EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 2/14/23
PIPELINE NEWS
The Gazette: Iowa landowners push to restrict eminent domain for CO2 pipelines
CBC: News outlet, journalist suing RCMP after 2021 arrest at B.C. pipeline protest camp
Central Oregon Daily: Merkley speaks on potential gas pipeline expansion
USA Today: Why a pipeline project in Houston is raising concerns over environmental racism
National Observer: Enbridge plans multibillion-dollar gas expansion in Ontario — and wants customers to pay for it
Canadian Press: Enbridge still negotiating with pipeline shippers over Mainline tolling plan
Press release: Global Pipeline Transportation Market to Reach $27.7 Billion by 2030
Pipeline Fighters Hub: PFH Webinar: “State of the States: CO2 Pipelines” | Feb. 27
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: EPA's draft methane rules draw hundreds of public comments
InsideEPA: Observers See Balancing Act For EPA On Methane Fee, Reporting Rules
Houston Chronicle: Cruz tells Biden deepwater oil and gas terminals taking too long to permit
U.S. Dept. of Energy: DOE TO INVEST MORE THAN $18 MILLION TO TREAT WASTEWATER, RECOVER VALUABLE MINERALS
E&E News: Q&A: Carper outlines vision for permitting, committee agenda
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: A blue state asks: Is carbon capture part of climate agenda?
Capital and Main: Toxic Water Project Sparks Controversy With Navajo Neighbors
EXTRACTION
The Conversation: Big Oil’s trade group allies outspent clean energy groups by a whopping 27x, with billions in ads and lobbying to keep fossil fuels flowing
Reuters: Alberta minister says Canada emissions cap stalls other climate action
Canadian Press: Imperial Oil files cleanup plan for tailings leak in Alberta, won’t disclose details
OPINION
Los Angeles Times: Greta Thunberg: How should global leaders use trillions of dollars to combat climate change?
Inforum: McFeely: Coal dance between ND, MN a fascinating and expensive show
PIPELINE NEWS
The Gazette: Iowa landowners push to restrict eminent domain for CO2 pipelines
Caleb McCullough, 2/13/23
“Landowners and environmental activists gathered in the Iowa Capitol last week seeking to lobby legislators to restrict carbon dioxide capture pipelines that are in the works across the state,” The Gazette reports. “Dressed in red and sporting signs and pins decrying the use of eminent domain and CO2 pipelines, the activists have become a recurring sight at the Capitol as they hope to persuade lawmakers to slow the march of three pipeline companies seeking permission from the Iowa Utilities Board to capture carbon from Iowa ethanol plants and shuttle it underground to repositories in other states. Proposed pipeline-related legislation in this session mostly has come from Sen. Jeff Taylor, a Republican from Sioux Center, though none of the bills he has proposed has advanced… “Taylor’s bills are filed in the Senate Commerce Committee, and the activists said they were hoping to encourage the committee’s chair, Sen. Waylon Brown, R-Osage, to schedule public hearings. “Democratic process involves subcommittees where people can weigh in and express their opinions, and denying that to people who are impacted by the biggest things happening to Iowa is a disservice to all Iowans,” Jess Mazour, conservation program coordinator for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, told the Gazette… “The bill banning eminent domain for pipeline companies was the chief interest of the coalition gathered at the Capitol, many of whom are refusing to sign voluntary easement negotiations with the pipeline companies seeking to build through their land… “It’s really strongly offensive to us as people when the government is going to allow our land to be condemned, just for the sake of private profits and not for the good of our communities,” Jessica Wiskus, a landowner from Linn County, told the Gazette… “The Sierra Club’s Mazour told the Gazette she thinks there is enough support to pass a bill restricting eminent domain rights for pipeline companies. “We have enough votes in both chambers, between the Democrats and Republicans, to get these bills passed,” she told the Gazette. “It’s going to be, is there a will from leadership to put landowners and Iowans over these pipeline companies.”
