PIPELINE NEWS
KBJR: Bad River Band declares disaster over Line 5 spill, calls for pipeline shutdown
Wisconsin Public Radio: Tribes, environmentalists call for state action in response to Enbridge spill in Iron County
WVLA: Carbon capture pipeline plans put Livingston Parish landowners on edge
KSL: Emigration Canyon residents concerned over proposed Sinclair fuel pipeline expansion
Scarsdale 10583: Con Ed’s Scarsdale Pipeline Saga Takes a Troubling Turn
Bloomberg: Canada’s Oil Sands Get a Boost From Mark Carney
Edmonton Journal: Carbon capture CEO says critics ‘told me I was crazy,’ hopes Alberta project proves them wrong
Gasworld: National Gas advances 350-mile leg of UK hydrogen pipeline network
Press release: Wolf Midstream Announces $500 Million Phase Three Expansion of its NGL North System
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Gas prices are about to take a big jump, analysts say, with the worst still to come
Politico: GOP’s gas tax holiday push falters in House
Politico: Wright says US could use Defense Production Act funds to boost refiners
Politico: Lee tells colleagues he’s bullish on permitting deal
Politico: Greens sue EPA to stop power plant carbon repeal
Guardian: Trump EPA’s arguments for letting power plants spew unlimited pollution ‘dead wrong’
Inside Climate News: Congressional Republicans Aim to Shield Fossil Fuel Companies From Climate Lawsuits?
Press release: Sierra Club Strongly Opposes Bill to Give Legal Immunity to Fossil Fuel Companies
New York Times: Trump Administration Moves to Gut a Core Endangered Species Protection
Politico: House overwhelmingly passes bill to shield ratepayers from data centers
Politico: Trump’s data center push runs into a new demand for environmental review
Politico: How China is driving the emerging partisan divide on AI safety
Politico: Trump ally Harold Hamm inks preliminary deal to invest in Venezuelan oil
New York Times: House Votes to Block California’s Clean Ship Rules
STATE UPDATES
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Illinois Advocates Petition EPA for Public Comment Extension on CO2 Sequestration Well Permits
Daily Yonder: In Rural Illinois, Residents Protest a First-of-its-kind Agreement To Power Data Centers with Natural Gas + Carbon Capture and Sequestration
Ohio Newsroom: Nearly 3,000 acres of Ohio’s only national forest auctioned off for oil and gas development
EXTRACTION
Press release: Regenerative Farming Outpaces Tech-Based Carbon Capture Solutions in First Large-Scale Systemic Study
ExxonMobil: Lower-carbon steel and permanent storage: CCS expands across the Gulf Coast
Guardian: Datacenter rush will create ‘tsunami’ of discarded electronics, report says
New Scientist: Natural feedbacks will warm world an extra 20 per cent this century
Press release: Plains to Acquire Powder River Basin Assets from Silver Creek Midstream
Upstream: US player completes purchase of Barnett shale assets and carbon capture plant
Edmonton Journal: Northern Alberta communities raise concern over week-long foul odour from oilsands site, benzene leak speculation debunked
OPINION
Times Citizen: No Corridor
Sioux City Journal: Rescind Summit’s 2021 permit for CO2 pipeline
PIPELINE NEWS
KBJR: Bad River Band declares disaster over Line 5 spill, calls for pipeline shutdown
Kyre Johnson, 9/16/26
“...Enbridge says to restore the flow of fuel and prevent regional energy shortages, the company went ahead and built a temporary bypass around the damaged line,” KBJR reports. “However, the Wisconsin DNR sent two letters to the company saying that work was done without required state permits… “During a press briefing, leaders with the Bad River Band declared an official disaster, urging state and federal officials to step in after what they describe as weeks of silence and unanswered questions. In the meeting Wednesday morning, tribal leaders and environmental advocates outlined the latest developments on Line 5 in Michigan and in Wisconsin, where they say Enbridge has ignored requests from state regulators to stop work amid the largest recorded natural gas liquids spill in state history. Chairwoman for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Elizabeth Arbuckle said, “here we are 20 days later, and everyone’s kind of still scratching their heads, and that is just not an acceptable response.” Despite meeting with the DNR Wednesday morning for the first time since the incident, tribal leaders say their questions went unanswered—raising red flags because the spill is less than five miles from their land, and they haven’t been allowed to conduct their own monitoring. “We as a tribe are going to be declaring it a disaster officially,” said Arbuckle. They say their water, food supply and sacred grounds are threatened.”
