EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/12/23
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: Expelled Tenn. lawmaker started by stopping an oil pipeline
KCAU: Woodbury County Board of Supervisors exploring CO2 pipeline alternative
KTIV: Woodbury County Board of Supervisors votes on new correctional officer, carbon capture pipelines
KMA: Montgomery County residents press for pipeline ordinance action
POWHR.org: MVP’s Diameter is Huge. Why Does That Matter?
The Intercept: “HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE” MOVIE POSES TERROR THREAT, KANSAS CITY INTEL AGENCY CLAIMS
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Common Dreams: Green Groups Sue Biden EPA Over Industrial Water Pollution Failures
The Hill: Two-thirds of car sales could be electric by 2032 under new Biden proposal
E&E News: Green group execs cashed in on their way out
STATE UPDATES
WCMH: Questions remain as Ohio’s fracking law goes into effect
Denver Post: Colorado Democrats propose tougher oil and gas permit rules to curb air pollution — risking showdown with Polis
Colorado Public Radio: A new Colorado air quality bill would require tougher pollution permits in fight to limit Front Range ozone
Casper Star-Tribune: Wyoming, partners apply for $1.25 billion toward hydrogen economy
KBTX: Residents want better communications from oil & gas firms on drilling, fracking & emergency plans
EXTRACTION
The Energy Mix: Carbon Removal Tech Would Use More Energy than All Homes Combined, Shell Finds
Breach Media: Indigenous communities fight Canada’s ‘holy sh-t’ fix for tar sands wastewater
Reuters: Analysis: LNG imports test EU resolve to quit Russian fossil fuel
CLIMATE FINANCE
Sierra Club: Myth-Busting Larry Fink’s Annual Letter: BlackRock CEO Drags His Feet On Climate Change
Financial Times: Fossil fuel groups hit extra hard by divestment pledges that go viral
OPINION
The Ecologist: Rough trade: UK accession to Pacific trade deal empowers fossil fuel firms to sue governments
The Hill: Slow and steady wins the climate race
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: Expelled Tenn. lawmaker started by stopping an oil pipeline
Mike Soraghan, 4/12/23
“Before he took on gun rights and the Tennessee House of Representatives with a bullhorn, Justin J. Pearson took on an oil pipeline — and won,” E&E News reports. “The fight Pearson led against the Byhalia Connection crude oil pipeline got national attention — Justin Timberlake and Al Gore joined his cause. But the Memphis protests pale beside the spectacle surrounding him now. He’s one of two Black Democratic lawmakers expelled last week from the Tennessee House by the chamber’s Republican supermajority. “The issues, the David versus Goliath perspective on this is the same,” Pearson said in a video interview Tuesday with E&E News. “But the good thing about the story of David and Goliath is we know how that story ends up.” Pearson, who shouted into a bullhorn at marches and rallies against the pipeline, added, “So we pick up the smooth stones that we have, which sometimes is a minibullhorn.” Pearson and colleague Justin Jones were voted out by GOP members for using a bullhorn to lead a protest from the House floor in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Nashville, Tenn… “The 28-year-old Pearson told E&E he’s “hopeful” he’ll be reinstated but said state officials have threatened to withhold more than $300 million for Memphis-area projects if local officials vote him back in… “Pearson made his name in Memphis leading the fight against the pipeline, saying developers violated the principles of “environmental justice,” unfairly targeting a low-income, 95 percent Black neighborhood already overburdened by pollution. Pearson and allies joined with environmentalists who warned that the Byhalia Connection project threatened the region’s drinking water. The developers said the pipeline wouldn’t damage drinking water and said they targeted vacant land to avoid disruption. Pearson called the pipeline developers and the supermajority of legislators who expelled him “two sides of the same coin.” “One is destroying our drinking water and our air quality and our planet that we live on,” he told E&E. “And the other, quite literally, is destroying our democracy so that our ability to resist those injustices becomes more difficult.”
