EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/25/22
PIPELINE NEWS
The American Prospect: Fight Erupts in Iowa Over Carbon Capture Pipelines
Reuters: U.S. Midwest carbon pipeline's backers have close ties to Iowa government
TheEnergyMix: Michigan to Consider Climate Impacts in Assessing Line 5 Pipeline Tunnel
WSJM: Michigan Group Says Oil Pipeline Tunnel Plan Not In Sync With State’s Climate Goals
The Daily Globe: Proposed $4.5 billion carbon pipeline to go through Jackson County
KCHA: Carbon Pipelines on Agenda of Floyd, Chickasaw County Supervisors Meetings Monday
Globe and Mail: FortisBC plans two pipelines in Squamish as global demand for energy grows
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: One Last Push: Climate Activists to Rally at White House and Across U.S.
Politico: SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR
The Hill: Democrat pushes for more US oil drilling in Fox interview
Politico: ANOTHER GAS PRICE GOUGING BILL
Politico: A WAR-TIME TRANSITION
Bloomberg: Russian War Set Back Progress on Green Energy: Kerry
BuzzFeed News: EPA Employees Want To Put Protections Against Attacks On Science Into Their Union Contract
STATE UPDATES
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pa. landowners have dealt with coal, oil and gas rights. Now, there are pore rights.
Denver Post: Suncor discharging “forever chemicals” into Sand Creek and the South Platte River, enviro report says
Grand Junction Sentinel: BLM state lease sale plan includes just 5,276 acres due to deferrals
Denver Post: Environmental groups sue Gov. Polis’ administration over Adams County air polluters
EXTRACTION
CNN.com: Huge blast at illegal oil refinery in Nigeria kills scores of people, including children
CarbonBrief: ‘One quarter’ of US emissions since 2005 come from fossil fuels on public lands
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: Wall Street faces key votes on new fossil fuel financing
Guardian: US gas prices are over $4 a gallon. These oil CEOs took home over $20m
OPINION
New York Times: It’s Not Just High Oil Prices. It’s a Full-Blown Energy Crisis.
PIPELINE NEWS
The American Prospect: Fight Erupts in Iowa Over Carbon Capture Pipelines
ADEN CHOATE, 4/22/22
“Last week, President Biden visited an ethanol plant in central Iowa where he hailed increased infrastructure investment, particularly in biofuels like ethanol, as essential to a net-zero carbon future. But he didn’t acknowledge the environmental downsides of the projects that companies want to build to pursue those goals,” The American Prospect reports. “Biden’s trip came on the heels of a late-March “people’s public hearing” at the Iowa State Capitol, where dozens spoke out against three carbon capture pipeline projects proposed for the Midwest. Deborah Main was with them. Her 96-year-old parents still live on the 195-acre farm where she was raised northeast of Sioux City, Iowa. It has been in their family for more than 100 years, and Iowa recognizes it as a “Century Farm.” Last August, Summit Carbon Solutions, an offshoot of the Alden, Iowa–based Summit Agricultural Group, approached Main’s parents on their property with information about a new carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project, the Midwest Carbon Express Pipeline. The proposed path would cut through the entire east side of Main’s family farm, which now serves as grazing land for a cattle herd and cradles a pond fed by a watershed that extends through several northeastern Iowa counties… “Emma Schmit, a senior organizer for the Iowa chapter of Food & Water Watch, saw the lack of a united landowner strategy as one of the failings of DAPL resistance in Iowa. That’s not the case this time around. There are weekly community meetings, Facebook groups, and email chains with organizing tactics and upcoming events, which connect landowners and tribes to legal representation and guidance. Taking lessons from what they faced before, folks are prepared to fight back. “We’ve been able to bridge divides on every level—Democrats and Republicans, rural and urban, young and old,” Schmit told the Prospect… “Brian Jorde, a trial attorney with the Nebraska-based Domina Law Group who has represented landowners against eminent domain abuses, and is working on the multistate legal strategy, claims that there is no public-use aspect to CCS projects like the Midwest Carbon Express. “Politics should have no bearing on the law and decisions made by commissioners, board members, and agencies,” Jorde told the Prospect… “Deborah Main and her parents never considered signing a voluntary easement, but they fear that the IUB will allow Summit Carbon to take their land by eminent domain in order to secure a right-of-way for the Midwest Carbon Express. “If this pipeline gets approved, it’s going to release a whole Pandora’s box of carbon sequestration pipelines,” Main told the Prospect.
