EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/23/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Politico: THE FERC PUSHBACK GROWS
The Detroit News: Break-in by protesters shut down 4 pipelines across Michigan
Indian Country Today: NDN Collective releases Dakota Access Pipeline report
KEYC: PUC holds CO2 pipeline meetings this week in five South Dakota cities
KMA: Montgomery County board hears pipeline concerns
Gate City Daily: Senate bill may thwart pipeline use of eminent domain
KCHA: Carbon Pipeline Projects in North Iowa, The State Could Face New Hurdle
Tennessee Lookout: Vaughan pipeline bill is delayed in committee
Food & Water Watch: Sussex County Council Overrides DE Public Opposition, Approves Pipeline Expansion
NBCDFW: Large Natural Gas Fire Prompts Evacuations in Mansfield Early Wednesday
Canada Energy Regulator: CER provides reasons for denial of NGTL firm-linked transportation service
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: EPA eyes new rule for gas-fired power plants
STATE UPDATES
KGET: Chevron files lawsuit in Kern against Newsom fracking ban
WyoFile: Groups: DEQ not doing enough on ‘unlawful’ gas-field discharges
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada plan to hike oil exports will not compromise climate goals -government source
Press release: 500 leading academics, climate experts, and university members call on U.K. and U.S. universities to institute a ban on accepting fossil fuel industry funding for climate change, environmental, and energy policy research
Bloomberg: Oil workers aren’t seeing bigger paycheques as prices surge
Wall Street Journal: Shale Companies Drilling More, but Oil Output Growing Little
Publishers Weekly: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
Gasworld.com: BP Ventures invests £3m into methane detection drones
CLIMATE FINANCE
Reuters: Dutch bank ING ends financing for new oil and gas projects
Common Dreams: Climate Groups React to SEC Climate Disclosure Rule
Press Release: The Oil and Gas Policy Tracker: a tool to detect greenwashing practices in the finance sector
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
RRN: Hannahvile, Enbridge Sign Up To Sponsor U.P. State Fair
OPINION
Register-Herald: Path to energy independence is not via a pipeline
The New Republic: Big Oil Is Making Billions. Let’s Tax It and Give the Money to the People.
The Hill: Russian invasion underscores strategic value of American energy
PIPELINE NEWS
Politico: THE FERC PUSHBACK GROWS
Matthew Choi, 3/22/22
“FERC’s recent natural gas policy statement drew a raft of opposition from fossil fuel interests and red states in comments filed over the weekend, with critics complaining that the commission had overstepped its authority,” Politico reports. “The impact of these Rules cannot be overstated,” wrote the coalition of states, led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. “They fundamentally reorder the balance of authority between FERC and EPA at the federal level and between FERC and the states. They impose massive costs on the American economy.” “...Democratic commissioners have defended the changes, saying they would help companies skirt some of the recent legal challenges FERC-approved projects faced over whether the commission had done its due diligence in first giving the greenlight… “The commission plans to clarify its position at its open meeting this Thursday.”
The Detroit News: Break-in by protesters shut down 4 pipelines across Michigan
Beth LeBlanc, 3/22/22
“As a group of young environmentalists live-streamed their break-in at a Tuscola County valve station in the fall, Enbridge Energy shut down not one but four Michigan pipelines and alerted police to a second potential disturbance at a key mid-Michigan terminal, according to police records,” The Detroit News reports. “The company estimated, at a minimum, it lost $10,000 due to the forced closure of its lines for several hours on Oct. 19, according to police records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Police said they've identified 10 of 18 people they believe were involved in the Oct. 19 break-in at the Vassar area valve station in Michigan's thumb region — an illegal entry that was broadcast on social media while law enforcement scrambled to find the location. No one has been charged, but local and federal agencies stress the investigation is far from over. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which joined the investigation in October, has been running fingerprints from posters left at the site, police have been securing cell records from phones in the area and the full scope of the Oct. 19 break-in still is being reviewed, according to the police report… “FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider told the News the agency became involved in October because the alleged crime "interferes with critical infrastructure" and potentially involves "an ideological motivation." Demonstrators who were on scene that day seemed unimpressed by the investigation when contacted this week… “Matthew Borke, a demonstrator from Canton Township, echoed Ellis and argued that many protesters in attendance Oct. 19 were there for the punk show. Police shouldn't be focused on protesters, he told the News, but on Enbridge.”
