical analysis of the failed pipe. The analysis concludes that the failure occurred due to a combination of factors, including bending stress on the pipe and a weld flaw at a pipe to fitting girth weld that was completed at a fabrication facility. Although welding inspection and testing were conducted within applicable codes and standards, the weld flaw led to a crack that propagated over time as a result of bending stress fatigue, eventually leading to an instantaneous rupture. The cause of the bending stress remains under investigation as part of the broader third-party root cause failure analysis. The metallurgical analysis identified no issues with the strength or material properties of the pipe or manufactured fitting. The pipeline was operating within its operational design and within the pipeline design maximum operating pressure. Our focus continues to be the safe operation of the pipeline system. Additional operational mitigations, such as reduced operating pressure, are in place to support the safe operations of our system while we continue our response and investigation. Our team is progressing a remediation plan, including an analysis of other areas with potentially similar conditions, the use of additional in-line inspections, and further operational mitigations. We have revised the release volume to 12,937 barrels from the original estimated maximum of 14,000 barrels. The revised volume is the actual measured volume of crude oil injected during the re-fill of the pipeline system during its safe restart. Our commitment to remediation, investigation and shared learnings is unwavering. To support this, we have arrived at a cost estimate of US$480 million. This estimate may be adjusted as we continue to progress work on site. We are working with our insurers to maximize cost recoveries.”
Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Carbon pipeline bill clears the House floor in victory for South Dakota landowners
Dominik Dausch, Annie Todd, 2/9/23
“South Dakota landowners are officially one step closer to fending off Big Carbon,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports. “On Thursday, legislators voted 40-28 to pass House Bill 1133, a bill that effectively prohibits carbon capture companies, like Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures, from utilizing the state's eminent domain laws to build their multi-billion dollar hazardous liquid carbon dioxide pipelines through parts of South Dakota. Since the early days of this year's legislative session, a mish-mashed wave of plaid-and-suit wearing farmers and landowners have occupied South Dakota's Capitol to stand in opposition of the pipelines, Mark Lapka, a landowner from Leola, told the Argus Leader on Thursday. He told the Argus Leader their stand-out presence showed South Dakota's legislative body they're serious about the future of their land. "We're farmers and ranchers, and we're obviously out of our element down there. We're not lobbyists, but you know, we are the constituents," Lapka told the Argus Leader prior to the vote. "We're not there, because we want to be there. We're there, because we have to be there, and this is our government, and we need to get something done." Currently, South Dakota law considers companies with pipelines as "common carriers," or companies that transport commodities, and allows them to exercise eminent domain within the state. Based on the bill's language, the new law would exempt companies whose product is disposed of under the earth or allows them to qualify for tax credits, like carbon companies seeking to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act's clean energy provisions… “Summit declined an interview following the Thursday vote… “House Bill 1133 now heads to the South Dakota Senate for debate.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Pipeline company seeks court decision on land survey injunction
JARED STRONG, 2//8/23
“Navigator CO2 Ventures is arguing in court that a state law that allows pipeline companies to survey land is constitutional and the company has complied with its provisions,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “The company is seeking a court order, without going to trial, to require a landowner to allow access to surveyors. Navigator has sought court-ordered injunctions against four sets of landowners who have denied the company access to their properties… “Those landowners contend that the state law that allows the surveys — with the aid of an injunction, if necessary — amounts to an unconstitutional taking of land without compensation… “In a 2015 court case in Boone County, a landowner was unsuccessful in arguing that forced land surveys by Dakota Access — which built an oil pipeline across the state — were unconstitutional… “Navigator has cited that decision in its pursuit of summary judgment in its case against William and Vicki Hulse of Woodbury County. It was set to go to trial next week, but the trial has been delayed indefinitely pending a decision about Navigator’s request… “Final written arguments in the case are due next week, after which District Judge Roger Sailer is set to rule on the company’s motion. It is the first of four pending cases against landowners that was set to go to trial. The others in Butler and Clay counties are set for April and May. The company has not filed motions for summary judgment in those cases, court records show… “Another carbon dioxide pipeline company, Summit Carbon Solutions, has expanded the number of court-ordered injunctions it seeks for land surveys. It filed suit against three sets of landowners in September, and the cases are set for trial in April, May and June. Summit recently filed a motion for summary judgment for the Dickinson County case that is set for trial in April, concerning the Daniel L. Wahl family trust… “There is pending legislation in the Iowa Senate that would eliminate the companies’ ability to conduct the surveys without permission of landowners.”