Reuters: U.S. Midwest carbon pipeline's backers have close ties to Iowa government
By Leah Douglas, 4/25/22
“Summit Carbon Solutions, the company behind a huge carbon pipeline proposal in the U.S. Midwest, has close ties to Iowa officials and regulators charged with approving a large part of its route, according to a Reuters review of public documents and company websites. At least four members of Summit's leadership have direct links to the Iowa governor's office or the Iowa Utility Board (IUB), both of which could influence the future of the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) pipeline, according to the review. One is the top individual donor to the current governor, Kim Reynolds. Another is a former Iowa governor, Terry Branstad, who nominated two of the IUB's three commissioners, including its chair. The links between Summit's leadership and public officials in Iowa, which would host the largest share of Summit's proposed Midwest Carbon Express project, have raised worries among ethics watchdogs and environmental groups over whether project opponents will get a fair hearing. "I would say there is a valid concern on the part of the (pipeline opponents) that they're not getting equal treatment by the government," Robert Maguire, research director at the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Reuters… “Landowners have expressed concern that the pipeline could reduce farm yields, lower property values or pose a public safety threat if it leaks. read more The Reuters review found that Bruce Rastetter, the head of Summit's parent company Summit Agricultural Group, is the top individual donor to Reynolds, Iowa's Republican governor. Rastetter gave nearly $150,000 to Reynolds between 2018 and 2022, according to records maintained by the National Institute on Money in Politics. Opponents are concerned that Reynolds would veto any bills critical of the pipeline like one recently passed in the state House that would delay the project's permitting process… ”Jess Mazour, an organizer with the Sierra Club environmental group, told Reuters the relationships between Summit and Iowa officials made her worry that public opposition to the project could be ignored. Some 98.9% of comments in the Summit pipeline docket at the IUB were opposed to the pipeline in March. "If they are listening to the people, it's very clear that this shouldn't be approved," Mazour told Reuters.
TheEnergyMix: Michigan to Consider Climate Impacts in Assessing Line 5 Pipeline Tunnel
4/24/22
“In an administrative first, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has announced it will consider the climate impacts of the four-mile (6.5-kilometre) tunnel that Calgary-based Enbridge is proposing to build beneath the Straits of Mackinac to house the controversial Line 5 pipeline,” TheEnergyMix reports. “The decision reflects the partial success of an appeal filed by the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) and the Michigan Climate Action Network (MiCAN). That was after a ruling in February dismissed their claim that climate impacts should be factored into the MPSC’s deliberations on whether to allow the Enbridge tunnel to be built, reports Michigan Advance. While the MPSC has agreed to consider the climate impacts of building the tunnel, it declined ELPC’s and MiCAN’s further request that the permit hearing consider “the public need” for the Line 5 pipeline in its entirety. Still, the MPSC’s ruling “marks the first time a Michigan agency will be considering greenhouse gas emissions as part of a MEPA [Michigan Environmental Protection Act] analysis,” the Advance writes. The MPSC is one of three state agencies whose permission will be needed before Enbridge can proceed with its plan to encase the section of its Line 5 pipeline which currently (and controversially) runs unprotected along the bottom of the Straits in a tunnel. Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has granted its permits, while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has yet to do so… “The construction of the new four-mile pipeline segment could not be separated from the products flowing through it,” the MPSC said. So “the Commission will also allow evidence to be presented on the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the fossil fuels being transported through the replacement segment.”
