EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/3/25

PIPELINE NEWS

• Cedar Rapids Gazette: Iowa landowner rights activists’ joy tempered by changes to CO2 pipeline legislation

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Pipeline bill survives funnel with major amendment from senators

• KMA: Iowa Senate may debate a pipeline-related bill

• Madison Daily Leader: Lake County group announces petition for pipeline ordinance

• Politico: Energy emergency hits corps red tape

• Michigan Advance: Army Corps of Engineers branch overseeing Line 5 tunnel project gains emergency processing authority

• KCBX: Environmental groups sue Trump administration over Refugio oil spill pipeline plans

• NC Newsline: Proposed pipeline project would harm North Carolina communities, report shows

• Reuters: FERC suspends Colonial Pipeline's proposed gasoline shipment changes

• SCT Online: Meeting planned in Sebastopol for pipeline project

• Press release: Traverse Pipeline Reaches Final Investment Decision to Transport Natural Gas Between Agua Dulce and the Katy Area

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Globe and Mail: Trump announces sweeping reciprocal tariffs on global trade partners, some Canadian goods exempt

• Argus Media: Oil futures, stock markets fall on Trump tariffs

• E&E News: Trump promised to slash energy prices. How’s that going?

• E&E News: GOP rolls out new blueprint for energy, environment cuts

• Politico: Stand down, captain

• Heatmap: Trump’s Plans to Build AI Data Centers on Federal Land

• E&E News: Interior replaces longtime head of offshore energy agency with lobbyist

• South Dakota Searchlight: Justice Department announces focus on crimes and missing people in Native American areas

STATE UPDATES

• Carbon Herald: Governor Ron DeSantis Calls Carbon Sequestration Proposal A “Scam”

• Ethanol Producer: Gevo provides update on planned SAF projects

• Boise State Public Radio: Citizen group questions safety of renewable natural gas from Ada County Landfill

• Floodlight: As EPA pulls back, schoolchildren could face the steepest risks

• Inside Climate News: Pennsylvania health advocates Say Gov. Shapiro has let residents down on fracking protections

• WBCK: Grand River Oil Spill: Threat Level Set, Cleaning Underway

EXTRACTION

• Globe and Mail: Athabasca Fort Chipewyan files lawsuit accusing Alberta of ignoring concerns over oil sands reclamation plans

• E&E News: Citing Trump tariffs, Canadian province eliminates a carbon tax

• Reuters: ConocoPhillips eyes sale of Oklahoma assets worth over $1 billion, sources say

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Grist: Companies used to tout their climate plans. Under Trump, they’ve gone quiet.

• Clean Technica: Banks Rush To Embrace Fossil Fuel Financing

OPINION

• Times-Citizen: Stockdale: Protecting citizen rights against the pipeline

• Bloomberg: The World Is Waking Up to the Dangers of Super Pollutants

• San Antonio Express-News: DOGE cuts to the National Park Service would be a ’monumental disaster’
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Iowa landowner rights activists’ joy tempered by changes to CO2 pipeline legislation
Erin Murphy, 4/2/25

“Iowa landowners and property rights activists have waited four years for the Iowa Senate to advance legislation to limit carbon dioxide capture pipelines and the use of eminent domain to claim farmland for pipeline use. That day finally came Wednesday, but for some of those activists, the achievement rang hollow,” the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports. “...But as the Senate advanced the House bill through subcommittee and committee hearings Wednesday, Senate Republicans significantly altered the bill — to landowner activists’ dismay. “I have to say I am thrilled that we’ve gotten the bill farther than we ever have,” Jess Mazour, an activist with the Sierra Club and a leader among landowners who have lobbied state lawmakers over recent years, told the Gazette. “In four years, we’ve never gotten any movement in the Senate. But I’m worried that what they’re trying to do is pull a fast one on us to get a bill that doesn’t really address the problem right now and then claim victory over property rights.” “...Mazour called the expansion of the bill to include all types of projects a “poison pill” because it would create more opposition from more companies and industries. Mazour also told the Gazette the main problem with the newly formed bill is it does not sufficiently address the core issue for landowners: the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. The amended bill “doesn’t address eminent domain, and that is the most important thing we’ve been asking for, is to ban eminent domain for carbon pipelines,” Mazour told the Gazette. “Anything short of that may be helpful in some instances, may be harmful in others, but it doesn’t address the root cause, which is eminent domain. Even though (Bousselot) stood there in front of the room and said, ‘It’s time to address property rights,’ the amendment, as they described it, doesn’t address property rights.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Pipeline bill survives funnel with major amendment from senators
Cami Koons, 4/2/25

