EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/13/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Bismarck Tribune: New group voices concerns over Summit's CO2 pipeline, launches petition
KXNET: Opponents continue effort to stop CO2 pipeline project
E&E News: Midwest CO2 pipelines push ahead as bills fizzle
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Wolf proceeds with voluntary pipeline approach despite neighbors’ growing blockade
Journal Star: 'Unacceptable risk' or safe solution? CO2 pipeline proposal faces fierce debate in Peoria
Press release: Kinder Morgan Announces Binding Open Season for Additional Capacity on the SFPP System
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Wall Street Journal: High Energy Costs Threaten Climate Goals, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Warns
STATE UPDATES
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Judge denies request to pause law expanding fracking in state parks
Herald Journal: BP proposes carbon capture and storage in northern Indiana
Colorado Sun: Colorado planned to lease state land to Utah power company for a natural gas plant. Then protests surfaced.
The Hill: Use of ‘forever chemicals’ is widespread in New Mexico drilling operations, report finds
Los Angeles Times: Officials release map of hazardous fallout from refinery mishap
Hydrogen Central: Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub Submits Multi-State Application for the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Hub
Washington Post: Trucks are still carrying tainted waste out of East Palestine. One spilled this week.
FOX17: Investigation into oil spill on lake in Georgetown Township continues
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Canada’s Newest Oil Sands Project Seeks Government Aid for Carbon Capture
Newswise: Researchers devise new system for turning seawater into hydrogen fuel
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: RBC Becomes World’s Biggest Fossil-Fuel Bank, Topping JPMorgan
Barron’s: Banks Keep Pouring Cash Into Fossil Fuels. U.S. Lenders Lead the Way.
National Observer: Canada’s banks have sunk $1 trillion into fossil fuels since 2016 — and risk becoming ‘overexposed’ in the energy transition
Press release: Chubb Becomes the first American Insurance Company with Explicit Policy to Not Underwrite Oil and Gas Development in the Arctic Refuge
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Washington Post: The FTC is expected to crack down on 'greenwashing'
OPINION
Rossland Telegraph: Who pays the hidden, exorbitant costs of fossil fuels
PIPELINE NEWS
Bismarck Tribune: New group voices concerns over Summit's CO2 pipeline, launches petition
DAVID VELÁZQUEZ, 4/12/23
“Two former Bismarck mayors, the head of an environmental group, and a retired energy engineer on Wednesday voiced concerns with a planned carbon dioxide pipeline they say will be routed too close to the capital city, and outlined plans to pressure elected officials,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “The group calling itself the North Dakota Energy Council held a press conference at the state Capitol and announced a petition that calls on elected officials to take various actions related to Summit Carbon Solutions' Midwest Carbon Express pipeline… “Speaking at the conference were former Mayors John Warford and Steve Bakken; North Dakota Watchdog Network Director Dustin Gawrylow; technical adviser, retired energy engineer and Envision Natural Resources Group owner Curtis Jundt; and Dakota Resource Council Executive Director Scott Skokos. This is the latest local attempt to stop, delay or regulate the building of the CO2 pipeline by Summit Carbon Solutions. The Legislature considered several related bills, but none passed. The Burleigh County Commission recently passed two ordinances to regulate hazardous liquid pipelines within the county's borders and even considered passing a moratorium on such pipelines in the county. Other counties have taken or are considering similar measures. The group's mission is to help Burleigh County residents and landowners be heard by elected state and local officials over the issue. Some landowners in the northern part of the county where the pipeline will cross worry about their safety should the pipeline rupture. "Our elected officials need to hear from the public and understand that the placement of the pipeline near populated areas is not acceptable and it is just too dangerous," Warford told the Tribune… "With the threat of eminent domain landowners get scared that if they don’t sign the easement, they're going to get condemned and then they don't get to determine the price that they get -- some people are signing (easements) under duress," Skokos told the Tribune.. .”The online petition had more than 200 signatures as of Wednesday. The group has more than 400 physical signatures, Gawrylow told the Tribune.”