Harlan Newspapers: Supervisors Remind Pipeline Company And Landowners Zoning Ordinance Will Be Enforced
RENÉE BRICH, 2/9/23
“The Shelby County Board of Supervisors were given updates regarding the proposed carbon capture pipeline at its board meeting Tuesday, February 7,” Harlan Newspapers reports. “Grant Terry, Isaac Risseeuw, Kaylee Langrell, and Riley Gibson, representing Summit Carbon Solutions, were in attendance… “Langrell also provided a map of underground pipelines in Houston, TX to show how communities can still expand once pipelines are put in… “Board Chairman Steve Kenkel questioned how many carbon capture pipelines were currently in Houston. “I don’t think Houston has any CO2 lines,” Langrell said. “It doesn’t even fall under the same definition as hazardous pipelines. Houston, Texas also doesn’t have any zoning ordinances,” Kenkel said… “Chairman Kenkel questioned the pipeline company’s transparency regarding both safety issues and the impact on community growth and economic development. “If an 8” CO2 line like the one that proposed to go through Shelby County were to rupture, what is the size of the area of the blast zone?” Senior project manager Grant Terry stated there were too many variables to provide an answer. “I can’t give you an accurate number,” Terry said. “We are in the process of conducting those studies.” Kenkel asked how the Board makes decisions as community leaders if they don’t know the possible damage the pipeline could cause. “You say there’s transparency,” Kenkel said, “Then we need to have that data. How do we protect our citizens?” He was told the data will be provided after the emergency response training takes place, which will be sometime after construction on the pipeline begins… “We can’t do our job if we don’t have the proper information and we are doing our due diligence asking for it. It’s a hazardous pipeline. It wouldn’t be called hazardous if it wasn’t hazardous. So we are asking you to be transparent and get us that information so we know what we are dealing with.” Kenkel then asked the representatives if they were aware of the county’s hazardous pipeline ordinance that went into effect November 11, and explained both Summit and landowners needed to apply for a Conditional Use Permit with the county before signing easements. “Have you been doing that?”.. “Buman said all Shelby County landowners on the proposed pipeline route were sent a reminder and a copy of conditional use permit. “Everyone has been put on notice, this is the law. It’s been put in effect and you need to abide by the law,” Kenkel said… “The lawsuit filed by Summit Carbon Solutions against Shelby County regarding the pipeline zoning ordinance is scheduled for bench trial January 16 and January 17, 2024 at the Federal District Court in Council Bluffs.”
Journal Courier: Counties weighing money for carbon pipeline
Ben Singson, 2/120/23
“West-central Illinois counties are staying open to the idea of being paid to help build a carbon dioxide pipeline,” the Journal Courier reports. “Navigator CO2 drafted an offer to McDonough County worth from $20,000 to $630,000 annually for 30 years. In exchange, the county would need to "cooperate with the developer on a good-faith basis and provide positive assistance as necessary" in the construction of its Heartland Greenway carbon sequestration pipeline. The move has been criticized by opponents as an attempt to "buy off" the county… “Morgan County Commissioner Ginny Fanning told the Courier the county had not been approached by Navigator with a similar offer. Commissioners previously signed a resolution against the use of eminent domain to build the pipeline. If an offer were to come commissioners' way, they would weigh the options, Fanning told the Courier, noting they are not ready to make a decision on the matter… “Brown County Board Chairman David Ferrill told the Courier the county had not received an offer from Navigator but, if it were to receive one, the board "would consider the offer and give it ample thought and discussion."
