EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/15/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Politico: FERC REJECTS PIPELINE CHALLENGES
Indian Country Today: Water Protector pleads ‘no contest’ to charges related to #NoKXL Camp
Channel3000: Memorial HS students stage walkout over opposition to Enbridge Line 5 in northern Wisconsin
AgWeek: Farm Bureau sets carbon capture pipeline meetings in North Dakota
Greene County News: Supervisors split two votes, get more info on pioneer cemetery
Oskaloosa Herald: Public meeting to discuss proposed CO2 pipeline set for April 22
KFOR: 2 taken to hospital after pipeline explosion near Lake Stanley Draper
Belleville News Democrat: Previous inspections showed movement, erosion at site of Marathon oil spill, report says
BG Independent: Gas pipeline leak being cleaned up in northern Wood County
KFDM: Cardinal Drive reopens after pipeline leak
Rigzone: API Launches Pipeline Facility Construction Inspection Certification
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Reuters: Analysis: Biden plan to aid Europe with LNG poses risk to US climate goals
E&E News: Louisiana plans Supreme Court plea over social cost of carbon
E&E News: Gina McCarthy on the clock to propel Biden’s climate agenda
STATE UPDATES
Fort Collins Coloradoan: McWhinney plans to frack as close as 500 feet from homes in Loveland's Kinston development
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Record Permian Well Permits Point to Growing U.S. Oil Supply
Politico: NO NEED FOR MORE LNG
Press release: US, European Green Groups Urge Leaders to Reject Fossil Fuel Expansion Schemes
Globe and Mail: Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by nine per cent during first year of pandemic
Canadian Press: Biggest emitters paying smallest price on pollution, critics say
Nature: Realization of Paris Agreement pledges may limit warming just below 2 °C
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: ACTIVISTS TARGETING BANKS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
E&E News: Export-Import Bank plan may affect U.S. LNG, renewables
OPINION
Badger Herald: Letter to the Editor: Wisconsin must stop Line 5 relocation, prevent Enbridge from polluting our land, waterways
Calgary Herald: Nelson: If Canada embraces its natural riches, we can replace Russia as a resource mega-power
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Alberta's turn to ante up in carbon capture 'poker game' with Ottawa
PIPELINE NEWS
Politico: FERC REJECTS PIPELINE CHALLENGES
Matthew Choi, 4/14/22
“FERC unanimously shut down the challenges filed by the gas industry and some states against its proposed pipeline policies on Tuesday,” Politico reports. “Because the commission revised the policies so that neither applies to currently pending projects — and both are now in draft form and subject to further review — opponents of the original rules will not be able to issue any further challenges until the rules are finalized. Commissioner James Danly, who has been a vocal opponent of the majority’s efforts to revise its guidance on how gas infrastructure is permitted, reiterated his belief that turning the orders into drafts is a step in the right direction, but does not remove the “fog of indecision” that he and other opponents say now lingers over natural gas development.”
Indian Country Today: Water Protector pleads ‘no contest’ to charges related to #NoKXL Camp
4/14/22
“Oscar High Elk pleaded no contest to three charges including Simple Assault, Eluding Law Enforcement and Trespassing. Ten (10) other charges were dismissed, including Aggravated Assault (Class 4 Felony). The state dismissed ten counts. Oscar High Elk was facing 13 counts against him with a 22-year prison sentence. Oscar will face one-year probation,” Indian Country Today reports. “...On December 23, 2020 during the annual 7th Generation Wounded Knee Memorial Ride, Sheriff Cudmore showed up at the Rootz Camp in violation of Chairman Frazier’s order. He was asked to leave multiple times by Oscar High Elk and other tribal members until he finally left the area. Oscar High Elk had a conversation with a local rancher Deborah Delbridge about her allowing TransCanada/KXL to set up a private security trailer on her property. After the conversation, Deborah Delbridge contacted Law Enforcement and stated she was trapped by Oscar’s parked vehicle, but later testified in court on March 21, 2021, that it was “inconvenient” for her to drive her truck around Oscar's parked vehicle. At this time Sheriff Cudmore began to pursue Oscar… "They say they are doing their job, they are not upholding the constitution. It's saddening. I will continue to fight in a good way for Unci Maka for all the oyate. I will be here until we get justice." High Elk told ICT. “I thought I could have faith in the system, but apparently, you can't fix a broken system." Oscar High Elk is happy to return home to his family and he continues to stand in solidarity with Indigenous and Environmental Justice.”