KXNET: Opponents continue effort to stop CO2 pipeline project
Joel Porter, 4/12/23
“A group in Bismarck says they’re not giving up the fight to stop a carbon dioxide pipeline project in the works,” KXNET reports. “Supporters with the North Dakota Energy Council invited neighbors and landowners to the state capitol on Wednesday to sign an online petition… “Opponents argue the pipe would be dug too close to Bismarck and pose a safety risk if there’s a leak. “There’ll be a huge eruption and a huge white cloud, that’s CO2 going from supercritical to solid, to sublimination as it warms into a gas, and when it becomes that gas, you will never see it, you will never smell it, you will never see it,” Energy Engineer, Curtis Jundt told KXNET. “I won’t get into the politics of the carbon ponzi scheme, but when you have an opportunity to lose that ability as a community to grow, because of outside forces, I’m not a fan of that,” Former Bismarck Mayor, Steve Bakken told KXNET.”
E&E News: Midwest CO2 pipelines push ahead as bills fizzle
Jeffrey Tomich, Carlos Anchondo, Mike Soraghan, 4/13/23
“Companies planning carbon capture projects in the Midwest are defeating legislative proposals to add regulations or block them, increasing the likelihood that a sprawling network of planned pipelines to transport the greenhouse gas will move ahead,” E&E News reports. “...The legislative debates in the Corn Belt are raising concerns about eminent domain and underground CO2 injection in the region. Of more than two dozen bills filed in six states this year affecting carbon capture and sequestration projects, none has passed so far. Those measures that did advance later fizzled. The Iowa House passed a bill related to eminent domain for CO2 pipelines, but the measure stalled last week when it didn’t clear a Senate committee in advance of a legislative deadline. And in the Dakotas, bills related to eminent domain and landowner protections passed one legislative chamber but died in the other… “But an unusual mix of opponents, including environmental groups and some conservative politicians and rural landowners, vow to keep pushing to adopt new, tougher regulations for CO2 pipelines and delay or block projects entirely even as state and federal regulators weigh permit applications… “[Iowa] Sen. Mike Bousselot (R) told E&E in a statement that he chose not to move the bill because there wasn’t a committee hearing scheduled that week. “Senators have a wide variety of opinions on this issue and a consensus has not been found,” he told E&E… “We’re not giving up. There are still ways to get [a bill] through,” Jess Mazour, a program coordinator at the Sierra Club’s Iowa chapter, told E&E. “They want us to think it’s over, but we don’t accept that. Our opposition keeps growing every time we come back.” While it’s unclear whether pipeline legislation can or will be revived in states like Iowa, legislative debate over carbon capture projects is still active in Illinois, which would host carbon sequestration sites for the Navigator CO2 and Wolf Carbon pipeline projects… “Among the proposed bills is one from Rep. Ann Williams, the Democratic chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee, that’s supported by environmental groups and opposed by labor, business groups as well as Navigator. H.B. 3119 would create the “Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage Protections Act.” Among its numerous provisions, the bill would make sequestration operators “solely liable” for any damage caused by CO2 transported to a sequestration facility, regardless of who holds title to the CO2, pore space or surface estate. The bill also includes provisions related to setbacks from carbon dioxide pipelines and permitting required for carbon capture. The other measure, H.B. 2202, from state Rep. Jay Hoffman, the Democratic assistant majority leader, is backed by Navigator, labor unions, oil companies, the Chicago Chamber and the coal industry.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Wolf proceeds with voluntary pipeline approach despite neighbors’ growing blockade
Jared Strong, 4/9/23
“There is plenty of time to negotiate with landowners and enough wiggle room in Wolf Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline route to avoid using eminent domain for the project, said Nick Noppinger, the company’s senior vice president of corporate development,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Wolf is an anomaly among the three companies that want to build the pipelines in Iowa to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants for underground sequestration and other commercial purposes. The other companies — Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures — have indicated in their filings with state regulators that they will seek eminent domain to gain land easements. Wolf says it will gain those easements voluntarily, and its pipeline is much shorter than the other proposals. Its application for a hazardous liquid pipeline permit in Iowa does not contain a request for eminent domain, although the company could amend its request to include it. “The intention as of now — and based on our discussions with landowners — is that we will not be using eminent domain,” Noppinger told Iowa Capital Dispatch in a recent interview… “There is, however, a significant number of landowners who have publicly said they will not sign voluntary easements for the pipeline. An early March filing with the Iowa Utilities Board — submitted by affected landowner Jessica Wiskus — listed about 200 of those landowners in opposition. In a new filing by Wiskus this week, that number has grown to more than 250. “Everyone on the list has already decided where they stand in terms of this issue,” Wiskus told the Dispatch, “and we’re looking for a way just to be able to say, ‘No means no … don’t come back. We’re not interested.’” Steve Pisarik’s farmland near Ely is at the center of Wolf’s pipeline corridor in Linn County. That corridor of potential construction is two miles wide, Noppinger told the Dispatch, to allow the company to avoid landowners who oppose the project. But Pisarik told the Dispatch he and his neighbors — many of who have farmland that’s been owned by their families for several generations — are in solidarity against the project. A tentative map compiled by Wiskus of that area shows a corridor of opposition that is nearly three miles wide in places — larger than Wolf’s current corridor… “Pisarik told the Dispatch he has stopped answering his home telephone to avoid any contact with Wolf representatives. Wiskus told the Dispatch she, too, is avoiding the company and that the pipeline proposal led to calls and emails among concerned neighbors that spawned meetings and, ultimately, the list of opposition. She doesn’t think it’s possible for the pipeline to come through the area without eminent domain.”
