EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/11/23
PIPELINE NEWS
WSLS: Protests continue in Montgomery, Roanoke Counties against the Mountain Valley Pipeline
Iowa Capital Dispatch: State regulators rebuff second pipeline company’s proposed schedule
Radio Iowa: Burgum confident Summit carbon pipeline will be built
South Dakota Searchlight: South Dakota officials express concerns as carbon pipeline hearing ends
Fergus Falls Journal: Denied: Proposed CO2 pipeline finds resistance in North Dakota
KILR: Emmet County Supervisors Reject Utility Permit Request from Summit Carbon Solutions
KELO: Senator Rounds: Pipeline decision belongs in hands of PUC
WHBF: Proposed CO2 pipeline through Quad Cities raises concerns
LeMars Sentinel: Supervisors hear CO2 pipeline update
NJ Spotlight: NJ joins legal battle over interstate pipeline
WKOW: State officials gather in Janesville for pipeline tour
Morningstar: Enbridge Earnings: With Mainline Settled, Pressure Grows on Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Guardian: Climate activists outraged over Biden claim he ‘practically’ declared US emergency
E&E News: Team Biden weighed a climate emergency. Then the IRA passed.
E&E News: DOE awards $1B for 2 carbon removal projects on Gulf Coast
Washington Post: Can vacuums slow global warming? Administration bets $1.2 billion on it.
E&E News: Environmentalists urge EPA to tweak power plant rule
E&E News: Split screen: Biden addresses heat; Trump vows to expand oil
STATE UPDATES
The Advocate: Driftwood LNG’s last export contract craters, leaving $25 billion project’s future in doubt
Environmental Health News: This community will get $5M due to Shell’s petrochemical pollution — just don’t call it charity
Press release: Governor Newsom Announces New Strategy to Develop a Hydrogen Economy of the Future
EXTRACTION
Guardian: The Australian activists risking jail to raise the alarm on the climate crisis – Full Story podcast
CLIMATE FINANCE
High Country News: Private equity gets into oil and gas
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: Helping Consumers Reduce Energy Usage and Managing Scope 3 Emissions
OPINION
Chicago Sun Times: I’m fighting a company that wants to put a dangerous CO2 pipeline in my community
Truthout: Biden Says He’s “Practically” Declared Climate Emergency — But He Hasn’t
The Hill Times: The futility of carbon capture and storage
Project Syndicate: Carbon Capture and Delay
PIPELINE NEWS
WSLS: Protests continue in Montgomery, Roanoke Counties against the Mountain Valley Pipeline
8/10/23
“As construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline picks back up again, protesters in our area haven’t held back from making their opposition known,” WSLS reports. “On Tuesday afternoon, about twenty pipeline opponents walked onto a construction site at Cove Hollow in Montgomery County, with one goal in mind: to halt work, according to Appalachians Against Pipelines, a group that is against the construction of the pipeline. While carrying banners that read “No Patriarchy, No Pipelines” and “No Pipelines, No Prisons, No Police,” protesters managed to prevent close to 40 Mountain Valley Pipeline employees from working, the group said in a Facebook post. The protests didn’t stop there. That same day, four pipeline protesters reportedly walked onto a construction site at the top of Poor Mountain in Roanoke County, stopping all work on the site for one and a half hours.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: State regulators rebuff second pipeline company’s proposed schedule
JARED STRONG, 8/10/23
“The Iowa Utilities Board rejected a request to meet next week to discuss a schedule that will dictate the remainder of Navigator CO2 Ventures’ carbon dioxide pipeline permit process, according to board documents,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “...The board will not adopt the tentative proposed schedule filed by Navigator,” the IUB said in a recent order denying the company’s request to meet next week. It was unclear in the order whether the board merely objected to a meeting next week or if it disagreed with the broader schedule. The IUB set a scheduling conference for the company’s permit request in early October. That would follow a self-imposed deadline by the company to complete its list of land parcels that might be subject to eminent domain. State rules require that list to be complete before the IUB sets the final evidentiary hearing, and its incomplete status led pipeline opponents and others to object to Navigator’s scheduling proposal. They said Navigator has failed to submit any portions of its eminent domain list despite earlier indications it would do so starting several months ago… “Some state lawmakers have alleged that Summit’s permit process has been “fast-tracked” after a change in leadership of the board. The former chairperson of the board had made clear that Summit’s evidentiary hearing would start in October, but Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed a new chairperson of the three-member board, which then decided the hearing would start two months earlier… “Landowners who oppose Summit’s project are paying a pilot to fly a banner over the Iowa State Fair on Friday that says “Stop Rastetter’s land grab” and “No CO2 pipelines,” according to the Bold Alliance, an environmental group. The banner references Bruce Rastetter, the co-founder of Summit Carbon Solutions.”
