EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/28/23
PIPELINE NEWS
AgWeek: Summit carbon pipeline says it has 70% of needed easements in North Dakota
Ethanol Producer: Iowa bill limits use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines
York News-Times: Carbon Solutions rep to speak with commissioners
Oskaloosa Herald: Navigator pipeline hot topic at Eggs & Issues
Law360: Army Corps Needs More Time To Review Mich. Pipeline Plans
Mlive.com: Reward offered for tips about arson at Enbridge facilities in Upper Peninsula
Globe and Mail: Pieridae cancels plans to transport Western natural gas to East Coast
World Pipelines: Wood has worked on more than half of the world’s CCS projects
The River: Pipeline—or Pipe Bomb?
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: White House threatens veto for Republican energy package
The Hill: Biden said he had ‘strong inclination’ not to approve Willow Project
E&E News: Whitehouse Spotlights Financial Toll Of Oil Dependence
E&E News: Watchdog probes EPA's Ohio train wreck response
Energy Intelligence Group: Industry Fears Legal Risk From EPA 'Super-Emitter' Plan
STATE UPDATES
Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers approve Newsom’s oil bill. Here’s what you need to know
New York Times: In Montana, It’s Youth vs. the State in a Landmark Climate Case
Bloomberg: Environment Groups Seek Decision in Wyoming Oil Lease Challenge
The Hill: Philadelphia recommends bottled water after chemical spill in Delaware River tributary
Associated Press: Train derails in rural North Dakota and spills chemicals
Wyoming Public Radio: Some Laramie County residents are concerned for their air quality due to oil and gas development in their communities
KNOE: 100 orphaned wells plugged across Louisiana through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Trudeau to Lean on Carbon Capture in Green-Subsidy Race With US
Financial Post: Budget 2023: Striving for compromise on who pays for decarbonization will disappoint everyone
Wall Street Journal: New Shell CEO Faces Big Dilemma: Should the Company Pump More Oil?
Washington Post: Big Oil is selling off its polluting assets — with unintended consequences
Fort McMurray Today: Emotions run high as Imperial Oil meets with Fort Chipewyan on Kearl seepages
E&E News: Worker shortage looms over LNG boom
OPINION
Jamestown Sun: Port: Maybe the Summit carbon pipeline isn't as controversial as it seems?
The Hill: New California bill could advance carbon removal while holding polluters accountable
Common Dreams: Biden Chooses Fossil Fuels Over Us
PIPELINE NEWS
AgWeek: Summit carbon pipeline says it has 70% of needed easements in North Dakota
Jeff Beach, 3/27/23
“Summit Carbon Solutions, the company trying to build what it calls the world’s biggest carbon capture and storage project, says it now has secured about 70% of the right-of-way needs for the pipeline in North Dakota,” AgWeek reports. “...Summit’s announcement on Monday, March 27, comes the day before a second public hearing on Summit’s route permit application with the North Dakota Public Service Commission… “Some landowners continue to hold out, however… “Landowners had expressed concerns about the safety of the pipeline, effects on property value, and damage to farmland. Sadie Bro lives in a rural area north of Bismarck along the pipeline route. She testified at the first PSC hearing that Summit surveyors did not give her the courtesy of letting her know when they would be on their land, as she had requested. “It is pretty sad when I know how much we paid for our property, and to consider that they would even threaten to take away my property if I didn't sign some easement,” Bro said, after waiting about 12 hours to testify at the Bismarck hearing on March 14… “Two counties along the pipeline route in North Dakota, Emmons and Burleigh, have passed ordinances to make it more difficult to site the pipeline. “We're still hopeful that we can work through that with the counties but at the end of the day, in many cases, they've overstepped their jurisdictional authorities,” Summit’s Boeshans told AgWeek.
Ethanol Producer: Iowa bill limits use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines
Erin Voegele, 3/27/23
“The Iowa House of Representatives on March 22 voted 73 to 20 in favor of a bill that would require carbon dioxide pipeline companies to acquire at least 90 percent of route miles through voluntary deals before they could seek the use of eminent domain,” Ethanol Producer reports. “...Following its passage in the House, the amended legislation was delivered to the Iowa Senate and referred to the Senate Commerce Committee. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association is speaking out against the bill, stressing it “would create a de facto bank on new project that allow Iowa ethanol producers to install carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology.” While an amendment did remove several problematic provisions from the legislation, the IRFA told EP the bill still singles out carbon dioxide pipelines for strict regulations that would not be applied to pipelines carrying flammable or explosive liquids. “We are disappointed that the Iowa House singled out CCS projects with what in reality is an effective ban,” Monte Share, executive director of the IRFA, told CP. “...IRFA members are largely Iowa farmers and landowners. They understand the emotions at play in this type of debate. It is important to remember that a super majority of landowners actually impacted by the CCS projects have already signed voluntary easements.”
