EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/6/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Siouxland News: Along the Route: Pipelines seek land rights through easement agreements
The Courier: Sen. Sandy Salmon files pipeline objection
WPBN: Tribal reps send report to UN opposing Canada's support for Line 5
Energy & Policy Institute: Virginia Regulator Who Pushed Gas Pipeline to Soon Rule on its Permit
CBC: Anarchists behind Coastal Gaslink Pipeline project attack, police say [VIDEO]
Associated Press: Cities will get nearly $200M in grants for pipeline upgrades
U.S. Dept. of Transportation: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Historic Funding for 37 Projects to Improve Safety, Fix Old, Leaky Gas Pipes and Create Jobs
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Reps. Levin, Casten craft counterproposal to GOP permitting plan
Press release: Congress Urged to Zero Out Funding for Federal Oil, Gas Programs
Politico: Willow Court Battles Continue
Law360: Tug Of War Likely With BLM Public Lands Rule
E&E News: Feds: Safety Risks Remain 13 Years After Deepwater Horizon
STATE UPDATES
Politico: Hochul officials drop proposal to weaken climate law amid criticism
Colorado Sun: Here’s how Colorado plans to slow global warming using carbon capture
Colorado Public Radio: As Suncor restarts its Commerce City refinery, neighbors demand a plan to prevent future pollution incidents
Casper Star-Tribune: Lease sale moves forward with about half the proposed acreage
New York Times: In Pristine Alaska, an Oil Giant Prepares to Drill for Decades
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: Alberta regulator confirms Kearl oil sands toxins found in small fish-bearing water body
Barron’s: Exxon Thinks Low-Carbon Sales May One Day Rival Oil’s
Truthout: Emissions From Offshore Drilling in Gulf of Mexico Are Double Official Estimates
Equiterre: Groups call for competition law that can tackle the climate crisis
Press release: Linde Signs Agreement With Exxon For CO2 Transport And Storage
CLIMATE FINANCE
Stand.earth: RBC refuses to let Indigenous delegates, including Wet’suwet’en Hereditary leadership, Black Gulf South representatives into AGM in Saskatoon
Reuters: Energy buyout firm NGP eyes $7 bln Permian asset sales
OPINION
The Hill: The clean-energy war goes local
PIPELINE NEWS
Siouxland News: Along the Route: Pipelines seek land rights through easement agreements
Katie Copple, 4/5/23
“For many residents in the Midwest, farming isn't their job. It's their life. Land passed from generation to generation, decades of history throughout the grounds,” Siouxland News reports. “We have a century farm," Woodbury County landowner Deb Main told the News, "My dad entrusted me to care for his land. Now, two multi-million dollar companies want to use that land to install carbon capture pipelines across the central United States. "We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on easements to date to the U.S. landowner and we're not stopping," Summit CEO Lee Blank told the News. "We're going to continue to do that until we get ourselves in a position where we got 100%." “...But not everyone in the path of the pipeline is on board. "Without the limitation of contact with landowners, then land agents are still harassing landowners incessantly to sign easements and offering more and more and more money, which is the bribery situation. It's not a business plan. It's a bribery situation." Deb Main is one of more than a dozen landowners in the tri-state area who oppose these pipelines. She has yet to sign an easement to give the companies access to her land… “I sat down with nearly a dozen landowners and residents who oppose the pipelines to discuss why they are fighting back against these multi-million dollar companies. One of their biggest points was easements… "At the informative meetings that are required in Iowa by the Iowa Utilities Board," said Main, "you not only got the information from the pipeline company, but outside the meeting, they had survey companies there and land agents and they invited you to go talk with them and schedule your survey and sign an easement before you knew anything about this." “...But for some, that land they hold is priceless. "The easements are permanent easements," Jodie Wilson, who is fighting for her mother's rights as a property owner, told the News. "They are just not for the project. They get done with it after they’ve collected all of their tax credits, they could sell it to another company and we have no say about it and we just have to live with it."
The Courier: Sen. Sandy Salmon files pipeline objection
Sandy Salmon, 4/5/23
“State Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, filed an objection with the Iowa Utilities Board about companies that want to use eminent domain to force easements to build carbon dioxide pipelines,” The Courier reports. “Iowa law says the proposed services must ‘promote the public convenience and necessity,” Salmon wrote the letter filed with the board Tuesday. “It is a huge stretch of the imagination to say that the carbon pipeline project promotes public convenience and necessity because it is needed to fight climate change and therefore it is a public necessity.” Salmon opposes pipeline projects by Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures.”