Radio Iowa: Burgum confident Summit carbon pipeline will be built
O. Kay Henderson, 8/10/23
“Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum says he is “fully confident” an Iowa company’s pipeline to ship carbon to underground storage in North Dakota will be built,” Radio Iowa reports. “Burgum is the governor of North Dakota where a state commission has rejected Summit Carbon Solutions proposed route through his state. The commission cited landowners concerns and the pipeline route’s proposed proximity to Bismarck. “I have every expectation that pipeline is going to to approved in North Dakota,” Burgum said. “There is going to be a reconsideration of that process I’m sure and as they have done in the past, they’ve been super accommodating in routing around. If you’ve got a farmer that doesn’t want a big check for an easement, their neighbor probably does and they’ll keep making adjustments.” “...Every one of your kids that’s got an expensive new bike they’re going to tell you. ‘What’s it made of?’ ‘Oh, it’s super lightweight. It’s super strong. It’s made of carbon fiber,'” Burgum said. “Carbon is not the devil element on the periodic table.” “...Burgum will be back at the Fair tomorrow for a “Fair Side Chat” with Governor Reynolds.”
South Dakota Searchlight: South Dakota officials express concerns as carbon pipeline hearing ends
Joshua Haiar, 8/10/23
“Two of the state’s publicly elected utility regulators expressed concerns about a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline Tuesday during the 10th and final day of a permit hearing in Pierre,” South Dakota Searchlight reports. “...Commissioner Kristie Fiegen questioned a representative of Navigator CO2, the company proposing the pipeline, on Tuesday about its failures to provide timely notices to some affected landowners and its decision to withhold some findings from modeling about the impacts of a pipeline rupture or leak. “I can’t get that out of my mind,” Fiegen said of the company’s choice to keep some studies private from counties and emergency responders. Commissioner Chris Nelson said he wasn’t sure how the commission would come down on the issue of the safety information, but if commissioners decide the withheld study findings should be disclosed, it would be an “impasse.” “...So far, the company has secured easements from 30% of impacted landowners, offering an average of $24,000 per acre, company officials have said. Navigator has not yet exercised eminent domain, which is a legal process for gaining access to land when an agreement can’t be reached with a landowner… “The other carbon pipeline proposed in South Dakota, by Summit Carbon Solutions, which has already begun using eminent domain, is scheduled to have its permit hearing Sept. 11-22. Last week, North Dakota regulators rejected a permit for Summit in that state, and the company indicated it will file a revised application.”
Fergus Falls Journal: Denied: Proposed CO2 pipeline finds resistance in North Dakota
James Allen, 8/10/12
“The North Dakota Public Service Commission (NDPUC) in a unanimous vote on Aug. 4, denied a siting permit for Summit Carbon Solutions,” the Fergus Falls Journal reports. “The project has continually faced opposition from landowners and environmental groups… “The commission also notes in the release that, “During several meetings with landowners and intervenors they testified that the project would cause adverse effects on the value of their property and residential development projects… “NDPUC also states in the release that, “Several landowners testified expressing concerns specific and unique to their properties. Landowners repeatedly testified that they had contacted Summit with requests for reroutes across their properties or other mitigation steps but heard nothing back from the company. The commission felt that Summit has not taken steps to address outstanding legitimate impacts and concerns expressed by landowners or demonstrated why a reroute is not feasible… “The vote by NDPUC puts Summit Carbon Solutions in a very awkward position going forward to say the least as the company is looking for similar authorizations from other states in the projected path including Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota, in addition to North Dakota. They also face resistance from environmental groups such as Clean Up the River Environment (CURE), based out of Montevideo… “The MN PUC should see this rejection by a sister-state regulator as a ‘red flag’ and not rush to approve a project not supported by sufficient evidence of its value or safety,” Sarah Mooradian, government relations and policy director for CURE, told the Journal.
KILR: Emmet County Supervisors Reject Utility Permit Request from Summit Carbon Solutions
8/9/23
“The Emmet County Board of Supervisors Tuesday rejected applications for the construction of utilities on county highway right of ways from TurnKey Logistics on behalf of Summit Carbon Solutions,” KILR reports. “Summit Carbon had been asked not to submit applications prior to the Iowa Utilities Board approval but did so any way on July 21st. The Supervisors moved to reject the applications as submitted on the basis that the Iowa Utilities Board has not approved Summit’s permit at this time.”
KELO: Senator Rounds: Pipeline decision belongs in hands of PUC
Tom Rooney, 8/10/23
“Senator Mike Rounds says CO2 pipeline companies have given themselves a black eye…but he believes they’ll prevail,” KELO reports. “...Navigator wants the Public Utilities Commission to overturn pipeline zoning regulations in Minnehaha and Moody counties. At the same time, pipeline opponent Ed Fischbach says right now the pipeline companies can’t get into the states that are supposed to receive the CO2 they want to deliver. The PUC expects to make its decision on Navigator’s application in early September.”