York News-Times: Carbon Solutions rep to speak with commissioners
Melanie Wilkinson, 3/23/23
“Ben Fuller, representing Carbon Solutions, will be addressing the York County Commissioners during their regular meeting on Tuesday,” the York News-Times reports. “His appearance before the board comes two weeks after Bold Alliance Director Jane Kleeb visited with the county board about her group’s concerns about carbon pipelines… “Two weeks ago, Kleeb said she had concerns about landowners’ rights and the safety of these types of pipelines. She also encouraged the county to create local regulations pertaining to these types of pipelines. Fuller will likely address the concerns that were raised two weeks ago – the company was not present during Kleeb’s presentation…”
Oskaloosa Herald: Navigator pipeline hot topic at Eggs & Issues
CHANNING RUCKS, 3/27/23
“The Navigator CO2 Ventures carbon pipeline was the hot topic of the day at the sixth and final Eggs and Issues forum Saturday,” the Oskaloosa Herald reports. “The event’s panel included Senators Ken Rozenboom and Adrian Dickey of Iowa Senate Districts 19 and 44, along with Representatives Helena Hayes and Barb Kniff-McCulla of Iowa House Districts 88 and 37. The four politicians fielded questions from concerned members of the community about the proposed pipeline and more at the forum… “Now this year, the pipeline, we’re told by the [Iowa] Corn Growers Association ‘Oh, you’ve got to do it to save the ethanol industry,’ Dickey said. "To be honest, I’m a little ticked at being told every year that we’ve got to do something to save the ethanol industry. That’s not an anti-farmer statement, that’s not an anti-Iowa statement. It just seems like every year it’s ‘Oh, we’ve got to have something else now.’” “...Concerned attendees of the event told the panel that landowners in Mahaska County have experienced aggressive tactics from Navigator, threatening the use of eminent domain to take their land, as well as offers of a percentage payment upfront if landowners will agree to allow the pipeline on their land… “Hayes, who hosted a roundtable at the capitol earlier this month to discuss concerns about the proposed pipeline, told the audience to resist those fear tactics. “Absolutely, that’s happening,” Hayes said. “I’m getting letters and conversations about that. It’s threatening, it’s deceptive, and it’s happening … They’re going to take [the land] either way, is what they’re telling you, and that is not true. It is absolutely not true. The word is resist … Eminent domain has not been settled for this … I just beg you guys to spread that word around to your farmers. They do not have to do this and yes, there are very deceptive practices going on, and it is not right.”
Law360: Army Corps Needs More Time To Review Mich. Pipeline Plans
Caleb Symons, 3/27/23
“Federal regulators need at least another two years to review a controversial energy pipeline under the Great Lakes, they announced, a move that Enbridge Inc. says will effectively delay construction on its proposed Line 5 replacement tunnel until 2026,” Law360 reports. “Plans for the $500 million Enbridge tunnel, which would link the Upper and Lower peninsulas in Michigan, are under an environmental review by the Army Corps of Engineers as the federal agency considers a permitting request for the project. In a press release Thursday, the Corps said it now anticipates publishing an environmental impact statement for the pipeline project in spring 2025. That would represent a substantial delay after the agency kicked off a review last August and initially planned to release its findings in late 2023. The Corps, in its announcement, did not directly address the reason for the delay but said it received more than 17,000 public comments on the Line 5 replacement project during a scoping period that ended in October. ‘We greatly appreciate the meaningful input received throughout scoping and will use this information to shape studies and continuing consultations throughout development of our draft environmental impact statement,’ said Lt. Col. Brett Boyle, district commander for the Corps’ Detroit office.”
Mlive.com: Reward offered for tips about arson at Enbridge facilities in Upper Peninsula
Sheri McWhirter, 3/27/23
“Federal authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for information about a seven-month-old arson at pipeline facilities in St. Ignace,” Mlive.com reports. “The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is offering the reward to anyone with information that leads to the identification and arrest of those who caused a suspicious fire early in the morning on Aug. 31, 2022, at the Enbridge pipeline maintenance shop and storage area. Several vehicles and other equipment burned in the fire, but no Enbridge workers were injured. The fire did not affect the Line 5 oil and natural gas pipeline, federal officials said… “Investigators have asked for the public’s help to find those responsible, as well as any other information related to the fire or events leading up to it.”