WSJM: Michigan Group Says Oil Pipeline Tunnel Plan Not In Sync With State’s Climate Goals
4/25/22
“This Earth Month, Michigan leaders took the opportunity to release a new roadmap for a carbon-neutral state economy by 2050,” WSJM reports. “...Sean McBrearty, Michigan legislative and policy director for Clean Water Action, told WSJM the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes a clear case there is no time to waste… “McBrearty is also campaign coordinator for the coalition Oil and Water Don’t Mix, which advocates for shutting down the Line 5 dual pipelines running through the Straits of Mackinac. Enbridge Energy has said there is currently no alternative to deliver the energy Line 5 transports, and it would take significant energy to build infrastructure to do so. McBrearty told WSJM experts have testified before the Michigan Public Service Commission, pointing out a plan to build a tunnel around the pipeline would add 27 million metric tons of carbon pollution to Michigan’s output, which is not in line with the state’s overall goals set out in the Michigan Healthy Climate roadmap. “It makes no sense when we’re trying to address the climate crisis to spend any amount of time building an oil tunnel underneath the Great Lakes that’s going to add the equivalent of 10 coal-fired power plants to the carbon load already in Michigan,” McBrearty told WSJM.
The Daily Globe: Proposed $4.5 billion carbon pipeline to go through Jackson County
Kari Lucin, 4/22/22
“Representatives of Summit Carbon Solutions explained its proposed $4.5 billion carbon pipeline project that would run through Jackson County Thursday, during a meeting of the Heron Lake Watershed District's Board of Managers,” The Daily Globe reports. "...If this project is successful, it's going to enhance the environmental sustainability of ethanol and the long-term viability of ethanol," Joe Caruso, a consultant on the project, told the Globe, explaining the positive effects it would have on the value of corn and land… “Caruso also emphasized that the proposed pipeline route is not set in stone, citing an example of farmers who suggested moving the route 500 yards to be between two fields rather than going through the center of someone's best land… “One issue frequently brought up in town hall meetings, they said, was how the pipeline would affect drain tile, and Summit representatives said the plan would be to put the pipeline four feet below the drain tiles so it wouldn't affect them… “Wayne Rasche, HLWD board president, asked about some of the county tiles that are 12 feet deep, and Hanson replied that the pipeline would then go above the tile. Should soil compaction or soil quality become an issue, Summit will take on any liability for fixing it, along with any drain tile damage. Rasche also asked why the pipeline wasn't going down the rights-of-way. Hill answered that doing so would be easier, but there's either too much in the rights-of-way already or Summit simply doesn't want to take up all the space that could be used for future development.”
KCHA: Carbon Pipelines on Agenda of Floyd, Chickasaw County Supervisors Meetings Monday
Mark Pitz, 4/24/22
“Carbon pipeline projects in Floyd and Chickasaw counties are on the agendas for supervisor board meetings in both counties Monday morning,” KCHA reports. “Summit Carbon Solutions wants the Homeland Energy Solutions ethanol plant between Lawler and New Hampton to be its easternmost starting point to build a pipeline to transport carbon dioxide (CO2) in liquid form to an underground storage facility in North Dakota… “Chickasaw County Supervisors meet in regular session at 9 a.m. and their agenda includes a discussion of a letter of support to the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) regarding Summit’s permit application… “Floyd County Supervisors meet in regular session at 9 a.m. and their agenda includes a discussion regarding letters to the IUB with concerns about both pipelines running through the county.”
Globe and Mail: FortisBC plans two pipelines in Squamish as global demand for energy grows
BRENT JANG, 4/24/22
“FortisBC, the largest distributor of natural gas to British Columbia homes, plans to install two gas pipelines through a proposed mountain tunnel in the province, as global demand grows for fuel from sources other than Russia,” the Globe and Mail reports. “The company had previously envisioned placing just one pipeline inside the tunnel. But Darrin Marshall, the pipeline project’s director, tells the Mail FortisBC now believes a second pipeline is needed as a backup measure to keep fuel flowing consistently in case of a problem in one of the pipes, such as leakage. The pipelines are intended to supply Woodfibre LNG, a liquefied natural gas terminal that is planned for a former pulp mill site near Squamish, about 65 kilometres north of Vancouver. The much-delayed terminal project is not yet under construction. Woodfibre LNG, which is privately owned by Singapore-based RGE Pte. Ltd. and controlled by Indonesian businessman Sukanto Tanoto, is aiming to become Canada’s second exporter of the fuel, after Shell PLC-led LNG Canada, which already has a terminal under construction in Kitimat, B.C. That facility has a projected export capacity of 14 million tonnes a year… “Elected councillors of the Squamish Nation voted narrowly in favour of supporting an impact benefit agreement with Woodfibre LNG in 2018, subject to an array of environmental conditions being met… “Aside from consulting with the Squamish Nation, FortisBC said it is engaging with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Musqueam Indian Band and Kwikwetlem First Nation about the pipeline route. A portion of the new pipeline would follow the land route of an existing, smaller line operated by the company. “Tsleil-Waututh have been clear about environmental concerns, especially in regards to culturally sensitive sites. Once these concerns are substantially addressed from a technical perspective, Tsleil-Waututh will be commencing a robust community engagement process to discuss the overall project risks, costs and benefits,” Tsleil-Waututh Nation elected chief Jen Thomas said in a statement. Eoin Finn, a member of the climate-activist group My Sea to Sky, told the Mail he is concerned about the potential impacts of FortisBC’s plans for a pipeline work accommodation site that would house up to 600 people.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
New York Times: One Last Push: Climate Activists to Rally at White House and Across U.S.
