EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/16/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: RezPect Our Water: Red Lake Treaty Camp is calling for urgent help
Facebook: Unicorn Riot: Direct action against Line 3 equipment yard
Facebook: Giniw Collective: Hubbard County sheriffs now arresting 30+ demonstrators across the street, on the shoulder of the public road
Facebook: Giniw Collective: BREAKING: (Hubbard County, MN north of Shell River) Water Protectors blockade semi loaded with drilling equipment for Minnesota rivers, 2 lockdowns in progress
Park Rapids Enterprise: Line 3 protestors face mass arrests at Mississippi Headwaters, pipeline resistance group says
Facebook: RISE Coalition: Camp Firelight has closed but we left on our own terms! Water Protectors held ground for 8 days and exercised our 1855 Treaty Rights
Natural Gas Intelligence: Enbridge Line 3 on Track for Minnesota Completion by Year’s End
Norfolk Daily News: Attorneys call for commission to rescind Keystone XL approval
Press release: Nebraska Farmers Union Asks Public Service Commission to Withdraw Keystone XL Pipeline Route Approval
Morning Consult: More Voters Than Not Oppose Developer’s Decision to Abandon Keystone XL Pipeline
FOX43: After cancellation of Keystone XL Pipeline, renewed focus on Mariner East Pipeline
CTV: Western premiers call for resolution to Line 5 dispute
Argus Media: High Plains Bakken oil pipeline also in limbo
WTTW: Why a Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline is Drawing Controversy
Williston Herald: Williams County Commissioners going to bat for families living near unmarked pipeline
E&E News: FERC threatens Cheniere over pipeline, landowner fight
E&E News: Ex-CEO of 3 major utilities joins Keystone XL developer
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Forbes: Federal Judge Stops Biden From Halting New Oil And Gas Leases
Washington Post: Haaland urges Biden to fully protect three national monuments weakened by Donald Trump
E&E News: Cheney introduces broad NEPA reform package
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: Justices reject Big Oil's plea in Calif. climate case
The Guardian: The Louisiana gas industry’s answer to lax safety enforcement? Loosen it more
Bucks County Courier Times: Federal judge tosses suit to overturn natural gas drilling ban in the Delaware River Basin
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Inside EPA: Analysts’ Report On Natural Gas Role Highlights Climate Policy Tensions
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Legal & General Divests From U.S. Insurer AIG Over Climate Policies
Canadian Underwriter: How much property coverage capacity Canada’s oil sands has lost
Texas Monthly: Texas’s Oil and Gas Industry Is Defending Its Billions in Subsidies Against a Green Energy Push
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Salon.com: Big Oil wants you to believe a tanker full of fossil fuel can be "carbon neutral"
OPINION
Journal of Commerce: Keystone XL failure reveals a broken U.S.-Canada trade relationship: PCA
The Hill: Hydrogen isn't as clean as it seems
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: RezPect Our Water: Red Lake Treaty Camp is calling for urgent help. They woke up to movement as their digging getting closer to the river.
6/15/21
“Red Lake Treaty Camp is calling for urgent help. They woke up to movement as their digging getting closer to the river. ‘We need people to Red Lake Camp. The equipment they moved yesterday is now moving and working on the side near the river. We need water protectors to come stand in solidarity with us to protect the water and our treaties.’” Riverside Cemetary thief river falls is best GPS coordinates to follow on maps. 11750 MN-32, Thief River Falls, MN 56701, USA”
Facebook: Unicorn Riot: Direct action against Line 3 equipment yard
6/15/21
“Opponents of Enbridge Line 3 are taking direct action at an equipment yard in Hubbard County, Minnesota. Line 3 coverage: https://unicornriot.ninja/line-3-resistance-coverage”
Facebook: Giniw Collective: Hubbard County sheriffs now arresting 30+ demonstrators across the street, on the shoulder of the public road
6/15/11
“Hubbard County sheriffs now arresting 30+ demonstrators across the street, on the shoulder of the public road — is Constitutionally protected demonstration not a right here in MN, Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Keith Ellison?”
