EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/1/25
PIPELINE NEWS
Cowboy State Daily: Wyoming Legislators Advance Plan To Boost Oil Recovery, Reject CO2 Pipeline Pact
Mitchell Now: Dusty Johnson Clashes with Pipeline Opponents Over Alleged Support for Carbon Projects
Delta News: Intervention Deadline Nears for Landowners as the Mississippi Crossing Pipeline Project Enters Review Stages
Staten Island Advance: ‘How does that make sense for us?’ Staten Island officials oppose pipeline project over 3.5% gas bill increase
Fuel Cells Works: $10M Natural Gas Pipeline to Support Fuel Cell-Powered Data Center in Ohio
Reuters: Pipeline operator Enbridge beats quarterly profit estimates
Hart Energy: Shell Finalizes Sale of Colonial Pipeline Interest to Brookfield
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: Capito and Whitehouse prioritize permitting talks
Inside EPA: Key Democrat Sets Conditions On GOP Call For Bipartisan Permitting Talks
New York Times: Candidate Trump promised oil executives a windfall. Now, they’re getting it
WV News: West Virginia's Sen. Capito: Supreme Court may decide fate of EPA greenhouse gas rule
E&E News: DOE reframes climate consensus as a debate
Washington Post: We fact-checked the Trump administration’s climate report
NOTUS: ‘A Serious Misuse of My Research’: Climate Scientists Say New Trump Energy Report Botches Their Work
DeSmog: Who Are the Climate Deniers Fighting the Endangerment Finding?
The Hill: EPA delays methane restrictions for oil and gas
Inside Climate News: The Biggest US LNG Exporter Is Claiming a Massive Tax Credit for Using Its Cargo as an ‘Alternative’ Fuel
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: Carbon storage site that leaked set to restart injections
WV Public Broadcasting: Report: Counties In Fracking Boom Have Lost Jobs, Population
New York Post: Cleanup nearly complete in Long Island canal after PSE&G’s ‘nonhazardous’ oil spill kills wildlife
EXTRACTION
Reuters: US oil output rose to a record in May, EIA data shows
E&E News: Samuel L. Jackson gives CO2 the finger in offshore wind ad
Canadian Press: Cenovus encouraged by talks with Carney government but says regulatory hurdles remain
Sustainability Online: CCUS to play a key role in energy transition, GlobalData says
DeSmog: Oil and Gaslighting: How Trump and Corporations Manufacture Self-Serving ‘Pseudo-Realities’
OilPrice.com: Whistleblower Reveals Colombia’s Oil Spill Coverups
OPINION
The Alpena News: To: Michigan Dept. Environment, Great Lakes, Energy (EGLE)
Bridge Michigan: 15 years after oil spill, why Michigan should reject Line 5 tunnel
Lake Cowichan Gazette: Vital to continue oil tanker ban
Tampa Bay Times: Say no to oil drilling on Florida’s coast
PIPELINE NEWS
Cowboy State Daily: Wyoming Legislators Advance Plan To Boost Oil Recovery, Reject CO2 Pipeline Pact
David Madison, 7/31/25
“Wyoming lawmakers wrestled with two energy questions Wednesday: Should the state invest heavily in squeezing more oil from aging fields, and should it pass a resolution calling for a compact with neighboring states and Canada to build CO2 pipelines?,” the Cowboy State Daily reports. “The Joint Minerals, Business & Economic Development Interim Committee delivered a split decision — keeping alive ambitious proposals to boost enhanced oil recovery while rejecting a resolution calling for an interstate pipeline compact. The committee generally supported the idea of coordinating with other states and expanding Wyoming's CO2 pipeline infrastructure, but not everyone saw the need for passing a formal resolution… “The resolution failed, however, with Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, arguing that it wasn't necessary… "We've never had a failed case in Wyoming for CO2 EOR," Lon Whitman, director of the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute, told lawmakers… “Against this backdrop, Wyoming sits on an estimated 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil in conventional fields — oil that's already been discovered but remains locked in aging reservoirs. "This is the next frontier for our oil development here," said Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River. "It's harder to find new oil, but we already know where that oil is. It's just a matter of getting it out, and we have the technology to get it out now. So we need to help as much as we can." Committee members kept alive three proposals to incentivize enhanced oil recovery, including Obermuller’s boldest idea… “Wyoming hasn't seen a new CO2 enhanced oil recovery project in 13 years, partly because the industry has shifted from corporate giants to smaller operators… "The surviving proposals include making it more financially appealing to use CO2 for enhanced oil recovery instead of piping CO2 into dedicated storage. The committee is also considering a severance tax exemption for five to seven years on new oil produced from enhanced recovery — plus the $250 million grant program Obermuller floated to help build enhanced oil recovery infrastructure.”
Mitchell Now: Dusty Johnson Clashes with Pipeline Opponents Over Alleged Support for Carbon Projects
Christal Blue, 7/31/25
“An online clash has erupted between Congressman Dusty Johnson and South Dakota carbon pipeline opponents over legislation linked to carbon capture infrastructure,” Mitchell Now reports. “Activist Amanda Radke accuses Johnson of backing a bill that allegedly paves the way for carbon pipelines. Johnson refutes the claim, calling it "fake news" and stating the bill focuses solely on clean water projects… “He told Mitchell Now the bill deals with clean water projects, not carbon pipelines. Radke told Mitchell Now her group is working to safeguard private property and is encouraging residents to contact the Congressman to express their concerns.”