“Iowa senators amended and advanced on Wednesday a House bill aimed at protecting private property rights from eminent domain,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “...Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, told the Dispatch the Senate subcommittee meeting on the issue was “long awaited.” Bousselot told the Dispatch his goal “has always been” to pass legislation that protected “all landowners” and not just those affected by certain projects, which he alleged House legislation over the past several years has done. “House File 639, before us today focuses only on creating additional property rights for land impacted by potential hazardous liquid pipelines … but does not take into account all types of pipelines, transmission lines or power generation,” Bousselot said… “His amendment would also require the Iowa Utilities Commission to make, within one year, a decision on any project that is seeking eminent domain rights… “Bousselot’s proposed amendment would strike the common carrier definition, permit limits, intervenor requirements and would adjust the insurance requirements… “Some of the landowners told the Dispatch the contents of Bousselot’s amendment were “a surprise” and they questioned how the landowners outside of the corridor, or the area around a proposed eminent domain project, would be notified… “Sen. Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, told the Dispatch he opposed the amendment because of its rushed nature, and because he felt it was not “solving property rights.” “We haven’t had a time to talk with people, to step back and really look at it,” Bisignano told the Dispatch of the amendment. “These people deserve the debate on eminent domain and property rights. This is a consolation.” “...The bill advanced to the Senate floor via a voice vote in favor.”

KMA: Iowa Senate may debate a pipeline-related bill
Kay Henderson, 4/3/25

“A Senate committee has overhauled a wide-ranging bill that key House members said would “clean up the mess” the Iowa Utilities Commission created by granting a pipeline permit to Summit Carbon Solutions,” KMA reports. “Republican Senator Mike Bousselot of Ankeny has proposed a 34-page alternative and it got support from the other Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee… “The bill is now eligible for debate in the full Senate, which has never considered any pipeline-related bill since Summit’s project was first proposed in 2022… “Kim Junker, a Butler County farmer, expressed her frustration during a Senate subcommittee hearing. “My husband and I are registered Republicans and frankly I’m sick and tired of the games the Republicans have been playing with our lives, our livelihoods, our business, our property and our legacy,” she told KMA. “You guys work for us, your constituents, not just your big donors.”

Madison Daily Leader: Lake County group announces petition for pipeline ordinance
Wren Murphy, 4/2/25

“A local group is attempting to bring a pipeline ordinance to a public vote, according to an April 1 press release,” the Madison Daily Leader reports. “A group calling itself Lake County CARES (Citizens for Agriculture, Recreation, Environment and Stewardship) announced it has begun circulating a petition for an initiated ordinance that would create setbacks and impose other requirements for carbon dioxide pipelines, according to the release. South Dakota law allows for an initiated ordinance to be put before the board of county commissioners if the petition received signatures from 5% of registered voters. That number is based upon registered voters from the most recent general election… “According to the website for the South Dakota secretary of state, there were 7,828 registered voters in Lake County at the 2024 general election, meaning 392 valid signatures may be required. The board can either adopt the ordinance or send it to a public vote, according to state statute. The effort is in response to a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline from Summit Carbon Solutions… "This petition seeks to put into law exactly what Lake County voted for: local control over setback distances," said Rita Brown, an anti-pipeline advocate from Chester, referencing the referred pipeline law in the press release. The press release says the group is beginning the petition process after the Lake County Commission did not take action on the issue. "We have gone before them repeatedly and asked them to have this discussion with the public, but they have refused to even talk to us about," Aaron Johnson said in the release… “A carbon dioxide permit application must include an emergency response plan, proposed setbacks and plume modeling. The carbon dioxide pipeline must be 1,500 feet, at minimum, away from occupied structures, public parks and concentrated animal feeding operations, if the pipeline is 24 inches in diameter or less… “If the pipeline is more than 24 inches in diameter, the Board of Adjustment must determine a setback based on computer models of a plume. The setback from incorporated or unincorporated municipalities must be 10,560, minimum, from the pipeline to the nearest municipal boundary.”

Politico: Energy emergency hits corps red tape
4/2/25

“President Donald Trump’s order to expedite energy-related infrastructure projects using the Army Corps of Engineers’ emergency procedures has hit a snag: Those procedures largely don’t yet exist,” Politico reports. “A Corps headquarters spokesman told Politico Tuesday that the Corps’ regional divisions are working on crafting their own emergency procedures and will put them out for public notice before they can be invoked for fossil fuel pipelines, export terminals or other energy projects. There’s no top-level deadline, according to Corps spokesperson Doug Garman, but at least one division is looking to complete that step by April 15. That’s the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, whose Detroit District is overseeing the hotly-contested Line 5 upgrade to ship heavy Canadian crude to Midwest refineries through the ecologically sensitive Straits of Mackinac. District spokesperson Carrie Fox told Politico Tuesday that no specific projects at the district have yet been identified for emergency permitting, including Line 5.”