Facebook: Giniw Collective: BREAKING: (Hubbard County, MN north of Shell River) Water Protectors blockade semi loaded with drilling equipment for Minnesota rivers, 2 lockdowns in progress
6/15/21
“Enbridge’s drills are here for our dangerously low rivers to bore toxic tar sands through delicate ecosystems and Anishinaabe treaty territory. The state of Minnesota turned its back on Indigenous sovereignty and climate science, the state judiciary followed suit. The people stand strong! Ericka, a Water Protector, said, “We have to protect the water for our children. For our children’s children.” Sabine, a Water Protector, said, “President Biden, you can stop this.”
Park Rapids Enterprise: Line 3 protestors face mass arrests at Mississippi Headwaters, pipeline resistance group says
6/15/21
“Tribal leaders, and other protestors, are facing mass arrests and eviction from their weeklong occupation of a Enbridge Line 3 pipeline easement after receiving an eviction notice for trespassing from Enbridge on Monday, according to a statement from the Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging Coalition, also known as RISE,” Park Rapids Enterprise reports. “The group declined the June 14 notice and claims they are exercising their treaty rights on the land, including "guaranteed rights to hunt, fish and gather on lands that we ceded to the United States government." Dawn Goodwin, member of the RISE Coalition, read the group's response in Facebook video posted to the group's page on June 14. "Throughout the multi-year Enbridge Line 3 review process, Enbridge and the state of Minnesota have remained willfully ignorant of our rights established under the treaties of 1837, 1854 and 1855," Goodwin stated, in her response letter. "Our treaty rights are the supreme law of the land, according to Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. These take precedent over any state-approved easement or trespass laws."
Facebook: RISE Coalition: Camp Firelight has closed but we left on our own terms! Water Protectors held ground for 8 days and exercised our 1855 Treaty Rights
6/15/21
“Camp Firelight has closed but we left on our own terms! Water Protectors held ground for 8 days and exercised our 1855 Treaty Rights and those rights were honored by the local Clearwater County Sheriff. #CampFireLight #HonorTheTreaties #StopLine3 📸 by: Ron Turney for RISE Coalition”
Natural Gas Intelligence: Enbridge Line 3 on Track for Minnesota Completion by Year’s End
BY GORDON JAREMKO, 6/15/21
“Enbridge Inc. won a court verdict Monday to defeat the third protest lawsuit since February that aimed to halt construction of the $2.6 billion Minnesota leg of its Line 3 oil pipe replacement project,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “The project is on track to be in service in the fourth quarter of 2021,” said Enbridge after a three-judge Minnesota Court of Appeals panel upheld the approval by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC). Construction of about two-thirds of Line 3 has been completed since the appeals court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected demands for stop-work injunctions last winter. The decision followed a week of demonstrations by at least 1,000 pipeline foes that styled themselves as water protectors and declared they were defending against the pipeline operator’s “toxic tar sands pipeline.” About 250 people were arrested.”
Norfolk Daily News: Attorneys call for commission to rescind Keystone XL approval
By AUSTIN SVEHLA, 6/15/21
“Attorneys with the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and Bold Nebraska are urging the Nebraska Public Service Commission to rescind its approval of the Keystone XL project and its consented route through the state,” according to Norfolk Daily News. Letters sent by Ken Winston, Brad Jolly and state Sens. Eliot Bostar and Adam Morfeld urged the commission to reverse its approval of Keystone XL construction. The public service commission had approved the project in November 2017… “As of Monday, TC Energy had not yet parted with the easements it had obtained as part of the project. Despite the Keystone XL project being all but dead, TC Energy isn’t required to relinquish easements as long as state approval of the pipeline still exists… “The PSC has the authority and the duty to revoke its route approval for the KXL pipeline,” Jolly said. “... The approved route creates a permanent commitment of lands for a project that no longer exists — a commitment in favor of a company with a record of bad faith behavior.” “... Bostar and Morfeld also urged that the commission, at the least, alter or amend the prior mainline alternative route approval. “Despite the revocation of the critical president permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, TransCanada continues condemnation actions against Nebraskans across this state,” the joint statement said. “Those condemnation actions would result in taking Nebraska land forever for a project that cannot be built and is subjecting Nebraska landowners and citizens to ongoing costs and uncertainty.”