Delta News: Intervention Deadline Nears for Landowners as the Mississippi Crossing Pipeline Project Enters Review Stages
De'Nautis Liddell, 7/31/25
“A $1.7 billion natural gas pipeline is set to cut through parts of the Mississippi delta,” the Delta News reports. “Called the Mississippi Crossing Pipeline Project, it aims to boost natural gas supply in the southeast, starting in Greenville, Mississippi. Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company plans to run the pipeline through at least ten Mississippi counties—including Washington, Sunflower, and Humphreys—and one in Alabama. Although the project remains under federal review, landowners face an August 5th deadline to file a motion to intervene. “Filing a motion to intervene ensures that property owners and communities are not excluded from the economic benefits or risks associated with the project,” Ebony Guerrier, Singleton Schreiber Law Firm, told Delta News. Singleton Schreiber Law Firm says intervening allows landowners to stay involved in future decisions, protect their legal rights, and receive updates or filings related to the project… “The law firm warns that landowners who don’t act by the deadline could be shut out of the formal process.”
Staten Island Advance: ‘How does that make sense for us?’ Staten Island officials oppose pipeline project over 3.5% gas bill increase
Paul Liotta, 8/1/25
“Several Staten Island elected officials say they’re opposed to a pipeline expansion off the coast of the borough largely because of the impact it will have on residents’ gas prices,” the Staten Island Advance reports. “The Advance/SILive.com reached out to all nine of the Island’s elected politicians for their position on the Northeast Supply Enhancement, a pipeline backed by President Donald Trump that supporters say would improve the supply of fracked natural gas to National Grid customers in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island… “Despite that localized benefit, all National Grid customers, including those on Staten Island, will be asked to help pay for the project through a 3.5% bill increase. National Grid spokespersons have said previously that the increased supply would be a boon to all its downstate gas customers. Republican Borough President Vito Fossella likened the possible rate hike to the battery energy storage systems that have inundated the Island sparking controversy, particularly for their prevalence in residential areas. “What we have here is another example of Staten Islanders being expected to carry the burden and receive none of the benefit,” he told the Advance. “It echoes eerily similar to battery storage systems — we are told to pay the cost and assume all of the risk of them being sited here, in order to better supply power to other places. Now, we are being told to pay more for our own gas, so that Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island can enjoy cheaper gas. How does that make any sense for us?”
Fuel Cells Works: $10M Natural Gas Pipeline to Support Fuel Cell-Powered Data Center in Ohio
7/31/25
“Chesapeake Utilities Corporation announced today that its Ohio subsidiary, Aspire Energy Express, LLC, has entered into an agreement with American Electric Power (AEP) to construct and operate an intrastate natural gas pipeline in central Ohio to serve a new fuel-cell facility, which will provide on-site electric power to a data center,” Fuel Cells Works reports. “...The new Aspire Energy Express transmission infrastructure represents a capital investment of approximately $10 million and is expected to deliver reliable natural gas to power on-site electricity generation to the new data center in the first half of 2027.”
Reuters: Pipeline operator Enbridge beats quarterly profit estimates
Pooja Menon, 8/1/25
“Enbridge beat second-quarter profit estimates on Friday, boosted by contributions from recently acquired U.S. gas utilities, higher margins in Ontario distribution, and strong earnings from its gas transmission business,” Reuters reports. “Pipeline operators such as Enbridge are benefiting from an increase in demand for natural gas, primarily driven by LNG exports, as well as rising electricity demand. Enbridge reported an adjusted core profit of C$1.38 billion ($995.02 million) from its gas transmission unit, up from C$1.08 billion a year earlier.”
Hart Energy: Shell Finalizes Sale of Colonial Pipeline Interest to Brookfield
7/31/25
“Shell has completed the sale of its interest in the Colonial Pipeline to a subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, the company said July 31,” Hart Energy reports. “Shell Midstream Operating LLC sold its 16.125% interest in Colonial Enterprises Inc., the owner of Colonial Pipeline Co., to Brookfield subsidiary Colossus AcquireCo LLC. Shell Midstream is an indirect and wholly owned subsidiary of Shell Pipeline Co. LP. Brookfield paid $9 billion in total for 100% interest in Colonial Enterprises. Shell’s share of Colonial was worth $1.45 billion, which included $500 million in non-recourse debt and excluded customary closing adjustments, Shell said in its press release of the deal’s closing.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: Capito and Whitehouse prioritize permitting talks
Josh Siegel, 7/31/25
“Sens. Capito and Whitehouse took to the floor Wednesday to deliver remarks reiterating their shared interest in moving bipartisan permitting reform after the August recess,” Politico reports. “Capito and Whitehouse said they hope to eventually mark up a bipartisan bill in their committee. EPW staff is talking with Energy Committee staff about coordinating a compromise that could ease reviews of energy projects and limit legal challenges under NEPA and boost the buildout of transmission lines. There are similar talks happening in the House, which Capito and Whitehouse told Politico boosts momentum. But Whitehouse repeated a major caveat that he and other Democrats would only agree to a deal if the Trump administration stops aggressive executive actions making it harder to permit solar and wind projects. “If they want permitting reform and all the good things that come from that, they’re going to need to figure out how to convince us that the nonsense will stop,” Whitehouse told Politico. Responding to those comments, Capito told Politico that permitting reform must support all forms of projects, not just “politically favored” types, and argued legislation would provide ‘certainty’ against aggressive regulation from administrations of either party.”
