EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 5/5/26
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: Canada-US oil pipeline close to reaching commitment requirement, sources say
Press release: Governor Gordon Praises Presidential Approval of Bridger Pipeline Project
Press release: Environmental Groups Call Out Invalid Line 5 Permit Application: Enbridge Is Not Eligible
Law360: Calif. Seeks To Halt Trump Admin’s Coastal Pipeline Restart
California News Service: Multiple lawsuits aim to halt oil pipeline off California coast
KGAN: Ban on eminent domain for pipeline projects doesn’t pass legislature
Iowa Capital Dispatch: The 2026 legislative session is over. Here’s what passed, failed, and what is already Iowa law
KYUR: Dunleavy urges fast action on LNG pipeline as energy costs rise
Financial Post: Oilsands group says progress on MOU too slow, takes aim at ‘uncompetitive industrial carbon tax’
Oil Sands Alliance: Oil Sands Alliance Calls for Urgent Government Action to Unlock Alberta’s Oil Potential
Calgary Herald: Slow progress on energy pact risks ‘letting this opportunity pass Canada by,’ oilsands producers warn
Pipeline & Gas Journal: PHMSA Adds AMPP Corrosion Standards to Federal Pipeline Safety Rules
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: The Trump admin is trying to stop state climate lawsuits. It isn’t working.
Financial Times: Trump administration cites national security to widen clampdown on wind farms
E&E News: Feds will review Rice’s whale endangered species status
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: DOJ takes Minnesota to court to stop state’s ‘woke’ climate lawsuit
E&E News: Iowa joins movement of states blocking climate lawsuits
WQAD: Galva community questioning planned carbon capture project
E&E News: Watchdog flags alleged Dow plant emissions violations
Upstream: Ineos to site massive $1.7bn blue methanol plant at chemicals complex in Texas
EXTRACTION
Nature: Direct air capture has substantial health and climate opportunity costs
Washington Post: Poisonous black rain falls in Russia as Ukraine strikes oil facilities
Corporate Knights: Canada’s oil patch has a data problem and it’s putting public health at risk
OPINION
EnergyNow: Resurrected Keystone Pipeline Would be Great News for Alberta and All of Canada
The Invading Sea: Turtles and whales are endangering us, defense secretary claims
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: Canada-US oil pipeline close to reaching commitment requirement, sources say
Arathy Somasekhar and Amanda Stephenson, 5/5/26
“A proposed pipeline for carrying Canadian crude oil to the United States is close to securing the minimum commitments from oil companies that the project needs to go ahead, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. “...Oil companies have committed to move at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), or about 72% of the pipeline’s initial capacity of 550,000 bpd, the four sources told Reuters… “South Bow and Bridger are aiming to secure long-term contracts for about 450,000 bpd, two of the sources told Reuters, which would clear the threshold of 80% of initial capacity that pipeline operators typically seek before moving ahead with construction. Top shippers that have committed to move oil on the pipeline include Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, one of the sources told Reuters. Others include Tamarack Valley, Whitecap Resources, and Strathcona Resources, the source added… “Whitecap CEO Grant Fagerheim told Reuters the oil industry’s engagement on the pipeline has been constructive and there looks to be sufficient momentum to achieve the minimum thresholds required for the project, adding that backing from the U.S. administration was very helpful… “Analysts, however, say Guernsey is not an end market for crude oil, so additional links would need to be built to refining hubs such as Cushing, Oklahoma, Patoka, Illinois, and the U.S. Gulf Coast… “While uncertainty remains around the final economics, we believe this represents the most logical approach to adding incremental oil egress capacity through the end of the decade,” AJ O’Donnell, an analyst at Tudor Pickering, Holt & Co., wrote in a note. “Our view is that additional egress is needed regardless of the geopolitical backdrop.”