WHBF: Proposed CO2 pipeline through Quad Cities raises concerns
Sharon Wren, 8/10/23
“A proposal that would move waste CO2 from Iowa to Illinois via an underground pipeline has local residents asking questions of the company building the pipeline,” WHBF reports. “Holly Mirell, a member of the Coalition Against CO2 Pipelines and a member of Citizens Against Predatory Pipelines, expressed her concerns in a Zoom interview with Local 4. “The particular pipeline that I’m presently concerned about is the one proposed by Wolf Carbon Solutions,” said Mirell. “It is proposed to come from Cedar Rapids and Clinton, down to an area just north of LeClaire, under the Mississippi, through an area by Cordova and Port Byron, through Henry County and then down south of Peoria, very close to Peoria, ultimately going to an area near Decatur. This pipeline is planned to carry carbon dioxide waste, which is highly pressurized carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in Iowa, to be deposited in a geological formation a mile below ground level in the Decatur area.” “...While removing CO2 from the air sounds great, Mirell told WHBF this method has risks. “A pipeline of this scale has not been used for carbon dioxide waste before. There are carbon dioxide pipelines in the West of higher-grade carbon dioxide that have been used for fracking and getting fossil fuels out of the ground.” Another major concern for Mirell is the lack of safety standards for pipelines… “One concern for farmers is that underground drainage tiles will be disrupted… “Something that farmers and landowners along the proposed route need to know is that eminent domain has been proposed by Wolf Carbon,” said Mirell. That means taking land for this purpose. This is not a public utility coming through, like gas lines or water lines. and I think it’s important for people to realize eminent domain was never designed for private gain. This is a private company that is trying to use eminent domain if they don’t get everybody to willingly sign an agreement.” Affected residents can still register their concerns about the pipeline, Mirell told WHBF… “Residents can also attend public information meetings; the next one will be held in at the River Valley District Library on August 14 at 6 p.m. A session on August 19 will feature first responders from Satartia, Mississippi who will talk about their experiences with a pipeline rupture… “For more information on CO2 pipelines, visit the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines’ website.”
LeMars Sentinel: Supervisors hear CO2 pipeline update
Tom Lawrence, 8/11/23
“It was, according to Summit Carbon Solutions spokesman Riley Gibson, “a quick update,” the LeMars Sentinel reports. “Gibson delivered a report to the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday, Aug. 1, meeting on the progress being made on a carbon capture pipeline that would pass through Plymouth County if approved… “The pipeline company is trying to obtain permission to build on private land. Gibson said it has 83 percent clearance in Plymouth County, and 71 percent statewide, and is continuing to talk with landowners who have yet to sign up… “Gibson said it is spending a lot of money in Plymouth County and in Iowa. He said it has so far spent $16.2 million in the county to obtain the right to pass through private property, and $150 million in the state. Supervisor Craig Anderson asked about a list of Plymouth County properties Summit Carbon Solutions has yet to get an easement on. Anderson said he thinks the total was 21 as of late July… “Anderson also asked about holes the pipeline company is digging in fields. It does so for both archeological and geological reasons, Gibson explained. It is looking for burial grounds, areas that are habitat for endangered species and is cognizant of rivers where fish spawn… “Gibson said a company staffer was planning to meet with Plymouth County Zoning Administrator Alan Lucken to discuss any issues or concerns that exist. Gibson said the goal is to start pipeline construction in the first quarter of 2024. But that is predicated on IUB approval this year, he admitted. Still, there are no plans to abandon this project. “We’re in it for the long haul,” Gibson said. “It’s pretty fluid on when and where we’re going to start.”
NJ Spotlight: NJ joins legal battle over interstate pipeline
TOM JOHNSON, 8/11/23
“In the state’s latest pipeline battle, the Murphy administration is joining seven other states in legally challenging a decision by a federal agency to approve an interstate natural gas pipeline, arguing the project is not needed,” NJ Spotlight reports. “A coalition of eight attorneys general, including New Jersey’s Matthew Platkin, filed a brief late last week in federal court challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authorization of the Regional Energy Access Expansion project this past January. The nearly $1 billion project won backing from the agency despite contentions from state officials, environmental groups and clean-energy advocates, who argued the pipeline will saddle ratepayers with unneeded new natural gas capacity… “The state’s action comes as environmentalists and clean-energy advocates have pressed the Murphy administration to impose a moratorium on new fossil-fuel projects. This is one of the rare times he has moved to do so. In approving the project, the federal agency found that construction and operation of the project will provide more reliable service on peak winter days and will supply diversity, which could lower costs for customers. But officials in New Jersey, including the state Board of Public Utilities, joined by the Division of Rate Counsel, cited a state-commissioned study that concluded the region is unlikely to experience shortages in natural gas through the end of the decade. In their brief, the eight attorneys general noted the project would vastly expand the region’s gas infrastructure capacity and harm residents… “The project, which could have an estimated lifespan of 50 years, would account for almost 50% of New Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions’ budget, according to the attorneys general… “Besides New Jersey, other states joining the challenge are Maryland, Connecticut, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Vermont and New York.”
