EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/21/26
PIPELINE NEWS
Pipeline Safety Trust: PST Cannot Support House Energy and Commerce Pipeline Safety Bill that Contains Harmful Provisions
E&E News: Compromise pipeline safety bill emerges before markup
Los Angeles Times: California fights Trump administration, again, over Santa Barbara oil pipeline: The coast is ‘not for sale’
CBC: Enbridge breaks ground on $4B natural gas pipeline expansion
Canadian Press: Canadian Utilities says Yellowhead pipeline project approved, construction to begin
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Trump officials seek to weaken historic-preservation reviews of projects
E&E News: Trump threatens National Academies with debarment. Here’s what it is.
E&E News: Republican moves to scrap 2009 California clean car rule
Grand Junction Sentinel: GORP Act receives first congressional committee hearing
STATE UPDATES
WTOV: Carbon capture project draws scrutiny in Jefferson County as developers meet residents
Data Center Watch: New York’s Moratorium Marks a New Phase in Data Center Politics
Signal Ohio: Feds advance plan to open 2,800 acres of Ohio’s Wayne National Forest to fracking
Cleveland.com: ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ was always a fantasy: Ohio’s fracking waste crisis is here
Los Alamos Daily Post: New Mexico Environment Department Announces Upcoming Rulemaking To Adopt New Methane Abatement Rule
Floodlight: Louisiana communities are left in the dark on toxic air — and industry helped keep it that way
Electrek: Elon Musk quietly buys a $1 billion gas turbine company to power Grok
EXTRACTION
Wood Mackenzie: US data centre developers prioritise existing project pipelines as new pipeline capacity growth slows in Q1 2026
Futurity: Carbon capture and storage could curb data center emissions
Harvard Media: Alberta updates ministers on progress reducing oilsands tailings and mine water
OPINION
EarthTrack: Surging Subsidies for Enhanced Oil Recovery: High Taxpayer Cost, No Climate Benefit
Canada’s National Observer: Uncertainty clouds the cost and financing of oil companies’ carbon capture projects
PIPELINE NEWS
Pipeline Safety Trust: PST Cannot Support House Energy and Commerce Pipeline Safety Bill that Contains Harmful Provisions
7/20/26
“Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released an updated version of the Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026. While a new bill is needed to reauthorize the federal pipeline safety regulator, Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), House Energy and Commerce’s current attempt should be improved,” according to the Pipeline Safety Trust. “In reaction to the updated Pipeline Safety Authorization Act, Pipeline Safety Trust issued the following statement: “The Pipeline Safety Trust is pleased to see that the updated Pipeline Safety Authorization Act released this morning by the House Energy and Commerce Committee makes important improvements over the problematic previous version initially proposed. We thank the Committee members and staff for their hard work developing this bill. However, PST remains concerned about multiple harmful provisions, including a provision gutting PHMSA’s ability to protect the public in the special permit process and another expanding the cost-benefit requirement that already keeps needed safety rules off the books. While PST cannot support a bill with these provisions included, we hope that the bill can continue to be strengthened and these provisions be removed as the reauthorization process continues.”
E&E News: Compromise pipeline safety bill emerges before markup
Andres Picon, 7/21/26
“The House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled a new, bipartisan bill to reauthorize pipeline safety programs Monday after years of party-line haggling over fossil fuel expansion and punishments for protesters,” E&E News reports. “The revamped version comes in the form of a substitute amendment to the original bill, the Pipeline Safety Authorization Act, H.R. 9338, from Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas). It will be marked up Tuesday during a marathon committee session that will also feature bills on data centers and the electric grid… “The new text includes a section creating a grant program to repair or replace natural gas distribution pipelines. It would authorize $65 million for that program for each year through fiscal 2029, with the funds coming from the Treasury’s general fund, not from user fees… “Another provision would require the Department of Transportation, which houses PHMSA, to issue a proposed rule within a year that would ‘ensure the safe transportation by pipeline of carbon dioxide in all applicable phases.’ DOT would have to submit a final rule within two years.”
