EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 2/25/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Indigenous Wire: Tribal chairman slams Biden White House inaction on Dakota Access Pipeline after Supreme Court tribal win
Reuters: N. America's old pipelines seek new life moving carbon in climate push
Iowa Public Radio: Iowa landowners unite against use of eminent domain
Journal of Petroleum Technology: Will Private Investors Be Willing To Pay To Expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline?
The Tyee: Rumours and Allegations, but No Arrests After Mystery Pipeline Attack
KDKA: 3 Pennsylvania Lawmakers Urge President Biden To Restart Construction Of Keystone XL Pipeline
Media Matters: Fox is using the Ukrainian crisis to suggest the Biden administration’s climate policies emboldened Putin
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Build Back Fossil Free: OUR LETTER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN
Press release: Huge coalition demands pause on oil and gas drilling in Greater Chaco region
E&E News: Supreme Court case could snarl Biden climate agenda
KFYR: ND senators call for liquid natural gas export increase
STATE UPDATES
Salt Lake Tribune: Rock art site Nine Mile Canyon could become ‘hydrocarbon highway’ under Utah bill
Associated Press: Companies face penalties for well violations in New Mexico
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada's Alberta province forecasts 2022/23 budget surplus as oil prices soar
InsideClimate News: How Greenhouse Gases Released by the Oil and Gas Industry Far Exceed What Regulators Think They Know
Press release: Whitecap Resources, Wolf Midstream, and First Nations partners submit proposal to transform the future of carbon reduction
Politico: 350.ORG UNION HITS BACK
Associated Press: Oil rig fire breaks out in Texas; trapped workers rescued
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
BayToday: Callander firefighters will use donation for firefighter training
OPINION
The Gazette: Iowa Legislature’s land use priorities lack common sense
West Central Tribune: CURE Commentary: Who wins and who loses with CO2 pipelines?
PIPELINE NEWS
Indigenous Wire: Tribal chairman slams Biden White House inaction on Dakota Access Pipeline after Supreme Court tribal win
Rob Capriccioso, 2/24/22
“Chairman Harold Frazier, of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, is calling on President Joe Biden to immediately shut down the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which has been operating without a permit since 2017,” Indigenous Wire reports. “Frazier has sent an emergency letter to the White House urging the closure after the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 22 declined to hear Energy Transfer LP’s challenge to the federal government’s continued environmental review of its DAPL pipeline. “Cease the operation and remove the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Frazier wrote in his letter to Biden, which went on to highlight treaties that have been broken by the federal government regarding both the Black Hills and in allowing DAPL to operate. An excerpt of Frazier’s Feb. 23 letter follows: Energy Transfer’s worst fears are coming true after the Supreme Court’s decision not to get involved, as tribes and advocates are becoming re-energized on the “#noDAPL” resistance front. The operator has not offered comment to date specifically on the high court’s order, but it did say previously that the pipeline is “vulnerable to a shutdown” given standing court rulings… “Elections have consequences,” Ducheneaux told IW. “Many people are worried that the Biden administration could be one term, so time is again of the essence here, and we are all trying to make sure the White House understands that.” “...Ducheneaux told IW that the affected tribes are hopeful that the Supreme Court’s decision not to allow a challenge to the DAPL environmental review would “light a fire” under the White House to stop oil pumping through the currently non-permitted line, but so far no indication has come from the White House that such a prospect is on the table.
