EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/31/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Star Tribune: Minnesota appeals court affirms state water quality permit for Enbridge's Line 3
Bloomberg: Enbridge Oil-Sands Pipeline Moves Step Closer After Court Ruling
CBS News [VIDEO]: Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota becomes battleground for climate, Indigenous rights activists
Bismarck Tribune: Timeline extended for Dakota Access Pipeline environmental impact study
SDPB: Company Begins to Remove Keystone XL Infrastructure, Permits from SD
Facebook: Appalachians Against Pipelines: Court update: Old folks each found guilty on one of three misdemeanors
Facebook: West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety: East Goshen Township Board of Supervisors and its Pipeline Task Force have sent a joint letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission calling for a halt to Mariner East operation
City Limits: Brooklyn Pipeline Project Violates Civil Rights Law, Residents and Environmentalists Allege
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Will Biden keep Trump’s Fed chair amid rising climate risk?
Politico: AOC, Tlaib, Pressley call on Biden to dump Powell as Fed chair
Alaska Public Media: Feds to resume work on possible Cook Inlet lease sale
STATE UPDATES
Spectrum Local News: Report: 69-84% of methane flares in Texas are unpermitted
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada pushes to build 2 new carbon capture hubs – gov’t document
OPINION
National Observer: Line 3 is cultural genocide at the hands of Enbridge, police and big banks
Grand Forks Herald: Letter: Two events and the real story about Line 3
Globe and Mail: A blunt oil sands answer to Trudeau’s recurring pipeline question
Midland Reporter Telegram: Flaring report from Earthworks was misleading
PIPELINE NEWS
Star Tribune: Minnesota appeals court affirms state water quality permit for Enbridge's Line 3
Mike Hughlett, 8/30/21
“The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a state water quality and wetland permit for the construction of Enbridge's Line 3, another legal blow to pipeline opponents,” the Star Tribune reports. “Two Ojibwe bands and three environmental groups had challenged the "401" permit issued in November by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), saying the agency committed legal errors on several fronts. A three-judge panel of the appellate court disagreed, saying in a ruling Monday: "We conclude that the MPCA's section 401 certification is not affected by legal error and is supported by substantial evidence in the record." The appeal was filed by the Red Lake and White Earth bands of Ojibwe; Honor the Earth, an indigenous environmental group; and Friends of the Headwaters and the Sierra Club, two environmental organizations. They say the MPCA was neglecting its obligations under the Minnesota Environmental Protection Act. The pipeline will cross 212 streams and affect more than 700 acres of wetlands in Minnesota, "We are disappointed that the Minnesota Court of Appeals has deferred to the MPCA's bad decision in granting the 401 permit to Enbridge," Scott Strand, an attorney for Friends of the Headwaters, told the Star Tribune… “Pipeline opponents had hoped the Biden administration would quash Line 3 by intervening in the suit against the Corps. But in a key court filing in late June, the Army Corps of Engineers strongly defended its Line 3 permit.”
Bloomberg: Enbridge Oil-Sands Pipeline Moves Step Closer After Court Ruling
By Robert Tuttle, 8/30/21
“Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 oil pipeline, expected to be the first new cross-border oil-sands conduit built between Canada and the U.S. in years, received a boost after a Minnesota appeals court rejected a challenge to a water permit,” Bloomberg reports. “The ruling removes one more hurdle to completion of the 760,000-barrel-a-day pipe that will expand Canadian oil sands exports to the U.S. once the line goes into operation as early as next month. The decision is “an important affirmation” of the state agency’s approval for the project, “confirming that wetlands and waterbodies are being appropriately protected during construction,” Michael Barnes, Enbridge spokesman, told Bloomberg. “It’s disappointing that the court will not hold MPCA accountable for their failure to protect our clean water,” Gabby Brown, a Sierra Club spokeswoman, told Bloomberg..
CBS News [VIDEO]: Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota becomes battleground for climate, Indigenous rights activists
8/30/21
“Dozens of environmental and Indigenous rights advocates are facing charges after being arrested in Minnesota over the weekend,” CBS News reports. “They were protesting outside the governor's mansion in opposition of Line 3 pipeline. Tara Houska, a tribal attorney and founder of Giniw Collective, joined CBSN to discuss the significance of the movement against the oil pipeline project.”