WPBN: Tribal reps send report to UN opposing Canada's support for Line 5
Brandon Chew, 4/5/23
“Several representatives of Indigenous communities have submitted a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council urging the Canadian Government to withdraw its support for Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipeline, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac,” WPBN reports. “The report has been submitted for consideration under Canada's fourth Universal Periodic Review, in which Canada's human rights record will be reviewed and scrutinized by other U.N. member States. The report states that continued operation of Line 5 poses the risk of a "catastrophic oil spill" that would threaten natural and cultural resources and endanger the way of life of Indigenous communities. "Enbridge is operating Line 5 without valid easements, and has also been found to be trespassing on Indigenous Peoples’ land," the report states. "Indigenous Peoples on both sides of the border and the U.S. State of Michigan have publicly expressed opposition to the pipeline and called for its decommissioning." “...The Bad River Band is saddened by the fact that Canada’s actions have required us to raise our complaints with the United Nations, but Canada has left the Tribes with no choice,” Chairman Michael Wiggins Jr. of the Bad River Band told WPBN. “Canada has deliberately interfered in our efforts to protect our homeland. It has sought to block us from evicting a company that has trespassed on our lands for a decade and whose actions pose an existential threat to the Bad River watershed and our very way of life. It has likewise interfered with the efforts of Bay Mills and our other sister tribes in Michigan to protect their sacred waterways and fisheries. Canada’s prioritization of the profits of its oil and gas companies over the rights of Indigenous peoples on both sides of the border demands the attention of all people of good faith.”
Energy & Policy Institute: Virginia Regulator Who Pushed Gas Pipeline to Soon Rule on its Permit
Itai Vardi, 4/5/23
“An environmental regulator in Virginia who quietly promoted a proposed gas pipeline project may soon rule on one of its permits,” the Energy & Policy Institute reports. “TC Energy’s river and stream crossing permit application for its Virginia Reliability Project is currently before the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), which will rule on the permit in the next few months. James (JJ) Minor, a VMRC board member, lobbied for the project last year… “Based on documents provided by the Energy and Policy Institute, the Richmond Times-Dispatch revealed in August that Minor, who works for the city of Richmond and heads the Richmond chapter of the NAACP, used a private email account to promote the pipeline project. Writing on behalf of “Team VRP,” Minor urged city of Petersburg officials to send ghostwritten letters supporting the project to FERC… “The area adjacent to the Petersburg compressor station is an environmental justice community. TC Energy’s own statistical analysis submitted to FERC found that people living along the project route and compressor stations suffer from significantly higher health risks compared to the state and national averages, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, life expectancy, low birth weight, and exposure to PM2.5 pollution. Minor also recruited a Black leader to TC Energy’s Community Advisory Committee, a body the company established in order to garner support for the pipeline from affected communities. An investigation by the Guardian found that the committee includes a number of Black pastors. A 2019 report by the NAACP detailed the various deceptive tactics used by the fossil fuel industry at the expense of communities most affected by their pollution. A report by the Energy and Policy Institute similarly documented the ways that utilities use charitable giving to gain support from organizations that represent low-income communities and communities of color… “Minor did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about his precise role or salary with TC Energy. He similarly would not tell the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s whether he was paid by the company or a subsidiary.”
CBC: Anarchists behind Coastal Gaslink Pipeline project attack, police say [VIDEO]
4/5/23
“More than a year after a mysterious attack on a B.C. worksite for the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline, CBC’s Rob Brown learns exclusive details from the RCMP about the people suspected of hijacking an Indigenous-led protest to impose their own agenda,” CBC reports.