Indian Country Today: NDN Collective releases Dakota Access Pipeline report
CARINA DOMINGUEZ, 3/22/22
“NDN Collective released a damning climate justice report Tuesday on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, the same day as World Water Day,” Indian Country Today reports. “In a detailed analysis, the Climate Justice Campaign calls on the Biden administration to drain and shut down the pipeline, which the roughly 200-page report argues would protect the nation’s longest river, the Missouri River, and its basin. The report is drawn from court documents, treaties, government documents, news stories, congressional hearings and more… “The vision of this report is to hold accountable these agencies to their own regulations, to their own laws, to their own climate agendas, but also to support our communities in understanding the regulatory processes and the laws so that we can push against them, or hold these agency accountable to their own laws,” NDN Collective’s Climate Justice Campaign Director Jade Begay, Diné told ICT… “Begay noted how the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opted out as a cooperating agency in the environmental review process. This happened after the tribe was repeatedly denied access to information, which the report details… “The report is critical of how the Army Corps of Engineers has carried out “flawed” processes… “The report states the Army Corps lacks “transparency by continuing to withhold critical technical information requested repeatedly by the Tribes while hiding under the guise of “national security”. One of the major concerns listed in the report is an “independent third-party.” A contractor that is meant to be neutral in the environmental review process has blatant financial ties to the oil and gas industry through membership in the American Petroleum Institute, according to the report.”
KEYC: PUC holds CO2 pipeline meetings this week in five South Dakota cities
Beth Warden, 3/21/22
“The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has reviewed applications for many entities in the past, such as energy, telecommunications, and grain warehouse companies in South Dakota,” KEYC reports. “...Several for-profit companies are eyeing South Dakota for their future CO2 Pipelines. The first application was just received by the PUC. This week you can attend meetings to find out more information and officially voice your opinion… “Concerned landowners are joining together. “Nobody is saying I hate ethanol. These are the people who grow the corn,” Chase Jensen, of Dakota Rural Action, told KEYC. Jensen told KEYC of the approximate 900 landowners potentially affected by the pipeline, 150 were not properly notified. “With the law, they’re supposed to be a 30 day notice people getting certified letters before these public meetings. But a lot of people didn’t get them,” Jensen told KEYC… “PUC Chairman Chris Nelson told KEYC their information meeting schedule will not be changing, despite the landowners who did not receive the required notification of meetings… “The Omaha tribe has heard from Summit about ancestral land on the route. Residents and members of another organization, the Omaha Tribal Historical Research Project have concerns. “If we keep doing this, the future water is gonna be so contaminated that you’re not going to be able to do anything with it,” researcher Charles Baxter Jr. told WEYC. “Water is sacred to the Indian people. You got to figure out something else.” “...Those wanting an attorney to be a part of that dialogue have joined together according to Jensen. “Brian Jorde will show up and represent that group, in Pierre and before the PUC during the hearings.”
KMA: Montgomery County board hears pipeline concerns
Mike Peterson, 3/22/22
“Concerns over a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline--and the use of eminent domain to secure property for the project--were aired at Tuesday morning's Montgomery County Board of Supervisors meeting,” KMA reports. “Discussion regarding a proposed pipeline and a county eminent domain compensation commission was placed on the board's agenda… “Numerous residents voiced objections to the project, and called for action against the use of eminent domain. Tom Honeyman of Emerson says the project would affect land owned by Indian Creek Stock Farms a mile-and-a-half east of Emerson in Montgomery County. Honeyman says he's strongly opposed to any private company that seeks eminent domain rulings at the local and state level. "This pipeline will not solve any CO2 problems," said Honeyman. "It will not raise the price of corn, it will not save the ethanol industry. This maneuver to acquire eminent domain is basically theft. If I were to rent land or oblige an easement on this property, I would expect to be paid annual rent or damages." “...West Township resident Jan Norris says the pipeline is proposed to run behind her residence, and between her two farms. Norris noted it will be March of next year before the Iowa Utilities Board makes a final decision on eminent domain eligibility for the project--and she says a lot can happen in 12 months. "The biggest question to ask yourself is: is eminent domain for this project all right, as long as it's your neighbor's property?" Norris asked. "Regardless of how we feel about ethanol, do you think it's okay as long as it's not your land? Please formally object to the use of eminent domain for the CO2 pipelines." “...Supervisors Chair Mark Peterson asked for the discussion to the placed on the agenda. Peterson says he's received several phone calls for residents against the pipeline. He expressed concerns that Summit would use eminent domain an "ace in the hole" in securing property for the pipeline. "I have yet to get a call in favor of the pipeline," said Peterson.