Press release: Governor Gordon Praises Presidential Approval of Bridger Pipeline Project
5/4/26
“Governor Mark Gordon (R-WY) today applauded President Donald Trump for signing a presidential permit authorizing Bridger Pipeline LLC to move forward with a major cross-border energy project connecting Canadian crude supplies to Wyoming. The project will utilize existing infrastructure from the former Keystone XL pipeline and establish a new pipeline corridor from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to the energy hub in Guernsey, Wyoming. The pipeline, led by a Casper, Wyoming-based company, is expected to carry significant volumes of Canadian crude oil into the United States and further strengthen Wyoming’s role as a critical energy transportation hub. “This is exactly the kind of leadership our country needs to restore American energy strength,” Governor Gordon said. “I thank President Trump for recognizing the importance of infrastructure that connects North American resources to markets in a safe, efficient, and responsible way.” “...Governor Gordon’s Chief of Staff, Drew Perkins, speaking with Canadian media regarding the project’s cross-border significance, emphasized the Wyoming aspect of this deal. “I know the pipeline company,” Chief Perkins said. “They are a multi-generational Wyoming company, the True family and they have done things right for a long time.”
Press release: Environmental Groups Call Out Invalid Line 5 Permit Application: Enbridge Is Not Eligible
5/4/26
“Environmental organizations submitted formal comments to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) opposing a series of applications for permits that would allow Enbridge Energy to do work at various stream crossings along the proposed Line 5 reroute. The comments were submitted by nonprofit environmental law firm Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) on behalf of Clean Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Sierra Club Wisconsin and 350 Wisconsin. The organizations urged regulators to reject the permit applications because Enbridge cannot demonstrate eligibility under state law. “Enbridge’s ongoing attempts to obtain permits that it is not legally eligible for demonstrate just how incomplete and flawed this proposal is,” said MEA Legal Fellow Skylar Harris. Under state law, Enbridge is ineligible to apply for the permits to do streambed stabilization work because it does not own the land at those sites. Despite being ineligible, Enbridge reapplied for the permits after environmental groups pointed out the issue during a contested case hearing last fall. The 645-mile and 73-year-old pipeline has been at the center of a nationwide movement to protect the Great Lakes. Other state permits and approvals for the Line 5 reroute are being challenged in Circuit Court. In response, Elizabeth Ward, Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter Director, stated, “The fact that we’re commenting on re-submitted permit applications underscores the key issue here: only a riparian owner may apply for permits for this type of work, and Enbridge has made it clear that they are not a landowner. The issue is as simple as it gets. The Department of Natural Resources should deny these permits. Not only would it uphold the law, but it would protect nearby lands, waters and communities from damage that can’t be undone.”
Law360: Calif. Seeks To Halt Trump Admin’s Coastal Pipeline Restart
Bonnie Eslinger, 5/4/26
“California Attorney General Rob Bonta has urged a California federal court to block a Trump administration order that invoked emergency powers under the Defense Production Act to restart a Santa Barbara oil pipeline on the state’s coast,” Law360 reports.
California News Service: Multiple lawsuits aim to halt oil pipeline off California coast
Suzanne Potter, 5/4/26
“State agencies and environmental groups are suing to halt production of oil produced on three oil rigs off the coast of Santa Barbara,” California News Service reports. “The pipelines have been idle since 2015, when corrosion caused a huge oil spill, killing thousands of marine animals and sea birds. In March, the Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act to facilitate the restart of oil flow, saying it’s necessary to boost domestic oil production in light of the Iran war. Talia Nimmer, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told CNS we cannot risk another disaster. “This pipeline actually still suffers from those corrosion issues,” Nimmer told CNS. “Restarting these pipelines, especially absent all necessary approvals, significantly puts our wildlife, our residents, and our coast in jeopardy.” On May 22, environmental groups will ask a Superior Court judge to order an immediate shutdown and force the oil company, Sable Offshore, to demonstrate why it should not be found in contempt of court. The same judge recently ruled Sable violated state law when it resumed pumping oil. The state of California is also suing the Trump administration, arguing the White House should not be able to override state environmental law and settled court cases. They warned if the order stands, the federal government could ignore any number of environmental protections nationwide.”