KCAU: Woodbury County Board of Supervisors exploring CO2 pipeline alternative
Ariel Pokett, 4/11/23
“Multiple carbon dioxide pipeline projects are being proposed and they would run through Siouxland. However, the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors heard about a possible alternative on Tuesday,” KCAU reports. “Brought to the board by a county resident, a company called Carbon Sync would like to build a methanol plant in the Port Neal Industrial Complex. Proponents of this idea tell KCAU housing methanol in our community is much safer than ethanol, which, if a leak occurred would be dangerous and deadly. Building a methanol plant would give Woodbury County the chance to benefit from this resource that would be flowing through the community… “He added that he believes methanol is potentially even more valuable than ethanol… “The next step is taking the proposal to the IUB and objections need to be filed by July. The board indicated that they feel that regardless of where this plan goes, counties to be affected by the proposed CO2 Pipelines should align themselves and resist eminent domain.”
KTIV: Woodbury County Board of Supervisors votes on new correctional officer, carbon capture pipelines
Nick Reis, 4/11/23
“...Another important issue supervisors discussed was carbon capture pipelines planned in Woodbury County,” KTIV reports. “Several people told supervisors they oppose the idea and ask that pipeline companies be unable to use eminent domain to get the land needed for the project. They worry about the safety of the proposed pipelines, as well as how their placement could limit some cities’ growth potential… “The board approved a motion to get legal counsel to try and stop the use of eminent domain to acquire land for the pipeline projects. In addition, supervisors will also consider the carbon being processed and sold by a business in the Port Neal industrial area.”
KMA: Montgomery County residents press for pipeline ordinance action
Mike Peterson, 4/11/23
“Renewed calls for action on a carbon pipeline ordinance are being expressed in Montgomery County,” KMA reports. “Two residents vocal over the need for local regulations once again appeared before the county's board of supervisors Tuesday morning, asking the board to act on the proposed ordinance regulating projects such as Summit Carbon Solution's proposed Midwest Express CO2 Pipeline planned for most of western Iowa. No action has been taken since the supervisors held a public hearing on the proposed ordinance in late February. Maggie McQuown of Red Oak is a member of the county's board of adjustment. McQuown asked the supervisors not to delay action on the proposed ordinance any further. "Our board is done," said McQuown. "The planning and zoning commission has completed its work. They created the hazardous pipeline ordinance. They've written a comprehensive report and issued it to the supervisors, and they support the adoption of the pipeline ordinance." McQuown says land use and routing are the only jurisdictional controls counties have on pipelines, and she called on the supervisors to make the most of that power… “Jan Norris of West Township is another local advocate for pipeline regulations. Norris painted a doomsday scenario of an emergency involving a ruptured carbon pipeline. "You might have thought you entered the scene of the most recent zombie movie," said Norris. "Dozens of residents collapsed--some walking in circles foaming at the mouth amidst a cloud of green fog. Emergency responders donning scuba gear heroically rushed into the cloud and carried victims to safety. Vehicles' internal combustion engines were inoperable, leaving many residents stranded and sick." "...Your outside counsel told the board of adjustment we don't have forever to act," she said. "The intervention deadline is in July. Summit is using this as a delay tactic to convince you to wait--but by then, it may be too late. This is not just for the Summit pipeline--they are the devil we know. But, the ordinance is for Montgomery County's future."
POWHR.org: MVP’s Diameter is Huge. Why Does That Matter?