Press release: Nebraska Farmers Union Asks Public Service Commission to Withdraw Keystone XL Pipeline Route Approval
6/15/21
“Nebraska Farmers Union (NeFU) sent a letter to the Public Service Commission that respectfully requests they take immediate action to withdraw its route approval for the Keystone XL Pipeline owned by TransCanada, now rebranded as TC Energy. NeFU represents 3,850 farm and ranch families, including landowners on the route fighting TC Energy’s use of eminent domain to force them to provide easements, access, and in some cases land against their will. NeFU President John Hansen says in the letter, “This action is necessary because notwithstanding the fact the required Presidential permit for this project has been withdrawn, and TC Energy has publicly stated they have abandoned the Keystone XL pipeline project, TC Energy continues its use of eminent domain authority to acquire easements, access, and in some cases land from non-cooperating landowners opposed to the Keystone XL Pipeline going through their property.”
Morning Consult: More Voters Than Not Oppose Developer’s Decision to Abandon Keystone XL Pipeline
BY LISA MARTINE JENKINS, 6/16/21
“For roughly a decade, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought crude oil from the Alberta oil sands in Canada to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, has been the focus of protest from those arguing that constructing major new fossil fuel infrastructure runs counter to the goal of limiting greenhouse gas emissions,” Morning Consult reports. “But while environmental and Indigenous activists cheered the cancellation of the pipeline project by its Canadian developer last week, new polling from Morning Consult and Politico found that voters were more ambivalent about the decision. Thirty-two percent of voters said they support TC Energy Corp.’s decision to abandon the project, while 42 percent said they oppose it. Democrats were most strongly in support of TC Energy’s decision (52 percent) while Republicans opposed it in large numbers (69 percent). Republicans were also most likely to take a stance on the subject, with only 18 percent saying they did not know or had no opinion compared to 26 percent of all voters who said the same. And the older generations of voters were more likely than their younger counterparts to oppose the project’s cancellation: 51 percent of baby boomers did so, compared with 23 percent of Gen Z voters. (It should be noted that the poll’s margins of error by generation vary from 8 percentage points for Gen Z voters to 4 points for the other groups.) Meanwhile, 53 percent of voters say the United States should continue to allow the construction of major new fossil fuel infrastructure like pipelines (31 percent “definitely” and 22 percent “probably”), while just 28 percent said the country should stop (13 percent “definitely” and 15 percent “probably”).“
FOX43: After cancellation of Keystone XL Pipeline, renewed focus on Mariner East Pipeline
Harri Leigh, 6/10/21
“In light of the cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, Pennsylvania activists are renewing calls to shut down the Keystone State’s own major pipeline, Mariner East,” FOX43 reports. “The Mariner East Pipeline carries natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Marcellus and Utica Shales in eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvanian to Marcus Hook, Pa., a port along the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The materials are exported and used in plastics production. The pipeline includes three lines: Mariner East 1, Mariner East 2 and Mariner East 2X. Mariner 2 and 2X are still under construction, which has been plagued by accidents. Over four years the Pa. Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined Sunoco about $16 million for more than 100 violations… ““There is no benefit to Pennsylvania, but we’re bearing all the risk and all the environmental damage that is caused,” Jillian Graber, executive director of West Pennsyvlania-based environmental advocacy group Protect PT (Penn-Trafford), told FOX43… “The Pa. DEP referred questions to Sunoco, which did not respond to a request for comment.”
CTV: Western premiers call for resolution to Line 5 dispute
6/15/21
“Canada's western premiers on Tuesday reiterated their support for Line 5, which they said is a critical link between Canada and the United States,” CTV reports. “In a communique issued from the Western Premiers' Conference, they called on the State of Michigan to work with Enbridge to resolve the dispute on Line 5… "Western Premiers shared their concerns on serious challenges in getting products to domestic and international markets," according to the communique. "They agreed on the urgency of getting major energy infrastructure, transmission projects, and other infrastructure projects completed in a timely fashion while addressing environmental impacts and maintaining high standards of Indigenous consultation and public engagement."