Channel3000: Memorial HS students stage walkout over opposition to Enbridge Line 5 in northern Wisconsin
4/14/22
“Students at Madison Memorial High School walked out of class on Thursday to show their opposition to Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline that currently runs across parts of Wisconsin,” Channel3000 reports. “...The students said they wanted to raise awareness about the pipeline’s history. Environmentalists and the students argued the pipeline has leaked 29 times, spilling more than one million gallons of oil into the environment. “We really want to do whatever we can to stop Line 5 from being rebuilt. Because we’re students, we have to join together and do anything we can,” one student said. The group urged concerned residents to contact the Wisconsin Department of Resources to make comments about the project. The DNR has extended public comment on the project’s draft environmental impact statement to Friday.”
AgWeek: Farm Bureau sets carbon capture pipeline meetings in North Dakota
4/14/22
“The North Dakota Farm Bureau has scheduled three public hearings to provide information on a planned carbon capture pipeline,” AgWeek reports. “The Summit Carbon Solution pipeline project meetings will be open to the public. The possibility of eminent domain to obtain right-of-way has made the pipeline of high interest among landowners. In a news release, Farm Bureau said landowners are encouraged to attend and learn how they can protect their private property rights. “NDFB will continue to be an ally for private property rights,” NDFB President Daryl Lies said in a news release. “We want landowners to be aware of their rights, along with limiting their future liabilities regarding projects using easements on their property.”
Greene County News: Supervisors split two votes, get more info on pioneer cemetery
Janice Harbaugh, 4/13/2
“In a divided vote at the regular board meeting on April 11, the Greene County supervisors approved a letter drafted by county attorney Thomas Laehn to be sent to the Iowa Utilities Board objecting to the use of eminent domain to acquire land for Carbon Summit Solutions CO2 pipeline across 12 miles of the county,” Greene County News reports. “Attorney Laehn explained the extensive legal groundwork for the letter and the history of government using eminent domain. Laehn compared the pipeline to the government using eminent domain to allow the construction of the original railroads in the 1800s. “That was for public benefit and public use,” he said. Laehn said courts have broadened the interpretation of public benefit, most recently in 2019 by the Iowa Supreme Court. “Now, if the government believes (a private project) will result in more taxes paid to the government, the government can give eminent domain rights to a private company,” Laehn said. “In the past, the Dakota Access pipeline was thought of as a kind of railroad and easement situation,” Laehn said. “The pipeline is considered to be like a train. But even if eminent domain is used, there has to be fair compensation.” “...In summary, the letter to the IUB objects to the use of eminent domain given to Carbon Summit Solutions, a private company, in order to acquire land and it states the Greene County board of supervisors opposes the issuance of a permit to SCS for construction of a pipeline if eminent domain will be used.”
Oskaloosa Herald: Public meeting to discuss proposed CO2 pipeline set for April 22
4/13/22
“A public meeting about a proposed carbon pipeline project will be held Friday, April 22 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Book Vault,” the Oskaloosa Herald reports. “The pipeline, proposed by Texas-based Navigator CO2, would impact the Herald area. As proposed, the pipeline would cross 36 counties in Iowa, including Mahaska and Wapello. The meeting will discuss carbon capture and sequestration, eminent domain, CO2 pipeline safety and anticipated county costs. The public is invited to attend, and seating is limited. The event is organized by Climate Land Leaders, Science & Environmental Health Network, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter and Great Plains Action Society. Contact feetrodgers@gmail.com for questions.”
KFOR: 2 taken to hospital after pipeline explosion near Lake Stanley Draper
K. King, 4/14/22
“A pipeline explosion is under investigation after sending two to the hospital and sparking a nearby grass fire,” KFOR reports. “Oklahoma City Fire reports 5 people were working at the pipeline site NEAR se 149th and Douglas. Two were transported with what they say are minor injuries. Approximately 10 acres were burned and it is now under control.”
