EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/22/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Associated Press: Burleigh County, North Dakota to require CO2 pipeline permits
The Gazette: If Iowa blocks CO2 pipelines, would the state lose out on tax credit gold rush?
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Trial delayed for pipeline trespassing case
The Gazette: Regulator: CO2 pipelines safe, but have risks
KIWA: Study: Blocked Carbon Pipeline Construction Impacts Commodity Prices
Fairbury Journal News: Could Earthquakes Have Contributed To Oil Spill?
Suffolk News Herald: Group says citizens aren’t aware of pipeline project
Morningstar: Trans Mountain Pipeline's Losses Are Enbridge’s Gains
RBN Energy: From Here To There To You - Enbridge's Heavy- And Light-Oil 'Supersystems' To Texas's Gulf Coast
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Roll Call: With US fossil fuel production up, GOP would step on the gas
STATE UPDATES
The Hill: ‘Cancer alley’ residents say they are victims of environmental racism in new lawsuit
E&E News: Energy Company Greenlights Texas LNG Project
Washington Post: “Green amendments” are running up against concerns they’d hamper clean energy projects
Bloomberg: California’s Newsom Scores Win in Bid to Curb Oil Profits
KMOT: ND Petroleum Council president reacts to UN Climate Report
Associated Press: North Dakota Senate advances tax breaks for fracking
Anchorage Daily News: Willow oil development could pave way for more drilling in Alaska reserve, despite Biden’s new limits
Big Pivots: Carbon roadmap bill advances in Colorado
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Red Hill families exposed to anti-icing agent
EXTRACTION
Guardian: A radical climate strategy emerges: charge big oil firms with homicide
E&E News: Offshore oil is about to surge
Bloomberg: Trudeau Set to Pick a Lane in Clean-Tech Race Against Biden
Natural Gas Intelligence: TC Energy Sees Mexico Gas Supply for LNG Projects ‘Eminently Achievable’
Canadian Press: Alberta Energy Regulator ignored law regarding Imperial Oil's tailings pond leak: lawyer
APTN News: First Nation in northern Alberta reports Kearl mine leak ‘worse’ than expected
CLIMATE FINANCE
Forbes: Oil Is On Sale And Buffett Is Buying—Should You?
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: A hand up for the homeless in central Connecticut
OPINION
NwestIowa.com: Letter: Pipeline investors will get rich at farmers’ cost
National Observer: Carbon capture won’t fix our climate problem
Proxy Review: Shareholders and Local Communities Join to Demand Racial and Environmental Justice
PIPELINE NEWS
Associated Press: Burleigh County, North Dakota to require CO2 pipeline permits
3/21/23
“North Dakota's Burleigh County has approved an ordinance to require special permits for companies that want to build pipelines for hazardous liquids such as carbon dioxide,” the Associated Press reports. “County commissioners voted 4-0 Monday night with one member absent to approve the proposal. Commissioners, however, acknowledged the ordinance is likely to draw a lawsuit from carbon-capture pipeline developer Summit Carbon Solutions, the Bismarck Tribune reported… “Some landowners worry about their safety should the pipeline rupture. The ordinance requires a computer modeling report showing the blast zone, which Flanagan said is more specific than the company's modeling for a plume that could be affected by factors such as wind and topography… “The ordinance also establishes numerous setback distances, including at least 10 miles from certain electrical, drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure, and at least 4 miles from a church, school, nursing home, long-term care facility or hospital. A pipeline company would have to provide proof of liability insurance and put up a bond to cover construction costs.”
The Gazette: If Iowa blocks CO2 pipelines, would the state lose out on tax credit gold rush?
Erin Jordan, 3/20/23
“If Iowa lawmakers pass legislation blocking carbon dioxide pipelines, the pipelines still will move forward in other states, leaving Iowa out of a tax credit gold rush and forcing Iowa farmers to ship their corn out of state, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association,” The Gazette reports. “...The study, conducted by Decision Innovation Solutions for the association, says Iowa’s ethanol industry will take a $10 billion hit if CO2 pipeline projects fail to advance in Iowa… “The study’s findings are based on the assumption CO2 pipelines would be approved in Iowa’s neighboring states, but that isn’t at all certain. Pipelines also have faced opposition from citizen groups and governing boards in Illinois and Minnesota. Wally Taylor, an attorney for the Sierra Club of Iowa, called the study “fearmongering” in a recent letter to the Iowa Legislature. “Even if pipelines were built in Iowa and more ethanol plants were built, would that benefit corn farmers? Would, or could, Iowa farmers grow more corn than they are now to supply the additional ethanol plants?,” Taylor wrote. “Or is the carbon capture proposal just a scheme to make more money for the ethanol industry with no additional benefit to farmers?” The study also assumes there are no other ways to significantly reduce carbon emissions at ethanol plants — which is what triggers the 45Z tax credits worth up to $1 per gallon… The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s Monte Shaw told the Gazette he’s not surprised so many Iowans oppose eminent domain. But he’s optimistic HF565 will be modified or defeated. “I like our chances because we’ve had so many thoughtful conversations up there (the Iowa Statehouse),” he told the Gazette. “There is key leadership that supports House File 565. I hope it does not become law the way it is because it will kill these projects.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Trial delayed for pipeline trespassing case
JARED STRONG, 3/21/23
“The trespassing trial of a land surveyor for Summit Carbon Solutions has been delayed for a month because of a pending appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, according to court records,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “The appeal asks the high court to review a judge’s denial of a motion to dismiss the case in January. Stephen James Larsen, 28, of Arlington, South Dakota, was charged with trespassing in August for going onto a Dickinson County property to conduct a land survey for Summit’s proposed carbon dioxide pipeline. Other surveyors had previously been told to leave and not return… “District Associate Judge Shawna Ditsworth wrote in January that she lacked the necessary information to decide whether to dismiss the charge against Larsen and set a trial for Thursday. That trial is now delayed to April 20, pending a resolution of the appeal, which was filed in early February… “Separately, there are several pending requests by Summit and Navigator CO2 Ventures for injunctions against landowners to conduct their surveys.”