Inside EPA: Key Democrat Sets Conditions On GOP Call For Bipartisan Permitting Talks
7/30/25
“A top Senate Democrat is laying out conditions for any bipartisan agreement on permitting reforms, though it is not clear if Republicans and the Trump administration will agree to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) call to rein in the president’s ‘lawless’ activities or apply any reforms to clean energy projects, not just fossil fuels,” Inside EPA reports. “It makes no sense for Democrats to agree to permitting reform until the Trump administration stops its lawless disregard for congressional authority and judicial orders,” Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate environment committee, said in July 30 Senate floor remarks. “Until the administration shows it will honor its oath to faithfully and impartially execute the laws--the bare minimum of what we should expect from the president of the United States--we cannot trust that any legislative compromise on permitting reform--or otherwise--will be executed fairly,” Whitehouse added. Whitehouse also argued that any reforms need to apply to clean energy projects, not just the fossil fuel sources the Trump administration favors.”
New York Times: Candidate Trump promised oil executives a windfall. Now, they’re getting it
Lisa Friedman, 7/30/25
“During the presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump gathered oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago estate and promised them a powerful return on their investment if they raised $1 billion to help him retake the White House,” the New York Times reports. “The industry never ponied up quite that much, but nevertheless, six months into Mr. Trump’s presidency, oil and gas companies are poised to reap multibillion-dollar windfalls from the administration’s actions so far. A sweeping domestic policy bill that Mr. Trump signed into law this month includes about $18 billion in new and expanded tax incentives for the oil and gas industry, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, which analyzes tax policy for Congress. It also includes billions of dollars in tax breaks that aren’t specific to oil and gas but were top oil industry priorities as the law was being negotiated. It reduces the amount of money that energy companies must pay the federal government for the oil and gas they extract on public lands and waters, a change valued at about $6 billion, according to one analysis. The bill also delays penalties for oil companies that fail to reduce emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that leaks from wells, representing about $1.5 billion in benefits for the industry, the Congressional Budget Office found. “The final bill was positive for us across all of our top priorities,” Aaron Padilla, the vice president of corporate policy at the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s chief lobbying organization, told the Times… “At the same time, Mr. Trump is aggressively promoting the sale of fossil fuels abroad as part of his foreign-policy approach. This month’s sweeping trade deal with the European Union requires the 27-country bloc to buy $750 billion in energy resources from the United States over the next three years… “Democrats and environmental groups condemned the new benefits for producers of fossil fuels, the burning of which is chiefly responsible for climate change. The oil and gas industry already enjoys at least $35 billion in annual tax breaks, some of which have been part of the United States tax code for more than a century.”
WV News: West Virginia's Sen. Capito: Supreme Court may decide fate of EPA greenhouse gas rule
Charles Young, 7/31/25
“U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said the Environmental Protection Agency’s move to repeal a key climate finding is likely to face legal challenges and could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court,” WV News reports. “On Tuesday, the EPA announced it would begin the process of rescinding an “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare… “Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told WV News the finding has been used too broadly. “The finding was far-reaching and has been used by previous administrations way beyond, in the regulatory sense, what makes sense,” she told WV News. “So I applaud the administration’s efforts — this is a big one to take on. It will be tested in the courts and probably go all the way to the Supreme Court.” “...Capito told WV News she does not believe repealing the finding would harm the environment. “I don’t think it will result in less clean air or less emphasis on green energy or cleaning up certain processes — whether it’s energy, building, cars or anything,” she told WV News.”
E&E News: DOE reframes climate consensus as a debate
Scott Waldman, Benjamin Storrow, 7/31/25
“The Trump administration has given a government stamp of approval to the contrarian claims of a group of conservative researchers who for years have positioned themselves as being part of a Galileo-like quest to question mainstream climate science. On Tuesday, those researchers appeared to reach the apex of that journey,” E&E News reports. “Less than two months after joining the Department of Energy, they produced a 141-page report that often conflicts with and distorts the consensus view of climate scientists to support President Donald Trump’s effort to repeal the endangerment finding, the scientific underpinning for greenhouse gas rules on carmakers, energy companies and other industries. The group that helped with the DOE report includes: John Christy and Roy Spencer, climate scientists at the University of Alabama, Huntsville: Steve Koonin, a former DOE official in the Obama administration and former top scientist at the oil giant BP; Judith Curry, a former Georgia Tech climate scientist; and Ross McKitrick, an economics professor at the University of Guelph in Canada. In a prologue to the report, Energy Secretary Chris Wright wrote that he intentionally assembled a “diverse team of independent experts” who were chosen for “their rigor, honesty, and willingness to elevate the debate.” That team did not include any of the hundreds of government climate scientists from NOAA or NASA, two of the world’s leading science agencies… “Scientists told E&E the DOE Climate Working Group’s findings sound a lot like the misleading climate claims Wright has made over the years and the fringe views he has elevated. Much of the report is based on the authors’ own disputed claims, research funded by the fossil fuel industry or assertions made by groups opposed to climate regulation. Some of its primary assertions were debunked years ago. And while the report frequently draws on mainstream climate research as well, multiple scientists told E&E their work was misrepresented.”