Denali Nalamalapu, 4/11/23
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline is 42-inches in diameter. That’s about the length of a baseball bat, a guitar, or three sub sandwiches. Opponents of MVP have used hula hoops to illustrate the size of the pipeline,” according to POWHR.org. “Pipelines that are above 36 inches are considered large diameter pipelines. For reference, the largest pipeline on the continent is the TransAlaska pipeline, with a 48 inch diameter. The largest pipeline diameter in the world is the Yamal Europe pipeline at 56 inches. The Department of Energy reports that most interstate pipelines are between 24 and 36 inches in diameter. So why is MVP so much bigger and why does that matter? The bigger the pipeline, the less safe it is because it takes more pressure to move gas through the pipe. This increases and exacerbates the blast zone, which is the impact radius around the pipeline if it were to explode. Bill Caram, Executive Director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, said of the MVP, “This isn’t just another natural gas pipeline. This is a very large, very high-pressure pipeline. It is a completely different animal that we really need to take seriously.” The danger due to the size of the pipeline is exacerbated by its location. Seventy-four percent of MVP crosses high landslide risk terrain, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) final environmental impact statement. This is an unusually high number of extreme sleep slopes and landslide and earthquake prone areas for a pipeline to cross. This reality increases the risk of pipeline rupture and therefore increases the risk of explosion. MVP has caused landslides during construction – and it’s not even in operation.”
The Intercept: “HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE” MOVIE POSES TERROR THREAT, KANSAS CITY INTEL AGENCY CLAIMS
Ken Klippenstein, 4/11/23
“IN 2021, a Texas intelligence command center disseminated a bulletin warning its law enforcement partners about activists interested in sabotaging fossil fuel infrastructure. The report detailed no specific threat, but instead linked to an interview with Andreas Malm, a Swedish professor of human ecology, on a New Yorker podcast in which he advocated for the destroying or “neutralizing” new fossil fuel projects like pipelines using nonviolent methods,” The Intercept reports. “Now, Malm’s work is once again drawing the attention of a fusion center. “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” a new movie dramatizing Malm’s 2021 nonfiction book of the same name, sympathetically depicts the infrastructure sabotage by environmentalists. The film’s fictional protagonist, Theo, contracts leukemia after growing up in a Long Beach neighborhood with heavy pollution. She joins several others to strap a homemade bomb to an oil pipeline in West Texas. In a report disseminated last week, another intelligence command center — this time in Kansas City, Missouri — quietly warned of a “developing threat” related to the movie. It was obtained by The Intercept via a source with access to law enforcement reporting, and the Kansas City Regional Fusion Center did not reply to a request for comment. Again, however, this new report conceded that the intelligence center could not identify any specific threat — a contradiction that experts say speaks to the overbroad authority of state intelligence entities and the make-work required by these centers. “The performance metric is the number of reports you write, rather than the accuracy of them,” Mike German, a retired FBI agent who is now a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, told the Intercept of fusion centers. “What do you do after you write reports on realistic threats? Pretty soon you have to start writing about imaginary ones. Lots come straight from the fever swamps of social media.” The Missouri report goes a step further than Texas’s, since the film “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” is fictional.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Common Dreams: Green Groups Sue Biden EPA Over Industrial Water Pollution Failures
KENNY STANCIL, 4/11/23
“A coalition of 13 green groups on Tuesday sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to set limits on harmful chemicals that petroleum-based industries dump into the nation's waterways on a daily basis,” Common Dreams reports. "The Clean Water Act requires the EPA to limit discharges of industrial pollutants based on the best available wastewater treatment methods, and to tighten those limits at least once every five years where data show treatment technologies have improved," two of the plaintiffs, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), explained in a joint statement. However, the organizations lamented, "the agency has never set limits for many pollutants and has failed to update the few decades-old limits that exist—including limits set almost 40 years ago for oil refineries (1985), plastics manufacturers (1984), and fertilizer plants (1986)." "Despite the legal mandate for regular reviews and updates to keep pace with technology, the guidelines for 40 of 59 industries regulated by the EPA were last updated 30 or more years ago, with 17 of those dating back to the 1970s," they added. "Outdated standards mean more water pollution is pouring into U.S. waters than should be allowed because some plants are using technology standards from the Reagan era—before common use of the Internet, email, or cellphones."