WKOW: State officials gather in Janesville for pipeline tour
8/10/23
“The Wisconsin Jobs and Energy Coalition was in Janesville Thursday. The organization was highlighting the importance of the state's pipelines,” WKOW reports. “It's part of their Safest Way Tour, which gives the community a chance to have a hands-on experience with a 34-foot piece of pipeline. It's the same type of pipe that will be used in the Enbridge Line 5 relocation project. "It's pipelines that make it possible to have that easy transportation to any area of the country. And Line 5 is our pipeline supply propane to our state. Propane is greatly needed in Wisconsin," Cheryl Lytle, executive director of the Wisconsin Propane Gas Association, told WKOW.
Morningstar: Enbridge Earnings: With Mainline Settled, Pressure Grows on Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion
Stephen Ellis, 8/10/23
“Enbridge’s ENB second-quarter results met our expectations,” according to Morningstar. “...With its recent settlement over its Mainline contracts (see our May 4 note for more details), we think Enbridge is increasingly in the driver’s seat ahead of the competing Trans Mountain expansion entering commercial service in early 2024. With the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion costs spiking to over CAD 30 billion and the Canadian government facing a massive loss on its investment (see our July 18 note for more details), the underlying advantage of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion offering a cheaper and more efficient pathway for Canadian barrels to move to export markets compared with the Mainline is increasingly under siege. With that in mind, we think Enbridge is pressing its advantage. The Mainline settlement lowers tariffs effective July 1, maintains the monthly common carrier system, and extends terms to the end of 2028. At the same time, returns for Enbridge are protected via a collar, and shippers are now committed to Mainline before the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion enters service. Enbridge management has been trimming its estimates of near-term impacts from the competing pipe entering service consistently over the last 18 months. Now, Enbridge is seeing record Mainline volumes, and is sanctioning new investments, such as the Houston Oil terminal, and likely the Flanagan South pipeline, providing more options and capacity for shippers to move barrels down to the Gulf Coast for export along the full pathway of the Mainline.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Guardian: Climate activists outraged over Biden claim he ‘practically’ declared US emergency
Dharna Noor, 8//9/23
“Joe Biden has said that he has “practically” declared a national emergency on the climate crisis, despite not actually taking that step, vexing climate campaigners,” the Guardian reports. “I’ve already done that,” Biden said when asked if he intends to declare a climate emergency in a Weather Channel interview aired on Wednesday… “Asked to clarify if he has declared a national climate emergency, Biden said: “Practically speaking, yes.” Yet the White House has not yet announced such a declaration, despite years of pressure from climate-focused advocates and lawmakers. Doing so would unlock a host of new powers for the president, including the ability to speed the energy transition and block fossil fuel projects without congressional approval. Biden’s statement outraged climate activists, who noted that it came amid a summer of record-breaking extreme weather events. “This summer, we experienced the hottest days in the past 125,000 years, wildfire smoke has filled the lungs of people across the country, people are losing their homes and literally jumping into the ocean to avoid flames,” Varshini Prakash, executive director of the youth-led climate advocacy group Sunrise Movement, said in a statement. Biden has referred to the climate crisis as an emergency. But in addition to failing to make an official declaration under the National Emergencies Act, he has overseen the expansion of planet-heating fossil fuels, noted Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Practically speaking, Biden has devastated communities and wildlife by backing disastrous carbon bombs from Alaska to Appalachia,” she told the Guardian.
E&E News: Team Biden weighed a climate emergency. Then the IRA passed.
Robin Bravender, 8/10/23
“Last summer, environmental advocates were despondent over the apparent death of a big climate law in the Senate, and White House officials considered a big gesture to show President Joe Biden’s dedication to curbing emissions: the declaration of a national climate emergency,” E&E News reports. “Biden traveled to Massachusetts last July, surrounded by climate hawks, to the site of a former coal-fired power plant turned into a manufacturing site for wind energy parts. He called climate change “an emergency” but stopped short of an official national emergency declaration, a move that advocates wanted him to make to unlock additional presidential powers. The White House had backed off an emergency declaration, then-climate adviser Gina McCarthy told reporters at the time, because “it was just a decision that we need to be thoughtful about this and we want to outline actions, not just declare things.” “...Biden’s signing last August of the law since dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act — the biggest climate law in history that funnels an estimated $370 billion into climate and renewable energy — largely put talks of an emergency declaration on the backburner… “But Biden’s comments appear to signal that — at least for now — the administration is focusing on other avenues to tackle climate change. That’s a better use of the administration’s time and effort, according to some government insiders and legal experts. While an emergency declaration would be symbolic and could score Biden some political points on his left, they argue, it would face legal risks and isn’t the right tool to slash emissions. “There was serious consideration in the White House for a climate emergency when it looked like we might not get those tools, in particular the Inflation Reduction Act,” David Hayes, who served as a senior White House climate official last summer when talks of an emergency declaration took place, told E&E. “But we’ve got it [the IRA] now,” Hayes added. “And it’s head down and let’s make it happen.” Advocates of an emergency declaration argue that the climate law — which incentivizes industries to move away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy — doesn’t do enough to halt fossil fuel production. “The executive actions that we’re asking for from President Biden is really the straightforward answer to these record heat waves and climate disasters,” Jean Su, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told E&E… “Democrats in Congress are also pushing Biden to declare a climate emergency. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are among those advocating for a climate emergency declaration.”