CBC: News outlet, journalist suing RCMP after 2021 arrest at B.C. pipeline protest camp
2/13/23
“A freelance photojournalist who was arrested in November 2021 at a resistance camp established by opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline west of Prince George, B.C., announced Monday that she, along with the news outlet The Narwhal, have filed a lawsuit against the RCMP in the wake of the incident,” CBC reports. “During a press event outside B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver, Amber Bracken and editorial leaders from The Narwhal said that they are suing the Mounties for wrongful arrest, wrongful detention and violation of Charter rights. "I felt kidnapped," said Bracken. "My role is to witness events. I have to be present." The Edmonton-based journalist was on assignment for The Narwhal on Wet'suwet'en territory when she was arrested, alongside multiple project protesters and documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano, as police sought to enforce an injunction allowing pipeline construction to move forward… “The rights of journalists are guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Nov. 19, 2021, arrest of Bracken and Toledano sparked outrage among press freedom advocates. "The lawsuit filed this morning aims to establish meaningful consequences for police when they interfere with the constitutional rights of journalists covering events in injunction zones," Emma Gilchrist, co-founder and executive director of The Narwhal, told CBC.”
Central Oregon Daily: Merkley speaks on potential gas pipeline expansion
2/13/23
“Advocates and elected officials spoke at a meeting Monday night on the expansion of a natural gas pipeline that cuts through east Bend. One of them: Senator Jeff Merkley,” Central Oregon Daily reports. “The pipeline, called the Gas Transmission Northwest, is 61 years old and runs from California to British Columbia. 350Deschutes, a non-profit that engages in Climate Advocacy and Climate Education, has concerns over plans to expand the GTN XPress gas pipeline. “This would totally derail Oregon’s efforts to regulate emissions and to address climate change,” 350Deschutes Executive Director Diane Hokiak told the Daily. “As far as we can tell, we think that it comes within two miles of the downtown area and Bend, and we have identified that it actually runs through two proposed subdivisions on the east side.” Protesters from 350 Deschutes gathered at Peace Corner in downtown Bend Friday to voice concerns about increased pollution and possible harm to the community… “Several people testified on Monday and gave comments during a meeting on the pipeline, including Merkley. “This is an unnecessary and it’s an unwanted project,” Merkley said. “It does the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve in Oregon, Pacific Northwest for our climate objectives to contribute to the solutions, not to make the problem worse.” Merkley expressed concerns over global climate change partnerships over this potential expansion and the potential environmental impact it may have.”
USA Today: Why a pipeline project in Houston is raising concerns over environmental racism
Nada Hassanein, 2/14/23
“Days before the New Year, Angela King woke up to a nauseating scent of rotten egg wafting through her neighborhood in southwest Houston. The smell was a reminder of how close she lives to a storage facility bearing 300,000 gallons of liquid propane,” USA Today reports. “And now, CenterPoint Energy plans to install natural gas pipeline transmission lines 4 feet underground. Initial construction will be just 50 feet from her home, King told USA Today. King has lived in Southwest Crossings, a mostly Black and brown neighborhood, for two decades, and she and her neighbors have protested the construction, fearing for their health and safety… “Evidence shows throughout the U.S., communities of color are more likely to be burdened by various industry infrastrucure,disproportionately jeopardizing the health of Black and brown people. Experts say Houston and the pipeline project are microcosms of the nation’s persistent environmental racism that subjects people of color to hazards… “Meanwhile, the Biden administration has taken an unprecedented approach to center environmental justice as part of its agenda to acknowledge how industry, climate and disaster has a disproportionate impact on communities of color… “And in July 2022, King received a letter from the company asking for her easement along with a $9,000 compensation offer for pipeline construction 50 feet from her fence. Two months later, she received a notice that the company would begin construction by eminent domain… "It makes me feel ignored, as if I am not even a human — that they're walking all over me as if I do not matter. That my voice is nonexistent," King, 55, who is medical billing and coding worker, told USA Today.”
