EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/5/22
PIPELINE NEWS
U.S. Energy Information Administration: EIA explores effects of not building future interstate natural gas pipelines
World Pipelines: NTSB responds to PHMSA’s valve and rupture detection rule
JD Supra: Nationwide Permit 12 Update: Permit that Allows for Expedited Approval for Certain Oil and Natural Gas Pipeline Activities Undergoing Additional Review
Radio Iowa: Naig says he’d rather see voluntary easement for carbon pipelines
Radio Iowa: Senator says House-passed carbon pipeline moratorium does ‘absolutely nothing’
York News Times: Commissioners to meet with Summit team regarding CO2 pipeline
Suffolk News-Herald: Natural gas pipeline expansion would pass through IW, Surry
Financial Post: Oil producers optimistic about deal with Enbridge over Mainline pipeline access
Press release: NextEra Energy Partners, LP announces closing of the sale of Monument gas pipeline
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: BITTER OIL PILL
E&E News: Democrats zero in on oil industry stock buybacks
DeSmog: Biden’s Call to Increase LNG Export Capacity on Gulf Coast is Tantamount To Sarah Palin’s Call to ‘Drill Baby Drill’ According to Environmental Advocates
Press release: League of Conservation Voters to Install Wall of Oil Barrels on the National Mall to Call Out Big Oil for Making Record Profits While We Pay Record Gas Prices
Politico: BIG OIL BACK AGAIN
Politico: JUSTICE40 SCREENER GETS BACKLASH
STATE UPDATES
Times Free Press: Environmental group sues TVA to get information on natural gas expansion plans
Ventura County Star: Protesters disrupt Ventura gas compressor public forum
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Stopping Climate Change Is Doable, but Time Is Short, U.N. Panel Warns
E&E News: Carbon removal ‘unavoidable’ as climate dangers grow — IPCC
E&E News: IPCC report: Oil, renewables and ‘stranded assets’
The Revelator: Oil Development Is Changing the Rules of the Game for Wildlife
Press release: WOLF MIDSTREAM AND PARTNERS SELECTED TO DEVELOP POTENTIAL SEQUESTRATION HUB
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Money Pouring Into Fossil Fuels Risks Climate Disaster, UN Report Warns
Stop the Money Pipeline: Over 35,000 Customers of Wall Street Banks Demand an End to Fossil Fuel Financing
Reuters: Methane hub to help countries meet global goal
OPINION
Madison.com: Pam Johnson: Tribes oppose risky and unnecessary Line 5 pipeline in northern Wisconsin
Common Dreams: Appalachia Knows There’s a Climate Crisis. Does President Biden?
The Telegraph: Changing the conversation from drilling to spilling
The Hill: Senate: Don’t waste a perfectly good oil crisis
Guardian: The world is on fire. Why is Canada considering massive new oil drilling?
Financial Post: 'A bad joke': Canada's new climate plan is Alberta's burden
Toronto Sun: Federal oil and gas emissions plan will hurt Canadians
PIPELINE NEWS
U.S. Energy Information Administration: EIA explores effects of not building future interstate natural gas pipelines
4/5/22
“In our Annual Energy Outlook 2022 (AEO2022), Issues in Focus: Exploration of the No Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Builds, we analyze the effects on the energy market if no additional U.S. natural gas pipeline capacity is built between 2024 and 2050,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports. “In the No Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Builds case, we project 5% less natural gas production and 4% less natural gas consumption in 2050 compared with the Reference case. We also project that the Henry Hub spot price in 2050 would be 11% higher in that case than in the Reference case. Restricting U.S. interstate pipeline builds in our projection results in 7.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) less interregional capacity in 2050 than in the Reference case projection, which, for example, limits the amount of natural gas that can flow from the Appalachia production region to demand areas such as the Midwest… “We project that natural gas’s share of U.S. electricity generation would fall from 34% in 2050 in the Reference Case to 31% in the No Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Builds case. To make up for less natural gas-fired generation in the No Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Builds case, electricity generation from renewables, coal, and nuclear sources increase… “The relatively small effect on CO2 emissions, despite the decline in natural gas consumption and growth in electric power generation from renewable sources, is due to our forecast of increased coal-fired power generation, which would be more carbon intensive than the natural gas-fired generation it displaces.”
World Pipelines: NTSB responds to PHMSA’s valve and rupture detection rule
Elizabeth Corner, 4/4/22
“The National Transportation Safety Board has reviewed PHMSA’s new rule for automatic shutoff valve installation and minimum rupture detection standards for newly constructed and entirely replaced onshore gas transmission,” World Pipelines reports. “This new rule improves pipeline safety and includes requirements for automatic shutoff valves for gas gathering, and hazardous liquid pipelines, a safety improvement beyond our original recommendations. However, it does not fully address previously issued safety recommendations. PHMSA’s rule excludes existing pipelines and therefore would not have helped mitigate the natural gas explosion that occurred in San Bruno, California, in 2010. It also falls short in addressing safety issues related to valve spacing and leak detection. “PHMSA’s final rule does not meet the criteria specified in NTSB safety recommendations regarding valve and rupture detection completely,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “I encourage PHMSA to continue their efforts to address the identified issues from our investigation of the San Bruno, California natural gas explosion and satisfy the NTSB safety recommendations.”