Lisa Friedman, 4/22/22
“Joe Biden was not Vincent Vertuccio’s first choice for president. But as a high school student on Long Island, Mr. Vertuccio organized hundreds of young people to help elect him, driven by a single issue: climate change,” the New York Times reports. “On Saturday, the day after Earth Day, Mr. Vertuccio expects to be outside the White House at one of dozens of “Fight for Our Future” rallies planned in cities across the country to press the government to cut the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet. Organizers of the events are bringing together a broad coalition of youth activists, labor unions, civil rights groups and mainstream environmental organizations to urge the president, Congress and state legislatures to take aggressive climate action. They worry that time is running out — both for the atmosphere, which is rapidly warming to dangerous levels, and for legislative action to mitigate the damage. Many supporters believe that after Memorial Day, Washington’s focus will shift to the November midterm elections, making it nearly impossible for lawmakers to negotiate major legislation. Failure to act will undoubtedly have political ramifications for Mr. Biden and his party, jeopardizing support from young voters who turned out in record numbers in 2020 to help Democrats secure control of the White House and Congress. “Young people elected Joe Biden to take action,” Mr. Vertuccio told the Times. “If we do not see climate action taken, I think that will be a massive betrayal from the Democratic Party to young people.” In interviews with more than a dozen people who have been lobbying, protesting and mobilizing support for climate legislation, most said they are seeing despair among their peers.”
Politico: SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR:
Matthew Choi, 4/22/22
“The American Petroleum Institute is discussing internally whether to lobby for a specific carbon tax mechanism,” the trade association told Politico. ”The group's climate committee approved calling for a tax falling between $35 to $50 a ton of carbon, though there are still negotiations in store on exact details of how it all would work before the API executive committee takes up the suggestion, an API representative told ME after the Wall Street Journal first broke the news. Though nothing is final yet, the group feels that an easy-to-digest publicly known carbon price would serve the industry better than a price set by Interior and other government agencies that could fluctuate with every new administration, the person told Politico. “The idea that consumers aren’t already paying for climate policy is a false status quo,” the representative said. “They are already paying through regulation and hidden taxation.” “...But API membership also includes companies, mainly U.S.-based, that could threaten to take their membership fees elsewhere if it advocates too hard for a tax, leaving it in a bind. That could also put it on the outs with its traditional Republican backers in the federal government. The API “is afraid of losing member companies and is straddling the fence with its US-based companies and the European players, with splits among the former giving them further headaches,” one industry source who requested anonymity to discuss internal association politics told Politico.”
The Hill: Democrat pushes for more US oil drilling in Fox interview
BRAD DRESS, 4/24/22
“Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) on Sunday pushed for more oil drilling in the U.S., saying the nation needs to be “energy independent” as gas prices rise,” The Hill reports. “Let’s go ahead and allow that opportunity to do domestic drilling so we can have jobs here, and certainly make sure we don’t depend on another country when it comes to energy,” Cuellar said on “Fox News Sunday.” Cuellar, a moderate Democrat facing a May 24 runoff primary challenge in his Texas district, also said President Biden’s administration is “not helping Democrats.” “We got to make sure we are all working together, and right now some of the actions by the administration is not helping Democrats, certainly in South Texas when it comes to oil and gas,” Cuellar told FOX.