Journal Star: 'Unacceptable risk' or safe solution? CO2 pipeline proposal faces fierce debate in Peoria
Leslie Renken, 4/13/23
“There are many unanswered questions about a CO2 pipeline proposed to skirt the western side of Peoria, including whether or not the pipeline would actually come into the city,” the Journal Star reports. “A presentation about the proposed Wolf Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline at Tuesday’s City Council meeting prompted strong emotion from audience members and some council members. “This is an unacceptable risk so close to our downtown, our southern valley and our northern valley, highly populated areas," Councilman Chuck Grayeb said. “My position is unalterable — no, in terms of it being anywhere near populated areas.” “...While it's only in the planning stages, the pipeline has the full support of both Illinois and the federal government, which have made carbon reduction a key element in the effort to combat climate change… “At this point, the only way the pipeline would come into Peoria is if a spur was run to BioUrja, the ethanol plant formerly owned by ADM… “But there are also infrastructure costs that could negate some of those incentives. Officials at BioUrja are currently undecided about their participation, Mayor Rita Ali, who recently met with executives from the company, told the Star… “The city might, instead, have better luck demanding enhanced safety measures for a pipeline running through the city, said Hayes. "We have some very persuasive elements to impact the decision-making because of local population that would be in the immediate proximity. How much of an impact that would be, I don’t know. But our real factors are the people here who may be affected by the pipeline," he told the Star. “I think the more likely outcome would be additional safety measures, since there are some inherent risks of CO2 production. I think pipeline safety measures are important for us to consider if this is to be an inevitable use of our city’s infrastructure.”
Press release: Kinder Morgan Announces Binding Open Season for Additional Capacity on the SFPP System
4/12/23
“Kinder Morgan, Inc. today announced the launch of a binding open season to solicit commitments to support a proposed expansion of a portion of its SFPP, L.P. (SFPP) pipeline system from El Paso, Texas to Tucson, Arizona… “The expansion is estimated to provide approximately 10,000-12,000 barrels per day (bpd) on a gasoline equivalent basis of incremental capacity available for the transportation of gasoline, jet and diesel products from El Paso, Texas to Tucson, Arizona. However, the total amount of the expansion capacity available is scalable and will be dependent on the overall level of interest SFPP receives during the open season. The open season process provides potential shippers the opportunity to obtain firm capacity on the expansion by making ship-or-pay volume commitments to SFPP during the binding open season time frame.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Wall Street Journal: High Energy Costs Threaten Climate Goals, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Warns
David Uberti, 4/12/23
“High fossil-fuel prices could threaten the green-energy transition, sparking backlash to long-term climate goals, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned on Wednesday,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Regulators in recent months have begun fleshing out policies intended to transform entire industries by boosting electric vehicles, hydrogen production and more. At the same time, U.S. officials have called on oil-and-gas producers to increase their drilling activity in a bid to slow inflation through lower prices at the pump and smaller utility bills. The balancing act lies near the heart of President Biden’s attempt to reshape the U.S. economy through a climate-and-spending bill that aims to make cleaner energy more abundant for businesses and cheaper for consumers. “It’s really nonbinary,” Ms. Granholm told the Journal. “You really have to do both to ensure that there’s not a backlash on the clean side.” “...Speaking at Columbia University in New York, Ms. Granholm described such moves as temporary setbacks within an energy transition that the Biden administration hopes to accelerate through a mix of subsidies for green-energy producers and regulations for major polluters… “While “oil and gas is going to be around for a while,” Ms. Granholm said, weaning the U.S. economy off such fuels will depend in part on lowering the cost of wind, solar and battery storage technologies. “People still have to be persuaded that the cost of clean is cheaper,” she said. “They have to see that in real terms.”