Argus Media: High Plains Bakken oil pipeline also in limbo
By Eunice Bridges, 6/15/21
“Even as the courtroom drama over the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) riveted energy industry executives and made national headlines, another Bakken crude system hangs in the balance,” according to Argus Media. “The fate of Marathon's High Plains crude pipeline system in North Dakota and Montana is in limbo after the line was partially shut in December to comply with an order from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The agency contends that High Plains is trespassing on Native American land because it failed to renew the right-of-way or obtain a new right-of-way within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. In the latest twist, Marathon has sued the US government for allegedly violating the Administrative Procedure Act and its Fifth Amendment rights after the BIA in March vacated previous orders in the High Plains proceedings… “The conflict surrounding the High Plains right-of-way comes as producers in North Dakota are already on edge because of a legal challenge to the 570,000 b/d DAPL, the largest pipeline out of the Bakken shale. Marathon is part owner of that line, which is operated by Energy Transfer, the majority owner.”
WTTW: Why a Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline is Drawing Controversy
Blair Paddock, 6/15/21
“A bill heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk is causing controversy in a village outside Kankakee. HB3404 would provide funding for a proposed natural gas pipeline for the village of Hopkins Park in Pembroke Township,” WTTW reports. “Supporters say the pipeline could provide economic growth for the area. But there are concerns about the environmental impact — particularly in an area that was once the largest Black farming community in the northern United States. “Farmers for hundreds of years have been actively and intentionally conserving against the intrusions,” Naomi Davis, the founder and president of Blacks in Green, told WTTW. “When we talk about what we know about conserving the land, we are talking a culture that is looking to continue its traditions: it’s the longest continuously occupied African founded town in the state of Illinois, an underground railroad stronghold, a leading Black farming stronghold in the country,” Davis said.
Williston Herald: Williams County Commissioners going to bat for families living near unmarked pipeline
By Renée Jean, 6/15/21
“Williams County Commissioners will be sending a letter to the Public Service Commission regarding an unmarked pipeline in Williams County,” the Williston Herald reports. “The unmarked line, which now belongs to Kinder Morgan, crosses the northeast quadrant of a 160-acre parcel of farm land in Tyrone Township. While the line is now owned by Kinder Morgan, it was installed by different company. The line was among $3 billion in infrastructure that Kinder purchased from Hiland Crude Oil in 2015. Dorothy Kuester told Williams County Commissioners that the line was one of the many “bad things” that happened during the boom. “There’s a long history with this pipeline that goes back to about 2015,” she said, adding, “It was the first pipeline we let through our property, and we have learned a lot since then.” A few years after the pipeline was placed in 2012, Dorothy said she and her husband received a letter saying the pipeline was in an avoidance area. “(That) means in an area too close to residential homes,” she said. Dorothy and her husband hired an attorney, who found the pipeline also wasn’t recorded in the right place.”
E&E News: FERC threatens Cheniere over pipeline, landowner fight
Mike Soraghan, 6/15/21
“Federal energy officials are threatening Cheniere Energy Inc. with enforcement action if the company doesn't restore Oklahoma farmland damaged by construction of its Midship pipeline,” E&E News reports.
E&E News: Ex-CEO of 3 major utilities joins Keystone XL developer
Carlos Anchondo, 6/15/21
“The former CEO of several of the United States' largest utilities is joining the board of directors of TC Energy Corp., the developer of the now-canceled Keystone XL pipeline,” E&E News reports.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Forbes: Federal Judge Stops Biden From Halting New Oil And Gas Leases
Joe Walsh, 6/15/21
“In a preliminary injunction issued Tuesday afternoon, Louisiana-based Judge Terry Doughty halted an executive order Biden signed in January that temporarily paused all new oil and gas leases on federal land and in offshore waters,” Forbes reports. “Republican attorneys-general in 14 states — including the oil-producing hubs of Texas and Louisiana — sued Biden over the executive order in March. Doughty suggested the Biden administration doesn’t have the legal authority to issue a blanket pause on all federal oil and gas leases nationwide, and said the new policy might not have followed federal procedures for changing government regulations. An Interior Department spokesperson told Forbes the agency will comply with the ruling… “The judge’s order turns a blind eye to runaway climate pollution that’s devastating our planet,” Randi Spivak from the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement to Forbes, arguing Biden has the power to pause oil and gas leases. “This is a deeply dangerous order that heightens the imperative for bold, urgent climate action on our public lands and oceans.”
