EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 5/26/22
(Note to Readers: ”Extracted” is taking a break for the Memorial Day holiday. The next edition will be published on Tuesday, May 31.)
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: FERC enforcement ramp-up spurs pipeline wars
Mississippi Valley Publishing: Supervisors consider letter opposing pipeline
KMA: Fremont County board gets update on Summit carbon pipeline
Natural Gas Intelligence: North Dakota Extends Deadline for West-to-East Natural Gas Pipeline Proposals
Clean Air Council: ENERGY TRANSFER APPEALS OF AIR PERMIT FOR MARCUS HOOK TERMINAL END
E&E News: Company finalizes first U.S. LNG project in 3 years
Press release: ENBRIDGE ADVANCING CONSTRUCTION OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINE TO VENTURE GLOBAL'S PLAQUEMINES LNG FACILITY
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: BLOCK THE EXPORTS?
E&E News: Green group argues federal oil costs more than it's worth
Politico: DEMS PUSH OIL WINDFALL BILL
E&E News: Feds open spigot to tend orphaned wells on public lands
Politico: PRICE GOUGING IN COMMITTEE
Politico: A LOCAL APPEAL FOR FEDERAL PROTECTION
STATE UPDATES
Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Activists push against LNG plants, want renewable energy in southwest Louisiana
KVPR: Idle oil wells leaking methane near Bakersfield were ordered to be plugged weeks ago
EXTRACTION
CNN: Big Oil, flush with cash, is failing on climate pledges
Marketplace: U.S. oil refiners’ margins smash records, but few plan to build more plants
CLIMATE FINANCE
Barron’s: Exxon and Chevron Feel a Mood Shift Going Into Annual Meetings
E&E News: SEC proposes new guidelines for ESG investing
OPINION
Rabble.ca: Fossil gas isn’t natural, and it’s not a climate solution
The Hill: Inequality fuels the climate crisis
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: FERC enforcement ramp-up spurs pipeline wars
Miranda Willson, Mike Soraghan, 5/25/22
“Last year, the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission delivered a message to the energy industry: “The cop is back on the street,” E&E News reports. “Chair Richard Glick was referring to FERC’s Office of Enforcement, which seeks to ensure energy and power companies comply with the independent agency’s rules. Last fiscal year, the office opened 12 new investigations compared to six the previous year… “But as the agency seeks to penalize pipelines for permit violations — including pursuing record-setting fines — developers are hitting back with legal challenges that, if successful, could chip away at the commission’s enforcement powers. That in turn could make it more difficult to penalize companies for spills, groundwater contamination and failure to restore the land they trench through to build the lines… “Glick’s leadership has undoubtedly spurred FERC to increase oversight on pipelines, Carolyn Elefant, a former FERC attorney who now represents landowners affected by pipelines, told E&E. Before the Democrat was tapped by President Joe Biden to serve as FERC chair last January, “pipeline stuff was completely below the radar,” she told E&E. Now, FERC is accusing two multibillion-dollar pipeline developers of failing to abide by the conditions and standards they agreed to when they were granted permits. In one case, the enforcement office is proposing its biggest-ever fines in a pipeline construction case. Increased enforcement from FERC may send a message to the natural gas industry that the agency is prepared to hold developers accountable for the terms and conditions included in their permits, Carrie Mobley, an associate at the law firm McGuireWoods LLP, told E&E… “Some companies are going beyond defending themselves to filing lawsuits that challenge FERC’s enforcement process itself… “In contrast to its actions in the Midship case, the commission has traditionally taken pipeline companies at their word when it comes to landowner disputes, Megan Gibson, a senior staff attorney at the Niskanen Center, told E&E… “What’s currently happening with Midship — the investigation, the administrative law judge, everything — it almost never happens because FERC routinely ignores complaints by landowners even when presented with incontrovertible evidence that a regulated entity or pipeline is violating the terms of its own certificate,” Gibson told E&E.