E&E News: DOE awards $1B for 2 carbon removal projects on Gulf Coast
Corbin Hiar, 8/11/23
“The Biden administration has chosen an oil company and a nonprofit technology firm to spearhead the nation’s effort to suck carbon dioxide from the sky with two landmark projects that will be funded with $1 billion in federal grants,” E&E News reports. “Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Battelle Memorial Institute intend to each build so-called direct air capture hubs along the Gulf of Mexico, a heavily industrialized region that is home to a constellation of oil wells and fossil fuel installations that have helped supercharge natural disasters and push global temperatures to record-breaking highs… “The two grants, which are still under negotiation, could be worth $500 million each. They mark the first major awards from a novel $3.5 billion program created in 2021 by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The bipartisan law required the launch of four DAC projects, two of which must be located in “economically distressed” fossil-fuel-producing communities — like those along the Gulf. The administration plans to award funding for the other two projects next year. The Energy Department on Friday also said it would provide nearly $100 million in matching funds to 19 other DAC hub proposals, with some projects receiving up to $12.5 million. Focused on regions stretching from Alaska to Florida, they are being led by corporate giants like Chevron Corp. and Siemens Energy Inc., and academic institutions such as Arizona State University and the University of Kentucky. “It really shows why there’s so much bipartisan interest, I think, in these technologies, and geographic interest as well,” Noah Deich, the deputy assistant secretary of DOE’s Office of Carbon Management, said on the call with reporters… “Both companies face challenges associated with commercializing a novel technology, and there are questions around how they will power their energy-hungry projects and what they’ll do with the carbon after it’s captured… “Late Thursday, DOE also gave notice that it intends to begin a $60 million prize competition for DAC facilities capable of removing between 1,000 and 5,000 tons of carbon pollution per year. The agency plans to spend a further $35 million on procuring tons of carbon removals from other forms of carbon removal technologies.”
Washington Post: Can vacuums slow global warming? Administration bets $1.2 billion on it.
Evan Halper, 8/11/23
“The Biden administration is betting big on giant carbon-sucking vacuums as a climate solution, announcing that it will help jump-start two mammoth projects in Texas and Louisiana that will be a global testing ground for the new technology,” the Washington Post reports. “The move positions the United States as a leader in trying to mitigate emissions by installing hulking, costly machinery that aims to pull greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and bury them underground. The Texas project, led by the Occidental Petroleum Corp., also known as Oxy, already ranks as one of the world’s largest experiments in “direct air capture.” It will share $1.2 billion in Energy Department funding with a Louisiana project and be designated the nation’s first “hubs” for developing and testing the machinery, administration officials announced Friday morning. “These hubs are going to help us prove out the potential of this game-changing technology,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during a call with reporters. She said that when the projects are fully operational, they could remove an amount of carbon emissions from the atmosphere that is the equivalent of taking a half-million gas-powered cars off the road… “The technology, though, remains relatively untested. There are only a handful of direct air capture machines running worldwide at present, and the amount of emissions that they capture is negligible. A U.N. panel rattled the fledgling carbon removal industry in May with a report that warned the vacuums “are technologically and economically unproven, especially at scale, and pose unknown environmental and social risks.” “...The Louisiana hub, called Project Cypress, is led by Battelle, the major technology contractor. Among the company’s partners is Climeworks, which operates one of the world’s largest direct air capture plants, located in Iceland. But that plant, which captures only 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, would be dwarfed by Project Cypress.”
E&E News: Environmentalists urge EPA to tweak power plant rule
Jean Chemnick, 8/9/23
“Environmentalists say EPA could tweak its proposed power plant climate rule to reduce more carbon at a lower cost to industry and consumers,” E&E News reports. “The Natural Resources Defense Council and Clean Air Task Force recommended in joint comments to EPA on Tuesday that the rule should focus on gas-fired generating stations with multiple units totaling at least 600 megawatts that run 45 percent of the time. The groups said that change would expand the rule's reduction of carbon emissions. EPA's proposal would require gas plants to install carbon capture and sequestration technology if they have single units of at least 300 MW that run half the time. “What we found was that there are actually many gas plants with multiple units in them that are, together, bigger polluters than the ones they were proposing to regulate,” David Doniger, senior strategic director with NRDC, told E&E. “But because their individual units within those plants are not the size that they picked, you could end up with nothing at that plant actually being covered.”