Washington Post: Haaland urges Biden to fully protect three national monuments weakened by Donald Trump
By Juliet Eilperin and Joshua Partlow, 6/14/21
“Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has recommended in a confidential report that President Biden restore full protections to three national monuments diminished by President Donald Trump, including Utah’s Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and a huge marine reserve off New England,” the Washington Post reports. “The move, described by two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was not yet public, would preserve about 5 million acres of federal land and water. A broad coalition of conservationists, scientists and tribal activists has urged Biden to expand the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which were established by Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, respectively, to their original boundaries. Trump cut Bears Ears by nearly 85 percent, and Grand Staircase-Escalante almost in half, in December 2017. A year ago, he permitted commercial fishing on the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which removed most of the monument’s protections. The White House is still deliberating, according to these people, but Biden favors the idea of overturning Trump’s actions. Employing the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president broad latitude to protect threatened land and water, ranks as one of the easiest ways for Biden to conserve areas unilaterally.”
E&E News: Cheney introduces broad NEPA reform package
Kelsey Brugger, 6/15/21
“Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney introduced legislation Friday that would codify some of former President Trump's changes to the National Environmental Policy Act rules,” E&E News reports. “The bill, the "Undoing NEPA's Substantial Harm by Advancing Concepts that Kickstart the Liberation of the Economy (UNSHACKLE) Act," H.R. 3813, combines five measures meant to speed up environmental reviews. Cheney's package would, among other things, limit environmental review timelines to two years and force agencies to decide within one year whether to conduct an environmental impact statement. "In Wyoming and across the country, we have seen special interest groups use a variety of tactics to weaponize the NEPA process to cause delay and add significant costs to energy and infrastructure projects," Cheney said in a statement. "The last Administration made critical revisions to streamline these projects to prevent them from being unnecessarily blocked by bureaucratic red tape," she said. Cheney, who lost her House GOP leadership post over her criticism of Trump, said the Biden administration "intends to empower federal agencies at the expense of state and local stakeholders who will face new challenges because of burdensome mandates that will take effect."
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: Justices reject Big Oil's plea in Calif. climate case
Maxine Joselow, 6/14/21
“The Supreme Court won't take up a legal battle between fossil fuel companies and two California cities over the proper venue for climate liability litigation,” E&E News reports.
The Guardian: The Louisiana gas industry’s answer to lax safety enforcement? Loosen it more
Sara Sneath for Louisiana Illuminator and Floodlight, 6/15/21
“When a natural gas pipeline fire south-west of New Orleans killed one worker and burned three others, the Louisiana state police ordered Phillips 66 to pay a $22,000 fine for failing to immediately report the incident. The fire burned for four days before first responders could put it out. But the company ultimately didn’t pay any police fine, ending up with just a warning. That story is common, according to public records reviewed by the Louisiana Illuminator and Floodlight with The Guardian. “The Louisiana state police – which oversees pipeline safety – issued 34 fines and five warning letters in the past five years. A quarter of those penalties were reduced: three were lowered, five were replaced with warning letters and two were dismissed. The fines that did stick were low, between $2,250 and $8,000… “Despite the record of lax enforcement by the state police, gas companies in the state say they are being treated unfairly and have lobbied for legislation to loosen requirements around reporting pipeline leaks. Louisiana has more gas pipelines than any other state except Texas, and more gas pipeline projects are planned in the state to support the growing demand for US natural gas exports. The proposal, House Bill 549 from Louisiana’s Republican representative Danny McCormick, was approved by Louisiana lawmakers and has been sent to the Democratic governor John Bel Edwards’ desk. It is one of many efforts by the influential oil and gas industry to avoid regulation and keep its tax rates low in the state. If signed into law, it would absolve companies from reporting natural gas leaks of less than 1,000 pounds, unless they cause hospitalization or death.”
