EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/17/22
PIPELINE NEWS
Oelwein Daily Register: Carbon-transit company discusses pipeline ahead of public meetings
Radio Iowa: Democratic candidate in Iowa’s 4th congressional district opposes carbon pipelines
Mitchell Republic: Summit carbon pipeline still on track, aims to boost regional ethanol, ag economies
Independence Bulletin Journal: Public Meeting to Discuss CO2 Pipeline Set
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Utilities board to proceed with pipeline permit scheduling
AgWeek: No bids submitted for pipeline that would carry natural gas to proposed North Dakota ag projects
Press release: Energy Transfer Completes Sale of Its Interest in Energy Transfer Canada
Press release: Phillips 66 Announces Expansion Open Season for Seminoe Pipeline
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Common Dreams: 'We Will Vote This Dirty Deal Down,' Tlaib Says of Manchin's Oil-Friendly Side Agreement
STATE UPDATES
Carlsbad Current-Argus: Biden to sign climate bill, amid criticism from New Mexico oil and gas, environmental groups
PIX11: Activists fight to stop 4th power plant in Newark
Carlsbad Current-Argus: Oil and gas impacts lead to lawsuit for federal action on lesser prairie chicken protection
San Luis Obispo: Carrizo Plain oil wells to be plugged — is it ‘the beginning of the end’ of drilling there?
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: UNESCO team in Alberta to judge if Wood Buffalo Park should go on endangered list
Bloomberg: Big Tech Helps Big Oil Pump More, Belying Climate Pledges
CLIMATE FINANCE
OilPrice.com: Clean Energy Or Fossil Fuels? Wall Street Is Betting On Both
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
New York Times: Kicking oil companies out of school
Pennsylvania College of Technology: TC Energy Foundation donation boosts welding instruction
OPINION
The Hill: Not one Republican stood up for climate, jobs or lower costs
PIPELINE NEWS
Oelwein Daily Register: Carbon-transit company discusses pipeline ahead of public meetings
MIRA SCHMITT-CASH, 8/15/22
“Navigator CO2 Ventures, the company behind a proposed carbon dioxide capture pipeline that would traverse Bremer, Fayette and Buchanan Counties has “robust” safety measures and is willing to train plant workers and first-responders, Vice-President of Government and Public Affairs Elizabeth Burns-Thompson told the Oelwein Daily Register. “...Each of the plants are effectively buying a bus ticket — called a tariff charge — for each ton of CO2 that they put on the line,” she told the Register. “Then we as the infrastructure company are entrusted with the safe and efficient transportation of that CO2 on behalf of the company from point A to point B.” “...Navigator intends to build injection wells and pump the carbon dioxide into a saline sandstone reservoir a mile below the cap rock in the Illinois Basin near Decatur. “We also know that we have shippers on our line who have interest in having access to some of these (for) industrial usage across our footprint… We are looking at building out terminals across the line so that our shippers can ... ship to sequestration or ... participate in one of these valuable utilization services… Those are necessarily going to be like food and beverage, livestock processing, dry ice, bioeconomy, tech development.” “Some places there’s been conversation that somehow this would end up doing enhanced oil recovery or EOR. That’s not represented across our footprint,” Burns-Thompson told the Register. “This isn’t like we’re injecting into an open cave,” Burns-Thompson told the Register, noting the injected liquid will permeate the porous sand. “The carbon in that CO2 begins to attach to that sandstone and actually become part of the rock over time.” “...Acknowledging proponents’ claim that carbon capture and storage benefits the entire public, the Bremer County Supervisors countered: “Unlike regulated utilities, the pipeline is not granted a franchise to provide a service that benefits the entire public in a service area. ... It seems the pipeline will exclusively benefit private companies without providing a public service.” “...Butler County has also filed an objection letter with the utilities board.”