Mississippi Valley Publishing: Supervisors consider letter opposing pipeline
Robin Delaney, 5/24/22
“After hearing still more residents’ objections and concerns regarding the pipelines, particularly that of Navigator CO2 Ventures that is to transport captured carbon dioxide in its liquid form, Lee County Supervisors said they would consider sending a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) opposing the project,” Mississippi Valley Publishing reports. “Even though we have no say whether it gets a permit or not, that’s the only way I think to stop it,” Supervisor Ron Fedler said at the board meeting Monday. “That may influence other counties to say enough is enough.” Supervisor Chairman Matt Pflug agreed. “We hear you, just know that,” Pflug told the group attending Monday’s meeting… “Fedler also suggested that a petition be circulated during the next two weeks for impacted landowners and other Lee County residents to sign… “Ray Menke of Fort Madison read a letter he wrote to the IUB in which he accuses the pipeline companies of running rough shod over those that do not believe in their cause. Further, he said at the informational meeting several months ago, pipeline officials admitted the process is experimental and that they would use eminent domain, which allows government to expropriate private property for public use, with compensation, if necessary. “That means the governor and legislators are willing to allow a business enterprise to permanently destroy some of my business enterprise for an experiment,” Menke said, adding that he was named Conservation Farmer of the Year in 2017 for Southeast Iowa and featured in several related publications. He said after investing money and labor, he will be forced to watch surveyors rip up his land. He said while a landowner subjected to eminent domain is compensated, it is only for the agricultural value and not the value of its future development. He said some landowners are still dealing with the aftermath of the Dakota Access pipeline project that was completed three years ago… “In response to these types of complaints, revisions are pending to the IUB’s Instructions for County Inspectors Manual and Iowa Code Chapter 9.5. Among those revisions is granting the inspector the authority to halt operations during wet conditions that could result in massive damage to the property. Earlier this month, after hearing several complaints related to the Dakota Access pipeline, supervisors approved a letter supporting the revisions.”
KMA: Fremont County board gets update on Summit carbon pipeline
Ethan Hewett, 5/25/22
“Fremont County officials received an update on a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline and re-stated their opposition to eminent domain,” KMA reports. “Meeting in regular session Wednesday morning, the Fremont County Board of Supervisors heard from Paul Phillips and Riley Gibson of Turn Key Logistics on behalf of Summit Carbon Solutions to discuss the economic benefits and current construction timeline for the Midwest Express CO2 pipeline. Phillips says construction of the pipeline -- which consists of just under 700 miles across the five-state project -- is expected to begin in the summer of 2023. Phillips says the hope for the project is to keep the ethanol industry alive, which he says has become a significant destination for Iowa's corn growers. Phillips says if the pipeline can lower the carbon scores for the 32 ethanol plants signed on to the project -- 11 of which are in Iowa -- they would likely be able to sell into low carbon markets such as states like California. At the board's April 27th meeting, the supervisors unanimously approved a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board stating their opposition to eminent domain for the pipeline. Supervisor Dustin Sheldon told KMA that despite some of the positive impacts the pipeline could have, he and the board are still adamantly against the land seizure process. Sheldon says it almost goes against the point of the project. "When you start using your eminent domain, you're taking right from the people that are actually producing the ethanol," Sheldon told KMA. "In my opinion, my resistance will be against eminent domain, so whatever we have to do to prevent that, I'd like to see that done." "...We're not a big oil and gas pipeline project that's just coming to push our way through the state, we're here to be a neighbor," said Phillips. "This is an Iowa company, and we're going to do everything we can to get these easements 100% voluntary. We don't even have a route to condemnation right now." Phillips says the pipeline is expected to provide roughly $1 million annually in tax revenue to Fremont County and $28 million over the project's life.”