KGAN: Ban on eminent domain for pipeline projects doesn’t pass legislature
Ray Baccari, 5/4/26
“As this year’s legislative session ended Sunday, one bill that didn’t make it across the finish line was a ban on eminent domain for carbon capture pipeline projects,” KGAN reports. “Kathy Carter, who owns land in Floyd County, told KGAN she feels “disappointment, frustration [and] anger” after the bill didn’t get pass the legislature. She told KGAN her property would be among those affected by a carbon capture pipeline plan by Summit Carbon Solutions… “The legislation stalled in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mike Klimesh (R-Spillville) had his own version of the proposal that was opposed by Holt and landowners… “Carter told KGAN landowners upset with this bill not moving forward will work to unseat lawmakers not behind Holt’s version in future cycles. “Klimesh for one, but he’s not up until 2028,” Carter told KGAN. “And there’s a couple others that are in the same boat like Amy Sinclair.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: The 2026 legislative session is over. Here’s what passed, failed, and what is already Iowa law
Robin Opsahl and Brooklyn Draisey, 5/4/26
“...One issue that did not make it to the governor’s desk through any legislation was eminent domain, a yearslong priority for House Republicans and top issue for several Senate Republicans,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Last year, a group of Senate Republicans had refused to pass budget bills unless an eminent domain bill was debated on the Senate floor… “The Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline across Iowa has been the catalyst for much of the debate. This standoff did not occur this year, though the group of GOP senators had continued to state their support for bringing the issue up. Grassley told the Dispatch he understood some Iowa landowners’ frustration with the Legislature for not being able to push forward a bill in 2026. “This is an issue that I really wish we would have been able to make more progress on, but I will only speak on behalf of House Republicans — we’ve tried, probably, I’m guessing, around a half dozen bills to try to find a level of a solution on this issue, to give some certainty to property owners in the state of Iowa. And again, we share your frustration and we’re unable to get something. But that doesn’t mean that that’s something our caucus won’t continue to fight for as we move forward.”
KYUR: Dunleavy urges fast action on LNG pipeline as energy costs rise
La’shawn Donelson, 5/4/26
“Governor Mike Dunleavy is urging lawmakers to act quickly on a natural gas pipeline, calling energy the state’s top priority as time runs short in the legislative session,” KYUR reports. “Dunleavy says the proposed Alaska LNG project is gaining momentum and remains critical to the state’s long-term energy future. “The big item on the agenda, I think, for Alaskans is energy… I think there’s no denying that this gas line has more momentum behind it now than it ever has before,” Dunleavy said. The White House has also expressed support for the project, calling it important for national energy security… “The war in the Persian Gulf obviously has really changed the energy dynamics throughout the world and probably will for some time,” he said. Still, Dunleavy warned the opportunity to act may be limited. “Alaska’s moment is a moment. It’s not an eternity.”
Financial Post: Oilsands group says progress on MOU too slow, takes aim at ‘uncompetitive industrial carbon tax’
Naimul Karim, 5/4/26
“Capital investment in Canada’s oilsands has nearly halved over the past decade compared to the previous one, an industry group said Monday, warning the country is not moving quickly enough to boost oil production and meet its energy security goals,” the Financial Post reports. “It has been six months since Ottawa and Alberta signed a memorandum of understanding to make way for a possible new oil pipeline, but the “pace of change has been slow,” the Oil Sands Alliance Inc., which represents five of Canada’s largest oilsands companies, said in a statement. The group took aim at what it called “an uncompetitive industrial carbon tax,” which it said competitors in other countries don’t have to deal with, and would “limit our industry’s ability to attract investment and grow.” “...They have reached agreements in principle on various sticking points outlined in their energy MOU, but more than a month after their self-imposed deadline of April 1, they still haven’t settled on two key issues: industrial carbon pricing and a a three-way agreement with oilsands companies on a carbon capture megaproject… “However, a project of this size requires supportive regulatory and fiscal frameworks, not an uncompetitive industrial carbon tax that no other major heavy oil producing jurisdiction faces.”
