EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/23/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: Giniw Collective: Dozens of Indigenous Peoples and Allies Blockade Line 3 Man Camp, Continuing Fierce Ground Resistance
Associated Press: Minnesota asks federal court to block Enbridge Line 3 tribal lawsuit
Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative: Park Rapids suspends Enbridge water withdrawal from city hydrants
Winnipeg Sun: Mennonites protest Enbridge Line 3 in front of Winnipeg bank
Appalachian Voices: Updates in the fight against MVP and MVP Southgate
Bellingham Herald: A pipeline exploded in Bellingham 22 years ago. It’s still influencing federal policy
Bloomberg: Brookfield wins investor support for Inter Pipeline deal
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Biden moves to blunt Trump water permitting rule
EXTRACTION
The Narwhal: Erin O’Toole vows to increase criminal punishment for people who disrupt pipelines and railways
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Bloomberg: THE METHANE HUNTERS
Politico Morning Energy: FRACKING ON THE SURFACE
InsideClimate News: Surface Water Vulnerable to Widespread Pollution From Fracking, a New Study Finds
E&E News: Research shows gaps in how EPA, oil industry measure methane
Grist: Report: Oil companies are burning off natural gas — and leaving regulators in the dark
Guardian: Oil firms made ‘false claims’ on blue hydrogen costs, says ex-lobby boss
CLIMATE FINANCE
Canadian Press: As climate threat climbs, insurance industry backs away from fossil fuels
Roll Call: Climate risk becomes urgent ESG issue for insurance industry
OPINION
The Hill: Let's prioritize American renewable fuels over foreign oil and minerals
Common Dreams: The Glasgow Climate Talks Are a Vital Deadline for Action
PIPELINE NEWS
Facebook: Giniw Collective: Dozens of Indigenous Peoples and Allies Blockade Line 3 Man Camp, Continuing Fierce Ground Resistance
8/23/21
“This morning, nearly 30 Water Protectors locked to multiple blockades in front of a Line 3 man camp, drawing awareness to several sex trafficking rings busted during Enbridge’s invasion of Anishinaabe treaty territory to construct its tar sands expansion project. Over 700 Water Protectors have been arrested to date, with pain compliance, rubber bullets, and mace used on unarmed Water Protectors in recent weeks. Drought conditions continue across northern Minnesota, with strict water restrictions in place and extreme fire warnings throughout the Northland. Enbridge received approval to pump 5 billion gallons of water out of Minnesota’s watersheds to build Line 3. Enbridge is responsible for 28 chemical spills into rivers and wetlands during construction thus far, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River multiple times. John Shimek, Red Lake Ojibwe, said, “This fight is about my children, their right to harvest wild rice and enjoy these lands as I have. I’m here with my Indigenous relatives from all over Turtle Island and I’m honored they’re here to stand with us. People must be brave, the world is burning.” Siihasin, Diné said, “I believe in defending and protecting the water, the non-human relatives, the wild rice. I am in solidarity with Anishinaabe and Dakota peoples. Line 3 impacts all life in these territories — we must take action to defend what is sacred.”
Associated Press: Minnesota asks federal court to block Enbridge Line 3 tribal lawsuit
8/22/21
“The state of Minnesota has gone to federal court to block a lawsuit over Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline project from proceeding in tribal court,” the Associated Press reports. “The novel case names Manoomin — the Ojibwe word for wild rice — as the lead plaintiff. Wild rice is sacred in Ojibwe culture and a traditional source of food. The lawsuit, which was filed two weeks ago in the White Earth Band’s tribal court, is the first “rights of nature” enforcement case brought in a U.S. tribal court and the second such case to be filed in any U.S. court. The first was a Florida waterways case filed in April, according to the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources filed for an injunction in U.S. District Court on Thursday to quash the wild rice lawsuit. The state agency said the tribal court doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear the case because the DNR and its employees named in the lawsuit are not members of the White Earth Band, and it argues that the tribe lacks jurisdiction over non-members for actions occurring off the reservation. The lawsuit, filed by the tribe, advances a legal theory that nature itself has the right to exist and flourish. The plaintiffs also include several White Earth tribal members and people who have protested along the Line 3 construction route across northern Minnesota. More than 700 people have been arrested in the protests… “The tribal court ruled Wednesday that the lawsuit can proceed. The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 25.”
Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative: Park Rapids suspends Enbridge water withdrawal from city hydrants
Barbara With and Rebecca Kemble, 8/19/21
“Today, the city of Park Rapids, MN stopped selling municipal water to Precision Pipeline, a contractor for Enbridge, who is working on constructing the Line 3 pipeline across 1855 Treaty Territory. The city began selling water out of city fire hydrants earlier this summer to support Enbridge operations,” the Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative reports. “In early June, water meters and hoses were installed at three different locations in Park Rapids to facilitate Precision Pipeline’s quick and easy access to the water. Other businesses purchasing water in bulk are required to purchase their water at the Park Rapids bulk water facility. According to the Park Rapids Water and Sewer department website, the average daily demand for municipal water is 500,000 gallons. On August 2, 2021 Precision withdrew 68,000 gallons from just one of the three hydrants, nearly 15% of the average daily demand… “When asked about Park Rapids selling water to contractors constructing Line 3, City Administrator Angelica Weasner wold WCMC, “I was notified yesterday by the State of Minnesota that we’ve been elevated to ‘extreme drought‘ conditions, and we need to contact our ten top vendors and at this point in time, they [Precision Pipeline] are one of them, and we are not going to allow them to withdraw any more water. Over the whole timeframe [since early June], they have withdrawn six million gallons.”
Winnipeg Sun: Mennonites protest Enbridge Line 3 in front of Winnipeg bank
Josh Aldrich, 8/22/21
“Members of the Mennonite community in Winnipeg are calling on TD Canada Trust to divest their interests in Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline,” the Winnipeg Sun reports. “About 60 protesters gathered in front of a branch on Notre Dame Avenue on Sunday afternoon to sing, pray and protest the continued replacement of the pipeline that runs from Alberta through the northern U.S. states to Superior, Wis.“TD’s the lead financier of Line 3, so they have the moral responsibility to respond and not fund climate disaster,” Steve Heinrichs, one of the protest organizers from the Justice Team of Hope Mennonite Church located in Winnipeg, told the Sun. The church held another protest at the same time at the Enbridge Pipeline Terminal in Gretna. Almost all congregants biked or walked to the rally, which was equal parts church service, including songs, prayers and speakers. One member even cut up his bank card in a symbolic gesture of ending his 30-year relationship with the bank due to their connection to financing oil and gas projects.”
Appalachian Voices: Updates in the fight against MVP and MVP Southgate
By Ridge Graham and Jessica Sims, 8/18/21
“The Lambert Compressor Station, which is proposed to be built outside of Chatham, Virginia, is the sole compressor station for MVP Southgate, a proposed 73-mile extension of the unfinished 303-mile fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline,” Appalachian Voices reports. “...After significant attention and pushback, the public hearing was postponed until the fall Air Pollution Control Board hearing in September… “On August 13, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission suspended the eminent domain privileges for MVP Southgate that would allow them to condemn private property along the route in order to build the pipeline and maintain a right-of-way. This decision was in response to 15 North Carolina state legislators who requested that FERC pause the company’s ability to use eminent domain while the pipeline has several missing permits and ongoing litigation. These legislators include Rep. Ricky Hurtado, whose district encompasses part of Alamance County, the county where MVP Southgate is proposed to end… “In a letter to FERC filed on August 16, counsel to the Monacan Indian Nation and Sappony Tribe indicated that they had reached a settlement with the developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension and were “withdrawing their objections to the permitting process and have moved to dismiss any existing claims in any pending litigation related to the projects.” The letter concluded that this settlement and decision “should not be construed as the Tribes’ support for the pipeline projects.”
Bellingham Herald: A pipeline exploded in Bellingham 22 years ago. It’s still influencing federal policy
BY YSABELLE KEMPE, 8/22/21
“It’s been more than two decades since a leaking gas pipeline in Whatcom Falls Park resulted in a deadly explosion. But the incident is still serving as a potent lesson for the federal government,” the Bellingham Herald reports. “Federal policymakers and regulators toured the site of the explosion on Thursday, Aug. 19, led by representatives from Bellingham’s Pipeline Safety Trust, which was formed in the aftermath of the 1999 disaster. The group included U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, whose congressional district includes Bellingham, and Tristan Brown, acting administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration… “On June 10, 1999, a series of human mistakes and mechanical errors led about 237,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline to leak out of an underground pipeline operated by Olympic Pipe Line Co., according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting. The gas seeped into Whatcom Creek and ignited around 5 p.m., turning the water body into a snaking channel of flames. The disaster killed two 10-year-old boys playing by the creek and an 18-year-old man. The fire burned for five days, scorching trees and killing any wildlife in its path. The disaster cost more than $187 million.”