Radio Iowa: Democratic candidate in Iowa’s 4th congressional district opposes carbon pipelines
O. KAY HENDERSON, 8/16/22
“Ryan Melton, the Democratic candidate in Iowa’s fourth congressional district, is opposed to construction of pipelines that capture carbon from Iowa ethanol plants,” Radio Iowa reports. “The big concern is that three companies are asking the Iowa Utilities Board here in Des Moines to allow them to use eminent domain to take private landowners’ land away to plant these carbon capture pipelines and we know eminent domain is not for that purpose,” Melton said during a speech on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Melton said the projects will “benefit private corporations” and the government’s eminent domain process is supposed to be used for projects that have a public purpose. “If you do the research on this, you do the digging on this, carbon sequestration plants have closed by the multitudes because it’s a failed technology,” Melton said. “It over-promises and under-delivers.” Melton, who lives in Nevada, is challenging Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra’s bid for a second term in the U.S. House. In a column by Feenstra that was published in several newspapers last year, Feenstra said carbon pipelines have the potential to boost the ethanol industry and ensure Iowa farmers continue to have a strong market for their corn. Melton saud the further north and west you go in Iowa, the more concerns you hear about the proposed pipelines. “Why would you give the burden of a risk of carbon capture pipeline leak, why would you put that burden on us — on our shoulders on the ground, just so corporations could rake in massive profit from that, for a failed technology that is not a climate solution? Melton asked rhetorically at the State Fair. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Mitchell Republic: Summit carbon pipeline still on track, aims to boost regional ethanol, ag economies
Erik Kaufman, 8/16/22
“Plans for a proposed pipeline that would carry carbon dioxide from ethanol plants across the midwest to a permanent storage site underground in North Dakota are on track, according to officials with the project, but there remains some pushback from members of the public,” Mitchell Republic reports. “That was evident during an educational panel hosted by the South Dakota Farm Bureau at Dakotafest on Tuesday morning in Mitchell, where representatives from Summit Carbon Solutions, Glacial Lakes Ethanol, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and landowners converged to express their thoughts on the project… “Jim Pirolli, chief commercial officer for Summit Carbon Solutions, told those in attendance the main goal is to keep the ethanol industry strong as the world moves toward lower carbon standards. “When we reduce the carbon intensity (CI) part of ethanol, it makes it more competitive in carbon fuel markets. That makes the ethanol plants more competitive and provides better economics that flow back in (the form of) higher corn prices, and also economics for the whole system,” Pirolli said. “On average that will equate to $1 million annually in property taxes per country.” “...But there are concerns from members of the public. Jay Poindexter, a landowner and farmer from the Ree Heights area, was a member of the panel and said he shared concerns with many landowners who live and work along the path of the project. Those concerns include potential use of eminent domain by a private company to secure land for the private project and foreign investment and ownership issues… “Safety on the project should be ensured by the company building it, Poindexter said, but more work must also be done on making sure there are uniform setbacks and regulations in place at the local level. “Everybody knows pipelines have a potential to rupture. This pipeline runs within 300 feet of some people’s houses and livestock. Through articles I’ve read, there are certain models that show the plumes of this gas can go out for half a mile. It could literally kill everyone in this plume if the CO2 level gets high enough,” Poindexter said. “I think our counties and local boards need better setbacks, especially near schools, nursing homes and hospitals.”