Oil Sands Alliance: Oil Sands Alliance Calls for Urgent Government Action to Unlock Alberta’s Oil Potential
Johnathan Wall, 5/4/26
“The Oil Sands Alliance, representing five of Canada’s largest oil sands producers and over 90% of the country’s oil sands output, is pressing the federal and Alberta governments to accelerate regulatory and fiscal reforms to position Canada as an energy superpower. With no major greenfield oil sands project sanctioned since 2013, the group warns that slow progress risks squandering a generational opportunity,” according to the Oil Sands Alliance. “...The Alliance highlights that the capital-intensive nature of the industry demands predictable and competitive policies to attract funding… “Yet, investment has sharply declined, hampered by frameworks that fail to incentivize expansion. Kendall Dilling, President of the Oil Sands Alliance, emphasized the group’s readiness to collaborate. “We have provided both governments with concrete recommendations on what needs to be done to achieve it. The time to act on them is now,” Dilling said. A key sticking point is the industrial carbon tax, which the Alliance argues places Canadian producers at a disadvantage compared to other major heavy oil jurisdictions. While the industry has reduced its carbon emissions intensity—already below the global average, as noted in Canada’s 2025 budget—it seeks a supportive framework to advance initiatives like a world-scale carbon capture and storage project.”
Calgary Herald: Slow progress on energy pact risks ‘letting this opportunity pass Canada by,’ oilsands producers warn
Chris Varcoe, 5/5/26
“As talks over a new industrial carbon pricing deal grind on between the Carney and Smith governments, Canada’s largest oilsands producers have issued a cautionary note,” the Calgary Herald reports. “And it arrives as negotiations over the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the federal-provincial energy pact are at a pivotal point, and have extended well past its initial April 1 deadline. “Unfortunately, while both governments have taken steps toward this critical national interest objective since signing the MOU, the pace of change has been slow,” the Oil Sands Alliance said Monday in a statement… “The MOU also called for reaching an agreement between the Oil Sands Alliance and both governments on the proposed $16.5-billion Pathways carbon capture project in northern Alberta… “The Oil Sands Alliance, which represents five of the country’s largest oilsands producers — including Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus Energy — pointed out no other major exporters of heavy oil face such an industrial carbon tax, stressing it will limit the sector’s ability to expand and attract investment… “On Monday, one source told the Herald they expected an agreement “in the next 10 days to two weeks.” “...It’s time for these extraordinarily profitable companies to stop pressing for ever-larger subsidies and accept the deal that has been presented through the MOU,” Janetta McKenzie of the Pembina Institute told the Herald. “No new pipeline can move forward unless the companies finally put their money on the table for the Pathways project.”
Pipeline & Gas Journal: PHMSA Adds AMPP Corrosion Standards to Federal Pipeline Safety Rules
5/5/26
“The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has incorporated updated corrosion management standards from the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) into federal pipeline safety regulations, expanding requirements for operators across gas and liquids systems,” Pipeline & Gas Journal reports. “The rulemaking adds revised editions of NACE SP0206 and NACE SP0502 into 49 C.F.R. Parts 192 and 195, aligning federal regulations with current industry practices for managing internal and external corrosion. The update applies to operators of natural gas, hazardous liquids, carbon dioxide and liquefied natural gas infrastructure, as PHMSA continues to revise and modernize pipeline safety rules… “The changes are part of a broader move toward performance-based safety frameworks that rely on industry-developed technical standards to support regulatory oversight.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: The Trump admin is trying to stop state climate lawsuits. It isn’t working.