STATE UPDATES
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Judge denies request to pause law expanding fracking in state parks
Jake Zuckerman, 4/11/23
“A Franklin County judge on Monday denied a request to temporarily block a new law that enables and, at least temporarily, compels state agencies to accept applications to drill for oil and gas under state parks,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. “Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft denied a request for a temporary restraining order sought by environmental advocates, who say lawmakers skipped over constitutional requirements in their rush to amend the bill into unrelated legislation in the dying moments of the previous, two-year legislative session. In her ruling, Cocroft cited several factors she said indicate there’s no risk of imminent and irreparable harm if she allows the law to stand as the case proceeds. She noted public comments from Gov. Mike DeWine and other state officials that no leases would be signed in the immediate future, and that the plaintiffs only just filed suit even though DeWine signed the law in January… “Cocroft’s ruling does not terminate the case but marks an early win for the state… “Chris Tavenor, associate general counsel for the Ohio Environmental Council, one of the plaintiffs, called the decision “unfavorable” but told the Dealer he’ll keep fighting to ensure Ohioans have a voice as to what happens with their public lands. “Not only do Ohioans deserve healthy state parks free from pollution, they also deserve fair representation and due process in decision-making.”
Herald Journal: BP proposes carbon capture and storage in northern Indiana
Cheri Shelhart, 4/11/23
“In a series of open houses throughout the area, BP is bringing information and proposals to county governments and landowners for carbon capture and storage (CCS) through a process that takes carbon emissions, processes them into liquid form and pipes it thousands of feet underground to be stored “forever,” the Herald Journal reports. “BP, which has an oil refinery in Whiting, is seeking permission from county board of commissioners to do seismic testing for the CCS. The London-based company proposes using the geology in White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Pulaski and Lake counties to store the carbon dioxide from its facilities in Whiting, as well as processing emissions from other manufacturers at depths of at least 3,000 ft in what is called Mt. Simon sandstone, which exists underneath Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. The company says this depth is well below water tables and would not affect wells… “After the seismic studies, they would construct an “appraisal well” to take bore samples examine the samples of rock. They propose building pipelines to areas determined to be appropriate for sending the carbon underground. Much of the land they would use to bore into the earth would be farm ground and the company will talk to landowners about building deep wells to permanently store the toxic gas… “The plan is not without controversy. The Citizens Action Coalition, based in Indianapolis, is not a proponent of storing the CO2 underground. They are concerned about possible contamination of water, seismic activity, public health and property values and rights.”
Colorado Sun: Colorado planned to lease state land to Utah power company for a natural gas plant. Then protests surfaced.
Michael Booth, 4/12/23
“Colorado officials abruptly withdrew a proposal to lease state public land near Rangely for a Utah power company’s 50 megawatt gas-fired electric plant after environmental groups’ and media questions about why the Polis administration would support new energy generated by fossil fuels,” the Colorado Sun reports. “The 30-year land lease at $10,000 a year to Utah’s Deseret Power co-op was recommended by staff at the Colorado State Land Board, which is appointed by Polis and organized under the Department of Natural Resources… “The land board pulled a vote for approving the staff recommendation of the Rangely lease from the agenda for its monthly board meeting Wednesday and Thursday, to give the agency time to “thoughtfully consider the handful of public comments we recently received,” land board spokeswoman Kristin Kemp told the Sun… “Some of the protesting comments came from Western environmental groups that were outraged Colorado officials would consider leasing public land to a gas-fired plant that would contribute to greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change as well as Front Range ozone problems. “I’m just wondering, has anyone told the state land board that gas plants are not in fact a form of renewable energy?” Anna McDevitt, southwest deputy director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, told the Sun. “Why is a Utah-based utility trying to build a gas plant in another state? It feels like another place where Utah’s fossil fuel problem is going to make it harder to clean up Colorado’s air and meet the current climate goals.”