Los Angeles Times: California fights Trump administration, again, over Santa Barbara oil pipeline: The coast is ‘not for sale’
Grace Toohey, 7/20/26
“California has filed another lawsuit against the Trump administration over the oil operation off the Santa Barbara County coastline, asserting in a petition Monday that the federal government — again — improperly permitted continued pipeline use,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The lawsuit asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down what it called an “unlawful” permit issued last month to Sable Offshore Corp. by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The special permit waives the Texas-based company’s compliance with a federal pipeline regulation and asserts that the federal agency has oversight of the oil venture. The filing from state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta is the latest in a string of challenges from California to the company’s restarting of three offshore oil rigs and related pipelines — which are proving to be a flashpoint between the state’s commitment to environmental protection and the president’s push for more U.S.-produced crude. “California’s coastline is not for sale to enrich the president’s fossil fuel friends,” Bonta said in a statement. “No matter how many times the administration attempts to help Sable evade state regulation, my office will see them in court at every illegal turn and continue to protect California’s communities and environment.” “...The company has also been accused of several California Coastal Act violations, and is facing state environmental law criminal charges, a congressional investigation of the company’s practices and lawsuits related to claims of insider trading.”
CBC: Enbridge breaks ground on $4B natural gas pipeline expansion
Hanna Petersen, 7/20/26
“Enbridge is beginning construction on a $4 billion expansion of its West Coast Natural Gas pipeline,” the CBC reports. “The Sunrise Expansion Program will provide up to 300 million cubic feet per day of additional transportation capacity for natural gas in B.C… “Five 42-inch diameter pipeline loops will be installed on the southern portion of the West Coast system, which stretches from southwest of Chetwynd, B.C., to the Canada-U.S. border in the Fraser Valley. Tim Hodgson, the federal minister of Energy and Natural Resources, told CBC the project will support B.C.’s industrial and manufacturing sectors and ensure natural gas supplies are available as LNG export facilities, including Woodfibre LNG, begin operation… “Enbridge says 1,300 of the jobs will remain local and over $2.4 million is expected to be paid in municipal property taxes within the Fraser Fort George Regional District each year over a 35-year period… “Ebel says the project will be completed near the end of 2028.”
Canadian Press: Canadian Utilities says Yellowhead pipeline project approved, construction to begin
7/20/26
“Canadian Utilities Ltd. says the Alberta Utilities Commission has approved the Yellowhead natural gas pipeline project with construction set to begin immediately,” the Canadian Press reports. “The $2.9-billion project includes the construction and operation of a 235-kilometre natural gas transmission pipeline from the Peers area in west-central Alberta to the Fort Saskatchewan region and one compressor station. It is expected to deliver over 1.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas once it is in service.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Trump officials seek to weaken historic-preservation reviews of projects
Dan Diamond and Jake Spring, 7/20/26
“The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a low-profile federal agency that oversees preservation reviews and advises the president and Congress, on Friday proposed significant revisions to a federally required process that governs changes to landmarks such as the National Mall, sites that are significant to Indian tribes and other properties eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” the Washington Post reports. “...The proposal narrows what is considered a ‘historic property’ that can be protected, tightens the scope on what is considered an ‘undertaking’ affecting that property under the law, and makes the process of consulting states and the public optional. What qualifies as a historic property is now limited to places that are ‘geographically compact’ and have been improved by humans at some point… “Werkheiser told the Post the change would exclude landscapes that tribes hold sacred that would have been previously considered under the existing rules, potentially opening them up to development and destruction by industry.”
E&E News: Trump threatens National Academies with debarment. Here’s what it is.