National Observer: Enbridge plans multibillion-dollar gas expansion in Ontario — and wants customers to pay for it
John Woodside, 2/14/23
“Energy giant Enbridge is plotting a multibillion-dollar expansion to its gas network in Ontario that would lock the province into a fossil fuel future for decades to come,” the National Observer reports. “In a 7,000-plus-page application, the Calgary-based fossil fuel company is asking the Ontario Energy Board to approve a rate hike for customers that would fund a dramatic spending increase to expand its gas network with new pipes across the province. A decision is not expected until late 2023, but through the rest of this year, an intense battle over the future of Ontario’s gas infrastructure is expected to heat up… “Last year, the Ontario energy regulator shot down Enbridge’s plan to replace its gas pipeline for Ottawa, citing concerns the plan conflicts with the city’s plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions and the company’s failure to show replacing the pipeline was necessary… “The detailed and highly technical application now before the Ontario regulator shows Enbridge is proposing an expansion to its gas network that will require collecting more than $16 billion from customers over the coming years to pay for the new pipes, as well as operating and maintenance costs. If given the green light, the plan includes replacing existing pipes and installing new ones to connect new areas of the province to the gas network… “One of the really scary things for customers is if there is continued demand for the next five years but then it drops off,” Kent Elson, a lawyer representing the non-profit Environmental Defence and a collection of climate advocacy organizations called the Green Energy Coalition that is intervening in Enbridge's application, told the Observer. “If demand drops, Enbridge’s revenue drops, meaning it won’t be able to pay for the pipeline. “So you need to be considering not only the demand of the next couple of years but also the demand for the entire lifetime over which you're predicting to earn revenue for this pipeline.”
Canadian Press: Enbridge still negotiating with pipeline shippers over Mainline tolling plan
2/13/23
“Enbridge Inc. says negotiations to settle on a new tolling plan for its Mainline pipeline system are progressing, but the Calgary-based company declined to say when it expects an agreement to be reached,” the Canadian Press reports. “...A year ago, Enbridge's former CEO Al Monaco had said he expected the company would reach an agreement with its shippers about the Mainline pipeline by summer 2022. However, that has not happened… “Enbridge has been consulting with oil shippers ever since its proposal to fill Canada's largest oil pipeline network through long-term contracts was rejected by the Canada Energy Regulator in November of 2021… “The pipeline's demand has exceeded capacity over the past few years, so Enbridge had applied to enter into long-term contracts for 90 per cent of the Mainline system's capacity. Enbridge had argued firm contracts would give customers more predictable access to the pipeline, but some Canadian oil producers argued the proposed change would worsen the existing capacity constraints and could lead to lower oil prices. In rejecting the proposal in November, the Canada Energy Regulator concluded Enbridge's proposal would dramatically change access to the pipeline. It said certain companies would benefit from long-term stability, but others would lose access to the pipeline. Enbridge is now advancing two different scenarios _ an incentive rate-making agreement that may be similar to the Competitive Toll Settlement agreement that expired on June 30, 2021, and a cost-of-service application.”
Press release: Global Pipeline Transportation Market to Reach $27.7 Billion by 2030
2/13/23
“In the changed post COVID-19 business landscape, the global market for Pipeline Transportation estimated at US$17 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$27.7 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% over the analysis period 2022-2030. Oil & Gas, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 6.3% CAGR and reach US$9.7 Billion by the end of the analysis period… “The Pipeline Transportation market in the U.S. is estimated at US$5 Billion in the year 2022. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$4.8 Billion by the year 2030 trailing a CAGR of 5.9% over the analysis period 2022 to 2030. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 5.6% and 5.3% respectively over the 2022-2030 period.”