The Hill: Use of ‘forever chemicals’ is widespread in New Mexico drilling operations, report finds
SHARON UDASIN, 4/12/23
“Oil and gas companies drilling in New Mexico have been using toxic “forever chemicals” in their extraction processes for the past decade, a new report has found,” The Hill reports. “Between 2013 and 2022, drilling operations have injected at least 261 New Mexico wells with 9,000 pounds of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for use in fracking, according to the report, released on Wednesday by Physicians for Social Responsibility. During the same period, oil and gas companies injected more than 8,200 wells with a total of 243 million pounds of fracking chemicals — likely including PFAS — kept undisclosed due to “trade secret shields,” per the report. “These ‘forever’ chemicals are far too dangerous to be set loose in the environment like this,” report coauthor Barbara Gottlieb told The Hill. “Once this toxic genie is out of the bottle, there is no putting it back.” “...Over the past decade, the report determined that about 9,000 pounds of PFAS were injected into at least 261 oil and gas wells in New Mexico. Among these sites are 227 wells that contained a total of 2,605 pounds of PTFE, the nonstick compound known as Teflon, the authors found. Another 34 wells had 6,400 pounds of a type of PFAS called fluoroalkyl alcohol substituted polyethylene glycol… “Advocates from Physicians for Social Responsibility told The Hill they delivered the report to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Wednesday, asking that the state revoke the industry’s exemption from hazardous waste laws. They also demanded an update to chemical disclosure rules.”
Los Angeles Times: Officials release map of hazardous fallout from refinery mishap
TONY BRISCOE, 4/11/23
“When a Bay Area oil refinery released up to 24 tons of metal-laden ash over the Thanksgiving holiday, the pollution showered onto a nearby junior high school and may have traveled up to a dozen miles into neighboring communities that weren’t notified until months later, according to a new air district analysis,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “Four months after the hazardous materials erupted from Martinez Refining Co.’s smokestacks, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District recently presented a map at a Martinez City Council meeting illustrating the extent of the fallout. The map is the first attempt by officials to identify how many homes, schools and other properties might need to have their soil tested by a consultant recently selected by the county’s oversight committee. Its publication comes amid mounting outrage from Martinez residents who have called for equipment upgrades and greater oversight at the refinery. “I know it was a mistake to move to a town that has a refinery,” resident Elka Holmes said during a public meeting on the matter. A mother of two, Holmes moved into a home just blocks from the refinery two years ago. “I breathed this in, my baby girl is breathing this in, my little boy is breathing this. All I have to say is just how much anxiety it’s given me, how much fear and how much of a feeling that I just need to flee this town,” she said… “Preliminary sampling revealed the spent catalyst contained aluminum, barium, chromium, nickel, vanadium and zinc. Contra Costa County Health Services has said the most significant health risks were short-term respiratory problems from breathing in the metals in the hours after the release. Exposure to high concentrations of these metals over a long period of time could cause more serious health problems, the agency said.”
Hydrogen Central: Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub Submits Multi-State Application for the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Hub
4/13/23
“The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) team has submitted its application to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) for the regional clean hydrogen hub Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) as designated in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” Hydrogen Central reports. “ARCH2 was formed through a partnership with the State of West Virginia, EQT Corporation, the nation’s largest natural gas producer; Battelle and GTI Energy; with expertise executing clean energy programs for the federal government; and Allegheny Science & Technology (AST), a leading West Virginia energy technology consulting firm. ARCH2 has grown to over 160 strategic partners and stakeholders, including private sector industry leaders, utilities, universities, non-profits, and transportation and state entities from Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, interested in building a hydrogen economy in northern Appalachia… “The region is the ideal location for a clean hydrogen hub, due to its unique access to ample low-cost natural gas feedstock, vast industrial end-user demand, workforce and technology capability, and carbon sequestration potential… “ARCH2 was encouraged to submit a full application for the second round in December of 2022. Final award decisions by DOE OCED are expected to be announced in the Fall of 2023.”
Washington Post: Trucks are still carrying tainted waste out of East Palestine. One spilled this week.
Maxine Joselow, 4/13/23
“A tractor-trailer carrying contaminated soil out of East Palestine, Ohio, overturned Monday and spilled about 20,000 pounds of dirt, the Environmental Protection Agency said, heightening local residents’ concerns about the area’s long-term safety,” the Washington Post reports. “The incident comes as workers are still removing soil and water tainted by the toxic chemicals that were released from burning train cars during the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine. The EPA did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday, but local officials told the Post the spill has been contained and did not pose a threat to waterways. Community advocates and environmentalists told the Post the spill raises fresh questions about how hazardous materials are transported across the country.”
