EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/27/22
PIPELINE NEWS
OK Energy Today: Foreign operators involved in carbon capture pipelines in Iowa
Harlan Newspapers: Proposed Resolutions Will Focus On Pipeline Safety
Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines: Local Landowners and Advocates Respond After Infamous Oil Company Files Petition to Construct Dangerous CO2 Pipeline through 13 Illinois Counties
The Pantagraph: Details revealed for proposed 'Heartland Greenway' CO2 pipeline in Illinois
KFYR: Landowners unhappy with carbon capture pipeline
KMA: Montgomery County supervisors hear another pipeline inspection pitch
Virginia Mercury: Mountain Valley Pipeline wants another four years to finish work. Virginians remain split.
Winston Salem Journal: 'Accidents waiting to happen': Pipeline with 2 million gallon leak runs through Triad
The Northern View: City of Terrace toughens stance on Enbridge gas pipeline proposal
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: An 'eye-opener' trip to oilsands await Canadian and U.S. ambassadors
STATE UPDATES
Denver Post: Weld natural gas operator fined $3.25 million for leaks that harmed air quality
EXTRACTION
E&E News: EIA: U.S. Became Top Global LNG Supplier In First Half Of 2022
The Economist: State-run oil giants will make or break the energy transition
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Buyout Firm Astatine Seeks Sale of Stake in Texas Pipeline Operator
OPINION
Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility: Comments submitted to the California Air Resources Board
PennLive: The EPA must strengthen federal methane emissions standards
PIPELINE NEWS
OK Energy Today: Foreign operators involved in carbon capture pipelines in Iowa
7/25/22
“More dark details are being uncovered in some of the carbon capture projects that have been in the news in recent weeks in Iowa where landowners are fighting eminent domain efforts,” OK Energy Today reports. “BOLD Nebraska, an environmental group that fought the Keystone XL pipeline recently reported how foreign operators are among those involved in some of the carbon capture pipeline projects. Thanks to the due diligence of an Iowa farmer, the shady partners and foreign investors of the proposed carbon pipeline companies seeking eminent domain across the Midwest are starting to be exposed. Dakota News Now broke the story, after a landowner uncovered the details and submitted them to the Iowa Utilities Board, one of the state agencies that ultimately would grant eminent domain to the proposed pipelines: Pipeline company Summit Carbon Solutions’ investors include “SK holdings, a company fined over 70 million dollars for defrauding US military contracts… Department of Justice Documents show SK Holdings pleaded guilty in 2018 and again in 2020 to Government Fraud,” Dakota News Now reported. [1] “In addition to foreign interest concerns, others are questioning how the South Dakota Republican Party Chair, Dan Lederman, can fairly serve those he works for: the Party, Summit Carbon Solutions, and a foreign county.” The farmer’s research shows that Lederman filed with the U.S. Department of Justice to report that he’s lobbying for the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, their embassy, with a $10,000 monthly contract. [2] Dakota News Now reports that “at a recent Brown County Commission meeting, Lederman wore a shirt with a Summit Carbon Solutions logo. “I’m here as, as a representative for Summit to ask that you postpone this passing,” said Lederman at the hearing. The commission approved a pipeline moratorium despite his request.” As landowners’ attorney Brian Jorde, with the Nebraska Easement Action Team and Domina Law Group, told Dakota News Now, “This pipeline is not about South Dakota — it’s about foreign entities and enriching billionaires and foreign countries.”
Harlan Newspapers: Proposed Resolutions Will Focus On Pipeline Safety
7/25/22
“The Shelby County Board of Supervisors have planned public hearing dates to discuss and pass two resolutions at each of the three public hearings regarding the proposed carbon pipeline that will run through the county,” Harlan Newspapers reports. “Board of Supervisor Chairman Steve Kenkel told Harlan the three hearings pertain to how the process works regarding Iowa Code and safety issues… “The first proposed resolution will regulate the restoration of both agricultural and non-agricultural land caused by the construction of the pipeline, and will grant the County the “authority to implement land use controls to protect the general welfare of County residents from the adverse financial and environmental impacts of pipeline construction and operation.” Kenkel told Harlan, “Any damages will be regulated through Iowa Code process. We will be adopting the State Code at the County level. We want to make certain that repairs for any damages to tile lines, wells, driveways, or anything will be covered by the pipeline.” “...The remaining resolution will focus on safety. “We want to make sure our residents and livestock facilities are safe, which is our job,” Kenkel told Harlan… “Board Chairman Kenkel told Harlan the Supervisors want to know what the safety hazards are and what the setbacks need to be. Kenkel stated that if approved, the proposed resolutions will be one of the first of its kind in the State of Iowa, and Shelby County will work together with the Iowa Utility Board in establishing a safe route with setbacks.”
Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines: Local Landowners and Advocates Respond After Infamous Oil Company Files Petition to Construct Dangerous CO2 Pipeline through 13 Illinois Counties
7/27/22
“Yesterday, Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC filed a petition with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to construct a dangerous CO2 pipeline through 13 Illinois counties despite overwhelming opposition from landowners, local governments, and agricultural and environmental advocates across Illinois. The Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, united with local farmers and landowners, calls on the ICC to deny the petition due to the significant threat the proposed pipeline poses to landowners and the local environment. On Monday, Navigator Heartland Greenway, a subsidiary of the Texas-based oil pipeline development company Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC, petitioned the ICC for a Certificate of Authority to construct and operate the Illinois portions of a 1,300-mile carbon dioxide pipeline… “According to the 2011 Carbon Dioxide Transportation and Sequestration Act, the Illinois Commerce Commission must take local landowners’ concerns about public safety, infrastructure, the economy, and property values into account before approving the permit and allowing the use of eminent domain. Local landowners’ concerns are well documented. Local landowners, governments, and agricultural and environmental advocates along the pipeline’s planned route have raised concerns that the pipeline will wreak havoc on farmland, put residents in grave danger, impose significant costs on local units of government, and is a false solution to Illinois’ energy needs. Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC, a private company funded by taxpayer benefits, stands to reap all of the profits from the pipeline at the expense of Illinois communities. In response, local landowners and members of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines released the following statement: "My farm has been in my family for over 100 years. It is not only my livelihood, but also an example of a small, but critical, part of Illinois' agricultural economy," says John Feltham, a retired Marine and Knox County farmer, who received a notification letter last December advising him that a new CO2 pipeline was planned across his farmland. "I refused to sign a voluntary easement when Navigator approached me or allow pipeline surveyors on my farm. The proposed pipeline would permanently damage my land and erosion control systems, endanger my home and livelihood, and adversely impact Illinois agriculture. The meager amount Navigator offered for an easement is wholly inadequate to compensate for the destructive impact of its plan. Farmland covers 75% of Illinois. By crossing hundreds of family farms in 13 Illinois counties, Navigator's pipeline would chip away at the viability of every farm it crosses in each of those counties."
The Pantagraph: Details revealed for proposed 'Heartland Greenway' CO2 pipeline in Illinois
Brenden Moore, 7/26/22
“A Texas-based company has filed paperwork with the Illinois Commerce Commission seeking approval to construct and operate the 250-mile Illinois portion of a proposed 1,300-mile carbon capture and sequestration pipeline,” The Pantagraph reports. “...The company asserted that "pipelines are the safest, most environmentally friendly, efficient, and reliable mode of transportation for gas and liquids." Alternatives to transport the amount of carbon dioxide the pipeline will initially be able to handle would equal either 512,000 trucks or 87,000 railcars annually, it said. The Christian County site, according to the filing, "is a proven and active location for successful sequestration, has ample capacity and availability to sequester hundreds of millions of metric tons of CO2." The carbon would be stored more than one mile underground. However, environmental groups and farmers have raised concerns over the proposal, ranging from the risks to public health, water supply and fertility of valuable farmland… “The next step is for an administrative law judge to be assigned to oversee the case, ICC spokeswoman Vicki Crawford told the Pantagraph.”
