EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/24/26
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: House approves seizing California land to protect pipeline
KOCO: Proposed Liberty Bridge pipeline draws support and criticism in Cushing
InForum: Democratic PSC candidates criticize legal argument on pipeline safety
Kentucky Lantern: A proposed Eastern Kentucky gas pipeline to serve a power plant is stirring local opposition
WCPO: Boone County leaders, residents push back on Texas Gas pipeline plan in Petersburg
The Reporting Project: Gas line easement in Granville Township will benefit the Open Space program
Vilas County News-Review: ANR Pipeline Company plans 92-mile pipeline expansion Northwoods Project
Hydrogen Insight: SoCalGas formally drops plans for Los Angeles hydrogen pipeline
Pipeline Fighters Hub: RAGBRAI Bike Riders Across Iowa Stop for Sno-Cones & Stickers at No CO2 Pipeline Awareness Watering Station
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Whitehouse: Trump actions make permitting deal more ‘unlikely’
E&E News: Conservation group sues to protect tiny Texas lizard
Utility Dive: DOE’s new power export rule at odds with ‘energy emergency’ findings: Public Citizen
Common Dreams: Trump’s Iran War Hits US Farmers With $1.4 Billion More in Diesel Fuel Costs: Report
Sludge: Former Trump Officials Are Lobbying the Agencies They Just Left
STATE UPDATES
Courthouse News Service: Minnesota’s Big Oil suit faces final hurdle before discovery: Trump’s intrusion
E&E News: Emails show how Virginia regulators downplayed data center health concerns
EXTRACTION
Recharge News: Meta thrown off key global clean energy scheme over gas spree
Reuters: Matador to buy Paloma Permian for $1.28 billion, bolsters Delaware Basin presence
OPINION
Rolling Stone: Trump Wants to Build a New Pipeline Even Bigger Than Keystone XL
Appleton Post-Crescent: Shiocton reader wants a governor who supports environment
PIPELINE NEWS
E&E News: House approves seizing California land to protect pipeline
Andres Picon, 7/24/26
“A Texas Republican muscled an amendment into the House’s defense policy bill this week that would allow the federal government to secure land along a contested pipeline in California,” E&E News reports. “The amendment from Rep. Wesley Hunt got added to the House’s National Defense Authorization Act. It could put an end to California’s long-running fight against Sable Offshore’s Santa Ynez pipeline system by allowing the Pentagon to take land along the pipeline route to ensure crude flows to refineries that supply military installations, among other needs. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) told E&E Sable was “asking its friends in Congress to rig the system in [its] favor, seize California lands and issue an irrevocable operating permit.” Carbajal told E&E that “these are friends from another state” and noted the pipeline caused a spill off the coast of his Santa Barbara district in 2015.”
KOCO: Proposed Liberty Bridge pipeline draws support and criticism in Cushing
Emma Burch, 7/24/26
“A proposed pipeline that would transport tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to Cushing, Oklahoma, is drawing both support for its economic potential and criticism over environmental concerns,” KOCO reports. “The Liberty Bridge pipeline, a joint project between Bridger Pipeline and South Bow Project, would be built in three phases and could carry over 1 million barrels of oil per day if completed. This capacity would exceed that of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was canceled in 2021… “For many in Cushing, a town with strong ties to the oil industry, the project represents a significant economic opportunity. “Drill baby drill,” Tanner Peterson, a Cushing resident who moved to the area nearly a decade ago to work in the oil industry, told KOCO… “However, environmental groups, including the Sierra Club of Oklahoma, are raising concerns about the risks associated with transporting tar sands crude oil. “And so, what they do is they mix all these chemicals in there to make the tar sands crude go through the pipeline, they have to put it under more pressure, mix it with these chemicals,” Kara-Joy McKee, director of the Sierra Club Oklahoma Chapter, told KOCO. “The tar sands is more likely. It’s more likely to leak, and if it does leak, it’s more dangerous for the community,” McKee told KOCO. Activists warn that a spill could endanger waterways, wildlife, and nearby communities.”
