EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/13/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Mississippi Valley Publishing: Pipeline in Lee County on IUB agenda for Monday
Dakota News Now: Government report on CO2 pipeline leak in Mississippi could affect South Dakota Pipelines
KXNET: C02 pipeline debate spills into ND-GOP primary
Grist: Across the Midwest, an ‘unlikely alliance’ forms to stop carbon pipelines
Bucks County Courier Times: Upper Makefield OKs Delaware River pipeline project. Here are the conditions to protect Washington Crossing
WSOC: Piedmont Natural Gas strikes $213M pipeline deal to boost NC supply
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Supreme Court climate case might end regulation
E&E News: Interior offers proposals for storing CO2 on public lands
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: Over 100 N.M. Oil Companies Violated Methane Reporting Rules
S&P Global: States that outlaw gas bans account for 31% of US residential/commercial gas use
Colorado Sun: Colorado air pollution regulators are so behind on permitting that one company waited 13 years for a hearing
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Cenovus to buy remaining 50% stake in Canada's Sunrise oil sands from BP
Financial Times: US oil producers ignore Biden’s rallying call to drill
Reuters: Drilling vs returns. U.S. oil producers' tradeoff as windfall tax threatens
Wall Street Journal: High Oil and Gas Prices Test Drive a Global Carbon Tax
Sierra Club: The Most Worrisome Threat to Global Climate Action You’ve Likely Never Heard Of
Bloomberg: Cleaning Up Airline Travel Is Going to Be Really Expensive
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Welland Tribune: Ride to Conquer Cancer raises more than $16M to support breakthrough research, treatment
OPINION
Traverse City Record Eagle: Letter: Brown: Perfect time for shutdown
Common Dreams: "Almost Heaven" Appalachia IS Heaven Without a Fracked Gas Pipeline
Dallas Morning News: Texas pipeline law needs reform
PIPELINE NEWS
Mississippi Valley Publishing: Pipeline in Lee County on IUB agenda for Monday
Robin Delaney, 6/13/22
“A permit to “operate and maintain a hazardous liquid pipeline in Lee County” is to be discussed Monday at the Iowa Utilities Board meeting in Des Moines,” Mississippi Valley Publishing reports. “According to IUB’s agenda, this will be a discussion item. It is not listed among the action items on the agenda. The discussion will involve NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. and Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC. NuStar Pipeline Operations Partnership L.P. is proposing to build that 6-inch line over about 14 miles in Lee County. Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC, or “Navigator” will be building a pipeline called the Heartland Greenway… “At their meeting on June 6, supervisors approved a letter opposing the Navigator CO2 Ventures plan to construct a pipeline to transport captured carbon dioxide in its liquid form through a portion of the county. The letter was then sent to the IUB, however only a previous letter from supervisors supporting revisions to the pipeline inspector’s guide is listed in the agenda packet among supporting documents for the IUB’s meeting on Monday. Citizens have also filed formal objections with IUB. One was submitted by John and Marilyn Mercer, however the Mercers later retracted their objection after learning the pipeline would no longer be placed on their property. Renata Sack also filed an objection with the IUB stating safety concerns and opposing any possible use of eminent domain to use land against property owners’ wishes. “The companies claim it to be a win-win situation for farmers and all Iowans, That it is not,” writes Sack. “The CO2 pipelines are hazardous and a deadly danger to all in its vicinity. And the use of eminent domain would damage private land and seriously harm land owners.”