Grist: Documents show how a pipeline company paid Minnesota millions to police protests
Alleen Brown & John McCracken, 2/9/23
“The morning of June 7, 2021, Sheriff’s Deputy Chuck Nelson of Beltrami County, Minnesota, bought water and refreshments, packed his gear, and prepared for what would be, in his own words, “a long day.” For over six months, Indigenous-led opponents of the Line 3 project had been participating in acts of civil disobedience to disrupt construction of the tar sands oil pipeline, arguing that it would pollute water, exacerbate the climate crisis, and violate treaties with the Anishinaabe people. Officers like Nelson were stuck in the middle of a conflict, sworn to protect the rights of both the pipeline company Enbridge and its opponents,” Grist reports. “...By the end of the day, 186 people had been detained in the largest mass-arrest of the opposition movement. Some officers stuck around to process arrests, while others stopped for snacks at a gas station or ordered Chinese takeout before crashing at a nearby motel. These latter details might be considered irrelevant, except for the fact that the police and emergency workers’ takeout, motel rooms, riot gear, gas, wages, and trainings were paid for by one side of the dispute — the fossil fuel company building the pipeline, which spent more than $79,000 on policing that day alone… “By the time construction finished in fall 2021, prosecutors had filed 967 criminal cases related to pipeline protests, and police had submitted hundreds of receipts and invoices to the Enbridge-funded escrow account, seeking reimbursement. Through a public records request, Grist and the Center for Media and Democracy have obtained and reviewed every one of those invoices, providing the most complete picture yet of the ways the pipeline company paid for the arrests of its opponents — and much more. From pizza and “Pipeline Punch” energy drinks, to porta potties, riot suits, zip ties, and salaries, Enbridge poured a total of $8.6 million into 97 public agencies, from the northern Minnesota communities that the pipeline intersected to southern counties from which deputies traveled hours to help quell demonstrations… “Winona LaDuke, an Anishinaabe activist and founder of the Indigenous environmental nonprofit Honor the Earth, is among those arguing in court that charges should be thrown out. Aitkin County, the jurisdiction behind the allegations she’s fighting, was reimbursed $6,007.70 for wages and benefits on just one of the days she was arrested. LaDuke believes the money amped up the police response. “They were far more aggressive with us, far more intent on finding any possible reason to stop somebody,” she told Grist. “Law enforcement is supposed to protect and serve the people. They work for Enbridge.”
Los Angeles Times: Shipping companies agree to pay $45 million in O.C. oil spill lawsuits
HANNAH FRY, LAURA J. NELSON, 2/9/23
“Companies linked to two cargo ships accused of damaging a pipeline months before it ruptured, sending crude oil gushing into the waters off Orange County, have agreed to pay $45 million to settle lawsuits brought by business owners and residents, attorneys said Thursday,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “If approved by a judge, the settlement would end the legal wrangling by those whose livelihoods were affected after 25,000 gallons of crude oil gushed into the waters off Orange County in October 2021. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuits told the Times Thursday that they are also finalizing non-financial terms with the companies that owned and operated the MSC Danit and Cosco Beijing container ships to prevent “similar events from occurring in the future.”.. “Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp., which owns the pipeline, agreed in fall to pay $50 million to residents and business owners affected by the spill, including a Huntington Beach surf school, coastal property owners, a Seal Beach bait and tackle store, and several groups of fishing and seafood sales companies. The combined settlements, totaling nearly $100 million, will be distributed among three classes: one representing the fishing industry, another for coastal homeowners and a third for individuals and businesses whose livelihoods relied on the use of the ocean for tourism, attorney Wylie Aitken told the Times.” “It sends a clear message to large corporations operating off the coast of California that they will be held responsible for their negligence,” they said in a statement.
Roanoke Times: Lawsuits claiming malicious prosecution in Mountain Valley Pipeline case settled
Laurence Hammack, 2/9/23
“Two Craig County residents, who four years ago claimed they were falsely accused of trespassing on a Mountain Valley Pipeline construction right of way, have settled their malicious prosecution lawsuits,” the Roanoke Times reports. “Gordon Jones and Nan Gray had each sought $4 million in damages from Mountain Valley and its security firm, Global Security Corp. The case had been scheduled to go to trial this week. But late last month, a judge issued a dismissal order that states the plaintiffs and defendants agree that “all matters in controversy between them have been resolved.” Filed in December 2018, the lawsuits had claimed that Mountain Valley and Global Security conspired with malice and ill will to have Jones and Gray charged with trespassing — charges that a Craig County prosecutor later dropped… “State police were called to the scene, but decided not to file charges. A Global Security officer, in conjunction with pipeline officials, then decided to pursue charges on his own. Two magistrates declined to issue warrants, but a third one did after receiving incomplete facts, the lawsuits had claimed.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
InsideEPA: Manchin, White House Said To Discuss ‘Phase 2’ NEPA Permitting Rule
2/8/23
“Senate energy committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV) and White House officials have been discussing ways to include some of the senator’s permitting proposals that have so far been rejected in Congress in a looming Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) ‘Phase 2’ National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rule, according to industry sources,” InsideEPA reports. “While it is unclear which specific measures the Biden administration might include in the high-profile rulemaking, sources tell InsideEPA administrative limits put at least one proposal off the table -- Manchin’s push to ensure approval of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in his home state. One industry source says there is ‘no doubt’ about discussions between Manchin and the White House over the phase 2 rule, which CEQ is advancing to address the Trump-era NEPA implementing rule that dramatically scaled back how agencies use the bedrock environmental law. ‘And it likely goes beyond Manchin now to other [Democrats] on committees dealing with Republican energy permitting proposals,’ this source told InsideEPA”
E&E News: Permitting Push Sees Bipartisan Interest At House Hearing
Kelsey Brugger, 2/9/23
“House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) announced Wednesday the committee’s first order of business would be to delve into the charged issue of permitting, after Democrats said they wanted to work with Republicans on the topic,” E&E News reports. “The hearing, which careened from oil drilling to public health to infant mortality, had a common theme: Republicans and Democrats expressed an interest in reworking the permit process. But on many of the particulars, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart. ‘The word that came out the most was NEPA,’ Westerman said, referring to the National Environmental Policy Act, at the end of the hearing. ‘We are talking about regulatory reform. … It’s hard to talk about regulatory reform.’”