Globe and Mail: Pieridae cancels plans to transport Western natural gas to East Coast
BRENT JANG, 3/27/23
“Pieridae Energy Ltd. has abandoned plans to transport natural gas from Western Canada to Nova Scotia, citing the lack of sufficient pipeline capacity,” the Globe and Mail reports. “Calgary-based Pieridae’s decision marks the latest setback to the company’s ambition of exporting liquefied natural gas from the East Coast. Multibillion-dollar pipeline upgrades by TC Energy Corp. in Ontario and Quebec would have been required to transport Western natural gas to Pieridae’s Goldboro LNG site. Without pipeline access to supplies of natural gas in the West, Pieridae has shelved its proposal to export 10 million tonnes a year of LNG from Goldboro. Pieridae chief executive officer Alfred Sorensen said he is keeping hopes alive for a scaled-down version of the project that would export three million tonnes a year of LNG from a proposed land-based terminal in Nova Scotia. “We have no interest in taking Western Canadian gas any longer, and that is why the project has shrunk in size,” Mr. Sorensen told the Mail. The revised proposal hinges on whether the New Brunswick government would be willing to eventually lift a moratorium on multistage hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of natural gas in that province next door to Nova Scotia… “He acknowledges opposition from climate activists in New Brunswick, where then-premier Brian Gallant introduced a fracking ban in 2014.”
World Pipelines: Wood has worked on more than half of the world’s CCS projects
Sara Simper, 3/28/23
“Wood, the global consulting and engineering company, has completed carbon capture and transportation studies for more than half of the 300 carbon capture facilities being planned worldwide,” World Pipelines reports. “...Our top five clients have committed to invest over US$100 billion in decarbonising their assets, which presents a significant opportunity for Wood,” Daniel Carter, Wood’s President of decarbonisation, told WP. “Our focus is on helping clients achieve their net-zero goals through investments in decarbonisation projects with attractive returns. In the US, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) means US producers can receive US$85/t of CO2 captured, which exceeds the cost of CO2 capture. That’s why we’re seeing an increasing demand to design CCS hubs.”
The River: Pipeline—or Pipe Bomb?
Arvind Dilawar, 3/24/23
“Shortly after noon on February 22, environmentalists from the Capitol District to New York City converged in New Paltz before the regional office of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The rally, organized by local residents and supported by organizations like Mid-Hudson Sierra Club and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, marked the conclusion of public comments to the DEC on the proposed expansion of the Iroquois fracked gas pipeline,” The River reports. “Rally co-organizer Charles Quimby, a resident of the Dutchess County town of Dover, and member of Concerned Citizens of Dover, describes the delivery of more than 3,000 comments against the expansion of the Iroquois pipeline as part of a years-long educational campaign… “Although Iroquois dubs the project an “enhancement,” critics describe that as a ruse meant to avoid popular opposition to the construction of new pipelines, such as the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and ‘17. “I think these pipeline companies have realized that their chances of getting a pipeline passed are pretty slim, so their plan B is to go with expanding what they have—increasing the pressure, increasing the flow in those existing pipelines,” Quimby told the River.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: White House threatens veto for Republican energy package
RACHEL FRAZIN, 3/27/23
“The White House on Monday threatened a veto of a House Republicans’ energy package, known as H.R. 1, if it makes it to President Biden’s desk,” The Hill reports. “H.R. 1 would take us backward. Therefore, if presented to the President in its current form, he would veto it,” according to a White House statement. The package, which seeks to bolster fossil fuels, speed up infrastructure projects and repeal pieces of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to come up for a vote in the House later this week. While it may pass the House, the legislation is unlikely to be taken up in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Even prior to the veto message, Biden was widely expected to oppose the bill. The White House statement argues that the legislation would benefit oil and gas companies at the expense of the public. “Instead of protecting American consumers, it would pad oil and gas company profits — already at record levels — and undercut our public health and environment. The Administration strongly opposes this bill,” it said… “The White House statement notes the administration “wants to work in bipartisan manner with Congress to address lowering energy costs, permitting reform, and addressing energy challenges.”