JD Supra: Nationwide Permit 12 Update: Permit that Allows for Expedited Approval for Certain Oil and Natural Gas Pipeline Activities Undergoing Additional Review
Vinson & Elkins LLP, 4/5/22
“On March 28, 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) published notice (“Notice”) that it is undertaking a formal review of Nationwide Permit (“NWP”) 12, one of over 50 general permits available nationwide that allow for streamlined approval of certain categories of activities that may affect federally jurisdictional waters and wetlands when the effects are no more than minimal,” according to JD Supra. “...Although some of these questions are within the scope of what the Corps normally considers when reviewing and reissuing NWPs, some go beyond that scope and may foreshadow significant changes in NWP 12, and possibly even its ultimate revocation… “Opponents of infrastructure projects have focused their attacks on NWP 12, in particular, in an attempt to block new oil and gas pipelines. For example, in April 2020, opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline project temporarily succeeded in obtaining a nationwide injunction against the use of NWP 12… “The Corps has taken the same position on the programmatic consultation issue in its recent NWP reissuances, and that has drawn more litigation… “Businesses that make use of NWP 12 should consider filing public comments to share their perspectives and concerns with the questions raised by the Corps. Comments in response to the Notice are due on May 27, 2022. The Corps is also conducting six virtual public and tribal meetings throughout the month of May.”
Radio Iowa: Naig says he’d rather see voluntary easement for carbon pipelines
O. KAY HENDERSON, 4/4/22
“Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says over the past dozen years, his department has awarded $50 million in state grants for installing ethanol-compatible equipment at gas stations and it’s time to take the next step,” Radio Iowa reports. “...House members have also voted for a moratorium on another ethanol-related issue. The proposal would delay until next year any developers’ request to seize property along proposed carbon pipeline routes where landowners have not signed off on access. Naig says he can see the benefits of capturing the carbon from Iowa ethanol plants and shipping it to underground storage through pipelines. “If you can capture the CO2, you can lower the carbon intensity of a gallon of ethanol and what that can do is, we hope, preserve the longevity and the ethanol and biodiesel and renewable energy in our energy portfolio as a country and that is good news, that is a positive thing that can happen,” Naig says. “On the flip side, there is the issue of building a pipeline and those can be very difficult decisions for a landowner. Imagine a pipeline coming across a century farm.” “...Naig says he’d “much rather” see the companies strike voluntary deals with landowners and the Iowa Utilities Board should be careful in considering private property rights before granting eminent domain for land seizures. “What I have encouraged each of the pipeline companies to do is negotiate in good faith, compensate landowners fairly, answer their questions, satisfy their concerns,” Naig says. “…If these projects are going to go, they should go because the landowners are willing to participate.”
Radio Iowa: Senator says House-passed carbon pipeline moratorium does ‘absolutely nothing’
4/4/22
“A key Senator says the Iowa House has approved a meaningless plan that would prevent carbon pipeline developers from applying for government condemnation of land along pipeline routes before February 1 of next year,” Radio Iowa reports. “Senator Dennis Guth, a Republican from Klemme, says the Iowa Utilities Board chair told him there’s “absolutely no way” the eminent domain process would be even close to being completed by February 1. “The bill really does absolutely nothing and it doesn’t belong on a budget bill anyhow,” Guth says, “so it’s not going to stay on my budget bill.” Guth is chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Iowa Utilities Board budget. Guth tells Radio Iowa he’s working with Senate leaders and the Utilities Board on a bill that would restrict what eminent domain may be used for… “But Guth says his bill is still in development and won’t be ready until 2023. This debate over construction of carbon pipelines cuts close to home for Guth. “The pipeline would go one mile from my house, through a farm that I rent,” Guth told Radio Iowa… “We don’t believe that we should use eminent domain for a project that’s going to take a private landowner’s property and use it for a purpose that we don’t even agree with necessarily.”
York News Times: Commissioners to meet with Summit team regarding CO2 pipeline
Melanie Wilkinson, 4/4/22
“The York County Commissioners will convene in regular session on Tuesday, April 5, during which they will meet with representatives of Summit Carbon Solutions for an update on the company’s proposed carbon dioxide pipeline through Nebraska which would include a leg through York County,” the York News Times reports. “...In York County, if the pipeline leg were to be built in the anticipated straight line from the York plant to the Central City plant, it would run at a southwest angle from the local plant, crossing land between Benedict and Bradshaw and then crossing the York County line near Polk. Back in December, a representative of the company said they intend to survey the potential route in February and work toward acquiring land rights in March – when they meet with the York County Commissioners on Tuesday, they will provide an update on how that process has gone. The commissioners will also have an opportunity to ask questions about the project as it moves forward.”