Dakota News Now: Government report on CO2 pipeline leak in Mississippi could affect South Dakota Pipelines
Beth Warden, 6/11/22
“While the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission continues to review the application for the state’s first CO2 pipeline, a Government report about a life-threatening leak elsewhere in the Country could affect pipelines planned for our state,” Dakota News Now reports. “Landowners are asking many questions about CO2 pipelines in light of a new report documenting a leak in Satartia, Mississippi, which provides crucial information to prevent a disaster like that here at home hopefully… “Attorney Brian Jorde, who represents a group of South Dakota Landowners through his firm at Domina Law Group, is especially concerned about the lack of history and experience our nation has with CO2 pipelines. “It’s such a new technology and concept and never been done at the scale currently contemplated across South Dakota and the Midwest, and laws, rules, regulations are simply way behind,” Jorde told DNN. The Government report reveals a need for more regulations and safety protocols… “That’s where the report involves South Dakota landowners, their livestock, and property. No one wants a leak like the one in Mississippi, which robbed people, animals, and even vehicles of oxygen. “There were no fatalities, and there were no injuries,” Summit’s Hill told DNN. Reporter Beth Warden asks about the reports of people foaming at the mouth incoherent. “Is that not considered an injury?” asked Warden. “There was no one hospitalized overnight,” Hill told DNN. “And so someone going to the hospital just to get checked out is apparently not classified as an injury.” “...Opponents, however, say the uncertain risk of an asphyxiant leak, coupled with the potential of eminent domain to a for-profit company, is not worth their personal potential of loss. “I respect their right to make hundreds of millions of dollars and make their owners richer than they already are. But doing this on the backs of hardworking South Dakotans and elsewhere there requires a high level of scrutiny,” Jorde told DNN… “Our staff has requested an interview in the past months with POET regarding CO2 created from their plants. We were told that POET uses their CO2 for making dry ice and carbonating beverages but were denied an interview.”
KXNET: C02 pipeline debate spills into ND-GOP primary
Josh Meny, 6/10/22
“Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions is now developing the $4.5 billion Midwest Carbon Express to capture C02 emissions from ethanol plants across the midwest,” KXNET reports. “...But, like many other major energy projects, it will take taxpayer subsidies, and the project has become a flashpoint for the high-profile ND-GOP primary race for District 8 Senate between Representative Jeff Magrum and Representative Dave Nehring. Magrum tells KX that roughly 75 miles of the proposed pipeline will go through District 8, and the property owners he’s talked to do not support it. Magrum says property owners have complained they are not being offered adequate compensation from the Summit Carbon Solutions, and they are not agreeing to let the company build the pipeline on their land. Eminent domain in North Dakota is not useable for any project that is not for the public good, and Magrum says this is considered an economic development project. Magrum explains that many of the counties including Richland, Emmons, and Burleigh have passed resolutions saying they do not believe the project should be granted eminent domain. “The ridiculousness of the whole project. Nobody really agrees with it. Principally they don’t think it’s a good project. We all know there is a lot of federal dollars coming into this project and there is a small group of people who are going to make a lot of money, and that’s really what this is about, it’s about them making a lot of money, but in order for them to make that money they have to cross through everybody’s land,” said Magrum. Magrum’s ND-GOP primary opponent Representative Dave Nehring says the project is important for keeping North Dakota’s traditional energies strong and viable… “He says reducing the carbon footprint of our traditional energies will make them attractive to export markets such as Minnesota… “We’re doing it effectively at Project Tundra and up in Minnkota. We’re going to be doing it with the ethanol plants in North Dakota. Potentially we will see it at Coal Creek Station also. I know it’s in the plans there. But, quite honestly with the Federal government giving it favorable tax policy in the form of 45Q for carbon sequestration, it’s going to let us maintain our traditional energy,” Nehring told KX.