Washington Post: Targeting the methane fee
Maxine Joselow, 2/9/23
“Rep. August Pfluger (R-Tex.) has introduced a bill to repeal the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, which establishes the first-ever federal fee on methane emissions from oil and gas operations,” the Washington Post reports. “The charge starts at $900 per metric ton of methane in 2024, increasing to $1,500 in 2026… “Pfluger, who represents the oil- and gas-producing Permian Basin, told the Post that his bill would “strike the Natural Gas Tax imposed by President Biden in the Inflation ‘Expansion’ Act,” adding that the methane fee would “drive up the cost of household energy bills.” According to an analysis by the think tank Resources for the Future, the methane fee would have only a negligible impact on household energy bills. But repealing the program would likely undercut new business expected by oil-field services giants that make the equipment needed for compliance, including Houston-based Baker Hughes and Schlumberger. Last spring, Schlumberger created a business unit dedicated to helping the oil industry cut methane emissions. Both companies are already preparing for a windfall from Environmental Protection Agency rules that require oil companies to curb methane seeping from pipes and other equipment.”
Washington Post: Republicans want to repeal climate programs. It might backfire.
Maxine Joselow, 2/9/23
“House Republicans are seeking to claw back funding for climate change programs established by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ landmark climate and health-care law. There’s just one problem: The programs are bringing an influx of cash and jobs to their states, making it harder to justify repeal to their constituents,” the Washington Post reports. “A similar problem bedeviled Republicans during their failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, whose provisions disproportionately benefited people in red states with some of the highest uninsured rates. “Republicans are walking into the same trap again,” Lori Lodes, executive director of the environmental group Climate Power, told The Climate 202. “They’re trying to score political points, but they’re not thinking about what this will really mean for their communities,” Lodes, who was involved in the fight to pass the Affordable Care Act at the Service Employees International Union, told the Post.
Reuters: LNG developer NextDecade blasts inaction by U.S. energy regulator
2/6/23
“U.S. liquefied natural gas developer NextDecade Corp on Monday criticized regulator the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for what it called "inexcusable" delays in reviewing information that would allow it to move ahead with a $15.7 billion export project,” Reuters reports. “NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG project has been stalled by a federal appeals court ruling that the original approval failed to adequately consider the Brownsville, Texas, plant's impact on climate change or on area minority and low-income residents. The court asked FERC to revisit its environmental review but did not invalidate the original approval. "It is patently clear that an ongoing, 18-month process to address two questions remanded to the Commission is inexcusable," NextDecade's chief executive, Matthew Schatzman, wrote in a letter. He called on FERC Chairman Willie Phillips to put the project on the commission's meeting agenda this month… “The company has said it expects to move ahead with financial approval for the first phase of the about $15.7 billion project this quarter after signing customer agreements for about 70% of the initial capacity.”