Pipeline Fighters Hub: PFH Webinar: “State of the States: CO2 Pipelines” | Feb. 27
Mark Hefflinger, 2/14/23
“This month’s Pipeline Fighters Hub webinar will focus on state-level actions being taken to protect communities from carbon pipeline projects: “State of the States: CO2 Pipelines.” Our organizer comrades from several of the states impacted by CO2 pipelines (NE, IA, SD, ND, MN, IL) will join to give an overview of the flurry of carbon pipeline-related bills introduced at state legislatures including Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota and Illinois. Some bills seek to ban eminent domain for carbon pipelines, while others impose a similar moratorium that counties have chosen, and some target the unfair laws for landowners that govern surveying and other aspects of unwanted interactions with pipeline companies. Speakers: Eliot Huggins, Dakota Resource Council, North Dakota Easement Team (North Dakota); Chase Jensen, Dakota Rural Action, South Dakota Easement Team (South Dakota); Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska & Pipeline Fighters Hub (Nebraska); Jessica Mazour, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter (Iowa); Pam Richart, Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines (Illinois); Maggie Schuppert, CURE (Clean Up Our River Environment) (Minnesota). REGISTER: “State of the States: CO2 Pipelines” Monday, Feb. 27, 5:30pm (Central Time): https://bit.ly/co2states”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: EPA's draft methane rules draw hundreds of public comments
Jean Chemnick, 2/13/23
“EPA’s latest proposal to regulate the oil industry’s methane emissions took another step forward Monday, as the agency finished up the rule’s public comment period,” E&E News reports. “The rules expand on the agency's November 2021 proposals for regulating methane emitted from new and existing oil and gas infrastructure. EPA will also end public comment Monday for its proposed updates to the social cost of greenhouse gases. The agency expects to finalize the rules this August, according to the Biden administration's most recent regulatory agenda. The move to curb methane across the petroleum supply chain now enjoys broad support from environmentalists and many in the petroleum industry. The greenhouse gas is more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide during its first 20 years in the atmosphere. Most oil majors see direct, federal regulation of methane as a means of shoring up the environmental image of natural gas, in the face of efforts to curb fossil fuel use to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.”
InsideEPA: Observers See Balancing Act For EPA On Methane Fee, Reporting Rules
2/10/23
“Industry and environmentalists say EPA must strike a balance on several key issues as it crafts implementing rules for a new oil and gas methane fee and updated emissions reporting standards in response to Capitol Hill directives, with officials facing several decisions as well as technical and logistical challenges,” InsideEPA reports. “For example, EPA has yet to define what constitutes as an ‘unreasonable’ permitting delay that triggers an exemption for the fee, and the agency will likely weigh the merits of site-level monitoring versus broader emissions tracking strategies that could be easier to implement, these observers say. The questions about the forthcoming methane fee and reporting rule come as groups are racing to submit formal comments by a Feb. 13 deadline on EPA’s separate supplemental proposed methane emissions standards for the sector.”
Houston Chronicle: Cruz tells Biden deepwater oil and gas terminals taking too long to permit
James Osborne, 2/13/23
“Sen. Ted Cruz is demanding that the Biden administration explain “prolonged delays” in approving permits for deepwater oil and gas terminals along the Gulf Coast,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “There are five applications awaiting approval from the Department of Transportation for export terminals off the Texas and Louisiana coasts, including four filed before 2021. Under federal law, the department has one year to make a decision. In a letter to the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration on Monday morning, Cruz, a Texas Republican, said the department is taking three years on average to permit deepwater ports… “The Biden administration has recently approved a series of oil and LNG export projects along the Gulf Coast, including Enterprise Products' deepwater Sea Port Oil Terminal off the coast of Brazoria County last year. But officials have clashed with Cruz and other Republicans over the time they take to permit the projects. Last year Cruz held up Senate confirmation for four of President Joe Biden's nominees to the Department of Energy until Biden approved Sempra Energy's application to export U.S.-sourced natural gas from two LNG terminals on Mexico's Pacific coast.”
U.S. Dept. of Energy: DOE TO INVEST MORE THAN $18 MILLION TO TREAT WASTEWATER, RECOVER VALUABLE MINERALS
2/10/23
“The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) today announced more than $18 million in available funding for research and development projects that focus on the characterization, treatment, and management of produced water—or wastewater associated with oil and natural gas development and production—as well as management of legacy wastewater associated with coal-based thermal electric power generation facilities, primarily coal combustion residuals waste streams. Such projects will help lower the cost of developing and demonstrating technologies to manage wastewater safely and effectively for beneficial end-uses—such as irrigation of non-edible crops, hydrogen generation, and aquifer recharge and recovery—while supporting DOE’s goals to provide environmental and economic benefits to our communities that have been affected by stressed water resources and legacy pollution. These same energy production waste streams also contain recoverable critical minerals, including rare earth elements, that are essential to manufacturing clean energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, and hydrogen fuel cells that will help achieve the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050… “Potential projects selected through this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will focus particularly on wastewater associated with unconventional oil and gas production. Partnerships among industry and universities are encouraged to advance technologies and lower costs to reduce wastewater volume, achieve beneficial reuse of industrial wastewater in water-scarce areas, and recover critical resources such as rare earth elements. Projects will also address the development of infrastructure to efficiently transport and treat this wastewater to reduce environmental impacts related to trucking and seismic events.”