Independence Bulletin Journal: Public Meeting to Discuss CO2 Pipeline Set
John Klotzbach, 8/16/22
“The public is invited to attend an informational meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, August 22 at Heartland Acres regarding a proposed pipeline to carry liquified Carbine Dioxide (CO2) across Buchanan County,” the Independence Bulletin Journal reports. “While the meeting will be lead by representatives of the Iowa Utilities Board, Navigator representatives will give a presentation and answer questions… “In a conversation Monday with Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Navigator Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, she told the Journal the proposed route was selected to follow existing infrastructure in order to minimize impact to the environment (e.g. endangered species, wetlands and other protected habitat) and culturally sensitive areas (e.g. sacred ground). Burns-Thompson told the Journal the benefit of the project includes storing CO2 captured from industries (e.g. POET ethanol plant in Fairbank), who will get “Carbon Credits,” and using the captured CO2 for other purposes (e.g. carbonated beverages, dry ice). Opponents to the project state possible damage to the environment outweigh any public benefit. Damages may include ruining crop land (e.g. mixing high and low CSR soils and soil compaction), destroying habitats (e.g. forests) during construction, or contaminating ground water due to leaks… “Another concern for opponents is the use of CO2 in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) where CO2 is injected into a depleted oil field to force oil to the surface. Beyond concerns for the environment during the process, opponents are against the increasing use of fossil fuels and the resulting pollution including the production of carbon-based greenhouse gases that contribute to long-term climate change. Burns-Thompson told the Journal that using the CO2 captured and sequestered by the Navigator project for EOR purposes is, “Not the case.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Utilities board to proceed with pipeline permit scheduling
JARED STRONG, 8/16/22
“State regulators are poised to hold a scheduling conference that will guide the rest of the permit process for Summit Carbon Solutions, which seeks to build about 680 miles of liquid carbon pipeline in the state,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “An Iowa Utilities Board attorney said during a Tuesday board meeting that a proposed order is forthcoming. The meeting will allow the company, affected landowners and others to discuss deadlines for testimony and interventions, potential dates for the permit hearing and when the company will finalize its requests for eminent domain. Since early last week, Summit has been submitting its lists of landowners who have declined to grant easements for the project, whose land might be subject to eminent domain. As of Monday, the list included dozens of parcels in 11 counties, including Cherokee, Chickasaw, Crawford, Fremont, Greene, Hancock, Ida, Lyon, Plymouth, Pottawattamie and Sioux. Those filings are publicly available at the IUB’s website. “They’re going to go through and do an initial pass with ones that they’re going to request eminent domain over,” Hunter Fors, an IUB attorney, told the Dispatch, “and then they might come back and do a second, third, fourth, and at some point in time they will eventually have all parcels in a county that they are seeking eminent domain for.” Summit said recently it has obtained permission from landowners for about 40% of the pipeline route in Iowa, which is mostly in western and northern areas of the state… “Carbon capture and the hazardous pipelines that support it are a distraction from the real work of tackling the climate crisis,” Emma Schmit, a senior Iowa organizer for Food & Water Watch, which opposes the pipeline projects, told the Dispatch.”
AgWeek: No bids submitted for pipeline that would carry natural gas to proposed North Dakota ag projects
Ann Bailey, 8/16/22
“The state of North Dakota received no bids by the Aug. 15 deadline for a pipeline that would carry natural gas across North Dakota from west to east and supply energy to proposed agricultural manufacturing processing plants in Grand Forks,” AgWeek reports. “The pipeline project would partly be funded by $150 million, which North Dakota lawmakers made available to the North Dakota Industrial Commission for matching grants during a special legislative session in November 2021… “There also were no bids on the project by the initial May 1, 2022, deadline. “We do not have any companies at this time that are comfortable enough with all the components to come forth with an application, Justin Kringstad, North Dakota Pipeline Authority director, told AgWeek. In April, WBI Energy Transmission wrote in a letter to North Dakota leaders that construction of the west-to-east pipeline was too costly because of the high project cost estimates, increased regulator uncertainty and limited in-state demand potential, according to the Associated Press.”
Press release: Energy Transfer Completes Sale of Its Interest in Energy Transfer Canada
8/16/22
“Energy Transfer LP announced today the completion of the sale of its 51 percent interest in Energy Transfer Canada ULC (Energy Transfer Canada) to a joint venture which includes Pembina Pipeline Corporation and global infrastructure funds managed by KKR. The sale of these assets allows Energy Transfer to further deleverage its balance sheet and redeploy capital within its U.S. footprint, which consists of a portfolio of energy assets with exceptional geographic and product diversity.”