Michigan Advance: Army Corps of Engineers branch overseeing Line 5 tunnel project gains emergency processing authority
Kyle Davidson, 4/2/25

“In line with President Donald Trump’s executive order instructing the United States Army Corps of Engineers to exercise emergency permitting power to facilitate the nation’s energy supply, the Corps’ Great Lakes and Ohio River Division has authorized the use of special emergency processing procedures, as opponents of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline warn against placing the company’s controversial tunnel project on the fast track,” the Michigan Advance reports. “...In February, members of the anti-Line 5 coalition Oil and Water Don’t Mix raised alarms that the project would be expedited under Trump’s executive order… “On Monday, the Corps’ Great Lakes and Ohio River Division announced each of its seven districts is authorized to use special emergency processing procedures, including the Detroit district overseeing the permitting process for the tunnel project. The USACE’s website no longer lists the project among those under consideration for emergency permitting. At the time of publication the Corps lists the efforts as pending review for its environmental impact statement. It has not announced whether it will move forward with the permit for the tunnel project using emergency processing provisions. Debbie Chizewer, a managing attorney at Earthjustice, which has opposed Enbridge in several cases involving Line 5, told the Advance they were not surprised to see the Corps is moving forward with an emergency process… “If the Corps advances the Line 5 tunnel project through this process, we expect them to comply with the law. The truth is there is no national energy emergency, and even if there was, Line 5 is a pipeline that transports Canadian oil primarily to Canada. It will not affect the US energy supply. The state of Michigan can still do the right thing and reject permits for this dangerous project,” she told the Advance.”

KCBX: Environmental groups sue Trump administration over Refugio oil spill pipeline plans
Amanda Wernik, 4/2/25

“A new lawsuit filed Wednesday challenges the Trump administration’s handling of offshore oil development at the Santa Ynez Unit– the site of the 2015 Refugio oil spill,” KCBX reports. “...The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation are suing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for allegedly neglecting its legal duty to update those decades-old plans. The lawsuit said the Bureau hasn’t required Sable to revise the plans. Kristen Monsell, the legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told KCBX the goal of suing is to get the federal government to comply with the law. “It's really quite horrifying how the federal government seems poised to allow this offshore drilling operation to resume without carefully evaluating all of the risk or ensuring all legal requirements are satisfied,” Monsell told KCBX.”

NC Newsline: Proposed pipeline project would harm North Carolina communities, report shows
Christine Zhu, 4/3/25

“Areas of North Carolina surrounding a proposed pipeline project would suffer from further environmental pollution, according to a report released this week by the Sierra Club,” NC Newsline reports. “The Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) to the Williams Company’s Transco Pipeline system is a pipeline running from Virginia to Alabama that would move up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of methane gas each day… “The project would have detrimental effects on North Carolina, especially for low-income residents and communities of color, which would be disproportionately affected, environmental leaders said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We are already overburdened by industrial pollution,” Crystal Cavalier-Keck, director and co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, an indigenous-led collective focusing on environmental justice, told Newsline. “These communities are treated as sacrifice zones for fossil fuel expansion with little to no say in the decision-making process.” Cavalier-Keck, a citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, told Newsline she lives in a frontline community of the kind that are highly exposed to the impacts of environmental hazards and climate change. Emissions from gas transported by the pipeline would be incompatible with meeting North Carolina’s climate goals, the report found.”

Reuters: FERC suspends Colonial Pipeline's proposed gasoline shipment changes
Nicole Jao and Shariq Khan, 4/2/25

“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday suspended Colonial Pipeline's proposal to overhaul its gasoline shipments for seven months to hear additional arguments from the company and shippers that have protested the changes,” Reuters reports. “Colonial Pipeline last month filed a revised tariff record for FERC approval, seeking to end overlapping shipments of different gasoline grades, while also ending shipments of so-called "Grade 5" gasoline sold in some Northeastern states during the winter. The company also wants to modify delivery specifications. FERC said its review of the filing failed to show the changes were just and reasonable, and that they may be unduly discriminatory to shippers or otherwise unlawful. The regulator suspended the revised tariff record till November 4, and gave Colonial and its shippers 30 days to file additional written comments on the matter.”

SCT Online: Meeting planned in Sebastopol for pipeline project
4/2/25

“Boardwalk Pipelines, LP’s Board of Directors announced in late December that it has made a final investment decision approving Gulf South Pipeline Company’s Kosciusko Junction pipeline project (Kosci Junction Project),” SCT Online reports. “The pipeline will cross Scott County at Sebastopol. An open house to provide local residents with information on the proposed project is scheduled for Thursday, April 3…”

Press release: Traverse Pipeline Reaches Final Investment Decision to Transport Natural Gas Between Agua Dulce and the Katy Area
4/3/25

“WhiteWater today announced that WhiteWater, MPLX LP and Enbridge Inc., through the WPC joint venture ("WPC"), have partnered with an affiliate of Targa Resources Corp.and have reached final investment decision to move forward with the construction of the Traverse Pipeline, having secured sufficient firm transportation agreements with investment grade shippers. The bi-directional Traverse Pipeline is designed to transport up to 1.75 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas through approximately 160 miles of 36-inch pipeline along the Gulf Coast between Agua Dulce in South Texas and the Katy area… “The Traverse Pipeline will be constructed and operated by WhiteWater and is expected to be in service in 2027, pending the receipt of customary regulatory and other approvals.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Globe and Mail: Trump announces sweeping reciprocal tariffs on global trade partners, some Canadian goods exempt
Nathan VanderKlippe, 4/2/25