Lesley Clark, Chelsea Harvey, 7/21/26
“The oil industry and its allies gained a major supporter in their yearslong effort to derail climate science programs at the National Academies: the president of the United States,” E&E News reports. “It had the immediate effect of escalating the risk facing the institution over its work aimed at educating federal judges about the science behind climate change. In a Truth Social post on Sunday, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to open a so-called suspension and debarment investigation into the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine for what he called a “fraudulent, biased, and misleading” publication on climate change. Suspension and debarment is a proceeding that agencies can use to ban universities, research institutions and other entities from federal contracts in order to protect the government’s interests. Suspensions prevent entities from receiving federal funds while debarment proceedings take place. If an entity is debarred, it’s excluded from doing business with the government for a period of time, generally up to three years. Trump’s order is the latest development in a series of Republican attacks on the National Academies over its work on climate change… “This science transcends ideologies and political affiliations, and is backed by decades of robust data, deep research and analysis,” Janice Lachance, director and CEO of the American Geophysical Union, the world’s largest Earth science society, told E&E of the National Academies’ work. “This is science that protects and preserves lives and livelihoods. Calls for suspension or debarment from federal funding for this crucial information is dangerous and misguided.”
E&E News: Republican moves to scrap 2009 California clean car rule
Alex Guillén, Alex Nieves, 7/21/26
“Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman over the weekend introduced legislation targeting California vehicle emissions mandates dating back to the Obama administration,” E&E News reports. “The resolution — and others likely to emerge in the coming days or weeks — is part of the administration and Republicans’ targeting of federal waivers California has received for stricter air pollution rules, which other states often follow… “Today’s legislation is another step to reclaiming our authority as the national policymaker, and to stop inflicting harm on the American people in the name of climate lunacy,” Hageman, who is running for Senate to replace retiring Republican Cynthia Lummis, said in a statement.”
Grand Junction Sentinel: GORP Act receives first congressional committee hearing
Nathan Deal, 7/18/26
“The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act received its first congressional committee hearing this week,” the Grand Junction Sentinel reports. “The bipartisan bill — introduced by Colorado’s U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in 2024 and backed by a House companion bill from 3rd Congressional District Rep. Jeff Hurd — aims to federally designate more than 730,000 acres of public lands in western Colorado for protection, recreation, wildlife, scientific research and conservation… ”The bill was crafted through the three sponsors’ work with seven counties, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, municipalities, businesses and public land users. During the subcommittee’s hearing, Bennet submitted more than 30 letters of support for the GORP Act into the record, including from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, seven counties, five cities and towns, 110 local businesses and 17 non-governmental organizations (NGOs)... “In September 2025, the Montrose County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 to adopt a resolution formally opposing the GORP Act on the basis that it would limit future oil and gas development, restrict mining activity and reduce public land access…”
STATE UPDATES
WTOV: Carbon capture project draws scrutiny in Jefferson County as developers meet residents
Nickayla Wiggins, 7/20/26
“A proposed carbon capture and storage project is drawing questions and concerns in Jefferson County, where residents packed the Glen Mill Senior Center on Monday to hear from company representatives and seek more information,” WTOV reports. “Tenaska representatives attended the meeting to answer questions about the Tri-State Energy Hub, which the company described as a pair of projects involving carbon capture and storage development and a proposed natural gas power plant… “Tenaska representative Ali Kairys called the project a major opportunity for the region, estimating a $1.1 billion impact… “Environmental concerns were a major focus of the discussion, including questions about potential impacts to water, soil and land… “Tenaska representatives also said they are reaching out to landowners about voluntarily acquiring access to pore space on their properties and compensating them for those rights. The company plans to continue that outreach during the multiyear permitting process.”
Data Center Watch: New York’s Moratorium Marks a New Phase in Data Center Politics
7/20/26
“On July 14, Governor Hochul signed an executive order to make New York the first state to impose a statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers,” Data Center Watch reports. “...State legislatures across the country are increasingly debating statewide restrictions on large-scale data centers as AI-driven electricity demand accelerates. Fourteen state legislatures have introduced legislation restricting new data center development. To date, however, most restrictions have been enacted at the municipal level. New York is the first state to implement a statewide moratorium. The executive order marks a significant shift in U.S. data center governance. Until now, restrictions on new data centers have largely been enacted at the local level, with counties and municipalities leading regulatory action. New York is the first state to use executive authority to pause large-scale AI infrastructure while evaluating how large-scale data centers should be regulated going forward… “New York paired its moratorium with proposals addressing grid costs, tax incentives, and future siting requirements, suggesting the moratorium is part of a broader effort to reconsider how hyperscale facilities are regulated rather than simply delaying construction… “Candidates in multiple states have publicly linked election losses to their support for controversial data center projects, suggesting that elected officials increasingly perceive data center policy as carrying electoral consequences.”