Washington Post: Why Republicans are really racing to pass the Lower Energy Costs Act
Maxine Joselow, 3/28/23
“During the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans campaigned on a promise of lowering gas prices, which had jumped by as much as 60 cents per gallon in some regions. Now in the House majority, they’re racing to follow through on that pledge by passing a sweeping energy package that they have dubbed the Lower Energy Costs Act,” the Washington Post reports. “...Even if the House passes the energy package, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said the measure will be “dead on arrival” in the Senate, while President Biden on Monday said he would veto the bill if it reached his desk. This raises the questions: Why are House Republicans making the energy package one of their biggest legislative priorities? And why are they rushing to pass the measure before lawmakers leave for the two-week Easter and Passover recess? Here are two big reasons for the push, according to several GOP lawmakers, aides and energy lobbyists: Gas prices will probably rise this summer… “Then there’s the fact that it’s difficult to forge a consensus on a whole range of topics among each of the Republicans’ five ideological caucuses, including the far-right Freedom Caucus. Energy policy is one of the only issues that can easily unite the fractious Republican conference, multiple GOP leadership aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, told the Post.”
The Hill: Biden said he had ‘strong inclination’ not to approve Willow Project
RACHEL FRAZIN, 3/24/23
“President Biden said on Friday that he had the “strong inclination” not to approve of the Willow Project — a major oil project in Alaska — but did so out of concern for the legal ramifications,” The Hill reports. “My strong inclination was to disapprove of it across the board but the advice I got from counsel was that if that were the case, I may very well lose…that case in court to the oil company and then not be able to do what I really want to do beyond that,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I thought it was the better gamble and a hell of a trade off to have the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea and so many other places off limits forever now,” he said… “The approval frustrated progressives, who say the administration should not be approving additional decades of drilling in Alaska. The day before the approval was announced, the Interior Department said that it would block 2.8 million acres in the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea. It also said it would propose additional protections for 13 million acres of federally owned land in Alaska that have significant natural and historic value.”
E&E News: Whitehouse Spotlights Financial Toll Of Oil Dependence
Emma Dumain, 3/27/23
“The next installment in Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s series of hearings examining ‘the economic toll of climate change’ will target what climate hawks see as the perils of continued reliance on oil,” E&E News reports. “The Rhode Island Democrat, who recently became chair of the Senate Budget Committee, will convene a hearing Wednesday titled ‘Left Holding the Bag: The Cost of Oil Dependence in a Low-Carbon World.’ According to an official description, the hearing will ‘examine the stranded-asset risk of failing to keep up with the global transition away from fossil fuels.’”
E&E News: Watchdog probes EPA's Ohio train wreck response
ELLIE BORST, 3/27/23
“EPA's Office of Inspector General has launched an inquiry into the agency's response to the fiery train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio,” E&E News reports. “The agency's internal watchdog announced in a notice published Monday that it "will conduct interviews, gather data, and analyze a variety of issues, including hazardous waste disposal, air and water monitoring, soil and sediment sampling, and risk communication." Handling the fallout following the Feb. 3 train derailment has been split between rail company Norfolk Southern Corp. and multiple state and federal agencies. The inspector general probe centers on EPA's Region 5, led by Regional Administrator Debra Shore, which has taken the lead on cleanup oversight, many communications efforts and some environmental quality testing at and around the site. The notice follows nearly two months after crews decided to burn five of the derailed train cars that were carrying vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic chemical used to make PVC plastics, resulting in a large black plume that floated over East Palestine and neighboring Pennsylvania communities.”
Energy Intelligence Group: Industry Fears Legal Risk From EPA 'Super-Emitter' Plan
Bridget DiCosmo, 3/24/23
“US natural gas producers are bristling at the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) controversial proposal for targeting the industry’s worst methane emitters, even as many firms are proactively taking steps to rein in their own methane leaks. But what is it about the so-called “super-emitter response program” (SERP) that is creating such consternation?” Energy Intelligence Group reports. “There are several concerns at play with the proposal — introduced last fall as part of the EPA's planned expansion of methane standards for the gas sector — but most trace back to a general unease over the enforcement mechanisms. As proposed, SERP would allow third parties such as environmental groups to monitor for leaks using remote sensing technology and report those leaks directly to operators, potentially triggering corrective action in accordance with the EPA methane standards under the Clean Air Act… “Gas industry interests have voiced several reputational and legal concerns with the framework, because third-party reporting could make it difficult for operators to verify the data that would ultimately be made public. Environmentalists counter that the program could give operators an opportunity to get in front of potential enforcement actions.”