KFYR: Landowners unhappy with carbon capture pipeline
Joel Crane, 7/26/22
“Many in the energy industry sing the praises of carbon capture technology, but not everybody is thrilled by the idea,” KFYR reports. “...But some landowners in the way of the pipeline are skeptical. Some landowners have a message for where the pipeline can go. ”I really don’t care where they go; I just don’t want it on my property,” Dennis Wolff, landowner and farmer in McPherson County, South Dakota, told KFYR. Summit Carbon Solutions has filed a lawsuit against a number of landowners, who denied the company access to their land. ”While the overwhelming majority of the survey work conducted up to this point has involved the landowner voluntarily offering the company permission to access their land, there have been a limited number of instances where South Dakota law has been invoked to allow this critical work to continue,” representatives from Summit Carbon Solutions told KFYR. In addition to skepticism about the pipeline, Wolff’s biggest issue is the way he’s been approached by the company. ”The first thing the guy told me last January, when I said I’m probably not going to sign, he threatened me with eminent domain. That is the first words out of their mouth. It’s the bullying tactics they’re using, they’re picking on the older people, people who aren’t very informed on it. It’s not being done in a right way,” Wolff told KFYR. And even Senator John Hoeven, whose work on carbon capture in North Dakota began 14 years ago when he was governor, has expressed concern about Summit’s practices. ”Private property rights must be respected and participation in the Summit Carbon Solutions project should be voluntary, and Senator Hoeven is concerned about the use of litigation to compel access to private property,” Hoeven’s office told KFYR.
KMA: Montgomery County supervisors hear another pipeline inspection pitch
Mike Peterson, 7/26/22
“Montgomery County officials continue to explore inspection services for a proposed carbon pipeline project,” KMA reports. “Officials with Snyder and Associates made their pitch to the county's board of supervisors at its regular meeting Tuesday morning. Kristina Paradise, a construction technician based in Snyder and Associate's Fort Dodge office, outlined the company's services and responsibilities with inspecting Summit Carbon Solutions' proposed CO2 pipeline planned for a good portion of western Iowa… “Paradise says one issue is that Summit has yet to specify the pipeline's route through Montgomery County. "They don't have a definite route through Montgomery County yet," she said… “She says the company would observe and document the pipeline's construction activities, and would issue stop work orders if work is not proceeding according to specification. In turn, Paradise urges the supervisors to approve a resolution setting the county's specific pipeline regulations. "If Montgomery County does not have a resolution in place," said Paradise, "I encourage you to put a resolution in place, specifying the depth of cover over this pipeline, what's going to have with your drainage tiles, with your district tiles, and private tiles--all of that. I encourage you to spell that out." Prior to the company's presentation, the board heard from citizen urging action on an ordinance prohibiting the use of eminent domain in pipeline land acquisition activities. Saying the project is unpopular across the region, West Township resident Jan Norris had a message for the company. "I hope Snyder and Associates here today giving a presentation understands the importance of the county's inspector being the only advocate the landowner has in destroying their property," said Norris. "CO2 pipelines are a danger to the community, and put our first responders in a position they will have no experience or preparation for, and no equipment able to provide rescues." Earlier this year, the board sent a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board stating its opposition to eminent domain on the project.”
Virginia Mercury: Mountain Valley Pipeline wants another four years to finish work. Virginians remain split.
SARAH VOGELSONG, 7/27/22
“As Mountain Valley Pipeline seeks a four-year extension to finish building the long-delayed project, intended to carry natural gas from the Marcellus shale fields into Virginia, Virginians remain as divided as ever on the pipeline’s fate,” the Virginia Mercury reports. “Initially expected to be completed by 2018, Mountain Valley has faced staunch opposition from environmental groups and some landowners who object to the company’s crossing of their property… “Without the extension, the company will not be able to continue its work, but such an outcome is expected to lead to more litigation… “In filings, opponents repeatedly point to erosion and sediment problems linked to the pipeline, including several hundred in 2018 that led then-Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office to file a lawsuit against the company. The litigation was resolved in October 2019 with Mountain Valley agreeing to pay Virginia $2.15 million. “For the past four years I have observed the terrible erosion of the land where it has been stripped, and the negative effects on our most precious resource, our water,” wrote Marjorie Lewter of New Castle, a town in Craig County. “This area has the largest aquifer of pure clean mountain spring water in the East. I have observed muddy waters pouring from the pipeline right of way with every rain event.” Proponents of the four-year extension insist that ongoing delays in the pipeline’s completion increase negative environmental impacts associated with it… “Other comments in support of the project’s completion emphasize regional claims that increased gas supply is needed to spur economic development… “Opponents, however, argue that the company and the oil and gas industry are exaggerating demand and that as concerns over climate change grow and fossil fuels are increasingly phased out, infrastructure like the pipeline will increasingly be at risk of being stranded. Environmental and economic development nonprofit Appalachian Voices in language reproduced by several commenters in FERC filings argued there is a “real probability that the gas capacity that the Mountain Valley Pipeline could provide will be underutilized and less financially viable than existing supply.”