Gate City Daily: Senate bill may thwart pipeline use of eminent domain
Angie Holland, 3/23/22
“An innocuous senate bill relating to cosmetology and barbering has turned into a vehicle for temporarily denying pipeline companies’ use of eminent domain,” the Gate City Daily reports. “...Last week, members of the House State Government committee, led by Sen. Bobby Kaufmann (R–Wilton) approved an amendment to the bill stating pipeline companies “shall not seek or exercise an eminent domain right under this section prior to March 1, 2023.” The action is in response to several pipelines spanning Iowa. Two – the Navigator Heartland Greenway CO2 pipeline and the NuStar anhydrous pipeline – are currently seeking permission from property owners to survey land for future easements. Other pipelines seeking access to Iowa farm ground include Summit Carbon Solutions and Wolf Carbon Solutions. Neither Navigator Heartland Greenway nor NuStar participated in public hearings in the fall and winter of 2021 and have yet to petition the Iowa Utilities Board for permission to build the pipeline, nor have they petitioned for the use of eminent domain. A previous senate bill – SF2160 – failed to progress earlier in the session, due to lack of support. That filing would have prevented private companies from using eminent domain for pipeline easements.”
KCHA: Carbon Pipeline Projects in North Iowa, The State Could Face New Hurdle
Mark Pitz, 3/22/22
“Companies looking to build pipelines to transport carbon dioxide in liquid form across sections of north Iowa could be facing a new hurdle to moving forward,” KCHA reports. “...House Republicans appear poised to vote for a year-long moratorium that would prevent the companies planning to build carbon pipelines from seeking eminent domain to seize property along the pipeline routes. Representative Bobby Kaufmann (R) of Wilton presented the plan in the House State Government Committee last week and all but one Republican voted for it. Kaufmann said, “The name on a deed on a piece of paper that makes you a landowner does not subject you to all this government crap. That’s what this is about.” House Speaker Pat Grassley (R) of New Hartford in Butler County, which is also being eyed by Heartland Navigator, said pipeline companies would still be able to negotiate easements with landowners, but this would let the legislature weigh in next year if the companies seek mass condemnation of land. He added that they’re not trying to break agreements for those owners who sign up, because we respect private property rights on both sides. The proposal is now eligible for debate in the full House.”
Tennessee Lookout: Vaughan pipeline bill is delayed in committee
DULCE TORRES GUZMAN, 3/22/22
“An energy infrastructure preemption bill was delayed by the House Commerce Committee until next week, citing time constraints to debate a bill that has attracted statewide controversy,” the Tennessee Lookout reports. “Dozens of environmental justice activists traveled from across the state to protest and speak against HB2246 in person, calling it a move against the local liberties of Tennessee communities. “We’re pretty concerned that state politicians, plus a few lobbyists, are having this bill go through that would essentially prevent communities from having a say in what’s built in their communities,” said Brady Watson, spokesperson for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Also attending were Justin J. Pearson, co-founder of the Memphis Community Against Pollution, Sarah Houston, director of Protect Our Aquifer, and Scott Banbury, spokesperson for the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club. HB2046 and its companion bill SB207, was originally written as a study of energy infrastructure but was amended to prevent local governments from regulating fossil fuel infrastructure.”
Food & Water Watch: Sussex County Council Overrides DE Public Opposition, Approves Pipeline Expansion
3/22/22
“This afternoon, despite more than 30 public comments filed in opposition to the project, the Sussex County Council voted 4-1 to approve the proposal to expand Eastern Shore Natural Gas’ pipeline capacity at a site near Bridgeville, Delaware,” according to Food & Water Watch. “The proposal will require federal approval via the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to continue. The pipeline expansion proposal is a part of an agreement with Bioenergy DevCo to accept factory farm biogas from their proposed methane refinery a few miles away near Seaford. The proposal has come under attack by community members and environmental advocates due to the dangers the pipeline and accompanying “bomb trucks” pose to the nearby elementary school, homes and community. In response, Food & Water Watch Delaware Organizer Greg Layton issued the following statement: “The Sussex County Council’s vote today to approve a dangerous gas pipeline expansion next door to an elementary school is shameful. This project will endanger Sussex County residents and our climate, all so that polluting fossil fuel and factory farm interests can profit at our expense. Simply put, we need less dirty fuels in Sussex County, not more.”