The Gazette: Regulator: CO2 pipelines safe, but have risks
Caleb McCullough, 3/21/23
“Ahead of a key vote on a bill putting eminent domain restrictions on proposed carbon capture pipelines in Iowa, a federal regulator told lawmakers the projects are largely safe, but are not without risks,” The Gazette reports. “Linda Daugherty — an administrator at the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates hazardous liquid pipelines — told lawmakers the agency works aggressively to regulate the projects and that leaks, though they happen, are rare. “The actual number of incidents that have impacted people, it's very rare,” Daugherty told the House Environmental Protection Committee on Tuesday. Of 101 reported pipeline failures since 2001, one person required hospitalization as a result, she said. Still, she said, pipelines are not without risk. In large quantities, carbon dioxide can be an asphyxiant. That was the case in 2020, when a pipeline ruptured, dropping a cloud of carbon dioxide onto the small town of Satartia, Miss., prompting the evacuation of more than 200 people and requiring dozens to seek medical attention. That incident prompted the federal body to update its rules governing CO2 pipelines, including rules related to emergency preparedness and response. The new rules are expected to be finalized within the next two years. “We are strengthening our CO2 regulations, not because we don't have strong regulations but because we are continually learning,” Daugherty said. “We have to learn from what we saw in Satartia.” “...Jess Mazour, the conservation program coordinator for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, one of the groups leading opposition to the pipeline, told the Gazette she thought Tuesday's presentation was fair and gave lawmakers a good understanding of the potential risks of carbon dioxide pipelines. “Understanding how these pipelines can rupture and what happens when they rupture, is really important for people to know,” she told the Gazette “... I think it’s pretty clear that we need to make sure that our communities are safe before we just go and approve these projects.” “...Opponents of the pipeline companies, along with sympathetic lawmakers, are planning a rally at the Capitol on Wednesday ahead of the vote on the bill. “We want them to have to look at us while they vote to make sure that they vote yes, and that they’re representing us and not the pipeline companies,” Mazour of the Sierra Club told the Gazette.
KIWA: Study: Blocked Carbon Pipeline Construction Impacts Commodity Prices
MARK MCHUGH, 3/21/23
“A study commissioned by the renewable fuels industry suggests corn prices in Iowa would drop significantly if carbon capture pipelines are not built in Iowa,” KIWA reports. “...A bill in the Iowa House would establish new steps pipeline developers would have to clear. Most notable is a requirement that property owners along 90 percent of a pipeline’s route voluntarily let developers have access to their land. The study found the price for corn could plummet by as much as 80 cents per bushel if carbon capture pipelines are connected to ethanol plants elsewhere, but not in Iowa. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association is asking its members to lobby House members to vote against the bill… “Key Republican lawmakers who have proposed new regulations for the pipelines say they’re defending the rights of landowners who don’t want their land seized through the government’s eminent domain process. Other pipeline opponents question the safety of the pipelines and whether capturing carbon from ethanol plants is among the best ways to reduce greenhouse gases.”
Fairbury Journal News: Could Earthquakes Have Contributed To Oil Spill?