Reuters: N. America's old pipelines seek new life moving carbon in climate push
By Rod Nickel, Liz Hampton and Nia Williams, 2/23/22
“North American oil and gas pipeline companies are gearing up to compete for a budding market moving greenhouse gases to carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects - by building new pipelines to transport carbon dioxide or giving new life to old, under-used ones,” Reuters reports. “Utilities, chemical makers and oil refiners are counting on CCS to allow them to reduce atmospheric carbon emissions by burying them underground, to help them meet climate change goals. Few existing pipelines move carbon dioxide, and those that do mostly ship the gas to oilfields where it flushes out crude oil. That lack of pipelines may pave the way for building new or refurbishing old lines for transporting carbon. If the United States is to deliver on net-zero ambitions to bury or utilize 1 billion tonnes of carbon per year by 2050, it will need 19,000 kilometres (11,806 miles) of carbon pipelines, moving at least 65 million tonnes per year by 2030, according to a 2021 Princeton University study… ‘For now, there is little commercial reason to build. Available tax credits, taxes on carbon emissions, and carbon trading schemes are not sufficient to make CCS profitable for a wide range of industrial emitters. In Canada, carbon emitters must pay C$50 per tonne, rising to C$170 in 2030. Canadian oil producers saythey also need a tax credit to pay the cost of 75% of CCS facilities. read more A U.S. tax credit for sequestering carbon, called 45Q, is scheduled to rise to $50 a tonne in 2026. Congressional bills have proposed raising the credit to $85 per tonne. Yet, building new carbon pipelines and underground storage faces opposition from environmentalists who see CCS as extending the life of high-emission industries, not paving way for clean energy… “But EnLink's Goldberg tells Reuters converting existing pipelines to carry carbon is more cost-efficient than starting from scratch, and regulatory processes needed to convert lines are already established… “Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI.N), which transports carbon for oil recovery, is negotiating with Midwest emitters to expand its CCS business, Jesse Arenivas, president of Kinder's Energy Transition Ventures unit, told Reuters, including new pipelines to move carbon for sequestration, and possibly oil recovery. "We do believe there is limited opportunity over a short distance to repurpose pipes," Arenivas told Reuters. "Long-haul, we believe, will require new construction."
Iowa Public Radio: Iowa landowners unite against use of eminent domain
Kendall Crawford, 2/24/22
“Iowa landowners are uniting to defend themselves against the use of eminent domain,” Iowa Public Radio reports. “The newly formed Iowa Easement Team wants to stop Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures from using eminent domain to build pipelines throughout Iowa. Hundreds of farmers in the path of the recently proposed carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) pipelines have jointly hired the Omaha-based Domina Law to lead their legal effort. Domina Law managing partner and lawyer Brian Jorde said he believes the two companies should not have any power to use Iowans’ land without permission. “The only way to combat that is to rise up, collectively together, make your voices heard and not be afraid to challenge the broken system,” Jorde said. “That's what we're doing.” “...Kathleen Hunt received a call from Summit in August that her family’s land in Hardin County was in the path of the project. Despite not wanting to disturb the land that’s been in her family for five generations, she contacted a lawyer to begin easement negotiations with the company. It wasn’t until Hunt heard about the Iowa Easement Team’s joint legal effort that she said she had any hope of preventing her land from being used in the project. She ceased negotiations and joined the group. “It was a great relief, just to have the possibility that we had a chance or we had a choice,” Hunt told IPR. “These are big companies with a lot of money and a single landowner doesn't have the means to fight against these big companies.” Domina Law has a history of organizing landowners against pipeline projects. They filed 200 lawsuits and appeals over the course of 11 years in an attempt to stop a crude oil pipeline from being built in Nebraska. Landowners in the coalition will split litigation costs. The initial fee to join the Iowa Easement Team is $100, according to the Iowa Easement Team’s website. Landowner Cynthia Hansen told IPR the legal strategy group is needed after a bill that would limit the use of eminent domain failed to advance in the legislature last week. Hansen said she feels landowners need to continue to band together despite the drawback. “It's very frustrating. We don't feel like the legislators are listening to the needs of the farmers. We feel like they've chosen the pipeline corporations over the farmers,” Hansen, who owns land in Shelby County in western Iowa, told IPR.
Journal of Petroleum Technology: Will Private Investors Be Willing To Pay To Expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline?