Belleville News Democrat: Previous inspections showed movement, erosion at site of Marathon oil spill, report says
BY MEREDITH HOWARD, 4/13/22
“In a preliminary summary released Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board reported previous in-line inspections performed for Marathon Pipe Line reportedly identified pipeline movement, erosion and the soil caving in the area near a March pipeline rupture,” the Belleville News Democrat reports. “The report stems from an ongoing investigation into an estimated 3,900 barrels of oil spilled in Edwardsville March 11 from Marathon’s Woodpat pipeline. There were no human fatalities, though 26 animals died… “Investigators found a “complete circumferential separation” at the spot of a weld where the oil was leaking. The ruptured weld and an adjacent girth weld were taken by the NTSB for evidence and laboratory testing, the report stated. The leaked crude oil affected about 7 miles of Cahokia Creek, and the farthest location where oil was recovered was about 2.5 miles from the Mississippi River. Marathon sent out its oil spill response contractors, who deployed contamination booms, vacuum trucks and staff at 10 locations. The report said cleanup and remediation efforts are still ongoing, one month after the incident. About 10,000 cubic yards of oily soil had been removed for disposal as of April 5, according to a Marathon press release. The boom is on the channel at Old Alton Edwardsville Road bridge, and it will remain there until the cleanup process is complete. The public is asked to continue avoiding the recovery zone.”
BG Independent: Gas pipeline leak being cleaned up in northern Wood County
JAN LARSON MCLAUGHLIN, 4/14/22
“The Wood County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) has been notified of an unintentional release of product from a gasoline underground pipeline on the evening of Tuesday, April 12,” BG Independent reports. “...This release was identified by an observed line imbalance in the pipeline control center. The cause for this release is unknown. When discovered, the line was shut down, and the pipeline valves were closed to stop the leak and isolate the impacted section. Operations personnel were immediately dispatched along with specialized remediation teams to assess the area and begin the cleanup process. Currently cleanup and remediation is ongoing. The appropriate governmental agencies have been notified and are assisting including the Ohio EPA, U.S. EPA, ODNR, USDA, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Wood County Health Department and Wood County Emergency Management Agency, local responders, and local government officials. This occurred in an agricultural area and no impact to water is known at this time. There have been no injuries and an investigation is being conducted into the cause of the incident.”
KFDM: Cardinal Drive reopens after pipeline leak
Scott Lawrence, 4/14/22
“UPDATE: Cardinal Drive has reopened following a pipeline leak,” KFDM reports. “A pipeline leak is prompting law enforcement officers to close Cardinal Drive South near MLK and other roads in that area. Beaumont Fire Department District Chief Scott Wheat tells KFDM/Fox 4 News the pipeline is leaking at its flange near the intersection of Sulphur Plant Road and Ohio Street, close to Cardinal Drive. First responders arrived on scene at about 7:30 a.m. District Chief Wheat says they've isolated the leak and they're letting it bleed out. It could take several hours to resolve the Hazmat situation.”
Rigzone: API Launches Pipeline Facility Construction Inspection Certification
4/15/22
“The American Petroleum Institute has launched a new certification for pipeline facility inspection that will meet the natural gas and oil industry’s growing demand for inspectors, improve safety and help reduce environmental releases,” Rigzone reports. “The Pipeline Facility Construction Inspection certification offered through API’s Individual Certification Programs (ICP) aims to help the industry develop competent and qualified inspectors for pipeline facility projects -- including pump stations, compressor stations and related facilities. With support from the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) and Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) foundations, API’s newest inspection program is based on Recommended Practice 1184, Pipeline Facility Construction Inspection, 1st edition… “Construction of pipeline facilities for oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) pumps is expected to expand in the coming years. This growth comes on top of the significant amount of pre-existing infrastructure that will require field-based construction work as part of executing maintenance programs. With the anticipated expansion of exports and pipeline infrastructure, there is an urgent need for qualified technicians in the field.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Reuters: Analysis: Biden plan to aid Europe with LNG poses risk to US climate goals
By Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici, 4/14/22
“U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to expand liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to Europe to cut the region’s dependence on Russian fuel risks undermining his administration's climate goals by encouraging more gas production and increasing emissions, according to climate experts,” Reuters reports. “The issue reflects the tricky balance the White House must strike between global energy security issues and longer-term aspirations to usher in a broad transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of global warming… “Exporting LNG yields more methane than consuming gas domestically because it requires a longer and more complex supply chain with more opportunities for leakage. It also leads to more carbon emissions from liquefaction, shipping, and regasification. "Once you start to travel the world in tankers, that's just a new operation. That's just more emissions period," Debbie Gordon, a senior principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s climate program, told Reuters. “It's distance and lots of different handoffs.”