Lesley Clark, 5/5/26
“The Trump administration has escalated its bid to protect the oil industry from costly climate litigation — even after its earlier efforts faced decisive setbacks in federal court,” E&E News reports. “In its latest push, the Department of Justice on Monday sued Minnesota in federal court, claiming the state’s lawsuit seeking payment from oil companies for contributing to climate change undermines federal authority and burdens U.S. energy development. The argument has fallen flat with judges in two other federal courts, who rejected DOJ lawsuits that sought to prevent Michigan and Hawaii from filing climate liability cases. Like Minnesota’s, those lawsuits seek to hold the oil industry financially responsible for the effects of climate change. If the states’ cases are successful, they could cost the oil industry billions. “This naked political intimidation tactic should meet the same fate,” Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, which backs climate lawsuits against the oil and gas industry, told E&E. “This is a desperate effort to shield the architects of Big Oil’s decades-long climate deception from facing accountability.” DOJ’s lawsuit against Minnesota advances an industry priority and follows President Donald Trump’s directive last April ordering the department to take “all appropriate action to stop” the growing number of climate lawsuits. There are more than two dozen climate liability cases working their way through state courts nationwide. Under former Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom Trump ousted last month, DOJ sued Michigan and Hawaii to prevent the states from filing climate lawsuits, arguing the actions would complicate U.S. energy policy. Both states filed suit, regardless, and two federal judges this spring dismissed the administration’s complaints. The judges said the federal government had not demonstrated a concrete injury. But DOJ has argued that it won the Michigan case because it forced the state to “content itself” with raising allegations against the oil industry that haven’t been tried before. Michigan also filed its case in federal court. That’s a departure from most of the other climate liability lawsuits, which have been filed in state court, and the oil industry has spent years trying to move those cases to federal benches… “DOJ’s lawsuit against Minnesota comes two weeks after Republicans in Congress introduced legislation to shield oil companies from being held liable for the burning of their products and as several red states have granted legal immunity to the industry.”
Financial Times: Trump administration cites national security to widen clampdown on wind farms
Martha Muir, 5/3/26
“The Trump administration has brought US onshore wind development to a halt citing national security concerns, representing a major escalation in the president’s crusade against renewable energy,” the Financial Times reports. “ Approvals for about 165 onshore wind projects on private lands are being stalled by the Department of Defense, including wind farms which were awaiting final sign-off, others in the middle of negotiations and some that typically would not require oversight by the department, according to the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and people close to the matter. Wind farms require routine approval from the defence department to ensure they do not interfere with radar systems. This typically involves the level of risk being assessed and the developer paying an agreed sum for the army to update its radar filter system so it can locate the windmill. Some projects can be deemed not to pose a risk due to their distance from army facilities and flight paths. Normally these assessments can take as little as a few days to complete. Since August 2025, developers have faced a mix of setbacks, including not receiving expected communications from DoD, having meetings to discuss the status of their projects cancelled without the opportunity to reschedule, and being informed that the department has stopped processing their applications, according to people with knowledge of the situation… ”More projects are now facing a shutdown — 30 of which had undergone negotiations, received verbal signoffs and were waiting for written confirmation, about 50 are in the process of negotiations and 50 that previously would probably have been declared risk-free, according to developers and consultants… “Letters sent to developers in early April said the agency was reviewing its processes for evaluating energy projects’ impact on national security. The moves represent a dramatic escalation of the administration’s effort to shut down wind energy in the US, reaching for developments on private lands as well as public ones.”
E&E News: Feds will review Rice’s whale endangered species status
Ian M. Stevenson, 5/4/26
“NOAA Fisheries launched an assessment Monday of an endangered whale that has been at the center of tensions in the Gulf of Mexico between the oil and gas industry and wildlife proponents,” E&E News reports. “The federal agency said in a Federal Register notice that it would conduct a status review of the Rice’s whale, whose exceedingly small population makes it one of the most critically endangered whales in the world. The process aims to review any new scientific information about a species and can result in a change to its endangered listing status. Though status reviews of plants or animals listed under the Endangered Species Act are periodically required, the announcement immediately alarmed environmentalists. It follows the Trump administration’s exceptional move in recent months to exempt all oil and gas activity in the Gulf from endangered species considerations. Around 50 Rice’s whales remain in the Gulf, according to estimates of its prevalence. The species lives nowhere else and is at risk from oil and gas activity, primarily from potential boat strikes.”