Stephen Rassenfoss, 2/25/22
“Future growth in Canadian oil sands now depends on private investors stepping up to pay to nearly triple the capacity of the Trans Mountain Pipeline,” the Journal of Petroleum Technology reports. “The outlook changed recently when the Canadian government said it would no longer fund construction after the expected cost of the project rose 70% due to a series of challenges that pushed the expected completion back 9 months to late 2023. Investors will be evaluating a project whose budget has risen from CAD $7.4 billion in 2017 to CAD $12.6 billion and then CAD $21.4 billion (USD 17 billion). The long list of reasons include the cost of working out agreements with opponents, design changes, COVID-19, and natural disasters ranging from wildfires to severe flooding last November at three points along the route. When Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland held a news conference “to assure Canadians that there will be no additional public money invested in TMC,” she said they expected to complete the government-owned line by raising money from investors and lenders. The government’s financial advisors, BMO Capital Markets and TD Securities, have said the project remains commercially viable and that financing can be arranged, Reuters reported. For oil sands producers who have long suffered from lack of pipeline capacity to access world markets, expanding the line’s capacity from Alberta to the Pacific Coast from 300,000 to 590,000 B/D could create new demand by opening Asian markets. “As for the current pipeline capacity outlook, we expect Canada to be long pipe in the near term,” Scott Norlin, a research analyst for Wood Mackenzie, told the Journal…“In our view Keystone was not necessarily needed given the Line 3 replacement, which began flowing volumes in October 2021, and the expectation of Trans Mountain adding capacity in Q3 2023,” Norlin told the Journal.
The Tyee: Rumours and Allegations, but No Arrests After Mystery Pipeline Attack
Amanda Follett Hosgood, 2/24/22
“A week after the alleged attack, police say they are still trying to make sense of what took place in the early morning hours of Feb. 17. That’s when Coastal GasLink workers reported that masked assailants, some wielding axes, attacked two locations on the Marten Forest Service Road, where the pipeline company is preparing to drill under the Morice River,” The Tyee reports. “While there have been no arrests, RCMP Chief Supt. Warren Brown told The Tyee this week that police were looking at possible suspects and the investigation is continuing, including combing the remote forested area and monitoring social media activity. “Some of the people, they’ve identified themselves, who they are. So, we’ll be following up with some of the individuals,” Brown said about social media posts. “Not everybody is on their side. There are people in the territory that are not on their side. So, we’re getting some information about who may be involved.” “...Last week’s incident was a marked escalation from previous anti-pipeline activity, which has largely involved blocking roadways and worksites. It brought calls denouncing violence and expressing safety concerns from all sides of the conflict. It also marks the first time no one has immediately taken responsibility for the actions. In a statement issued Saturday, all eight Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Clan Chiefs said they had been informed of the incident and were waiting for more information before speaking publicly. “Our Elders, Dinize and Tsakë’ze [Chiefs] continue to state that we do not support violence,” the statement says… “None of the workers were injured during the incident, Coastal GasLink said, but the company estimated damage in the millions of dollars.”
KDKA: 3 Pennsylvania Lawmakers Urge President Biden To Restart Construction Of Keystone XL Pipeline
Erika Stanish, 2/24/22
“Three state senators announced plans to introduce a resolution to urge President Joe Biden to restart the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline,” KDKA reports. “The push comes as tensions continue to escalate between Ukraine and Russia and as gas prices skyrocket across the country. Sen. Wayne Langerholc (R-35), Sen. Joe Pittman (R-41) and Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23) said they hope this action will push Biden to take action toward energy independence. “The Keystone pipeline is critical to our national energy infrastructure, but it’s also very symbolic. It’s symbolic of whether or not we’re willing to embrace the natural resources that we have in our country. To secure our energy independence for not only economic interests, but national security interests,” Pittman told KDKA… “This is just one step that we take that would make sense to enable people here in our country to not feel the pain at the pump and not have to pay exorbitant energy prices,” Langerholc told KDKA.”