Signal Ohio: Feds advance plan to open 2,800 acres of Ohio’s Wayne National Forest to fracking
Jake Zuckerman, 7/20/26
“The federal government took a major step forward Friday toward opening more than 2,800 acres of Ohio’s only national forest to oil and gas development,” Signal Ohio reports. “...Although some bureaucratic hurdles remain, a lease sale brings fracking the forest for the first time – the subject of political effort since at least 2016 – far closer to fruition, giving specific companies legal rights to the land and minerals beneath it… “Meanwhile, the state of Ohio has opened about 22,000 acres of its state parks and wildlife areas to oil and gas companies as well since 2024, via recently passed GOP-backed legislation… “Is there no place left in Ohio that’s safe from fracking?” Wendy Park, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has fought the leasing effort in court, told Signal. “Almost every corner of Ohio, except the Wayne, has been fracked.”
Cleveland.com: ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ was always a fantasy: Ohio’s fracking waste crisis is here
7/17/26
“For years, critics warned that Ohio’s solution to fracking waste was not a solution at all. Pump millions of gallons of toxic, radioactive brine thousands of feet underground, apply massive pressure, and just hope it stays put,” Cleveland.com reports. “Now, in Washington County, that gamble appears to be failing — and the drinking water supply for nearly 17,000 people may be at risk… “The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has persuaded four injection wells in Washington County to voluntarily stop accepting fracking waste after determining that the brine — a toxic, highly radioactive byproduct of the fracking process — may be migrating out of the rock formations where it was injected and contaminating nearby oil and gas wells… “This is why the out of sight, out of mind approach to toxic waste is just a fantasy,” Atassi said. “We generate millions of gallons of poisonous waste. You just pump it underground, cross your fingers, hope the geology behaves the way that we predict.”
Los Alamos Daily Post: New Mexico Environment Department Announces Upcoming Rulemaking To Adopt New Methane Abatement Rule
Carol A. Clark, 7/17/26
“NMED announces an upcoming rulemaking to adopt new rule 20.2.51 NMAC, Methane Abatement,” the Los Alamos Daily Post reports. “The rule would establish a methane super-emitter program to reduce large, uncontrolled releases of natural gas that can go unidentified and unabated for extended periods. The availability, use and expansion of remote sensing technologies for methane super-emitters is already utilized by many entities for this type of detection, and this rule would enable certified third-party notifiers to submit notifications of super-emitter events detected using approved technologies to NMED. Under the rule, NMED would provide notification of the super-emitter event to the owner or operator of any source located within 50 meters of the event location. The owner or operator would then be required to conduct an investigation to determine the source of the super-emitter event and repair the responsible methane leak(s).”
Floodlight: Louisiana communities are left in the dark on toxic air — and industry helped keep it that way
Ames Alexander, 7/20/26
“In 2023, Peter DeCarlo and other Johns Hopkins University researchers drove through Louisiana’s industrial corridor with a mobile laboratory to measure air pollution. They discovered that cancer risks from toxic emissions far exceeded EPA figures in some areas,” Floodlight reports. “...Along the 85-mile corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — where cancer rates from toxic air pollution are among the nation’s highest — many residents live in the shadows of heavy industry with no idea what they’re breathing. Turns out, that’s by design. A Floodlight analysis found that Louisiana’s public air monitors are often located miles from major industrial polluters and fail to test for some of the most dangerous chemicals… “Ten of Louisiana’s heaviest air-polluting facilities operate without a single public air monitor within five miles. Dow Chemical’s plastics factory in Plaquemine is one of Louisiana’s biggest air polluters, releasing an array of toxic pollutants including ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen. The nearest air monitoring station is about eight miles away and measures only ozone. No public monitors measure ammonia — despite CF Industries’ Donaldsonville plant emitting more than 7 million pounds of it in 2024, making it one of the nation’s top toxic polluters, according to EPA data. The three chemicals that researchers have concluded “together account for the large majority of total cancer risk” in the area — ethylene oxide, chloroprene and formaldehyde — aren’t monitored by the state at all. Industry groups have spent years fighting proposals that would require better monitoring around manufacturing plants. They also helped draft a 2024 law that sharply restricted how community air monitoring could be used in enforcement.”