Grist: Across the Midwest, an ‘unlikely alliance’ forms to stop carbon pipelines
Diana Kruzman, 6/13/22
“Last fall, a company called Summit Carbon Solutions started holding meetings in towns around the Midwest. Its goal was to introduce residents to a 2,000-mile, $4.5 billion pipeline called the Midwest Carbon Express, which would carry carbon dioxide from ethanol refineries in Iowa to North Dakota, where the gas would be injected underground rather than released into the atmosphere,” Grist reports. “Ultimately, Summit hoped landowners would sign contracts called “voluntary easements,” allowing the company to bury its pipeline on their property. While hundreds signed up immediately, others were more cautious, hoping for more information or a better price. Now, those holdouts are facing another prospect: the use of eminent domain, the legal tool that allows the seizure of private land for public good… “Using it, though, requires utilities and private companies to prove that a project is in the “public interest” — and many people in the Midwest don’t feel that carbon pipelines fit that description, Don Kass, a farmer and chairman of the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors in northwest Iowa, told Grist… “According to Food and Water Watch, a national nonprofit that’s organizing against the carbon pipelines, 32 out of 52 counties that would be impacted by the proposed pipeline projects have filed objections with the Iowa Utilities Board… “The groups rallying behind their opposition to eminent domain all have different reasonings, Emma Schmit, a senior organizer for the Iowa chapter of Food & Water Watch, told Grist. Some worry about the pipelines’ impact on climate change and the environment as well as potential safety hazards, and think fighting eminent domain will prevent the projects from being built. Rural conservatives, meanwhile, believe in the right to protect their private property. “They don’t want to be seeing these private corporations, Wall Street-backed industry, taking our land for their own use,” Schmit told Grist… “Opposition groups continue to raise this topic in order to distract from the fact that they want to eliminate the ethanol industry and undermine production agriculture,” Summit said in a statement through a spokesperson. “Fundamentally, the Summit Carbon Solutions project comes down to the future of these two industries, which are both so critical to our economy.”
Bucks County Courier Times: Upper Makefield OKs Delaware River pipeline project. Here are the conditions to protect Washington Crossing
Damon C. Williams, 6/9/22
“For Sunoco Pipeline LP to proceed with its pipeline renovation and repositioning project in the Delaware River in Washington Crossing, it will have to adhere to more than a dozen conditions outlined by the Upper Makefield supervisors,” the Bucks County Courier Times reports. “Sunoco's 14-Inch Twin Oaks to Newark Jacobs Creek Pipeline Relocation plan calls for a section of the pipeline, which runs under the Delaware River through Upper Makefield in Bucks, and Hopewell and Ewing in New Jersey, to be repaired and relocated several dozen feet from its current location… “The conditions set by the supervisors as part of their approval of the project at a township meeting Tuesday night address resident concerns — specifically from those who live on or near Oakdale Avenue in Washington Crossing and and Eagle Road in Newtown — with a focus on preparation, cleanup, road and traffic management while including an emphasis on penalties if Sunoco doesn't meet the expectations… “The conditions include that Sunoco will operate the worksite from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will build sound walls around the project to limit excess noise and protect residents. The final day of the project, however, will be a 24-hour marathon, as that is when the actual pipe will be inserted… “Sunoco will also be responsible for landscaping and upkeep of the area for 18 months after the project is finished. The township also stipulated that Sunoco provide financial security to "guarantee the restoration of the property" and the roadway overlays.”
WSOC: Piedmont Natural Gas strikes $213M pipeline deal to boost NC supply
6/12/22
“The Williams Cos. plans $212.5 million worth of upgrades to its Transco pipeline in North Carolina to increase deliveries to Piedmont Natural Gas by as much as 423,400 dekatherms a day by the end of 2024,” WSOC reports. “Williams filed an application last month for the Southside Reliability Enhancement Project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It calls for no additional pipeline construction, but for upgrading compressors and other infrastructure to increase amount of gas that can be transported to parts of the state. Piedmont is the sole customer for the gas that will come from the project. Spokeswoman Meghan Miles says Piedmont is not disclosing what it will be paying for the increased transportation capacity.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Supreme Court climate case might end regulation
Jean Chemnick, 6/13/22
“The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the coming days or weeks that could curtail EPA’s ability to drive down carbon emissions at power plants. But it could go much further than that,” E&E News reports. “Legal experts are waiting to see if the ruling in West Virginia v. EPA begins to chip away at the ability of federal agencies — all of them, not just EPA — to write and enforce regulations. It would foreshadow a power shift with profound consequences, not just for climate policy but virtually everything the executive branch does, from directing air traffic to protecting investors… “At issue is a petition by coal companies and Republican state attorneys general to bar EPA from writing a rule to require more energy be derived from low-carbon sources like wind, solar and nuclear, and less from coal. They’re targeting the Obama-era Clean Power Plan — a climate rule that was never put into effect and which has been disavowed by EPA Administrator Michael Regan. That made the high court’s decision last year to take up the case unusual. It might be explained, some legal experts surmise, as an attempt by the court’s expanded conservative majority to say something new about regulation. Maybe the decision will make “systemwide” climate rules on power plants off limits for good — an echo of what has already happened with the Clean Power Plan. But others say there could be a deeper impact. Indeed, an orbit-altering transformation to regulations. The most conservative members of the high court might use West Virginia v. EPA as an opportunity to signal — perhaps in a concurring opinion that goes further than the majority opinion — that federal agencies can no longer expect deference from the court when they write rules that expand on the instructions given to them by Congress.”