Bloomberg: Brookfield wins investor support for Inter Pipeline deal
8/23/21
“Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP has won enough shareholder backing to push ahead with its C$8.6 billion ($6.7 billion) takeover of Inter Pipeline Ltd,” Bloomberg reports. “Inter Pipeline shareholders agreed to tender 65.6 per cent of the common stock not already held by Brookfield Infrastructure, the Toronto-based company said in a statement late Friday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News… “The vote ends a six-month battle for control of Canada’s fourth-largest pipeline company. The tussle over Inter Pipeline has been the biggest corporate fight in the Canadian resources industry since Newmont Mining Corp. thwarted a hostile bid by Barrick Gold Corp. in 2019 by agreeing to a joint venture around the two companies’ projects in Nevada. The Inter Pipeline takeover saga started in February with an unsolicited C$7.1 billion offer from Brookfield. Inter Pipeline’s board rejected it and instead endorsed a friendly deal with Pembina Pipeline Corp. on June 1. But only two months later, Inter Pipeline walked away from the competing midstream company after Brookfield sweetened its offer multiple times, and won the endorsement of prominent advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. The fight for Inter Pipeline was a contentious one at times, with all three companies taking grievances before the Alberta Securities Commission.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Biden moves to blunt Trump water permitting rule
Hannah Northey, 8/20/21
“EPA today laid out a path for states and tribes to take more time to negotiate and tackle challenges before signing off on water permits — an attempt to defang a controversial Trump-era rule that allows only a year to approve or deny permits for utilities and oil and gas pipelines,” E&E News reports. “Sources say the move is an attempt by the Biden administration to mitigate the adverse effects of the Trump water rule finalized last year that’s still on the books while showing sensitivity to advocates fighting the proliferation of fossil fuel projects… “The rule sets a one-year deadline for states and tribes to certify or reject applications for water permits. It also limits states and tribes to considering only water quality — not climate change or air pollution — when denying permits under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. EPA blasted the rule, saying it "erodes state and Tribal authority," and vowed to strengthen the authority of states and tribes to protect their water resources… “Today, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers issued a memo that lays out circumstances under which states or tribes can take more than a year to approve permit applications coming directly from developers of projects like pipelines and power lines, or from the corps for nationwide permits. That includes situations in which states or tribes "identify factors and circumstances that warrant extending the reasonable period of time" or in which they can "resolve procedural deficiencies within the reasonable period of time," according to EPA.”
EXTRACTION
The Narwhal: Erin O’Toole vows to increase criminal punishment for people who disrupt pipelines and railways
By Fatima Syed, 8/19/21
“Erin O’Toole’s Conservative Party is proposing to amend Canada’s Criminal Code to stop protests that disrupt key infrastructure such as pipelines or railways — a federal election proposal that many say will unfairly target Indigenous land defenders,” The Narwhal reports. “The proposal is repeated twice in the party’s 160-page platform released Tuesday. It appears once in a section on energy and again in a section about public safety. The paragraph proposes passing the “Critical Infrastructure Protection Act to prevent people from blocking key infrastructure” by amending Canada’s Criminal Code to offer more severe punishment to demonstrators. The proposal mentions the 2020 pipeline and railway demonstrations that occurred in opposition to the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline through the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation territory in British Columbia, land that is unceded. It notes these events “demonstrated the importance — and vulnerability — of the infrastructure that ties our country again.” Under the proposed Conservative law, protesters could be punished “by either summary conviction of indictment, depending upon the severity of the crime.” “Peaceful protest is a fundamental right in Canada, but respect for the rule of law means that illegal blockades that shut down critical infrastructure, threaten access to vital supplies, or endanger lives cannot be tolerated,” the Conservative proposal reads. The platform doesn’t provide any details about what would be included in a proposed law, how broad it would be or how the Criminal Code would be amended. The platform also fails to explain why a new law would be needed to stop what the party describes as an “illegal blockade” or how such a law could be effective.”