STATE UPDATES
Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers approve Newsom’s oil bill. Here’s what you need to know
TARYN LUNA, 3/27/23
“California lawmakers on Monday approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s legislation to increase transparency in the oil industry, ending a special session he called last year to penalize excessive profits,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “After months of deliberation, the final bill does not cap oil refinery profits or penalize the industry as Newsom had intended when he accused companies of intentionally driving up gas prices to boost revenue. Instead, the bill, SBX1-2, gives the California Energy Commission the power to set a cap and impose penalties through a regulatory process if it decides that oil companies are making excessive profits and that a penalty will not result in higher prices for consumers. The legislation focuses on transparency, including requiring the industry to provide more information about maintenance and pricing decisions in order to allow state officials to better understand the market and deter companies from gouging consumers… “The bill establishes the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight within the energy commission. The division will have the power to subpoena records from the oil industry and refer violations to the California attorney general for prosecution. The bill also establishes the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee, comprising industry experts appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, to advise the energy commission and the new oversight division… “The bill allows for increased civil penalties if information is not provided — up to $20,000 per day or $500,000 per submission.”
New York Times: In Montana, It’s Youth vs. the State in a Landmark Climate Case
David Gelles, 3/24/23
“Badge and Lander Busse tromped into the forest behind their house on a snowy Sunday in March, their three hunting dogs in tow,” the New York Times reports. “...It was also here that the Busse boys grew attuned to the signals of a rapidly warming planet — torrential rains that eroded their hiking trails, wildfires that scarred the land, smoke so thick it forced them indoors. Watching their cherished wilderness succumb to the effects of climate change enraged the Busse boys, and three years ago, they decided to do something about it. Along with 14 other local youth, they joined with an environmental legal organization and sued the state. In their complaint, filed in 2020, the young activists seized on language in the Montana state Constitution that guarantees residents “the right to a clean and healthful environment,” and stipulates that the state and individuals are responsible for maintaining and improving the environment “for present and future generations.” “...It is a concise but untested legal challenge to a state government that has taken a sharp turn to the right in recent years, and is aggressively defending itself. The trial, which legal experts say is the first involving a constitutional climate case, begins on June 12 in the state capital of Helena. “There have been almost no trials on climate change,” Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, told the Times. “This is the first that will get into the merits of climate change and what needs to be done, and how the state may have to change its policies.”
Bloomberg: Environment Groups Seek Decision in Wyoming Oil Lease Challenge
Bobby Magill, 3/24/23
“Two environmental groups filed a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit challenging a 2022 oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming held by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management,” Bloomberg reports. “The Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth contend the bureau violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it held the June 2022 Wyoming oil and gas lease sale with minimal environmental review… “In most parts of the country, BLM exercised restraint and offered smaller amounts of acreage for lease. Not so in Wyoming: there, BLM offered for lease more than thirteen times as many acres as it offered in all other states combined,” the environmental groups say in a memo filed in their motion for summary judgment… “The groups claim that the bureau acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it offered large acreages for lease, and are asking the court to set aside the sale because they say it violated NEPA.”
The Hill: Philadelphia recommends bottled water after chemical spill in Delaware River tributary
ZACK BUDRYK, 3/26/23
“Philadelphia officials suggested residents of the city use bottled water Sunday after more than 8,000 gallons of chemicals used in latex finishing spilled into a tributary of the Delaware River Saturday night,” The Hill reports. “The spill is believed to have originated from a burst pipe at the Trinseo PLC plant in Bristol, Pa., which spilled some 8,100 gallons into Otter Creek. In a statement Sunday, Mike Carroll, deputy managing director for the Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, said no contaminants have been detected thus far… and health risks are “very low if present at all” and that the city was issuing the advisory out of an abundance of caution. Residents were advised to begin using bottled water beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday. “Nonetheless, because we cannot be 100 percent sure that there won’t be traces of these chemicals in the tap water throughout the afternoon, we want the public to be aware so that people can consider switching to bottled water to further minimize any risk,” he said.
Associated Press: Train derails in rural North Dakota and spills chemicals
3/27/23
“A Canadian Pacific train derailed in rural North Dakota Sunday night and spilled hazardous materials. But local authorities and the railroad said there is no threat to public safety,” the Associated Press reports. “There were no injuries and no fire associated with the derailment, which occurred in a rural area outside Wyndmere, a town of several hundred people about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Fargo. Canadian Pacific spokesperson Andy Cummings told AP 31 of the 70 cars on the train, including several carrying hazardous materials, left the tracks around 11:15 p.m. Sunday. Four cars filled with liquid asphalt and two railcars filled with ethylene glycol spilled some of those chemicals in the derailment. And Cummings told AP a car carrying propylene was punctured and released some vapor. It wasn't immediately clear how much of the chemicals were released, but there are no waterways nearby and the chemical spills were contained at the site of the derailment. The railroad's hazardous materials experts are working with local first responders to clean up the spill. Several roads in the area were shut down.”