E&E News: Louisiana plans Supreme Court plea over social cost of carbon
Pamela King, 4/14/22
“Louisiana’s Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry said today that he plans to ask the Supreme Court to stop the Biden administration from using a key metric in climate regulation,” E&E News reports. “In a short order earlier today, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from Louisiana and other states that had asked for a full-court rehearing of a ruling that allowed the administration to resume use of interim social cost of greenhouse gas estimates. “We are disappointed in the 5th Circuit’s decision and we will appeal to the Supreme Court,” Landry’s office wrote in an emailed statement… “Earlier this year, Judge James Cain Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana stopped the administration from using its interim social cost metric after finding that it led to increased regulatory costs for states… “After Cain, a Trump appointee, blocked the social cost metric, the Biden administration appealed the ruling to the 5th Circuit and asked for emergency relief from the lower court’s injunction. The 5th Circuit agreed, finding that Louisiana and other state challengers had raised “merely hypothetical” claims against the harm of using the metric and likely lacked standing to bring their case.”
E&E News: Gina McCarthy on the clock to propel Biden’s climate agenda
Scott Waldman, Jean Chemnick, Kelsey Brugger, 4/15/22
“Gina McCarthy is on a tight deadline to advance President Joe Biden’s climate legacy. McCarthy, who has served as Biden’s climate adviser for more than a year, plans to leave the White House in the coming months,” E&E News reports. “...McCarthy’s looming departure comes at a critical juncture for Biden and his climate aspirations. The next few months could prove vital to those efforts, especially on Capitol Hill, say White House allies and environmentalists… “Biden ran for president on a platform that promised to spend more than $2 trillion on a climate policy that sought to cut greenhouse gas emissions and build a future where people would charge their electric vehicles from renewable energy sources on an electric grid. McCarthy, as White House climate adviser, was tasked with making that plan a reality… “A top contender to replace McCarthy is her deputy, Ali Zaidi — though environmental groups that frequently speak with the White House say that’s far from a done deal. Zaidi worked on energy policy in the Obama White House Office of Management and Budget, at private law firms and, most recently, in former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. He’s garnered pushback among some environmentalists for his past connections to oil and gas and Republican politics… “Jamal Raad, co-founder and executive director for Evergreen Action, told E&E McCarthy should spend the remainder of whatever time she has left focusing on getting Congress to pass a bill that delivers clean energy tax credits along with other climate priorities that were in the now-defunct “Build Back Better Act.” Beyond that, her best option is to rely on governmental regulatory powers.. “The biggest thing beside the investment package is the aggressive use of the Clean Air Act and the executive authorities that EPA has,” he told E&E.
STATE UPDATES
Fort Collins Coloradoan: McWhinney plans to frack as close as 500 feet from homes in Loveland's Kinston development
Jacy Marmaduke, 4/13/22
“Loveland’s lack of local oil and gas regulation is creating a pathway for a developer to frack as close as 500 feet from planned home sites, within the radius that research suggests is most harmful for human health,” the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports. “McWhinney, the developer of Centerra, announced plans in January to drill 26 wells across two well pads in east Loveland's Centerra area. The south pad would be located just south of U.S. Highway 34 and Interstate 25, near the Big Thompson River, about 3,000 feet from Loveland’s Youth Sports Park and likely less than 500 feet from a wetland, according to city planners… “A coalition of Centerra-area residents disagrees. With the help of environmental advocacy group Colorado Rising, the residents are protesting McWhinney’s plans and looking for ways to circumvent a city review process that leaves few options for stopping the project. The majority of Loveland City Council so far has rejected efforts to pause review of oil gas applications while the city reexamines its regulations. Council “can take action to help protect people from the negative impacts that we know happen when you add more fracking sites, and they’re not doing that,” Waterfront North resident Brad Stanley told the Coloradoan. “I don't know why it is that they don't feel the need to help people they represent.”
EXTRACTION
Bloomberg: Record Permian Well Permits Point to Growing U.S. Oil Supply
Gerson Freitas Jr, 4/13/22
“Drilling permits for new wells have spiked to unprecedented levels in the Permian Basin, signaling crude oil suppliers in America are finally responding to higher prices, according to Rystad Energy,” Bloomberg reports. “A total of 904 horizontal drilling permits were awarded last month in the shale patch that lies beneath Texas and New Mexico, an all-time-high, Rystad said. The four-week average of 210 approved permits for the week ending April 3 was also a record. “This is a clear signal that operators in the basin are kicking into high gear on their development plans, positioning for a significant ramp-up of activity level,” Artem Abramov, Rystad Energy’s head of shale research, said in a note to clients. The move “foreshadows a significant increase in supply capacity from early 2023,” he added.