Associated Press: Cities will get nearly $200M in grants for pipeline upgrades
4/5/23
“Federal officials announced the first $196 million of grants Wednesday in a $1 billion program to repair and replace aging and sometimes leaking natural gas pipelines across the country,” the Associated Press reports. “The Transportation Department and its Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced that the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, will get $10 million as the first grant recipient. Nineteen other communities will also get grants to help upgrade 270 miles (435 kilometer) of natural gas pipelines, although the government didn’t identify all the recipients. Another nearly $400 million of grants will be announced later this year. The grants, announced by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, will be paid for with money from the infrastructure law President Joe Biden’s administration is touting in a series of events across the country. Several of the pipelines that will be repaired or replaced were installed decades ago, and some of them are leaking. Officials estimate that completing these repairs will help reduce methane emissions by roughly 212 metric tons a year… “Investments in pipeline safety are investments in community safety and our shared environment,” PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown told AP.
U.S. Dept. of Transportation: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Historic Funding for 37 Projects to Improve Safety, Fix Old, Leaky Gas Pipes and Create Jobs
4/5/23
“Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will announce a historic $196 million in grants for 37 projects spread across 19 states. This new grant program helps improve public safety, protect public health, and reduce methane emissions from natural gas distribution pipes. The Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program, established by President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides nearly $1 billion in funding over the course of five years to modernize municipally and community-owned natural gas distribution pipes, helping to keep communities across the country safe from pipeline leaks. “This funding to modernize our gas pipelines will help protect residents from dangerous leaks, create good-paying jobs, and reduce methane emissions in communities across the nation, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. These grants are projected to create hundreds of jobs in rural and urban communities around the U.S. Grant funding recipients will repair, replace, or rehabilitate nearly 270 miles of pipe, thereby reducing methane emissions by approximately 212 metric tons, annually. Ultimately, these projects will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which enables the United States to leverage all available tools to reduce methane emissions while protecting public health, promoting U.S. innovation in new technologies, lowering energy costs for families by reducing inefficiency and waste, and supporting good-paying jobs for thousands of skilled workers across the country… “Secretary Pete Buttigieg will kick off the week of events in Las Cruces, New Mexico, awarding $10 million to the City of Las Cruces… “The next funding opportunity of $392 million is expected to be released in May of this year.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Reps. Levin, Casten craft counterproposal to GOP permitting plan
Maxine Joselow, 4/5/23
“Congress may be out this week, but Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Sean Casten (D-Ill.) are busy drafting a counterproposal to House Republicans’ plan to speed up the permitting process for energy projects,” the Washington Post reports. “Their forthcoming bill, dubbed the Clean Electricity Transmission Acceleration Act, seeks to accelerate the permitting process for renewable energy projects and the transmission lines needed to carry clean electricity nationwide… “It’s clear that H.R. 1 was designed to really just be a laundry list for the fossil fuel industry,” Levin told the Post. “But there are legitimate challenges around the deployment of clean energy that we’ve got to address.” The Levin-Casten proposal would give new authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to site transmission lines that are in the “national interest.” It also would require FERC to “ensure that electric utilities account for the external cost of greenhouse gas emissions when setting their utility rates,” among other things. Levin told the Post he has solicited feedback from fellow members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, while Casten has discussed the measure with fellow members of the moderate New Democrat Coalition.”
Press release: Congress Urged to Zero Out Funding for Federal Oil, Gas Programs
4/5/23
“A coalition of 215 groups today urged House and Senate leaders to end funding for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s fossil fuel extraction programs on public lands and waters. The groups’ letter aligns with U.N. Secretary General António Guterres’ request last month for governments to immediately address the climate crisis by ceasing new oil and gas extraction, and not expanding oil and gas reserves. “It’s shameful that year after year Congress continues funding more fossil fuel extraction on our public lands and oceans despite how dire the climate emergency has become,” said Paulo Lopes, a senior policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Regardless of the political party that’s in control of Congress, this thoughtless facilitation of filthy fracking and drilling continues like clockwork, wreaking havoc on our planet.” In the United States, the burning of fossil fuels accounts for more than 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. One quarter of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions comes from the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels produced on public lands and offshore waters. Since fiscal year 2016 funding for the BLM’s oil and gas management has increased nearly 90%, to $113 million this year. This funding has resulted in the Biden administration approving 6,430 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in its first two years. Likewise, Congress continues to increase funding for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s offshore oil and gas leasing program. The letter asks Congress to stop funding the portion of the Inflation Reduction Act that requires the Interior Department to offer at least 2 million acres of public lands and 60 million acres of offshore waters for oil and gas leasing each year as a prerequisite to installing any new solar or wind energy.”