E&E News: Q&A: Carper outlines vision for permitting, committee agenda
Jeremy Dillon, 2/14/23
“Sen. Tom Carper is taking President Joe Biden’s State of the Union “finish the job” message to heart,” E&E News reports. “The Delaware Democrat is entering his second Congress as chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, with plans to scrutinize how agencies implement climate and infrastructure laws… “But to make sure Congress finishes the job on climate and infrastructure, Carper agrees with Biden on the need to change the way federal regulators decide whether to allow projects to move forward… “Carper was a key negotiator with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for finding a compromise on permitting that could reach Biden’s desk, but opposition from progressives and conservatives repeatedly thwarted the effort… “And the president is showing no sign of changing his opinion. He is going to continue to advocate for it. Sen. Schumer is still very much interested in permitting. So we are going to take up permitting,” Carper told E&E… “Is there a red line for you in this permitting negotiation? “I would say again it has to be consistent with making sure we do not ignore helping the least of these. And the second thing is making sure that clean energy we are going to be creating, that it actually happens,” Carper told E&E.”
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: A blue state asks: Is carbon capture part of climate agenda?
Jeffrey Tomich, 2/14/23
“Illinois’ landmark climate law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2021 made it clear that renewable energy and electric vehicles would be centerpieces of efforts to eliminate fossil fuels from the state’s economy. Less clear, however, is whether Pritzker and Illinois’ Democratic-led General Assembly are willing to embrace carbon capture — a third rail of climate politics — as a complementary solution,” E&E News reports. “...The two pipelines proposed so far would each cross hundreds of miles of rural landscape, raising a raft of legal and policy questions — and public pushback… “State Rep. Ann Williams, chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee and an architect of the state’s 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, told E&E a recent study completed for the Legislature indicated that the state isn’t ready. “We’re unprepared, actually, for the fossil fuel industries’ rush to make Illinois kind of a hub for this carbon capture technology right now,” she told E&E. “We need to look at landowner rights, groundwater issues, public health, climate issues, making sure an industry is liable if something goes wrong. We don’t want as a state or local government to absorb all that liability and the risk.” “...Environmental groups, skeptical of carbon capture proposals, likewise told E&E the study’s recommendations show a need to slow or pause pipeline projects already underway until additional regulation and legal protections are established at the state and federal levels. There are “critical protections that need to be in place that aren’t currently,” Christine Nannicelli, senior representative of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, told E&E. “We have significant regulatory and legal gaps, and Illinois currently is unprepared and unprotected.”
Capital and Main: Toxic Water Project Sparks Controversy With Navajo Neighbors
Jerry Redfern, 2/7/23
“In October 2021, workers from a water treatment company irrigated a 10 x 20 foot test plot of scrubby grass on an oil well site near a Navajo Nation chapter house in northwest New Mexico,” Capital and Main reports. “The grass thickened, grew and later shriveled under the high desert sun and drought. Even so, it nourished a statewide, petroleum-based controversy when locals learned that the company was researching “produced water,” a toxic byproduct of oil and gas development, as part of a program to search for new methods of treatment and disposal of the industrial waste. Daniel Tso, who was chairman of the Health, Education and Human Services Committee of the Navajo Nation Council at the time, told C&M that, since hearing about the test plot, he and others have been working to stop all use of produced water from oil and gas production on the Navajo Nation “through the courts if necessary.” “...Nobody really wants the salty water because it ranges from toxic to fantastically toxic; if you’re really unlucky, it’s also radioactive. If it spills, it can ruin your land, and currently there are few legal places to put it. New Mexico state law offers oil and gas producers just three possibilities: It can be reused in drilling operations, it can be injected back underground (which can trigger earthquakes), or it can be used to test new desalination processes through the state’s highly regulated Produced Water Research Consortium (PWRC). All other uses are illegal.” “...Atencio told C&M he doesn’t care how clean Kanalis’ produced water is. He thinks that if people want to test produced water or use it outside a well, they need to do it elsewhere. “To have those people down in Las Cruces [where the PWRC is based] rule on this without even inviting us to the table, that’s what colonial governments do,” he told C&M. And as a drying state continues to search for ways to treat colossal amounts of water waste from the state’s biggest industry, he sees more fights ahead. “Water colonialism is probably going to be the theme of the 21st century,” Atencio told C&M.”