Press release: Phillips 66 Announces Expansion Open Season for Seminoe Pipeline
8/12/22
“Phillips 66 announces that its subsidiary, Phillips 66 Carrier, LLC, is launching a binding expansion open season on its Seminoe Pipeline system to solicit shipper commitments for services from Billings, Montana, to Casper, Wyoming. The expansion open season will provide an opportunity for interested shippers to secure long-term refined product transportation with Seminoe Pipeline under binding transportation services agreements. The expansion includes new takeaway capacity of 5,800 barrels per day on Seminoe Pipeline with origination stations in Billings to destination at Casper. The higher capacity is expected to be available during the second quarter of 2023.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Common Dreams: 'We Will Vote This Dirty Deal Down,' Tlaib Says of Manchin's Oil-Friendly Side Agreement
JAKE JOHNSON, 8/16/22
“With President Joe Biden set to sign the Inflation Reduction Act into law on Tuesday, progressive members of Congress are increasingly speaking out against a side agreement that Democratic leaders reached with Sen. Joe Manchin in order to secure final passage of the $740 billion climate, tax, and healthcare measure,” Common Dreams reports. “The side deal focuses primarily on permitting changes that would help fast-track fossil fuel infrastructure—including a long-delayed pipeline in Manchin's home state of West Virginia—even as scientists say that meeting key emission-reduction targets requires a swift end to all new oil and gas development… “While progressives in the Senate and House voted for the IRA despite concerns about the bill's handouts to the fossil fuel industry, they quickly made clear that they don't feel bound to support the permitting proposal, which climate groups warn would gut crucial laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and shield dirty energy projects from legal challenges. In a statement to The American Prospect on Tuesday, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), said that "handshake deals made by others in closed rooms do not dictate how I vote, and we sure as hell don't owe Joe Manchin anything now." "He and his fossil fuel donors already got far too much in the IRA," Tlaib added… “Tlaib isn't the only House Democrat speaking out against the side deal, a draft form of which has been circulating among lobbyists and lawmakers in recent days. One draft document obtained by Bloomberg earlier this month bore the watermark "API," the acronym for the American Petroleum Institute, a powerful oil and gas industry lobbying organization. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, blasted the side deal and vowed to fight it following passage of the IRA, which Democrats and environmentalists have hailed as a historic climate action measure even as they acknowledge its serious flaws… “Amid reports that Democratic leaders are planning to attach a permitting measure to must-pass spending legislation such as a bill to keep the government funded, Grijalva is demanding a standalone vote on the deal. "We're going to start early to urge a separate vote," Grijalva told The Hill on Friday. "One of my prerogatives is that if I'm opposed to it—to vote against it." Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), for his part, told Politico that he is "not going to be steamrolled into a bunch of fossil fuel giveaways just because Manchin cut a deal in a closed room with Chuck Schumer."
STATE UPDATES
Carlsbad Current-Argus: Biden to sign climate bill, amid criticism from New Mexico oil and gas, environmental groups
Adrian Hedden, 8/17/22
“President Joe Biden was expected to sign the $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Tuesday, making national investments in climate change initiatives like reducing air pollution emissions from oil and gas, while incentivizing broader use of renewable energy like wind and solar,” the Carlsbad Current-Argus reports. “...Opponents of tighter restrictions on oil and gas operations, such as emission controls, worried they could impede an industry that provides more than a third of New Mexico’s revenue… “But the state’s loan Republican in Congress, Rep. Yvette Herrell – who represents New Mexico’s southern Second Congressional District encompassing the Permian Basin region to the southeast – was the state’s sole vote against the bill. She told the Argus the Act would raise taxes and energy costs for Americans, and was critical of provisions she said would increase U.S. reliance on foreign oil and gas imports. Herrell called on congressional leaders to support her Protecting our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act introduced in 2021 to block the President’s authority to institute any halt on new oil and gas leases… “But environmental groups said it was worth protecting the environment and preventing further aridification of New Mexico, a form of climate change, in a year when the state saw its two-biggest wildfires in history burn hundreds of thousands of acres.”