Politico: ANOTHER GAS PRICE GOUGING BILL
Matthew Choi, 4/22/22
“Several prominent House Democrats introduced legislation Thursday that would require the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether oil majors are manipulating gasoline prices for their own profit,” Politico reports. “The Oil and Gas Industry Antitrust Act calls for probing market conditions in the liquid fuel energy sector and considering a long-term strategy to stabilize prices during national crises. Reps. Val Demings (Fla.), Jerry Nadler (N.Y.), David Cicilline (R.I.) and Kathy Castor (Fla.) introduced the bill. It’s the latest in a series of efforts by Hill Democrats to cast a spotlight on the oil sector, which several members have accused of price gouging to take advantage of the Ukraine war. Industry representatives said in numerous hearings over the past several weeks that the increases are driven by tight crude oil markets, and that they have no control over retail prices.”
Politico: A WAR-TIME TRANSITION
Matthew Choi, 4/22/22
The Biden administration has come to embrace U.S. oil and gas in a bid to alleviate the supply squeeze as western nations shun Russian energy exports, but U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said ultimately, the war could push countries in the opposite direction,” Politico reports. “Is there a momentary hold really on the [climate] progress we’re making? I think the answer is yes. It’s unfortunate. But in the long run, I think most countries have come to understand they don’t want their source of energy to be weaponized,” Kerry said in a Bloomberg interview released Thursday. “They want the freedom to be able to move to cleaner energy and they’re going to. So I think it could wind up actually accelerating the transition.” Kerry also wouldn’t put too much faith in natural gas as a climate-saving transition fuel, telling Bloomberg “we have to put the industry on notice: You’ve got six years, eight years, no more than 10 years or so, within which you’ve got to come up with a means by which you’re going to capture, and if you’re not capturing, then we have to deploy alternative sources of energy.”
Bloomberg: Russian War Set Back Progress on Green Energy: Kerry
4/21/22
“Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and MIT President Rafael Reif joins BTV and speak with Janet Wu to discuss Russia's impact on renewable energy outlook,” Bloomberg reports.
BuzzFeed News: EPA Employees Want To Put Protections Against Attacks On Science Into Their Union Contract
Zahra Hirji, 4/21/22
“The EPA’s largest employee unions want a new kind of environmental protection: a contract that insulates agency science from political interference after enduring four years of attacks under former president Donald Trump,” BuzzFeed News reports. “We are looking to be the first union in the nation to have a scientific integrity article in our contract,” Nicole Cantello, an EPA lawyer and union leader, told BuzzFeed News. The American Federation of Government Employees Council 238 is a collection of 14 local unions representing 7,500 scientists, engineers, and other employees at the leading federal agency responsible for protecting the environment and human health. The union collective plans to introduce the package, which is still being finalized, at a bargaining session with management in June. Union leaders say they want to protect workers from the type of attacks they experienced on their jobs during the Trump administration, from political interference to censorship. Trump’s first EPA chief Scott Pruitt, who resigned amid a series of ethics scandals, questioned climate science, oversaw the takedown of the agency’s climate website, illegally overhauled the agency’s key outside advisory group, the Science Advisory Board, and encouraged oil executives to apply for top agency jobs. Under Pruitt, and then his successor, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, dozens of regulations protecting waterways and limiting the pollution of cars and trucks, coal-fired power plants, and more were weakened or axed entirely. By the end of Trump’s four-year term, EPA staffing levels were low and staff morale was even lower.”
STATE UPDATES
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pa. landowners have dealt with coal, oil and gas rights. Now, there are pore rights.