Bismarck Tribune: Timeline extended for Dakota Access Pipeline environmental impact study
AMY R. SISK, 8/27/21
“The official word from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the fate of the Dakota Access Pipeline is expected to come in September 2022, six months later than anticipated,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “The Corps indicated its new timeline for publishing the final version of an environmental review of the pipeline in an update posted to its website this month, saying the extension is to give entities it's working with such as Native American tribes more time to offer input. The agency is overseeing a study known as an Environmental Impact Statement that will be used to determine whether it reissues a permit for the line's Missouri River crossing. A judge revoked the permit last year after ordering the study, but the Corps has allowed Dakota Access to continue transporting oil. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe wants the agency to shut down the pipeline in the meantime, but the Corps so far has declined to do so. The river crossing lies just upstream of the Standing Rock Reservation, and tribal members are concerned about a potential oil spill. Standing Rock and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe are involved in the Corps' study, and earlier this year they asked the agency for more time to offer input and review tens of thousands of comments members of the public have made about the pipeline since the review began last September… “It's not unusual for Environmental Impact Statements to take a few years to complete, according to a recent federal review of the documents… “Dakota Access began transporting oil in June 2017. It's been the subject of mass protests and a lengthy legal battle brought by Standing Rock and other Sioux tribes. That lawsuit wrapped up earlier this year, but another legal challenge is possible once the Environmental Impact Statement is complete.”
SDPB: Company Begins to Remove Keystone XL Infrastructure, Permits from SD
By ARIELLE ZIONTS, 8/30/21
“TC Energy is starting to pull out of South Dakota after it cancelled its Keystone XL Pipeline project in June,” SDPB reports. “That decision was made once President Joe Biden removed the permit it needed to cross into the U.S. from Canada. The company hasn’t installed any Keystone XL pipe in South Dakota but it owns seven pump stations, three which are nearly complete, according to a recent filing with the Public Utilities Commission. TC Energy leases 10 pipe yards, seven contractor yards and at least two work camps. One of those pipe yards, near Philip, has hundreds of pipes on site. TC Energy also has a road bond and construction permit from the PUC that says it must reclaim the land and road it uses. “They’ll have to restore it back to as good or better quality than it was before they came,” PUC Staff Attorney Kristen Edwards told SDPB… “TC Energy has transferred or is in the processes of transferring ownership of its unbuilt pump station sites to the original landowners. It’s in the process of transferring ownership of its constructed pump stations sites to a company that specializes in demolition and salvage. The company will then dispose of the pump station infrastructure. TC Energy has terminated its leases for pipe yards, workforce camps and contractor yards that aren’t holding any pipes. It’s negotiating with a pipe broker company to acquire the pipes and leases of pipe yards, workforce camps and contractor yards with pipes. This company would sell the pipes and restore the land. TC Energy has asked local, state and federal agencies to cancel various permits. It will cost $84 million to decommission the pipeline on federal land alone, TC Energy estimated in 2019… “The PUC has no control over easements between TC Energy and private landowners. Those will need to be handled between the company and 314 landowners.”
Facebook: Appalachians Against Pipelines: Court update: Old folks each found guilty on one of three misdemeanors.
8/30/21
“Deborah Kushner, Alan Moore and Bridget Kelley went to trial today for their action in late June, which stopped construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for around 15 hours. Each protestor had been charged with 3 misdemeanors: obstruction of free passage, obstruction of justice, and unlawful assembly, but was only convicted of obstructing free passage. They were fined $1000. In her statement regarding her action Kushner reflected on her position and the racist, classist judicial system, saying "My choice to get in the way of this pipeline is evidence of my extremely entitled position. It’s my choice, and I am fairly certain of my fate and consequences. No one is dependent on me for their care, existence or transportation, and I won’t suffer stigma or lost employment opportunities because of my choice. Legions of others don’t have these luxuries. Please consider contributing to a bail fund to help those who are being held in jail simply for not having the funds to get out. This group is local to me and is doing excellent work: https://blueridgebailfund.org/. You can also google to find a similar fund near you."