FOX17: Investigation into oil spill on lake in Georgetown Township continues
Lauren Edwards, 4/12/23
“As the investigation continues into the oil spill on the lake near the Bend Area Open Space, residents who frequent the area wondered what happened,” FOX17 reports. “It’s not good, you know. We’re out here catching fish,” Kevin Anderson who fishes, kayaks and canoes in the lake, told FOX. “A lot of people are out here catching fish and taking them home and eating them. You know, so, not good.” On Tuesday, FOX 17’s drone, the SkyView-17, flew over the lake and captured images of the oil which looked like it was coming from the lake and flowing east because of the wind. Wednesday, the SkyView-17 recorded video of the oil again, which appeared to still be coming up from the lake but this time is was moving onto the western shore… “We’ve run additional UAV flights since and we don’t think we have anymore an active leak. But we do in fact have some oil that’s made its way to that shore,” Hunt told FOX. “The water line in that area has been going down as the Grand [River] has been as well, and it’s depositing some of the oil up on the shore. So, we’re going to have cleanup crews come in.” “...Hunt told FOX the cleanup will last at least a week. So, officials are asking people to stay away from the area.”
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Canada’s Newest Oil Sands Project Seeks Government Aid for Carbon Capture
Robert Tuttle, 4/12/23
“International Petroleum Corp. is leaning on Canada’s government to fund emission-reduction technology for the first oil sands project sanctioned in the country in a decade,” Bloomberg reports. “IPC announced in February it would proceed to build phase one of its $850 million Blackrod oil sands project. Scheduled to start producing oil in 2026 and ramp up to 30,000 barrels a day by 2028, the project is facing a rising Canadian carbon tax and possible cap on oil sands emissions. The project has room to include carbon capture and the company would like to see more government support for the technology, Mike Nicholson, CEO, told Bloomberg. “The big game-changer is carbon capture. That’s something that we would expect to implement in future phases,” he told Bloomberg. The project is unusual in that it was announced at a time when international oil companies such as Shell Plc. and BP Plc. have sold stakes in oil sands projects to local companies amid concern about climate change and long-term oil demand… “The federal government has proposed a 50% tax credit on carbon capture capital investment in the oil sands but royalty relief and additional tax support would help make “these projects economic,” Nicholson told Bloomberg… “The start of new pipelines out of Alberta, long a problem for the landlocked province, has also helped support the decision to move ahead with the project. The Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline to the Pacific is scheduled to go into full operation early next year and comes after Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 pipeline expansion started operating in late 2021.”
Newswise: Researchers devise new system for turning seawater into hydrogen fuel
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 4/11/23
“Seawater’s mix of hydrogen, oxygen, sodium, and other elements makes it vital to life on Earth. But that same complex chemistry has made it difficult to extract hydrogen gas for clean energy uses,” Newswise reports. “Now, researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University with collaborators at the University of Oregon and Manchester Metropolitan University have found a way to tease hydrogen out of the ocean by funneling seawater through a double-membrane system and electricity. Their innovative design proved successful in generating hydrogen gas without producing large amounts of harmful byproducts. The results of their study, published today in Joule, could help advance efforts to produce low-carbon fuels… “To work with seawater, the team implemented a bipolar, or two-layer, membrane system and tested it using electrolysis, a method that uses electricity to drive ions, or charged elements, to run a desired reaction. They started their design by controlling the most harmful element to the seawater system – chloride, said Joseph Perryman, a SLAC and Stanford postdoctoral researcher.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: RBC Becomes World’s Biggest Fossil-Fuel Bank, Topping JPMorgan
Kevin Orland, 4/12/23
“Royal Bank of Canada topped JPMorgan Chase & Co. last year to become the world’s largest backer of fossil-fuel companies, providing more fodder to critics who say the lender isn’t living up to its climate commitments,” Bloomberg reports. “Royal Bank provided $42.1 billion of funding to the industry, up 4.2% from a year earlier, surpassing the $39.2 billion provided by JPMorgan, according to the Rainforest Action Network’s 14th-annual “Banking on Climate Chaos” report. The figures include lending as well as debt and equity underwriting. While Canada’s largest lender by assets has committed to zeroing out the emissions associated with its financing activities, environmentalists have increasingly targeted its involvement with fossil-fuel companies. The Toronto-based lender has especially come under fire for working with Canada’s oil-sands firms, which produce one of the world’s most carbon-intensive grades of crude. “RBC is really a critical financier for tar sands, which is problematic both from an environmental and a human rights perspective,” April Merleaux, research manager for Rainforest Action Network, told Bloomberg. JPMorgan had led the rankings since 2019, but its financing to the industry fell 42% last year. Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. posted similarly large declines. Many US oil producers used last year’s record profits to pay down debt, while others turned to private markets for financing.”