InsideEPA: Oil Group Downplays Effect Of NEPA GHG Ruling But Urges Hill Response
2/8/23
“An oil and gas industry group is arguing that the Interior Department (DOI) can easily remedy a recent appellate court ruling requiring analysis of the cumulative greenhouse gas effects of its oil drilling approvals under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),” InsideEPA reports. “But even as the industry group says DOI could quickly clarify that current law does not require the level of analysis environmentalists seek, it is also pressing Congress to revise the NEPA statute to limit the scope of any GHG reviews. The views surfaced during a Feb. 8 House Natural Resources Committee hearing where lawmakers also clashed over the Biden administration’s energy policies and the prospect for enacting legislation to expedite permit reviews for energy projects of all types. ‘It is an easy corrective fix,’ Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said, referencing a Feb. 1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit regarding a series of drilling approvals in New Mexico from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).”
Casper Star-Tribune: Environmental groups again back feds on oil and gas leasing
Nicole Pollack, 2/8/23
“Environmental groups are rejoining the legal fight between Wyoming and the Biden administration over oil and gas leasing,” the Casper Star-Tribune reports. “After losing its first attempt to challenge delayed oil and gas lease sales late last summer, the state — along with the Petroleum Association of Wyoming and the Western Energy Alliance — opted to not appeal and instead start over in December with a new lawsuit. Earthjustice and the Western Environmental Law Center, which represented 21 environmental groups backing the U.S. Department of the Interior in the previous case, filed a motion on Wednesday to intervene again, this time on behalf of 17 groups. U.S. District Judge Scott W. Skavdahl of Wyoming ruled in September that the Bureau of Land Management legally postponed the state’s planned March 2021 oil and gas lease sale in order to redo required environmental reviews — and didn’t violate a clause in the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 requiring it to offer leases at least quarterly in every state “where eligible lands are available.” “...BLM’s decision to cancel lease sales sure seems to be a violation of both the letter and the spirit of the law,” Gov. Mark Gordon told the Tribune in a December statement. “I firmly believe the pause in lease sales was politically driven and not based in law or fact.” “...The environmental groups — many of which also sued over that June lease sale — see the government’s actions on leasing differently… “Shannon Anderson, staff attorney for the Powder River Basin Resource Council, one of the 17 environmental groups, told the Tribune the intervenors’ goal is “to help the Department of the Interior defend its authority to the maximum extent possible to consider, at a programmatic level, reforms to the oil and gas program.”
STATE UPDATES
Los Angeles Times: L.A. is shutting down its largest gas plant — and replacing it with an unproven hydrogen project
SAMMY ROTH, 2/8/23
“The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward with an $800-million plan to convert the city’s largest gas-fired power plant to green hydrogen — a first-of-its-kind project that was hailed by supporters as an important step to solve the climate crisis but slammed by critics as a greenwashing boondoggle that will harm vulnerable communities,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “Council President Paul Krekorian described hydrogen as crucial to meeting L.A.'s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035… “Jason Rondou, DWP’s director of resource planning, told The Times that Scattergood should be able to burn at least 30% green hydrogen on Day One — the same percentage the utility is targeting at its coal-fired Intermountain Power Plant in Utah. “There’s a lot of things that need to be figured out over the coming years,” Rondou told the Times. That uncertainty helps explain why many climate and environmental justice activists opposed Wednesday’s City Council motion. In public comments before the vote, critics from groups including Communities for a Better Environment, Pacoima Beautiful and the Sierra Club noted that although hydrogen doesn’t produce planet-warming carbon emissions when burned, it does generate lung-damaging nitrogen oxide pollution — much more than gas, at least using current technology… “They also raised the possibility that DWP’s experimental green hydrogen project could fail, leaving L.A. stuck burning natural gas when the city instead could have invested more heavily in battery storage, energy efficiency and other strategies to ditch fossil fuels while keeping the lights on… “After hearing from opponents and supporters, the council voted 12 to 0 to move forward with the hydrogen plan — but only after approving a separate motion that newly elected Councilmembers Traci Park and Katy Young Yaroslavsky said would require DWP officials to more closely examine alternatives and more robustly engage with communities near the gas plant… “Adding to the skepticism over green hydrogen is that its loudest proponents are often fossil fuel companies. In Los Angeles, that would be Southern California Gas Co., the nation’s largest gas utility. Last year, the company proposed Angeles Link, a massive and potentially lucrative pipeline that would bring green hydrogen fuel to the L.A. Basin.”