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: DOJ takes Minnesota to court to stop state’s ‘woke’ climate lawsuit
Lesley Clark, 5/4/26
“The Trump administration is seeking to undercut Minnesota’s legal effort to hold the oil and gas industry financially responsible for the effects of climate change,” E&E News reports. “A new lawsuit from the Justice Department’s environment division, filed in federal court in Minnesota, argues that the state’s 2020 case against fossil fuel producers usurps federal authority and burdens U.S. energy development. “President Trump promised to unleash American energy dominance, and Minnesota officials cannot undermine his directive by mandating that their woke climate preferences become the uniform policy of our nation,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward in a Monday press release accompanying the lawsuit. DOJ’s legal challenge marks the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign to thwart state initiatives to tackle climate change. Federal judges in two separate cases earlier this year dismissed DOJ lawsuits that sought to prevent Michigan and Hawaii from filing climate liability cases similar to Minnesota’s.”
E&E News: Iowa joins movement of states blocking climate lawsuits
Adam Aton, 5/5/26
“A new Iowa law seeks to block climate lawsuits from state courts, as the legal battle to make polluters pay for climate-related costs intensifies across the country,” E&E News reports. “Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds last week signed legislation to shield emitters from civil and criminal claims of climate-related harms tied to greenhouse gas emissions… “Republican state Rep. Derek Wulf, the bill’s House sponsor, said the legislation was necessary to protect farmers, ranchers and ethanol producers from rising litigation threats. The bill also includes petroleum manufacturing, storage and dispensing. “Green New Deal policies have put farmers and ranchers in the crosshairs with environmentalists who want to take away our way of life,” he said on the House floor.”
WQAD: Galva community questioning planned carbon capture project
Maddie Franz, Nora Reichardt, 5/4/26
“A planned carbon capture project in Galva is raising concerns from residents,” WQAD reports. “The project would take carbon emissions from the Big River Resources ethanol plants in Galva and Burlington. The carbon would be liquified, then injected deep underground past the Galva water supply. The company working on the carbon capture, Lapis Carbon Solutions, has submitted its permit application to the EPA to drill the well, but some residents want to have their say before any carbon moves an inch. Big River Resources is the biggest taxpayer in Galva, and it produces more than 100 million gallons of ethanol every year… “Month and a half ago, someone’s like ‘Hey, they’re talking. They’re going to bring trucks, semis of this Co2 through town,” resident Dustin Williams told WQAD. Williams only heard about the project recently. It’s called carbon capture and sequestration. In response, he started Galva Area CO2 Awareness on Facebook. “Found out all the goods and bads, and the bads really outweighed the goods,” Williams told WQAD… “Williams argues construction jobs aren’t worth that risk. “It’s a temporary inflation to the economy that would quickly fizzle out and be gone, and then we’re left with a permanent problem,” Williams told WQAD. That’s why he and dozens of allies packed the Galva City Council chambers on Monday, May 4, voicing their opposition to the plan. One criticism came from Amanda Stodgel. A registered nurse, Stodgel said there aren’t enough EMS staff available for the worst case scenario.”
E&E News: Watchdog flags alleged Dow plant emissions violations
Alex Guillén, 5/4/26
“An environmental group complained to EPA and state authorities last week that chemical giant Dow is violating air pollution limits under a federal consent decree for its petrochemical facility in Freeport, Texas,” E&E News reports. “Based on alleged recent violations in public emissions data, the Environmental Integrity Project in a letter asked that EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality launch an investigation and act. “We urge TCEQ and EPA to initiate immediate enforcement action to enjoin those violations, assess the maximum penalties, require measures to enjoin future violations and ensure safe operations of the Freeport Plant and that Dow complies with the law,” wrote EIP, joined by local watchdogs and hundreds of people who live near the plant. Over the past five years, pollution released from flares has exceeded the plant’s limits to the tune of 139 tons of carbon monoxide, 119 tons of volatile organic compounds, 91 tons of ethylene and 33 tons of nitrogen oxides, according to EIP. The group called that estimate “conservative.”