E&E News: Interior offers proposals for storing CO2 on public lands
Heather Richards, 6/13/22
“The Biden administration is streamlining a path toward carbon dioxide storage on public lands as part of its larger climate agenda,” E&E News reports. “The Bureau of Land Management last week released a new instructional memorandum for geologic carbon sequestration projects that details parameters for transporting, injecting and storing the greenhouse gas in “pore space” underground for 30-year, renewable terms. “This policy is an important tool to help the BLM combat the climate crisis and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of reaching net zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning told E&E… “Authorizations for carbon sequestration projects include considerations of the “pore space, pipelines, storage tanks, pumps, climate control buildings, compressor sites, power generation, electric transmission, injection wells and other associated facilities required for sequestration of CO2” under a right of way section of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976… “Storage would be a new area for public lands, where there are currently no approved geologic storage projects. BLM is processing two proposals: one in Wyoming and one in Montana. The agency has also received several inquiries for additional projects, according to the bureau. The Biden administration is also weighing geological storage offshore… “Several large oil and gas and chemicals companies have announced their intention to bring a large offshore storage project to the Gulf of Mexico, once feasible, to permanently store gases captured from industries in the Houston Ship Channel, although those efforts have prompted criticisms from activists who call it “greenwashing” to prolong fossil fuel reliance.”
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: Over 100 N.M. Oil Companies Violated Methane Reporting Rules
Mike Lee, 6/10/22
“New Mexico’s oil regulators have taken enforcement action against more than 100 companies, after discovering violations when they collected data during the rollout for the state’s new oil and gas methane regulations. The rules require companies to report the amount of methane that’s vented, flared and otherwise released at oil field sites, with a goal of cutting emissions to 2 percent of production by 2026. In preparation, the state’s Oil Conservation Division collected data on companies’ current methane reporting — and found missing quarterly reports and exaggerated capture rates. The data, collected during the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, will guide the steps each company needs to take to reach the state’s goal, Adrienne Sandoval, director of the Oil Conservation Division, said in a webcast with reporters yesterday. ‘All those initial baselines are out there now,’ she said.”
S&P Global: States that outlaw gas bans account for 31% of US residential/commercial gas use
Tom DiChristopher, Anna Duquiatan, 6/9/22
“A legislative push to prohibit gas bans in buildings has protected access to natural gas utility service in states that account for almost a third of U.S. natural gas demand in the residential and commercial sectors,” S&P Global reports. “The 20 states that passed such legislation have together consumed 30% of residential gas volumes and 33% of commercial gas supplies in 2020, according to analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration data by S&P Global Commodity Insights. The states' combined residential and commercial gas use was 31% in 2020, the last year for which the EIA data was available. Meanwhile, four states where policymakers have passed measures that restrict building gas use — California, Colorado, New York and Washington — accounted for 24% of the nation's residential gas use and 20% of its commercial gas demand in 2020. Three states where local governments have advanced similar restrictions — Massachusetts, Oregon and Vermont — accounted for nearly 4% of combined U.S. residential and commercial gas use. While these policies stand to curb gas utility customer growth, they do not immediately put existing gas demand at risk. With the exception of Denver's policy, the ordinances and building codes largely restrict gas use in new residential and commercial buildings but do not address retrofits.”