InForum: Democratic PSC candidates criticize legal argument on pipeline safety
Michael McGurran, 7/23/26
“Democratic candidates for the North Dakota Public Service Commission say a recent legal argument over pipeline safety shows the commission has lost sight of its mission,” InForum reports. “The criticism comes after the PSC’s attorney argued in court the commission cannot consider public safety when deciding whether to permit a pipeline because pipeline safety is regulated at the federal level. Democratic candidates Scot Kelsh of Fargo and John Pederson of Mayville say that interpretation ignores the concerns they’ve heard from landowners across North Dakota and undermines public confidence in the commission. “The fact that they’ve just been remaining silent about it tells me that they’re not really doing their jobs, and we should elect somebody who is going to do the job and keep public safety a primary consideration,” Kelsh told InForum. Kelsh also told InForum if state law is unclear about whether the PSC can consider public safety, lawmakers should change it during the next legislative session.”
Kentucky Lantern: A proposed Eastern Kentucky gas pipeline to serve a power plant is stirring local opposition
Liam Niemeyer, 7/24/26
“Sharon Kulovsek and her husband moved to the Rowan County woods to be closer to nature and family. What she didn’t expect was to have a gas company representative tell her a planned 30-inch diameter pipeline would run through her yard,” the Kentucky Lantern reports. “...We were blindsided,” Kulovsek, originally from Chicago, told the Lantern. “We were more and more upset about it because we moved to Kentucky for the environment, for the beauty.” Kulovsek is one of a number of people living near the planned 42-mile route of a natural gas pipeline extension through Rowan, Fleming and Mason counties who are organizing over strong concerns they have about their personal safety living close by to the pipeline, and the pipeline’s impacts on local wildlife. Canada-based TC Energy, which owns a controlling stake in Columbia Gulf Transmission that’s proposing the pipeline, has told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission it plans to spend a little over $400 million to supply gas to electric utility East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s coal-fired Hugh L. Spurlock Generating Station along the Ohio River… “TC Energy communications staff in an emailed statement told the Lantern the company is seeing “strong community interest” and that the company has held open houses and has talked with landowners along the proposed route… “But Kulovsek and others living along the route of the pipeline don’t believe enough is being done to address their safety concerns or the potential ecological impacts. Kulovsek told the Lantern in her evaluation, the pipeline comes down to “greed.” “...But those who live along the pipeline route don’t believe the risks of the pipeline is worth any broader benefits of it.”
WCPO: Boone County leaders, residents push back on Texas Gas pipeline plan in Petersburg
Logan MacDonald, 7/23/26
“Boone County neighbors and leaders are speaking out against plans for Texas Gas Transmission, LLC to build a natural gas pipeline from Dearborn County, Indiana, across the Ohio River into Boone County,” WCPO reports. “The goal would be to connect to Vistra Corp.’s Miami Fort Power Plant in Hamilton County, Ohio. “Usually projects like this benefit the communities that they’re running through. We don’t see that here,” Boone County Commissioner Jesse Brewer told WCPO. Penny Morris lives near the planned pipeline route in Petersburg and told WCPO she has concerns about the project’s impacts. “How is it going to directly affect my water well? Because if they drill in and the river bed is very, very soft and delicate, it can either cause it to frack or it can cause it to have backwash that can backwash into our system,” Morris told WCPO. In a statement to WCPO, Texas Gas’s parent company, Boardwalk Pipelines, said no fracking will be involved in the process…. ”Boone County leaders, however, have formally opposed the project in a letter to project leaders. Brewer questioned the pipeline’s routing decisions. “Why does it got to come from Ohio over across the river twice?” Brewer said. “When there’s no benefit for the Boone County residents that we can see or tell.”