Gordon Hopkins, 3/21/23
“Could earthquakes have contributed to the Keystone Pipeline oil spill in Kansas last year? That is a question posed by lawmakers at a hearing of the Kansas Legislature held Tuesday, March 14, in which Gary Salsman, TC Energy Vice President, Field Operations, answered questions,” the Fairbury Journal News reports. “The 2,687-mile Keystone Pipeline System transports up to 622,000 barrels of crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Midwest and the Gulf Coast. The oil leak dumped an estimated 12,937 barrels of crude oil into Mill Creek, three miles east of Washington, Kansas, and approximately 20 miles south of Steele City, on December 7, 2022…”
Suffolk News Herald: Group says citizens aren’t aware of pipeline project
James W. Robinson, 3/21/23
“A proposed 48-mile expansion project bringing a new gas pipeline to route through the Hampton Roads and Southeast areas of Virginia — including the cities of Suffolk and Chesapeake, as well as Isle of Wight and Southampton counties — faces opposition led by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network,” the Suffolk News Herald reports. “The Chesapeake Climate Action Network went door-to-door in Suffolk Saturday, March 4 to raise awareness on the Virginia Reliability Project., CCAN Hampton Roads organizer Charles Brown II told the Herald there are many people who do not know about the pipeline proposal or reasons for the group’s opposition. “There’s an existing pipeline that goes through Virginia. This project is a collaboration between two companies — TC Energy, which is based in Canada, and Columbian Gas,” Brown told the Herald. “What they want to do is basically, rip out 49 miles of existing pipeline that go throughout Virginia and replace it with a pipeline that is double the diameter which would pump out four times the methane gas through this pipeline.” The reason for their opposition, he told the Herald, is there are about 13 schools that are within two miles of the construction of this pipeline. It is also proposed to go through the Great Dismal Swamp, the Albert G. Horton Memorial Veterans Cemetery and a lot of low income communities. “In a lot of these environmental issues, just as I’ve seen just to track record these companies, they tend to go through lower income areas or Black and Brown communities and we are disproportionately affected,” Brown told the Herald.“
Morningstar: Trans Mountain Pipeline's Losses Are Enbridge’s Gains
Stephen Ellis, 3/12/23
“The Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, or TMX, project is now expected to cost $30.9 billion, a more-than 40% increase from its estimate last year of $21.4 billion and almost 3 times its original estimate of $12.6 billion,” Morningstar reports. “... It is now almost certain that the Canadian government will lose billions of dollars on a sale, as we can’t see a pathway for any sale price to approach this current cost estimate… “With 80% of the pipeline already contracted under take-or-pay contracts, the higher costs can only be recovered with higher rates on the uncontracted 20% capacity, where the market largely sets tariffs. The most positive implications are for Enbridge (ENB): the more delays and higher costs from TMX, the more room Enbridge has to maneuver… “Enbridge’s system also moves 4 times the volume that Trans Mountain would move on a similar rate base, so its rates are likely to undercut TMX’s on uncontracted capacity.”
RBN Energy: From Here To There To You - Enbridge's Heavy- And Light-Oil 'Supersystems' To Texas's Gulf Coast
Housley Carr, 3/22/23
“In small steps and giant leaps, Enbridge has been building out two “supersystems” for transporting crude oil to refineries and the company’s own export terminals along Texas’s Gulf Coast, one moving heavy crude all the way from Alberta’s oil sands to the Houston area and the other shuttling light oil from the Permian to Enbridge’s massive terminal in Ingleside on the north side of Corpus Christi Bay,” RBN Energy reports. “There’s nothing quite like it — first, an unbroken series of pipelines from Western Canada to Enbridge’s tank farm in Cushing, OK, (via the Midwest) and from there to Freeport, TX, on the twin Seaway pipelines; and second, the Gray Oak and Cactus II pipes from West Texas to the U.S.’s #1 crude export terminal. And the midstream giant is far from done... “All that helps to explain why Enbridge, one of North America’s largest midstream companies, has been focusing so much of its attention — and capital — on facilitating the transport of increasing volumes of crude oil from Western Canada and the Permian to Texas’s Gulf Coast and the loading of significant shares of that crude onto ships. Next, we’ll look at Enbridge’s existing crude oil pipeline, storage, and export assets, particularly those relating to the delivery of Western Canadian and Permian crude to Texas’s Gulf Coast, as well as what the company is planning to make its two oil supersystems even bigger and more efficient…”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Roll Call: With US fossil fuel production up, GOP would step on the gas
Benjamin J. Hulac, 3/20/23
“Energy legislation Republicans are maneuvering through the House would rescind two programs at the EPA, including one with industry support, and push to expand already-burgeoning domestic fossil energy production for a global market the U.S. already dominates,” Roll Call reports. “...Among a series of changes, the bill would repeal two central elements of the climate law Congress passed and the president signed last year — one EPA program to cut methane and another to establish a federal green bank. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, who represents the oil-rich Permian Basin of West Texas, has led the push to block the methane-fee provision, which would charge fossil energy companies $900 per metric ton and $1,500 after two years… “Pfluger told Roll Call the methane tax would hurt independent fossil fuel companies… “Included in the GOP energy bill is legislation from Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., to eliminate a $27 billion program EPA is distributing to spur investment in low- and zero-carbon projects… “Separately, the bill would lift restrictions on the import and export of liquefied natural gas, or LNG… “As environmental groups and Democrats in Congress whip opposition to the bill, trade and lobbying groups that represent fossil fuel, pipeline and petrochemical companies have emerged in support of the legislation. Count the American Public Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute and the Independent Petroleum Association of America as supporters of the bill.”