The Hill: Two-thirds of car sales could be electric by 2032 under new Biden proposal
RACHEL FRAZIN, 4/12/23
“Two-thirds of new car sales could be electric by 2032 under a new proposal released by the Biden administration on Wednesday,” The Hill reports. “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects that 67 percent of new light-duty passenger cars sold in the U.S. could be electric that year under its new proposed clean car regulations. For medium-duty vehicles, the share of news sales that are electric could be 46 percent. The agency is not mandating this level of electric vehicle sales. Instead, it’s proposing to require that automakers limit the greenhouse gas emissions coming from their fleets – which could be done by making more of their vehicles electric or by upgrading the gasoline-powered engines in their cars. The administration is additionally proposing new climate regulations for heavy-duty vehicles including delivery trucks and school buses. “This is a win for the American people,” White House Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters on Tuesday. “President Biden is seizing the moment.”
E&E News: Green group execs cashed in on their way out
Robin Bravender, 4/11/23
“David Yarnold didn’t leave empty-handed when he stepped down from his turbulent stint as leader of the National Audubon Society,” E&E News reports. “Instead, Yarnold, Audubon’s president and CEO for a decade, received total compensation of $1.3 million in 2021, the year he left the organization amid complaints from his staff and internal auditors — aired in POLITICO coverage at the time — about what employees called a toxic workplace culture at the prominent conservation group. That included $600,000 in separation pay divided between 2021 and 2022… “Five prominent environmental groups reported paying severance to more than two dozen environmental group officials since 2019, according to an E&E News review of tax documents. The bulk of those reported payments — 18 of the 25 — were six figures… “The Nature Conservancy — the biggest U.S. environmental group by revenue — detailed severance payments to nine executives in 2019 and 2020, according to its tax filings, as that group saw turnover in its upper ranks… “One of those employees, former Nature Conservancy President Brian McPeek, received a separation payment of $700,000 in 2019 and another separation payment of $350,000 in 2020, the group’s latest tax filings show… “Former Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, who resigned in 2021, received a $156,000 severance payment that year, the group’s tax filings show… “Former Natural Resources Defense Council President Rhea Suh received severance payments totaling $645,544 after she stepped down in 2019, the tax forms show… “The Environmental Defense Fund has been run by the same leader, Fred Krupp, for nearly four decades. The group has, however, seen some turnover among its leaders in recent years, and its tax filings show severance payments to four senior employees since 2019.”
STATE UPDATES
WCMH: Questions remain as Ohio’s fracking law goes into effect
Natalie Fahmy, 4/10/23
“It is now officially legal for oil and gas companies to frack from state parks, as a new state law goes into effect,” WCMH reports. “However, the state’s Oil and Gas Management Commission still needs to finalize a lease agreement for those companies, and the president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, Rob Brundrett, said he is not happy with the current draft. “Several items in the draft lease remain as obstacles to the responsible development of the state’s oil and natural gas resources,” he told WCMH… “Fracking requires millions of gallons of water, but the current lease draft does not allow usage of any water on the leased land, both from lakes, ponds and rivers, and water that is beneath the land. On Monday, the commission also heard from several Ohioans who said they’re not happy with the way this bill was passed, and they don’t want to see it go any further… “I will leave this state if fracking begins on our public lands,” Dr. Joseph Blanda said. Some, like Bladna, said they are worried about the health effects fracking could have on Ohioans who live near state parks or visit them. “Are you willing to support the fossil fuel industry and ignore the public health concerns of the citizens of Ohio?” he said. “Exposing their families and kids to harmful toxins that have been proven to be associated with multiple medical conditions such as asthma or as deadly as cancer?”