Anya Litvak, 4/25/22
“The next iteration of energy production in southwestern Pennsylvania is likely to lead where its predecessors began: to landowners’ doors. Do you know your pore rights?,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. “...To achieve the new vision for the Pittsburgh region — a vast hub for hydrogen production and carbon sequestration — natural gas would be used to make hydrogen, and then the resulting carbon dioxide emissions, along with those from other industries, would be captured and pumped deep underground into the pores of reservoirs that landowners may not even know they own. Pore leases might be the first blocks of a vast infrastructure needed to realize this vision, which has great support from the region’s power players. States interested in advancing the concept of a hydrogen production and carbon storage hub — and vying for $8 billion in federal funding allocated to these efforts — are attempting to put in place some of that administrative scaffolding. In Pennsylvania, a bill that would address pore ownership and liability for stored carbon, is expected to be introduced in the coming weeks by state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming. It is modeled after a similar law enacted in Nebraska last year but may also draw on recent legislation that passed in West Virginia, Mr. Yaw’s chief of staff, Nick Troutman, told the Gazette… “When West Virginia passed new carbon storage legislation last month, it said project developers had to make agreements with landowners for pore space. But if they couldn’t get all of them to sign leases, the project could still go forward if they had the consent of 75% of them. The rest would be forced into the pool and compensated. Mr. Yaw’s draft bill for Pennsylvania has similar language but puts that consent threshold at 60%. The bills don’t establish a standard for who decides what would be a fair price for pore space.”
Denver Post: Suncor discharging “forever chemicals” into Sand Creek and the South Platte River, enviro report says
CONRAD SWANSON, 4/20/22
“A substantial portion of PFAS — or forever chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects — found last year in Sand Creek and the South Platte River can be traced to the Suncor Energy oil refinery, a new study indicates,” the Denver Post reports. “The toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances have contaminated groundwater across the rest of the state. Attorney General Phil Weiser sued companies producing the chemicals in late February and Colorado lawmakers are looking to ban their use in carpeting, furniture, cosmetics, cookware and more. Discharges from one of Suncor’s drainage ports accounts for between 16% and 47% of the total PFAS pumped into Sand Creek in 2021, according to a report from Wheat Ridge’s Westwater Hydrology LLC. The creek dumps into the South Platte River and the refinery can be linked to 3% to 18% of the total PFAS found in that waterway… “Chemicals found in Sand Creek and the South Platte River can be especially troubling because cities like Commerce City, Brighton, Thornton and Aurora take in water from the river downstream of Suncor, the report indicates. “The South Platte is also a major source of agricultural irrigation water,” Perry Wheeler, a spokeswoman for Earthjustice, said in a release. “Suncor’s PFAS pollution is likely taken up by crops, creating another exposure point for the humans and animals that consume them.”
Grand Junction Sentinel: BLM state lease sale plan includes just 5,276 acres due to deferrals
By DENNIS WEBB, 4/21/22
"The Bureau of Land Management’s plan to resume oil and gas leasing includes about 5,276 acres in Colorado proposed for an upcoming sale, after it deferred plans to lease more than 135,000 additional acres in the state so it can further consult with tribes and better protect greater sage-grouse,” the Grand Junction Sentinel reports. “The BLM this week said it plans to offer nine parcels totaling the 5,276 acres in Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Weld counties on June 16. Its proposal is subject to a 30-day public protest period ending May 18… “The BLM deferred the rest of the acreage it had proposed to offer, meaning it may consider proposing it to be leased later. Much of the deferred acreage is in Las Animas County. According to the BLM, numerous tribes expressed concerns about the proposed lease parcels in Las Animas County and in Pawnee National Grassland in northeastern Colorado. Its environmental assessment says, “The area of potential effects in Las Animas County is considered to be an important cultural landscape for some tribes. Other tribes have identified many sites of importance and have been working for decades with other federal entities to record and protect them. In addition, a traditional use study is in progress adjacent to a portion of the area of potential effects, where known historic properties exist. Many of the Tribes support deferral of the parcels until adequate identification and analysis can be conducted.” Other deferred acreage pertains to the greater sage-grouse, an imperiled western species that in Colorado is found in the northwest part of the state, and particularly Moffat County. The BLM ended up deferring many proposed lease parcels in the region based on a 2015 greater sage-grouse management plan that calls for prioritizing leasing outside greater sage-grouse priority habitat and general habitat management areas. In the case of proposed leasing at least partly within those areas, the plan also prioritizes leasing of parcels that are near existing oil and gas development and infrastructure and have high oil and gas potential, and also considers the level of threat to greater sage-grouse posed by leasing such parcels.”