Politico: NO NEED FOR MORE LNG
Matthew Choi, 4/14/22
“The U.S. doesn’t need to build new LNG export facilities beyond what is already under construction in order to fulfill the Biden administration’s pledge to boost gas exports to Europe by at least 15 billion cubic meters this year, according to a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis,” Politico reports. “And even if new projects are greenlighted, LNG export terminals have typically taken three to five years to build in the U.S. — not quick enough to help with the acute crisis at hand — says energy tracking nonprofit Global Energy Monitor in a separate new analysis… “Taken together, the two reports, discussed at an event hosted by Climate Nexus on Wednesday, provide data points that rebut a contention from the oil and gas industry that U.S. regulators must swiftly permit new LNG projects to help Europe displace Russian energy. IEEFA analyst Clark Williams-Derry told Politico just by using the six fully operational LNG terminals in the U.S., the country is on pace to “blow past” the 15 bcm target by July or August and that the industry has the ability to nearly meet the Biden administration’s longer-term ambition to fulfill the EU’s demand for U.S. LNG by 50 bcm annually through 2030.”
Press release: US, European Green Groups Urge Leaders to Reject Fossil Fuel Expansion Schemes
4/14/22
“Hundreds of groups in the United States and across Europe sent a letter to President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Lyn today urging them not to build new fossil fuel infrastructure projects in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The groups expressed their concerns that the March 25 US/EU Joint Energy Security announcement could encourage the construction of new fracked gas infrastructure, including export facilities and pipelines, and that the drive to replace Russian gas will increase fracking in the United States. As the letter states, “we urge you to direct the Energy Security Task Force to develop a plan that ensures no new financing, exploration licenses, or permits for coal, oil or gas extraction, expansion of exports, imports and infrastructure, and to develop a plan to transition the EU and US off all fossil fuels by 2035.” Further, the letter points out that long term fossil fuel investments are contrary to the recommendations laid out in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report: “Any expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in the United States and Europe will rob us of our last chance to avert climate chaos, and continue the decades of harm done to frontline communities living near fracking wells and LNG infrastructure, including pipelines and export and import terminals.”
Globe and Mail: Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by nine per cent during first year of pandemic
KATHRYN BLAZE, 4/14/22
“Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by about 9 per cent during the first year of the pandemic, largely due to a decline in road and air travel amid provincially mandated lockdowns and the COVID-19 recession,” the Globe and Mail reports. “The 2020 emissions data were laid out in the latest national inventory report, which was submitted on Thursday to the United Nations as part of Canada’s annual reporting obligations under international climate pacts… “Emissions in 2020 dropped to 672 megatonnes from 738 megatonnes in 2019, the report said… “Given that the driving force behind the emissions drop was the pandemic, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a statement cautioned that emissions “are likely to rebound to a degree.” “...Oil and gas extraction was responsible for 100 megatonnes of emissions in 2020, down four megatonnes from 2019 levels. Canada has never met any of its emissions-reduction targets, but the Liberal government has promised to end that habit… “The report also notes that the country’s historically highest-emitting provinces have diverged in their emissions patterns in the past two decades. In 2005, Ontario and Alberta had the highest emissions. Since then, Ontario has cut emissions by 27 per cent, while in Alberta they have grown by about 8 per cent.”
Canadian Press: Biggest emitters paying smallest price on pollution, critics say
Mia Rabson, 4/14/22
“Big industrial plants in provinces covered by the national carbon pricing system paid more than $161 million for their greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, but some critics say the system is designed to ensure the biggest emitters pay the smallest price on pollution,” the Canadian Press reports. “Right now, it looks to me like a lot of the big industrial players aren’t doing their fair share,” Keith Stewart, a senior energy strategist at Greenpeace Canada, told CP. Unlike the carbon levy consumers and smaller businesses pay on the fuel they buy, big companies with higher emissions, such as automakers, plastics makers and power plants, pay the carbon price only on what they emit above a set limit… “Instead, most big emitters pay the carbon price on anything they emit above 80% of what the average emissions are in their industry. In theory, this means the carbon price is charged mainly on emissions companies could find a way to eliminate, making the carbon price an incentive to invest in technology that cuts emissions… “Stewart told CP the government needs to rethink how many emissions industries can produce for free. A similar recommendation was made last summer by the Canadian Climate Institute, which reviewed Canada’s carbon pricing systems for the federal government… “They are explicitly rewarding the most emissions-intensive facilities in the country to not make the major investments needed to be prepared to compete in a carbon-constrained market.”