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Bloomberg: THE METHANE HUNTERS
By Zachary R. Mider, 8/19/21
“Five hundred miles above the Earth’s surface, the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor, a satellite about the size of a pickup truck, has been circling the planet for four years, taking pictures of the atmosphere below. The satellite’s infrared sensor can see things humans can’t, and in 2019, Yuzhong Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, got a look at some of its first readings,” Bloomberg reports. “Zhang was interested in methane, an invisible, odorless gas. Although carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is the principal cause of global warming, methane has many times carbon’s warming power and is thought to be responsible for about a quarter of the increase in global temperatures caused by humans. When Zhang laid the satellite readings over a map of the U.S., the biggest concentration of the gas showed up as a red splotch over a 150-mile-wide swath of Texas and New Mexico. The postdoc loaded the readings into a supercomputer to calculate what it would take to form that pattern. A few days later he had an answer. Beneath the splotch, Zhang discovered, 2.9 million metric tons of methane were pouring into the sky each year. By one measure, that cloud of gas is contributing as much to global warming as Florida—every power plant, motorboat, and minivan in the state. Zhang, now at Westlake University in Hangzhou, China, calls it the “Permian methane anomaly.” The anomaly lies directly atop the Permian Basin, one of the most bountiful oil-producing regions in the world. Wells there churn out less-profitable natural gas alongside petroleum, and natural gas is mostly methane. Zhang’s research demonstrated that a surprising amount of that gas, more than twice what the U.S. government has estimated, is just spilling into the air unburned. Imagine that someone turned all the knobs on a stove without lighting a flame. Now imagine 400,000 stoves scattered across the Southwest, hissing day and night, cooking nothing but the planet itself. Identifying and plugging these leaks could do more to slow climate change than almost any other single measure.
Politico Morning Energy: FRACKING ON THE SURFACE
Matthew Choi, 8/20/21
“Hydraulic fracturing is associated with changes to surface water quality, according to a new study published in the journal “Science,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “Although the impacts on surface water quality appear to be small — and well below limits deemed harmful by EPA — the report’s authors suggest the correlation could be reason for more careful monitoring of surface water quality close to fracking. EPA has already determined a number of instances where fracking could lead to worsened ground water quality.”.
InsideClimate News: Surface Water Vulnerable to Widespread Pollution From Fracking, a New Study Finds
Bob Berwyn, 8/20/21
“Fossil fuels don’t just damage the planet by emitting climate-warming greenhouse gases when they are burned. Extracting coal, oil and gas has a huge impact on the surface of the earth, including strip mines the size of cities and offshore oil spills that pollute country-sized swaths of ocean,” InsideClimate News reports. “Years of research has shown how the fracking boom has contaminated groundwater in some areas. But a study published on Thursday in the journal Science suggests there is also a previously undocumented risk to surface water in streams, rivers and lakes. After analyzing 11 years of data, including surface water measurements in 408 watersheds and information about more than 40,000 fracking wells, the researchers found a very small but consistent increase in three salt compounds—barium, chloride and strontium—in watersheds with new wells that were fracked. While concentrations of the three elements were elevated, they remained below the levels considered harmful by the EPA… “.Though the impact the researchers detected was small, the data came from diluted water in rivers and streams that were often far from wells, Leuz said, so the concentrations could be higher farther upstream and closer to the fracking operations. The findings suggest that the rapid pace of “unconventional oil and gas development,” like fracking, may be outrunning scientists’ ability to monitor its impacts on surface water. “Better and more frequent water measurement is needed to fully understand the surface water impact of unconventional oil and gas development,” economist co-author Pietro Bonetti, with the University of Navarra, Spain, told ICN.
E&E News: Research shows gaps in how EPA, oil industry measure methane
Carlos Anchondo, Mike Lee, 8/20/21
“Before EPA and the energy industry can address climate-warming methane emissions from oil and gas production, they’ll have to improve how they track and estimate it,” E&E News reports. “That’s according to a recent study that highlights problems with EPA’s data-collection methods and other research showing that major oil companies and some state regulators are underestimating oil field methane emissions… “EPA’s method of calculating methane pollution has been widely criticized for underestimating emissions from the oil and gas industry, one of the biggest sources of the potent greenhouse gas. Today, the agency calculates its inventory of methane emissions by multiplying the number of potentially leaky components — such as valves and thief hatches on well heads and storage tanks — with an estimate of the average emission rate for each part. Some groups have said that such a “bottom-up” approach — where a national estimate of emissions is built by scaling up measurements taken at a small sample size of wells or facilities — leads to an underestimation of emissions. They’ve cited the potential to miss so-called super emitters, or a small number of sources that contribute a large percentage of overall emissions.”