E&E News: Split screen: Biden addresses heat; Trump vows to expand oil
Scott Waldman, 8/9/23
“The top two presidential candidates shared a rare split screen Tuesday,” E&E News reports. “President Joe Biden was talking about deadly heat during a visit to Arizona, while his likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, was in New Hampshire, where he talked about sweating in a room he said was "110 degrees" Fahrenheit and promised to overturn Biden’s climate agenda. The two candidates are far apart on virtually every issue, but climate policy remains one of their widest divides. Biden told the crowd in Arizona — where he announced a new national monument near Grand Canyon National Park — that his signature climate bill was meant to address the kinds of historic heat waves that pushed temperatures in Phoenix above 110 degrees for about a month this summer. He touted the Inflation Reduction Act as “the biggest investment in climate conservation and environmental justice ever anywhere in the history of the world.” “There's a lot of good that's going to come from the sacrifices of dealing with taking on the climate crisis,” Biden added. “Folks, these are our investments in our planet, our people and America itself, protecting our outdoor treasures, making our nation more resilient, but some MAGA extremists in Congress are trying to undo it all.”
STATE UPDATES
The Advocate: Driftwood LNG’s last export contract craters, leaving $25 billion project’s future in doubt
ROBERT STEWART, 8/10/23
“Driftwood LNG has lost its last long-term export contract, casting a dark cloud over the future of the $25 billion liquefied natural gas project even as construction at the site continues to ramp up,” The Advocate reports. “Tellurian Inc., the Houston company behind the project, confirmed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday that its deal with Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd. was terminated Aug. 1. The filing said the two sides were “unable to reach agreement on the commercial terms of an amendment” to their deal… “When asked about the proposed amendment and Driftwood LNG’s future, Tellurian officials pointed to the company’s latest quarterly report and noted that project contractor Bechtel is “making great progress” at the construction site… “At one point, Driftwood LNG had five long-term deals in place, including the Gunvor contract. It signed one with Total Gas & Power North America Inc. in 2019, then inked two with Shell NA LNG LLC and one with Vitol Inc. in 2021. However, the other four contracts were nixed last year, according to filings with the U.S. Department of Energy… “However, long-term supply contracts are foundational for LNG projects to secure financing and get off the ground, industry analysts say. Tellurian has yet to lock down its full financing package, also known as a final investment decision or FID, for Driftwood LNG, even though construction on the project began in April 2022. The contract termination comes as a handful of Louisiana LNG projects have encountered delays due to regulatory hurdles and financing issues.”
Environmental Health News: This community will get $5M due to Shell’s petrochemical pollution — just don’t call it charity
Kristina Marusic, 8/8/23
“Community advocates tasked with spending $5 million in fines from Shell’s industrial air pollution are determined not to let the oil company take credit for the projects,” Environmental Health News reports. “In a region long plagued by industrial pollution, community advocates say weak enforcement leads to a “pay-to-pollute” model, where it’s cheaper for companies to pay fines for polluting than to clean up operations. Now some of those same advocates — tasked with spending pollution fine money to better their communities’ health — want to hold polluters accountable. Last November, Shell started up its massive new ethane cracker, which converts fracked ethane gas into tiny plastic pellets, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. By December, the plant had already exceeded its air pollution permit for the year… “In May, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro reached a settlement agreement with Shell to pay $10 million for clean air violations. Under the agreement, half of that money must be used for projects to mitigate the pollution’s impact on local communities. “We’re glad this money is going to the community, but there are still some pay-to-pollute aspects in this agreement,” Matt Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, a Pittsburgh-based collaborative of more than 50 regional and national environmental advocacy groups, told Environmental Health News(EHN). “The settlement agreement seems to anticipate that Shell’s pollution will continue through the end of the year. We’d like to see more direct requirements in the settlement agreement to mitigate, prevent and prohibit ongoing air pollution.”
Press release: Governor Newsom Announces New Strategy to Develop a Hydrogen Economy of the Future
8/8/23
“Governor Gavin Newsom has directed the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to develop California’s Hydrogen Market Development Strategy, employing an all-of-government approach to building up California’s clean, renewable hydrogen market. It will closely resemble the Zero-Emission Vehicle Market Development Strategy to help California collectively move forward and deliver zero-emission benefits to all Californians. “California is all in on clean, renewable hydrogen – an essential aspect of how we’ll power our future and cut pollution,” said Governor Newsom. “This strategy will lay out the pathway for building a robust hydrogen market to help us fully embrace this source of clean energy.” “...California is currently competing to become a federally funded Hydrogen Hub, a program that will leverage $8 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to establish at least four Hydrogen Hubs across the United States… “The Hydrogen Strategy will be one outcome of the Infrastructure Strike Team’s hydrogen, clean energy, transportation, and zero-emission vehicle workgroups. California’s application for this federal funding was led and submitted by California’s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), a public private-partnership organized to create an economically sustainable, multi-sector, renewable hydrogen ecosystem that directly benefits California’s communities.”
EXTRACTION
Guardian: The Australian activists risking jail to raise the alarm on the climate crisis – Full Story podcast
Jane Lee, Adam Morton, 8/9/23
“Higher fines and longer jail terms have been introduced around Australia to deter disruptive climate protesters. But climate and environment editor Adam Morton tells Jane Lee that a small number are becoming increasingly desperate to draw attention to the climate crisis, and won’t be deterred,” the Guardian reports.