STATE UPDATES
The Hill: ‘Cancer alley’ residents say they are victims of environmental racism in new lawsuit
RACHEL FRAZIN, 3/21/23
“Residents of an area of Louisiana that has become known as “cancer alley” due to the prominence of pollution coming from industry there are alleging that they are the victims of environmental racism in a new lawsuit,” The Hill reports. “ They specifically point to a 2014 land use plan issued by their parish, the Louisiana equivalent of a county, which designated majority-black areas as places where industry could develop, according to the lawsuit. The suit also says that the plan protected Catholic churches but left Baptist churches vulnerable to pollution, “which made the discrimination compound – religious and racial – and thus doubly unlawful.” The suit also said that the parish has approved every request by heavy industry to put facilities in majority-Black areas, but hasn’t approved a request to do the same in majority-white areas in 46 years… “The lawsuit was filed on behalf of environmental justice groups Inclusive Louisiana and Rise St. James as well as the Triumph Baptist Church against the parish, its council and its planning commission. “Over and over, the St. James Parish Council has ignored us, has denied our cries for equal rights, for basic human rights,” Rise St. James’s Shamyra Lavigne told the Hill. “But we stand here today to say we will not be ignored, you will not sacrifice our lives.”
E&E News: Energy Company Greenlights Texas LNG Project
Carlos Anchondo, 3/21/23
“A major liquefied natural gas export project along the U.S. Gulf Coast is advancing toward construction, California-based Sempra announced Monday,” E&E News reports. “The company said its Sempra Infrastructure Partners LP subsidiary reached a positive final investment decision on the Port Arthur LNG project in Texas’ Jefferson County. Phase 1 of the project — which is expected to be partially operational in southeast Texas in 2027 — will be able to produce around 13 million metric tons of LNG annually and includes two natural gas liquefaction units, or trains. On Monday, Sempra also announced the closing of $6.8 billion in debt financing and issued a final notice to proceed under the project’s engineering, procurement and construction contract. Sempra owns 70 percent of Sempra Infrastructure Partners. Total expenditures for phase one of the project are estimated to be $13 billion, according to a news release. Sempra also said it would sell an interest in the project to an infrastructure fund managed by KKR & Co. Inc.”
Washington Post: “Green amendments” are running up against concerns they’d hamper clean energy projects
Maxine Joselow, 3/22/23
“An effort to get states to pass “green amendments” guaranteeing a right to clean air, water and soil is ramping up,” the Washington Post reports. “Lawmakers in at least 13 states are pushing for such amendments to their state constitutions. But they’re facing head winds, shown most recently in New Mexico, where a state report suggested a green amendment could dramatically slow the permitting process for renewable energy projects by creating new legal uncertainties. The issue underscores a dilemma for environmentalists. They hope to make pollution prevention central to every level of government decision-making. At the same time, adding more requirements to the permitting process could slow it down and ultimately hamper the nation’s transition to clean energy.”
Bloomberg: California’s Newsom Scores Win in Bid to Curb Oil Profits
Gerson Freitas Jr, 3/20/23
“Governor Gavin Newsom struck a deal Monday with legislative leaders on a proposal to limit how much profit oil companies can make in California and establish a watchdog to monitor gasoline prices,” Bloomberg reports. “Under the proposal, authored by state Senator Nancy Skinner, the California Energy Commission would be allowed to impose a penalty on refiners that charge more than an allowable margin for the price of gasoline, Newsom’s press office said in a statement. The proposal represents a shift from a Newsom’s earlier goal to impose a windfall tax on oil companies. It would have required a super majority to be approved. The bill, which needs a simple majority of the Democrat-controlled legislature to pass, would give the watchdog subpoena powers to obtain data and records “that could reveal patterns of misconduct or price manipulation.”
KMOT: ND Petroleum Council president reacts to UN Climate Report
Crystal Kwaw, 3/20/23
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends fossil fuel production decrease by two-thirds by 2035 — that’s according to a report from the Associated Press,” KMOT reports. “North Dakota is the third-highest top oil-producing state in the U.S. after Texas and New Mexico, according to federal statistics. Ron Ness, the president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, told KMOT the report is a scare tactic. Ness told KMOT it’s not economically feasible, and the scale needed to reach the goal is beyond ambitious. “Their claims are not justified. I would say around 85 percent of the U.S. daily energy needs are supplied by fossil fuel,” Ness told KMOT.
Associated Press: North Dakota Senate advances tax breaks for fracking
TRISHA AHMED, 3/20/23
“The North Dakota Senate passed a bill Monday that would give tax incentives to oil companies for “restimulating” old oil wells in the state through hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking,” the Associated Press reports. “...Supporters said the North Dakota bill would benefit mineral owners and the state, whereas opponents said oil companies can afford to restimulate wells without a tax break… “Democratic Sen. Merrill Piepkorn, of Fargo, was the only lawmaker to speak against the bill on the Senate floor and said oil companies in “this high profit margin industry are capable of funding this restimulation program on their own.” “...In order to qualify for restimulation, an old oil well would need to be at least five years old or produce less than 125 barrels of oil per day. About 5,400 wells would qualify in the state, Patten told AP, and the state would still collect sales tax on the work needed for restimulation — that “easily offsets” the loss in tax revenues not collected.”