Politico: Willow Court Battles Continue
4/5/23
“For the second time in two days, a federal judge denied a request by environmental groups to block work on the embattled ConocoPhillips Willow oil project in Alaska, allowing construction that began Tuesday to continue. Green groups appealed Monday’s ruling that the construction was small enough in scope to the 9th Circuit on Tuesday, and sought to halt construction for 14 days while the higher court considers the appeal. Judge Sharon Gleason quickly turned down the request for an injunction pending appeal. ConocoPhillips began ‘surface-disturbing work’ at the site of its planned gravel mine on Tuesday, according to green groups’ legal filing Tuesday. The company plans to use the remaining three weeks of the winter construction season to build a gravel road extension and boat ramp near the village of Nuiqsut that would support construction in future years, Gleason wrote in her ruling Monday. Suzanne Bostrom, senior staff attorney at Trustees for Alaska, which is leading one of the suits, told ME late Tuesday that the group plans to file an emergency appeal to the 9th Circuit to stop the construction ‘as soon as possible.’ It’s unclear if or when the 9th Circuit would take up the appeal; winter construction season ends on April 25.”
Law360: Tug Of War Likely With BLM Public Lands Rule
Juan Carlos Rodriguez, 4/4/23
“The Bureau of Land Management offered a new vision for its stewardship of federal lands with an eye toward conservation measures, but experts say the agency will have to make hard choices about how far it wants to go as stakeholders push to mold the policies to reflect their own priorities. The proposed Public Lands Rule, published in the Federal Register on Monday, contemplates a series of policy changes that would give greater weight to conservation initiatives, including introducing a ‘conservation leasing’ program, establishing that conservation is an acceptable use of federal land on par with any other activity such as oil and gas development or livestock grazing, and fleshing out a compensatory mitigation program, among other things. Comments on the proposal are due by June 20, and Katie Schroder, a partner at Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP and co-chair of the firm’s clean energy and sustainability practice group, said the draft rule is likely to attract a flood of suggestions for how to develop it into a final form. ‘This rule poses more questions for me than answers,’ Schroder said. Already, some industry groups have come out in opposition to the proposal, while environmental organizations have praised it.
E&E News: Feds: Safety Risks Remain 13 Years After Deepwater Horizon
Mike Soraghan, 4/5/23
“Offshore drilling companies and federal regulators have improved safety since Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico more than a decade ago, but many systemic risks remain and the industry’s safety culture is lacking, a new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine study has found. ‘Systemic risk embodies everything, from C-suite priorities and the culture of a team on a rig, to hardware and physical inspections,’ Richard Sears, a Stanford University adjunct professor in the school’s department of energy science and engineering and the chair of the committee that wrote the report, said in a statement Tuesday. ‘The safety and integrity of that system is only as strong as its weakest link.’ For example, the report said drilling and safety technology has improved, and noted that the industry’s main trade group, the American Petroleum Institute (API), has updated 250 safety-related standards since the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. But the report says the industry has failed in many ways to create a culture that supports safety. While the Department of the Interior restructured its regulatory apparatus in the wake of the explosion and massive leak, it lacks authority over many of the companies and rig workers it oversees.”
STATE UPDATES
Politico: Hochul officials drop proposal to weaken climate law amid criticism
MARIE J. FRENCH, 4/5/23
“Gov. Kathy Hochul’s top climate officials, a day after defending a proposal to rewrite the climate law because of cost concerns, said Wednesday that the major change is no longer a priority in budget negotiations after backlash from environmental advocates and lawmakers,” Politico reports. “In an interview with POLITICO, state Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Basil Seggos and NYSERDA president and CEO Doreen Harris indicated that Hochul would not be pushing a controversial plan to change how New York accounts for its emissions. Last week, POLITICO was the first to report that the climate law revision was a priority in budget talks that are set to go into overtime at least until Monday… “The shift comes after Seggos and Harris earlier this week went on a media blitz to defend Hochul’s proposal. They penned an op-ed on the cost concerns, went on Spectrum News’ Capital Tonight and even defended the plan to rewrite the climate law to POLITICO in an interview on Tuesday. Some Democratic lawmakers have slammed the proposal, as have environmental groups who see it as a weakening of the state’s climate law… “Liz Moran, the New York policy advocate for Earthjustice, told Politico it was good the governor has dropped the push… “She told Poliico now the focus could turn to proposals such as electrifying new buildings, a measure to limit gas utility expansion and cap utility bill expenses for low and moderate income New York residents and other priorities. Environmental groups will continue to oppose the accounting change.”