Media Matters: Fox is using the Ukrainian crisis to suggest the Biden administration’s climate policies emboldened Putin
EVLONDO COOPER, 2/24/22
“Over a 48-hour period, from February 22-23, Fox News has been using the burgeoning Ukrainian crisis as a pretext to push well-worn narratives about the cause of high gas prices, the Keystone pipeline, and American energy independence. But these fossil fuel-friendly narratives skirt the stark realities of the need for rapid transition away from fossil fuels, which are much more vulnerable than clean energy to international market disruptions,” Media Matters reports. “...One of the key threads running through right-wing media reactions to the crisis in Ukraine is the oft-promoted (and just as often debunked) notion that the Biden administration is responsible for high energy prices… “This line of attack is typical fodder during times of rising oil prices. It allows fossil fuel allies to tie the real or perceived threat of rising gas prices and shortages to Democrats, while pushing for climate inaction… “The escalating tensions over Ukraine leading up to the attacks presented Fox with an opportunity to promote a misleading narrative around pipelines and pipeline cancellations. After Biden issued an executive order last January halting the construction of the Keystone pipeline, Fox jumped at the opportunity to attack Biden for canceling it and falsely heralded the project as a job creator. During the February 22-23 coverage of Ukraine, multiple Fox hosts and guests revived the debunked Keystone talking points, mentioning the pipeline in at least 15 segments. One notable example aired during the February 22 episode of The Story, which featured Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) describing the cancellation of the Keystone pipeline as one in a litany of Biden’s “foolish decisions” in a conversation about gas prices. Fox’s lamentation of the Keystone pipeline vastly overstates the impact the project would have had on energy prices and jobs, while ignoring the environmental justice and climate concerns its completion would have raised… “The narratives around Keystone and high gas prices form part of a trifecta that includes the supposed halcyon days of American energy independence, another favorite topic during Fox’s coverage of Ukraine.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Build Back Fossil Free: OUR LETTER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN
2/24/22
“Dear President Biden, As 1,140 organizations collectively representing millions of members and supporters, including Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline communities, we urge you to use your executive authority to speed the end of the fossil fuel era, protect our communities from the climate emergency, and address the severe harms caused by fossil fuels… “You further promised “environmental justice will be at the center of all we do addressing the disproportionate health and environmental and economic impacts on communities of color — so-called ‘fenceline communities’.” And you elevated the respect of Indigenous sovereignty and ordered federal agencies to strengthen nation-to-nation relationships with Tribes. These statements must be backed up by bolder action. You have the authority under existing law to wind down fossil fuel production and catalyze a just, renewable energy revolution to deliver healthier communities, a livable future, and millions of good-paying jobs. It’s critical that you use that authority as quickly and broadly as possible. Together, we call on you to take these steps: Follow through on your promise to ban all new oil and gas leasing, drilling, and fracking on federal lands and waters. Direct federal agencies to stop approving fossil fuel projects, including pipelines, import and export terminals, storage facilities, refineries, and petrochemical plants. Direct the Department of Energy to halt gas exports to the full extent authorized by law. Declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act, unlocking special powers to reinstate the crude oil export ban, redirect disaster relief funds toward distributed renewable energy construction in frontline communities, and marshal companies to fast-track renewable transportation and clean power generation, creating millions of high-quality union jobs… “You showed what serious climate leadership could look like in your first week in office when you canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and paused oil and gas leasing on federal lands. The urgency of the moment requires you to return to that original ambition. Fully deliver on your climate and environmental justice promises by using your executive authority to keep fossil fuels in the ground and build a resilient and affordable renewable energy system.”
Press release: Huge coalition demands pause on oil and gas drilling in Greater Chaco region
2/2/22
“Over 125 Tribal, grassroots, national, and statewide organizations and businesses—including elected officials, scientists, and religious leaders—joined the Greater Chaco Coalition today in calling on Secretary Deb Haaland to immediately pause impending oil and gas drilling in the region while the Interior Department’s “Honoring Chaco” Initiative gets underway. In a letter sent today, the groups stated, “we are gravely concerned that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is currently weighing the approval of dozens of new oil and gas development proposals that collectively could lead to the drilling of more than 100 new wells, the construction of miles of new roads, and new irreparable heavy machinery disturbance across hundreds of acres of lands in the Greater Chaco region.” The groups followed up, “We simply ask that as the Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management follow through with the Honoring Chaco Initiative, that reasonable steps are taken to protect the landscape, communities, and the cultural integrity of the region.” The call comes as the Interior Department this week intends to hold public meetings to solicit feedback regarding its Greater Chaco protection plans. While there is broad support for protecting the region, there is mounting concern over massive new drilling and fracking plans under consideration by the Department’s Bureau of Land Management, threatening to erode the pending “Honoring Chaco” initiative.”