Denver Post: Colorado Democrats propose tougher oil and gas permit rules to curb air pollution — risking showdown with Polis
NOELLE PHILLIPS, 4/11/23
“Legislation being proposed in the Colorado General Assembly would make the state’s air pollution permitting rules more stringent, largely impacting the oil and gas industry and setting up a potential showdown between the governor and supporters of the bill in the statehouse and among environmental groups,” the Denver Post reports. “The bill, to be introduced later this week, has been in the works for two years, and its creation was championed by 24 environmental groups that, in a March letter of support, urged Gov. Jared Polis to back the legislation and criticized him for failing to include them in a recent plan to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions in the oil and gas industry. Environmentalists and the bill’s sponsors want state regulators to perform a modeling analysis of potential pollutants from any newly proposed oil and gas sites, and to consider the cumulative impact oil and gas production has on the state’s climate, before issuing new air permits. But it may be hard to convince the governor the legislation must be adopted to improve the state’s air quality. In an emailed statement, Conor Cahill, a spokesman for Polis, told the Post the bill would create “major unintended consequences” that would negatively impact the economy. The bill would stall other plans to reduce ozone and other air pollutants, he told the Post… “The oil and gas industry accounts for almost half of Colorado’s ground-level ozone pollution, and the bill’s sponsors and supporters believe the legislation would lead to significant improvements. During a Monday news conference, multiple speakers talked about the brown haze that blankets the Front Range on hot summer days and the fact that the region is considered in “severe non-attainment” of federal air quality standards by the Environmental Protection Agency… “Though we are out of compliance with federal ozone standards, Colorado permitting processes continue to green-light new sources of ozone pollution,” state Rep. Jenny Willford, D-Adams County, who is one of the bill’s sponsors, told the Post. “To get out of severe ozone non-attainment, we need to drastically cut ozone-forming emissions, particularly from the largest contributing sectors like the oil and gas sector, which accounts for close to half of all ozone precursors.” Already, the oil and gas industry is prepared to fight the legislation. In an emailed statement, Dan Haley, chief executive officer of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, called the bill a “backdoor ban on oil and gas.”
Colorado Public Radio: A new Colorado air quality bill would require tougher pollution permits in fight to limit Front Range ozone
Sam Brasch, 4/11/23
“After decades of failures to meet federal ozone standards along the Front Range, a coalition of clean air advocates says it's past time Colorado overhauls how it approves new sources of pollution,” Colorado Public Radio reports. “That demand has now been distilled into a legislative proposal set for introduction later this week. At a capitol press conference Monday, state Reps. Jennifer Bacon and Jenny Willford — Democrats from Denver and Northglenn, respectively — said, if approved, the upcoming Protecting Communities from Air Pollution Act would force businesses to prove future projects wouldn't further degrade local air quality. "If we know we have air quality issues, we need to be questioning those who want to get into a world of emissions," Bacon told CPR. "It seems to me a normal question we should ask before we issue permits." The upcoming legislation would also require more careful coordination between the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. In addition, it would set new emissions standards for massive internal combustion engines used to power the drilling and hydraulic fracturing process at oil and gas sites, advocates told CPR.
Casper Star-Tribune: Wyoming, partners apply for $1.25 billion toward hydrogen economy
Nicole Pollack, 4/10/23
“Wyoming and three other states applied formally last week for more than $1 billion in federal funds for the creation of a regional clean hydrogen hub,” the Casper Star-Tribune reports. “The Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub partnership, which began a little more than a year ago, also includes Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, along with eight private companies. It’s projected to create more than 26,000 jobs — and considerable economic opportunity — if the U.S. Department of Energy signs off on the $1.25 billion proposal, according to a press release. “As an all-of-the-above energy state, Wyoming is poised to make the most of exciting new opportunities like hydrogen, which will be a cornerstone of our energy future,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. Together, he added, the states developed “a bipartisan vision for a hydrogen hub.” Clean hydrogen appeals to both sides of the political aisle — but sometimes for different reasons. The carbon-free fuel is usually made in one of two ways: from natural gas plus carbon capture, or from renewable electricity and water. Some groups prefer one method over the other. The Wyoming Energy Authority, the state agency that oversees its many energy initiatives, has pushed hard to advance both… “Tallgrass Energy, an oil and gas transporter, plans to put some of the funds toward hydrogen projects in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico aimed at the electricity and transportation sectors and industrial users… “The Department of Energy is expected to announce awardees toward the end of this year.”