Colorado Sun: Colorado air pollution regulators are so behind on permitting that one company waited 13 years for a hearing
Mark Jaffe, 6/10/22
“In March 2009, a Western Slope oil company filed an application for a state air emissions permit for its wastewater treatment facility. On Thursday, state regulators got around to holding a hearing on that permit — about almost 13 years behind schedule,” the Colorado Sun reports. “We are asking for the same thing we asked for 13 years ago, state oversight,” Leslie Robinson, executive director of the grassroots Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, told the Sun. The facility, outside the town of Parachute, handles the wastewater coming out of oil and gas wells and consists of dozens of tanks, five ponds and flares for burning off pollutants. “If this facility were proposed on the Front Range it is not hard to believe it would be stalled for years if approved at all,” Robinson said during the state Air Quality Control Commission hearing held on Zoom. “Open pits would not be approved on the Front Range.” “...The Parachute plant, built by the Williams Co. and now run by Terra Energy Partners, “is and has been a major source of numerous harmful air pollutants,” the state Air Pollution Control Division stipulated as part of a lawsuit. The lawsuit for failing to issue the permit within the required 18 months required under federal rules was filed March 15 in Garfield County District Court by the WildEarth Guardians. The APCD issued a draft permit — the subject of Thursday’s hearings — March 31. The lawsuit is one of four brought by WildEarth Guardians, along with the Center for Conservation Biology, covering eight delinquent permits at four facilities. The highest profile of these offending facilities was the Suncor Refinery, in Commerce City, whose permit expired in 2012. WildEarth Guardians also sued the APCD for failing to address the expired permit and in January a district court judge in Adams County ordered the division to issue a permit “without delay.” The division had argued that the delay was a function of the fact that the refinery is “the most complex industrial facility in Colorado,” and that the agency has struggled to adequately staff the permitting program. “Neither of these assertions act to provide a defense to the claims being made in this case,” Judge Teri Vasquez said in her order.
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Cenovus to buy remaining 50% stake in Canada's Sunrise oil sands from BP
6/13/22
“Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) said on Monday it would buy British oil major BP Plc's (BP.L) 50% stake in the Sunrise oil sands project in northern Alberta, as the Canadian energy company strengthens its position in the oil sands industry,” Reuters reports. “The Sunrise project has been operated by Cenovus, which holds the remaining 50% stake, since the beginning of 2021 after its acquisition of Husky Energy… “The deal will mark BP's shift away from Canadian oil sands production, which require complex and energy-intensive extraction processes that cause heavy carbon pollution, and towards offshore production. As part of Monday's deal, the British energy giant will buy Cenvous's 35% stake in the undeveloped Bay du Nord project offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. BP has laid out plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. The Sunrise oil sands project produces 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) and Cenovus expects to achieve a capacity of 60,000 bpd. "We expect to increase production at Sunrise while driving down sustaining capital, operating costs and emissions intensity," Cenovus's Chief Executive Officer Alex Pourbaix said in a statement.
Financial Times: US oil producers ignore Biden’s rallying call to drill
Myles McCormick, 6/11/22
“As US petrol prices scale record highs, with the cost of a gallon of fuel surpassing $5 for the first time, Joe Biden has pleaded with the country’s oil producers to open the taps and stem the surge,” the Financial Times reports. “But those calls — a stark departure for a president who vowed to crack down on fossil fuels — have largely gone unheeded as the industry insists its drilling spree days are behind it. “When the White House started calling around in a panic, they thought shale oil production could grow sharply in the near term — like in a matter of months or quarters,” Bob McNally, head of consultancy Rapidan Energy, told FT. “They were shocked to learn that that’s like asking for blood from a stone. It’s almost impossible.” “...For consumers, prices at the pump have become one of the most visible impacts of rampant economy-wide inflation. That has created a headache for the president, who many voters blame for the rise… “The industry is gradually expanding output, which the US Energy Information Administration expects to hit 11.9mn b/d before the year is out. But this has not been quick enough for the administration, which wants a rapid ramp-up to douse the price rise. Producers say they cannot flip the switch and return overnight to the “drill, baby, drill” era of rampant growth that drove the shale boom of the last decade. One factor behind this reticence is Wall Street, which was burnt by huge losses as domestic oil companies consistently poured revenues into ever-greater growth. Today shareholders are demanding returns. Investor demands are being heeded over those of the White House: the amount of cash generated by operators this year is set to be greater than the total earned over the past two decades, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights… “Producers also say that soaring input costs and supply chain constraints prevent them from ramping back up overnight, even if they wanted to… “With American drillers ignoring his rallying cry and midterm elections looming, the president has few levers at his disposal to affect the price of fuel. “In the near-term there are few tools,” Mackler told FT. “We need to take action now to ensure the US is better prepared in the future. That includes ambitious measures to increase supplies, diversify supply chains, reduce demand through electrification and decarbonise the sector.”