Grist: Report: Oil companies are burning off natural gas — and leaving regulators in the dark
Naveena Sadasivam, 8/19/21
“Billions of cubic feet of natural gas are burned off in U.S. oil and gas fields every year, wasting the fossil fuel and emitting greenhouse gases without actually generating energy,” according to Grist. “In Texas alone, state regulators have permitted companies to burn more than a million cubic feet of gas every day since 2019. Combined, that would be enough natural gas to supply 15 million homes’ annual gas needs. Fossil fuel companies choose to burn natural gas instead of capturing and selling it for a variety of safety and economic reasons. Most commonly, oil fields have a gas glut and insufficient pipeline capacity to move it to refineries and markets. The solution to the logjam is to burn excess natural gas — which is primarily composed of methane, a potent planet-warming pollutant — with the permission of state regulators. The Texas Railroad Commission, or RRC, is the state agency tasked with regulating the oil and gas industry and overseeing companies’ flaring practices. When fossil fuel companies want to flare, they’re required to request a permit from the agency. But a new analysis by Earthworks, an environmental nonprofit, has found compelling evidence that they often don’t bother to. In fact, more than two-thirds of the 227 flares observed during three months in 2020 were not permitted by the state, according to the group, potentially leaving the RRC in the dark. “They don’t know about the majority of flaring that goes on in Texas,” Alan Septoff, a spokesperson for the nonprofti, told Gristt. “All of the state data that they’re basing their policy decisions on is bunk.”
Guardian: Oil firms made ‘false claims’ on blue hydrogen costs, says ex-lobby boss
Jillian Ambrose, 8/20/21
“Oil companies have used false claims over the cost of producing fossil fuel hydrogen to win over the Treasury and access billions in taxpayer subsidies, according to the outgoing hydrogen lobby boss,” the Guardian reports. “Chris Jackson quit as the chair of a leading hydrogen industry association this week ahead of a government strategy paper featuring support for “blue hydrogen”, which is derived from fossil gas and produces carbon emissions. He said he could no longer lead an industry association that included oil companies backing blue hydrogen projects, because the schemes were “not sustainable” and “make no sense at all”. The government’s strategy for the sector, announced this week, was criticised by environmental groups for taking a twin-track approach, giving equal weight to blue hydrogen and “green hydrogen”, which has no negative climate impact because it uses renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. By contrast, blue hydrogen is made from natural gas, which has to be extracted from gas fields and then purified by the removal of carbon dioxide, which have to be stored back underground. The process typically fails to capture 10-15% of its greenhouse gas emissions, which would accumulate as production ramps up. Both kinds of hydrogen are much more expensive to produce than conventional fuels, so the government is proposing subsidies… “Jackson resigned from the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association on Monday, saying he could “no longer in good conscience” remain in a role in which he would be expected to hold a neutral stance. “I believe passionately that I would be betraying future generations by remaining silent on that fact that blue hydrogen is at best an expensive distraction, and at worst a lock-in for continued fossil fuel use that guarantees we will fail to meet our decarbonisation goals,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
CLIMATE FINANCE
Canadian Press: As climate threat climbs, insurance industry backs away from fossil fuels
AMANDA STEPHENSON, 8/22/21
“With global climate change threatening to wreak havoc on their industry, insurance companies are increasingly looking to limit their exposure to the fossil fuel sector,” according to the Canadian Press. “This was not an issue that was central in the insurance sector even seven years ago,” Robin Edger, national director of climate change for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, told CP. “But now it is moving at light speed.” In the past three years, 23 major global insurance companies have adopted policies that end or limit insurance for the coal industry, and nine insurers have ended or limited insurance for the Canadian oil sands. Other insurance companies are making changes on the asset side of their books, divesting fossil fuel investments and adding green energy to their investment portfolios. In July, eight of the world’s largest insurance companies – including Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance Group and Aviva – committed to transitioning their portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The “sustainable finance” movement – which seeks to use the power of investment capital to move toward a lower-carbon economy – also includes pension funds, banks, and mutual funds. But of all the institutional investors, insurance companies have perhaps the most on the line when it comes to climate change. “For them [North American insurers] to just turn off the taps and stop investing right away, I don’t see that happening,” Mr. Adesanya told CP. “But there’s a trend that has started, and it will begin to ramp up.”