Suffolk News-Herald: Natural gas pipeline expansion would pass through IW, Surry
Stephen Faleski, 4/1/22
“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on the environmental impacts of a proposed natural gas pipeline expansion in southeastern Virginia,” the Suffolk News-Herald reports. “Columbia Gas Transmission LLC, a subsidiary of Canada-based TC Energy unaffiliated with Columbia Gas of Virginia, is seeking federal approval for what the company has termed its “Virginia Reliability Project.” The project entails replacing an existing 1950s-era 12-inch pipeline that passes through the city of Suffolk and Isle of Wight, Surry and Southampton counties with a 24-inch one to meet growing demand for natural gas across the Hampton Roads region. The expanded pipeline would connect to existing segments in Prince George and Greensville counties, and to the company’s Petersburg and Emporia compressor stations. According to the company’s website, the project is expected to generate a one-time increase of $7.7 million in local tax revenue. If approved, construction of the pipeline would begin in mid-2024 and be operational by November 2025… “A March 16 press release from the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter, however, contends there’s “no shortage of natural gas in Hampton Roads” and that the communities the pipeline would pass through are already experiencing “an overburden of existing fossil fuel infrastructure.”
Financial Post: Oil producers optimistic about deal with Enbridge over Mainline pipeline access
Julius Melnitzer, 4/5/22
“Optimism is growing that Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and producers and shippers of Canadian oil will reach a negotiated settlement on how shippers will pay to send crude on Enbridge’s Mainline system, Canada’s key export pipeline, over the next decade,” the Financial Post reports. “...In November, Enbridge’s application to introduce a system known as “firm service” — under which customers contract long-term for guaranteed delivery of specified volumes — on its Canadian Mainline was denied by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER). On Nov. 28, just two days after the decision, Enbridge signalled its desire to re-engage rather than appeal. The company has been negotiating with its shippers since. Enbridge says that at this point, two options are under consideration, with a decision on which one the company will pursue expected in mid-2022. The first option is an agreed-upon incentive tolling arrangement that is aligned with specific customers, incentivized to optimize the system and to provide a premium return to the company. The timeline for such a scenario would see Enbridge filing a negotiated settlement with the CER in mid-2022, followed by a regulatory review later in the year. If approved, the framework would be in place by mid-2023. The second option is a contested cost-of-service structure that sees risks passed through to customers, rate-base driven growth and utility-like returns. In this scenario, Enbridge would file its cost-of-service application in mid-2022, with hearings commencing in late 2022 and a decision by mid-to-late 2023. Here, the framework would follow in late 2023.”
Press release: NextEra Energy Partners, LP announces closing of the sale of Monument gas pipeline
4/4/22
“NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) today announced that it has completed the sale of Monument Pipeline, LP, an approximately 156-mile, 16-inch pipeline that transports natural gas in Texas, to ARM Monument Intermediate Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of ARM Energy Holdings, LLC, for a total consideration of approximately $203 million. The Monument Pipeline was part of NextEra Energy Partners' Texas pipelines portfolio.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: BITTER OIL PILL
Matthew Choi, 4/4/22
“Progressive lawmakers who last year rallied around “keep it in the ground” have become more amenable this year to oil drilling,” Politico reports. “With retail gasoline prices stressing voters and the Biden administration pushing for more domestic fossil production to counter the loss of Russian supplies, progressives are open to compromising with Senate Energy Chair Joe Manchin to allow some short-term measures for oil and gas drillers in whatever climate and energy package they can work out. It’s both a function of legislative realpolitik following last December’s collapse of BBB at Manchin's hands and a shift in electoral politics, with the Russian war putting a greater spotlight on near-term energy security. “If [Manchin] wants some increase for short-term production for the broader package of $500 billion on renewables, I am open to that,” Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a deputy whip in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told Politico. “It’s not ideal for the climate, but I am not comfortable with Americans paying 6, 7 bucks for gas.”
E&E News: Democrats zero in on oil industry stock buybacks
Jeremy Dillon, 4/5/22
“Democratic leaders yesterday called on executives of major oil and gas companies to stop stock buybacks and dividends and instead provide short-term relief at the pump and long-term investment in clean energy,” E&E News reports. “The challenge from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and leaders of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, among others, could be a preview from Democrats as they plan to argue in multiple hearings this week that high gas prices are a consequence of corporate greed. Central to that attack is a new focus on how oil companies allocate their profits. Oil companies are “lining the pockets of their shareholders and their corporate executives in stock buybacks, which do nothing, absolutely nothing, to advance the American economy or to deal with the oil crisis,” Schumer said on the Senate floor yesterday. “Maybe instead of giving the money to the shareholders, they should give money to their customers by lowering the price,” he added. Companies buy back open shares on the market in order to boost a stock’s value.