KBTX: Residents want better communications from oil & gas firms on drilling, fracking & emergency plans
Donnie Tuggle, 4/11/23
“Drilling activity underway in Washington County has raised safety concerns among some residents,” KBTX reports. “Homeowners that live near a fracking site just off FM 594 in Burton are calling for oil and gas companies to improve communication with residents and be more proactive in outlining emergency protocols. Kathy Kanocz and Dean Rayburn have extensive experience in the industry, with Kanocz having worked for Conoco, BP, Chevron, Statoil, and Range Resources, and served on the governing board for the Center of Offshore Safety following the Macondo Blowout and Explosion. Rayburn worked for Arco, Vastar, and BP, and was the Lead HSE Advisor for BP Wells at the global level. Despite the wells being drilled and a pipeline being constructed yards away from their home in Burton, they support fracking. However, they believe some operators neglect the community and surrounding areas… “We’re very pro-oil and gas and we believe in fracking. We’ve spent our careers in the oil and gas industry but I wanted people to understand there are good operators and then there are operators that don’t care about the community and the people around them,” Kanocz told KBTX. They told KBTX they have requested information on how they will be informed in case of an emergency but have been told that the information cannot be provided due to legal reasons. “We’ve asked them several times about how are we going to be informed if there’s an emergency and we have been told that their attorneys don’t want to provide that information and that’s my concern and that’s what we want people to be aware of is you have a right to know that information,” Kanocz told KBTX.
EXTRACTION
The Energy Mix: Carbon Removal Tech Would Use More Energy than All Homes Combined, Shell Finds
Gaye Taylor, 4/4/23
“It would take more energy than all the world’s houses will consume in 2100 to power a fledgling technology that captures enough carbon dioxide from the air to limit global heating at 1.5°C, according to British multinational oil company Shell,” The Energy Mix reports. “In a Shell scenario where the world limits global warming in line with the Paris climate agreement, energy demand for direct air capture (DAC) technology rises “from about nothing today to almost 66 exajoules in 2100,” reports Bloomberg. “That would be more than the energy needed to heat and power all the world’s homes by then,” the news agency adds. Bloomberg cites Sky 2050, the more optimistic of Shell’s two latest energy security scenarios [pdf], in which long-term climate security is the priority embraced by all. In this pathway, DAC with carbon storage (DACCS) deployment is in full swing by 2040, absorbing more than five billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The united efforts of politicians, the public, and the private sector achieve net-zero by 2050, and although 1.5°C is breached sometime mid-century, collective action brings temperatures back down to 1.24°C by the century’s end… “These models come nearly four years after researchers at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute for Climate Change wrote in a Nature Communications study that in 2100, DAC machines could needed 300 exajoules of energy annually, or 25% of total global energy demand. “To put it another way, it would be equivalent to the current annual energy demand of China, the United States, the European Union, and Japan combined,” Carbon Brief wrote at the time.”
Breach Media: Indigenous communities fight Canada’s ‘holy sh-t’ fix for tar sands wastewater
Cara McKenna & Martin Lukacs, 4/11/23
“Jesse Cardinal is one of the many Indigenous people in Alberta whose quality of life flows in tandem with the Athabasca River,” Breach Media reports. “...The further north you go, the more people rely on the waters and lands—as food insecurity and soaring costs in remote and fly-in communities have made survival dependent on hunting, fishing and gathering. “This river is literally the life-giving river for the north,” Cardinal, who is the executive director of the Indigenous-led environmental group Keepers of the Water, told Breach. So when her organization became aware in 2019 that the Alberta government was considering letting the oil industry release massive amounts of partially-treated wastewater into the Athabasca and its tributaries, the group was in shock. “We were like, ‘Holy sh-t, they’re trying to do what?’” she said. “How could they even propose this?” Prohibited for decades, the Alberta and federal governments are now considering regulations that would permit the discharge of the toxic byproduct of oil sands mining known as “tailings.” “...Cardinal told Breach Keepers of the Water wants the ponds removed, but not at the cost of impacts on the river. For industry, meanwhile, releasing the treated tailings is the cheapest and therefore preferred option. Keepers of the Water has been at the forefront of a campaign to stop this from happening. Thanks in part to their efforts—and the growing power of Indigenous rights—the federal government is now including select Indigenous nations in Alberta in a process to develop the regulations and consider alternatives.”