Reuters: Drilling vs returns. U.S. oil producers' tradeoff as windfall tax threatens
Liz Hampton, 6/13/22
“U.S. oil producers profiting from sky-high prices are doling out billions to shareholders and building cash reserves, a strategy irking lawmakers and voters struggling with record fuel prices while winning over Wall Street,” Reuters reports. “Soaring fuel prices have boosted inflation to a 40-year record and are expected to drive up U.S. gasoline by more than a dollar to $6 a gallon by August. That prospect has some officials arguing the industry's focus on returns is benefiting a few at the expense of consumers. The tradeoff between rising payouts for just a single quarter and more spending on production has deprived the market of nearly half a million barrels of new oil daily, based on Reuters' estimates of potential output if half of existing investor payouts flowed to new oil and gas drilling… “Executives are facing calls in Washington for windfall levies, which could cut into energy profits. A group of more than 30 lawmakers recently urged a Congressional vote on a new oil tax. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday slammed oil companies, saying they are intentionally holding off drilling more to pump up oil and share prices. "They're buying back their own stock, which should be taxed, quite frankly," Biden said… “Though analysts and oil executives do not expect a windfall tax to pass here, Britain recently imposed a 25% oil profit tax to offset consumer energy bills, giving hope to some U.S. lawmakers proposing the tax. And resistance to the tax may shrink as fuel prices soar and corporate earnings follow… “But a windfall tax would kill the incentive to drill more, said oil executives, and take away some of the earnings that fund new technology advances that led to the U.S. shale revolution which turned the United States into the world's top producer. It would also lessen oil firms' ability to raise outside financing… “Motivating windfall tax advocates is the idea that U.S. energy companies are holding off production to maintain high prices and earnings. Companies returned some $9.51 billion to investors in the first quarter, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. If oil producers had spent half of the $9.51 billion on new drilling, it would fund some 660 new shale wells, according to Reuters analysis using energy tech firm Enverus' average costs of $7.14 million per shale well last year.”
Wall Street Journal: High Oil and Gas Prices Test Drive a Global Carbon Tax
Rochelle Toplensky, 6/11/22
“High oil and gas prices are giving an unappealing taste of what a global carbon price might be like,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Gas-pump prices reaching $5 a gallon are just the most visible example of the rising cost of using fossil fuels. The war in Ukraine and subsequent worries over shortages have had the knock-on effect of increasing the price of emissions, much like a global carbon price would. Such a tax on pollution has long been an economist’s dream, but the recent squeeze on consumer incomes highlights why it can also be a politician’s nightmare… “People are also reacting by cutting their usage: Consumers may drive less and some industrial companies have stopped production lines that have become uneconomic. A sudden carbon tax would do much the same, although a regulated one, like the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme, could use the cash collected to offset the pain and help consumers and industries to convert to cleaner alternatives… “So-called demand destruction on a more permanent basis—switching equipment or processes to other fuels—is less obvious so far. High oil and gas costs have improved the business cases for substitutes such as solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicles, depending on local power costs. However, payback calculations also depend on how long the buyer thinks the current situation will last. Given the zero-Covid policy in China, proliferating sanctions against Russia and the threat of recession, forecasting fossil-fuel prices is even tougher than usual… “There is almost no support in Washington for creating a regulated national market in the U.S., though some states have carbon pricing initiatives. A voluntary carbon market therefore seems the most relevant scenario for U.S. investors to consider as companies start acting on their decarbonization promises. For this, the current energy-led inflation highlights a key risk: While a voluntary market might sidestep politics in its initial set up, once credits reach a meaningful price that hits consumers it may prove impossible for politicians to stay away.”