Colorado Sun: Here’s how Colorado plans to slow global warming using carbon capture
Michael Booth, 4/4/23
“A fan-driven carbon sponge billed as North America’s largest carbon capture facility was unveiled Tuesday, with a potential global solution to climate warming arriving in a nondescript Brighton warehouse district,” the Colorado Sun reports. “...Former U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Jared Polis, Global Thermostat Executive Chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. and others were expected on hand for the unveiling of Global Thermostat’s technology… “Direct air capture takes on carbon from ambient air that disperses equally around the globe. That means carbon capture machinery can be placed anywhere on the planet that is economical to build. Global Thermostat’s system uses large fans to force carbon-laden air over material prepared with carbon-absorbing chemicals, as a form of sponge… “The absorbent material is sent through other chemical processes that remove and purify the carbon. That resulting pure carbon can be used as an industrial chemical, such as for the carbonating additive in soft drinks or as feedstock for plastics and other industrial goods. Or it can be piped to underground storage for permanent sequestration. Some environmental groups and researchers call carbon capture the equivalent of a moral hazard, or a solution that ends up encouraging the original culprits to continue dangerous activity. In the case of carbon, the critique is that stuffing carbon underground as a solution to rising CO2 and global warming will make it easier to keep burning fossil fuels. The only real solution, these critics argue, is to immediately stop using fossil fuels. They also contend that producing the machinery for large-scale carbon capture is itself an intense industrial process when the world is not yet running fully on renewable energy. There are also questions about whether long-term underground storage of carbon is realistic or safe. “The only reason to continue subsidizing carbon capture schemes is to please and enrich the fossil fuel industry,” Food & Water Watch has said.
Colorado Public Radio: As Suncor restarts its Commerce City refinery, neighbors demand a plan to prevent future pollution incidents
Sam Brasch, 4/5/23
“Suncor Energy, a Canadian oil and gas company, has nearly resumed full operations at its Commerce City refinery more than three months after a cold snap triggered a mysterious series of failures at the facility,” Colorado Public Radio reports. “The restart already appears to have helped reduce fuel prices across Colorado, but the saga has frustrated residents of the less affluent, largely Latino neighborhoods surrounding the facility. In light of the recent fires and pollution incidents, some community and environmental groups have even demanded a plan to shutter the refinery for good. "This community feels that we have been punished for their errors," Lucy Molina, a Commerce City resident and frontline community organizer with 350 Colorado, an environmental advocacy group, told CPR. "Our gas prices went up and there were still incidents during that shutdown. It is very unnerving." “...Suncor Energy, meanwhile, insists it paused operations to make repairs, which industry experts say signals the company plans to maintain a long-term presence in the community and protect public safety. That's led many critics to call for a more thorough accounting of what went wrong last December and why it led to releases of dangerous pollutants like benzene, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide… “Since the problems started on Dec. 21, Suncor has filed a total of 75 reports with state air regulators acknowledging air pollution emissions above limits set in its state operating permits… “A current point of debate is whether those releases have affected the surrounding neighborhood. In a statement, the company insisted that its own air monitors around the plant have not measured unsafe levels of pollution during the shutdown or the re-start. A state air monitor deployed to a park near the refinery also did not measure pollution levels above federal health standards. Meanwhile, Cultivando, an local community nonprofit, said its own community air monitors tracked an increase in airborne benzene and other air pollutants during the shutdown period but acknowledges the rise could be related to other emission sources and normal winter weather conditions.”