DeSmog: Biden’s Call to Increase LNG Export Capacity on Gulf Coast is Tantamount To Sarah Palin’s Call to ‘Drill Baby Drill’ According to Environmental Advocates
Julie Dermansky, 4/4/22
“Travis Dardar, an indigenous fisherman in Cameron, Louisiana, has a front-row view of the expansion of the liquified natural gas (LNG) industry’s export capacity on the Gulf Coast — and it isn’t pretty,” DeSmog reports. “It disgusts me what man is doing to the planet,” Dardar told me as I photographed flares at the recently built Venture Global Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility from his boat out in the Calcasieu Ship Channel, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. I met Travis and his wife Nicole Dardar on March 17, before attending an air quality permit hearing held by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) in Cameron for another proposed LNG export project by Commonwealth LNG, a Texas-based company. The couple wasn’t aware of the permit hearing for Commonwealth LNG’s new export terminal project until I mentioned it to them. But they have plenty to say about why state regulators should deny the air quality permit for an export facility being built on the other side of the channel from Venture Global’s existing LNG facility. They told me that the facility is already polluting their air, flaring almost nonstop since December, in addition to the noise and light pollution the facility creates, first from construction and now from operations. The Dardars live about a mile from Venture Global’s new facility and already question their safety due to the seemingly constant chemical releases before the plant is even fully online, let alone what life would be like with the second one across from their front door. “Nobody told us what the blast zone for the plant is,” Travis told DeSmog. The couple both figure if the facility does blow their family would be killed instantly — a fear that adds to the ongoing stress they have from trying to recover from Hurricane Laura, which destroyed almost everything they own.”
Press release: League of Conservation Voters to Install Wall of Oil Barrels on the National Mall to Call Out Big Oil for Making Record Profits While We Pay Record Gas Prices
4/4/22
“On Tuesday April 5 and Wednesday April 6, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) will display an art installation that features a wall of oil barrels on the National Mall to highlight the oil industry’s price gouging and hold them accountable for excessive gas prices. While the war in Ukraine continues and working families pay enormous costs for gas, big oil companies have held back supply to reward their shareholders with record profits. We need the public to know, the only true path to energy independence is a clean energy economy, so we no longer have to pay these enormous costs.”
Politico: BIG OIL BACK AGAIN
Matthew Choi, 4/4/22
“The House Energy and Commerce Committee convenes on Wednesday, when Democrats are planning to grill a who's who of leaders from the oil and gas sector over high gasoline prices” Politico reports. “Top execs from BP America, Chevron, Devon Energy, Exxon Mobil, Pioneer Natural Resources and Shell USA will participate, and ME is expecting some split-screen narratives, with Democrats and Republicans presenting two fundamentally different assessments of just what is going on… “The Senate Commerce Committee is also having a hearing on elevated oil and oil product prices Tuesday, with Chair Maria Cantwell inviting a similar line up as the House Energy Committee. But the executives declined to show, and the committee will hear from Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma (who testified at last month’s EPW hearing on the subject) and Robert McCullough of McCullough Research.”
Politico: JUSTICE40 SCREENER GETS BACKLASH
Matthew Choi, 4/4/22
“Environmental justice advocates slammed the Biden administration’s decision not to include race as a criteria in its new tool to help fulfill its Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure the areas that have suffered the worst from pollution receive at least 40 percent of the benefits from federal programs and spending,” Politico reports. “Biden officials have cited the likelihood that legal challenges would derail any specific race-based criteria, but advocates speaking at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference said not including race ignores the role that discrimination played in making these communities more vulnerable to climate change and undermines the administration’s goals of addressing environmental injustice and systemic racism… “Mustafa Santiago Ali, a former EPA staffer who now leads environmental justice efforts at the National Wildlife Federation, said “race has to be a criteria inside the decision making process.”
STATE UPDATES
Times Free Press: Environmental group sues TVA to get information on natural gas expansion plans
Dulce Torres Guzman, 4/4/22
“The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority after public records requests for contracts with methane-gas companies were met with heavily redacted records,” the Times Free Press reports. “In 2019, TVA — which produces electricity for nearly 10 million people across the Southeast — announced possible plans to retire several coal-fired plants throughout Tennessee, including Kingston and Cumberland City, and replace them with alternative energy infrastructure. Despite those promises, TVA now plans to invest more than 3.5 billion in new gas-burning electric plants, including contracts with two pipeline companies owned by Enbridge and Kinder Morgan. Law center attorneys requested information about those contracts under the Freedom of Information Act and were delivered heavily redacted documents, according to the environmental group's attorney, George Nolan. "TVA has signed these binding contracts, but it's telling people that it hasn't decided," he told the Press. And with the documents redacted, the law center is unable to determine the obligations that TVA will have to these companies, which will ultimately fall to TVA's customers. "The public and ratepayers have a right to know what these contracts say," Nolan told the Press.