“The U.S. will exempt some elements of North American trade from a 10-per-cent baseline tariff that will take effect Wednesday night on most of its international trading partners, and will impose higher levies on goods from countries such as China and Vietnam,” the Globe and Mail reports. “A sweeping executive order signed by Mr. Trump on Wednesday orders existing tariffs related to a U.S.-declared fentanyl emergency to remain in place for Canada and Mexico, with no levies on goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement. Non-compliant products will continue to be taxed at 25 per cent, with a lower 10-per-cent rate on energy and potash. If the fentanyl emergency is cancelled, the tariff on non-compliant goods will fall to 12 per cent. But other products will continue to see higher tariff rates, including aluminum, steel, and vehicles. A 25-per-cent levy “on all foreign-made automobiles” will come into effect at midnight Wednesday, Mr. Trump said. He did not specify any exemption for vehicles made in Canada, or elsewhere in North America. U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the United States and higher duties on some countries. Goods compliant with USMCA are exempt, but other goods from Canada will face levies… “For Canada, the exemption from the baseline tariff means “it could have been much worse for us,” Candace Laing, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, told the Globe and Mail. “But we’re still dealing with autos and steel – and these broader tariffs,” she said. ”So we have to find our way through this, too."

Argus Media: Oil futures, stock markets fall on Trump tariffs
Kevin Foster, 4/2/25

“US president Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping new tariffs on all US imports has sparked an immediate sell-off in oil futures and stock markets,” Argus Media reports. “Crude oil futures fell by almost 3.5pc in Asian trading and some stock markets in the region fell by a similar amount, after Trump unveiled the new import tariffs on 2 April. All foreign imports into the US will be subject to a minimum 10pc tax, with levels as high as 34pc for China and 20pc for the EU, Trump said. But energy and some mineral products have been excluded from the new tariffs… “Oil futures fell despite the exemption for energy products. The June Brent contract on the Ice exchange fell by as much as 3.2pc to a low of $72.52/bl in Asian trading, while May Nymex WTI dropped by 3.4pc to $69.27/bl. The prospect that the US tariffs could disrupt global trade and hit export-focused economies in Asia sent stock markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong and South Korea down by 2-3pc or more. US stock futures also fell sharply.”

E&E News: Trump promised to slash energy prices. How’s that going?
Francisco "A.J." Camacho, Peter Behr, 4/3/25

“Shares for power companies plummeted in after-hours trading Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced higher-than-expected tariffs on U.S. trading partners,” E&E News reports. “...The tariffs Trump rolled out in the Rose Garden on Wednesday might have dampened any chance of cutting energy costs, depending on how long the levies are in place… “Analysts, nonprofits and industry voices told E&E the White House pledge of “energy abundance” at a manageable cost to everyday Americans won’t happen under the White House’s tariff regime, sweeping freeze of renewable energy funds and sporadic policy announcements… “Trump really wants a lot of things. He just does not know how to get them,” Nora Brownell, a former Republican member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, told E&E. “Threats and bullying don’t produce capital.” “...Analysts say the 10 percent tariff will probably push up prices for goods like gas, and duties on Canada will be especially taxing on American energy prices. “The most direct short-term impact will be the tariff on energy resources coming from Canada, because the U.S. and Canada have an intertwined ecosystem for oil,” Thomas Rowlands-Rees, BloombergNEF’s head of research in North America, told E&E. “A significant portion of the refineries in the U.S. are set up to utilize the heavy crude that comes from Canadian oil sands. As a result, we’d expect upward pressure on fuel prices.”

E&E News: GOP rolls out new blueprint for energy, environment cuts
Andres Picon, 4/3/25

“Senate Republicans unveiled a new budget plan Wednesday that they hope will serve as the foundation for the party’s massive energy, defense and immigration bill,” E&E News reports. “The fiscal 2025 budget resolution — a revamped version of the proposal the Senate passed in February — would lay the groundwork for using the reconciliation process to make permanent the 2017 tax cuts while cutting billions of dollars in climate programs and boosting fossil fuel production. “This budget resolution will pave the way for a generational investment in border security and national defense and unleash American energy dominance,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said in a statement. The Senate majority leader told E&E he wants to put the concurrent resolution up for a vote before Monday, and the House could take it up before the end of next week.”

Politico: Stand down, captain
4/2/25

“The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the American Petroleum Institute has to sit out defending a Biden-era rule from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,” Politico reports. “The rule, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said the department is reviewing for a possible rollback, requires small and mid-size oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico to obtain billions of dollars’ worth of ‘financial assurance’ bonds to cover decommissioning, something that the attorneys general for Gulf states and the Independent Petroleum Association of America — the trade group repping those small- and mid-size companies — sued to overturn.”