Casper Star-Tribune: Lease sale moves forward with about half the proposed acreage
Nicole Pollack, 4/4/23
“Just over half of the 209 tracts of land being considered for Wyoming’s first federal oil and gas lease sale this year will advance to the final round of public comment, the Bureau of Land Management announced Friday,” the Casper Star-Tribune repots. “The agency removed 93 parcels from the upcoming sale, including 30 located at least partly in priority sage grouse habitat. The remaining 116 eligible parcels span just over 127,000 of the roughly 251,000 acres requested for leasing by oil and gas companies. It will be the second Wyoming oil and gas lease sale held by the agency since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021 — a source of frustration for state officials and industry groups who want to see the BLM resume offering leases quarterly. And it will be the first to take place in the state with the higher minimum bids, rental costs and royalty rates set by last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. “It’s nice to see that we’re hopefully getting back on track to quarterly sales,” Ryan McConnaughey, vice president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, told the Star Tribune. “It is disappointing,” he added, “to see the acreage and the parcels reduced by about half, given the lag that we saw in available lease sales since the Biden administration took over.” The Petroleum Association of Wyoming, the state government and the Western Energy Alliance initially sued the Department of the Interior shortly after Biden took office over what became five consecutive missed lease sales. In September, a federal judge in Wyoming ruled narrowly in favor of the Biden administration, determining that officials justifiably postponed the first lease sale — and that the lawsuit was filed too early to challenge the rest of the missed sales. The industry groups and the state, unsatisfied with the judge’s decision, sued again. That case is still ongoing.”
New York Times: In Pristine Alaska, an Oil Giant Prepares to Drill for Decades
Lisa Friedman and Clifford Krauss, 4/6/23
“On the snowy tundra at the northernmost tip of the United States, more than two dozen yellow dump trucks wait on a glistening ice pad,” the New York Times reports. “It’s been just days since the Biden administration approved an $8 billion project to drill for oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, the nation’s single largest expanse of untouched wilderness. But the oil giant ConocoPhillips is already in motion, massing equipment and flying in workers and provisions to this vast frozen flatland 250 miles above the Arctic Circle… “While scientists have warned that nations must stop approving new oil and gas drilling or face a perilous future on a dangerously heated planet, the people involved in the Willow project are eager to get going. Executives at ConocoPhillips are building an operation to last generations with, perhaps, an eye toward even further expansion inside the reserve at a later date. Like other oil giants that earned record profits in 2022, the company is betting that any pivot away from fossil fuels will take place in a distant future… “But even as ConocoPhillips gears up to build Willow, it faces complications on a planet that is dangerously warming because of the burning of fossil fuels. Average temperatures in the Arctic are increasing about four times as fast as the rest of the globe, and the permafrost is thawing faster than expected. The effects can be seen throughout the region that surrounds the reserve: in flooded ice cellars that can no longer preserve caribou and whale meat. In homes along the coast that are sinking into the ground, and in telephone poles now tilting from erosion. And it can be seen on the ice roads traveled by the oil company, which are growing thinner and melting earlier in the season… “Changes like these will make drilling in the Arctic, already one of the most expensive places in the world to extract oil, only costlier. Global warming presents other economic challenges as well. Will there be demand for the oil in years to come, as renewable power like solar and wind becomes cheaper and more widespread? This is perhaps ConocoPhillips’s biggest gamble.”
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: Alberta regulator confirms Kearl oil sands toxins found in small fish-bearing water body
BOB WEBER, 4/5/23
“Alberta’s energy regulator has confirmed hazardous chemicals are present in a small water body after two releases of tailings-contaminated wastewater from Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands mine,” the Canadian Press reports. “In an update released Tuesday, the agency said hydrocarbons and naphthenic acids have been found in an unnamed fish-bearing lake located almost entirely within Imperial’s lease about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray… “F2 hydrocarbons are lighter petrochemicals. Naphthenic acids are formed from the breakdown of petrochemicals and are typically found in oil sands tailings… “The regulator said the levels of those toxins remain below guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. “There is no indication of a change in drinking water quality at this time and no adverse impacts to fish or wildlife have been observed,” the regulator said. “It is premature to make any conclusions based on these test results and further testing is being done.” “...The news follows an earlier warning from Environment Canada that Imperial must take action to prevent the chemicals from entering fish-bearing waters, which would violate the Fisheries Act. That act prohibits any discharge of harmful material into fish-bearing water. Martin Olszynski, a professor of resource law at the University of Calgary, told CP the regulator’s finding could have a bearing on whether Imperial faces charges under the act.”