PIX11: Activists fight to stop 4th power plant in Newark
Andrew Ramos, 8/16/22
“A coalition of residents and advocates are continuing to put pressure on Gov. Phil Murphy to intervene in seven fossil fuel expansion projects across New Jersey,” PIX11 reports. “One of the projects includes bringing a fourth power plant to Newark. PIX11’s Andrew Ramos has more on the latest chapter in a fight that’s lasted more than a year.”
Carlsbad Current-Argus: Oil and gas impacts lead to lawsuit for federal action on lesser prairie chicken protection
Adrian Hedden, 8/17/22
“Lesser prairie chickens once numbered in the million across the American West, known for their unique mating dances on the prairies of southeast New Mexico and other states. Restoring that historical populace was debated for years in court, with a recent lawsuit aiming to compel the federal government to act,” the Carlsbad Current-Argus reports. “In recent years, the species suffered dwindling numbers brought on by industrial development in the oil and gas and agriculture sector fragmenting the wide-open prairies the bird needs to survive. That’s why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last year it was considering providing protections for the chicken in two separate population segments. It was proposed to be listed as “endangered” in a southern region, including portions of southeast New Mexico and West Texas, and “threatened” in a northern population segment that includes several other states like Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas along with the northern Texas panhandle… “The Fish and Wildlife Service had yet to issue a 12-month finding on the two listing proposals for the northern and southern distinct population segments (DPS) that was due in June, a failure that caused the Center for Biological Diversity to notify the service and courts the agency planned to sue within 60 days to compel the required decision. Michael Robinson with the Center for Biological Diversity criticized the agency for another postponement, he told the Argus, after decades of delays to protect the imperiled bird… “Robinson told the Argus oil and gas, which contributes both air pollution and increased physical infrastructure to the lesser prairie chicken’s habitat, presents a “double threat” to its survival… “Eddy County commissioners, in a letter to the Fish and Wildlife Service upon its publication of the initial proposal, argued the oil and gas industry and other land users already took adequate steps to prevent impacts to the chicken.”
San Luis Obispo: Carrizo Plain oil wells to be plugged — is it ‘the beginning of the end’ of drilling there?
MACKENZIE SHUMAN, 8/16/22
“Nearly a dozen oil wells left idle for years in the Carrizo Plain National Monument in San Luis Obispo County are set to be plugged and abandoned as part of a settlement agreement reached Friday between the federal government and environmental groups,” San Luis Obispo reports. “And environmentalists hope it’s a sign of more shutdowns to come and “the beginning of the end of oil extraction in the Carrizo Plain.” The agreement arose out of a December 2020 lawsuit filed by the Los Padres ForestWatch and the Center for Biological Diversity. The groups had disputed a May 2020 approval of a new well to be drilled on an existing well pad and construction of a pipeline on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands… ““This agreement forges a new era for the Carrizo Plain National Monument and begins what we hope will be a complete phase-out of oil drilling in this protected area,” ForestWatch Executive Director Jeff Kuyper told SLO… “As part of the settlement agreement, the Bureau of Land Management will prepare an environmental assessment to analyze full restoration of the 11 idle oil well pads. It may also analyze removal and restoration of roads leading to the oil drilling sites, electric transmission lines and other infrastructure formerly used for the drilling activities.”