Heatmap: Trump’s Plans to Build AI Data Centers on Federal Land
Robinson Meyer, 4/2/25

“The Department of Energy is moving ahead with plans to allow companies to build AI data centers and new power plants on federal land — and it has put together a list of more than a dozen sites nationwide that could receive the industrial-scale facilities, according to an internal memo obtained by Heatmap. The memo lists sites in Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, and other locations. The government could even allow new power plants — including nuclear reactors and carbon-capture operations — to be built on the same sites to generate enough electricity to power the data centers, the memo says. Trump officials hope to start construction on the new data centers by the end of this year and switch them on by the end of 2027, according to the memo… “Historically, the perspective is that anything involving government land just adds complexity,” Peter Freed, a founding partner at the Near Horizon Group and the former director of energy strategy at Meta, told Heatmap… “Only if the government were able to guarantee fast-track access to certain kinds of equipment — such as transformers or circuit breakers, which are in a severe shortage — would it make sense for most developers to work with them, he told Heatmap.”

E&E News: Interior replaces longtime head of offshore energy agency with lobbyist
Ben Lefebvre, 4/1/25

“The longtime head of the Interior Department agency that oversees offshore energy production in deep waters is stepping down and will be replaced by an energy industry lobbyist, people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel moves that were not yet public, said Tuesday,” E&E News reports. “...Walter Cruickshank, the longtime civil servant who helped lead the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for more than two decades, is retiring, three people told POLITICO. It was unclear when his last day will be. Cruickshank has led BOEM since its creation in 2011 and helped lead its predecessor agency for nearly a decade before that. He had worked at Interior for 40 years, according to his department biography… “Meanwhile, Interior has appointed Matt Giacona, a lobbyist for the National Ocean Industries Association, as a BOEM deputy director, two of the people told Politico. Giacona had previously lobbied for the International Association of Drilling Contractors.”

South Dakota Searchlight: Justice Department announces focus on crimes and missing people in Native American areas
4/2/25

“The U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will surge FBI assets across the country to address unresolved violent crimes in areas with high Native American populations, including crimes related to missing and murdered Indigenous people,” the South Dakota Searchlight reports. “The FBI will send 60 personnel, rotating in 90-day temporary duty assignments over a six-month period. A news release described the effort as “Operation Not Forgotten” and said it will be “the longest and most intense national deployment of FBI resources to address Indian Country crime to date.” “...At the beginning of fiscal year 2025, the FBI’s Indian Country program had approximately 4,300 open investigations, including over 900 death investigations, 1,000 child abuse investigations, and more than 500 domestic violence and adult sexual abuse investigations, according to the news release. “Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are unacceptably high,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the release. “By surging FBI resources and collaborating closely with U.S. attorneys and tribal law enforcement to prosecute cases, the Department of Justice will help deliver the accountability that these communities deserve.”

STATE UPDATES

Carbon Herald: Governor Ron DeSantis Calls Carbon Sequestration Proposal A “Scam”
Violet George, 4/3/25

“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has expressed his dissatisfaction with the Florida House of Representatives for entertaining a proposal related to carbon sequestration, which is being considered by Republican lawmakers,” the Carbon Herald reports. “In a video posted on X, DeSantis voiced his concerns, stating, “The Florida House of Representatives has a Republican supermajority, and what are they spending their time doing? Well, they are hearing in a committee a bill about carbon sequestration potentially injecting carbon into our soil, aquifer, and even our ocean floor.” The Governor dismissed carbon sequestration as “a scam,” accusing it of being a part of “climate ideology” that has no place in Florida’s legal framework, and urged lawmakers to reject the idea of carbon sequestration, saying, “Don’t indulge the left with carbon sequestration.” “...Alex Cranberg, the chairman of Aspect Energy, an oil and gas company, responded to DeSantis, urging caution in labeling the practice of injecting CO2 into underground oil reservoirs as harmful. Cranberg explained, “Let’s be careful not to stigmatize the valuable and long-standing practice of injecting CO2 into underground oil reservoirs to enhance oil recovery. As with most oil producing states this has gone on for years in Florida with zero criticism.”

Ethanol Producer: Gevo provides update on planned SAF projects
Erin Voegele, 4/1/25

“Gevo Inc. CEO Patrick Gruber discussed the company’s proposed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in South Dakota during a fourth quarter earnings call, held March 27, indicating financial close could be achieved by year-end,” Ethanol Producer reports. “The 60 MMgy proposed SAF project, planned for development near Lake Preston, South Dakota, received a conditional commitment for a U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee last year. Gruber said Gevo continues to collaborate with the DOE loan office as the company moves forward to achieve the financial goals for the project. According to Gruber, the company wants to see what Summit Carbon Solutions does regarding its planned CO2 pipeline project before it finalizes economics for the proposed SAF plant… “Despite those setbacks, Gruber said Summit has told Gevo the company still strongly believes “that the pipeline is going to get done.” Gruber also stressed the proposed SAF project could move forward without the Summit pipeline. Gevo’s recently acquired ethanol plant in North Dakota has its own CO2 sequestration site, which could take in CO2 generated at the proposed SAF plant. “If we went this route, the project returns for [the] South Dakota plant would still be attractive,” Gruber said. Financial close for the South Dakota SAF project is currently targeted for year-end, Gruber added.”