Facebook: West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety: East Goshen Township Board of Supervisors and its Pipeline Task Force have sent a joint letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission calling for a halt to Mariner East operation
8/30/21
“On the eve of tomorrow’s Relying on Luck - Halt Mariner East Now event, East Goshen Township Board of Supervisors and its Pipeline Task Force have sent a joint letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission calling for a halt to Mariner East operation and a thorough, independent geological investigation in West Whiteland Township where Mariner East construction has led to further geological instability. Citing U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports, the letter states “We find it very alarming that the operator appears to be unaware or dismissive of the serious geological effects and safety risks associated with the construction and operation of their Mariner East pipeline project and trust the PUC shares our level of concern.”
City Limits: Brooklyn Pipeline Project Violates Civil Rights Law, Residents and Environmentalists Allege
Liz Donovan, 8/30/21
“Residents of Brooklyn filed a federal civil rights complaint Monday against National Grid and multiple New York government agencies related to the North Brooklyn Pipeline Project, alleging construction of the controversial fracked gas pipeline disproportionately impacts communities of color,” City Limits reports. “The complaint, filed Monday by the Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic at New York Law School and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, argues the project specifically violates Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits entities that receive federal funding from discriminating based on race. It accuses National Grid and the state’s Department of Public Service (DPS), which oversees utility services and approved a rate increase last month for National Grid customers in areas served by the new pipeline, of “bypassing federal and state environmental and pipeline safety laws” in carrying out the project in predominantly Black and Latinx communities without an adequate assessment of how it would affect those residents. The complaint seeks to “immediately stop the flow of gas, rescind its approval of the rate hike, and analyze the disproportionate impact of the pipeline and rate hike on Black and Latinx individuals.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Will Biden keep Trump’s Fed chair amid rising climate risk?
By Avery Ellfeldt, 8/25/21
“Speculation is intensifying over whom President Biden will tap to steer the Federal Reserve, which stands to play a key role in overseeing the financial industry as it faces rising risks from climate change,” E&E News reports.
Politico: AOC, Tlaib, Pressley call on Biden to dump Powell as Fed chair
By VICTORIA GUIDA, 8/30/21
“Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley on Monday called for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to be replaced, stepping up the pressure on President Joe Biden as he draws closer to a decision on the government’s most important economic post,” Politico reports. “The statement opposing Powell by the high-profile progressive Democrats is part of a mounting effort on the left to urge Biden to reshape the Fed, though the prospect of Powell’s reappointment has split opinion among liberal advocates and lawmakers. “As news of the possible reappointment of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell circulates, we urge President Biden to re-imagine a Federal Reserve focused on eliminating climate risk and advancing racial and economic justice,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement to POLITICO. “We urge the Biden Administration to use this opportunity to appoint a new Federal Reserve Chair.” They acknowledged that the Fed under Powell “has made positive changes” by steering the central bank toward a greater emphasis on reaching full employment. But they said they want to see someone at the helm who is more aggressive on financial regulation and climate change. “Under his leadership, the Federal Reserve has taken very little action to mitigate the risk climate change poses to our financial system,” said Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Tlaib (Mich.) and Pressley (Mass.), all of whom sit on the House Financial Services Committee. Reps. Chuy García (D-Ill.), another committee member, and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) also signed on. “At a time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning of the potential catastrophic and irreversible damage inflicted by a changing climate, we need a leader at the helm that will take bold and decisive action to eliminate climate risk,” they said.
Alaska Public Media: Feds to resume work on possible Cook Inlet lease sale
By Sabine Poux, 8/27/21
“The federal government said it will continue taking steps toward a potential oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet after a Louisiana district court judge ordered the Biden administration to resume its lease programs there and in the Gulf of Mexico,” Alaska Public Media reports. “The U.S. Department of the Interior has been at odds with several Republican states over the federal leasing program since Biden halted the two auctions and promised to review the program earlier this year. It was part of a larger executive order aimed at fighting climate change. The state of Alaska and 12 other states then sued the Biden administration in March, arguing the decision was bad for economic development and that the federal government bypassed the public process when they hit pause on the sales. The Interior Department said it appealed that order last week. But while the appeal is pending, the department said it will continue with the lease sale processes in the inlet and the gulf… “The department can still decide to cancel a lease sale after an environmental impact statement is filed. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management canceled lease sales in 2006, 2008 and 2010 in Cook Inlet due to lack of industry interest. A date has not yet been set for a potential sale in Cook Inlet.”