Barron’s: Exxon Thinks Low-Carbon Sales May One Day Rival Oil’s
Avi Salzman, 4/5/23
“ExxonMobil executives think revenue from its low-carbon businesses can one day exceed its current oil-and-gas business, and produce even steadier profits,” Barron’s reports. “For now, those goals are a long way off. Exxon is spending about 10% of capital in low-carbon areas, well below some of its peers. But details of its plans released Tuesday are giving some analysts confidence that the company will not only survive the energy transition—Exxon could become a dominant player in a less-polluting world.”
Truthout: Emissions From Offshore Drilling in Gulf of Mexico Are Double Official Estimates
Shannon Kelleher, 4/4/23
“Offshore oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico are releasing far higher quantities of a potent greenhouse gas than regulators have estimated, according to a new study published Monday,” Truthout reports. “The analysis reveals that the climate change impact of these activities is more than double what official estimates suggest. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that 2021 calculations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – using data from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) – correctly estimated carbon dioxide emissions but underestimated methane emissions. The data, which is based on engineering information, rather than on-site observations, failed to capture methane emissions because an older type of shallow-water platform used in offshore drilling often behaves like a “super-emitter,” leaking large amounts of the greenhouse gas, said Alan Gorchov Negron, a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan and first author of the study. These platforms are central hub gathering and processing facilities, which collect oil and gas through pipelines that extend from smaller nearby platforms. “They’re a fraction of the platforms in the Gulf of Mexico but they contribute disproportionately to the total methane emissions and total greenhouse gas emissions,” said Negron. “We don’t know exactly why the methane emissions are higher than what the inventory expects,” he added. “It’s either because of unknown emissions or unreported emissions.” The study’s findings come “on an eve of a series of expansions in [oil and gas] production” for the Gulf of Mexico, said Negron. At an auction last week, oil and gas extraction companies gained access to 1.6 million acres of waters in the Gulf – a drop in the 73.3 million-acre federal waters “bucket” that BOEM has opened for bidding. Ten more lease sales are proposed for between 2023 and 2028, said Negron. “These lease sales have regions of shallow waters that they propose for expanded production that they’re willing to auction off,” said Negron. “We show that if you’re going to expand production of shallow waters, you need to contend with the reality that shallow waters, as currently operated in some places, have a disproportionate climate impact.”
Equiterre: Groups call for competition law that can tackle the climate crisis
4/5/23
“Environmental and health groups across the country, Ecojustice, the Quebec Environmental Law Center, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), Équiterre, University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre, are calling for the federal Competition Act to be modernized to help Canada effectively address the climate crisis and tackle the scourge of greenwashing across the country. These groups have made submissions to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) urging that sustainability considerations be incorporated into the reform of this legislation. A public consultation ended last Friday and, over the coming months, ISED will review the input they have received and prepare a first draft of proposed amendments for Parliament to consider. In its current state, the Competition Act is not equipped to effectively address greenwashing and support our transition to a net-zero economy. Unless Canada sets clear standards and has effective legal mechanisms to hold those making claims about their climate commitments to account, we have little chance of achieving our climate goals. Competition law reform is not the sole answer to the climate crisis. It does, however, offer an important economic lever that complements other environmental and climate policies.”