EXTRACTION
Canadian Press: UNESCO team in Alberta to judge if Wood Buffalo Park should go on endangered list
8/17/22
“A United Nations body that monitors some of the world’s greatest natural glories is in Canada again to assess government responses to ongoing threats to the country’s largest national park, including plans to release treated oilsands tailings into its watershed,” the Canadian Press reports. “In a series of meetings beginning Thursday, UNESCO investigators are to determine whether Wood Buffalo National Park should be on the list of World Heritage Sites In Danger — a move the agency has already deemed “likely.” “Canada is not delivering,” Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, which first brought concerns about the northern Alberta park to UNESCO’s attention, told CP... “As well, research has found increasing evidence of seepage from oilsands tailings ponds into upstream ground and surface water… “A risk assessment for oilsands tailings ponds hasn’t begun, the report says. Sites in the oilsands region used by whooping cranes haven’t been identified… “The report says provincial groups studying scientific issues have been given restrictive terms of reference. For example, a group studying mine reclamation can only look at ways to treat and release effluent. Cultural impacts on local First Nations are not considered, nor are cumulative effects of separate developments… “Meanwhile, both levels of government are preparing regulations to govern the first releases of tailings into the Athabasca River. Those rules are expected in 2025. Contaminated water can be treated and released safely, says the Mining Association of Canada… “But Gillian Chow-Fraser of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society told CP neither industry nor government have considered other ways of dealing with tailings, such as pumping the water underground. “(Treating and releasing) isn’t actually a reclamation solution,” she told CP. “It is a cheap and easy way for these companies to keep producing at the same rate.”
Bloomberg: Big Tech Helps Big Oil Pump More, Belying Climate Pledges
8/16/22
“It’s been a blockbuster summer for Big Oil. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. posted record profits thanks to surging energy prices. The new US climate bill includes concessions to oil and gas companies,” Bloomberg reports. “There are other, quieter beneficiaries: Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and the other cloud-services companies that are increasingly responsible for the computing horsepower behind the oil giants’ efforts to find and extract more oil and natural gas. Among other things, Microsoft is making it possible for Exxon to analyze reams of oil field data. Amazon is helping drillers run simulations to maximize how much oil they can pump from existing wells. It’s an awkward look for companies that have pledged to cut their own emissions. Microsoft has vowed to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits by 2030, while Amazon has committed to eliminating greenhouse gases from its operations by 2040. Both companies justify their oil industry contracts by pledging to accelerate a transition from dirty oil to sources that emit little or no carbon dioxide… “But neither company provided evidence that these projects are succeeding, or that they offset the environmental damage caused by increased oil and gas production from their biggest clients… “Such pronouncements infuriate critics who say the cloud providers’ oil industry contracts are prolonging the fossil-fuel age, tarnishing their green credentials and risking climate catastrophe… “Rob Day, a co-founder of Spring Lane Capital, a sustainability focused private-equity firm, credits the cloud providers for massive investments in solar and wind projects to power their operations. “On the flip side,” he told Bloomberg, “it’s not good enough. They’re making oil and gas drilling operations more profitable. Full stop.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
OilPrice.com: Clean Energy Or Fossil Fuels? Wall Street Is Betting On Both
8/16/22
“The U.S. clean energy sector has been soaring so far in the aftermath of the Senate’s passage of a historic climate and energy bill that experts have hailed as the largest investment in fighting climate change ever made by the country,” OilPrice.com reports. “...The Inflation Reduction Act will extend a number of tax credits already available for renewable energy and also create new incentives for investment in clean energy technology or energy generation. For the first time ever, would-be investors in clean energy have assurances in the form of a decade of subsidies from the federal government. But make no mistake about it: hundreds of billions of dollars continue flowing into fossil fuels every year, with no signs of the trend changing any time soon. The latest climate report endorsed by 505 organizations from 51 countries around the world reveals that the world’s 60 largest banks have reached a staggering $4.6 trillion in the six years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, with $742 billion going into fossil fuel financing in 2021 alone. The report says that even though net-zero commitments have been all the rage, the financial sector has continued its business-as-usual driving of climate chaos. Dubbed Banking On Climate Chaos, the report says that overall, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are the world’s leading fossil fuel financiers, together accounting for one quarter of all fossil fuel financing over the last six years. RBC is Canada’s worst banker of fossil fuels, with Barclays the worst in Europe and MUFG the leading financier in Japan. The report laments the fact that these banks continue to tout their commitments to helping their clients transition, and yet the 60 banks profiled in the report funneled $185.5 billion in 2021 into the 100 companies doing the most to expand the fossil fuel sector, such as Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)--even when carbon budgets make clear that we cannot afford any new coal, gas, or oil supply or infrastructure.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