Wisconsin Public Radio: Tribes, environmentalists call for state action in response to Enbridge spill in Iron County
Joe Schulz, 9/16/26
“Tribal nations and environmental groups are urging state officials to take stronger action against Enbridge following the largest oil and gas pipeline spill ever reported in Wisconsin,” Wisconsin Public Radio reports. “The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Earthjustice and other Midwest environmental advocates expressed frustration at a press conference Wednesday over Enbridge’s Line 5 reopening without receiving state permits for a bypass around the site of a gas leak. They called for Gov. Tony Evers to make a state disaster declaration related to the gas spill and for the state to revoke permits issued for a new segment of the pipeline around the Bad River Band’s reservation… “Liz Arbuckle, chair of the Bad River Band, said she’s concerned because the spill site is roughly 3 miles from the tribe’s reservation. She said the Bad River tribe would be declaring the spill a disaster, and they want to see the state do the same. “There are a lot of dangers and risks to our people,” Arbuckle said. “This is our treaty-ceded territory — this is where our people have always fished, gathered, lived, and all of that’s at risk.” “...Beyond revoking permits for the new segment, Beth Wallace, Great Lakes climate and energy director of the National Wildlife Federation, called for Evers to work toward decommissioning Line 5.”
WVLA: Carbon capture pipeline plans put Livingston Parish landowners on edge
Michelle Masson, 9/16/26
“A proposed carbon capture pipeline that would run through parts of Livingston Parish is drawing concern from landowners who live along or near the potential route,” WVLA reports. “The proposed Blue Point to Pelican pipeline would stretch about 50 miles from the CF Industries Blue Point Complex in Ascension Parish to a planned underground carbon storage site in northern Livingston Parish, north of Satsuma… “For some families living near the proposed route, learning how close the pipeline could come to their homes has raised concerns about safety and property rights. “When I saw the map, I was like, ‘Oh, this is behind my house,’” Livingston Parish resident Gabrielle Settoon told WVLA… “Settoon told WVLA she remains opposed to the proposed pipeline, citing concerns about potential impacts on people and wildlife… “Some landowners say they first learned about the project through social media or at community meetings… “Environmental groups and some scientists, however, have raised questions about the effectiveness and potential risks of carbon capture and storage projects. Sadie McDonald with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade told WVLA her organization has been communicating with landowners along the proposed route… “Some landowners are also organizing and exploring potential legal options as they learn more about the proposed route and permitting process.”
KSL: Emigration Canyon residents concerned over proposed Sinclair fuel pipeline expansion
Brenna Donnelly, 9/16/26
“Homeowners in Emigration Canyon are raising concerns about a proposed fuel pipeline project from HF Sinclair that could bring a new refined petroleum pipeline through the area as the company looks to expand fuel transportation capacity in Utah and across the Mountain West,” KSL reports. “...The proposal would involve expansion of the Pioneer Pipeline, which brings refined fuels into Utah from Wyoming, and the UNEV Pipeline, which transports refined petroleum products from the Salt Lake City area to Las Vegas… “But many residents attending the public meeting focused on the environmental risks associated with a potential pipeline through the canyon. Brian Rothschild, who lives in Emigration Canyon and is an environmental and bankruptcy attorney, warned of the potential impact of a refined fuel spill on local groundwater resources. “I’ve dealt with all kinds of environmental catastrophes and disasters. We have a crude oil pipeline already that is (a) materially different proposition than a gasoline pipeline. One can be cleaned up at a reasonable cost, and they’re contained, and they’re containable,” Rothschild said. “The others are long generational disasters, and they are groundwater contamination that prevent groundwater flows from being used for generations.” “...Other residents referenced Chevron’s 2010 Red Butte Creek oil spill, expressing concern about the consequences of any future pipeline accident in a sensitive watershed area. Others were upset at the lack of notice given to residents, and lack of understanding about who makes the final decisions about pipeline approval, placement, and risk mitigation.”