Nature: Realization of Paris Agreement pledges may limit warming just below 2 °C
Malte Meinshausen, Jared Lewis, Christophe McGlade, Johannes Gütschow, Zebedee Nicholls, Rebecca Burdon, Laura Cozzi & Bernd Hackmann, 4/13/22
“Over the last five years prior to the Glasgow Climate Pact1, 154 Parties have submitted new or updated 2030 mitigation goals in their nationally determined contributions and 76 have put forward longer-term pledges. Quantifications of the pledges before the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) suggested a less than 50 per cent chance of keeping warming below 2 degrees Celsius2,3,4,5. Here we show that warming can be kept just below 2 degrees Celsius if all conditional and unconditional pledges are implemented in full and on time,” according to a report in Nature. “Peak warming could be limited to 1.9–2.0 degrees Celsius (5%–95% range 1.4–2.8 °C) in the full implementation case—building on a probabilistic characterization of Earth system uncertainties in line with the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report6 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We retrospectively project twenty-first-century warming to show how the aggregate level of ambition changed from 2015 to 2021. Our results rely on the extrapolation of time-limited targets beyond 2030 or 2050, characteristics of the IPCC 1.5 °C Special Report (SR1.5) scenario database7 and the full implementation of pledges. More pessimistic assumptions on these factors would lead to higher temperature projections. A second, independent emissions modelling framework projected peak warming of 1.8 degrees Celsius, supporting the finding that realized pledges could limit warming to just below 2 degrees Celsius. Limiting warming not only to ‘just below’ but to ‘well below’ 2 degrees Celsius or 1.5 degrees Celsius urgently requires policies and actions to bring about steep emission reductions this decade, aligned with mid-century global net-zero CO2 emissions.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: ACTIVISTS TARGETING BANKS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
VICTORIA GUIDA and AUBREE ELIZA WEAVER, 4/14/22
“Proxy season is in full swing, and this year there’s a new gang in town: Consumers. Environmental activists are rounding up rank-and-file credit-card customers and checking account owners to throw their psychological weight behind investor initiatives targeting bank action on climate change,” Politico reports. “More than 10,000 people have signed letters to BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group Inc. and other big asset managers who hold shares in Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. The letters urge the investing giants to vote their shares in favor of proposals that would require big banks to report the greenhouse gas footprint of their lending activities. The investor letters, which went out today [Thursday], follow April 5 letters to CEOs at Wells Fargo, Citi, JPMorgan and Bank of America. More than 38,000 bank customers signed those letters, which urged execs to end lending, underwriting and insurance on fossil fuel operations. The campaign, Customers for Climate Justice, is being organized by Stop the Money Pipeline… “Customers have special leverage to advocate for climate justice at their financial institution,’ Sarah Lasoff, campaign manager for Customers for Climate Justice, told Politico. ‘Not only are we getting signatures on these letters and sending letters to CEOs, we’re also organizing customers to meet with branch managers and regional managers.’”
E&E News: Export-Import Bank plan may affect U.S. LNG, renewables
Carlos Anchondo, 4/15/22
“The board of the Export–Import Bank of the United States yesterday approved a new tool meant to support domestic export projects, opening financing options to facilities associated with liquefied natural gas, renewables and energy storage,” E&E News reports. “...Advocacy groups for the U.S. LNG sector quickly welcomed the plan, saying it could help projects overcome funding challenges and support thousands of jobs. Environmentalists expressed concern that new LNG financing could take money away from renewable energy… “Observers have said Russia’s actions present a business opportunity for the U.S. gas industry. More than a dozen LNG projects have been federally approved but not yet built. That suggests the U.S. industry could roughly double its exports without a major regulatory approval… “While the Ex-Im Bank’s release didn’t specifically mention LNG, industry advocate LNG Allies said U.S. LNG export projects are “clearly” environmentally beneficial, saying they “mostly displace coal use in foreign power projects” or dirtier Russian gas. “U.S. LNG exports are both environmentally beneficial and transformational, two adjectives the release specifically uses to call out projects they would be supporting,” said Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, in an email… “Yesterday, Kate DeAngelis, international finance program manager at Friends of the Earth, told E&E the group is opposed to the Ex-Im Bank’s using the program to finance LNG. “Such support would contradict President Biden’s Glasgow commitment to end overseas fossil fuel financing by the end of 2022, and would move EXIM in the wrong direction — away from critically needed investment in renewable energy growth,” DeAngelis told E&E.