The Reporting Project: Gas line easement in Granville Township will benefit the Open Space program
Alan Miller, 7/23/26
“The Energy Cooperative secured a key location in Granville Township on Wednesday for a substation the utility needs for a 24-mile pipeline to provide natural gas to a power plant at an EdgeConnex data center in New Albany,” according to The Reporting Project. “...It provides The Energy Cooperative with a location to connect with a large transmission line owned by TC Energy that will send the initial supply of natural gas that the utility needs to fulfill its promise to sell gas to PowerConnex, the EdgeConnex subsidiary building a stand-alone power plant to feed 216 megawatts of electricity to the EdgeConnex data center on 170 acres in the New Albany International Business Park… “The 24-mile pipeline will be built in two phases, Todd Ware, president and chief executive officer of The Energy Cooperative, told the Project… “Phase One construction is scheduled for completion in September 2027, Ware said. Phase Two, which will run from Granville to near Hebron to connect with a large Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage company pipeline, is scheduled to be done in 2028. The proposed path for that line crosses through more private land than the first phase, so it will take longer to secure easements from individual property owners.”
Vilas County News-Review: ANR Pipeline Company plans 92-mile pipeline expansion Northwoods Project
7/24/26
“TC Energy’s ANR Pipeline Company has initiated a pre-filing process for the Northwoods Project, which plans to add 92 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline across five counties in Wisconsin and Michigan,” the Vilas County News-Review reports. “While 99% of the planned pipeline route parallels existing infrastructure, construction activities will temporarily disturb 1,526 acres of land, with 633 acres retained for permanent operations. FERC is preparing an environmental document to evaluate potential impacts; the public has until July 29 to submit comments on environmental concerns… “While the preliminary list of locations may change “commission staff have already identified areas that deserve attention based on a preliminary review of the planned facilities and the environmental information provided by ANR,” the docket states.”
Hydrogen Insight: SoCalGas formally drops plans for Los Angeles hydrogen pipeline
Polly Martin, 7/24/26
“SoCalGas has decided not to continue with its huge Angeles Link hydrogen pipeline project, which would have transported 1.5 million tonnes a year of H2 throughout southern California,” Hydrogen Insight reports.
Pipeline Fighters Hub: RAGBRAI Bike Riders Across Iowa Stop for Sno-Cones & Stickers at No CO2 Pipeline Awareness Watering Station
Emma Schmit, 7/23/26
“Landowners with the Iowa Easement Team landowners’ legal co-op, and grassroots advocates opposed to risky carbon pipelines and the use of eminent domain to seize private property to build them, hosted an informational rest stop this week for the more than 20,000 bike riders on the 391-mile annual “RAGBRAI” bike ride across Iowa,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “With temperatures in the 90’s, the “No CO2 Pipeline Awareness Watering Station” featured a very popular sno-cone giveaway that handed out 500 icy treats, along with custom bike helmet stickers that read, “Cyclists Against CO2 Pipelines.” A series of huge 12 by 8 signs at the rest stop read: “From Fertile Fields to Stolen Land. For Our Rights, We’ll Take a Stand. No Summit Carbon Pipeline!” and “Carbon Pipelines Are a Dirty Game. Taking What’s Ours With No Shame. No Eminent Domain!” “...Volunteer landowners operating the rest stop had conversations with folks from Florida to Alaska – and multiple people remembered our No CO2 Pipeline watering stations at previous years’ rides. “RAGBRAI is so unique in that cyclists from all over the world gather to ride across our beautiful state. We had riders from all across the country stop and talk about property rights and eminent domain abuse. It’s a universal problem and there is a renewed awareness,” said Sherri Webb, Shelby County impacted landowner. “While on the surface, RAGBRAI and opposing a risky CO2 pipeline may not have much in common, at the root of it, there are strong similarities. Both are about appreciating Iowa’s landscape and the traditions it holds. Thousands of riders will spend this week pedaling past farms that families have protected for generations, the same farms landowners are now fighting to keep out of a pipeline company’s path. We’re all persevering, we’re all fighting hard, and we’re all doing it because this land is worth it,” said Emma Schmit, Pipeline Fighters’ Organizing Director for Bold Alliance. Bold’s Easement Teams in Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota have also been organizing landowner opposition to the Summit CO2 pipeline for years. Bold’s Easement Teams are helping fund attorneys who have represented landowners at agency hearings that resulted in pipeline permit rejections in North Dakota and South Dakota, and the most-contested project in the history at the Iowa Utilities Commission, where landowners with the Iowa Easement Team also continue to challenge Summit’s pipeline route approval in the courts.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Whitehouse: Trump actions make permitting deal more ‘unlikely’
Josh Siegel, 7/24/26
“Ongoing Trump administration actions against renewable energy projects and other administration initiatives are making it unlikely that Democrats will sign off on a permitting deal with Republicans any time soon,” E&E News reports. “Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) acknowledged that reality Thursday as the Senate ended another workweek without an agreement. August recess — coming in two weeks — has been a deadline for negotiators to strike an accord. “What’s interesting is that the Trump administration regulatory side has been seemingly going out of its way to make success on permitting reform unlikely,” Whitehouse told E&E… “Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), a moderate Energy and Natural Resources member active in permitting talks, argued Thursday that Democrats should ignore Trump administration actions and focus on locking in a permitting deal that imposes restraints on executive branch authority to block or stall over permits.”