E&E News: Supreme Court case could snarl Biden climate agenda
Lesley Clark, Niina H. Farah, 2/25/22
“The Supreme Court will hear arguments next week in a case that could significantly undermine President Biden’s climate agenda,” E&E News reports. “Biden has pledged to cut U.S. emissions in half by 2030 — a considerable amount of which would have to come from power plants — but a coalition of red states and coal industry interests has convinced the justices to consider limiting EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon emissions from the power sector. The court’s ruling, which is expected by early summer, has the potential to produce a “sea change” in environmental law, Jeff Holmstead, who served as chief air official at EPA under former President George W. Bush, told E&E. “For many years, agencies and courts have taken a pretty broad view of what these statutes can do as long as they’re promoting the cause of environmental protection,” Holmstead, now a partner at Bracewell LLP, told E&E. “The court seems like it’s poised to rein them in a bit here and say, ‘No, on major policy issues, you can only regulate in that way if you have clear authority from Congress.’” He added: “It could be the most important administrative law case in decades.”
KFYR: ND senators call for liquid natural gas export increase
Joel Crane, 2/23/22
“North Dakota’s senators called for the Biden administration to increase liquified natural gas exports to European allies,” KFYR reports. “Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, along with 25 other Republican senators, said in a letter to the Department of Energy that increasing natural gas exports will create U.S. jobs and help to lower domestic and global emissions. “It’s better environmentally. Our natural gas on a life cycle basis is 41% lower carbon emissions than the natural gas from Russia because their environmental standards are not as good,” said Senator John Hoeven. Senator Hoeven also emphasized that an increase in liquified natural gas exports would be good for North Dakota’s economy specifically. The senators’ letter was in response to tensions in eastern Europe and a recent call from Democrats to restrict LNG exports, something the Republicans called ‘concerning.’”
STATE UPDATES
Salt Lake Tribune: Rock art site Nine Mile Canyon could become ‘hydrocarbon highway’ under Utah bill
Brian Maffly, 2/23/22
“A tanker truck every 7 minutes. That’s the level of oil-hauling traffic that would pass through Utah’s quiet and scenic Nine Mile Canyon, home to the world’s largest concentration of rock art, under a plan being quietly pushed by lawmakers this session,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “...Representatives for Carbon County, home to Nine Mile, and two other coal-producing counties in the coalition were dismayed to discover the bill would not only raid a $53 million fund set up to develop a coal-export terminal on the West Coast, it would also put a “hydrocarbon highway” through a scenic canyon. Nine Mile Canyon is one of the world’s top spots to view petroglyphs left by ancient Native Americans. The proposal basically pits the interests of Duchesne County, Utah’s biggest oil producer, against those of its neighbor to the south, which views Nine Mile Canyon as a tourist destination, according to county commissioners’ comments at the SCIC’s Feb. 18 meeting. “The Nine Mile road was not built to handle heavy truck traffic. We are being told there could be a truck every 7 minutes, depending on how much they build the [oil production] volume before rail is potentially put in to take that volume,” Carbon’s Casey Hopes told the Tribune. “That road was not built to that standard. It was built to take some heavy truck traffic but not a constant pounding.”
Associated Press: Companies face penalties for well violations in New Mexico
2/22/22
“State oil and gas regulators have issued notices to two companies for violating their permits for wastewater injection wells in southeastern New Mexico,” the Associated Press reports. “The Oil Conservation Division said Tuesday that the civil penalties include more than $2 million against XTO Permian Operating for violations at four wells and $7,200 against Mewbourne Oil Company for violations at one well. The state updated its guidelines for disposal wells in November following an increase in seismic activity in parts of the Permian Basin that was believed to be associated with injection wells for wastewater and other fluids generated during oil and gas production… “During a review of all disposal wells in the area, division staff found that permit conditions at four wells operated by XTO and one well operated by Mewbourne were out of compliance. Violations included failure to test equipment, measure well pressure and submit required documents.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada's Alberta province forecasts 2022/23 budget surplus as oil prices soar
By Nia Williams, 2/24/22
“Canada's biggest oil-producing province Alberta is expecting its first budget surplus since 2014/15, Finance Minister Travis Toews said on Thursday, as soaring global energy prices and increased oil output boost provincial resource revenue,” Reuters reports. “Alberta expects a surplus of C$500 million ($391 million) in the fiscal year beginning April 1, compared with C$3.2 billion deficit expected in the current financial year. The 2021/22 deficit forecast was significantly revised down from an original projection of C$18.2 billion made in February 2021… “The dramatic turnaround in Alberta's financial fortunes could provide a boost to Premier Jason Kenney, who faces a leadership review held by his United Conservative Party in April, and has been criticised by many Albertans for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alberta government based its 2022/23 budget assumptions on an average U.S. crude oil price of $70 a barrel, well below the current price of $96 a barrel. Oil prices topped $100 per barrel on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, fanning concerns about disruptions to global energy supplies… “Toews told Reuters Alberta is working on diversifying its economy to become less reliant on volatile commodity prices… “Alberta expects to bring in C$13.8 billion in resource revenue in 2022/23, up from C$13.2 billion in 2021/22.”