Prairie Public Broadcasting: PSC approves expansion of Basin Electric's 'Pioneer Station,' in Williams County
Dave Thompson, 2/9/23
“The North Dakota Public Service Commission has approved the siting plan for expansion of Basin Electric’s Pioneer Generation Station in Williams County,” Prairie Public Broadcasting reports. “The plant – which is 15 miles northwest of Williston -- uses natural gas. Basin will be adding six 18.8 megawatt "reciprocal internal combustion engines," or "rice," and two simple cycle combustion turbines… "It's great for balancing the wind power on their system, and Basin is projecting significant growth in demand," Commissioner Julie Fedorchak told PPB. The project – with associated power lines – will cost $788 million.”
EXTRACTION
E&E News: War, politics, business make 1.5 C target far-fetched — experts
Chelsea Harvey, 2/2/23
“Keeping global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius is “currently not plausible,” warns a new report from the University of Hamburg,” E&E News reports. “The types of swift, transformative social change needed to reach that target just aren’t happening fast enough. A less ambitious target of 2 C still could be in the cards, the report adds. But it would require world leaders to set more ambitious climate goals for their nations and put them in motion immediately… “The 1.5 C threshold requires global emissions to hit net zero by 2050, the IPCC warns, and they should fall by roughly half within the next decade. But studies consistently find that global climate action isn’t happening fast enough to keep up with those requirements. The U.N.’s latest annual emissions gap report, which assesses global progress on the Paris targets, found that the climate policies currently in place around the world aren’t even enough to meet the 2 C target, let alone 1.5 C. As it is, studies suggest that humanity could blow past the 1.5 C threshold in about a decade. Though it’s still technically possible to achieve it — if world leaders took the necessary steps right away — climate scientists and policy experts increasingly acknowledge that it’s probably not going to happen. The new Hamburg report affirms those fears. The report examines 10 different social drivers that can affect the world’s ability to achieve “deep decarbonization” in time to meet the Paris targets. These include governance from the U.N., transnational initiatives, climate-related regulation, climate protests and social movements, climate litigation, corporate responses, fossil-fuel divestment, consumption patterns, journalism, and the production of knowledge on climate change. On a global scale, not one of them supports deep decarbonization by 2050, the report finds.”
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Will Canada Answer the Call for LNG? ‘It’s a TBD,’ Says Enbridge Head
Chris Varcoe, 2/9/23
“The CEO of Canada’s largest energy company says countries such as Japan and Germany are knocking on our front door seeking supplies of natural gas,” the Calgary Herald reports. “Will this country answer the call? Are we doing enough to grow the LNG sector? “It’s a TBD,” Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel told the Herald. .“When our big allies, the Germans and the Japanese, come knocking, we’ve got to answer that door . . . We recognize we have an obligation to answer the door and, in good Canadian fashion, we need to make sure — we’re deciding how to open the door.” “...Speaking in Ottawa on Wednesday to a forum about LNG and net-zero held by Policy Magazine, Ebel made the case for saying yes… “Ebel contends there is a business case for LNG projects in Canada, a clear response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s assertion such conditions don’t exist for an export terminal off the Atlantic coast… “Asked last week if he wants the expansion to proceed, B.C. Premier David Eby delivered one of those classic mixed-message moments. As Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer aptly noted, Eby’s response showed little enthusiasm for the big-ticket energy development… “Ebel believes progress is being made in the conversation to nurture and expand the LNG industry and send gas into other markets. But as he told the audience in Ottawa: “We as Canadians need to answer the knock that’s at the door.”
Environmental Defence: Statement from Indigenous and environmental experts on Imperial Oil’s tailings pond 5.3 million litres leak
2/9/23
“On February 4th, 5.3 million litres leaked from Imperial Oil’s tailing “pond,” enough to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools in a single incident. The tar sands’ tailings “ponds” now contain over 1.4 trillion litres of toxic waste and cover an area more than two times the size of the city of Vancouver. “Indigenous communities have known about tailings leaking for years, and nothing has been done despite numerous complaints and incidents. The Alberta and Federal governments have turned a blind eye to the oil industry in the oil sands for forty-five years, allowing disasters like this to happen. This leak is a wake-up call and must lead to much more active and ambitious efforts to make industry pay for the destruction they cause.” said Jesse Cardinal, Executive Director, Keepers of the Water.”