E&E News: Conservation group sues to protect tiny Texas lizard
Alex Guillén, 7/23/26
“The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the Fish and Wildlife Service for protections for a Texas lizard,” E&E News reports. “The agency back in 2011 said the Tamaulipan spot-tailed earless lizard may deserve protections under the Endangered Species Act. But despite a requirement to make a decision after one year, there’s been no movement since then, the conservation group alleges. It faces threats from human-caused habitat destruction and degradation from agriculture and other development, according to the center… “This little Texas lizard has quietly slipped toward extinction while the Fish and Wildlife Service sat on its hands, so we’re determined to push for action,” Hayden Wyatt, an associate attorney at the center, told E&E. ‘The Endangered Species Act requires timely decisions to prevent exactly this kind of slow-motion disappearance. Every year of delay increases the risk that this unique lizard will be lost forever.”
Utility Dive: DOE’s new power export rule at odds with ‘energy emergency’ findings: Public Citizen
Ethan Howland, 7/23/26
“The U.S. Department of Energy’s streamlined rules for companies seeking permission to export U.S. electricity are at odds with the department’s finding that there are “energy emergencies” across the United States that justify keeping power plants from retiring, Public Citizen said Tuesday,” Utility Dive reports. “The DOE should reconsider the final rule on power export authorizations it issued on June 22, in part because it prevents people and groups from intervening in export authorization proceedings or protesting them, the consumer watchdog group said in a rehearing request filed July 21. If the DOE dismisses Public Citizen’s rehearing request, the group will “likely” sue the department to overturn the new rule, Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s energy program, said in an email Wednesday.”
Common Dreams: Trump’s Iran War Hits US Farmers With $1.4 Billion More in Diesel Fuel Costs: Report
Brad Reed, 7/23/26
“President Donald Trump’s illegal war with Iran is putting significant financial stress on US farmers, according to a report issued on Thursday by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee,” according to Common Dreams. “The report finds that US farmers spent $1.4 billion more on diesel fuel this year when planing corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice than they did a year ago, representing a 63% yearly increase… “The report notes that it doesn’t capture the full extent of economic damage caused the president’s unlawful assault on Iran, as its analysis ‘doesn’t take into account other war-related increases such as the increased costs of running diesel generators that power some greenhouses or the increases at the pump that farmers and truckers face when they drive products to market… “Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran drove up the cost of diesel fuel just as farmers were set to start their spring planting,’ the report says. ‘This comes after Trump’s tariffs have already significantly increased costs for farmers and made it more difficult for them to plan for the future.”