Sierra Club: The Most Worrisome Threat to Global Climate Action You’ve Likely Never Heard Of
Nick Cunningham, 6/13/22
“When governments around the world finally get serious about addressing the climate crisis, they will inevitably need to begin restricting oil and gas production,” according to the Sierra Club. “ As the International Energy Agency concluded last year, any further expansion of the fossil fuel is incompatible with reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century. But when governments do finally take that warning seriously and begin to put tougher restrictions on new fossil fuel projects, they may confront an often-overlooked obstacle: Obscure trade agreements and treaties that could allow the fossil fuel industry and its investors to file legal claims to win hundreds of billions of dollars in compensation from cash-strapped governments… “At issue are what are known as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) systems, which are basically a way for corporations to sue national governments over alleged infringement of so-called “free trade” rules… “Critics of these supra-national courts have long said the investor-state dispute systems stack the deck in favor of multinational corporations and elevate corporate rights over national sovereignty, while undermining much needed protections for health and the environment… “Fossil fuel investments are particularly ripe for international legal conflict because they are precisely the kind of dangerous industry that governments would want to regulate… “Together, the total losses to governments that eventually limit fossil fuel production could reach $340 billion as the world seeks to keep warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit of warming (or 1.5 degrees Celsius)... “Just the threat alone of a legal claim could scare away countries from pursuing climate policy. “One is the liability of the cases themselves. And then the other is just the threat of these cases can have a chilling effect on policies,” St. Louis said. “If you look at a government, especially in developing countries, this is just one more big tool that multinational companies can use to bully governments.”
Bloomberg: Cleaning Up Airline Travel Is Going to Be Really Expensive
Zahra Hirji, 6/9/22
“We’re probably going to have to fly less. And when we do board a plane, it’s going to cost more — a lot more, one way or another,” Bloomberg reports. “Those are the conclusions of a new report by the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation, which analyzed how the airline industry could cut emissions in line with global climate goals. People will “still be able to fly in the future and do so with a clean conscience,” Brandon Graver, a co-author of the study and a senior aviation researcher at the organization, told Bloomberg. “But it’s going to be expensive, and we need to have discussions on who is going to pay for that.” “...Aligning aviation with the Paris goals “is possible but will require significant ambition and investment,” warned the new report. In every scenario, the largest pollution reductions come from the same source: sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs. The most ambitious path calls for alternative fuels to comprise 17% of aircraft fuel use by 2030 and 100% by 2050. In a more moderate scenario, SAFs only made up 3% of aircraft fuels by 2030 and 50% of fuel use by mid-century. Sustainable fuels are currently a lot more expensive than traditional jet fuel. The report suggests that government policies could encourage the use of SAF by offering tax breaks and other incentives while also making fossil fuels more expensive. Either way, the airlines will likely pass at least some of the higher costs on to passengers and customers… “The aviation industry is “a really hard sector to decarbonize,” if not the most difficult one, Samantha Gross, director of Brookings’ Energy Security and Climate Initiative and who was not involved in the study, told Bloomberg. Consequently, “it will be among the last and most expensive and hardest emissions to eliminate.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Welland Tribune: Ride to Conquer Cancer raises more than $16M to support breakthrough research, treatment
Ray Spiteri, 6/12/22
“More than 3,000 cyclists raised more than $16 million for cancer research during this weekend’s Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, which started Saturday in Toronto and finished Sunday in Niagara Falls,” the Welland Tribune reports. “...The ride was back in person to mark its 15th year after two years of virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials said the cyclists raised $16.37 million for ground-breaking research at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the world’s top five cancer research centres. The ride has raised more than $250 million since its inception, fuelling life-saving research in more than 200 different cancers, and impacting standards of care for patients across Canada and around the world.”