Winston Salem Journal: 'Accidents waiting to happen': Pipeline with 2 million gallon leak runs through Triad
John Deem, 7/26/22
“An estimated 2 million gallons of gasoline leaked into a Mecklenburg County nature preserve in August 2020, a pipeline company said Friday in its latest report on the incident,” the Winston Salem Journal reports. “Why does that matter in the Triad? Because that 5,500-mile pipeline system, which transports more than 100 millions of gallons of fuel per day, slices through the heart of the Triad and passes under the Yadkin River as it crosses from Davie County to Davidson County. Colonial Pipeline Co.’s latest update on the leak in Huntersville, just north of Charlotte, came two weeks after a Mecklenburg County Superior Court judge approved a $5 million settlement in a lawsuit filed against the company by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality over what the agency called “the largest inland fuel spill in the U.S.” “...In the Triad, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company has been warned multiple times by NCDEQ this year about unacceptable concentrations of a gasoline additive, which has been banned in several states because of potential health risks, in groundwater at its Greensboro Junction Facility. The high levels of the additive are likely linked to a gasoline leak a quarter-century ago at the complex along Interstate 40, a company spokeswoman told the Journal Tuesday… “Environmental advocates say communities are at risk all along the hundreds of miles of Colonial Pipeline running through North Carolina, including in the Triad. “When it comes to using fossil fuels, we know by now that when we extract and transport oil and gas, we spill oil and gas,” Katie Craig, state director for the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group, told the Journal.
The Northern View: City of Terrace toughens stance on Enbridge gas pipeline proposal
ROD LINK, 7/26/22
“Terrace city council is holding off on an endorsement requested by pipeline giant Enbridge to extend the approval deadline from the province to build a natural gas pipeline from northeastern B.C. to the north coast,” The Northern View reports. “The city is waiting for a revenue sharing agreement with the province and money from Enbridge for staffing costs. Enbridge officials appeared before council July 25 asking for its support to extend the Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission pipeline environmental certificate for five years past its current end date of 2024… “Enbridge official Jennifer Prochera told the View the company has been asking for similar letters from other local governments and First Nations that would be sent to the province this summer. She told the View the city would be able to participate on a committee to examine the project’s economic and social impacts on the municipality and its residents. Following Prochera’s presentation, Coun. James Cordeiro said there’s no provision for the city to be compensated for the time spent by staff on committees regarding impacts of large scale industrial projects. The city already sits on committees dealing with the impacts of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline project and the LNG Canada project. “How many [projects] can you effectively be a part of before your staff can’t participate meaningfully?” Cordeiro asked. He also questioned lack of progress on a revenue sharing agreement so that the province provides a portion of the tax revenue it earns from large projects to local governments. Negotiations for such an agreement have yet to start despite a provincial commitment made five years ago, Cordeiro added. Any support for Enbridge should be “contingent upon a revenue sharing agreement” and there has to be “some mechanism” for projects to compensate the city for staff time, he said.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: An 'eye-opener' trip to oilsands await Canadian and U.S. ambassadors
Chris Varcoe, 7/26/22
“Canada’s ambassador to the United States and her counterpart from America sat down Monday in Calgary and talked about cross-border trade, developing critical minerals and energy security,” the Calgary Herald reports. “The more important get-together could come Wednesday. That’s when Canada’s ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, and U.S. ambassador, David Cohen, take a trip to the oilsands with Alberta’s energy minister to view the mammoth operations that churn out oil from the largest crude reserves in North America… “Only by seeing first-hand the massive oilsands operations at play, and the efforts underway to lower emissions, can one truly understand its supersized potential to bolster energy security in North America… “A steady parade of celebrities and U.S. politicians have made the trek up to the oilsands over the years, including a visit in April by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources… “The energy connection between the two countries is highly integrated and in need of new infrastructure, due to growing demand and supplies. Yet, there doesn’t appear to be much appetite on the part of the Biden administration to revisit the decision of Keystone XL, Maryscott Greenwood, CEO of the Canadian American Business Council, told the Herald. “This administration is much more focused on energy transition than they are on infrastructure, fossil fuel infrastructure. But what I do think is possible is some kind of a North American energy security pact.”