Anchorage Daily News: Willow oil development could pave way for more drilling in Alaska reserve, despite Biden’s new limits
Alex DeMarban, 3/19/23
“The Biden administration announced a host of new environmental protections last week to limit future drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, just before it approved development of the massive Willow oil field. But Willow owner ConocoPhillips and other oil companies still have lots of room to grow in the Indiana-sized reserve, according to industry observers,” the Anchorage Daily News reports. “To what extent the Biden administration will be able to limit oil development in the reserve is uncertain. The Interior Department has not yet announced all the restrictions it will pursue, so the impacts to future leasing and drilling aren’t known, experts tell ADN. And future forces, such as expectations for falling oil demand in the years to come, might also play a role in whether companies will take the costly and lengthy steps to pursue drilling in the reserve, they tell ADN… “Oil explorer Bill Armstrong, credited with Alaska oil discoveries that set the stage for Willow, told ADN at this point he doesn’t see the environmental protections affecting his exploration plans in the reserve. His company, Colorado-based North Slope Energy, has filed plans to explore for oil southwest of Willow. Armstrong also doesn’t see impacts to roughly 1 million acres of leases his company holds in partnership with Oil Search Alaska, part of Australia-based Santos, in the reserve.
Big Pivots: Carbon roadmap bill advances in Colorado
Allen Best, 3/16/23
“...The four businesses had in common the goal of drawing carbon dioxide from the air, in the case of one business through the technique of biochar, or creating new processes that eliminated need for emissions such as exist now with virgin steel-making,” Big Pivots reports. “...That bill, HB23-1210, “Carbon Management,” easily passed its first legislative test on March 9, getting approval from the House Energy and Environment Committee in an 8-3 vote. If it becomes law, the legislation will crack the door open in Colorado for new technologies and practices that many climate change activists insist will be necessary for the state to meet its mid-century decarbonization goals. But many activists who worry just as intensely about the risks of climate change are convinced it’s a misstep. The bill has two components. One would make “carbon management projects” eligible for grants under the state Clean Air Program that was established by legislators in 2022 with funding of $25 million. Potential applications among the 11 defined in the bill include bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, durable geological carbon sequestration, and direct air capture and storage. Enhanced oil recovery—a practice that has provoked hurricane-strength opposition in other places—is expressly excluded from potential grant application… “The second major component of the bill directs the Colorado Energy Office to work with a contractor to create a carbon management roadmap in consultation with stakeholders… “Morey Wolfson, who has been in Colorado’s environmental trenches for about 50 years, had testified that carbon removal is extravagantly expensive. “Here’s the math,” he told BP. To reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, now at 420 parts per million, by just one part, will require removal of 8 billion tons at a cost of $100 per ton. That, he told BP, will cost $800 billion. “Your state budget is $42 billion.” “There are so many inexpensive ways to not put carbon into the atmosphere in the first place,” he told BP.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Red Hill families exposed to anti-icing agent
Sophie Cocke, 3/20/23
“Military and civilian families who drank and bathed in fuel-tainted water after a fuel spill at the Navy’s Red Hill facility in November 2021 contaminated their drinking water, were also exposed to antifreeze, according to an internal Hawaii Department of Health memo that identifies the coolant as potentially posing the biggest health risk,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. “The compound in the antifreeze, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether, is used in aviation fuels to help prevent the formation of ice crystals. It was detected in water samples collected in the weeks after jet fuel spilled from a Red Hill underground pipeline and made its way into the Navy’s drinking water system that serves about 93,000 people. The Feb. 2 memo from DOH provides estimates of contaminants that entered the drinking water system, including additives that the Navy put in its jet fuel. The antifreeze compound “would have been quickly drawn into groundwater in contact with JP-5 (jet fuel) and is likely to have entered the Red Hill Shaft drinking water system ahead of less soluble and less mobile, petroleum contaminants,” according to the DOH memo from Roger Brewer of DOH’s Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response office, which was sent to the state toxicologist and chief of DOH’s Safe Drinking Water branch. Brewer writes that the compound “could pose the most significant health risk from exposure to contaminated water.” Approximately 10,000 households are believed to have been affected by the jet fuel contamination and hundreds reported symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, burning in their mouth and throat, chemical burns, skin rashes, seizures, dizziness and fainting. Some people reported that their pets got sick and died. The DOH memo was provided to the Star-Advertiser this week by attorneys for military families who are suing the Navy over the jet fuel exposure.”