STATE UPDATES
Spectrum Local News: Report: 69-84% of methane flares in Texas are unpermitted
Eric Griffey, 8/27/21
“An international report on global warming devoted an entire chapter to the dangers of oil and gas production. The report compares directly observed flares from oil and gas site flyovers against the state regulator’s flaring permitting database,” Spectrum Local News reports. “...A Spectrum News story from February found that 75% of oil and gas operations on General Land Office lands were functioning without permits. That number has gone in the wrong direction, according to this latest report. For its most current report, Earthworks cross referenced the Texas Railroad Commission’s Master Flaring and Venting Document with publicly available data from Environmental Defense Fund flyovers, which were conducted in January, March and June 2020, mainly in the RRC’s District 8 covering the Permian Basin. The RRC, the agency that oversees oil and gas activity in Texas, reviewed the report before publication and their comments were incorporated. “As the world’s climate scientists tell us we need to cut methane pollution to avoid climate catastrophe, Texas regulators can’t even be bothered to track methane flaring,” Jack McDonald, the report’s lead author and Earthworks’ Texas Field Analyst, told Spectrum. “To make good on his climate promises, President Biden must address the Permian climate bomb that’s exploding in Texas,” Sharon Wilson, the report’s co-author and Earthworks’ Senior Field Advocate, told Spectrum.
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada pushes to build 2 new carbon capture hubs – gov’t document
By Rod Nickel and Nia Williams, 8/30/21
“Canada is pushing to provide incentives for at least two new massive carbon capture projects by 2030, a federal government document showed, with nearly a dozen oil and gas companies already pursuing rights to store carbon dioxide in Alberta’s vast underground caverns,” Reuters reports. “The hubs to collect carbon from clusters of emitters would advance Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s goal of cutting emissions by 40-45% from 2005 levels by 2030. The global oil industry is betting heavily that carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) can become a multi-billion-dollar global business with government and private investment. To encourage private investment in CCUS projects, Canada is counting on its carbon price, which is set to rise to C$170 ($134.8) per tonne of carbon by 2030 from C$40, a planned tax credit, and its Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR), which requires lower emissions intensity in fuel. “The big takeaway is the federal government is pretty serious about CCUS,” a Calgary oil industry source told Reuters… “Many global oil and gas producers see CCUS as a way to prolong their capacity to produce fossil fuels, by locking away their emissions. A massive expansion of carbon sequestration facilities is vital if the world is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), from around 40 million tonnes a year currently to 7.6 billion tonnes. Julia Levin, program manager at Environmental Defence, told Reuters CCUS is a “dangerous distraction” from transitioning to cleaner sources of energy.”
OPINION
National Observer: Line 3 is cultural genocide at the hands of Enbridge, police and big banks
Evelyn Austin of @DivestCanada, 8/30/21
“I recently returned home from Red Lake Treaty Camp at Thief River Falls in Minnesota, where I watched Enbridge complete its largest river crossing in the construction of the Line 3 pipeline. Despite being a Canadian-led project, Line 3 has received little media coverage on this side of the border,” Evelyn Austin writes in the National Observer. “The project is nearing its finish: construction continues around the clock while the Minnesota Supreme Court dodges legal appeals and pressure mounts on Gov. Tim Walz and President Joe Biden to cancel the project. The pipeline, soon to be operational, poses a serious threat to life on this continent… “In May 2020, Enbridge set up an escrow account to reimburse county police departments for the costs of anti-pipeline demonstration policing. As of August 2021, Enbridge has paid $2 million to Minnesota police, and local sheriff departments have begun to use “less than lethal” force — including rubber bullets and mace — on non-violent protests. In effect, Minnesota police act as private security for a Canadian multinational company, with financial incentive to wield the law against non-violent demonstrators. But the money trail doesn’t end there. Perhaps unexpectedly, Canadian banks are implicated in this conflict. TD, RBC, Scotiabank, BMO and CIBC are Enbridge's top five global financiers, and are all continuous lenders to the Line 3 project. This past winter, these banks issued a three-year, $1-billion “sustainability-linked” credit to Enbridge to continue its tarsands operations. The banks fund Enbridge, Enbridge funds police surveillance and the cycles of genocide and extraction in the name of return on investment continue... “It’s 2021, and we’re holding everyone accountable: from the banks financing tarsands expansion projects, to the insurers underwriting them, we’ll continue to hold pressure for change.”