Bucks County Courier Times: Federal judge tosses suit to overturn natural gas drilling ban in the Delaware River Basin
Chris Ullery, 6/14/21
“A federal judge on Friday tossed a lawsuit over natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin as a political issue — not a legal one,” the Bucks County Courier Times reports. “U.S. Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Paul S. Diamond dismissed a lawsuit filed at the beginning of the year challenging a de facto fracking ban by the Delaware River Basin Commission for over a decade. That ban became official in February. Diamond wrote in his 18-page opinion that the plaintiffs, including state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-23, couldn't demonstrate how the ban has caused measurable economic damage. “Plaintiffs’ inability to make out standing confirms that this dispute – which is primarily between two political parties – is primarily partisan and is best resolved through the political process,” Diamond wrote… “Diamond dismissed the suit with prejudice against the lawmakers, but wrote that the municipalities were free to file a second amended complaint if they could better articulate actual damages.”
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Inside EPA: Analysts’ Report On Natural Gas Role Highlights Climate Policy Tensions
6/14/21
“New research by high-profile energy analysts is finding increased global reliance on natural gas could pose a challenge to long-term decarbonization efforts even as it presents short-term benefits, highlighting the Biden administration’s ongoing struggles to determine what role gas should play in its broad climate agenda,” according to Inside EPA. “The report, issued by the Atlantic Council and written by former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s Energy Futures Initiative, says natural gas will continue to play an important role in global markets in the near-term as both a fuel and feedstock, even as countries must deal with its greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change. The report underscores tensions between the shorter-term benefits of gas -- such as its displacement of higher-emitting coal, or its ability to help integrate intermittent renewable energy -- and the increasing calls for the global economy to reach net-zero GHG emissions by mid-century, which implies major steps to reduce emissions from gas. ‘Emissions from natural gas and other fossil fuels must be dramatically reduced to meet 1.5 degree [Celsius] or net-zero emissions targets by midcentury,’ the report says. ‘Addressing the tensions raised by growing global demand for gas, its critical role in industry and economic development, and its major contributions to climate change is the primary motivation for this study.’
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Legal & General Divests From U.S. Insurer AIG Over Climate Policies
By Alastair Marsh, 6/14/21
“Legal & General Investment Management will sell holdings in four companies including U.S insurer American International Group Inc. after deeming they’re making insufficient progress on addressing climate change risks,” Bloomberg reports. “...The companies either provided “unsatisfactory responses’’ to LGIM's climate questions or breached “‘red lines’ around coal involvement, carbon disclosures or deforestation,’’ it said. Climate change is a pressing concern for money managers: the physical impacts of global warming, such as extreme heat and rising seas, as well as the possibility of a rapid and chaotic transition away from fossil fuels, pose significant risks to investors. That’s leading investment firms to apply greater pressure on the companies they own to cut emissions and prepare for a low carbon future. “A lot of daylight is opening up between leaders and laggards,” Yasmine Svan, senior sustainability analyst at LGIM, told Bloomberg. “Climate change is material and a key risk. Getting on a net zero by 2050 pathway is the safest outcome for clients.’’
Canadian Underwriter: How much property coverage capacity Canada’s oil sands has lost
by Greg Meckbach, 6/15/21
“The withdrawal of “hundreds of millions” of capacity for property risks related to Canada’s oil sands is creating a new challenge for brokers trying to place insurance for oil and gas clients, a broker executive reports,” accordign to Canadian Underwriter. “Some insurers have taken positions that they will no longer write insurance for a corporation if a certain percentage – for example 20% or 30% or more – of that corporation’s revenue or operations is from the Canadian oil sands, according to Chris Short, a Calgary-based senior vice president and manager of broking at Aon. “One result is that the oil sands has lost a number of key markets over the last three years, leading to a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in capacity for property insurance alone in Canada,” Short, who works specifically in the energy sector, told CU. “This makes it more challenging for a broker who needs to place insurance.”