Washington Post: We fact-checked the Trump administration’s climate report
Shannon Osaka, Anusha Mathur, Evan Halper and Jake Spring, 7/31/25
“The Energy Department released a report this week promising a “critical review” of climate science, coinciding with the Environmental Protection Agency’s move to end climate regulation across the federal government,” the Washington Post reports. “But scientists told the Post the report, drafted by researchers known for questioning mainstream climate science, is riddled with errors and cherry-picked data. “They cherrypick data points that suit their narratives and exclude the vast majority of the scientific literature that does not,” Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist and the climate research lead at the payment company Stripe, whose work was cited in the new report, told the Post. “This gives a terribly skewed view of the underlying climate science.” “...Scientists argue that the new report, composed in less than two months by five authors known to have skeptical views on climate science, would not pass any peer review process. “If almost any other group of scientists had been chosen, the report would have been dramatically different,” Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University, told the Post. “There is a history of some of the authors of this document cherry-picking dates to show that there is no change, but they’re not providing the evidence to support that,” Kristie Ebi, a professor of global health at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the University of Washington, told the Post… “The new report highlights a positive effect of carbon dioxide — that it promotes “global greening” — without acknowledging the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on rising droughts, heat and crop stress. Ben Sanderson, climate scientist at the Center for International Climate Research in Oslo, told the Post the effect of CO2 on plant growth is well-documented and incorporated into all of the climate models and studies that examine food security… “According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is “high confidence” that warming “is negatively affecting crop and grassland quality and harvest stability.” “...Regardless of any errors, researchers worry that the new report will become the basis for the Trump administration’s continued attempts to overturn climate regulations. “It’s going to be the basis for a lot of litigation,” Hausfather told the Post.”
NOTUS: ‘A Serious Misuse of My Research’: Climate Scientists Say New Trump Energy Report Botches Their Work
Anna Kramer, 7/30/25
“A new report from the Trump administration casts significant doubt on the risks of climate change, citing scientists’ studies from major research institutions around the world,” NOTUS reports. “At least ten of those scientists told NOTUS that the report misrepresents their findings and research. “This is a serious misuse of my research,” James Rae, a climate researcher at the University of St. Andrews, told NOTUS, about the report’s interpretation of his work. “As I hope you can see, it was taken out of context,” Sukyoung Lee, an atmospheric scientist at Pennsylvania State University, told NOTUS about the report’s use of her research.”
DeSmog: Who Are the Climate Deniers Fighting the Endangerment Finding?
Geoff Dembicki, 7/30/25
“...Zeldin was joined at the press conference by U.S. Energy Secretary and former fracking executive Chris Wright, as well as Republican policymakers and representatives of auto groups including the American Trucking Associations (ATA),” DeSmog reports. “This was just a small sampling of a powerful anti-climate coalition that for over a decade has attempted to overturn the endangerment finding, a 2009 scientific determination from the EPA that for the first time recognized carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases as “pollutants” that are “harmful” and therefore must be regulated… “Below is our guide to the top fossil fuel groups, conservative policymakers, and climate deniers leading the effort to demolish the bedrock of American climate policy. When the EPA first issued the endangerment finding in 2009, the American Petroleum Institute (API), the main lobby group for U.S. oil and gas producers, was immediately opposed. “[It] poses an endangerment to the American economy and to every American family,” the institute’s then-president Jack Gerard claimed. API joined with other fossil fuel and industrial lobby organizations, including the National Association of Manufacturers, to wage an unsuccessful legal challenge against the finding… “Another early business opponent of the endangerment finding was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobby group representing millions of businesses whose membership has included oil and gas majors, fossil fuel utilities, and coal companies. Like API, it helped lead an unsuccessful legal action against the finding… “The Chamber of Commerce has a long record of climate obstruction, including being a member of an infamous climate denial organization known as the Global Climate Coalition. Yet its leadership is now trying to distance itself from Zeldin’s proposed repeal of endangerment, telling Reuters that, “While we did not call for this proposal, we are reviewing it and will consult with members so we can provide constructive feedback to the agency.” “...Climate denial groups that have received funding from foundations linked to the oil and gas billionaires Charles and David Koch are some of the most stalwart opponents of the EPA’s greenhouse gas finding. They include the CO2 Coalition, whose co-founder William Happer was on the National Security Council in Trump’s first administration, as well as the American Energy Alliance and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.”
The Hill: EPA delays methane restrictions for oil and gas
Rachel Frazin, 7/30/25
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is delaying the implementation of restrictions on planet-warming methane emissions from oil and gas drilling as it considers unwinding the requirements entirely,” The Hill reports. “The Biden administration rule in question was expected to cut down on methane emissions and also to reduce releases of toxic air pollutants. This week, the Trump administration released an interim final rule that pushes back the policy’s compliance deadlines. It said it was doing so “to address legitimate concerns … that certain regulatory provisions are not currently workable or contain problematic regulatory language that frustrates compliance.” Under the interim final rule, companies will have 18 months before they need to install certain pollution controls. Critics called it a corporate giveaway.”