EXTRACTION
Guardian: A radical climate strategy emerges: charge big oil firms with homicide
Brian Kahn, 3/22/23
“Oil companies have come under increasing legal scrutiny and face allegations of defrauding investors, racketeering, and a wave of other lawsuits. But a new paper argues there’s another way to hold big oil accountable for climate damage: trying companies for homicide,” the Guardian reports. “The striking and seemingly radical legal theory is laid out in a paper accepted for publication in the Harvard Environmental Law Review. In it, the authors argue fossil fuel companies “have not simply been lying to the public, they have been killing members of the public at an accelerating rate, and prosecutors should bring that crime to the public’s attention”. “What’s on their ledger in terms of harm, there’s nothing like it in human history,” David Arkush, the director of the climate program at consumer advocacy group Public Citizen and one of the paper’s authors told the Guardian. The paper is rooted in part in the growing body of evidence fossil fuel companies knew of the harm their products caused and misled the public about them… “But the new paper argues that oil companies’ climate research and continued fight to delay climate regulations amount to a “culpable mental state” that has inflicted harm on people, including death… “Braman argued that pursuing homicide charges would have a greater impact on fossil fuel companies than the cases currently wending their way through court in part because the penalties would be steeper. Rather than paying a fine, homicide charges could open up an array of other outcomes that could materially alter how companies operate… “The paper also argues that the case for climate homicide has been bolstered by attribution science, which seeks to ascertain how much the climate crisis has worsened individual extreme weather events. Some studies have even been able to attribute a specific number of extreme weather deaths to the climate crisis. The duo argue that this growing body of science is among the most powerful tools to prove that oil companies’ actions have more than met the standard for a prosecutor to bring a homicide case.”
E&E News: Offshore oil is about to surge
Benjamin Storrow, 3/22/23
“Oil executives love to talk about the energy transition. But for all the platitudes about technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture, most are doubling down on what they know best. Oil,” E&E News reports. “Spending on new offshore oil projects over the next two years is projected to soar to levels not seen in a decade. In Saudi Arabia, the state-owned oil giant is embarking on a series of massive offshore expansion projects designed to boost the kingdom’s crude production. The United Kingdom and Norway are pumping more money into the North Sea in hopes of lifting out more oil. Exxon Mobil Corp., America’s oil giant, is plowing money into projects in waters off Guyana and Brazil. The offshore revival represents a shift after a decade of focus on onshore shale plays and amounts to a vote of confidence in oil’s long-term future. The move is notable as it follows several years of mounting talk of diversifying oil companies’ business models. Europe’s oil giants have announced net-zero emission targets and have begun investing in everything from renewables to electric vehicle charging. Even America’s oil titans, which have long maintained that crude will be needed for decades to come, have begun pouring money in areas such as hydrogen and carbon capture. Yet oil remains their bread and butter. “People who hoped the oil companies would stop investing in oil are likely to be disappointed,” Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, told E&E… “Whatever transition brings to the oil industry, there is going to be a place for cleaner, cheaper barrels. Rystad Energy, a consulting firm, reckons that offshore spending will eclipse $100 billion in 2023 and 2024. That would mark the first time offshore oil investment eclipses the $100 billion mark in consecutive years since 2012 and 2013, the firm told E&E.”
Bloomberg: Trudeau Set to Pick a Lane in Clean-Tech Race Against Biden
Brian Platt, 3/21/23
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is about to decide which low-carbon industries should be winners in Canada’s bid to stay competitive with President Joe Biden’s generous new industrial policy in the US,” Bloomberg reports. “...Some of those sectors are well known and have already received significant funding, particularly carbon capture, electric-vehicle supply chains, and hydrogen production… “Leveling the playing field with the US is a daunting — likely impossible — task because the tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act are uncapped, meaning the spending could top $1 trillion over the next decade. And it’s not just the dollar figure. Biden’s approach allows any firm to tap into production tax credits. By contrast, Canada typically requires companies to apply for incentives or it negotiates bespoke deals for large factories, as it did with Volkswagen AG last week. “The US is offering very clear incentives that are available to everyone,” Michael Bernstein, executive director of Clean Prosperity, a climate policy think-tank, told Bloomberg. “If Canada is only putting in place a tailored approach for a select set of companies, we’re simply not going to take advantage of this massive opportunity that’s in front of us.”
Natural Gas Intelligence: TC Energy Sees Mexico Gas Supply for LNG Projects ‘Eminently Achievable’
JACOB DICK, 3/21/23
“Canada’s TC Energy Corp. thinks any capacity constraints in Mexico would be solved if the financing for LNG export projects were in place, CEO Francois Poirier told NGI on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global Conference in Houston earlier this month,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “In Mexico, TC is solidifying partnerships with Mexico’s state power utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). TC expects to spend $2.1 billion this year to advance construction of the Southeast Gateway project, as well as the Villa de Reyes and Tula pipelines. TC is also working on a 500 MMcf/d expansion to the North Baja XPress system to feed the first phase of Sempra Infrastructure’s Energía Costa Azul LNG export terminal currently under construction after regulators granted approval last year. Poirier said the growing list of projects with partners in Mexico will build a “backbone of infrastructure” that can help modernize the country’s energy systems and support industry. Further connectivity could also help increase U.S. natural gas pipeline exports to Mexico as proposed liquefied natural gas projects continue to stack up on the Pacific and eastern coasts… “As TC plans to continue investing billions to expand North American natural gas pipeline capacity through the decade, Poirier said political momentum for permitting reform and an appreciation for infrastructure could pave the way for expansions and greenfield projects to boost LNG exports.”