Canadian Press: Alberta to pilot oil and gas royalty breaks for legally required well cleanup
2/8/23
“The Alberta government is moving ahead with a plan that would give oil and gas companies a tax break for meeting their legal obligations to clean up old well sites, inviting a select group of landowner organizations to a meeting to discuss a pilot project,” the Canadian Press reports. “...That pilot program, previously known as RStar and now called the Liability Management Incentive Program, would issue $100 million in credits that qualified companies could use to apply against royalties earned from new production… “Opposition New Democrat energy critic Kathleen Ganley said there should be a conversation about the pilot project happening with the public. “They’re taking public money and giving it to oil companies to do work they are already legally obligated to do and they’re doing it at a time of high oil prices,” Ganley said. The idea has been widely panned by economists, environmentalists, rural municipalities and analysts within Alberta Energy. Critics call the program risky, opaque and a violation of the polluter-pay principle. “For some reason, we’re incentivizing future royalties to eliminate liabilities when profits are high,” Paul McLauchlin of Rural Municipalities Alberta told CP. “It’s very confusing to a lot of people.” “...Dwight Popowich of the Polluter Pay Federation told CP his group made repeated requests to attend the session, but have instead been told to meet with department officials. “If you happen to be a dissenter of any kind, you definitely won’t be invited,” he told CP.
Harvard Kennedy School: There’s groundbreaking new science to help cut methane emissions, but is there the political will?
2/8/23
“Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert Stavins and Professor Daniel Jacob of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are at the forefront of new efforts to monitor and control methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane didn’t use to seem like such a big deal. It was that other climate gas, the one that was the butt of cow flatulence jokes and that only stayed in the atmosphere for a decade or so. But since important global warming targets are now just seven years away and science has developed a better understanding of both methane’s pervasiveness and its potent role in warming the atmosphere, it’s now very much on the front burner for increasingly concerned climate policymakers. The good news is that the science of monitoring methane emissions has taken huge leaps forward recently, thanks to advances in supercomputing, weather modeling, and satellite imaging, to the point where we could soon have daily real-time monitoring and measuring of methane emissions around the globe… “There are hopeful signs, including a major international agreement called the Global Methane Pledge, but the big question will be whether global leaders have the will to follow through.
CLIMATE FINANCE
Washington Post: Gunning for the green bank
Maxine Joselow, 2/9/23
“The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday considered a discussion draft of a bill to repeal the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund created by the climate law,” the Washington Post reports. “The fund, commonly known as a green bank, will provide low-cost financing for projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions. Of the $27 billion, states and tribes can apply for $7 billion worth of grants and loans earmarked for disadvantaged communities. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), who is expected to sponsor the bill, slammed the green bank as a “slush fund” during the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. The program will help “Wall Street firms to basically set up a climate bank, but it doesn’t help the American people with their utility bills,” Palmer said. “Will this $27 billion slush fund lower the cost of heating for these American families?” However, the program is set to “primarily benefit red states” that happen to have the highest emissions nationally, Reed Hundt, chief executive of the Coalition for Green Capital, a nonprofit group that advocates for green banks, told the Post.
Guardian: NatWest to end new business loans for oil and gas extraction
Kalyeena Makortoff, 2/9/23
“NatWest has announced it will stop offering loans to new customers hoping to fund oil and gas exploration, extraction or production projects, as part of a wider climate transition plan due to be unveiled next week,” the Guardian reports. “The banks’s chief executive, Alison Rose, said similar steps would be taken to phase out the same funding for existing customers, meaning the bank would refuse to renew, refinance or extend loans for upstream gas projects from the start of 2026… “Rose made the announcement as she trailed the release of the bank’s first climate transition plan, which is due to be unveiled alongside the bank’s full-year results next Friday. The plan, which will be one of the first released by a UK bank, will give a sector-by-sector breakdown of how NatWest will halve the emissions created by the projects and companies it finances by 2030… “Meanwhile, Barclays is under fire for failing to provide the same pledges over its oil and gas funding. A group of over 27 investors with $1.4tn (£1.1bn) in assets under management have written to Barclays, as well as four other European banks – BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Société Général – urging them to stop directly financing new oil and gas fields by the end of this year. The letter was signed by investors including the Midlands local government employee pension fund LGPS central, and the state-backed Nest pension fund and was coordinated by climate campaign group ShareAction.”