Ventura County Star: Protesters disrupt Ventura gas compressor public forum
Wes Woods II, 4/1/22
“The Southern California Gas Company offered design changes to its controversial Ventura gas compressor project that would reduce emissions but activists said Thursday that nothing short of closure will satisfy them,” the Ventura County Star reports. “The gas company is proposing to convert two of its four planned gas compressors to electric, ensuring less pollution, SoCalGas officials said at a public meeting Thursday about the project. The other two compressors will be powered by gas as planned. Tomás Rebecchi, a local organizer for national nonprofit Food & Water Action, told the Star the community needs more than electric compressors added to the project to satisfy their demands. "Their preferred alternative is to keep it in our neighborhood but just put electric compressors but we wanted to make loud and clear again that we want the compressor out of our neighborhood and we want an independent EIR (environmental impact report)," said Rebecchi, who lives within two blocks of the compressor. About 40 people protested the controversial gas compressor proposal at a public meeting hosted by SoCalGas in Ventura on Thursday.”
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Stopping Climate Change Is Doable, but Time Is Short, U.N. Panel Warns
Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong, 4/4/22
“Nations need to move away much faster from fossil fuels to retain any hope of preventing a perilous future on an overheated planet, according to a major new report on climate change released on Monday, although they have made some progress because of the falling costs of clean energy,” the New York Times reports. “The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of experts convened by the United Nations, warns that unless countries drastically accelerate efforts over the next few years to slash their emissions from coal, oil and natural gas, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, will likely be out of reach by the end of this decade… “But the task is daunting: Holding warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius would require nations to collectively reduce their planet-warming emissions roughly 43 percent by 2030 and to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by the early 2050s, the report found. “This is a climate emergency,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, adding that wealthy economies and corporations “are not just turning a blind eye; they are adding fuel to the flames. They are choking our planet, based on their vested interests and historic investments in fossil fuels, when cheaper, renewable solutions provide green jobs, energy security, and greater price stability.” “...Most of the world’s coal and natural gas plants would either need to shut down or install carbon capture technology that can trap emissions and bury them underground. Such technology has been slow to take off because of its high costs… “Even in the best case, humanity is unlikely to eliminate all of its planet warming emissions, the report warned. So countries will likely also have to devise ways to remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year by around midcentury. One strategy could be to plant more trees, although that may not be enough, the report cautioned. Other options include devices that suck carbon out of the air, though these technologies are still immature.”
E&E News: Carbon removal ‘unavoidable’ as climate dangers grow — IPCC
Chelsea Harvey, 4/5/22
“Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is essential to meet the Paris Agreement’s looming climate targets, according to a major report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” E&E News reports. “It’s all but impossible to achieve net-zero carbon emissions — the key to halting global warming — without sucking massive amounts of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere using trees, technology and other carbon sinks, the report says. But there’s a catch. If the world relies too heavily on carbon removal, society runs the risk of overshooting the Paris targets — and experiencing increasingly severe climate impacts. That’s the delicate line for carbon dioxide removal, making it an often fraught topic among climate scientists, activists and policymakers… “The IPCC report released yesterday digs into some of these questions. It includes an entire section on carbon dioxide removal, making it a more prominent feature of discussion than it has been in previous IPCC reports… “But, in theory, the world could take it a step further. Instead of merely offsetting hard-to-scrub emissions, carbon removal could potentially be used to pull out more CO2 than the world is pouring in. It’s a concept known as “negative emissions” — and if successful, it could actually lower the Earth’s temperatures. But scientists have warned for years that it’s a risky business… “And the report is clear that, even though some carbon removal is necessary to reach the world’s climate goals, it “cannot serve as a substitute for deep emissions reductions.”
E&E News: IPCC report: Oil, renewables and ‘stranded assets’
David Iaconangelo, Carlos Anchondo, 4/5/22
“The world’s leading climate scientists issued an urgent call yesterday to transform the global energy sector by sharply pulling back on fossil fuel consumption and turning en masse toward renewable electricity and other clean sources,” E&E News reports. “...For example, the “widespread electrification of end uses,” from cars to buildings’ space heat and stoves, should be a common cornerstone of national transitions, according to the IPCC, the United Nations’ body for evaluating the science related to climate change. Without carbon capture, coal and gas plants would need to retire about 23 years earlier than expected in order to hold global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and 17 years earlier in the case of the 2 C limit, according to the report… “Even if carbon capture systems are widely deployed, staying within the Paris Agreement’s limits “will strand fossil-related assets,” likely to the tune of trillions of dollars, wrote the IPCC’s scientists… “During a press conference yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres hammered home that point. “Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals, but the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels,” Guterres said. “Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness,” said Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal. “Such investments will soon be stranded assets, a blot on the landscape and a blight on investment portfolios.” Even continuing to use today’s levels of fossil infrastructure will pitch the world past 1.5 C of global warming, the report said.”