NBCDFW: Large Natural Gas Fire Prompts Evacuations in Mansfield Early Wednesday
3/23/22
“A large fire erupted in Mansfield early Wednesday after a vehicle struck a natural gas pipeline, briefly forcing residents of nearby homes to evacuate, fire officials say,” NBCDFW reports. “The Mansfield Fire Department said it happened at about 1 a.m. at an Exxon service station located at the intersection of Texas 360 and U.S. 287. Flames could be seen shooting into the air, making the fire visible from even 20 miles away. The fire appeared to be extinguished shortly after 3:30 a.m. The driver was flown by air ambulance to Parkland Hospital for serious burn injuries, Jeff Smith, Mansfield Assistant Fire Chief, told NBC. People living within a 1-mile radius of the incident were asked to evacuate to nearby Annette Perry Elementary School as well as to a nearby hospital parking lot, fire officials told NBC. Video taken by Mansfield resident Whitney Hagerty from her backyard showed giant flames just a short distance from her home. Her husband, Zachery, told NBC 5 they were woken up by the glow of the fire. "My wife actually woke me up. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw just bright orange in the room and a vibrating of the house. I could feel the house shaking," he told NBC. "I looked out the window and saw flames about 40 or 50 feet in the air. It was very, very disturbing to see it this close to the house."
Canada Energy Regulator: CER provides reasons for denial of NGTL firm-linked transportation service
3/2/22
“The Commission of the Canada Energy Regulator denied NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd.’s (NGTL) application for a proposed firm transportation linked service, and associated tolling methodology, from receipt points along the North Montney Mainline in Northeast B.C. to the proposed Willow Valley Interconnect delivery point. The Commission found that the tolling methodology would result in tolls that were not just and reasonable… “In May 2021, NGTL applied to the CER for a new service for PETRONAS Canada Ltd. This service would link the North Montney Mainline and the Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL) at the Willow Valley Interconnect delivery point. From here, natural gas would be transported on the CGL pipeline to the LNG Canada export terminal in Kitimat, B.C. Tolls for the service were designed to cover only incremental costs and shifted the risk of cost overruns to other shippers on the NGTL System. The toll design did not satisfy the cost causation principle. This principle says that users of a pipeline system are responsible for the costs associated with transporting their product through the pipeline.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: EPA eyes new rule for gas-fired power plants
Jean Chemnick, 3/23/22
“EPA Administrator Michael Regan confirmed earlier this month that his agency plans to focus on gas-fired power in its updated carbon rule for new power plants. But how to do it raises a barrage of legal and technological questions that will have implications for how — and whether — the United States can decarbonize its power grid,” E&E News reports. “The forthcoming rule would replace a 2015 standard that’s still on the books and covers carbon from new coal and new gas power plants. While the Obama-era rule effectively mandates that new coal-fired units reduce emissions through partial carbon capture and storage, its requirements for gas are lax enough to be met easily by most new builds. EPA data shows that the average existing gas combined cycle power plant in 2020 emitted 865 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour. The Obama-era rule allows it to emit 1,000 pounds of CO2 per MWh. Now EPA is preparing to ask gas plants to do more… “Utility experts say a new gas plant rule that seeks to limit carbon beyond what could be accomplished through simple heat-rate improvements on-site likely would be based either on co-firing of gas with a lower-carbon fuel like hydrogen or on carbon capture and storage, called CCS… “EPA could opt to base its new source performance standard not on a cleaner fuel mix at gas plants but on an assumption that power companies will capture and store a share of emissions from combustion. The Obama EPA considered partial CCS in its 2015 rule for new gas plants but determined that it was cost-prohibitive and not readily available… “It still isn’t widely deployed. But Carrie Jenks, executive director of the Environmental & Energy Law Program at Harvard Law School, told E&E that Clean Air Act rules are designed to push the envelope by relying on new technology… “Modeling shows that once the cost of CCS comes down slightly its deployment will increase, she said. But there are other considerations EPA would need to grapple with before basing its rule on CCS, she said — including whether utilities would have access to geological sequestration for carbon and around legal liability for sequestration.”