Natural Gas Intelligence: North Dakota Extends Deadline for West-to-East Natural Gas Pipeline Proposals
ANDREW BAKER, 5/25/22
“The North Dakota Industrial Commission has extended until Aug. 15 the deadline to submit proposals for a natural gas pipeline connecting the western and eastern portions of the state,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “The state legislature in 2021 approved $150 million in grants to fund the project, stipulating that $10 million of the total must be used for a section to transport gas to Grand Forks County. No proposals for the larger $140 million component were received by the May 1 deadline. Viking Gas Transmission Co., a subsidiary of Oneok Inc., submitted the only proposal for the $10 million Grand Forks section… “As for the larger west-to-east project, “The need and the desire is just as strong today as it ever was, looking at gas production growth expectations in western North Dakota [and] economic development opportunities that exist in eastern North Dakota,” Kringstad told NGI’s Shale Daily. The goal “is to find a way to couple those two sides of the state together with appropriate natural gas infrastructure.” “...Kringstad told NGI some of the hesitancy by companies to submit bids is because of cost inflation for materials. The regulatory uncertainties have become synonymous with greenfield pipeline projects nationwide in recent years, he told NGI. The project would likely fall under FERC jurisdiction, adding to the required regulatory hurdles. In a letter sent to Kringstad in late April, which was first reported by the Associated Press, WBI Energy Transmission, a subsidiary of Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Inc., said it would not submit a proposal. WBI cited inflationary pressures and uncertainty around the siting and regulatory process.”
Clean Air Council: ENERGY TRANSFER APPEALS OF AIR PERMIT FOR MARCUS HOOK TERMINAL END
5/24/22
“On Monday, a six-year saga over air pollution from the Energy Transfer natural gas liquids processing plant and terminal at Marcus Hook ended with a legal settlement in which Energy Transfer agreed to drop its appeals of two air pollution permits,” according to the Clean Air Council. “The settlement ensures that stricter air pollution standards will apply at the facility. Energy Transfer had appealed the two permits to the Environmental Hearing Board (Board) on March 12, 2021, arguing that the emissions from the plant should be considered separately rather than together. One of the two permits was issued as a result of Clean Air Council’s successful April 29, 2016 appeal of an earlier version of the permit. In that appeal, the Board on January 9, 2019 had required the emissions to be considered together because the separate permit applications were really for one project: building the processing plant to handle liquids arriving on the Mariner East pipelines. By breaking the project into pieces, Energy Transfer had tried to avoid having to comply with more stringent air pollution regulations. Clean Air Council intervened in Energy Transfer’s 2021 appeals to prevent Energy Transfer from undoing the Board’s decision… “The settlement allows Energy Transfer to argue in the future that it should be able to permit projects piecemeal, but the dispute over this aspect of the Marcus Hook Terminal permitting is over.”
E&E News: Company finalizes first U.S. LNG project in 3 years
Carlos Anchondo, 5/26/22
“A Virginia-based company said it has secured $13.2 billion of financing for a planned liquefied natural gas facility in Louisiana, marking the first financial close of a U.S. LNG export project since August 2019,” E&E News reports. “Venture Global LNG announced the funding yesterday as well as a final investment decision to move ahead with the Plaquemines LNG facility, whose site is about 20 miles south of New Orleans. The $13.2 billion is for the project’s initial phase and the associated Gator Express pipeline. The project and pipeline reached the financial milestone nearly three years after Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass facility had its financial close, according to a company statement. The decision on Plaquemines also comes as the war in Ukraine surpasses the three-month mark and the European Union issued a plan aimed at reducing dependence on Russian natural gas and oil… “Charlie Riedl, executive director at the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, told E&E that a final investment decision, or FID, means Venture Global has all the necessary permits, commercial agreements, project financing and a contractor in place to build the facility. “While the Plaquemines project is a few years away from operation, continued authorization of U.S. LNG projects will be an important tool for U.S. foreign policy and also help deter bad actors from weaponizing energy,” Riedl told E&E. The Biden administration’s LNG push has led to concerns among some progressive U.S. lawmakers. “It is critically important that our countries not lock ourselves into decades of further reliance on fossil fuels when climate science, environmental justice, and public health concerns necessitate a rapid transition towards full renewable energy,” read a May 19 letter from several Senate and House Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), to President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.”