The Revelator: Oil Development Is Changing the Rules of the Game for Wildlife
Tara Lohan, 4/4/22
“Major ecological changes are afoot in western Canada’s boreal forests, and they have scientists concerned,” The Revelator reports. “...But research published in 2020 showed that landscape changes like oil development and logging are ultimately responsible for caribou declines. Clearings in the forest, the researchers found, function like predator highways and aid the wolves in their hunting. Now a new study in the journal Science of the Total Environment shows that development from the oil industry in Alberta is causing more than just a change in wolf-caribou relations… “What this paper showed is that these features are bringing animals together,” says Fisher, a study co-author, who also leads the mammal component of the Oil Sands Monitoring Program, which tracks the environmental impact of extraction in Alberta. “The industrial footprint changes the rules of the eternal game of hide-and-seek between predators and prey,” he adds. Scientists are realizing this can have far-reaching effects across the ecosystem.”
Press release: WOLF MIDSTREAM AND PARTNERS SELECTED TO DEVELOP POTENTIAL SEQUESTRATION HUB
3/31/22
“Wolf Midstream (Wolf), Whitecap Resources (Whitecap), the First Nation Capital Investment Partnership (FNCIP) and Heart Lake First Nation have been selected by the Government of Alberta to enter into an agreement to pursue the development of a potential carbon sequestration hub in the Fort Saskatchewan area, following a highly competitive RFPP process. Wolf and partners will conduct a technical evaluation of the geographic area this year to confirm its suitability prior to applying for a long-term lease to be issued by the Government of Alberta… “The sequestration hub will serve large facilities in Alberta's Industrial Heartland that are seeking an independent, safe, and timely CO2 sequestration solution. Initial hub volumes are expected to be between two to three million tonnes per annum (MTPA) with significant expansion capability to support current and future requirements of Fort Saskatchewan area businesses. The partners will initiate development work immediately to ensure an in-service date prior to the end of 2024.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Money Pouring Into Fossil Fuels Risks Climate Disaster, UN Report Warns
Natasha White and Eric Roston, 4/4/22
“The world’s leading climate finance experts and economists warned that too much money continues to pour into fossil fuels and too little is channeled to clean energy, putting the planet on track to blow past its limit to avoid catastrophic global warming,” Bloomberg reports. “...Finance is both driving the problem and a “critical enabler” in the energy transition, the panel said. For the world to meet its climate target requires a “substantial reduction in overall fossil-fuel use” that “will leave a substantial amount of fossil fuels unburned,” the IPCC said. And yet the finance sector continues to fund fossil-fuel development. Over half of the 150 biggest financial institutions globally have no restrictions on financing oil and gas, and two-thirds of the world’s largest banks and asset managers are failing to set concrete climate targets for this decade, according to two separate analyses by NGOs. For their part, a whopping 83% of the world’s biggest polluting firms are yet to map a meaningful path to net-zero emissions, a leading investor alliance found. There’s a “systemic underpricing” of climate risk in the financial system, according to the IPCC.”
Stop the Money Pipeline: Over 35,000 Customers of Wall Street Banks Demand an End to Fossil Fuel Financing
4/5/22
“Over 35,000 customers of JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America have added their names to open letters, urging their banks to stop financing fossil fuel corporations. The letters are the launchpad of a major national campaign led by customers and supported by the 200+ member groups of the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition. “Bank of America may not listen to me as a single customer,” said Ashley Craig, who has been a Bank of America customer for the past 20 years. “But now that we’re more than 10,000 Bank of America customers speaking with one voice, we hope that we’ll get their attention.” Ms. Craig was part of a team of customers who sent the open letters to the CEOs of the four banks this morning. The customers have requested a meeting with the CEOs to discuss their concerns… “One of the IEA’s most important findings is that "there is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply" if we are to curtail global warming to 1.5°C. In spite of this, in 2021 alone, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America provided $47.2 billion to the 100 corporations most aggressively expanding their fossil fuel operations. This doesn’t look set to change any time soon.”
Reuters: Methane hub to help countries meet global goal
By Valerie Volcovici, 4/1/22
“Countries that plan to slash methane emissions to meet the goals of a global methane pact will have access to the first tranche of funding from a hub to be launched next week that will offer grants and technical support,” Reuters reports. “The new Global Methane Hub will donate the first $10 million in funds to help 30 countries develop plans over three years to achieve the Global Methane Pledge's target to collectively reduce methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. More than 100 countries joined the effort led by the United States and European Union to slash emissions of the potent greenhouse gas. The plan was formally launched at the Glasgow climate talks last November. At that time, more than 20 major philanthropic institutions donated nearly $300 million to the hub, which will provide funding and support for countries that signed up to the pledge to help them gather data, develop rules and acquire technology to track methane emissions.”