New York Times: Kicking oil companies out of school
Hiroko Tabuchi, 8/16/22
“Over the past decade, students around the world have successfully pressed many universities to sell off their fossil fuel investments,” the New York Times reports. ”Faculty and senior staff at the University of Cambridge are poised to vote on a measure that would require the university to stop accepting funding from coal, oil and gas companies. It would be the first leading university to do so, and a vote could happen as early as this autumn… “More than half of universities in Britain, and dozens in the United States, have committed to divesting their endowments from fossil fuel companies. Cambridge did that in 2020, saying that the move demonstrated its “determination to seek solutions to the climate crisis.” Building on that success, activists are increasingly turning their focus to the millions of dollars that universities accept from the oil and gas industry for research, sponsorships and collaborations. Those donations allow companies to greenwash their images, activists say, by appropriating prestige and environmental credentials even as they continue to invest billions in new fossil fuel projects that scientists say are heating the planet to dangerous levels. “By working with the fossil fuel industry, we’re giving them legitimacy and we’re implicitly endorsing them,” Luke Kemp, a researcher who studies climate risk at Cambridge and one of the academics who called for the vote, told the Times. “This should be utterly uncontroversial for any academic who is clearly and truly concerned about climate change.” Kemp said he planned to vote yes on the measure. At Cambridge, corporate partnerships include the BP Institute, established with a 22-million-pound donation from the oil and gas giant in 2000, as well as a professorship funded by Royal Dutch Shell whose research involves oil drilling. Oil and gas companies also fund academic prizes at the university that promote careers in oil, and a range of research projects.
Pennsylvania College of Technology: TC Energy Foundation donation boosts welding instruction
8/16/22
“Funding from the TC Energy Foundation will facilitate orbital welding instruction at Pennsylvania College of Technology. The donation will enhance the welding & metal fabrication curriculum, specifically in the area of orbital welding – an automated, highly efficient process used to securely join tubes, pipes or tube sheeting in pipeline welding… “Our welding students weld pipe manually, and this donation will enable us to introduce the orbital welding process,” said Michael R. Allen, instructor of welding and co-department head at Penn College. “We are grateful for our students to have this experience to align with industry demands.” “We are grateful to TC Energy for their support and investment in our welding students,” said Ashley E. Day, manager of grants and communications. “Partnerships like this help keep our curriculum current and industry-relevant, giving our graduates a competitive edge in the global marketplace.”
OPINION
The Hill: Not one Republican stood up for climate, jobs or lower costs
Manish Bapna is president and CEO of the NRDC Action Fund, an affiliate of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), 8/16/22
“It’s been some time since Congress spoke as clearly to who we are as a nation, and the kind of future we aspire to create, as with the passage of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden plans to sign into law this week,” Manish Bapna writes for The Hill. “...And yet, when the House and Senate passed the bill last week, not a single Republican voted for it. Not one, in either house. The public is going to wonder why. After all, 61 percent wanted Congress to act on climate. Beyond partisanship, the GOP resistance speaks volumes about Big Oil’s outsized influence. Flush with cash — a windfall $77 billion in second-quarter profits — the oil and gas industry has spent $1.8 billion in campaign contributions and lobbying efforts over the past decade, trying to defeat climate action and the politicians that support it. Contributions to Republicans out-pace those to Democrats four to one… “This is not the climate bill we would have written. It includes provisions that support fossil fuels in ways that conflict with our climate aims and perpetuate inequities that inflict disproportionate hazard and harm on low-income communities and people of color. There’s no place for such measures when the goal must be to break our dependence on fossil fuels, reduce unjust impacts on overburdened communities and strengthen, not weaken, the commonsense safeguards our families depend on to prosper and thrive… “As we move forward, protecting the environment and public health shouldn’t divide us by party. It must unite us, as a nation.”