Reuters: Analysis: LNG imports test EU resolve to quit Russian fossil fuel
Kate Abnett, Marwa Rashad and Gabriela Baczynska, 4/12/23
“Political pressure is building within the European Union to tackle the daunting challenge of closing a loophole in its efforts to stop using Russian fossil fuels: liquefied natural gas (LNG),” Reuters reports. “...It has drastically cut reliance on Russian pipeline gas, despite not imposing sanctions on the fuel. But at the same time, EU countries have increased their overall purchases of Russian LNG, undermining the bloc's pledge to end its use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027. As a consequence, the EU has sent billions of dollars to Russian gas firms Gazprom and Novatek that can be used to finance the war in Ukraine, as the energy companies, via corporate taxes, are among the largest contributors to Russia's budget. Analysts at CapraView, a global gas forecasting firm, estimate almost half of the LNG Russia exported in the first ten months after its invasion of Ukraine flowed to Europe, representing approximately $14 billion in revenue… “Halting Russian LNG imports would be double-edged, analysts tell Reuters. It could drive up European gas prices without necessarily reducing Russian export revenues, since LNG can easily be redirected to markets in Asia that have not imposed sanctions on Russia, CapraView Chief Analyst Tamir Druz told Reuters. "Unlike pipeline gas exports, which are essentially stranded in Russia, it will be much more difficult to reduce Russian revenues or global gas market dependence on Russian LNG," he told Reuters.
CLIMATE FINANCE
Sierra Club: Myth-Busting Larry Fink’s Annual Letter: BlackRock CEO Drags His Feet On Climate Change
Jessye Waxman, 4/11/23
“For those following the financial sector’s approach to climate change, Larry Fink’s annual letters in the past few years have served as a barometer for measuring Wall Street’s aptitude for management of climate-related risks,” according to the Sierra Club. “Unfortunately, this year’s letter is cause for concern, with signals throughout that Wall Street’s former climate darling is dragging his feet on climate change… “BlackRock is stalling on climate risk. And, in a world where the urgency of the climate crisis grows daily, stagnation is fiduciarily irresponsible. Anyone reading Fink’s letter and holding out hope on climate should have reason for concern… “In the past, BlackRock’s commentary on climate risk management was much closer to center stage. This year, it took a backseat to client choice, right-wing pushback, and concerns over market volatility, and shared the stage with a proud proclamation of investment in fossil fuel projects. While one could argue this is merely a rhetorical strategy to placate vociferous right-wing actors, the content of Fink’s letter indicates that BlackRock’s response to the growing climate crisis is plateauing. Despite recognizing the risks that climate change poses to both society and clients’ portfolios, Fink’s letter does not offer any concrete steps that would see BlackRock make good on its 2020 pledge to “place sustainability at the center of its investment decisions.” As a result, BlackRock is falling behind on responsible management of emerging risks – and Fink, it seems, is no longer trying to hide it.”