Inside Climate News: The Biggest US LNG Exporter Is Claiming a Massive Tax Credit for Using Its Cargo as an ‘Alternative’ Fuel
Phil McKenna, Peter Aldhous, 7/31/25
“Liquefied natural gas vessels are fueled by their cargo—they’re built specifically to make use of the gas boiling off from their tanks. But Cheniere Energy, the largest U.S. exporter of LNG, is seeking “alternative fuel” tax credits for that,” Inside Climate News reports. “The claim has baffled shipping experts, because what Cheniere Energy is doing isn’t, in any real sense, an alternative. It would also provide little climate benefit over fueling the vessels with diesel and seeks to use the credit in a way that tax specialists say was never intended. Yet if approved by the Internal Revenue Service, the claimed tax credits could yield a payout for the company exceeding $140 million, an Inside Climate News analysis found. In its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February, Cheniere disclosed that it is “actively pursuing” alternative fuel tax credits for its use of LNG in its shipping vessels from 2018 to 2024, the year the tax credit expired… “It was intended to incentivize the use of fuels other than gasoline and diesel—including biofuels, LNG and liquid fuels derived from coal—for use in motor vehicles, and it set no requirements for the relative cleanliness of these fuels. Cheniere noted in its financial report that LNG is a cleaner-burning fuel than diesel or heavy-fuel oils and that the use of LNG was part of an ongoing effort to mitigate emissions from the company’s shipping operations. However, critics point out that fueling LNG tankers with diesel would be absurd, given that the gas continually boiling off from the refrigerated liquid cargo would have to be burned off anyway, or re-liquefied, if it wasn’t used for propulsion. “It makes no sense not to use the fuel that you already have because of boil-off,” Kirsten Sinclair Rosselot, an environmental performance analyst who runs the consultancy Process Profiles and was the lead author of a 2023 study that assessed fuel use and emissions from LNG vessels, told ICN. “It’s not an alternative fuel.” “...Cheniere spent just over $1.7 million lobbying Congress and the administration with its in-house team in the first half of 2025, according to federal lobbying reports. Part of that sum was spent on lobbying the Treasury Department, of which the IRS is a part, and the Executive Office of the President on “tax issues impacting businesses and the LNG industry.” “...If they can get inside access, one-on-one meetings with the decision makers in the IRS national office, they can get this thing through,” Henck told ICN.”
STATE UPDATES
E&E News: Carbon storage site that leaked set to restart injections
Carlos Anchondo, 8/1/25
“For more than 10 months, the carbon dioxide injection well at Archer-Daniels-Midland’s storage site in Illinois has gone unused after testing showed evidence of a potential fluid leak. That pause, however, could be nearing its end,” E&E News reports. “The agribusiness company — which typically sends 2,000 metric tons of CO2 underground per day at the site in Decatur, Illinois — anticipates resuming injection later this summer. Advocacy and environmental groups, who pushed unsuccessfully last year for a halt on new permitting of CO2 injection wells, still have a range of questions about what’s happened and changed since ADM detected a CO2 leak last spring. They are also pushing for transparency ahead of the restart of injection and some want to see EPA put forward new regulations. EPA “should absolutely do a new rulemaking for these injection wells to look at and update the standard for the chrome that’s used in the wells, to update the type of monitoring that’s required of these wells,” Jim Walsh, policy director at the group Food & Water Watch, told E&... “Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, told E&E that last year’s events don’t undermine the rigor of EPA’s Class VI program, noting that “this incident and the operator’s compliance with EPA procedures show that Class VI well monitoring and reporting protocols are working as intended.” Pam Richart, secretary of the Eco-Justice Collaborative, told E&E the failure isn’t just an operator and design failure but also one on the part of EPA. “It is supposedly the project in all of the country that everybody still points to and says, ‘Hey, look at the success there,’” Richart told E&E. “Well, you had some failures. And the way they described it is, lessons learned. Well, we heard about some of those lessons learned, including the fact they think the process worked just as it should have, right.” “But there are all of these failures along the way and what are you going to do to ensure that’s not going to happen again?” “...Richart, with the Eco-Justice Collaborative, told E&E there are a range of outstanding questions about what’s transpired since EPA’s proposed order in September, including around any remedial work that’s happened and the type of steel being used for monitoring wells. “I think there’s a whole host of things we don’t know, and after [ADM] had a leak — and they weren’t transparent and they didn’t notify the public — I think we deserve to know what’s going before they begin injection again,” she told E&E.”
WV Public Broadcasting: Report: Counties In Fracking Boom Have Lost Jobs, Population
Curtis Tate, 7/31/25
“A new report casts doubt on the economic impact of natural gas production in Appalachia,” WV Public Broadcasting reports. “The Ohio River Valley Institute has been tracking the natural gas industry since the beginning of the fracking boom nearly two decades ago. While fracking has increased GDP in 30 counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the Institute has found that overall, the number of jobs has declined in those counties, and so has the population. Sean O’Leary, one of the report’s authors, calls the region Frackalachia. “The Frackalachian counties are actually drags economically on the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia,” he told WVPB… “Of the 11 West Virginia counties the report examined, only one – Monongalia – saw growth in jobs, income and population since 2008. That may be attributable to another economic engine, West Virginia University, its authors say.”