Grand Forks Herald: Letter: Two events and the real story about Line 3
Brian Hartje, Bemidji, Minn., 8/30/21
“In one day, two events were connected to Line 3 – and both really show the reality of what is going on with the project,” Brian Hartje writes in the Grand Forks Herald. “Enbridge last week donated $366,000 to the Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Community Schools to help them provide internet access for low-income families. The donation will help provide critically important services for students in the Mahnomen-Naytahwaush school district and create a long-term benefit. On the same day, Line 3 protestors marched through downtown Duluth. They blocked traffic and shut down the lift bridge. The protestors forced police to respond, who were taking part in the Kids, Cops, and Cars event at Bayfront Festival Park. Instead of spending time with kids, officers were forced to deal with protestors about a project that is almost complete. At one event, we saw Enbridge investing in a community to help schools help kids and families. At the other, we saw protestors ignoring the impact of their actions that negatively impacted kids and put people at risk. Both happened on the same day – while construction on Line 3 continues. As work is almost done, these two events speak for themselves.”
Globe and Mail: A blunt oil sands answer to Trudeau’s recurring pipeline question
Campbell Clark, 8/31/21
“Two years ago, when Justin Trudeau campaigned as a leader fighting climate change, he was dogged by one simple question: Why did you buy a pipeline?” Campbell Clark writes in the Globe and Mail. “Now he’s got a new answer. On Sunday, the Liberal Leader unveiled a new series of climate policy proposals, with a promise to set federal caps on the greenhouse gas emissions of the oil and gas industry every five years, starting in 2025, and decreasing to net-zero in 2050. If that sounds like a pretty abstract answer to questions about why the Liberal government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline in 2018, well, it is. But on Monday, Mr. Trudeau had a much more blunt translation of what it would mean: It would stop oil sands expansion. “The biggest concern that people have around the pipeline is, ‘Oh, we’re going to see oil sands expansion,’” Mr. Trudeau said at a campaign stop in Granby, Que. “No, we’re not.” “We’re not going to see an increase in those emissions. And that’s really important.” Yes, the Liberal Leader followed that assertion that the oil sands would not expand with a verbal asterisk, that it is emissions that won’t be allowed to increase, and will have to keep going down. But that first part – no oil sands expansion – was the message. It is a blunt answer to the pipeline question: TMX doesn’t matter, anyway, because the oil sands wouldn’t be expanded. There are a lot of unanswered questions about that, too. What are the actual targets for reducing emissions? Would they be so stringent they would effectively bar all new oil sands from being built? By what mechanism would the federal government enforce that? But politically, Mr. Trudeau needed a new answer. The Trans Mountain pipeline, and the project to expand it, was a weight around the Liberal Leader’s neck in the 2019 campaign, especially among green-conscious voters, especially in Quebec.”
Midland Reporter Telegram: Flaring report from Earthworks was misleading
Todd Staples is the president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, 8/27/21
“Earthworks recently published a “study” about flaring that included a recommendation to “stop permitting new oil and gas facilities.” Period. Ending oil and natural gas development, entirely, is this organization’s aim and this misleading study is the latest in its “slinging spaghetti at the wall” strategy to accomplish this end, despite the devastating consequences this would have for American families, our economy and the world,” Todd Staples writes in the Midland Reporter Telegram. “The authors of the study ignore the facts and distort the data to conform to their relentless false narrative. This naked pursuit to end oil and gas development – with research that is unencumbered by the truth – is why any study from this organization lacks credibility. The fact is oil and natural gas industry innovation and investment are protecting and improving the environment every day. Flaring and methane emissions specifically have plummeted. Earthworks, once again, goes to great lengths to avoid the facts in all of its “research.” “...The study authors’ assertion that Texas oil and natural gas development is somehow lawless is ludicrous… “It pains the Earthworks of the world to acknowledge that we need reliable, affordable energy to survive.”