STATE UPDATES
KGET: Chevron files lawsuit in Kern against Newsom fracking ban
Jason Kotowski, 3/21/22
“Chevron has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s oil and gas supervisor over what it says is essentially a ban on fracking in the state,” KGET reports. “Chevron said in September a permit application for well stimulation treatment — most commonly fracking — was denied by the state without identifying any technical, safety or environmental flaw. “Rather, Respondents’ denial of Chevron U.S.A.’s permit here is part of Respondents’ unlawful effort to ban WST activities in California entirely, by executive fiat, outside of the required legislative and administrative processes,” says the suit filed last week. To Chevron’s knowledge, the state hasn’t issued a single well stimulation permit in over a year, according to the suit. This constitutes a de facto ban, it says, which is prohibited under state law.”
WyoFile: Groups: DEQ not doing enough on ‘unlawful’ gas-field discharges
Angus M. Thuermer Jr., 3/22/22
“Three conservation groups are criticizing the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality for allowing polluting flows to continue at a Fremont County gas- and oilfield and have asked the state agency to reconsider its permit,” WyoFile reports. “DEQ should re-open its review of Aethon Energy’s permit at the Moneta Divide field, modify it and “ramp-up” enforcement of existing violations to meet the agency’s obligations under the Clean Water Act, the groups wrote in a March 17 letter. The Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyoming Outdoor Council and Natural Resources Defense Council made the request after the DEQ modified the pollution permit for the field, which Aethon and Burlington Resources are expanding from roughly 800 to 4,250 wells, most of them gas wells… “The groups wrote that pollution from the field shows the water failed standard toxicity tests on flathead minnows and water fleas. The groups ask that the agency increase the frequency of those tests. Elevated chloride concentrations also worry the groups, who say that brine harms freshwater aquatic life and has “likely contributed to severe adverse impact” to Alkali Creek… “High concentrations” of Benzene and Toluene found in samples appear to violate DEQ rules and regulations, the letter states.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada plan to hike oil exports will not compromise climate goals -government source
By Steve Scherer and Nia Williams, 3/23/22
“Canada on Thursday will outline plans to increase oil exports to help alleviate the tight global market following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the hike will not undermine Ottawa's long-term climate commitments, a government source said,” Reuters reports. “Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson will detail Canada's plans at the International Energy Agency (IEA) meeting in Paris, the source said. Wilkinson told Reuters earlier this month the government is working with industry to find ways increase pipeline utilization and boost crude exports, and pipeline company Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) said it is prepared to do "what it can." Canada, holder of the world's third-largest oil reserves, is keen to help shore up long-term energy security as countries that previously relied on Russian oil and gas look for replacements amid sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for its assault on Ukraine. But the government has no plans to compromise its climate goals. "There's no real desire to shift away from the focus on emissions reductions and the environment. We're not throwing out the climate rulebook," added the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the information… "What the Ukraine crisis has done is increase the attention being given to energy security," George Hoberg, a professor of public policy at the University of British Columbia, told Reuters. "There'll be lots of pressure from the oil and gas sector (to grow the industry) but to do so would be inconsistent with Canada's climate commitments."
Press release: 500 leading academics, climate experts, and university members call on U.K. and U.S. universities to institute a ban on accepting fossil fuel industry funding for climate change, environmental, and energy policy research.
3/22/22
“We are writing as academics and experts who are deeply concerned by universities’ collaboration with the fossil fuel industry. Universities across the United Kingdom and the United States currently accept substantial funding from fossil fuel companies for research aimed at solving the very problems this industry causes and continues to exacerbate. We believe this funding represents an inherent conflict of interest, is antithetical to universities’ core academic and social values, and supports industry greenwashing. Thus, it compromises universities’ basic institutional integrity, academic freedom, and their ability to address the climate emergency. For these reasons, we are calling on U.K. and U.S. universities to institute a ban on accepting fossil fuel industry funding for climate change, environmental, and energy policy research. Accepting fossil fuel industry funding for research meant to address the climate crisis undermines the academic integrity of climate-related research. To be clear, our concern is not with the integrity of individual academics. Rather, it is with the systemic issue posed by the context in which academics must work, one where fossil fuel industry funding can taint critical climate-related research. There is a clear parallel between accepting fossil fuel industry funding for climate change research and accepting tobacco industry funding for public health research. Already, numerous public health and research institutions reject tobacco money due to the industry’s extensive record of spreading disinformation around the public health consequences of its products. Today, the fossil fuel industry has employed disinformation tactics from the same playbook, working to sow doubt about climate science, silence industry critics, and stall climate action. How, then, can universities consider these companies appropriate partners for climate-related research?”