Sludge: Former Trump Officials Are Lobbying the Agencies They Just Left
Donald Shaw, 7/23/26
“A Sludge review of Q2 lobbying disclosures found multiple revolving-door hires from the Trump White House are already lobbying the very agencies they just left, after President Trump declined to issue an ethics pledge… “A natural gas company that did not exist five months ago is already paying $380,000 a quarter for a lobbyist who, until this spring, ran oil and gas leasing policy at the Interior Department. A former White House liaison to the Senate left in February and by summer was lobbying U.S. senators for a German utility. A director of operations in Susie Wiles’ office was working in the West Wing as of April, but by July she’d registered to lobby on behalf of a lithium mine. None of this is illegal, because on his first day back in office in January 2025, President Trump rescinded the Biden administration’s ethics pledge requiring executive branch appointees to wait two years before lobbying their former agencies… “Adam Suess left his post as acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management at the Interior Department in late February of this year and immediately took a job as principal at Squire Patton Boggs, where his client list includes the American Petroleum Institute, Pilot Company, the private equity firm KKR, crypto venture firm Paradigm Operations, and more.”
STATE UPDATES
Courthouse News Service: Minnesota’s Big Oil suit faces final hurdle before discovery: Trump’s intrusion
Ryan Luetkemeyer, 7/23/26
“A six-year legal battle over whether Minnesota can hold oil giants accountable for climate deception faced a pivotal moment in federal court Thursday, with state officials now on the defense,” Courthouse News Service reports. “As attorneys delivered arguments over a federal suit intended to freeze the state action, a larger question is beginning to be answered: whether states have the power to force fossil fuel companies into court. At issue are two competing demands: the U.S. Department of Justice’s bid for a preliminary injunction to halt the state case and Minnesota’s motion to dismiss the federal suit. If the case is dismissed, the state clears its final roadblock and moves toward discovery. The Trump administration — which sued Minnesota in May — called the state’s lawsuit against Big Oil companies a threat to national energy policy, and an attempt to undermine federal authority by regulating global greenhouse gas emissions.”
E&E News: Emails show how Virginia regulators downplayed data center health concerns
Ariel Wittenberg, 7/24/26
“When Virginia’s top environmental regulator received an analysis warning of data center pollution, it took him less than five minutes to forward it to seven people on his staff,” E&E News reports. “The Piedmont Environmental Council had sent the report to Michael Rolband as a courtesy two days before publicizing it in March. It ignited a scramble within the agency to poke holes in the analysis, which raised concerns about the health effects of an AI facility that stands at the vanguard of the state’s fastest-growing industry… “Internal emails obtained by POLITICO through a public records request paint a portrait of an agency that moved quickly to defend the only data center in Virginia that is powering itself — in what former officials and environmental health advocates described as an unusual effort to shape the debate around an industry whose global epicenter is in the state… “That led DEQ to issue its own report a month later that echoed arguments Vantage had made to Rolband in emails obtained by POLITICO, asserting that the data center’s emissions were below what its state permit allowed. The state’s report also made assertions that health experts told E&E are unfounded, including one that suggested people are safe from soot if it doesn’t surpass EPA thresholds… “The DEQ is not the health department, it’s not their job to determine the health of a community,” Robert Burnley, who led DEQ between 2002 and 2006, told E&E. “If you’re trying to defend a permit, you just say these emissions don’t contribute to a violation of the air quality standards. That’s what I would say, and that’s all I would say.”
EXTRACTION
Recharge News: Meta thrown off key global clean energy scheme over gas spree
Berta Olivier, Andrew Lee, 7/23/26
“Meta has left the RE100 initiative — the global scheme in which companies commit to sourcing all their power from renewable energy — following its increased gas procurement, Recharge News reports. “The tech giant is among the hyperscalers ramping up new gas capacity to power its data centres. In March, Meta reached an agreement with Entergy Corp. to build seven new gas-fired power plants in Louisiana, delivering more than 5GW of capacity for its largest data centre to date. “After several in-depth conversations between Meta and Climate Group, Meta has withdrawn from the RE100 initiative, as it is no longer able to meet the technical criteria due to investments made in new gas power.” a spokesperson from Climate Group, which runs the scheme, told Recharge… “Now that Meta has invested in 5GW of new gas generation, “it can continue buying certificates against that consumption, but its absolute fossil fuel footprint keeps climbing, and a 100% renewable claim becomes harder to defend,” Bruegel told Recharge.”