Boise State Public Radio: Citizen group questions safety of renewable natural gas from Ada County Landfill
Troy Oppie, 4/1/25

“The private company behind efforts to capture and clean landfill emissions into natural gas at the Ada County Landfill says it is weeks away from delivering fuel to Intermountain Gas customers. Boise State Public Radio first reported on the project in January, now a group of citizens is questioning the safety of that gas. “For a long time, people thought mostly about PFAS leaving landfills in what's known as the leachate, the liquid that percolates through a landfill. But it also turns out that quite a lot of it can leave in the gas,” Richard Llewellyn, northwest Boise resident and part of Citizens Allied for Integrity and Accountability (CAIA), told BSPR… “CAIA points to a 2024 study of landfill gas emissions done at the University of Florida, which showed significantly higher PFAS emissions in landfill gas compared to previous studies. But those studies tested untreated gas emissions, not a pipeline-quality renewable natural gas like Texas-based BioGas will produce. BioGas, working locally as Hidden Hollow Energy, LLC, built a processing facility at the Ada County Landfill which converts captured landfill emissions through multiple stages of pressure and temperature changes, and filtration… “At a public information meeting at Avimor March 30, some attendees said they didn’t want to be "guinea pigs" for the project, Brock said.”

Floodlight: As EPA pulls back, schoolchildren could face the steepest risks
Terry L. Jones, 4/1/25

“President Donald Trump and his administration have called it the “Great American Comeback.” But environmental advocates say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s reversing course on enforcing air and water pollution laws is more of a throwback — one that will exacerbate health risks for children who live and study in the shadows of petrochemical facilities,” Floodlight reports. “...Environmental lawyers say Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s slashing of federal protections against toxic emissions could lead to increased exposure to dangerous pollutants for kids living in fenceline communities. Community advocates like Kaitlyn Joshua, who was born and raised in the southeast corridor of Louisiana dubbed “Cancer Alley,” told Floodlight they are horrified about what EPA’s deregulation push will mean for the future generation. “That is not an exaggeration; we feel like we are suffocating without the cover and the oversight of the EPA,” Joshua told Floodlight. “Without that, what can we really do? How can we really save ourselves? How can we really save our communities?” “...A new memo from the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, which serves as the law enforcement arm of the EPA — circulated the same day as Zeldin’s announcement — states that environmental justice considerations would no longer factor into the federal agency’s oversight of facilities in Black and brown communities… “That means the EPA will no longer target, investigate or address noncompliance issues at facilities emitting cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene, ethylene oxide and formaldehyde in the places already overburdened with hazardous pollution.”

Inside Climate News: Pennsylvania health advocates Say Gov. Shapiro has let residents down on fracking protections
Jon Hurdle, 4/1/25

“Public health advocates assessing Josh Shapiro’s first two years as Pennsylvania’s governor concluded that he hasn’t done enough to protect residents from the damaging effects of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas—despite charting a roadmap for such actions almost five years ago while he was attorney general,” Inside Climate News reports. “Environmental Health Project (EHP), a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, said Shapiro has not lived up to promises he made when he released a 2020 grand jury report with eight recommendations for reducing the risks to Pennsylvanians living in one of the country’s most intensely fracked regions. That report had raised residents’ hopes that the state would finally address their longstanding concerns, backed by academic research, that air and water pollution from the industry is harming public health. Instead, the Democratic governor has allowed the industry to continue to conceal the identity of chemicals used in fracking if companies deem them trade secrets, and has not pushed state lawmakers to pass bills that would help protect the public from fracking, EHP said in a white paper it released Tuesday.”

WBCK: Grand River Oil Spill: Threat Level Set, Cleaning Underway
Jacob Harrison, 4/1/25

“The sight of oil streaming along the Grand River in Grand Rapids was certainly concerning. Considering the date on the calendar, depending on how you found out about the incident, there's a chance you, like me, thought for a second it could be a cruel joke. However, the proper sources confirmed the spill and have already begun to correct the situation,” WBCK reports. “The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) confirmed the spill on Monday. The spill was caused by damage to several transformers along Market Ave SW in Grand Rapids during Sunday's storms. The transformers were the property of Consumer's Energy… “There is no indication of a timeline to clear the river of the oil. There is no verified information on just how much oil spilled into the Grand River as of this writing, though a Reddit post in the /r/Michigan subreddit indicated 200 gallons spilled into the river while linking to a subscribers-only article on MLive.”