Canadian Press: Alberta Energy Regulator ignored law regarding Imperial Oil's tailings pond leak: lawyer
NICHOLAS VARDY, 3/21/23
“An Alberta lawyer says the province’s energy regulator may have ignored provincial law by not publicly disclosing that waste from a large oilsands tailings pond was escaping containment and seeping into groundwater,” the Canadian Press reports. “Drew Yewchuk of the University of Calgary’s Public Interest Law Clinic is asking the province’s Information Commissioner to investigate how and why the Alberta Energy Regulator chose not to release information on the release at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oilsands mine. Yewchuk points out that Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act says any public body must immediately release information that involves significant harm to the environment or to the health or safety of the public. The regulator notified local First Nations as early as May 2022 about some sludge that had been found outside a tailings pond at Kearl. But it said nothing else to anyone until Feb. 6, when it released an environmental protection order.”
APTN News: First Nation in northern Alberta reports Kearl mine leak ‘worse’ than expected
3/21/23
“Leaders from Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) say an inspection of the Kearl oil sands mine in northern Alberta shows a massive leak from a tailings pond is worse than expected,” APTN News reports. “Recently, ACFN representatives were finally granted access to the spill site on the north side of the Kearl tailings pond. What we observed was worse than what anyone anticipated,” said a statement released Tuesday afternoon. According to the statement, inspectors found toxic water still on the ground in an “unfenced, uncontained area immediately adjacent to streams and pond”, no barriers between the leak and nearby waterways, and “new tailings puddles forming as the temperature increased.” “...The news from ACFN is in stark contrast to a release from Imperial Oil on March 15 that said the company was “nearing completion of cleanup from drainage pond overflow at Kearl.” “...APTN is waiting to hear back from Imperial Oil on whether anyone will be made available for an interview. In an emailed statement, the company said it is “engaging with Indigenous community leaders and members to answer their questions, provide information and begin to rebuild trust.”
Resources Radio: Energy Transition in Canada’s Oil Sands, with Andrew Leach
DANIEL RAIMI, 3/21/23
“In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Andrew Leach, a professor at the University of Alberta, about the oil and gas industry in Alberta, Canada. Leach discusses how oil and gas are extracted in Alberta’s oil sands region, the environmental liabilities that result from this type of extraction, tensions between provincial and national leaders over environmental policies and emissions-reduction goals, how First Nations participate in the decisionmaking related to energy development, the energy transition, and more,” Resources Radio reports. “...Role of First Nations in Canadian energy development: “The environment with respect to Indigenous communities is substantially different [than in the United States] because of our 1982 constitutional amendment, where we enshrined First Nations’ rights in our constitution … In Canada, it’s easy to say that the future of the resource industry relies on, if not permission, then meaningful engagement with First Nations communities.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Forbes: Oil Is On Sale And Buffett Is Buying—Should You?
Christopher Helman, 3/21/23
“It makes sense to be bearish on oil prices right now,” according to Forbes. “...But is is time to be scared, or brave? “Oil markets have turned excessively pessimistic about the outlook,” writes Goldman Sachs analyst Daan Struyven and his team in a research note, which lowered its 12-month price target to $94/bbl from $100… “Still, his $94 is a good sight higher than where we are today. Is such price bullishness at all realistic? Warren Buffett seems to think so. This month he took advantage of six-month lows to acquire another 13 million shares in Occidental for nearly $800 million. That raises Berkshire Hathaway’s equity stake in Oxy to 23%, worth $12.5 billion. Berkshire also holds warrants to buy about 9% of the company for $5 billion, plus $10 billion of preferred stock, on which it receives $200 million in dividends per quarter. The best passage from Buffett’s recent annual letter made it clear that he doesn’t have any oil price crystal ball, but recognizes the diversification power of fossil fuels to Berkshire’s long-term health, especially given massive federal government deficits… “There are cheaper options for those of us not buying in on Berkshire’s terms. According to Jefferies’ data, the average independent oil producer trades at 11 times earnings.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: A hand up for the homeless in central Connecticut
3/21/23
“Pat Stebbins is on a mission to tackle homelessness in central Connecticut,” according to Enbridge. “Lovingly named Brian’s Angels, Stebbins founded the organization in memory of her son after the local warming centre closed following a short spring season stint… “In 2022, Enbridge gave a $2,500 Fueling Futures grant to Brian’s Angels as part of our commitment to maintaining vibrant and sustainable communities. The funding helped to replace an industrial-sized refrigerator for the organization, which stores fresh foods for facility clients.”