Barron’s: Banks Keep Pouring Cash Into Fossil Fuels. U.S. Lenders Lead the Way.
Lauren Foster, 4/13/23
“The world’s biggest banks continued to channel billions of dollars into boosting fossil-fuel production capacity in 2022 despite growing calls to scale back lending in response to global warming, finds a new report,” according to Barron’s. “The annual Banking on Climate Chaos report, authored by a group of nonprofits, including Rainforest Action Network, said banks provided $673 billion in finance to the fossil-fuel industry last year. Canadian banks are providing a rising share of the money, though U.S. lenders are still the dominant player.The Royal Bank of Canada was the biggest source of money in 2022. Total funding in 2022 was down from a revised $801 billion in 2021 due to “unusual geopolitical and economic conditions, not shifts in bank policy,” the report said… “There’s nothing to make us think that banks are lending less because they have made a proactive decision to finance less. If banks had enacted rigorous climate policies in 2021, I would expect a much larger change in their financing numbers,” April Merleaux, research manager at the environmental nonprofit Rainforest Action Network and lead author of the report, told Barron’s… “This report makes it clear that banks’ ‘net zero’ commitments aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on—they’re simply cheap PR cover for pouring fuel on the climate crisis,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich) in a statement.”
National Observer: Canada’s banks have sunk $1 trillion into fossil fuels since 2016 — and risk becoming ‘overexposed’ in the energy transition
John Woodside, 4/13/23
“Despite pledging to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, Canada’s Big 5 banks have invested over $1 trillion in coal, oil and gas companies since 2016, upping the risk to the Canadian economy as the energy transition unfolds,” the National Observer reports. “In just seven years since the Paris Agreement was signed, RBC, Scotiabank, TD, BMO and CIBC have provided approximately $1.1 trillion to fossil fuel companies, according to data sourced from financial databases and published Thursday by a group of civil society organizations. The world’s 60 largest banks provided $7.4 trillion over that same period, meaning Canada’s largest banks are responsible for approximately 15 per cent of global investment in fossil fuels — whose greenhouse gas emissions are the primary driver of climate change — since 2016… “Last year, the Big 5 invested roughly $185 billion in fossil fuel companies. RBC led the pack with $56.6 billion worth of deals, followed by Scotiabank ($39.5 billion), TD ($39 billion), BMO ($26 billion) and CIBC ($24 billion)... “That means that if we try to continue with business as usual and hope for the best, we could very well end up with the oil sector looking like the cod fisheries,” Greenpeace Canada senior energy strategist Keith Stewart told the Observer, referring to the collapse of Newfoundland and Labrador’s cod industry in 1992. “Canada has a lot of experience with resource booms and busts, and we need to learn from those experiences and plan for a transition that is, to use a forbidden phrase, just and fair.” “...As previously reported by Canada’s National Observer, the risk for banks is that as the energy transition to renewables unfolds globally, demand for fossil fuels will collapse, leaving their investments worth less, if not worthless. A study last year found Canadians stand to lose more than $100 billion in the energy transition as these fossil fuel assets become stranded.”