Wyoming Public Radio: Some Laramie County residents are concerned for their air quality due to oil and gas development in their communities
Caitlin Tan, 3/24/23
“Laramie County resident Wayne Lax drives through old town Cheyenne to get to his house just a couple miles outside of city limits,” Wyoming Public Radio reports. “So, we're gonna turn and go north, and I'll start showing you the activity,” Lax told WPR. “If you look out over those blocks, you can see some oil and gas stuff sticking up.” “...I mean it's just in these people's backyards,” Katherine Stahl, an organizer for the Powder River Basin Resource Council (PRBRC), which oversees CALC, told WPR. In Wyoming, development can happen 500 feet from a home – or a little less than one and a half football fields. “And so that is really concerning, given that when methane leaks, it's a colorless, odorless gas,” Stahl told WPR. That is specifically what CALC is worried about – leaks that could be potentially as close as 500 feet from their homes are impacting their air quality. They voiced this concern to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), so the agency placed a temporary air quality monitor about 10 miles away… “The air quality monitor will stay in Laramie County for a year. Resident Wayne Lax told WPR he does not expect it to show anything significant – he still thinks it is too far away from the activity. “I understand that the energy is needed,” Lax told WPR. “I just wish that people’s safety and people's well being would be taken into account along with that.”
KNOE: 100 orphaned wells plugged across Louisiana through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Maddy Johnson, 3/24/23
“Governor John Bel Edwards said in a Facebook post that the state is taking advantage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and has plugged 100 orphaned wells across Louisiana in the first two months,” KNOE reports. “He says another 30 wells are anticipated to be plugged by the end of March. Gov. Edwards says every well site removed is one less pathway for methane, oil, or saltwater contamination to reach the surface. He says reducing methane emissions is a key goal of Louisiana’s Climate Action Plan. Environmental Defense Fund says there are 4,628 documented orphan wells across the state. There are 600 in Union Parish, 224 in Ouachita Parish and 199 in Morehouse Parish. They say when a well is left unplugged, it can leak oil and other toxic chemicals as well as endanger water wells and other sources.”
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Trudeau to Lean on Carbon Capture in Green-Subsidy Race With US
Brian Platt, 3/2723
“Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland plans to expand Canada’s investment subsidies for the oil and hydrogen sectors and allocate C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) to a fund for cutting emissions from heavy industry,” Bloomberg reports. “The money is part of a plan by one of the world’s largest oil producers to accelerate the growth of clean technology. Freeland’s budget, to be unveiled Tuesday in Ottawa, will include a mix of tax credits and cash incentives for business, according to people familiar with the document who told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. A previously-announced carbon capture tax credit will be expanded to include more types of equipment, and will be sweetened for companies that pay higher wages, the people told Bloomberg. Canada is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the US and has the world’s third-largest reserves, but most of it is trapped in thick oil sands in northern Alberta, requiring huge amounts of energy to extract and upgrade. Carbon capture is a key part of the Canadian oil industry’s proposed approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A clean hydrogen tax credit will be expanded to include equipment that converts hydrogen into ammonia for shipping. All of the tax credits will be for capital expenses, not operating subsidies — a major difference with the US Inflation Reduction Act, which set up lucrative production tax credits for the clean energy sector. “
Financial Post: Budget 2023: Striving for compromise on who pays for decarbonization will disappoint everyone
Meghan Potkins, 3/27/23
“The federal budget will be Ottawa’s first since President Joe Biden’s multibillion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act flooded our neighbours with green subsidies and incentives for decarbonization projects last August,” the Financial Post reports. “The scale of Biden’s plan caught America’s Western allies off guard, instantly igniting panicked headlines in Canada, the U.K. and Europe over the risk of a flight in green investment capital, and debates over the best way for smaller economies to respond. “The U.S. has turned on a shop vac… and we’re standing here with a dust buster,” Matt Poirier of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters testified to the House trade committee in November. “We have to make a decision: Are we going to try and match or at least compete with that or are we going to let all that investment go south?” But lobbying from some of the country’s highest emitting industrial sectors — and from the Canadian oilpatch in particular — urging the federal government to match U.S. incentives has proved to be a lightning rod, attracting a torrent of anger from some environmental groups and policy analysts opposed to Canada spending its limited public dollars on subsidies for fossil fuel producers. Amid all of the noisy pre-budget jockeying between industry, think-tanks and advocacy groups, one thing has become abundantly clear: there is a fundamental disagreement in Canada over who should bear the cost of decarbonization — and consequently, whatever Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has up her sleeve is sure to disappoint… “More worrisome is the possibility that in trying to strike a politically palatable balance on green subsidies, Ottawa delivers a watered-down mix of policies and ineffective subsidies that fail to deliver on Canada’s climate goals while handicapping economic growth.”