Reuters: Matador to buy Paloma Permian for $1.28 billion, bolsters Delaware Basin presence
Sumit Saha, 7/23/26
“Matador Resources said on Thursday it would buy privately held Paloma Permian from EnCap Investments for about $1.28 billion, adding high-quality drilling assets in the oil-rich Delaware Basin,” Reuters reports. “U.S. shale producers are prioritizing acquisitions that add premium drilling inventory over rapid production growth to maintain capital discipline, allowing them to sustain output and shareholder returns for longer. The deal gives Matador access to 16,235 net undeveloped acres in Eddy and Lea counties in New Mexico, along with properties producing about 11,100 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, around 57% of which is oil.”
OPINION
Rolling Stone: Trump Wants to Build a New Pipeline Even Bigger Than Keystone XL
Krystal Two Bulls is executive director of Honor the Earth and Anne Hedges is executive director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, 7/23/26
“If you haven’t heard of the massive new tar sands pipeline proposed to transport oil from Alberta to Cushing, Oklahoma, yet, you’re not alone — and that may be by design,” Krystal Two Bulls and Anne Hedges write for Rolling Stone. “The pipeline has misleadingly been dubbed in the media as “Keystone Light” due to its similarities to the now defunct Keystone XL pipeline, though a more suitable name would be “Keystone 2.0” or “Keystone XXL.” If approved, the pipeline could be capable of moving up to 1.13 million barrels of oil per day, far more than the original Keystone XL proposal. The new project also comes with a host of concerns about how it could impact the surrounding region and peoples, just as its predecessor did… “Bridger initially failed to disclose the type of oil it plans to transport, but it later confirmed what many suspected after reporters pushed for answers: this pipeline is designed to carry tar sands oil, one of the dirtiest and most environmentally destructive fuel sources on the planet… “The threat this pipeline poses to Indigenous Peoples and Tribal lands cannot be overstated. The proposed routes for the middle segment alone could cut through unceded hunting territory guaranteed to the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Mandan, and Arikara Tribal Nations under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. It could also cut through the “Warrior Trail” alongside Highway 212, which includes historic sites from the Black Hills War of 1876, as well as cross the Missouri River, which feeds Lake Sakakawea, the primary water supply for the Fort Berthold Reservation, home of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. One proposed route would travel directly through the Fort Peck reservation, a critical sage-grouse habitat. Water protectors from these Indigenous Nations are raising the alarm to stop the pipeline in order to protect the land and water, treaty rights, and sacred sites… “The Trump administration issued a cross-border permit for the pipeline in April without ever completing an environmental analysis, consulting with impacted Tribes, or informing the public about the type of oil this pipeline will transport… “The Trump administration has already signaled that it is willing to limit public engagement to potentially force this project through… “We ultimately defeated Keystone XL, but Keystone 2.0 could be just as menacing. There’s nothing “light” about this new pipeline proposal.”
Appleton Post-Crescent: Shiocton reader wants a governor who supports environment
Peter Jobe, Shiocton, 7/24/26
“Since following the Enbridge Line 5 controversy for more than 2 years; it’s disturbing that Enbridge has started blasting through pristine natural areas with their Line 5 reroute. Not only is the continued operation of Line 5 a potential disaster, the reroute plan only increases the risk,” Peter Jobe writes for the Appleton Post-Crescent. “...This foreign owned line transports 22 million gallons per day of unrefined petroleum product from the U.S. to Canada, by a company that has a reputation for massive pipeline failures. Situated along the southern shores of Lake Superior crossing numerous rivers and streams, this is an environmentally sensitive area where a pipeline failure would impact the livelihood of the Bad River Nation, contaminate the drinking water for millions, and destroy prosperous tourism and commerce along the Lake Superior shores… “Fortunately, most of the candidates for governor, including State Rep. Francesca Hong and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez have raised concerns about Line 5 and the need to protect the Great Lakes and the local watershed. Please keep this issue in mind as we prepare to vote in the upcoming election.”