Denver Post: Environmental groups sue Gov. Polis’ administration over Adams County air polluters
CONRAD SWANSON, 4/21/22
“Two environmental nonprofits, WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity, sued Gov. Jared Polis’ administration this week, alleging that it has taken too long in considering operating permits for air polluters in Adams County,” the Denver Post reports. “The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the 17th Judicial District Court in Adams County, “targets the failure of the Air Pollution Control Division to meet legally required deadlines for reviewing and updating pollution permits,” Matthew Koehler, a spokesman for WildEarth Guardians, said in a release. The case comes as the Environmental Protection Agency is poised to downgrade the state’s air quality status from “serious” to “severe,” for failing to improve air quality. That downgrade would mean higher gas prices and would require more businesses to apply for emissions permits under the federal Clean Air Act. Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians, said in a statement that Polis’ administration has effectively given the oil and gas industry a “free pass to pollute.” “...The lawsuit targets the Wattenberg methane gas processing plant, the Sinclair Denver Products oil terminal, the Phillips 66 Denver oil terminal and the East Regional Landfill. All four facilities applied for updated operating permits between 2007 and 2020, the lawsuit claims, and the Air Pollution Control Division has taken much longer than the 18-month limit to either grant or deny those applications.”
EXTRACTION
CNN.com: Huge blast at illegal oil refinery in Nigeria kills scores of people, including children
By Nimi Princewill and Eyad Kourdi, 4/24/22
“Women and children are among the scores of people killed in an explosion at an illegal oil refinery in a border town in southern Nigeria, authorities say,” according to CNN.com. "The fire occurred in an illegal bunkering site situated at the boundary between Rivers State and Imo State," the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) said in a statement sent to CNN on Sunday. It said the fire had led "to the death of men, women and children in the hundreds," adding that the remains of some victims "were burnt beyond recognition." According to local media reports, emergency response teams have counted 109 bodies, while others remain missing. In October last year, 25 people, including children, were killed in a blast at an illegal refinery in Rivers State, one of Nigeria's top oil producing areas. Oil theft and artisanal refining of crude oil is a common practice in the country's delta region. The practice involves boiling crude oil to extract fuel which contributes to the pollution in the region. Government figures released last year and reported on by Nigerian media found that more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil are being lost to theft each day.”
CarbonBrief: ‘One quarter’ of US emissions since 2005 come from fossil fuels on public lands
JOSH GABBATISS, 4/21/22
“Emissions equivalent to nearly a quarter of the US total since 2005 have come from fossil fuels extracted on the nation’s public lands and waters, according to recent analysis,” according to CarbonBrief. “The study, published in Climatic Change, assesses the volumes of greenhouse gases generated by extracting and burning coal, oil and natural gas from regions owned by the federal government. It also estimates how much this will change over the next decade, concluding that “minimal” reductions to these emissions are expected by 2030, the date by which the US has committed to cutting its emissions to 50-52% below 2005 levels. This analysis was conducted before the Biden administration’s latest announcement that it will open up new federal lands to drilling amid growing pressure to address rising fuel costs. The study’s lead author tells Carbon Brief that unless the government introduces new policies such as a carbon fee added to these fossil fuels, emissions from this sector could remain high long into the future. The study assesses the “lifecycle” emissions from coal, oil and natural gas produced on US federal lands and waters between 2005 and 2019. This includes everything from methane leaking out of pipelines to carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning coal. On average, these emissions amounted to 1,408m tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e) per year – equivalent to around 23% of domestic US emissions across this 15-year period. Study author Laura Zachary, an energy analyst at Apogee Economics and Policy tells Carbon Brief that this includes both fuels that are used in the US and those that are exported abroad – although previous research has shown that only 4% of the lifecycle emissions are produced outside the US. Only domestic emissions count towards the nation’s climate goals.