Bloomberg: Oil workers aren’t seeing bigger paycheques as prices surge
David Wethe, 3/22/22
“Most oil workers around the world have yet to cash bigger paycheques despite the run up in crude prices, with many ready to leave the oil patch,” Bloomberg reports. “Less than a third of surveyed oilfield employees report receiving a pay bump in the past year, while another 21 per cent said pay was actually cut… “At the same time, 82 per cent of oil industry workers would consider switching to another energy-related sector, with renewables being the most popular landing spot, according to the survey of 10,000 workers and hiring managers across 161 countries. It’s the second straight year the survey has reported an increase in workers’ willingness to leave the oil industry. “This should sound a warning for companies,” Janette Marx, chief executive officer for Airswift, said in the report. “Some companies will need to step up their effort on the retention front.”
Wall Street Journal: Shale Companies Drilling More, but Oil Output Growing Little
Collin Eaton, 3/21/22
“American frackers are raising the number of drilling rigs in oil fields by more than 20%, but don’t expect a similarly sized increase in production,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Though the number of active U.S. oil-directed rigs has grown by roughly one-fifth in the past six months, much of the new activity is to make up for a depleted inventory of wells drilled before the pandemic, executives said. Frackers brought the best of those online last year instead of drilling new ones and will have to drill more than usual this year to offset those lost wells. Following calls by the Biden administration and others to raise production and help quell rising oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shale executives have pointed to a number of bottlenecks that limit their ability to increase production quickly this year, including supply-chain issues, wary investors and limits to their remaining drilling inventory. Another significant constraint is the loss of thousands of ready-to-go wells, known as drilled but uncompleted wells, or DUCs, which companies had amassed last decade, then used up to survive the pandemic. Those wells could have helped speed the industry’s response to high oil pricesby several months, executives and analysts told the Journal… “Even with the additional spending, Diamondback expects to produce about the same amount of oil and gas. Smaller, private oil companies that have been more aggressive in increasing oil field activity and production over the past year might have to slow down as costs rise and finding labor remains a challenge, executives told the Journal… “If Russia’s oil production and exports are curtailed to the tune of two million to three million barrels a day, Diamondback’s Mr. Van’t Hof told the Journal, “shale’s response is a garden hose trying to fill up an Olympic swimming pool.”
Publishers Weekly: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
3/22/22
“Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) delivers a masterpiece graphic memoir: an immersive, devastating portrait of the two years she worked at Fort McMurray and nearby oil sands in northern Canada,” Publishers Weekly reports. “ In 2005, Beaton, 21 and desperate to pay off her student loans, left her small Nova Scotia town for the booming wilds of an oil operation in Alberta. The human and environmental toll of energy dependence are painstakingly recorded on her Heart of Darkness–like journey: facing relentless sexism and misogyny (she estimates that men outnumber women 50 to 1 at the camps), Beaton moves through a series of gigs—doling out wrenches at “tool cribs,” desk work in the supply office—and acutely feels the object of intense scrutiny; the crass remarks are endless, and at one point men line up around the building to get a look at the new girl. When hundreds of ducks become caught in a hazardous waste “tailings pond” around the time a coworker dies on site, Beaton begins to connect individual and global consequences. While she documents her own traumas, Beaton also steps back to observe how the isolation can transform ordinary people, remarking, for instance, that hearing catcalls delivered in the familiar accent of her Cape Breton home region is especially cutting… “Beaton makes a shattering statement on the costs of ignorance and neglect endemic in the fuel industry, in both powerful discussions of its sociopolitical ramifications and her own keenly observed personal story.”