Scarsdale 10583: Con Ed’s Scarsdale Pipeline Saga Takes a Troubling Turn
Joanne Wallenstein, 9/16/26
“A meeting with Con Edison officials in Scarsdale on September 15 was intended to appease angry customers. Instead, it left residents with even more questions—and concerns that were far more serious than anyone had imagined,” Scarsdale 10583 reports. “As the story unfolded, it became clear that the installation of a high-pressure gas transmission line beneath busy streets in Scarsdale had disrupted traffic for years, damaged private property, resulted in questionable workmanship, and involved inspectors who have since been indicted for fraud for allegedly failing to properly inspect the welds on gas pipelines, including pipelines in Westchester. So, in addition to the aggravation and damage to their sewer lines, homeowners now have another concern: whether the high-pressure gas line running beneath their streets was properly inspected in the first place… “Con Edison officials told residents that they now need to excavate the buried gas line to inspect its welds—the connections that hold the pipeline together.”
Bloomberg: Canada’s Oil Sands Get a Boost From Mark Carney
Iain Boekhoff, 9/17/26
“Canada’s oil industry this week found itself in the rare position of giving the federal government a rave review. The reason: a change to the tax regime for a broad range of industries, including oil production and pipelines, that will now be able to immediately expense some investments,” Bloomberg reports. “...That’s good news for an industry set to spend north of C$100 billion ($71.8 billion) in the next decade to simultaneously expand production, build a new million-barrel-a-day pipeline to Canada’s west coast and construct a major carbon capture and storage project in the oil sands… “The industry is still looking for more concessions. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has indicated she’s considering changes to the royalty scheme the province charges companies on their production. And then there’s the Pathways carbon removal project, billed as the world’s largest, which would curb some of the emissions associated with Alberta’s oil industry. The Canadian and Alberta governments and the oil sands majors are now negotiating to meet a Nov. 15 deadline to move ahead with the plan. The Pathways project is costly, ambitious and controversial, and its future is by no means assured.”
Edmonton Journal: Carbon capture CEO says critics ‘told me I was crazy,’ hopes Alberta project proves them wrong
Graison Foster, 9/17/26
“Alex Petre chose to build a business on a technology that critics still call too expensive and too unproven to work,” the Edmonton Journal reports. “A lot of people two years ago told me I was crazy to my face,” Petre, chief executive of Montreal-based Deep Sky Corp., told a business crowd at the Carbon Capture Canada conference in Edmonton on Wednesday. At its facility in central Alberta, Deep Sky pulls carbon dioxide directly out of the air, stores it deep underground and sells credits to companies looking to offset their emissions. TD Bank Group signed a 10-year deal in June to buy more than 18,000 of those credits. Less than three months ago, Deep Sky sold North America’s first certified direct air capture credits to Microsoft Corp. and Royal Bank of Canada. For all its big-name buyers, Deep Sky still has doubters, including one of its own former executives. Phil De Luna, who left in July 2025 after two years with the company. He told The Logic later that year that its approach was too slow and costly to make a real dent in climate change… “Petre said Canadians building new industries such as carbon capture should be “a little bit more open to being challenged” and more willing to take risks… “Ottawa helps pay for these machines. A refundable federal tax credit covers up to 60 percent of eligible spending on direct air capture equipment, and that full rate now runs through the end of 2035.”
Gasworld: National Gas advances 350-mile leg of UK hydrogen pipeline network
Connor Jack, 9/17/26
“UK transmission system operator (TSO) National Gas has begun designing the first 350 -mile leg of its national hydrogen pipeline,” Gasworld reports.