CLIMATE FINANCE
E&E News: Wall Street faces key votes on new fossil fuel financing
Avery Ellfeldt, 4/25/22
“Investors at four major U.S. banks will get the chance this week to tell the firms’ top brass what they think of the lenders’ continued financing of new fossil fuel production,” E&E News reports. “Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are scheduled in the coming days to host their annual shareholder meetings amid rising scrutiny of Wall Street pledges to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. Shareholder advocates this year have filed resolutions at each of the lenders calling on them to stop providing financing for companies that are expanding fossil fuel production… “Observers will be watching the meetings closely to see whether the firms’ investors — including major pension funds and money managers — agree. If they do, and a significant percentage of shareholders back the proposals, it wouldn’t necessarily force the banks to do anything. But it would send a strong signal to Wall Street executives about what their own investors make of their businesses’ climate bona fides. “The science is clear that achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and averting the worst impacts of the climate crisis means stopping the expansion of fossil fuels immediately,” the Sierra Club’s Adele Shraiman said in a statement. “Banks must adjust their practices accordingly,” Shraiman added, “and it’s up to their shareholders — especially BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — to hold them accountable.” In addition to the four firms with meetings this week, the proposal on new fossil fuel financing also was filed at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, which have set their annual meetings for next month. Three of the six firms — JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup — requested that the SEC allow them to ignore the proposal. The SEC denied each of the requests.”
Guardian: US gas prices are over $4 a gallon. These oil CEOs took home over $20m
Iffah Kitchlew, 4/25/22
“While gas prices soar for consumers, one group of people isn’t faring so badly. CEOs from the largest oil and gas companies received nearly $45m more in combined total compensation in 2021 as compared to 2020 amid the steep rise in gasoline prices across the US over the last year, a new report states,” according to the Guardian. “Twenty-eight major oil and gas companies, such as Shell, Exxon, BP and Marathon Petroleum, gave out $394m in total to their CEOs in 2021, according to an exclusive analysis provided to The Guardian. Among the highest earners were Michael Hennigan of Marathon Petroleum, who received over $21m – $5m more than 2020 – and Darren Woods of Exxon, who received over $23m – $7m more than 2020. These figures reflect the companies’ massive earnings, brought about largely by the boost in gas prices in the last year. Gas prices experienced a 50% rise in 2021, reaching the highest they have been since 2014. Fuel prices have only continued to climb, hitting an average of $4.12 a gallon in the past few months. At Shell, CEO and CFO raises were made for their “significant personal contributions … in delivering the strategic progress of 2021”, Curtis Smith, Head of Americas Media Relations at Shell, told the Guardian. Shell’s CEO, Ben Buerden, received a $2m raise in 2021… “Americans will not soon forget that when they were struggling to fill their tanks, oil and gas companies made record profits and decided to give that money to wealthy industry executives and shareholders rather than stabilizing gas prices,” Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog Accountable.US, which produced the report, told the Guardian.
OPINION
New York Times: It’s Not Just High Oil Prices. It’s a Full-Blown Energy Crisis.
Dr. Helen Thompson is a professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge and the author of “Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century,” 4/23/22
“Americans are worrying about their gas prices. Germans are turning down their heating. Peru has seen violent protests — and a violent crackdown on them — over rising fuel costs. Nigeria’s national energy grid recently collapsed. And that’s just this spring. Focused on the future, the United Nations Intergovernmental Planet on Climate Change warned in a report on April 4 that too much investment is going into fossil fuels and too little into the energy transition that could prevent a devastating increase in global temperatures,” Dr. Helen Thompson writes for the New York Times. “This persistent, simmering crisis around energy, its cost and the politics around it will not end soon… “President Biden’s hope that he could focus his presidency on the climate, not fixing the world’s oil supply, shattered… “That was already putting pressure on politicians, but the Putin shock — oil prices rose by one third in the first two weeks after the invasion — has exposed just how much governments fear rising fossil fuel costs, never mind their optimistic rhetoric that high prices will encourage a transition to greener energy sources… “By damning oil companies that aren’t ramping up production, Mr. Biden has decided to privilege the voters desperate for lower immediate prices over the Democrats who insist the climate crisis should remain the priority. For the European Union, the fact that European consumers are filling Moscow’s war coffers has forced unpalatable ethical issues to the surface. As the prime minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, asked Italians: “Do you prefer peace or the air conditioning on?” “...For the green transition, the renewed public awareness that the supply of hydrocarbons does not take care of itself, even as Western governments promise to curtail their use, is — paradoxically — a step forward. If governments and citizens are serious about transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward greener energy, a necessary transformation that requires nothing less than changing the material basis of modern civilization, then they will have to admit that oil, gas and coal — the energy sources of the past, on which we continue to rely — can’t be taken for granted. Their extraction and use are inseparable from the difficult work of politics. That is evident today. Let’s hope we can remember it in the future.”