InsideClimate News: How Greenhouse Gases Released by the Oil and Gas Industry Far Exceed What Regulators Think They Know
Laura Kraegel, Mollie Jamison and Aydali Campa, 2/24/22
“Wayne Christian wanted to brag, he said, rocking in his burgundy leather chair atop the dais of the powerful Railroad Commission of Texas. Colleagues and staff were doing “a darn good job,” and people who “gripe about the environmental issues” were misinformed. The self-congratulatory pause came during an October meeting of the agency that oversees a more than $400 billion oil and gas industry in the top-producing state of the top-producing country on a rapidly warming planet,” InsideClimate News reports. “Christian, a former Grammy-nominated gospel singer, complained that negative media reports had obscured “the good job our staff and this industry has done for a cleaner environment, the cleanest industrialized nation on the planet.” Then the chairman and his two fellow elected commissioners returned to their agenda and, without debate, approved 39 more requests from oil and gas companies seeking permission to burn off or vent natural gas that’s rich in methane, a powerful greenhouse gas… “But regulators are largely unaware of the amount of gas being flared and vented, the Howard Center found. It’s a blind spot that’s developed under limited federal oversight and a patchwork of state regulations, lax enforcement and inconsistent data collection. The satellite flaring volumes calculated by the Howard Center, with the guidance of scientists who pioneered and used the methodology, far exceed the total reported to regulatory agencies in the 13 states designated by the U.S. Energy Department as having the most active flaring. They also far surpassed the total published by the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Energy Department analytics agency that says it gets its data from the states.”
Press release: Whitecap Resources, Wolf Midstream, and First Nations partners submit proposal to transform the future of carbon reduction
2/23/22
“Wolf Midstream (Wolf), Whitecap Resources (Whitecap), the First Nation Capital Investment Partnership (FNCIP) and Heart Lake First Nation (Indigenous Owners) have jointly proposed a saline aquifer sequestration hub in the Fort Saskatchewan area to transform the future of carbon reduction through the development of world-scale CO2 infrastructure. The sequestration hub will serve large facilities in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland that are seeking an independent and timely sequestration solution… “These projects are projected to provide initial CO2 delivery to the hub of between two to three million tonnes per annum (MTPA) with ultimate hub volumes that could exceed six MTPA… “The partners will initiate development work immediately to ensure an in-service date prior to the end of 2024. Wolf is an Alberta-based world leader in CCUS and the largest independent CO2 infrastructure operator in North America through its ownership and operation of the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL). Whitecap is a Canadian energy company based in Alberta with decades of CO2 injection and subsurface project experience. The FNCIP was recently formed by Four Treaty 6 Nations – Alexander First Nation, Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Enoch Cree Nation and Paul First Nation – to pursue ownership in major infrastructure projects with commercial partners who share Indigenous values.”
Politico: 350.ORG UNION HITS BACK
Matthew Choi, 2/23/22
“The union representing organized U.S. employees at environmental group 350.org said they intend to file “several” complaints against the organization’s management with the National Labor Relations Board following a story in POLITICO. The Progressive Workers Union claimed that 350.org “embraces tactics of union-busting and bad faith union contract negotiating,” Politico reports. “The negotiations over pay and racial equity, workloads and benefits emerged in the wake of restructuring attempts, massive layoffs and resignations triggered by financial mismanagement, as POLITICO reported. “Any press statements made by 350.org to the contrary are blatant falsehoods and is simply another attempt to cover up the rampant antiblack racism, union busting tactics, and unfair labor practices,” the union said in a press release. 350.org, however, has categorically denied many of the union’s accusations. The organization’s management told POLITICO through a spokesperson in an email that it will continue to engage with and respond to the Progressive Workers Union in regular bargaining discussions, saying it has negotiated “in good faith.”