Press release: ENBRIDGE ADVANCING CONSTRUCTION OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINE TO VENTURE GLOBAL'S PLAQUEMINES LNG FACILITY
5/26/22
“Enbridge Inc. is pleased to announce the advancement of its Venice Extension Project and Gator Express Meter Project to deliver 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to Venture Global's Plaquemines LNG facility located in Plaquemines Parish, LA. The Projects generally will involve 36-inch diameter pipe, metering, and compressor station additions and improvements. The Gator Express Meter Project is expected to be in service in 2023 and Venice Extension Project is expected to be in service in 2024, with an estimated cost for both projects of US$400 million, which is underpinned by long-term take or pay contracts. "Enbridge is excited to continue working with Venture Global on their second LNG project to bring clean, reliable natural gas to the U.S. Gulf Coast for export to global markets," said Cynthia Hansen, Enbridge Executive Vice President and President, Gas Transmission & Midstream. "Our Texas Eastern system is ideally positioned to supply growing North American LNG exports, which are essential to meeting society's energy security and climate change goals."
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: BLOCK THE EXPORTS?
Matthew Choi, 5/25/22
“The Biden administration isn’t ruling out restricting fuel exports to stop the steady rise of U.S. prices, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters in Louisiana Tuesday,” according to Politico. “Granholm made the remark while touring a Strategic Petroleum Reserve site in the state as the administration struggles to bring down record gasoline and diesel prices.”
E&E News: Green group argues federal oil costs more than it's worth
Heather Richards, 5/24/22
“A green group reports that the carbon damage from producing crude oil from federal lands — and combusting it for fuels — costs more than the oil is worth to the government,” E&E News reports. “Friends of the Earth released its report today, calculating that the “social cost of carbon” — a dollar figure penalty to account for the climate impacts of burning fossil fuels — is much higher than the oil and gas revenue coming to the federal government from public lands. The group argues the climate impacts of drilling underscore the need for the Biden administration to shift the federal oil and gas program into retirement. “Biden needs to remove his oil-tinted glasses and start treating oil and gas development with the extreme caution it deserves,” Hallie Templeton, legal director at Friends of the Earth, told E&E in a statement. “If the administration is serious about staving off the worst of the climate catastrophe, the only road forward is no new leases.”
Politico: DEMS PUSH OIL WINDFALL BILL
Matthew Choi, 5/25/22
“Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Whitehouse are releasing a letter today with 44 other Democrats calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring to the floor legislation that would tax large oil companies for windfall profits,” Politico reports. “A windfall tax combined with a rebate to consumers would curb Big Oil’s greed and deliver immediate relief to families struggling with high gas prices,” wrote the Democrats in the letter, obtained by Politico. Democrats backing the oil windfall idea told Politico that they’re hopeful a separate bill being written by Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will incorporate the idea in some form. But Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who is also on the letter, acknowledged both the price gouging bill in today’s Commerce markup and any windfall legislation would have a hard time passing the Senate.”
E&E News: Feds open spigot to tend orphaned wells on public lands
Michael Doyle, 5/25/22
“The Interior Department today announced the distribution of $33 million for work on plugging and cleaning up orphaned oil and gas wells on public lands,” E&E News reports. “The funding provided by a massive infrastructure bill will be spread among 277 projects nationwide, targeting in particular those deemed to pose threats to human health and safety, the climate, and wildlife. “I have seen firsthand how the orphaned oil and gas wells left behind by extractive industries lead to hazardous pollution, water contamination and safety hazards for our communities,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Today’s announcement is part of a total of $250 million provided through the infrastructure bill for cleaning up sites on federal lands, national parks, national wildlife refuges and national forests… “These wells jeopardize public health and safety by contaminating groundwater, seeping toxic chemicals, emitting harmful pollutants including methane, and harming wildlife,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel-Davis, told E&E… “Interior is putting a priority on wells that threaten disadvantaged communities… “Interior estimates there are about 15,000 abandoned wells on federal lands. “We want to push this forward as quickly as possible,” Haaland said.