New York Post: Cleanup nearly complete in Long Island canal after PSE&G’s ‘nonhazardous’ oil spill kills wildlife
Brandon Cruz, 7/30/25
“Thousands of gallons of fluid used in power lines spilled into a Long Island canal this month after a buried PSE&G transmission cable ruptured — leading to an oily mess in the East Rockaway area that harmed the local animal population,” the New York Post reports. “About 7,000 gallons of dielectric fluid — a synthetic mineral oil used to insulate high-voltage lines — were released into the Mill River on July 14 due to the damage to the underground cables, state officials said. At least four birds were confirmed dead, as the synthetic substance was found clinging to their feathers, leaving them unable to fly or escape predators, rescuers reportedly said.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: US oil output rose to a record in May, EIA data shows
Shariq Khan and Georgina McCartney, 7/31/25
“U.S. crude oil production rose to a record 13.49 million barrels-per-day in May, even as oversupply concerns pushed prices for the commodity to four-year lows, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Thursday,” Reuters reports. “U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for higher oil production from the country, where output was already at record levels in each of the past two years, and has taken steps to speed up and expand drilling on federal lands… “U.S. crude output was up 24,000 bpd in May from the prior record of 13.46 million bpd in April, which was the previous record, the EIA data showed. Output from the U.S. federal offshore Gulf region rose by 0.5% from April to about 1.80 million bpd in May, the highest since December, according to the EIA… “Meanwhile, gross natural gas production in the U.S. lower 48 states rose to a record 120.60 billion cubic feet per day in April, up from the prior all-time high of 120.45 bcfd in March, the EIA said.”
E&E News: Samuel L. Jackson gives CO2 the finger in offshore wind ad
Benjamin Storrow, 8/1/25
“Samuel L. Jackson gives climate pollution the bird in a Swedish power company’s advertisement promoting offshore wind, offering a strident defense of an industry under sustained attack from President Donald Trump,” E&E News reports. “The “Pulp Fiction” star never mentions Trump in the one-minute ad from Vattenfall, which operates some of the largest offshore wind farms in Europe. But the video tackles criticisms that the president lobbed at wind power earlier this week, when he urged EU leaders during a visit to Scotland to stop erecting “ugly windmills.” “It kills the birds, ruins the look, they’re noisy. If you see them from your house, your house is worth like 50 percent — or more — less. I just think it’s a very bad thing,” Trump said Monday. As Jackson is seen meandering along a windswept coastline, gazing through binoculars at a line of turbines on the horizon, he said: “Wind farms. Loud, ugly, harmful to nature. Who says that? These giants are standing tall against fossil fuels, rising up out of the ocean like a middle finger to CO2.”
Canadian Press: Cenovus encouraged by talks with Carney government but says regulatory hurdles remain
Sammy Hudes, 7/31/25
“Cenovus Energy Inc. says it is "cautiously optimistic" about the federal government's commitment to building new projects that aim to spearhead economic growth, but the company hopes to see Ottawa clear obstacles that lie in the way for the energy sector,” the Canadian Press reports. “Those include "a lot of regulatory hurdles," said Jeff Lawson, the Calgary-based oil producer's executive vice-president of corporate development. Speaking on the company's second-quarter earnings call Thursday, Lawson said he was intrigued by the Liberal government's passing of Bill C-5, also known as the Building Canada Act, which gave Ottawa sweeping new powers to speed up permitting for "nation-building projects." "...We love the notion of new projects and strengthening the Canadian economy. At the same time, we need to take a step back and say, 'What's precluding us from proceeding with these things?'" he said in response to a journalist's question about the current policy environment. "There's a lot of talk about an energy corridor, a new pipe to the coast, yet we still have a tanker ban, an emissions cap, methane regulations, an industrial carbon tax that isn't competitive with other jurisdictions. So those are things we need to see, we think, change for major projects to occur." The Canadian energy sector has called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to scrap the federal emissions cap on oil and gas producers and repeal industrial carbon pricing to help bolster the industry. It has also been critical of the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, which bans oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude from stopping along parts of British Columbia's coastline.”
Sustainability Online: CCUS to play a key role in energy transition, GlobalData says
8/1/25
“Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) is emerging as a key solution in the global energy transition, particularly when it comes to the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, steel, refining, and thermal power generation, GlobalData has said,” Sustainability Online reports. “According to the research firm, more than 70% of the operational and planned CCUS facilities are associated with energy assets as of 2024, indicating a ‘growing commitment by the energy sector to reduce its emissions intensity through innovation in carbon capture and storage technologies’, GlobalData said… “Policies such as the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), Canada’s carbon pricing mechanism, and the US 45Q tax credit have been instrumental in unlocking commercial opportunities for CCUS. These frameworks have helped offset the high capital and operational costs of CCUS deployment, particularly in energy-intensive industries, and are driving the emergence of large-scale projects globally.” “...Despite its momentum, CCUS still faces a range of challenges that threaten to slow its scale-up,” Puranik added. “Key among these are the high upfront costs, the lack of fully developed CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure, and limited commercial applications for captured CO₂. Retrofitting existing facilities often adds further complexity, making project economics difficult without consistent policy support. “Additionally, regulatory uncertainty around permitting processes, cross-border CO₂ transport, and long-term liability for stored carbon continues to pose risks for investors. Public skepticism also persists, with some critics viewing CCUS as a strategy to extend the life of fossil fuels rather than as a legitimate tool for emissions reduction. The absence of standardisation and the fragmented nature of the CCUS value chain further limit the ability to implement integrated, scalable solutions.”