Press release: Chubb Becomes the first American Insurance Company with Explicit Policy to Not Underwrite Oil and Gas Development in the Arctic Refuge
4/10/23
“The Gwich’in Steering Committee applauds Chubb’s policy announcement that helps protect Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit (The Sacred Place where Life Begins). With the release of Chubb’s 2023 proxy statement, in advance of their Annual General Meeting on May 17, the company states they have adopted a policy “prohibiting underwriting oil and gas extraction projects in certain government protected conservation areas, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).” The Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge is the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd and sacred to the Gwich’in. Chubb joins 17 international insurers and every major U.S. bank as the first American insurance company with a policy that precludes underwriting new oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge. While American insurer AIG previously announced a policy to not underwrite oil and gas projects in the Arctic, it was unclear whether this encompassed the Arctic Refuge. AIG has not responded to outreach from the Gwich’in Steering Committee and allies. “After the Arctic Refuge was opened for oil and gas development, we have met with and encouraged financial institutions and insurance companies to respect the people who live and thrive off this land, which we consider very sacred. Since our first meeting, all corporate lease holders have exited the Refuge and every major U.S. and Canadian bank refuses to underwrite such projects. Chubb’s policy is a first for the American insurance industry and shows leadership to protect sacred lands,” said Bernadette Demientieff, Executive Director, Gwich’in Steering Committee… “The policy stems from Chubb’s new climate and conservation-focused underwriting standards for oil and gas extraction. In addition, one Chubb shareholder, Domini Impact Investments, has asked Chubb to comprehensively screen for the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the company’s human rights due diligence (see pg 56 of the proxy statement).”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Washington Post: The FTC is expected to crack down on 'greenwashing'
Maxine Joselow, 4/13/23
“The Federal Trade Commission is soliciting public comments on its “Green Guides," which seek to prevent companies from making deceptive environmental claims, as it updates them for the first time in a decade,” the Washington Post reports. “And environmental groups are flooding the commission with requests for these guides to crack down on several types of “greenwashing,” the practice of making a company or product seem more sustainable than it really is. If the commission makes some of those changes, corporations could be barred from making misleading claims about everything from carbon offsets to composting — or risk fighting legal battles and paying steep fines… “In 2021, for instance, three environmental groups filed a complaint with the FTC against Chevron, accusing the oil giant of running ads that overstated the company’s investment in renewable energy and commitment to cutting emissions. The complaint from Earthworks, Global Witness and Greenpeace USA noted that the ads touted Chevron’s investments in “ever-cleaner” and “clean” energy, but they neglected to mention that the company spent less than 0.2 percent of its capital expenditures on renewables. The FTC did not end up taking action against Chevron in response to the complaint. But the commission would be empowered to act in the future if the Green Guides mandated that oil companies include certain context in their climate ads, such as details on their continued investments in fossil fuels, Josh Eisenfeld, corporate accountability communications manager at Earthworks, told the Post… “Climate activists have also called on the FTC to prevent natural gas utilities from claiming, without proof, that gas is environmentally friendly… “The public deserves honesty about growing levels of pollution from the ‘natural’ gas system,” Caleb Heeringa, campaign director at Gas Leaks, told the Post. Other advocates have set their sights on hydrogen. The Inflation Reduction Act offers tens of billions of dollars worth of subsidies for “green hydrogen,” even though some companies are using fossil fuels to produce the hydrogen, releasing an enormous amount of greenhouse gases in the process. “There’s a lot more research that’s needed on the possible impacts for consumers before hydrogen is promoted as a green alternative,” Jenifer Bosco, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, told the Post.”
OPINION
Rossland Telegraph: Who pays the hidden, exorbitant costs of fossil fuels
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, 4/12/23
“Support for oil and gas projects is often justified on economic grounds: they fuel the economy and create jobs. But do those arguments hold up?” David Suzuki writes for the Rossland Telegraph. “Even leaving aside the enormous costs of climate-related disasters such as flooding, drought and increasing water scarcity, and pollution-related health impacts and premature deaths, fossil fuel operations cost society more than they bring in. Owners and shareholders are raking in massive amounts of money — but at what cost to the rest of us? Consider the Trans Mountain pipeline twinning project, which the Canadian government bought from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion in 2018, promising to build it for a total of $7.4 billion. As Andrew Nikiforuk points out in the Tyee, “That figure … soon ballooned to $12.6 billion in 2020. Last year it climbed to $21.4 billion. It now stands at $30.9 billion and counting.” Most pipeline employment is during construction only. That’s a lot of money to pay for a limited number of short-term jobs… “Now, Alberta’s government wants taxpayers to dip into their wallets for cleanup. The government has proposed a three-year pilot program that would “offer $100 million in royalty credits to companies that clean up inactive, suspended or partially abandoned wells at least 20 years old and drilled prior to 1980,” the Narwhal reports. On top of the Alberta plan, the federal government gave the province $1 billion in cleanup grants in 2020, according to the Narwhal, much of it going to oil giants Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Cenovus. “Estimates for the total cost of cleaning up Alberta’s oil and gas liabilities range from $58 billion to as high as $260 billion.” Those are just two of many examples of tax dollars being used to subsidize the most profitable industry in history. As it rakes in record profits, in part by capitalizing on global conflicts like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it continues to wreak environmental damage, from oilsands-related earthquakes to toxic tailings pond leaks to air and water pollution and life-threatening greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, those who run the companies cover up the damage, downplay or deny the climate risks and offer “greenwashing” in place of real efforts to reduce their dangerous impacts… “Moving away from fossil fuels will squeeze industry executives with annual multi-million-dollar compensation packages, and shareholders reaping the benefits of generous buybacks and dividends, but it will be good for everyone else.”