Press release: Wolf Midstream Announces $500 Million Phase Three Expansion of its NGL North System
9/16/26
“Wolf Midstream (Wolf) is pleased to announce that it has reached a final investment decision to proceed with an expansion of its proprietary NGL North System, representing an incremental investment of approximately $500 million in Alberta, with support from its shareholder, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). Following the successful rollout of Wolf’s NGL North Phase Two expansion announced in July 2024, this expansion (Phase Three) will increase production of natural gas liquids (NGL) for use in domestic and international markets… “This expansion will add approximately 0.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas processing to the NGL North System. It will also include a natural gas-fired cogeneration facility, expanded de-ethanization capacity and an expanded unit-train rail terminal at Wolf Feedstock Separation (WFS)... “With all required permits and approvals secured, construction and development activities on the core components of this expansion are already well underway.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Gas prices are about to take a big jump, analysts say, with the worst still to come
Evan Halper, Rachel Chason and Joyce Sohyun Lee, 9/17/26
“The effects of the U.S.-led war on Iran are about to intensify in the form of huge jumps in the prices of gasoline and diesel, analysts predict,” the Washington Post reports. “And despite the Trump administration’s assurances, a new and potentially even more economically damaging phase of the war may be about to begin… “Damage inflicted on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline last week, along with continuing strikes on oil infrastructure and contested control over a key waterway, threaten to elevate what had been a shipping crisis into a broader disruption of oil… “But analysts who reviewed images of the pipeline damage anticipate a significantly longer disruption, likely resulting in high prices for consumers well beyond the midterm elections… “Because of the shortage of crude oil and the damage the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have inflicted on refineries that turn it into diesel and gasoline, market analysts are warning that fresh price shocks are about to hit motorists. Tom Kloza, chief energy adviser for Gulf Oil, predicted on X that Wednesday would “see staggering increases at the pump for both gasoline & diesel.” “Fuel margins have yet to catch up with previous wholesale hikes,” he wrote. “Watch for huge increases in Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain states in particular.”
Politico: GOP’s gas tax holiday push falters in House
Pavan Acharya, Anthony Cruz and Nico Portuondo, 9/16/26
“House conservatives’ push to temporarily suspend the federal gasoline tax to lower prices at the pump ahead of the midterm elections is dead in the water, a member of the House Freedom Caucus confirmed Wednesday,” Politico reports. “Speaker Mike Johnson threw cold water on the idea Wednesday, telling Politico his caucus couldn’t rally around any single proposal to pause the tax. He met with House Freedom Caucus members late Tuesday after the arch-conservatives held up a procedural vote to demand a floor vote for a bill to suspend the gas tax until 2027. “I don’t know that we have consensus around what that would look like,” Johnson said Wednesday in response to a question from Politico. “There were about five or six different ideas on it. There will be a number of measures in the days ahead, working to lower gas prices as much as possible. Of course, there’s many factors in why gas prices are so high.” “...Conservatives this week said halting the gas tax — an idea Trump endorsed earlier this year — would help lower gas prices, but were blocked by members of their own party worried it would deplete a fund for highway upgrades.”
Politico: Wright says US could use Defense Production Act funds to boost refiners
James Bikales, Shelby Webb, 9/16/26
“Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday the Trump administration is considering using Defense Production Act funding to help existing U.S. refineries produce more fuel,” Politico reports. “U.S. refiners have been running flat out for months as global supplies of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel remain constrained by the war in the Middle East. Industry officials and increasingly the Trump administration have warned that refining capacity is the bottleneck that is keeping energy prices high. “We’re looking at refiners, if we can help them expand their capacity — may even be Defense Production Act funds used for that,” Wright said in response to a question from POLITICO at the G20 energy ministerial in Houston. Wright on Wednesday called refining the “bigger challenge” when it comes to rising energy prices and said the administration is talking “regularly” to refiners about growing their production… “Still, any move to expand refining capacity could take months, if not years, to bear results, industry representatives have said.”.