EXTRACTION

Globe and Mail: Athabasca Fort Chipewyan files lawsuit accusing Alberta of ignoring concerns over oil sands reclamation plans
Emma Graney, 4/3/25

“The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is suing Alberta, saying the province failed to address a host of fundamental flaws in its mine security program, thus undermining the eventual cleanup of oil sands sites and putting the environment at risk,” the Globe and Mail reports. “The suit, filed Tuesday at the Judicial Centre of Fort McMurray, centres on the province’s recent review of its Mine Financial Security Program. The MFSP governs how much financial security is collected from oil-sands and coal-mine owners to ensure that the companies can cover the cost of cleaning up their sites, rather than foisting the bill onto taxpayers. It is administered by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) using policy guidance from the Environment Ministry. Athabasca Chipewyan argues in its lawsuit that the MFSP is “grossly inadequate for achieving its intended purpose.” The claims have not been proven in court. The First Nation cited various reasons it believes the program is insufficient, including that the MFSP doesn’t require operators to post full security until six years before the end of mine life, even when assets risk losing value; the severe underestimation of operators’ liabilities, caused in part by its lack of clear guidance for liability estimates; the lack of consideration of how potential large-scale changes to the oil markets could cause rapid industry-wide mine shutdowns; and a dearth of incentives for progressive reclamation throughout the life of mines. “Alberta’s failure to collect sufficient financial security creates a significant risk that oil sands mine sites will not be reclaimed or remediated in a timely manner or at all, which would permanently prevent ACFN members from exercising their rights in these areas and seriously infringe ACFN rights,” Athabasca Chipewyan wrote in its lawsuit.”

E&E News: Citing Trump tariffs, Canadian province eliminates a carbon tax
Anne C. Mulkern, 4/2/25

“Another Canadian province is revoking a carbon tax, this time partly in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff on some Canadian imports to the United States,” E&E News reports. “Premier Scott Moe of Saskatchewan, a province of 1.2 million people, suspended the provincial carbon tax on facilities with highest carbon emissions. The rule limited carbon intensity, or emissions per output. “We are facing as Canadians potential tariffs and some implemented tariffs in the steel and aluminum industry already” from the U.S., Moe told reporters. “We are taking very decisive steps to ensure that our industries in Saskatchewan are more competitive.” Saskatchewan acted days after British Columbia, Canada’s third-most-populous province, with 5.9 million people, moved to eliminate a carbon tax that consumers paid on fossil fuel products including gasoline, diesel and natural gas.”

Reuters: ConocoPhillips eyes sale of Oklahoma assets worth over $1 billion, sources say
Shariq Khan and David French, 4/2/25

“ConocoPhillips is exploring the sale of oil and gas assets in Oklahoma that it inherited from its $22.5 billion takeover of Marathon Oil last year, people familiar with the matter said,” Reuters reports. “...The assets, which comprise operations in the Anadarko basin that spans about 300,000 net acres, are expected to fetch a price of more than $1 billion, the sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity as the deliberations are confidential… “Potential buyers include producers who are betting on a surge in demand for natural gas from power generation for data centers, another of the sources told Reuters… “The Marathon acquisition boosted ConocoPhillips’ presence in the Permian, Eagle Ford and Bakken basins, while also giving the energy company operations in the Anadarko shale formation and Equatorial Guinea.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Grist: Companies used to tout their climate plans. Under Trump, they’ve gone quiet.
Kate Yoder, 4/2/25

“Just a few years ago, pledges to tackle climate change were a staple of corporate PR,” Grist reports. “...Now, many corporations are avoiding the subject altogether. During earnings calls, mentions of many well-known terms related to the climate are down 76 percent compared to three years ago, according to a recent analysis of S&P 500 companies by Bloomberg. The sharpest declines came from financial firms and consumer discretionary companies, the category for those offering optional purchases, like Starbucks and Airbnb. The hesitancy to talk about climate change — sometimes called “greenhushing” — could decrease pressure on the big corporate polluters that have been slow to cut their emissions. The trend has been linked to a growing backlash against sustainable investing, as well as a shifting political landscape with President Donald Trump’s second term underway. “I think large companies in particular today are very, very cautious,” Hortense Bioy, the head of sustainable investing research for Morningstar, a financial services firm, told Grist. Companies have been caught in a tug-of-war: On one hand, investors are pressuring them to be serious about the risks of climate change to their business. On the other, the mention of any word related to so-called ESG — the polarizing acronym that refers to “environmental, social, and governance” investing — threatens blowback from the Trump administration. The way to thread the needle, experts suggest, is to stay away from flashpoints like ESG and talk specifically about the financial risks that the warming planet poses to companies.”

Clean Technica: Banks Rush To Embrace Fossil Fuel Financing
Steve Hanley, 4/2/25

“Humanity is rushing headlong into a climate catastrophe. Scientists are now talking about 3º C as the new normal. At 3º C, most humans will die and those who survive will do so only because they live in underground homes,” Clean Technica reports. …“In Bloomberg Green, Alistair Marsh writes that “Wall Street’s unanimity on the need to limit climate change is collapsing, sparking a reset in the $1.4 trillion global market for energy finance. As the White House makes supporting oil, gas, and coal a priority, US banks that just a few years ago were vocal in their embrace of net zero targets are now following a very different playbook. That includes discussing removing long-standing restrictions on some of the most controversial fossil fuel projects.” Banks that do not respond to the current political moment may face “a fast shrinking balance sheet,” Larissa de Barros Fritz, a senior strategist at ABN Amro Bank based in the Netherlands told Marsh. In the longer term, that policy could lead to massive losses, she said. Executives at Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are discussing changes to existing policies that define what energy projects they are willing to loan money to. At Wells Fargo, energy bankers in its capital markets unit have had internal talks about lending to oil and gas projects in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an idea that has been taboo since 2020… “Under the current US administration, which is a willing captive of the fossil fuel industry, the political climate is now all in favor of expanding lending to oil and methane exploration.”