OPINION
Traverse City Record Eagle: Letter: Brown: Perfect time for shutdown
Margaret Brown, Traverse City, 6/12/22
“I just got a glossy postcard from Rep. Bergman urging me to support "Keeping Enbridge's Line 5 Open." It's a tough sell for me because I really love Michigan and this area in particular. In my mind, it's only a matter of time before the big spill will happen,” Margaret Brown writes for the Traverse City Record Eagle. “Rep. Bergman has more confidence that the old pipe has 10-plus more years of life. He states "Line 5 pipeline is an essential component of our district's energy infrastructure." Really? More important than stopping a devastating disaster BEFORE it happens? What percent of our natural gas used in this district comes from this pipeline? How much would the price go up if the pipeline were closed immediately? There are many organizations that say it's a ticking time bomb. You know, the scientists and academics? Is the financial savings more important than the risk? Please explain, Rep, why we cannot shut the line down and make a safer passage for the oil and gas. Considering how high gas prices are, this seems like the perfect time to shut it down. I don't understand how any lover of the Great Lakes is comfortable allowing the oil to flow.”
Common Dreams: "Almost Heaven" Appalachia IS Heaven Without a Fracked Gas Pipeline
MELINDA TUHUS, 6/12/22
“Of all the indelible images from my 12-day Walk for Appalachia’s Future along the 303-mile route of the under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline through West Virginia and southwest Virginia, none sticks with me more than 13-year-old Callie Coffey swinging on the playground of the community center where we camped one day,” Melinda Tuhus writes for Common Dreams. “...This region is full of mountains and water – some of the best drinking water in the world, which is threatened by this 42-inch diameter pipeline. It goes through some of the steepest terrain where pipeline construction has ever been attempted. The geology it would pass through is karst – limestone that is full of holes and caves that filter the water -- but that is a terrible place to build a pipeline, as the land has a tendency to slip. Still other images of the gashes made by pipeline construction on the steep slopes. After seeing gash after gash, to an outsider, they honestly look all the same – but each one is a total desecration to a family’s land, air and water, and I even heard there were plans (since abandoned) to run the pipeline through family graveyards… “We also visited the historic twin tree sits at Yellow Finch on Bent Mountain, which were occupied for 932 days by a changing cast of protesters… “We finished the "walk" in Richmond, with an action June 3 that focused on Wells Fargo Bank as the main funder of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and included some beautiful spiritual elements; and the youth-led action on June 4. I’ve always loved mountains, and have spent many vacations in Vermont and the Adirondacks of New York. But there was something about the beauty and fragility of the land we passed through, combined with the fierce commitment of the people to their home places and to each other, and the new friends I made, that gave me the feeling this is a part of the country I will belong to for the rest of my life.”
Dallas Morning News: Texas pipeline law needs reform
Joe Barton is a former Republican congressman and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, 6/12/22
“Texas should reform its pipeline policy to ensure fair competition, lower fuel prices, and a thriving energy sector,” Joe Barton writes for the Dallas Morning News. “...While there is no single solution, clarifying Texas Common Carrier laws to address the ability of companies to shut out potential competition would at least be a step in the right direction, by opening up domestic crude oil to be transported — more equitably and less expensively — through Texas pipelines. Under Texas law, energy midstream companies are empowered with eminent domain to more efficiently construct pipelines to transport oil and natural gas from where it’s developed to where it’s refined, exported or otherwise needed. However, in exchange for that power, “common carriers” are required to allow other — often competing — companies’ pipelines to interconnect with their infrastructure. This ensures that fewer pipelines are ultimately needed. Without access to these existing pipelines, new entrants to the market would be required to build their own transportation infrastructure, a costly undertaking that is not even possible in many situations due to geographic, environmental and other concerns. By requiring companies to allow competitors to interconnect to and ship crude oil via these pipelines, Texas common carrier laws are designed to preserve competition and protect the interests of consumers and the larger economy… “Policymakers must take decisive action to prevent this kind of anti-competitive behavior. The Texas Legislature can take a pro-consumer stand by passing legislation clarifying that the common carrier duty to connect requires incumbents to negotiate reasonable and non-discriminatory terms for interconnection well before the new project is actually completed. Similarly, the Railroad Commission may be able to promulgate a new rule to the same effect. Until something is done, some companies will be faced taking the massive financial risk of building a project that may ultimately sit idle while they wrestle with monopolistic incumbents or pursue antitrust litigation.”