CLIMATE FINANCE
High Country News: Private equity gets into oil and gas
Nick Bowlin, 8/9/23
“Where private equity investors make acquisitions, bankruptcies tend to follow,” High Country News reports. “...Now, private equity investors appear to have found a new target: oil and gas companies operating on public land in the Western U.S. A new report from Public Citizen, a nonprofit progressive think tank, reveals the industry’s interest in oil and gas extracted from public land in the West (the Private Equity Stakeholder Project co-authored the report). Companies backed by private equity have taken in 78% of all federal drilling permits approved in Colorado since 2017, and 50% of those in Utah. In total, according to the report, private-equity-backed companies hold approximately $380 million in unplugged oil and gas wells in four Western oil states: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. In general, private equity refers to investors, such as hedge funds or venture capital outfits, that borrow large amounts of money to acquire struggling companies. The newly acquired company is then saddled with that accumulated debt. Meanwhile, the private equity firm tends to repay itself and its investors using fees, shareholder payments and debt restructuring. These tactics often mean big returns the private equity fund’s investors. But since private equity tends to focus on declining industries, this profit-squeezing model can result in the acquired companies going bankrupt. The Public Citizen study noted that private equity firms chew through companies quickly, holding them for an average of five years. And when oil companies go bankrupt, orphaned wells can be left behind to leak methane into the atmosphere, while the costs of plugging them ultimately falls on the public. “The overall point that we’re trying to make is that private equity’s involvement in Western oil drilling adds a layer of uncertainty because these companies turn over,” Alan Zibel, a research director at Public Citizen, told HCN. “They get in and they get out very quickly. So it really starts this chain of selling these companies to more and more potentially irresponsible actors.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Enbridge: Helping Consumers Reduce Energy Usage and Managing Scope 3 Emissions
8/10/23
“Enbridge's natural gas distribution business provides natural gas to more than 15 million people in Ontario and Quebec, through 3.9 million residential, commercial, institutional and industrial meter connections… Only about 1% of the emissions associated with our gas utility come from our operations, while the other 99% are created when customers use the natural gas we provide. For more than 25 years, our demand-side management (DSM) programs have been helping consumers adopt strategies to use less energy, save money and minimize environmental impact. In addition to helping consumers use less energy through equipment upgrades, behavior changes and other strategies, we continue to explore and scale solutions that enable us to provide consumers with lower-emission energy sources. We're working on blending fuels like hydrogen and renewable natural gas with conventional natural gas in the existing delivery infrastructure… “By delivering these blended fuels directly to customers' homes, we help to reduce emissions without the need for major changes (such as furnace replacement) at the household level… “We offer a range of ways for households and businesses to boost energy efficiency using equipment upgrades, behavior changes and home adaptations-from simple fixes like improving seals around windows and doors to insulating basements and attics. In 2022, we were proud to become the delivery agent for the federal government's Greener Homes Grant.”
OPINION
Chicago Sun Times: I’m fighting a company that wants to put a dangerous CO2 pipeline in my community
Kathleen Campbell, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus and distinguished scholar at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and is a co-founder of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines and Citizens Against Heartland Greenway Pipeline, 8/10/23
“In December 2021, I was shocked to receive a letter from a company requesting an easement across my land to build a carbon dioxide pipeline. If I refused, the company, Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC, could seek to condemn the land and take it through eminent domain,” Kathleen Campbell writes for the Chicago Sun Times.
“Many of my neighbors and I are fighting Navigator. We believe this industry is trying to gaslight us into believing that CO2 pipelines are always safe when they know these pipelines could threaten the lives of people like us. Their entire argument apparently rests on the absurd premise that CO2 pipelines will never rupture, but they do. We must be safe if a rupture occurs. They don’t talk about that. CO2 pipeline ruptures can be catastrophic and potentially deadly… “Most CO2 pipelines have been short, single point-to-point remote pipelines until now. Navigator’s would be the longest, most complicated CO2 pipeline in the world, yet routed next to populated areas like my housing subdivision in downstate Glenarm. It would run for miles alongside I-55 where it abuts Glenarm. A rupture here would overwhelm emergency services. But in reality, we probably couldn’t be rescued anyway. Unlike the Satartia, Mississippi CO2 pipeline rupture that sent people to the hospital with seizures and unconsciousness but no deaths, we are not a mile away. Where I live, a rupture would probably reach life-threatening CO2 levels at our homes in minutes… “We could not escape in so few minutes, even with an all-electric car that can function without oxygen. We will be too busy having seizures, frostbitten eyes from the dry ice or simply asphyxiating. Now consider that a rupture here along the Navigator routes could release 15 to 40 times the CO2 volume as the test rupture. We don’t stand a chance. We are in a sacrifice zone… “And although only 13.4% of landowners have signed Navigator’s voluntary easements after almost a year, this private out-of-state company could take our land through eminent domain for hazardous substance transport from five states. It will be over our dead bodies, quite possibly literally.”