Associated Press: Oil rig fire breaks out in Texas; trapped workers rescued
2/24/22
“A fire aboard a decommissioned offshore oil rig platform briefly trapped nine shipyard workers Thursday until they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter,” the Associated Press reports. “The fire broke out shortly before 1 p.m. at a shipyard in Sabine Pass, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Dickinson told The Associated Press. Sabine Pass is where the Texas-Louisiana border meets the Gulf of Mexico… “No workers were injured and the cause of the fire was being investigated, Dickinson told AP.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
BayToday: Callander firefighters will use donation for firefighter training
2/24/22
“Enbridge Gas is helping Callander Fire & Emergency Services purchase firefighting training materials, through Safe Community Project Assist–a program with the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council that supplements existing training for Ontario volunteer and composite fire departments in the communities where Enbridge operates,” BayToday reports. “At Enbridge Gas, safety is our priority. We’re proud to support Ontario firefighters who share our commitment to keeping our communities safe,” says Luke Skaarup, Director, Northern Region Operations, Enbridge Gas. This year’s $250,000 donation from Enbridge Gas will be shared by 50 Ontario fire departments, including Callander Fire & Emergency Services. Funds are used to purchase educational materials for firefighters to enhance life-saving techniques.”
OPINION
The Gazette: Iowa Legislature’s land use priorities lack common sense
Staff Editorial, 2/24/22
“Republicans running the Iowa Legislature have some strange ideas about private property rights,” The Gazette Editorial Board writes. “On one hand, they are giving the go-ahead to bills making it harder for rural land to be used for renewable energy and conservation projects. On the other hand, they are snubbing a bill that would protect farmers’ property from condemnation by pipelines serving the ethanol industry… “Eminent domain — Senate File 2160 would have removed a portion of Iowa Code allowing utility companies to use eminent domain to condemn agriculture land. It’s a response to proposed carbon pipeline projects in Iowa, at least one of which is seeking eminent domain authority. Unlike the other two land use bills mentioned above, this one was never even considered by a legislative committee. After last week’s legislative funnel deadline, it is likely dead for the year… “The apparent dissonance in Iowa lawmakers’ preferred bills shows this isn’t about private property rights. Instead it’s about propping up a specific very specific vision of Iowa farming, heavily dependent on corn that is mostly used to make fuel and not food.”
West Central Tribune: CURE Commentary: Who wins and who loses with CO2 pipelines?
Duane Ninneman is the executive director of Clean Up the River Environment group, known as CURE, based in Montevideo, Minnesota, 2/23/22
“Have you heard about the new pipeline projects being developed in southwest and west central Minnesota?” Duane Ninneman writes for the West Central Tribune. “If you haven’t, you’re not alone. Even Minnesotans who live, work, and own land in the communities where these pipelines will cross are just beginning to hear about them in drips and drops — maybe in a brief mention in the local paper or a bullet-point item in the minutes of a county board meeting. Or maybe you’ve heard the rumblings from farmers and communities on the other side of the Minnesota-Iowa border where resistance to these projects is growing… “Already, surveyors for the companies are out in Minnesota farm fields and farmers and landowners are being asked to sign voluntary easements to allow the pipelines across their property. This is all happening before any environmental assessments, community input, meaningful tribal consultation, or broad public discussions on CO2 pipelines have occurred… “In Minnesota right now, there is no state agency tasked with overseeing a comprehensive assessment of CO2 pipelines, creating a regulatory black hole that puts our communities at risk. But recently, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission — the state agency that has oversight over most other large pipeline projects — opened a proceeding on whether it should expand state regulations to include liquid CO2 in the definition of “hazardous,” which it clearly is. This simple change to regulation would give the PUC the ability to conduct a project-wide environmental assessment. A state-led project review would also provide a much-needed forum where members of the public could participate in the decision-making and have their voices heard… “Corporate executives and their investors should not be the ones who get to dictate what that looks like and who the winners and losers will be. The places and communities we call home and the lives we cultivate here are too precious for that.”