OPINION

Times-Citizen: Stockdale: Protecting citizen rights against the pipeline
Katherine Stockdale, 4/2/25

“In August of 2021, my husband and I received 18 certified letters telling us that a C02 pipeline was wanting to cut our farm in half. Three months later, we got two more notices from another company wanting to put another C02 pipeline on our property,” Katherine Stockdale writes for the Times-Citizen. “After the initial shock I began researching all I could about C02 pipelines and the companies proposing them and asking questions. What I learned was not what I wanted to know. As a Christian I begin to ask God why us? The answer was, why not you? I truly believe He allowed two pipelines on our property because He wanted me to be involved in trying to protect our private property rights… “This is my 4th year coming to our state capital to fight to protect our private property rights… “I am not here just representing our farm, I am here for the other 50 percent of the landowners in Franklin and Hardin County (maybe more with the new lateral) who have not signed easements. Many who are elderly, out of state, working or have disabilities. I am here for my neighbors who were never notified about the pipeline and its dangers and the threat to their property rights. I am here for the people in our towns and communities in Hardin County who are not even aware they are in a danger zone from these pipelines and that they may also lose their property rights. I am here for the citizens of Iowa and our United States, because if our private property rights are taken away, we could very well become like China. We are not the minority, Mr. Shaw. An Iowa poll shows that at least 78 percent of Iowans agree with us on eminent domain. I'm not sure how you came up with the idea that we are loud (perhaps only at a rally)... “This pipeline has changed the rules in the middle of the game for us as landowners, and for every individual in the state of Iowa by trying to take away our private property rights. by wanting to use eminent domain. Each of our farms is a business and provides economic development to our communities.”

Bloomberg: The World Is Waking Up to the Dangers of Super Pollutants
Lara Williams, 4/125

“...A group of lesser-discussed climate pollutants are many times more powerful than carbon dioxide and could serve as an emergency brake on near-term warming. Even better: There’s reason to be cautiously optimistic,” Lara Williams writes for Bloomberg. “So-called super pollutants – a group of greenhouse gases and aerosols including methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and tropospheric ozone – are responsible for about 45% of warming to date, with carbon dioxide responsible for the other 55%. While these emissions exist in the atmosphere for a fraction of CO2’s centuries-long lifetime, they have a more potent warming effect. Methane is the short-lived climate pollutant with the greatest impact, coming mainly from agricultural, waste and oil and gas industry sources… “Black carbon – the soot that results from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, waste and biomass – isn’t a greenhouse gas, but does contribute to warming by absorbing sunlight and releasing it as heat, in the same way that urban infrastructure and asphalt roads do. As a major component of particulate matter, black carbon is bad news for our respiratory and cardiovascular systems and impedes photosynthesis in plants. As these pollutants disappear from the atmosphere much faster than CO2, the benefits of reducing them will be realized sooner… “But here’s why we ought to feel some optimism. NDCs are submitted every five years, and in the second round of submissions post-2020, Malley observed a sizeable uptick in countries referring to super pollutants explicitly or implicitly, via sector-specific targets or co-benefits… “Make no mistake, carbon dioxide is the number one greenhouse gas to conquer. But ridding ourselves of super pollutants will yield immediate benefits — cooling our cities, giving us cleaner air to breathe and better food to eat.”

San Antonio Express-News: DOGE cuts to the National Park Service would be a ’monumental disaster’
Charles Zucker is a San Antonio resident and Glacier National Park volunteer, 4/2/25

“Our national parks, often referred to as ‘America’s Best Idea,’ may now find themselves on the endangered species list as a result of draconian budget cuts by the Trump administration,” Charles Zucker writes for the San Antonio Express-News. “On Feb. 14, the Department of Governmental Efficiency, commonly known as DOGE, abruptly fired 1,000 probationary park service staff and suspended the hiring of seasonal workers. Since then, due to a court order, the National Park Service has been authorized to rehire the terminated staff and to lift the freeze on seasonal employees. The crisis, however, created by this chaotic whiplash is hardly over. Who knows what will happen in the courts down the trail. Founded in 1916, the park system encompasses 433 sites that span more than 85 million acres, including 63 sites that have ‘National Park’ as part of their name. The famous archway above the entrance to Yellowstone National Park reads, ‘For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.’ This underscores how the founders of our national park system believed that these places should be preserved, not for the rich but for everyone. Indeed, our national parks have splendidly served Americans from all walks of life for more than a century.”