Upstream: Ineos to site massive $1.7bn blue methanol plant at chemicals complex in Texas
Polly Martin, 5/5/26
“Ineos has revealed it has partnered with Houston-based Sandpiper Chemicals to build a blue methanol plant capable of producing 1.1 million tonnes of the chemical per year at its Texas City site on the US Gulf Coast,” Upstream reports. “The British company will become a shareholder and anchor customer of Sandpiper Chemicals, which plans to build a 1.1 million tonnes-a-year methanol facility.”
EXTRACTION
Nature: Direct air capture has substantial health and climate opportunity costs
Yannai Kashtan, Joseph Pendleton, Brian Sousa, Mary D. Willis, Drew R. Michanowicz, Seth B. C. Shonkoff & Jonathan J. Buonocore, 5/4/26
“Direct air capture has been increasingly proposed as a necessary complement to rapid greenhouse gas emissions reductions, yet climate mitigation resources are limited and investment decisions involve trade-offs,” according to Nature. “Existing studies have largely evaluated the net climate impacts or technoeconomics of direct air capture in isolation, leaving unclear how investments in direct air capture compare to alternative mitigation strategies when both climate and public health outcomes are considered. Here, we use established grid models to quantify the regional climate and health opportunity costs of allocating capital to direct air capture rather than to renewable electricity generation. Using cost-equivalent deployment scenarios across 22 U.S. grid regions from 2020 through 2050, we compare direct air capture to utility-scale wind and solar under multiple grid and technology scenarios. We find that renewable energy deployment yields greater combined climate and public health benefits than direct air capture across nearly all scenarios and regions, with direct air capture approaching cost-effectiveness only under highly optimistic assumptions about future technological breakthroughs.”
Washington Post: Poisonous black rain falls in Russia as Ukraine strikes oil facilities
Natalia Abbakumova and Catherine Belton, 5/4/26
“Ukraine is intensifying drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, hitting a key Black Sea refinery four times in two weeks and setting off a days-long carcinogenic blaze that environmentalists say represents one of the country’s worst ecological disasters since the fall of the Soviet Union,” the Washington Post reports. “A plume of black acrid smoke once again rose over Russia’s Black Sea city of Tuapse on Friday after Ukraine struck the refinery and oil terminal there overnight, the fourth in a spate of attacks that have also caused oily droplets of “black rain” to fall on residents and contaminated more than 30 miles of coastline as an oil slick spread… “Local authorities have closed schools, canceled events related to annual public holidays in May, and called on residents to stop drinking tap water and to stay indoors with windows closed. Environmentalists told the Post the local government should have ordered a full evacuation of Tuapse to protect citizens from the toxic effects of the raging fires, which they say are releasing carcinogenic compounds into the air including benzene, which can cause leukemia. Instead, following the third attack, officials ordered only residents living on several streets closest to the refinery to evacuate to a nearby school for fear the fires could spread to their homes… “These black rains are happening because there is extremely high air pollution. It is extreme contamination of the air, and it is extremely dangerous for health. There are polluting particles in the air that can cause cancer,” Slivyak told the Post. “The pollution can cause immediate harm to the elderly, the young and those already suffering from heart or lung disease, he told the Post.”
Corporate Knights: Canada’s oil patch has a data problem and it’s putting public health at risk
Christina Frangou, 5/4/26
“...But the report doesn’t call for closer monitoring of non-producing wells – a gap that has industry watchers and community advocates worried, Corporate Knights reports. “Alberta is home to 275,000 marginal, inactive or decommissioned but unreclaimed well bores or surface locations, according to the government’s mature-asset strategy report… “For years, Alberta has followed the “polluter pays” principle: the party that causes environmental damage is responsible for bearing the costs of cleanup, remediation and compensation. But many companies responsible for abandoned wells have gone out of business. For those wells, the responsibility falls to the Orphan Well Association, a non-profit organization funded by industry levies. Every year, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) prescribes the amount for the levy, using a formula to calculate how much each company is required to contribute. For the 2025/2026 fiscal year, the AER set a levy of $144.45 million. This falls far short of what’s needed for cleanup in Alberta. The Orphan Well Association estimates that the total cost to clean up the sites it manages is $1.12 billion… “In one of the most significant studies to date in Canada, a 2021 report published in the journal Frontiers in Oncology showed a significant correlation between living in an area of dense oil and gas infrastructure in Alberta and the incidence of solid tumour cancers. The study is believed to be the first in Canada to look at cancer risk related to both active and inactive wells. The analysis showed that living close to one to three orphan sites was associated with an increased risk of solid tumours. The study showed correlation, not causation – that’s a huge limitation. Even so, the results raise the question of why. The authors concluded that it could be due to a lack of appropriate remediation or not being actively maintained by any proprietor, which could lead to increased environmental contamination.”