Wall Street Journal: New Shell CEO Faces Big Dilemma: Should the Company Pump More Oil?
Jenny Strasburg, 3/28/23
“Wael Sawan knows he is about to make some people very unhappy. The new chief executive of Shell PLC is in the midst of crafting his business plan for the London-based energy giant, including whether to increase oil production,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Doing so would please many investors looking to build on last year’s oil-and-gas bonanza, which produced record annual earnings for Shell. But it almost certainly would generate howls of protest from environmentalists and other critics, including investors who want Shell to tackle climate-related goals more aggressively. Those investors argue a continued focus on fossil fuels endangers Shell’s long-term prospects in a changing world. Mr. Sawan told the Journal he is committed to lowering the company’s emissions and helping develop a new generation of clean-energy sources. But that is not where the bulk of profits are right now. “I fundamentally believe in the role of oil and gas for a long, long time to come,” he said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal. What’s more, he told the Journal, he doesn’t believe renewable- and low-carbon energy projects should be subsidized by Shell’s fossil-fuel profits, but should deliver returns that merit continued investment on their own… “All options are on the table, he told the Journal, including revising the company’s 2021 forecast for an average 1% to 2% decrease in its crude output each year until 2030. Mr. Sawan also told the Journal he was weighing further exploration for new sources of oil and gas in areas where Shell doesn’t currently operate. He cautioned that Shell’s production targets and other key decisions are still being debated by its executives and board. Whatever he decides, Mr. Sawan expects to be unpopular among some groups, and maybe factions of all of them. “I think the heat will come no matter what I do,” he told the Journal.
Washington Post: Big Oil is selling off its polluting assets — with unintended consequences
Rachel Chason, 3/27/23
“When Lambert Ogbari learned that the oil giant Shell was selling its local operations to a Nigerian firm, he said he felt hopeful his living conditions would finally improve. But he quickly noticed that maintenance on the oil wells surrounding his village had declined,” the Washington Post reports. “...As the world wrestles with climate change, major oil companies are selling off polluting assets around the globe. Shell, which announced in 2021 that it is looking to exit Nigeria’s onshore market completely, has repeatedly said in annual reports over the past eight years that divestments in Nigeria and elsewhere have played an important role in decreasing the company’s own greenhouse gas emissions… “But interviews with residents, local officials and environmental groups show the divestments made in Nigeria over the past decade have had negative consequences for communities that Shell and other international companies leave behind — and for the environment they say they are aiming to protect. Local companies that have acquired the Niger Delta assets from international firms have failed to respond quickly to oil spills such as the one in Nembe, environmental activists say. Greenhouse gas emissions from gas flaring — the burning off of natural gas, a byproduct of oil extraction — have increased dramatically in multiple cases after Nigerian companies took over, according to data from flare tracker Capterio and reports by the Environmental Defense Fund and Stakeholder Democracy Network. At the same time, according to several analyses by these two groups and others, information about those effects has become scarce, because the local companies tend to make fewer environmental commitments and set fewer reporting standards.”
Fort McMurray Today: Emotions run high as Imperial Oil meets with Fort Chipewyan on Kearl seepages
Shari Narine, 3/27/23
“Anger, distrust and fear were evident in the first community meeting hosted by an Imperial Oil official since news broke last month of tailings pond seepage that had been occurring since May 2022 at the Kearl mine upstream of Indigenous communities in the Fort Chipewyan area,” Fort McMurray Today reports. “Members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Fort Chipewyan Metis were in attendance. Jamie Long, Imperial’s vice-president of oil sands mining, had little chance to offer information to those crowded into the Fort Chipewyan community hall March 22 before a man stopped close to him and angrily shouted about Imperial Oil not disclosing the environmental concerns to the community or to the governments of Alberta and Canada. Industrial wastewater has been escaping the external tailings area, both on and outside the boundaries of the Kearl site, since May 19, 2022, when Imperial made its first report to the Alberta Energy Regulator. However, the Indigenous communities weren’t notified until Feb. 6 this year when the AER issued an environmental protection order (EPO). “Are you a scientist? Are you a health professional? Can you tell us the cumulative effects that are going to happen to our traditional way of life?” the man asked… “Something is not right. You’re holding back something and not telling us the truth,” said one man. Only two days before, the ACFN released a statement that their observations of the spill site north of the Kearl tailings pond was “worse than what anyone anticipated.”