DeSmog: Oil and Gaslighting: How Trump and Corporations Manufacture Self-Serving ‘Pseudo-Realities’
Adam M. Lowenstein, 7/31/25
“...After all, making high-profile promises on which they have no intention of following through — promises that are based largely on what they want people to think is true, or simply what is convenient to say in the moment — is how corporations operate every day,” DeSmog reports. “Indeed, with the help of well-paid public relations firms, prestigious consultants, and elite conveners like the World Economic Forum, executives and their organizations construct what might be considered “pseudo-realities”: alternative portrayals of the world that serve a company’s interests but have little bearing on how the company actually makes money… “Big Oil has honed this playbook to near perfection. For decades, the industry has enlisted PR agencies to construct elaborate narratives so polished and pervasive that they’ve managed to stave off meaningful climate action while painting the oil and gas giants as working toward — in what might be a first in the history of modern capitalism — its own obsolescence… “Or consider DeSmog’s deeply researched investigation into how Edelman, one of the world’s largest PR firms, polished the image of the United Arab Emirates, creating an alternate reality that convinced the public and heads of state that it was a leader on climate action, obscuring its oil-producing legacy. The PR campaign helped propel oil baron Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber to the top levels of climate diplomacy as host of COP28, the UN’s annual climate gathering, even as the UAE was pumping more and more oil — a case study in manifesting an effective pseudo-reality… “The goal of campaigns like these does not appear to be to convince everyone, everywhere, forever. Instead, like an authoritarian propagandist (or an aspiring one), these efforts seek to flood society’s information channels with alternate visions of how the world might be. As long-serving autocrats have discovered, the resultant mixture of true belief, skepticism, and confusion creates doubt that the truth — in this case, about the severity of climate change, and the complicity of those responsible for it — can ever really be known. Such doubt helps prevent the emergence of public consensus and stalls momentum for accountability and change. In pursuit of these efforts, fossil fuel companies have found an ally in an organization that is ostensibly committed to tackling the climate crisis and transitioning the world to clean energy. Indeed, few organizations demonstrate the performative nature of corporate image-crafting as transparently as the World Economic Forum (WEF), the nonprofit that hosts the annual gathering of corporate and political elites of the same name in Davos, Switzerland, each January.”
OilPrice.com: Whistleblower Reveals Colombia’s Oil Spill Coverups
Matthew Smith, 7/30/25
“A BBC documentary and whistleblower allegations expose decades of unreported oil spills by Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol,” OilPrice.com reports. “Operations by foreign companies Gran Tierra and Amerisur in the Putumayo Basin have caused major ecological harm. Despite environmental promises, President Gustavo Petro’s administration has allowed oil operations to expand in the Amazon… “Former employee turned whistleblower, Andres Olarte, alleged Colombia’s national oil company, Ecopetrol, not only avoided reporting spills but concealed them while failing to remediate environmentally damaging incidents for decades. Olarte’s allegations align with claims, many emerging decades ago, from numerous communities in Colombia’s Middle Magdalena Valley and Amazon that oil companies, including Ecopetrol, are failing to report and clean up oil spills… “Oil extraction in the Putumayo-Oriente-Maranon province has left a tragic legacy, particularly for the region’s indigenous peoples, with swathes of land and waterbodies polluted by hydrocarbon run-off. For decades, local communities complained about the contamination of water bodies, crops, and food sources with petroleum, causing serious ecological damage. Some of the worst environmental damage occurred in northern Ecuador, where Texaco and Ecuador’s then national oil company, Petroamazonas, are blamed by indigenous communities for what can only be described as horrendous pollution centered on the city of Nueva Loja, also known as Lago Agrio, a key Amazonian oil town near the border with Colombia. The dispute centers on Texaco disposing of billions of barrels of oil waste in vast pits, which were then buried in the jungle. Afterwards, whenever it rains, the hydrocarbon residue bubbles through the soil, coating the ground with a thick black sludge that flows into waterways, wetlands, and farmland. Those complaints eventually emerged as an acrimonious, multi-billion-dollar, decades-long lawsuit involving supermajor Chevron, which had acquired Texaco in October 2001.”