Gasworld.com: BP Ventures invests £3m into methane detection drones
Anthony Wright, 3/22/22
“Group company of energy giant bp, bp ventures, has made a £3m equity investment in a pioneering unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) business that uses drones and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect methane,” Gasworld.com reports. “The business, named Flylogix, combines its UAV with AI, satellite communications and methane sensor technology, from partner SeekOps, to monitor and measure methane across the globe… “The aircraft – which uses sensor technology designed by NASA for the Mars Curiosity Rover – can fly as close as 250m away from installations before livestreaming data collected by the sensor in its wingtip to the onshore support crew.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Reuters: Dutch bank ING ends financing for new oil and gas projects
By Simon Jessop and Toby Sterling, 3/23/22
“ING Groep NV (INGA.AS) will no longer finance new oil and gas projects, its energy chief said, becoming the biggest bank yet to commit to such a step in the fight against climate change,” Reuters reports. “The move by the Dutch financial services firm raises pressure on peers to heed a call by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for a halt to funding for new fossil fuel projects to help cap global warming at no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Michiel de Haan told Reuters that ING would not finance projects approved after Dec. 31, 2021 but would still fund energy firms, although ING is already phasing down financing to the oil and gas industry and scaling up lending for renewables. De Haan told Reuters the bank would target a 50% increase in lending for renewable energy by 2025, building on strong growth in 2021, when financing grew 26% to 7.3 billion euros ($8.05 billion). ING's plan to reduce funding for existing oil and gas clients and projects is more gradual, with a target to cut it by 12% to about 3.5 billion euros by 2025… “Lucie Pinson, executive director at NGO Reclaim Finance, told Reuters ING was the biggest bank after Crédit Mutuel to introduce such a policy on project finance, but while it was a "great signal" to the market, it did not go far enough. Specifically, banks needed to rein in all other finance to the sector more quickly and be prepared to drop companies planning to expand production, something so far only French public lender Banque Postale has committed to.”
Common Dreams: Climate Groups React to SEC Climate Disclosure Rule
3/21/22
“Today the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to its climate disclosure rule that would enhance and standardize businesses’ climate-related disclosures for investors. Member organizations of the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition and partners released the following statements in reaction to the news: “It is welcome news that the SEC is finally applying its long-held disclosure rulemaking practice to the financial risks posed by climate change, as many market participants of all types have requested. We are especially pleased to see a requirement for disaggregated reporting of carbon offsets, the use of which has long been rife with evidence of fraud, double-counting, dubious emissions-reductions claims, land rights violations, and other problems,” said Moira Birss, Climate and Finance Director at Amazon Watch. “Today the SEC took the long-overdue step of proposing a solution to the problem of undisclosed climate risks,” said Ben Cushing, Campaign Manager for the Sierra Club’s Fossil-Free Finance campaign. “Investors and the public deserve to know the climate-related risks that companies face and how they are being addressed.”
Press Release: The Oil and Gas Policy Tracker: a tool to detect greenwashing practices in the finance sector
3/22/22
“Reclaim Finance and more than 15 NGOs launch the “Oil and Gas Policy Tracker” (OGPT). The tool is the first of its kind: it assesses in great detail the oil and gas exclusion policies (or lack thereof) of the 150 biggest financial institutions worldwide. The Oil and Gas Policy Tracker reveals that despite many of the banks, insurers and investors pledging to tackle climate change by restricting support for the oil and gas industry, their policies are too flawed to align their business with their net zero 1.5°C targets. Reclaim Finance and partners call on financial institutions that do not want to be exposed as greenwashers to adopt robust oil and gas policies with clear red lines against oil and gas expansion. The OGPT scores the oil and gas exclusion policies of top global financial institutions (60 banks, 30 insurers and 60 investors), looking at three key indicators: restrictions on new oil and gas projects, restrictions on companies developing new oil and gas projects, and strategies to phase out oil and gas. Currently, less than half of the 150 institutions have implemented oil and gas exclusion policies. The OGPT points to a significant number of the heavyweights in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) which still haven’t implemented an exclusion policy on oil and gas, despite their pledge to align their portfolios with 1.5°C. The Tracker also points to major flaws in existing policies, hindering efforts to tackle oil and gas expansion, in line with what climate science requires in order to stay below 1.5°C. Only nine financial institutions totally exclude support for all new upstream oil and gas projects, although the IEA’s 1.5°C pathway does not include new oil and gas fields. Policies tend to focus on excluding support only for some unconventional oil & gas such as tar sands, Arctic, fracking and/or ultra deep waters.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
RRN: Hannahvile, Enbridge Sign Up To Sponsor U.P. State Fair
Jack Hall, 3/22/22
“...Emma Cook, Enbridge Community Engagement Advisor Emma Cook, also spoke at the meeting, and presented the Fair Authority with a $10,000 check as Champion Sponsor of the 2022 U.P. State Fair. “We’re excited to be back sponsoring the U.P. State Fair again,” Cook said. “The Fair is a celebration of all the communities across the Upper Peninsula, which is why it’s a great fit for us being that our footprint is across the U.P.” Both the Island Resort and Casino and Enbridge will have exhibit booths on the midway at the U.P. State Fair, and would like to encourage everyone to visit their booths.”