OPINION
EnergyNow: Resurrected Keystone Pipeline Would be Great News for Alberta and All of Canada
Kenneth P. Green, Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute, 5/4/26
“...KXL seemed as dead as dead could be, and environmentalists it seemed had scored a major victory. But the underlying economic incentives to build such a pipeline never changed. Alberta still has a product it wants to sell to U.S. refiners, and those refiners still want to buy Alberta oil. And so it turns out that KXL might not have been all the way dead, and President Donald Trump might have just breathed new life into it,” Kenneth P. Green writes for EnergyNow. “...All in all, while with different routing, different companies, and different investors, KXL might be rising from the ashes. Bridger’s 36-inch pipeline would have a capacity of about one million barrels per day—though would initially carry only 500,000, somewhat less than the original KXL… “And that’s a good thing, because while Canada is waiting for the promised pipeline to Pacific tidewater outlined in last year’s Ottawa-Alberta “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU), Alberta oilsands producers can certainly use the extra transport capacity of KXL 2.0, and it’s likely to see development faster than the theoretical MOU pipeline, which is dependent on finding a funder, getting federal project approval, and developing a world-class carbon capture and storage system to render the project carbon-neutral. Still, while KXL 2.0 would be good, Alberta and Canada do need pipeline access to the British Columbia coast as a pathway to diversify Alberta’s oil customer base away from the United States, which, while it has been Canada’s only buyer for decades, is itself undergoing changes that may result in a smaller appetite for Canadian oil. The resurrection of KXL might stand as a minor miracle, and one that Canada, and Alberta in particular, could use given today’s economic doldrums. Canada still has a product with massive market value sitting underground in Alberta, and a world-class market a thousand miles south, which is eager to buy. Whether it’s this new KXL pipeline redux, or another project waiting in the wings, Alberta’s oil will flow, and that’s a good thing for the entire country.”
The Invading Sea: Turtles and whales are endangering us, defense secretary claims
Susan Holmes is executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition, 5/4/26
“In an outlandish turn of events, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that the U.S. cannot both save endangered species and protect itself,” Susan Holmes writes for The Invading Sea. “...In fact, it is the Trump administration’s war of choice in Iran – its utter failure to contemplate cascading impacts from a closed Strait of Hormuz – that has choked the world’s oil supply. It’s hardly surprising Hegseth would pin this foreseeable, catastrophic military blunder – the “greatest global energy security threat in history” – on whales and other marine creatures… “The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the law that rescued the bald eagle. It has a 99% track record of saving species under its protection and has prevented the extinction of roughly 291 species since 1973, a study showed… “This is the first time the God Squad has granted a national security exemption under ESA section 7(j). Experts say the bar for asserting that rationale is higher, applying in circumstances such as active military operations in the Gulf, and military exercises or drills… “The Trump administration is allowing industry to harm vulnerable species based on a pretext. Despite its rhetorical energy emergency declaration, there is no emergency. The U.S. has exported more than it has imported for years, with the ESA in effect, and is the largest-ever producer of oil and gas, touting record production… “This peremptory action is a dangerous precedent, and not what the law intended. We can’t allow the administration to bypass ESA safeguards on a flimsy basis at its whim. We need members of Congress and governors to stand up for endangered species and oppose this violation and distortion of the ESA.”