Texas Monthly: Texas’s Oil and Gas Industry Is Defending Its Billions in Subsidies Against a Green Energy Push
By Jeffrey Ball, 6/15/21
“On a spring morning more than three decades ago, Don Henderson took the microphone in a hearing room at the Texas Capitol and urged his fellow state senators to give the oil patch some more love,” according to the Texas Monthly. “The Houston Republican, a lawyer closely allied with the fossil-fuel industry, had introduced a bill to slash the tax on natural gas wells deemed particularly tough to develop. “They can be huuuuuuge wells,” he told the finance committee. If these wells were so alluring, why did taxpayers need to offer Texas drillers a handout? Because, Henderson explained, the wells were “expensive and chancy.” So much for the image of risk-taking and self-sufficiency that the state’s oil and gas industry liked to tout. The federal government had long given producers of these wells a tax break, but that was to be phased out the following year. Henderson insisted that the state act to keep its oilmen competitive. “We need to continue to give an incentive to Texas producers,” he warned, noting that the type of wells targeted by the subsidy accounted for “a large part of the natural gas reserves of this state.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Salon.com: Big Oil wants you to believe a tanker full of fossil fuel can be "carbon neutral"
WENONAH HAUTER, 6/13/21
“The fossil fuel giant Shell — which doesn't want you to think of them as an oil company — recently announced a special shipment of fracked gas to Europe,” Salon.com reports. “There's nothing inherently unique about the liquified natural gas (LNG) business, but the company — along with the supplier Cheniere — want you to think of this liquified natural gas delivery as different: this shipment of gas was deemed "carbon neutral." This isn't the only instance of this happening; earlier this year, Occidental Petroleum sold a shipload of crude oil it, too, deemed 100 percent "carbon neutral." How exactly does a massive shipment of crude oil, or fossil gas fracked in the United States and shipped across the Atlantic, manage to get a "carbon neutral" label? The greenhouse gas emissions associated with this drilling is not absorbed or erased. They are zeroed out on paper, thanks to an accounting trick: Using credits from carbon offsets. These emissions illusions are key components to corporate climate pledges. Fortune 500 companies, including many fossil fuel polluters, have raced out to announce "net zero" commitments, often accompanied by slick self-congratulatory advertising. But these schemes are more often about image management than pollution reduction; Shell, after all, plans to grow its fossil fuel business while making "net zero" promises.”
OPINION
Journal of Commerce: Keystone XL failure reveals a broken U.S.-Canada trade relationship: PCA
Russell Hixson, 6/16/21
“The final nail has been hammered into the Keystone XL pipeline expansion’s coffin, prompting stakeholders to reflect on what could have been and what went wrong,” Russell Hixson writes for Journal of Commerce. “The Province of Alberta and TC Energy announced an agreement to exit the project and partnership last week despite roughly 150 kilometres of pipeline being laid. Paul de Jong, president of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada, said the project’s failure reveals a broken trade relationship with the U.S. “At a high level there is a fundamental breakdown in what is supposed to be a reliable trade partnership between Canada and the U.S.,” de Jong told the Journal. “It takes time to ensure standards are met, but when a project like this has gone through such a rigorous regulatory review, it signals tremendous weakness and is something that should be attended to.” He explained the uncertain process doesn’t go unnoticed. “The huge problem is investor confidence,” he said. “Investors are looking closely at different projects across the world and trying to determine where to put their funding.”
The Hill: Hydrogen isn't as clean as it seems
Robert Howarth is professor of Ecology & Environmental Biology at Cornell University and a board member of the national advocacy group Food and Water Watch, 6/14/21
“The need to end fossil fuel reliance, and do so in the next decade or two, cannot be overstated,” Robert Howarth writes in The Hill. “Pressure from society to act has risen to the level where even the fossil fuel industry itself feels compelled to endorse transition plans that at least appear to be legitimate solutions to our deepening climate crisis. Unfortunately, some of these plans are grossly misguided, with “blue hydrogen” being a particularly egregious example. Blue hydrogen is made from fossil natural gas, with carbon capture theoretically used to reduce some greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the process. So far it is largely just a concept, and only two facilities in the world have ever tried to produce blue hydrogen at commercial scale. “Green” hydrogen, made from renewable electricity, seems likely to play an important role in a decarbonized future. Today, though, the vast majority of hydrogen, 95 percent, is produced from fossil fuels, mostly from fossil natural gas, and almost all of this without any effort to capture carbon. Industry calls this dirty hydrogen “grey hydrogen.” “...Increasingly in recent years, the natural gas industry has started to promote the idea of blue hydrogen. At first glance it sounds promising, but do not be fooled: Blue is not the new green. The emissions from blue hydrogen are still staggeringly high. Combined total GHG emissions are still more than those from using either coal or natural gas directly for energy. And emissions of leaked methane are rife throughout the process.”