Press release: Linde Signs Agreement With Exxon For CO2 Transport And Storage
4/5/23
“Linde announced today that it has signed a long-term agreement with ExxonMobil for the off-take of carbon dioxide associated with Linde's new clean hydrogen production in Beaumont, Texas. Linde previously announced that it will build, own and operate an on-site complex to supply clean hydrogen and nitrogen to OCI Global's (Euronext: OCI) new world-scale blue ammonia plant. Linde's new facility is expected to start up in 2025 and will be integrated into Linde's extensive U.S. Gulf Coast industrial gas infrastructure. It will also supply clean hydrogen to other new and existing off-takers across the network. Under the terms of the agreement, ExxonMobil will transport and permanently store up to 2.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year from Linde's hydrogen production facility, equivalent to the emissions from nearly half a million cars per year. "Clean hydrogen is a key enabler of industry's transition to a low-carbon economy," said Dan Yankowski, Senior Vice President Americas, Linde… “The company is actively supporting its customers to decarbonize their operations with the latest technologies for clean hydrogen and carbon capture, and by leveraging its world-class engineering organization, its existing hydrogen infrastructure and operational expertise.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Stand.earth: RBC refuses to let Indigenous delegates, including Wet’suwet’en Hereditary leadership, Black Gulf South representatives into AGM in Saskatoon
4/5/23
“RBC’s attempt to divide and threaten with arrest and physical violence the Indigenous delegation – who all have received necessary proxies – and shut out Wet’suwet’en Hereditary leadership is further confirmation of the bank’s commitment to corporate colonialism,” according to Stand.earth. “RBC is the primary financier of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which lacks consent from Hereditary Chiefs, the rightful titleholders of the land. RBC has opted to apply a reserve system to its AGM, forcing Indigenous delegates into a second class room, with a colour coded pass. Attempts by shareholders to hold RBC accountable and to seek change has resulted in the bank recommending the rejection of shareholder proposals around climate targets and Indigenous sovereignty as outlined below: The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, with the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) brought forward a shareholder resolution to push RBC to operationalize free, prior and informed consent into its corporate policies and activities. While BMO and TD have expressed meaningful willingness to improve its policies, RBC has flat out opted to recommend the rejection of the proposal… “This irresponsible and disrespectful move by RBC comes days after traditional owners of the Tiwi Islands in so-called Australia lodged human rights complaints against 12 banks – including RBC – for involvement in a $4.7 billion gas project. Last week, a large force of RCMP C-IRG raided a Gidimt’en village site, and arrested five land and water defenders, mostly Indigenous women on behalf of the RBC-financed CGL pipeline. All of this highlights that RBC has no interest in reconciliation or the rights of Indigenous peoples. They are more focused on their bottom line at the expense of human rights.”
Reuters: Energy buyout firm NGP eyes $7 bln Permian asset sales
4/5/23
“NGP Energy Capital Management is exploring the sale of two Permian basin-focused oil producers which could collectively fetch the private equity firm more than $7 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday,” Reuters reports. “Dallas-based NGP is working with investment banks to sell the oil producers, Tap Rock Resources and Hibernia Resources, in auction processes that are expected to kick off in the coming weeks, the sources told Reuters. Efforts to cash out on the assets come as higher energy prices boost valuations of oil producers. U.S. crude has jumped to $81 a barrel since members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia announced on Sunday production cuts of about 1.16 million barrels per day, adding to curbs already in place… “Tap Rock, among the largest private equity-controlled oil producers left in the Permian basin, is producing more than 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Delaware portion of the basin in New Mexico, according to its website. The oil firm could fetch NGP around $5 billion, the sources told Reuters. Hibernia, which operates in the Midland part of the Permian basin in Texas, could be worth upwards of $2 billion, the sources added.”
OPINION
The Hill: The clean-energy war goes local
William S. Becker is a former U.S. Department of Energy central regional director, 4/4/23
“The oil and gas industry waged a decades-long war against America’s transition to a carbon-free energy system despite its benefits for public health, the economy and climate stability,” William S. Becker writes for The Hill. “The industry won battle after battle until 2021 and 2022, when Congress passed two bills that offer hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for America to invest in zero-carbon energy. But the industry hasn’t lost the war yet, and it hasn’t stopped fighting. It has turned its heavy artillery toward states and communities, which will decide whether to take advantage of the new incentives. Unsurprisingly, oil and gas companies are not playing nice. They are pushing back against communities that want to reduce their use of fossil fuels… “As Congress dilly-dallied for a generation, states assumed leadership on mitigating climate change, partly by requiring electric utilities to generate some of their electricity with carbon-free resources like sunlight and wind. But now, localities are up against the industry’s disinformation campaigns… “Nevertheless, the gas company’s disinformation resulted in Gunnison’s leaders tabling their energy-efficient building policies for three years… “Elsewhere in Colorado, a group called Coloradans for Energy Access opposes “forced electrification” policies. In Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation that defines natural gas as “green energy,” even though it clearly is not. And as news media reported recently, individuals and groups are discouraging rural communities from allowing the development of utility-scale wind and solar farms… “At every level of government, American citizens and their elected leaders must decide what makes more sense: investing in a future of escalating climate disasters and environmental degradation from gas extraction or a future of clean and renewable energy. If it’s the latter, communities should arm their people with good information because they aren’t likely to get it from their local gas company.”