OPINION
Madison.com: Pam Johnson: Tribes oppose risky and unnecessary Line 5 pipeline in northern Wisconsin
Pam Johnson, of Manistee, Mich., is a tribal councilor for the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, 4/5/22
“The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians opposes the continued operation of Line 5 in northern Wisconsin, including the proposed rerouting of the pipeline around the Bad River Reservation, about 280 miles north of Madison,” Pam Johnson writes for Madison.com. “We also oppose the position taken by tribal member Ron Spoerl in a recent guest column in the Wisconsin State Journal, “Let oil and gas pipeline detour tribal land in northern Wisconsin.” Spoerl's pro-Line 5 opinions are his own and not supported by the tribe. Given what we know about climate change and advances in clean energy technology, there is no good reason to keep Line 5 open… “That is why our tribe must respond to Spoerl's view. While he tried to use his Native American heritage in an attempt to sow division, The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is united in its opposition to Line 5. Spoerl also could make money by contracting with Enbridge on the pipeline work… “Spoerl claims that Line 5 pipeline owner Enbridge has “respectfully engaged with Native American leadership.” Tribes all along the pipeline’s route -- in northern Wisconsin, throughout Michigan and in northern Ontario -- have all voiced united opposition to Line 5’s continued existence and have demanded it be shut down. Our stances as sovereign nations have been ignored at every turn. It is a far stretch to label this disregard as “respectful.” The respectful thing to do is to honor our land, homes and way of life by ending the operation of the Line 5 pipeline.”
Common Dreams: Appalachia Knows There’s a Climate Crisis. Does President Biden?
Russell Chisholm is a fierce opponent of the Mountain Valley Pipeline based out of Newport, Virginia. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition, 4/5/22
“As an Army veteran who served in Desert Storm and a frontline organizer in the fight to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline, I am certain that a transition to renewable energy is what our world needs right now,” Russell Chisholm writes for Common Dreams. “We can’t keep watching as fossil fueled wars displace and kill thousands of people around the world, from Ukraine to Iraq. Not only are these wars inhumane; they threaten the possibility of a livable future for everyone on this planet. They underscore the need to stop projects like MVP and transition to renewable energy. In the past few weeks, we have witnessed the fossil fuel industry and its political allies spread lies about the impact of fracked gas and Liquid Natural Gas (LNG). Industry cronies have been baselessly declaring that completing the MVP will help our allies in Ukraine. The industry is taking advantage of a brutal war to put profit over people… “Here in Appalachia, we know that we can’t afford to move backward on climate progress. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is not acting in alignment with people on the frontlines of the climate crisis and environmental justice—the very communities it has claimed to put first. This month, the administration announced it will increase US liquid natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe to alleviate their dependence on Russian oil and gas. This is a massive concern for the future of climate action because building new fossil fuel infrastructure could result in the US relying on gas for longer—despite widespread certainty that all countries should be phasing off fossil fuels, including in the newest IPCC report, published Monday. Here in Appalachia, we know that we can’t afford to move backward on climate progress. Stopping the MVP isn’t about completion numbers anymore. It’s not even about permits. We are in the midst of a climate emergency, and that means this project can never be put into service… “I served in Desert Storm. Now I’ve devoted my life to protecting my community’s land and water from the threat of unnecessary fossil fuel expansion. It’s time to turn away from fossil fuels and kickstart a just transition to a renewable and clean energy future. It’s time to declare a climate emergency and ban fossil fuel leasing on federal lands and waters. Here in Appalachia, we’re ready. Are you, President Biden?”
The Telegraph: Changing the conversation from drilling to spilling
Robert Schwaninger, 4/4/22
“The push for independence from foreign sources of petroleum is rising up again. With a renewed cry of “drill baby drill,” the friends of Big Oil are attempting to leverage the recent rise in oil prices to justify their position,” Robert Schwaninger writes for The Telegraph. “But is increased drilling the best or only option available to the United States in the quest for energy independence.? The newly passed Infrastructure Bill finances wind power off the Northeast Coast and 500,000 new charging stations for electric vehicles. The conversion away from the internal combustion engine is increasingly obvious. Edwardsville is the latest location of a large oil spill due to a pipeline rupture, sending 163,800 gallons of oil into Cahokia Creek, bespoiling a precious nature area and waterway. Why did it happen? According to Doug May of Collinsville and the United Steel Workers, the pipeline is built with substandard, corroded materials. That opinion is supported by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration. This horrific spill may remind you of the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been denied federal approval. Approval might have been given if Keystone (operated by TC Energy) did not have a 12,000 barrel spill that occurred in the Dakotas. Short-sighted members of Congress have consistently called for additional drilling, fracking, and any other method of extracting petroleum and natural gas from the earth… “Spills poison the earth, wildlife, creeks, rivers and ground water and often take untold years to “clean up” despite the losses that can never be remedied or replaced. The effects of the Edwardsville spill will likely be evident for a generation. It is a tragedy that could have been avoided but not by those whose only answer is “drill baby drill”.