Electrek: Elon Musk quietly buys a $1 billion gas turbine company to power Grok
Fred Lambert, 7/14/26
“Elon Musk has quietly bought APR Energy, a Jacksonville-based company that operates a fleet of mobile gas and diesel turbines totaling more than 1 GW of generation capacity,” Electrek reports. “The self-styled champion of a “solar electric economy” now owns a fossil fuel power company — and he’s buying it to feed the electricity-hungry data centers running xAI’s Grok. There was no press release. The acquisition surfaced through a Federal Trade Commission early termination notice — transaction number 20261350, dated May 14, 2026 — which cleared the deal without further antitrust review… “It deploys trailer-mounted gas turbines and reciprocating diesel and natural gas engines that can reach full power in under 10 minutes and be installed in days rather than the years it takes to permit and build a fixed plant. The fuel is natural gas and diesel… “It’s the same technology Musk has already been running — controversially — to keep Grok online.”
EXTRACTION
Wood Mackenzie: US data centre developers prioritise existing project pipelines as new pipeline capacity growth slows in Q1 2026
Caitlin Connelly, 7/21/26
“Wood Mackenzie’s analysis of Q1 2026 data shows that established US data centre developers continue to shift their focus to existing data-centre pipelines in the face of an increasingly challenging development and regulatory environment. 36 GW of disclosed data centre capacity was added to the US pipeline in Q1 2026, down 19% from additions in Q4 2025… “Fifty-three percent of projects are past the permitting phases, but that only corresponds to 32% of total capacity. Projects entering construction phases so far in 2026 are less energy dense than those in the disclosed and permitting phases… “Gas now accounts for 40% of deployments and 48% of total site capacity, while renewables and storage account for 41% of deployments and 38% of capacity… “The regulatory environment for data-centre development is increasingly complex and regionally diverse. Interruptible service options are being deployed, forcing companies to choose between speed-to-power and firm power. Policymakers tend to view firm service as an unnecessary friction to interconnection. Fast-track capacity interconnection frameworks seek to bring new generation online quickly ahead of a supply crunch. It remains to be seen whether policy developments help or hinder demand growth, however, as policymakers seek to balance the often-competing priorities of affordability, speed to power and decarbonisation.”
Futurity: Carbon capture and storage could curb data center emissions
Alexandra Becker - Rice U, 7/20/26
“As artificial intelligence accelerates demand for computing power across the US, a new study has found that carbon capture and storage could play a major role in limiting the climate impact of data centers,” Futurity reports. “Published in Energy & Fuels, the study estimates that US data center power capacity could grow from 40 gigawatts in 2025 to 169 gigawatts by 2030—a more than fourfold increase in just five years. Without new strategies to manage emissions, the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuel power plants supplying electricity to data centers could rise from about 90 million metric tons per year in 2025 to more than 404 million metric tons per year by 2030… “Because data centers require highly reliable, around-the-clock electricity, Lau and Tsai found that natural gas combined cycle power plants equipped with carbon capture and storage may offer one of the most practical near-term pathways for providing low-carbon power… “The study found that 34 states have enough saline aquifer storage capacity to store more than 100 years of projected data center-related carbon dioxide emissions beyond 2030. In 2025, those aquifers could store an estimated 59 million metric tons of data center-related carbon dioxide, or about 66% of the sector’s emissions. By 2030, that number could grow to 299 million metric tons, or about 74% of projected data center-related emissions.”