STATE UPDATES
Denver Post: Weld natural gas operator fined $3.25 million for leaks that harmed air quality
NOELLE PHILLIPS, 7/26/22
“A Weld County natural gas operator will pay a $3.25 million fine and spend more than $1.5 million to upgrade one of its plants to reduce harmful air emissions in an agreement with the state, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday,” the Denver Post reports. “DCP Operating Company LP and five other subsidiaries of DCP Midstream LP were accused of thousands of failures to monitor and repair leaking equipment at eight natural gas processing plants, including six in Front Range counties that already are in trouble with the EPA for hazardous air quality that makes people sick and worsens climate change, according to a consent decree filed Monday in U.S. District Court of Colorado. DCP will improve leak detection and make repairs at the six plants along the Front Range and make repairs at two additional plants, according to the consent decree. Federal and state officials said the agreement is significant because it will force the company to better maintain its plants and pipelines that send excessive amounts of volatile organic compounds and other pollutants that worsen the region’s already poor air quality and contribute to climate change… “The company agreed to install equipment that leaks less pollution, repair leaking equipment faster and improve staff training for leak detection and repair, according to a news release from the Justice Department. It also will use optical gas imaging technology to improve its leak detection and to make repairs more quickly.”
EXTRACTION
E&E News: EIA: U.S. Became Top Global LNG Supplier In First Half Of 2022
Ben Lefebvre, 7/25/22
“The United States has become the world’s largest LNG exporter, the Energy Information Administration said Monday, delivering an average of 11.2 billion cubic feet a day to overseas buyers, a dramatic achievement from a country that only started shipping gas in significant quantities in 2016,” E&E News reports. “Details: The U.S. LNG industry, mostly situated along the Gulf Coast, now has the capacity to ship 11.4 billion cubic feet of gas a day, enough to beat out Qatar and Australia and take the top spot. The U.S. first started shipping gas out of the lower 48 states in 2016 with the opening of Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana. Natural gas exports have been growing as new projects that had been under construction for years began operation, including the sixth production unit, or ‘train,’ at Sabine Pass, and 18 new mid-scale liquefaction trains at Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG. Cheniere was also able to boost capacity at its existing trains at the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi LNG facilities. The capacity increase comes at a critical time for buyers in Europe, who are scrambling to replace deliveries from long-time supplier Russia amid Moscow’s aggression toward Ukraine. With Russian gas now reaching fewer customers, prices for the commodity have soared and helped the U.S. become a larger player in the global market. ‘U.S. LNG exports continued to grow for three reasons—increased LNG export capacity, increased international natural gas and LNG prices, and increased global demand, particularly in Europe,’ the EIA said in its announcement.”
The Economist: State-run oil giants will make or break the energy transition
7/25/22
“Climate activists love to vilify ExxonMobil and Shell. These and other private-sector energy companies have been on the receiving end of proxy battles, legal challenges and other forms of pressure to force them to dump oil and gas in favour of renewable energy and other green technologies,” The Economist reports. “The supermajors certainly make for an attractive target: they have ubiquitous distribution networks, well-known brands susceptible to consumer boycotts. Such pressure is often welcome—in the fight against global warming every little counts. But in the oil market the private sector counts for less than you might think. Whether the energy transition can succeed will depend in large part on the behaviour of the world’s state-led oil behemoths.If the supermajors are big oil then national oil companies (nocs in industry lingo) are enormous oil. Together they produce three-fifths of the world’s crude and half its natural gas, compared with just over a tenth for large international oil firms (the rest is pumped by smaller independent companies). They sit on roughly two-thirds of the remaining reserves of discovered oil and gas globally. Four—adnoc of the United Arab Emirates (uae), Saudi Aramco, pdvsa of Venezuela and QatarEnergy—possess enough hydrocarbons to continue producing at current rates for over four decades. If you thought that private-sector oilmen were making out like bandits of late from crude prices of $100 or more a barrel, as the latest quarterly earnings of Exxon and other supermajors are expected to confirm later this week, their haul pales beside that of their state-sponsored counterparts. According to Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy, if oil prices averaged $70 a barrel until 2030, the 16 largest nocs would pocket $1.1trn more than if they averaged $50, the base case. Half of that bounty would go to the Emirati, Kuwaiti, Qatari and Saudi nocs. Russia’s energy giants such as Rosneft, mostly shunned by the West after its invasion of Ukraine in February but embraced by China and other Asian customers, would capture nearly a fifth. And as the private sector gets shamed and squeezed into embracing a lower-carbon future, the nocs’ clout will only grow. It is therefore worrying that enormous oil’s record on decarbonisation has been so poor. Whereas the leading Western majors’ emissions of greenhouse gases have already stabilised or peaked, the same is true of just two state-run firms: Brazil’s Petrobras and Colombia’s Ecopetrol.