Politico: PRICE GOUGING IN COMMITTEE
Matthew Choi, 5/24/22
“Senate Democrats’ version of the gas price gouging bill gets a markup today in the Commerce Committee,” Politico reports. “Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is sponsoring the bill, which would give the Federal Trade Commission an enforcement unit to analyze market data to make fuel prices transparent and ensure companies don’t engage in price gouging. The House last week passed its own iteration of the bill, which would also give the president the power to declare energy emergencies, on party lines. Both bills rely on a premise that Republicans reject all together — that oil firms are taking advantage of the war in Ukraine to hike up prices and pocket the difference — and the legislation will have pretty much no chance of getting through the 50-50 Senate. Industry groups and oil executives rebuff that they have much of a say in setting gasoline prices when oil prices are set on global markets and the pandemic and sanctions against Russia reduced global refining capacity. “The largest non-state-owned oil company in the world (ExxonMobil) only has around 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves and production. Even if there was a mechanism for upstream producers to price gouge on the commodity market — which there isn’t — a company that controls such a small fraction of the world’s oil does not have the power to set the price of gasoline,” the American Exploration and Production Council wrote in a blog post.
Politico: A LOCAL APPEAL FOR FEDERAL PROTECTION
Matthew Choi, 5/25/22
“Over 120 elected officials from Western municipalities are urging Haaland to protect more federal lands in the West to preserve biodiversity and combat climate change,” Politico reports. “In a Tuesday letter to Haaland and Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning, the officials called on BLM to more aggressively protect federal lands via designating “Backcountry Conservation Areas; Wilderness Study Areas; Areas of Critical Environmental Concern; and working with The White House to designate national monuments through the use of the Antiquities Act.”
STATE UPDATES
Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Activists push against LNG plants, want renewable energy in southwest Louisiana
Ashley White, 5/24/22
“In the farthest southwest corner of Louisiana, Cameron Parish shines as a true sportsman's paradise,” the Lafayette Daily Advertiser reports. “...For James Hiatt, Cameron Parish also is one of the best places for fishing… “But that road is now inaccessible, replaced by Venture Global LNG with a sea wall to protect the Calcasieu Pass liquid natural gas facility, he told the Advertiser… “Hiatt is part of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to environmental issues. He and other environmental justice advocates want to see Louisiana move away from the petrochemical industry toward cleaner and renewable energy. They argue that while Cameron Parish is on the frontlines of climate change, the victim of an eroding seascape and more frequent and violent natural disasters, it accelerates the issue by being home to three liquid natural gas sites and planning for more… “Despite its clean label, plants also leak methane, which contributes to greenhouse warming at a greater intensity than carbon dioxide, according to the Environmental Defense Fund… “There are plans to expand or create new liquid natural gas facilities in both parishes along the Calcasieu Pass Ship Channel that runs from Lake Charles to the Gulf, according to the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. "What we're looking at now, today, is an unprecedented amount of pressure to build petrochemical facilities for the refining and liquefaction of gas for exports for international exports," cartographer Justin Kray, who works with the nonprofit, told the Advertiser… “The Louisiana Bucket Brigade hopes that by pointing out the harm it says the plants have caused to Cameron and Calcasieu parishes, they can prevent future damage. "At the current stage, we're kind of at a tipping point where three of these plants have been built and are operating," Kray said. "But still, the majority of them are still in the permitting and exploration permitting phase. So there is still opportunity to kind of come to some terms of reckoning." But part of that means convincing locals that the lucrative jobs that come with the plants can be replaced with something else, preferably renewable energy. "We need jobs. What we don't need are jobs that are suicidal and will wipe out the coast. I'm not saying I have the alternate economic thing figured out, but we're not even moving in that direction. That's the problem…We should actually be sprinting towards something different besides a suicidal industry placed directly on one of the most vulnerable coasts that we have,” Hiatt told the Advertiser.