OPINION
The Alpena News: To: Michigan Dept. Environment, Great Lakes, Energy (EGLE)
Greg Awtry, 8/1/25
“EGLE is currently accepting public comments to help them deny or approve a permit to allow Enbridge, a Canadian corporation, to dig a 370-foot-deep tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac so Canadian oil can go through Michigan on its way to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada where it will be refined into fuel to service eastern Canada and adding billions to Enbridge’s coffers. Below are my official comments submitted to EGLE,” Greg Awtry writes for The Alpena News. “...A major controversy regarding Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac continues to grow. Now Enbridge wants to build a 370-foot deep tunnel under the Straits and put the pipe, along with fiber optic cables and electrical transmission lines. This “disaster-in-waiting” idea is so wrong in so many ways. Currently the approval for this tunnel is waiting on two entities to approve it. One is the Army Corp of Engineers, the other is the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, Energy, better know as EGLE… “The current pipeline is 72 years old and has spilled 29 times, releasing over 1.1 million gallons of oil. Enbridge also has a disastrous environmental record according to Violation Tracker. They report Enbridge and their subsidiaries have had 107 environmental violations in the last 25 year, That averages one environmental violation every three months for the last 25 years! This alone is reason enough for EGLE to deny Enbridge any permits to build a tunnel under the Straits… “A significant oil spill or tunnel collapse or explosion in the Great Lakes would be catastrophic and nearly impossible to clean up… “We simply cannot put the Great Lakes in jeopardy when there are viable alternative solutions to get Canadian oil to Canada… “We can move a pipeline. We cannot move the Great Lakes.”
Bridge Michigan: 15 years after oil spill, why Michigan should reject Line 5 tunnel
Frank Zinn is a lifelong Michigan resident who spent his career at Michigan State University and The University of Michigan, 7/30/25
“Fifteen years ago this month, my uncle answered an early morning phone call. The call was from a neighbor who said that something was happening on our family farm — there was a gas or oil leak, and things looked and smelled really bad,” Frank Zinn writes for Bridge Michigan. “...Things did indeed look and smell bad — there was a thick layer of oil sludge on the surface of Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River, which runs across the north end of the property. It was clear a pipeline had ruptured — but the extent of the spill and damage was not yet known. We soon found out that our family farm was destroyed as a result of what we now know of as the Enbridge Line 6B oil spill, one of the largest inland oil spills in United States history. It’s a stark reminder of the decision that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration is facing as it reviews permits for Enbridge — the same Canadian corporation responsible for the spill on my family’s property — for building an underwater tunnel in the heart of the Great Lakes. My family knows the cost of taking Enbridge at its word, and, based on the corporation’s horrible track record, so should the State of Michigan. The company’s history of oil spills is too much to be ignored. That’s why state regulators have a responsibility to protect our air and water and reject Enbridge’s tunnel scheme… “After many months of getting little or no response from Enbridge to our questions about the extent of contamination and their plans to restore the property, my family felt it had no other option but to file a lawsuit. After a difficult and painful legal process, we finally settled with Enbridge. Enbridge bought the farm. A project we had been planning for years designed to honor my grandparents would not be built… “Our last chance to stop Enbridge from constructing a dangerous fossil fuel tunnel through the heart of the Great Lakes is approaching… “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and EGLE Director Phil Roos have a responsibility to protect the Great Lakes, stand up to corporate polluters and reject the Line 5 tunnel permit –– something that a complete environmental review would show as the right thing to do.”
Lake Cowichan Gazette: Vital to continue oil tanker ban
Peter W. Rusland, North Cowichan, 7/31/25
“Dear Premier David Eby, CVRD directors, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, and Prime Minister Mark Carney: One oil-tanker mishap will kill our West Coast forever,” Peter W. Rusland writes for the Lake Cowichan Gazette. “We demand continuation of Canada’s 2019 ban on oil tankers off our ecologically pristine coast. Our prudent ask is echoed by many First Nations’ elders. They wisely view our seas as a vital environment, not simply a pathway to ever-more oil profits… “B.C.’s tanker ban could finally help usher Canada’s long-touted, green-energy development — not simply more easy profits from precarious tankers carrying toxic oil and gas. We also urge our Cowichan regional directors to support this critical ban. Canada is light years from meeting its promised climate actions. A continued — better still, permanent — oil-tanker ban is the logical place to start.”
Tampa Bay Times: Say no to oil drilling on Florida’s coast
Jim Heald, colonel, U.S. Air Force (retired), is a 26-year military veteran with multiple command positions at Eglin Air Force Base; Charlie Justice is CEO of the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce, 8/1/25
“Florida has been largely protected from offshore drilling due to its status as a major tourism destination and a unique place for military training and testing activities. But now the entire state is on the table for offshore drilling and the toxic oil spills that follow. That’s why we recently went to Washington, D.C., to ask our political leaders to leave Florida out of plans that are being developed behind closed doors,” Jim Heald and Charlie Justice write for the Tampa Bay Times. “...Unfortunately, Florida’s coast is once again at risk for offshore oil drilling and spilling in the Interior Department’s potential five-year oil and gas plan. The first comment period for this new oil and gas plan just ended, and there were close to 90,000 public comments, nearly all of which opposed the expansion of offshore drilling. Multiple cities in Florida passed resolutions and spoke up to urge the U.S. government to protect Florida’s coasts, and business and defense groups, including the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce and Defense Support Initiatives Committee, spoke up again for protection. There is a strong bipartisan tradition here in Florida to prevent offshore drilling expansion that continues to this day… “We must continue to protect our coasts from offshore drilling and save our businesses, fisheries and the Eastern Gulf Test and Training Range — and all of our coastline — from the destruction expanded offshore drilling would unduly bring. The best and most effective way to do that is by ensuring Florida’s current protections are made permanent and by rejecting any proposals that risk offshore drilling coming closer to our critical test range and beautiful shores.”