Roll Call: Climate risk becomes urgent ESG issue for insurance industry
Keith Lewis, 8/19/21
“Climate risk, a growing focus for environment, social and governance-minded investors, has morphed into an urgent issue for insurers as wildfires ravage the U.S. and Europe and natural disasters destroy property and cost lives worldwide,” Roll Call reports. “...On the hook for more claim payouts, the insurance industry should be doing more to prepare for climate-related risk, according to Dave Jones, California’s insurance commissioner from 2011-19. Jones is now director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at the University of California, Berkeley Law School. “The role of insurance commissioner is to protect consumers and supervise the financial stability of insurance markets,” Jones said in an interview with CQ Roll Call. Insurance is essential for consumers and businesses, but the industry faces climate-driven physical risk to covered assets as well as transition risk in their reserve portfolios, he said. The risks include investments in fossil fuel companies and other greenhouse gas emitting industries that are expected to decline amid the carbon transition and could become stranded assets, he said. During his tenure in California, he was the first financial regulator to evaluate insurance companies’ reserve portfolios for climate risk. As commissioner, Jones asked companies to voluntarily divest holdings in thermal coal based on economic indicators that projected its decline. He mandated that insurers within the state disclose investments in oil, gas, coal or utilities that are more than 50 percent derived from those sources. “As an insurance regulator, one of my responsibilities was to ensure companies were investing in assets that retain value, so they have adequate reserves to pay claims,” Jones told Roll Call.
OPINION
The Hill: Let's prioritize American renewable fuels over foreign oil and minerals
Geoff Cooper is the president and CEO of Renewable Fuels Association, 8/21/21
“After suffering through more than a year of quarantines, stay-at-home orders, and travel lockdowns, millions of Americans have eagerly returned to the nation’s highways this summer for long-awaited vacations and road trips. As a result, gasoline demand has surged to record highs and pump prices are at levels not seen since 2014,” Geoff Cooper writes in The Hill. “...Before the Biden administration looks to OPEC+ countries or mineral-rich nations like Afghanistan, China and Bolivia for help, it has an opportunity to turn to America’s heartland for a homegrown solution. Renewable fuels like ethanol have a 40-year proven track record of success in helping to lower prices at the pump while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions, supporting good-paying clean energy jobs and curtailing crude oil imports. Four decades’ worth of investment and innovation by ethanol producers has resulted in real breakthroughs in lower-carbon transportation fuels.Today’s corn-based ethanol reduces carbon emissions by 52 percent when compared directly to gasoline, according to a recent study from the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory… “Before we turn to the Persian Gulf for answers to our nation’s energy and climate challenges, let’s give the American heartland a shot. The solution to high pump prices and decarbonization lies in the farm fields of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and other Midwest states — not in the oil fields of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle East nations.”
Common Dreams: The Glasgow Climate Talks Are a Vital Deadline for Action
ALEC CONNON, 8/17/21
“It’s only 76 days until world leaders convene in Glasgow, Scotland, for some of the most important international negotiations in history. What happens during the twelve days of the Glasgow Climate Talks (known by climate wonks as COP26) will go a long way to determining the fate of much of the Paris Climate Agreement―which is another way of saying the fate of much of life on earth,” Alec Connon writes for Common Dreams. “...It is vital that the world’s nations use Glasgow to commit to immediately and rapidly reducing their dependency on fossil fuels, not merely set climate goals that are decades into the future. Since the Paris Agreement was signed, just six US banks have loaned more than $1 trillion to the fossil fuel industry. However, while the majority of the focus will be on governments and their new climate pledges, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that the Glasgow Climate Talks are a moment for the world’s corporations to act as well; in particular, the US financial institutions that are the fossil fuel industry’s greatest enablers. Since the Paris Agreement was signed, just six US banks have loaned more than $1 trillion to the fossil fuel industry; US-based asset manager, BlackRock, is the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels. Irrespective of what governments do, this has to change if we are to avoid a climate cataclysm. Unfortunately, both President Biden and Wall Street are failing key climate tests in the months leading up to Glasgow―nowhere more so than in their failure to act on the Line 3 tar sands pipeline… “So herein lies the problem: We have 76 days until some of history’s most important climate talks and we have a President who is failing to lift a finger to stop massive new fossil fuel projects and banks that are perfectly happy to continue making profit off of the end of the world as we know it.”