EXTRACTION
The Conversation: Big Oil’s trade group allies outspent clean energy groups by a whopping 27x, with billions in ads and lobbying to keep fossil fuels flowing
Christian Downie, Robert Brulle, 2/13/23
“You’ve probably seen ads promoting gas and oil companies as the solutions to climate change. They’re meant to be inspiring and hopeful, with scenes of a green, clean future,” The Conversation reports. “But shiny ads are not all these companies do to protect their commercial interests in the face of a rapidly heating world. Most also provide financial support to industry groups that are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on political activities, often to thwart polices designed to slow climate change… “The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents oil refiners and petrochemical firms, has spent millions on public relations campaigns, such as promoting a rollback of federal fuel efficiency standards. These practices have been going on for decades, and evidence shows that industry groups have played key roles in blocking state and federal climate policies. This matters not just because of the enormous sums the groups are spending, but also because they often act as a command center for political campaigns to kill pro-climate policies… “In a recent research paper, we dug through U.S. tax filings to follow the money trail of trade associations engaged on climate change issues and track the billions they have spent to shape federal policy… “We found that trade associations historically opposed to climate policies spent $2 billion in the decade from 2008 to 2018 on political activities, such as advertising, lobbying and political contributions. Together, they outspent climate-supporting industry groups 27 to 1. The oil and gas sector was the largest, spending $1.3 billion… “What came as more of a surprise as we were tallying up the data was how much trade associations are spending on advertising and promotion. This can include everything from mainstream media ads promoting the industry to hiring public relations firms to target particular issues before Congress… “Our study found that trade associations engaged on climate change issues spent a total of $2.2 billion on advertising and promotion between 2008 and 2018, compared with $729 million on lobbying… “This likely helps to explain why it took Congress almost 35 years after Hansen first warned representatives about the dangers of climate change to pass a major climate bill, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.”
Reuters: Alberta minister says Canada emissions cap stalls other climate action
Nia Williams and Steve Scherer, 2/14/23
“Alberta's environment minister said Canada's proposed oil and gas emissions cap is a stumbling block in the province's discussions with the federal government about clean-energy policies including in carbon capture and storage (CCS) needed to meet Canada's ambitious 2030 climate targets,” Reuters reports. “...Alberta Environment Minister Sonya Savage told Reuters in a recent interview that the federal government's proposed emissions cap for the oil and gas industry – due this year – is holding up work on other issues such as provincial support for carbon capture and storage (CCS). "We just need to get this emissions cap on a better trajectory, and approach it in a different way, before we can really succeed in everything else," Savage told Reuters. It was the first time Savage has discussed holding up Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's programs needed to lower carbon emissions… “Even so the Pathways Alliance, a group of six companies representing 95% of oil sands production, says only about 30% reduction in emissions is achievable by 2030 compared to government's goal of at least 40% reduction. "We've been engaging with their economic modellers, and I think they've recognized that those targets...were probably not completely based on accurate data and are probably overly ambitious," Mark Cameron, vice president of external relations for the Pathways Alliance, told Reuters.”