OPINION
NwestIowa.com: Letter: Pipeline investors will get rich at farmers’ cost
Dorothy Sloma, Sioux County landowner, Arnolds Park, 3/21/23
“Sure are hearing lots of rumors about “big” money going to farmers selling out to the pipelines,” Dorothy Sloma writes for NwestIowa.com. “The number I am hearing might be enough to pay off some credit card bills and put money down on a new combine. When the pipeline companies say big money this is what they are thinking: Summit hazardous carbon dioxide pipeline: 12 million tons of CO2 each year. $85 per tons tax credit. $1.02 billion tax credit annually. $2.8 million per day. $116,438 per hour. $2,000 per minute. When these companies say CO2 pipeline, they are thinking a tube full of $$$$ put there by taxpayers and given to them as tax credits under Section 45Q of the federal tax code. When I say hazardous CO2 pipeline, I am thinking a bomb — not only physically but financially. Yes, these pipelines are hazardous to humans, animals and anything else within miles of a rupture. But they are also explosive, financially: Money you receive is taxable — both the land portion and the crop portion… “Those who sell out today should know that each $100,000 they receive is only one hour of flow in a pipeline project that will be an encumbrance on the land for generations. The pipeline investors are getting richer every day — $2,000 a minute as the hazardous compressed CO2 flows across your land, but your payday is over.”
National Observer: Carbon capture won’t fix our climate problem
June Sekera is a public policy practitioner and researcher whose work and publications are focused on the public economy and public goods production, 3/20/23
“This week, oil and gas lobbyists are gearing up for a busy few days. Today, the IPCC — the UN experts on climate science — is publishing a new report on the impact of global warming and our best options to slow it down,” June Sekera writes for the National Observer. “Expect lots of spin about carbon capture and storage (CCS): the machinery and chemicals that aim to capture CO2 as it emerges from the smokestacks of factories and power plants burning fossil fuels. Theoretically, the idea is to reduce the amount of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere and store it underground or use it elsewhere. Don’t be misled when fossil lobbyists once again push the message that UN scientists say it’s a technology we must rely on to limit climate change… “According to the IPCC’s Working Group III report, carbon capture is one of the least-effective, most-expensive climate change mitigation options on Earth. Scientists rank it close to the bottom of a long list of options, easily outstripped by more affordable solutions like wind and solar energy. And it scores fire-alarm red for cost. The same IPCC report shows that rather than carbon “capture” or mechanical carbon “removal”, the more effective and faster way to remove billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere is to restore and expand the carbon sequestration capabilities of plants and soil… “Carbon capture, on the other hand, is a placebo. It gives oil and gas companies a story to tell about acting on emissions while they keep extracting, and we keep burning, fossil fuels… “In the U.S., ExxonMobil wants to build a giant carbon capture “hub” in Texas, but says it needs government subsidies to make it feasible. Oil and gas firms are some of the world’s richest companies. If they really believe in this technology, why won’t they pay for it?.. “With CCS, we are building “a taxpayer-financed sewer system for the fossil fuel industry,” says Kert Davies, director of the Climate Investigations Center. It’s time to end the era of public subsidy for CCS. It’s not taxpayers who should pay for these costly experiments, it’s the businesses profiting from pollution… “Every dollar we spend on this dangerous and counter-productive technology is a dollar we can’t spend on real solutions to climate change — wind, solar, and energy efficiency. As climate change wrecks more of our homes, that’s a path we can’t afford to take.”
Proxy Review: Shareholders and Local Communities Join to Demand Racial and Environmental Justice
Olivia Knight, Racial Justice Initiative Manager, As You Sow, 3/21/23
“As You Sow created the Racial Justice Initiative (RJI) in June 2020 following George Floyd’s murder,” Proxy Review reports. “ We then developed the Racial Justice Scorecard applying 27 key performance indicators (KPI) to the top 1000 companies to track and monitor corporate progress on racial equity… “Our research led us to engage with Kinder Morgan, the largest U.S. pipeline company, working with the Dutchtown South Community Corporation (DSCC) and Great Rivers Environmental Law. Dutchtown residents have long been plagued by adverse health effects from a nearby Kinder Morgan facility and had been unable to get a meeting with Kinder Morgan representatives. We filed our first Climate Justice resolution in November 2021, and the company responded, conducting multiple dialogues with our team. Kinder Morgan acknowledged the importance of direct community engagement in relation to environmental injustice. We negotiated a withdrawal agreement in February 2022… “The resolution demonstrated that environmental injustice issues are a material risk to corporate brand reputation that comes from increased public awareness. By leveraging As You Sow’s power as shareholder advocates, we are motivating companies to transition toward an environmentally just business model.