OPINION
Badger Herald: Letter to the Editor: Wisconsin must stop Line 5 relocation, prevent Enbridge from polluting our land, waterways
Alyssa Valentyne is a fourth-year student at the UW School of Medicine & Public Health, 4/14/22
“Time is running out to protect the land, waterways, and people of Wisconsin,” Alyssa Valentyne writes in the Badger Herald. “...Enbridge, a company notorious for massive oil spills and subsequent environmental catastrophe, is proposing to relocate and construct a new fossil fuel pipeline — Line 5 — in the northern part of our state. Now is the time to take action and tell the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources you oppose this project because it is a threat to both environmental and human health… “The last thing we need to do is invest in more fossil fuel infrastructure — Line 5 relocation — which will only add to our overreliance on nonrenewable energy sources and contribute to the existential warming of our planet for years to come. Let’s not forget we rely on the environment for the food and water to survive. The Line 5 project will destroy 41 miles of natural Wisconsin land in Ashland, Bayfield and Iron counties. When the fossil fuel pipeline inevitably leaks, the watersheds of Lake… “The time is now to alert the Wisconsin DNR that you oppose the Line 5 relocation project. There is too much at stake including climate stability, Wisconsin lands and waterways, environmental justice, and public health. Express your opposition today, before the April 15 deadline, by emailing DNROEEAComments@wi.gov or mailing a letter to “Line 5 EIS Comments, DNR (EA/7),” 101 South Webster St, Madison, WI 53707.”
Calgary Herald: Nelson: If Canada embraces its natural riches, we can replace Russia as a resource mega-power
Chris Nelson, 4/14/22
“Here’s today’s pop up quiz: what do Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran and Canada have in common? No, the answer isn’t they’re countries that, when citizens protest in the streets, throw leaders in jail, freeze supporters’ bank accounts and blame foreign bad actors for the unrest,” Chris Nelson writes for the Calgary Herald. “Yes, those assorted countries are where the vast majority of the world’s oil reserves rest and, despite our current government’s recent over-reach in stomping on Canadians’ rights, certainly, we still shine brightly when comparing our individual liberty with what’s on offer to citizens from those other hydrocarbon big shots… “Suddenly, that infamous Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported more Alberta crude to the U.S., has morphed from its previous role as a convenient climate-change piñata to one now judged akin to some squandered D-Day landing ground… “There’s even chatter among the Republicans in the U.S. about reviving the project, though why on earth Calgary’s TC Energy would dip even the tiniest toe into that cesspool of political malevolence is a question few have courage enough to ask… “So, following seven long years of bust, we can spot a boom on the horizon. Let’s grab it while we can.”
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Alberta's turn to ante up in carbon capture 'poker game' with Ottawa
Chris Varcoe, 4/15/22
“A bitterly cold wind swept through southeast Calgary on Thursday afternoon as federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stopped in the city’s industrial area on a post-budget tour. She visited the Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre, which demonstrates various carbon capture and utilization initiatives in the province,” Chris Varcoe writes for the Calgary Herald. “While cold weather dominated Thursday’s news conference, a little heat has been sparked in recent days by the federal government’s suggestion Alberta could provide its own incentives if it wants to see carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects move ahead in the province… “It’s seen as a pivotal step to kick-start projects that will help the country’s oil and gas sector get to net-zero by 2050, capturing carbon dioxide emissions and burying them underground or using them in various industrial processes… “Under the federal plan, companies can receive a 50 per cent tax credit for investing in equipment to capture CO2 in such projects, and a 37.5 per cent credit for spending on equipment used for transportation and storage on CCUS. But the budget also made a point of noting it will talk “with relevant provinces in the expectation that they will further strengthen financial incentives to accelerate the adoption of CCUS technologies by industry… “That means companies contemplating a big-budget CCUS investment could tap the federal incentive, along with existing provincial credits, programs or initiatives adopted by Alberta… “We are in an intense competition for global investment capital for CCUS projects with countries such as Norway, the Netherlands and the United States, who all invest generously with industry in CCUS technology,” Kendall Dilling, interim director of Oil Sands Pathway to Net Zero Alliance, told the Herald.