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Buyout Firm Astatine Seeks Sale of Stake in Texas Pipeline Operator
Sergio Chapa and Kiel Porter, 7/25/22
“Astatine Investment Partners is seeking the sale of its 38% stake in Texas pipeline operator Howard Energy Partners, people familiar with the matter said,” Bloomberg reports. “Closely held Howard Energy Partners had $300 million of earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization, the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private, told Bloomberg. The deal is likely to give Howard an enterprise value of about $2 billion, said one of the people. Funds managed by Astatine bought 59% of Howard’s capital interest in a December 2013 deal. Astatine was known as Alinda Capital Partners Alinda until an April rebranding. The firm said at the time that it would stop investing in the midstream energy sector, which includes pipelines and processing plants, in favor of more environmentally friendly projects.”
OPINION
Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility: Comments submitted to the California Air Resources Board
7/26/22
“Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. We are writing to make CARB aware of the unintended consequences resulting from LCFS policies that directly impact the state of Iowa,” Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility writes. “California is the second highest US consumer of ethanol in the transportation sector (Texas is first). Iowa is the largest producer of ethanol. In 2021, 95 percent of the ethanol consumed in the US was produced in the Midwest. Ethanol manufactured from corn has an outsized environmental footprint… “The additional energy required to capture the CO2, pressurize it, and transport it across thousands of miles will exacerbate climate impacting emissions. The CO2 generated by the parasitic energy load will not be captured. According to the IPCC, the money spent on outfitting the ethanol plants and increased energy production to capture the CO2 could be used far more effectively if spent directly on renewables. In fact, in a letter to President Biden, more than 300 leading climate scientists said that CCS is a dangerous distraction from real climate solutions. Furthermore, building all this CCS infrastructure locks in ethanol and gasoline, an inherently dirty fuel blend, for decades reducing incentives for investors or policy-makers to shift towards more sustainable forms of transportation. CCS guarantees climate-damaging business as usual. Iowa politicians are fighting every policy and law that might move the nation towards electric vehicles or public transportation. The LCFS is making their refusal that much easier. Last in the litany of environmental ills of CCS is the fact that 80% of captured CO2 is used for EOR. The policy of allowing the captured CO2 to be used in EOR is counter-intuitive to efforts to reduce emissions. We should be immediately transitioning away from the use of fossil fuels. EOR is simply another way of “drilling” for more oil… “We urge CARB to repeal the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Protocol under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard that is incentivizing carbon capture projects attached to ethanol plants in the Midwest.”
PennLive: The EPA must strengthen federal methane emissions standards | PennLive letters
Amanda Sweeney, Philadelphia, 7/25/22
“Methane emissions from the oil and gas industry pose a great threat to human health and to the health of our environment. As Pennsylvanians swelter in the rising summer temperatures, the state’s oil and gas sector has generated 1.1 million metric tons of methane annually, literally putting us on thin ice,” Amanda Sweeney writes for PennLive. “Fortunately, the U.S. EPA has proposed to cut methane emissions in the oil and gas sector, allowing us to reduce methane emissions from 2023 to 2025 by the equivalent of the climate pollution from almost 230 million cars. However, the proposal also includes loopholes that allow the oil and gas sector to continue polluting and putting our planet at risk. Our climate cannot afford these loopholes. Methane is one of the key drivers of climate change, and according to the The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change it is essential that we cut emissions drastically and quickly. There is no time to waste. I urge the EPA to enact the strongest possible safeguards to cut methane emissions and to protect our communities, closing loopholes that allow the oil and gas industry to continue to wreak havoc on the environment.”