The Hill: Senate: Don’t waste a perfectly good oil crisis
William S. Becker is a former U.S. Department of Energy central regional director who administered energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies programs, and he also served as special assistant to the department’s assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy, 4/4/22
“Unless he’s careful, history will remember Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) as “Retro Joe,” the accidental power broker in the United States Senate who put America’s economy into reverse, stalled us in the tumultuous fossil energy era, and plunged us further into catastrophic climate change,” William S. Becker writes for The Hill. “The Democrats’ necessary swing vote in the Senate, Manchin is most responsible for holding up President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill and its $555 billion investment in carbon-free energy… “Insofar as the federal government is involved in energy infrastructure, Congress should be directing resources to a post-oil economy… “The fossil-energy industry argues it can be part of a zero-carbon future by trapping its carbon pollution and burying it or making new products. But that would do nothing to eliminate pollution in fossil-fuel value chains. And the expense of carbon capture, if it were plausible, would make fossil fuels and carbon products uncompetitive with naturally clean alternatives… “In short, it’s time to begin saying goodbye to the fossil energy era… “Arresting climate change requires that red, blue and purple states turn to green energy. It promises extraordinary rewards while avoiding extraordinary risks. We can transition to a zero-carbon economy by following a simple rule: Invest in the future rather than the past and in what makes us stronger rather than weaker.”
Guardian: The world is on fire. Why is Canada considering massive new oil drilling?
Conor Curtis and Tzeporah Berman, 4/5/22
Coal and other fossil fuels are “choking humanity”. Those were the words of António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, in response to the sobering recent International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which warned that the world has a small window remaining to act before irreversible and catastrophic impacts are locked in,” Conor Curtis and Tzeporah Berman write for the Guardian. “...Canada and Norway are two of the world’s biggest fossil-fuel producers. While the two countries have demonstrated leadership in terms of putting a price on carbon pollution and getting rid of coal plants, they share a major blind spot when it comes to oil… “Case in point: a Norwegian company, Equinor, is now proposing a giant oil drilling project called Bay du Nord off the coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The project is estimated to produce up to 73m barrels a year, which is equivalent to adding more than 7m gas-powered cars to the road. This calls into question the Canadian federal cabinet’s commitment to climate action and risks local ecosystems and the fisheries and other industries that depend upon them… “It’s time for Canada to stop adding to the problem and put our political and financial resources into building renewables and electrification at scale to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Canada has already committed to stop financing oil and gas internationally, making it hypocritical to then support more oil and gas development at home.”
Financial Post: 'A bad joke': Canada's new climate plan is Alberta's burden
Chris Varcoe, 4/4/22
“There’s plenty of heavy lifting to be done by Canadians to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent or more by the end of this decade as the country aims to hit its climate targets,” Chris Varcoe writes in the Financial Post. “Not all lifting will be done equally, leaving Alberta Environment Minister Jason Nixon to say it “disproportionately punishes the people in this province.” “...That is a decline of 40 per cent from 2019 levels, and it makes up nearly half — 48 per cent — of the entire national emissions reduction by the end of this decade, according to the model. “The proposed plan is a bad joke,” Premier Jason Kenney said… “In an interview, Nixon noted Alberta could shut down the entire oilsands tomorrow and still not meet the forecasted reduction in the federal document. “It disproportionately punishes the people in this province.” In an interview, Guilbeault disagreed, saying the federal plan is ambitious but also realistic — and will ensure Albertans continue to have good jobs.”
Toronto Sun: Federal oil and gas emissions plan will hurt Canadians
Deborah Jaremko is director of content for the Canadian Energy Centre, 4/4/22
“The federal government’s plan to require a 42% reduction in emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector by 2030 is based on assumptions divorced from reality and will ultimately hurt Canadians,” Deborah Jaremko writes for the Toronto Sun. “Setting aggressive targets to cap and reduce the sector’s pollution – while no other major producing nation does the same – is misleading about the future and sends the wrong message to our allies and the world… “Making targets come too fast and run too deep threatens new projects and will inevitably reduce production… “Bottom line: enacting policies to shut down Canadian oil and gas production will have no impact on global emissions or demand… “We can do more to help the world by growing production and exports of responsibly produced energy than we can by enacting policies that will shut the sector down… “The federal government’s aggressive plan to reduce emissions from oil and gas will hurt hundreds of Indigenous communities who need responsible resource development to achieve prosperity and opportunity, says B.C. Indigenous business leader and former elected councillor Chris Sankey… “Reducing emissions is important, but, as we can clearly see today with the growing energy security crisis from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it’s not the only factor to ensure society’s comfort and success.”