KVPR: Idle oil wells leaking methane near Bakersfield were ordered to be plugged weeks ago
Kerry Klein, 5/24/22
“Last week, environmental groups raised the alarm about two idle oil wells in Kern County that were found to be leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas and potential threat to public health,” KVPR reports. ”The wells, which have been out of production for years but have yet to be permanently sealed, are located just a few hundred feet away from homes in the Morningstar Ranch area of northeast Bakersfield. In a letter submitted last Thursday to state oil, gas and air regulators, representatives of the advocacy groups demanded immediate action from state oil and gas regulators to fix the leaks and permanently seal the wells. They also wrote that an inspector revealed that one well’s methane readings reached maximum detectable levels, which are known to be potentially explosive. Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity and a co-author on the letter, told KVPR he’s concerned about public safety near the wells. “It’s typically the case that wells are not just leaking methane but other substances that are harmful to your health like volatile organic compounds.” “...Beyond permanently sealing these wells, Kretzmann argued that regulators need to take action on tens of thousands of other idle wells throughout the state, many of which have been shown to be leaking methane and other gases. “California needs to crack down on operators who have been letting these wells just sit there unattended and make sure that they’re plugged responsibly and that the site is restored,” he told KVPR.
EXTRACTION
CNN: Big Oil, flush with cash, is failing on climate pledges
Allison Morrow, 5/25/22
“In the peak of 2020 lockdowns, giant oil companies had a wake-up call. Demand had cratered, sapping profits, and it wasn't clear when it would end. That gave environmentally minded investors an in. The pitch: Get on the clean and green path or perish,” CNN reports. “Fossil fuel companies, especially in Europe, responded to pressure from shareholders, customers, activists and governments with bold plans to invest in clean energy. Wall Street, for its part, said it would start holding these companies to account for their pledges on the climate. But half way through 2022, as fossil fuel prices surge and restore oil giants to their pre-pandemic profitability, the push toward green reform appears to have taken a back seat. Exxon (XOM) shares are up 54% this year. Shell (SHLX) is up nearly 44%. BP (BP), which took a huge loss on its Russia business, is up more than 28%. Much of that is thanks to record profits and soaring energy prices. It's little surprise, then, that their report cards on the environment look abysmal. Despite their pledges, major oil companies "still fail to meet the bare minimum for alignment with the Paris Agreement," wrote researchers for Oil Change International, an anti-fossil-fuel advocacy group, in a report released Wednesday. Eight of the major oil producers' plans are "grossly insufficient," they wrote. Outrage is boiling over. But whether shareholders feel the same pressure, when the times are this good, is another question. See here: On Tuesday, Shell's annual shareholder meeting in London was delayed by nearly three hours as protesters chanted "We will stop you," (to the tune of Queen's "We Will Rock You.") A day earlier, one of Shell's safety consultants quit, posting on LinkedIn that she "can no longer work for a company that ignores all the alarms and dismisses the risks of climate change and ecological collapse." A representative for Shell didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Another protest on Wednesday targeted Total's shareholder meeting in Paris. Despite the disruptions, the meetings carried on. A whopping 80% of shareholders approved Shell's climate resolution.”