Politico: Lee tells colleagues he’s bullish on permitting deal
Jordain Carney, Josh Siegel, 9/16/26
“Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee told fellow Republicans during a closed-door lunch Wednesday he is ‘guardedly optimistic’ that negotiators will reach a long-sought deal on a bill to ease permitting approval for energy projects,” Politico reports. “We were told today that the Democrats are going to agree to a permitting bill, and it’s going to be drafted and ready for us to vote on,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told Politico. Two other GOP senators who were in the room for the discussion, granted anonymity to describe a private meeting, told Politico that text could come together within 72 hours. Lee told Senate Republicans that if a deal comes together before the November election “it would have to be in the next 72 hours,” Jordan Roberts, a spokesperson for Lee on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told Politico.”
Politico: Greens sue EPA to stop power plant carbon repeal
Jean Chemnick, 9/17/26
“Environmental and public health groups are suing EPA over its repeal of climate change regulations for power plants,” Politico reports. “The Natural Resources Defense Council, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, Environmental Defense Fund and others planned to file a challenge early Thursday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, moments after EPA’s repeal of the 2024 standards was published in the Federal Register… “The move terminates standards requiring coal and some new gas plants to capture and store most of their carbon emissions by deadlines in the 2030s… “The Clean Air Act and Supreme Court precedent demand that the EPA address climate pollution from the largest industrial source in the nation,” Meredith Hankins, federal climate legal director at NRDC, told Politico. “The EPA’s legal reasoning is fatally flawed, so we are going to court.”
Guardian: Trump EPA’s arguments for letting power plants spew unlimited pollution ‘dead wrong’
Oliver Milman and Sara Sneath, 9/16/26
“In allowing US power plants to emit any amount of planet-heating pollution they wish to, the Trump administration made two striking claims – that this will cut Americans’ electricity bills and that the pollution itself doesn’t really matter anyway. Both claims struggle to stand up to even basic scrutiny,” the Guardian reports. “...In justifying this rollback for a sector that’s responsible for a quarter of all US greenhouse gas emissions, Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, vowed that “Americans will see a decrease in electricity prices”... “Yet the EPA’s own analysis, published with the new rule, outlines a very different picture. Retail electricity prices will actually be 0.7% higher in 2030, rather than lower, as a result of the administration’s rule change, it shows… “The cost of running coal-fired power plants – the dirtiest of fossil fuels, which has been propped up by taxpayer funding and emergency non-closure orders by the administration – will continue to escalate, the analysis finds, with coal delivered for power set to be 27.3% more expensive than otherwise by 2045. “He’s really dead wrong,” Meredith Hankins, a leading attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), told the Guardian about Zeldin’s claim of electricity bill cuts. A recent NRDC analysis found people in the US will spend an extra $30bn a year on electricity by 2035 due to Trump’s policies, which has heavily favoured fossil fuels over renewables… “Critics argue the revised rule also completely ignores the public health and economic benefits of reducing fossil fuel emissions, resulting in a skewed outcome that only highlights the regulatory costs faced by power plant operators.”
Inside Climate News: Congressional Republicans Aim to Shield Fossil Fuel Companies From Climate Lawsuits?