E&E News: Worker shortage looms over LNG boom
Shelby Webb, 3/27/23
“The oil and gas industry is expected to triple its spending on liquefied natural gas projects by 2025. But experts say companies may have trouble finding workers to build and operate export terminals,” E&E News reports.
OPINION
Jamestown Sun: Port: Maybe the Summit carbon pipeline isn't as controversial as it seems?
Rob Port, 3/27/23
“To hear some pundits and paid activists tell it, the Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, a project of Summit Carbon Solutions, has run into a brick wall of landowner opposition as it works its way through North Dakota's regulatory process,” Rob Port writes for the Jamestown Sun. “Is that true? There's no question that Summit has gotten off on the wrong foot with some landowners. There are too many stories from landowners who say they've felt bullied and abused by the company to ignore… “But it sure seems like they've turned things around based on a number they're touting ahead of a public hearing before the Public Service Commission. "Summit Carbon Solutions, the company trying to build what it calls the world’s biggest carbon capture and storage project, says it now has secured about 70% of the right-of-way needs for the pipeline in North Dakota," our Jeff Beach reports. That's big progress. Just months ago, in October, they were at 51%... “This project has inspired a motley collection of noisy enemies. People you wouldn't normally see working together. There are the environmental activists who, bizarrely, oppose carbon capture and storage because it would help keep the oil and coal development in line with modern environmental standards. They're standing next to populist "conservatives" who think we can bury our heads in the sand while the market for carbon-heavy energy and agriculture products shrinks… “These folks can be loud. These folks claim to be speaking for the landowners. And yet, Summit is in agreement with the owners of most of the North Dakota land along the route of their pipeline… “Again, these folks are noisy, but what they're telling us about this project isn't necessarily reality.”
The Hill: New California bill could advance carbon removal while holding polluters accountable
Dan Lashof is the director of World Resources Institute, United States, 3/24/23
“Earlier this week, the newest report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) spelled out in detail how 1.1 degrees Celsius of global warming have already led to unprecedented shifts in weather patterns and devastating human impacts across the globe,” Dan Lashof writes for The Hill. “...One essential solution? Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), in which greenhouse gases are actively removed from the atmosphere through natural or technological means. While many questions remain regarding how to scale up and deploy this solution, California has set ambitious goals and is taking steps to figure it out, including considering new legislation… “While some heavy-emitting industries (including oil) have recently shown interest in CDR as a potential tool to justify continuing their own operations, the truth is that CDR will only be an effective tool against the climate crisis if it is used to complement deep emissions reductions rather than empowering polluters to prolong their activities… “It is now poised to add to that record with the innovative Carbon Dioxide Removal Act (SB 308), introduced in February by Democratic state Sen. Josh Becker. The bill would require that by December 31, 2027, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopt a regulation requiring high-emitting entities, such as refineries, cement kilns and power plants, to purchase “negative emissions credits” to compensate for their own climate impact... “Under this law, CARB would establish rules and processes for certifying carbon dioxide removal practices that may be used to create negative emissions credits and for verifying that these credits represent carbon that is removed from the atmosphere and expected to be sequestered for 1,000 years or more (and guaranteed to be sequestered for at least 100 years).”
Common Dreams: Biden Chooses Fossil Fuels Over Us
Magnolia Mead is the director of U.S. organizing for the youth-led climate movement Zero Hour, 3/25/23
“The sun was beating down and my ears were ringing. My hands gripped the megaphone as we chanted, "No more drilling, no more drilling, no more drilling on federal lands!" The words we chanted were President Joe Biden's verbatim, a broken promise made on the campaign trail in 2020,” Magnolia Mead writes for Common Dreams. “Just over a week after approving a massive oil drilling plan in the Arctic called the Willow project, President Biden hosted a conservation summit at the Department of the Interior. Youth climate justice organizers from Zero Hour protested alongside allied organizations outside the summit for hours, determined not to let Biden forget his broken promise. Administration officials and the president himself entered and left the building, pretending to ignore us and our demands, but we didn't quiet down. We don't plan to stop protesting the outrageous decision any time soon… “There is no middle ground when it comes to fighting the climate crisis anymore: We either stop all new fossil fuels or we don't. Approving new fossil fuel projects at this point is absurd: We need to be actively shutting down current projects. President Biden's decision on the Willow project is the opposite of what conventional science dictates. It communicates a disconnect from reality and a disregard for the people who elected him. Time has run out for a both-sides approach: President Biden must choose one or the other, fossil fuels or our future. By approving the Willow project, it is clear which side he is on.”