OPINION
Register-Herald: Path to energy independence is not via a pipeline
John J. Walkup III, a resident of Lewisburg, is president of the Greenbrier River Watershed Association, 3/22/22
“Dear Senator Manchin, The Greenbrier River Watershed Association, founded in 1990, is one of the oldest watershed associations established in our state. Our board, representing almost 500 members, is reaching out to urge you to take action on the climate crisis,” John J. Walkup III writes for the Register-Herald. “...Building new gas infrastructure, such as the Mountain Valley Pipeline, will take years to come on line and won’t help the current crisis. It will only deepen global dependence on fossil fuels, further empowering Russia and damaging the climate… “But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine proves that America must move swiftly to a clean energy economy that will lower costs, protect our national security, and secure our energy independence. In terms of long-term global political stability, the most important thing we can be doing is minimizing our contributions to climate disruption. This has been recognized repeatedly by the Pentagon, and requires investments in clean, renewable energy, not fossil fuels… “We know that clean, renewable energy produced right here at home is the path to true energy independence. Renewable energy jobs are booming while fossil fuel jobs are declining. West Virginia has the potential to become the state that provides a model for the future, for other states to look up to. Please lead us into a clean future.”
The New Republic: Big Oil Is Making Billions. Let’s Tax It and Give the Money to the People.
Faiz Shakir is the founder of the advocacy journalism organization More Perfect Union, 3/22/22
“Democrats in Congress have introduced a proposal to give you another stimulus check of hundreds of dollars. And I’m guessing you probably don’t know about it. It’s true. Not only that, but the proposal for this fourth stimulus check—unlike the three prior stimulus bills—is actually paid for, which should be appealing to the deficit hawks among us. So who pays for the stimulus check? Big oil companies,” Faiz Shakir writes for The New Republic. “Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and a dozen of his colleagues announced on March 10 that they were introducing legislation that would impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies. (There’s also a House companion.) If it’s enacted, a quarterly tax would be applied to large oil companies that produce or import at least 300,000 barrels of oil per day. The senators estimate that when oil is at $120/barrel, the tax would generate $45 billion in revenue, which would then translate into a $360 stimulus check for American families… “Big Oil hates the new proposal. The American Petroleum Institute—the lobbying arm for oil companies—complained in a press release that the bill is unfair “finger pointing.” Senator Joe Manchin, a prominent defender of the fossil fuel industry, echoed that he worries about “beating people up.” “...Focus on the stimulus checks could be a powerful argument in going up against the one-man filibuster of Joe Manchin. In late 2020 and in early 2021, Manchin opposed stimulus checks, only to see the incredible public support for them in his own state. Manchin ultimately yielded to popular demand both times. We should try to make it happen again. Let’s lean into the fight against profiteering oil companies. And let’s deliver another wildly popular and much-needed stimulus check to working Americans.”
The Hill: Russian invasion underscores strategic value of American energy
Anne Bradbury is CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council (AXPC), whose membership is composed of America’s largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, 3/22/22
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reminding the world of American energy’s critical role in global stability. The invasion also underscores the strategic value of U.S. energy production to support both our national security and the security of our allies,” Anne Bradbury writes for The Hill. “As the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas — and now the top exporter of LNG at the end of last year — America’s energy workers have hard-earned our country’s status as an energy superpower… “In support of our industry’s work to unlock our vast natural resources to meet demand here in America and growing demand overseas, a bipartisan bill was passed that lifted the U.S. crude oil export ban in 2015. The export ban, enacted in 1975 during the Arab oil embargo and a period of scarcity, had become a relic of a world that no longer existed. Now, the United States could meet domestic needs while also providing allies and trading partners with a reliable and secure source of energy. Since the ban was lifted, the United States has transformed itself from a minor league player to a top competitor in the major league, becoming fourth largest crude oil exporter in the world… “The U.S. also needs to invest in its energy infrastructure. The administration must call on FERC to reverse its new pipeline permitting policy that will dramatically hinder the ability to build the energy infrastructure needed to access U.S. resources and will make energy more expensive for American families…”With support from this administration, we can together firmly establish the U.S. as a stable supplier of energy for Europe and our allies around the globe for decades to come.”