Marketplace: U.S. oil refiners’ margins smash records, but few plan to build more plants
Andy Uhler, 5/23/22
“Late last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would outlaw what it calls predatory gas prices and also expand federal authority to investigate price gouging allegations,” Marketplace reports. “But getting that oil out of the ground and turning it into something we can put into our cars and trucks isn’t that simple. Even if our refineries are doing it as fast as they can, they’re producing a lot less than they were just a couple of years ago. In fuel refining circles there’s a phrase that gets thrown around quite a bit: crack spread. “The crack spread is the difference between the petroleum product price, such as diesel or gasoline, and crude oil prices,” Jeff Barron, an economist at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, told Marketplace. It’s basically a refiner’s profit margin, he said. Right now, the crack spread is entering record-breaking territory. That’s one reason the price of gasoline or diesel doesn’t drop even when the price of oil does… “According to the Energy Information Administration, the United States will be using about 95% of its refining capacity in June. Yet, we’re refining about a million barrels per day less than we were just a couple of years ago. Why? “We’re still dealing with COVID hangover, you could call it,” Hugh Daigle, who teaches petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, told Marketplace. When COVID-19 hit and demand for fuel fell dramatically, a lot of refining companies shut plants down, he said. “Some refineries just shut down because of lack of demand, and they’re not coming back on. Then there was some weather-related issues also,” Daigle told Marketplace… “The long-term prospects for fossil fuels are uncertain. Most investors don’t want to be asked to chip in for long-term growth. In the present economic climate, they’re demanding a quicker return on their investment.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Barron’s: Exxon and Chevron Feel a Mood Shift Going Into Annual Meetings
Avi Salzman, 5/25/22
“Big Oil shareholders have a new outlook, and it’s not just because the stocks are up,” Barron’s reports. “A year ago, investors forced oil companies to change policies or directors with votes at annual meetings. This year, the atmosphere has changed. Companies have faced less pressure to change their direction, and climate proposals in particular have been faring worse than in the past. Energy companies are in a different place—they’re more financially sound than they have been in years and are now embracing more climate goals on their own… “As Europe races to replace Russian oil and gas with other sources, government officials have been asking producers to drill for more oil instead of cutting back. “The ESG movement, it’s a mega trend, it’s going to continue,” Chevron CFO Pierre Breber told Barron’s. “But like anything, there’s ebbs and flows to it, and I think there’s been a bit of a recalibration that predated the Ukraine conflict.” “...This year, Exxon faces another climate proposal from shareholders, though the chances of it passing appear to be relatively low given the outcomes of similar votes at other oil companies this year. Follow This, a Dutch organization that says it is backed by 8,500 shareholders, proposed that Exxon set targets for reducing its emissions in line with the Paris climate agreement. A similar vote at Shell (SHEL) garnered 20% of the vote on Tuesday, down from 30% a year ago. “Investors have given in to Shell SHEL +0.85% ’s narrative that the crisis created by the war in Ukraine overrides the climate crisis,” Follow This founder Mark van Baal told Barron’s in a statement after the vote… “Chevron’s meeting this year is more notable for a proposal the company supports than for the ones it opposes. Chevron lost a shareholder vote last year on climate-related issues, though the proposal was relatively vague and difficult to enforce. Investors said Chevron should reduce its Scope 3 emissions, though allowed the company to define what that might mean. This year, Chevron faces similar proposals to Exxon on climate change, including a request to set targets to adhere to the Paris goals. The company opposes that proposal. But Chevron is supporting a proposal to issue a report on its methane production.”
E&E News: SEC proposes new guidelines for ESG investing
Avery Ellfeldt, 5/26/22
“The Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to deliver some tough love to major investment firms: No more flashy green marketing — at least not without proof,” E&E News reports. “A majority of SEC commissioners voted yesterday to advance two draft rules that are designed to create guidelines for the growing — yet largely unchecked — market of socially conscious investing… “Once a fringe idea, the universe of ESG investing has ballooned to nearly $2.77 trillion in assets under management globally, according to research firm Morningstar Inc. But the arena remains largely unregulated in the United States. So the SEC is stepping in. The agency’s main goal: Ensure investment managers and companies market their funds as ESG, green, sustainable and the like only when their products actually merit the labels. The new rules would do so by putting guardrails around the types of funds that are permitted to don sustainability-related names and by requiring investment firms to back their green claims with solid proof… “Crenshaw and the agency’s two other Democrats — SEC Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioner Allison Herren Lee — voted in support of the rules, triggering their release. The agency’s lone Republican, Commissioner Hester Peirce, did not, citing concerns that the changes “may create more fog than they dissipate and may place unnecessary constraints on fund managers.” The proposed rules are broken into two sets of amendments. One focuses on expanding investment firms’ disclosure of ESG-related information. The other targets potentially deceptive fund names… “The public response to the rules is sure to be mixed as investors, environmentalists, finance firms, lawmakers and more dig through the amendments and weigh in. “My guess is that you’re going to hear some of the same chorus. You’re going to hear a bunch of people who are more … on the ESG side say this doesn’t go far enough,” with others potentially citing concerns about compliance costs, Dial of Morgan Lewis told E&E.