Financial Times: Fossil fuel groups hit extra hard by divestment pledges that go viral
Attracta Mooney, 4/9/23
“Fossil fuel divestment pledges by investors including sovereign wealth funds, trusts and foundations which gain traction on social media have an outsized impact on carbon-intensive companies, wiping billions off their market value, new research has found,” the Financial Times reports. “A study by academics at Solvay Brussels School of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics and Harvard Law School revealed that when a divestment tweet went viral, the market value of big carbon emitters fell significantly more than the value of the holding that was due to be sold. The rising number of funds pledging to dump investments in carbon-intensive companies has led to more market participants grappling with the risks of holding fossil fuel assets, the research suggested. In Ireland, for example, the researchers found that in the three days around the 2018 news that the country’s parliament voted to divest from fossil fuel companies, $14bn, or 3.1 per cent, was wiped off the collective market value of the biggest US oil, gas and oil companies… “The researchers looked at the 20 days with the most tweets and retweets about divestments between 2014 and 2021 and then examined the share prices of big carbon-intensive companies. More than 1,550 institutions and other groups with $40tn in assets have pledged to divest from at least some fossil fuels, according to a database tracking such announcements.”
OPINION
The Ecologist: Rough trade: UK accession to Pacific trade deal empowers fossil fuel firms to sue governments
Dr. Kyla Tienhaara is Canada research chair in economy and environment at Queen’s University. Peter Newell is a professor of international relations at the University of Sussex, 4/12/23
“Environmental advocates were quick to denounce the UK decision to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). But one particularly egregious aspect of the trade deal has so far escaped attention,” Dr. Kyla Tienhaara and Peter Newell write for The Ecologist. “The agreement’s investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism allows corporations to sue states for changes in policy and claim hundreds of millions or even billions of pounds in taxpayer funds as “compensation”. This is particularly alarming because the UK is home to two of the biggest oil and gas firms in the world: BP and Shell. These companies are now empowered to sue Canada for taking climate action, removing subsidies, or taxing windfall profits. Equally, Canadian firms like Suncor that are active in the North Sea can sue the UK. Fossil fuel firms were instrumental in the development of the ISDS regime and they have brought hundreds of ISDS cases against governments around the world… “The Canadian firm TC Energy is seeking a whopping £12b in compensation for US President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline… “It's not hard to imagine a scenario in which a British firm like Shell brings a similar claim. The company is currently the largest shareholder in an extremely controversial LNG project in British Columbia. If phase-two of the project is approved, it will completely blow the province’s carbon budget… “The need to build new models of climate compatible development to tackle the climate crisis cannot be undermined by the very corporations responsible for that crisis.”
The Hill: Slow and steady wins the climate race
Brigham McCown is a Senior Fellow and director of the Initiative on American Energy Security at Hudson Institute, 4/11/23
“When it comes to low-carbon energy, slow and steady will win the race. For climate activists, pushing too quickly today comes with unintended consequences tomorrow, like higher prices. Unfortunately, it also means the administration embraces fossil fuel producers with spotty human rights and environmental records like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela,” Brigham McCown writes for The Hill. “...Those that are blind to this should at least recognize the consequences of an abrupt energy shift: Biden extending one hand to green energy in the U.S. while the other grasps oil from dictators and despots abroad. After all, he needs to keep the lights on somehow… “Despite all the advances, renewables remain constrained by their intermittent ability to provide constant energy and the very real problem of scalability. Even if production could overcome these hurdles, the U.S. power grid is incapable of handling an all-electric society. These inconvenient truths require environmentalists to acknowledge that hydrocarbons will be required for much of this century. Such an admission would be, to them, a betrayal of their own convictions. Yet moving forward like lemmings could cause catastrophic consequences for American energy security and economic prosperity. The solution is to keep pressing for innovation while acknowledging that domestic energy production is an American strength. Doing so will help ensure a seamless transition toward lower carbon fuels here at home while simultaneously supporting our allies… “Having gutted any investment in the oil and gas space, the Biden administration has been forced to tackle high energy prices by raiding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That reserve, meant for real emergencies, is drying up. With domestic production lagging, the Biden administration has little choice but to seek additional oil and gas supplies from wherever — and whomever — it can.”