OPINION
Prism Reports: Enbridge’s Line 5 threatens Indigenous land and peoples
Ray Levy Uyeda, 2/9/23
“In the U.S., pipeline battles are often long, slow, bureaucratic processes with devastating consequences on the ecosystems,” Ray Levy Uyeda writes for Prism Reports. “Defense and protection of the land nearly always come second to the interests of oil companies, with victories over them arriving infrequently and hard-won from those who’ve always known that it’s not a matter of if an oil pipeline sprouts a leak, but when… “For nearly a decade, tribal members and leaders of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have been working to excise 12 miles of Line 5 from the Bad River Reservation, but since 2013, when the easements that allowed the the oil company, Enbridge Inc., to use tribal territory expired, Enbridge has refused to stop pumping oil through Line 5 or remove it. In 2019, the Bad River Band filed a suit against Enbridge, and in 2020, while the suit was still ongoing and the pipeline in operation, the company proposed a new route for the section of the pipeline, which would run about 41.1 miles alongside the reservation rather than through it. .. “In November 2022, a federal judge found that the international oil conglomerate was trespassing on Bad River land. But rather than ordering the pipeline be decommissioned and removed, the judge ordered that the Bad River Band government and Enbridge decide on a mitigation plan for a potential spill. Though the judge ordered that an agreement be reached by Dec. 24, 2022, it is not yet clear if one has been determined. The Bad River Band did not respond to Prism’s request regarding the status of this agreement… “With Enbridge’s proposal for an alternative route, a new pipeline fight has taken hold alongside the old, sounding a simultaneous call to decommission the existing Line 5 and prevent a new one from going into the ground. At stake are the risks of an oil spill, the sovereignty of Indigenous treaty rights, and an estimated $41 billion in climate change-related costs over the next 40 years if Line 5 is able to operate. If water defenders and environmental activists are successful, shutting down Line 5 could offer a blueprint of how to replicate the victory elsewhere.“
The Repository: Letter to the editor: No, natural gas is not 'green energy'
Randi Pokladnik, Uhrichsville, 2/9/23
“During the recent “lame duck” session, Ohio’s predominantly Republican legislature and Gov. Mike DeWine rushed to pass H.B. 507. The legislation would “create a broad new legal definition of green energy that would include natural gas,” Randi Pokladnik writes for The Repository. “An anonymously funded, pro-natural gas, dark money group, the Empowerment Alliance, helped Ohio lawmakers spin the narrative that natural gas is green. The 501c4 group “Natural Allies for Clean Energy Future” is aiding the “greenwashing” by claiming gas is “necessary to accelerate our clean energy future.” Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) recently joined their ranks. Labeling fracked gas as green energy does not change the scientific facts: The combustion of methane produces carbon dioxide, and methane itself is a potent greenhouse gas… “Ohio’s southeastern counties are being used as sacrificial industrial sites. Pipelines mar wooded hillsides, well pads rise over the landscape, thousands of trucks loaded with carcinogenic chemicals, frack sand and toxic produced water travel our roads every day. Local residents are exposed to air and water emissions from the process which releases hazardous air pollutants and contaminates water. The only time “green” can legitimately be used to describe methane gas is when pointing out it is a potent greenhouse gas.”
The Federalist: Republicans Missed Big In House Hearing On American Energy
Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist, 2/8/23
“Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle shared frustration over the nation’s archaic permitting process Wednesday at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on energy and minerals,” Tristan Justice writes for The Federalist. “Republicans fumed the incumbent process established under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) impedes progress on oil and gas production while Democrats complained the regulatory regime stands in the way of wind and solar projects. Everyone, seemed frustrated by the regulatory regime’s impediment to producing critical minerals for all of the above… “Current timelines have jeopardized national security by leaving America behind foreign adversaries developing natural resources while domestic enterprises are left with a headache over pending approvals… “The status quo benefits liberal lawmakers allied with left-wing causes, however, and Republicans said nothing about it. Last summer, the Biden administration reintroduced “sue and settle” practices brought to a halt under President Donald Trump. The practice refers to when lefty environmental groups allied with the government position on an issue present a legal challenge to a project and, in turn, voluntarily settle… “Later in the hearing, GOP Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman asked Kathleen Sgamma, who represents the oil and gas industry as president of the Western Energy Alliance, the “one thing the committee needs to focus on in regulatory reform.” “I would suggest looking at the litigation angle and working to give judges guidance that endless NEPA, endless analysis is not the intent of NEPA,” Sgamma said… “Republicans had a prime opportunity to highlight the administrative return of sue and settle. Instead, the hearing was a four-hour regurgitation of talking points on how Biden was bad to shut down the Keystone Pipeline.”