OPINION
Rabble.ca: Fossil gas isn’t natural, and it’s not a climate solution
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, 5/25/22
“The fossil fuel industry has employed many strategies over the years to keep money flowing. It’s covered up its own science showing that burning its products is heating the world. It’s sowed doubt and confusion about the evidence through front groups and compromised “experts.” And it’s lobbied politicians and contributed generously to their campaigns. Industry executives have consistently put their own interests ahead of the health and survival of humanity,” David Suzuki writes for Rabble.ca. “It’s also used “greenwashing” and misleading language to garner support for its destructive products. One example is the term “natural gas.” As a fossil fuel, it’s no more natural than coal or oil, and just as destructive. In the face of increasing concern about oil and coal’s pollution and climate impacts, the industry has upped its campaign to promote fossil gas as a cleaner alternative or as a “transition” or “bridge” fuel while the world shifts to renewable energy. A 2011 David Suzuki Foundation and Pembina Institute report detailed the fallacy of the bridge fuel argument, as has more recent research. My home province’s gas company, FortisBC, has joined others — including Enbridge, TC Energy and ATCO Gas — in Fuelling Canada, an organization created by the Canadian Gas Association. Part of a push by gas companies everywhere, these companies and organizations have been spending enormous amounts on advertising (often designed to appear as journalism) on numerous platforms and outlets. With ads and articles extolling the virtues of “clean” gas, “bridge” fuels and “renewable natural gas,” the companies want customers to believe they’re part of the environmental solution to climate disruption. They aren’t. So-called “natural” gas is, in fact, a processed fossil fuel composed almost entirely of methane — a greenhouse gas about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over the short term… “The solution to the climate crisis and to building and home emissions — as scientists and experts worldwide from organizations and institutions ranging from the International Energy Agency to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have shown — is not more fossil fuels; it’s electrification using renewable energy and storage, along with energy efficiency and conservation… “We have solutions. Fossil gas isn’t one of them.”
The Hill: Inequality fuels the climate crisis
Fergus Green, Ph.D., is a lecturer in political theory and public policy in the Department of Political Science, University College London; Noel Healy, Ph.D., is a professor in the Geography and Sustainability Department, Salem State University, 5/25/22
“One of the largest assemblies of personal wealth in human history is taking place this week in Davos, Switzerland, where the world’s super-rich and political elite are convening for five days of conversation on “improving the state of the world.” While climate change will be a key theme, few participants will recognize that it’s being fueled by the unequal concentration of wealth in their own hands,” Fergus Green and Noel Healy write for The Hill. “Some billionaires, including Bill Gates and Elon Musk, focus on technological solutions driven by private capital flows. They do not question the role that inequality plays in constraining governments’ ability to respond to climate change in the public interest… “In our new peer-reviewed paper, we explain the many ways that inequality makes climate action more politically challenging, with the result that businesses and households are allowed to keep spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. First, concentrated wealth means concentrated political power, and the power to obstruct climate policy… “Second, poverty and financial insecurity pose a major barrier to effective climate action… “Third, inequality erodes the social foundations of democracy, making it harder to develop collective responses to climate change… “Moreover, inequality is socially divisive, sewing mistrust among groups and making people less willing to sacrifice for the common good… “What this shows is that there is a powerful “climate case” for tackling inequality. So, while Davos attendees — and some climate advocates — may scoff at the Green New Deal’s focus on tackling climate change and inequality together, our research shows why this dual focus makes for sound policy… “Trying to tackle climate change without also addressing inequality is like swimming against the tide. That’s why the Davos summit is unlikely to make much progress. It’s up to the rest of us to build the political coalitions needed to tackle these two great challenges together, through a Green New Deal.”