Truthout: Biden Says He’s “Practically” Declared Climate Emergency — But He Hasn’t
Sharon Zhang, 8/9/23
“Climate advocates are frustrated after President Joe Biden waved away the myriad calls for him to declare a climate emergency on Wednesday, refusing to use the full extent of his executive powers to combat the climate crisis,” Sharon Zhang writes for Truthout. “When asked about calls for him to declare a climate emergency in an interview with the Weather Channel, Biden falsely said that he has “already done that,” citing land conservation efforts, the Paris Accords and the Inflation Reduction Act. Later, he clarified that he has not actually declared a climate emergency, but said that, “practically speaking,” he has. The fact remains, however, that Biden has not declared a climate emergency, much to the chagrin of the thousands of climate groups, experts and members of his own party who have called on him to do so. Though White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was referring to his invocation of the Defense Production Act (DPA) for clean energy manufacturing, the actions that Biden and the White House are referring to still do not add up to a declaration of climate emergency. Climate advocates have time and again called for a climate emergency declaration, which would unlock a wide range of authority and funding that Biden could use to combat the crisis, like banning crude oil exports and halting offshore drilling… “President Biden, if I may presume to speak on behalf of climate scientists, parents, young people, and other species such as corals and trees, I beg you — I literally beg you — to formally declare a climate emergency. Too few realize it yet, but we now risk losing everything,” NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who emphasized that he was not speaking on behalf of his employer, said in an email to Truthout. Kalmus recently wrote an essay for The Guardian sounding the alarm about the Biden administration’s continued pursuit of fossil fuels and the need for a climate emergency declaration. “More fossil fuels means more heat, more disasters, more food shortages, more instability, more peril. I know it’s not easy, but please be the visionary leader humanity needs. Lead us out of peril, not further into it,” Kalmus continued. “Start by declaring a climate emergency, for real, and don’t stop there.” “...Meanwhile, the White House has confirmed that Biden will not declare a climate emergency — yet another knife in the side of the climate movement on top of a pile of broken promises like his pledge for no new drilling on federal lands, “period, period, period.”
The Hill Times: The futility of carbon capture and storage
Geoff Strong is a client scientist, writer, and educator based in Duncan, B.C.; Richard van der Jagt is a retired hematologist/oncologist with a longstanding research interest on the affects of the environment on health, and an adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa, 8/11/23
“Federal tax dollars directed to carbon capture and storage at source are a direct subsidy to a very profitable but toxic fossil fuel industry,” Geoff Strong and Richard van der Jagt write for The Hill Times. “The Canadian government has poured billions into this unproven technology, ostensibly to counter present annual carbon emissions (about 700 megatons in Canada; 40 gross tonnage globally). This provides fossil fuels with a delay period for carbon emissions to continue unabated through 2050. The 2023 federal budget includes a further $83-billion in clean investment tax credits… “Virtually all CCS facilities are owned and operated by the fossil fuel industry, and reported results are difficult to verify. The fossil fuel industry is focused on profit, so that most captured carbon dioxide (CO2) is not stored below ground; rather, it is pumped below oil and gas wells to improve their efficiency. The status of the pumped CO2 remains uncertain, but it likely finds its way back into the atmosphere with little positive impact on climate change. There have been development plans to construct 135 CCS facilities worldwide, with varying reports of between 16 to 27 facilities (we assume 25 here) remaining operational, a number far below the stated goal. These high-profile CCS cancellations and government funding programs, including Canada’s, have not delivered on promises to clean up a dirty industry… “Government approval and support for CCS allows the fossil fuel industry to continue to emit greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide… “The only practical choice now available to the world is a rapid replacement of fossil fuel energy with renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric), while ending support for fossil fuels.”
Project Syndicate: Carbon Capture and Delay
Gernot Wagner is a climate economist at Columbia Business School, 8/10/23
“As long as coal plants are still operating, it is a good idea to require them capture their carbon dioxide emissions. But those designing policies to hasten such practices must tread carefully, lest they unwittingly extend the life of dirtier energy sources,” Gernot Wagner writes for Project Syndicate. “...Yet it would be cheaper to replace America’s more than 200 coal-fired plants with new solar or wind facilities, and then to do the same with its gas plants soon thereafter… “Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a godsend, and green hydrogen has the potential to be one, too… “But assessments of CCS tend to get murky fast. Lest we forget, Donald Trump and his advisers were big fans of the technology, which they saw as a way “to help coal and still help the climate.” Since combining CCS with coal will always be more expensive than burning coal outright, mandating CCS, in theory, should indeed make coal even less competitive than it already is. But CCS mandates do not operate in a vacuum… “As long as coal plants are still operating, it is a good idea to make them capture their CO2 emissions. But that does not mean it is a good idea to be helping them continue to operate. The sooner that coal is replaced by renewables, the better it will be for the planet, consumers, and even utility companies.”