Harvard Media: Alberta updates ministers on progress reducing oilsands tailings and mine water
Jordan Keating, 7/20/26
“Alberta says it is making progress on implementing recommendations aimed at reducing oilsands tailings ponds and improving mine water management, while updating environment ministers from across Canada on the work underway,” Harvard Media reports. “...The province says it is acting on all nine recommendations made by the Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee in 2025, with engagement launched this year involving Indigenous communities, industry, technical experts and other governments… “The government said discussions have been completed with the Alberta Energy Regulator and industry on segregating water streams to increase opportunities for water reuse and eventual release where appropriate… “The province said it is not pursuing cross-watershed water transfers because of environmental, regulatory and cost concerns identified by the steering committee. The province also highlighted a $46-million investment through Emissions Reduction Alberta in nine projects developing technologies to reduce mine water and tailings volumes… “The government said freshwater use per barrel of oil produced declined 19 per cent between 2013 and 2024, while recycled water use increased 69 per cent over the same period.”
OPINION
EarthTrack: Surging Subsidies for Enhanced Oil Recovery: High Taxpayer Cost, No Climate Benefit
Doug Koplow, 7/20/26
“Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is frequently presented as a climate solution. In reality, the technology is heavily subsidized and to date has almost always been used for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) to extract additional oil from declining wells. Subsidizing EOR is a climate negative,” according to EarthTrack. “...The US Treasury’s projected revenue losses from 45Q are growing rapidly, with an estimated cost of $67.9 billion over the 2026-2035 period. This greatly exceeds the projected cost of other tax breaks to oil and gas for the 2026-2035 period, even when the total 45Q value is pro-rated to exclude carbon oxides not from fossil fuel extraction or power production… “Ending 45Q eligibility for enhanced oil recovery would stem wasteful use of public resources that does little to address long-term decarbonization challenges… “Historically, 45Q had tiered subsidy rates reflecting the complexity of the capture process and its importance in building long-term capabilities to reduce drivers of climate change. EOR and carbon oxide utilization (which in many applications delays release by very little) had the lowest subsidies; secure storage in the middle; and due to its technical complexity, direct air capture (DAC) was put at the top of the credit range. OBBBA increased the subsidy rates for utilization and EOR to match those for secure storage. This encourages the use of carbon oxides for enhanced oil recovery because the technology is already well-tested and oil producers can gain both the higher 45Q tax credits and profits from the sale of produced oil. In contrast, sequestration of carbon oxides receives only tax credits… “There is little fiscal or environmental justification to continue subsidizing carbon capture for EOR, and the ability to claim 45Q tax credits for EOR should be eliminated.”
Canada’s National Observer: Uncertainty clouds the cost and financing of oil companies’ carbon capture projects
Alexandre Shields, Le Devoir, 7/21/26
“The Carney government is unable to say how much the oil sands industry’s massive carbon capture and storage (CCS) project will cost or how much Canadian taxpayers will be expected to pay. Ottawa nevertheless announced last week that it will help finance the project championed by oil companies, even though it would deliver only marginal reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, reductions that would be offset by rising oil production,” Alexandre Shields writes for Canada’s National Observer. “... The project’s price tag was initially estimated at $16.5 billion. Speaking at an energy conference last month, however, Cenovus chief executive Jon McKenzie said the cost would likely fall between $20 billion and $30 billion… “When all emissions associated with the oil are taken into account, including those produced when it is burned, the 1.27 billion barrels extracted each year are responsible for 762 Mt of GHG emissions. In that context, the projected 6 Mt reduction amounts to just 0.8 per cent of the industry’s total emissions… “Pierre-Olivier Pineau, holder of the Energy Sector Management Chair at HEC Montréal, estimates that “the 6 Mt being captured is marginal and almost insignificant compared with the increase in emissions that would result from Alberta’s planned expansion.”