Canadian Press: Imperial Oil files cleanup plan for tailings leak in Alberta, won’t disclose details
2/13/23
“Imperial Oil Ltd. has filed a plan for the interim cleanup of one of the largest oil patch spills in Alberta history but hasn’t released any details on the plan or the two toxic releases at its Kearl oil sands mine,” the Canadian Press reports. “...Neither Imperial nor the Alberta Energy Regulator are releasing new information about the massive spill and nearby seepage that forced the regulator to issue an environmental protection order last week. The size of the affected area and the total amount of the releases is unknown. A spokeswoman for the regulator told CP it can’t release any information while it’s investigating how more than 5,000 cubic metres of tailings overflowed from a dam at Imperial’s Kearl site north of Fort McMurray. That alone would make it one of Alberta’s largest spills, but Imperial must also deal with a separate but nearby seepage of an unknown amount of toxic tailings into groundwater, which has also pooled on the surface… “The seepage has been going on since at least May and continues. It exceeds federal and provincial guidelines for iron, arsenic, sulphates and hydrocarbons that could include kerosene, creosote and diesel… “Imperial’s plan is supposed to include ways to stop and clean up both the leak and seepage as well as outline a plan to communicate it to the public. Although information released so far suggested there have been no wildlife impacts, the plan is also to to study those effects and include a “plan for the humane euthanasia of impacted fish and wildlife.” “...Evidence that oil sands tailings have been seeping into groundwater dates back to at least 2009.”
OPINION
Los Angeles Times: Greta Thunberg: How should global leaders use trillions of dollars to combat climate change?
Greta Thunberg is a climate justice activist. This essay was adapted from her forthcoming book, “The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions,” 2/13/23
“We cannot just buy, invest or build our way out of the climate and environmental crisis,” Greta Thunberg writes for the Los Angeles Times. “...The often-used argument that “we don’t have enough money” has been disproven so many times. According to the International Monetary Fund, the production and burning of coal, oil and fossil gas was subsidized by $5.9 trillion in 2020 alone. That is $11 million every minute, earmarked for planetary destruction… “However, in June 2021, the International Energy Agency concluded that out of the historic global recovery plan, only a bleak 2% had been invested into green energy, whatever “green” means in this case… “So they did not just get it slightly wrong — our leaders completely failed. And they continue to fail; despite all the beautiful words and pledges, they are not moving in the right direction. In fact, we are still expanding fossil fuel infrastructure all over the world. In many cases, we are even speeding up the process… “But there are still only 20 or so small carbon capture and storage plants running worldwide, some of which have been shown to actually emit more CO2 than they capture… “Why foster the idea that this underdeveloped technology could be a substitute for the immediate, drastic mitigation needed?.. “Could it be that it was never even meant to work at scale? That it was just being used — once again — as a way of deflecting attention and delaying any meaningful climate action so that the fossil fuel companies can continue business as usual and keep on making fantasy amounts of money for just a little while longer? Either way, it is crystal clear that technology alone will unfortunately not save us. And it is still very much the lobbyists, fighting for the interests of short-term economics, who occupy the driver’s seat in our society. Companies and politicians have done so much to use false solutions to preserve the status quo. But the real answers are right in front of us.”
Inforum: McFeely: Coal dance between ND, MN a fascinating and expensive show
Mike McFeely, 2/11/23
“A definition of what is not capitalism: One state government suing another state government so the latter state is forced to buy a product from private companies in the former state,” Mike McFeely writes for Inforum. “And so sums up the ongoing coal dance between North Dakota and Minnesota. The latest round began last week when Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed into law an all-DFL bill that mandates Minnesota utility companies get their energy from carbon-free sources by 2040. That would cripple North Dakota's coal industry, which supplies energy to Minnesota. Minnesota is not unique. It joins 21 other states that have set carbon-free goals for the near future. In 2021 Minnesota got 29% of its electricity from renewable sources, 26% from coal and 21% from natural gas. North Dakota's Republican leaders, predictably, threatened a lawsuit. The state's industrial commission put aside $1 million to pay lawyers while legislators are ready to throw in $3 million. The state will use millions in taxpayer money to fight on behalf of private companies that own central North Dakota's coal-fired power plants and mines. Essentially, North Dakota claims Minnesota can't not buy coal-generated electricity because not doing so would violate the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause. Minnesota is confident the law will hold up… “For obvious and understandable economic reasons, North Dakota is doing all it can to preserve a dying technology. If the plants and mines cease, the state's Coal Country becomes a cold Appalachia. But North Dakota won't just say that. Instead of honesty, it chooses culture wars and scare campaigns about "blackout bills" and other tropes. The state, among other tactics, employs a quasi-governmental "research council" — the Lignite Energy Council, funded largely by taxpayers — to spend millions running pro-coal marketing campaigns in Minnesota. It donates to Minnesota Republican politicians.”