Georgina Gustin, 9/15/26
“Republicans in Congress are continuing their efforts to shield the fossil fuel industry from legal liability for its role in unleashing the heat-trapping gases linked to a cascade of deadly, record-setting disasters across the globe,” Inside Climate News reports. “On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to debate and vote on a bill introduced in April by Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) titled the “Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026.” The sweeping bill aims to “prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction, production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing, manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other relief.” The bill says that linking fossil fuel emissions to climate-related disasters lacks “scientific credibility”—a claim contradicted by decades of scientific research. If made law, it would give fossil fuel companies broad immunity from lawsuits stemming from these events. A companion bill introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and three fellow Senate Republicans would similarly thwart lawsuits against the industry on the same basis… “The legislation has a long way to go before becoming law, but the debate comes at a time when the oil industry and its allies in Congress and the Trump administration are aggressively pursuing strategies—some contradictory—to remove guardrails on fossil fuel use and production. The bills come in response to mounting lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry, filed by cities, states and others, and as the U.S. Supreme Court is three weeks away from hearing an appeal by oil companies that could halt many of them. “What we are seeing now is an all-out attempt by the fossil fuel industry and its allies to put Big Oil above the law and shield them from having to face accountability in court,” Mike Meno, the communications director for the Center for Climate Integrity, an advocacy group, told ICN. Meno noted that 11 states, Washington, DC., two tribal governments and dozens of cities and counties have sued the oil and gas industries for deceiving the public about their climate impacts.”
Press release: Sierra Club Strongly Opposes Bill to Give Legal Immunity to Fossil Fuel Companies
9/16/26
“Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee will markup H.R. 8330, a bill that would shield fossil fuel companies from laws or lawsuits that would hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis and related disasters. Fossil fuel corporations knew they were causing climate change in the 1950s and spent millions of dollars to mislead the public. A recent study found that climate costs for the U.S. economy will exceed $1 trillion this year. Similar dangerous bills have been passed or introduced in Republican-led states across the country, where elected officials are working to protect donors and corporate executives in the oil and gas industry. Earlier this year, Utah became the first state to sign a fossil fuel immunity bill into law. Sierra Club Director of Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy Mahyar Sorour said: “The Republicans behind this bill want to hand an entire industry blanket legal immunity for wrongdoing while forcing their own constituents to foot the bill for the damage. Communities across the United States are still struggling to recover from increasingly deadly and destructive fossil fueled climate disasters, even as Congress keeps slashing disaster relief and climate resiliency funding. Every member of Congress who actually works for the people in their districts, not the multi-trillion dollar Big Oil and Gas industry, should vote against giving fossil fuel companies a free pass.”
New York Times: Trump Administration Moves to Gut a Core Endangered Species Protection
Catrin Einhorn, 9/16/26
“In what would be a seismic shift, the Trump administration is quietly moving to strip a core protection of the Endangered Species Act, according to an internal memo obtained by the New York Times. Under a new interpretation of the law’s language outlined in the memo, the accidental killing or injury of an animal would no longer be considered illegal; only actions specifically intending to target an animal would. The change would be transformative because, in the United States, the killing of endangered animals almost always happens incidentally, in the course of economic activity. Until now, industries and individuals could be held accountable for those foreseeable deaths and, as a result, they have been incentivized to avoid them… “What shocked environmental lawyers was the way the memo redefined the concept of take… “Andrew Mergen, a law professor at Harvard University who previously worked for the Justice Department, where he spent two decades supervising Endangered Species Act litigation in the courts of appeals, told the Times that the move amounted to an extraordinary shift in law more broadly, because it has long been recognized that people can be held accountable for actions they did not intend if they should have known better, for example, when it comes to killing people.”
Politico: House overwhelmingly passes bill to shield ratepayers from data centers
Nico Portuondo and Amelia Davidson, 9/16/26
“House lawmakers on Wednesday easily passed the first major legislative action to address the costs of the AI boom, a bill intended to shield Americans from potential energy costs associated with data centers,” Politico reports. “The Ratepayer Protection Act, which has become the House GOP’s signature legislation to address the costs of the data center build-out ahead of the midterm elections, was passed in a broad bipartisan vote of 417-3… “The bill would require states to consider — but not mandate they adopt — a federal standard ensuring large power customers cover 100% of the costs of new generation and transmission upgrades… “But Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) threw cold water on the bill this week, suggesting that the bill was “basically a voluntary structure” and does not go far enough to ensure that data centers pay for their own energy costs.”
Politico: Trump’s data center push runs into a new demand for environmental review
Nico Portuondo, 9/16/26
“Nevada Democratic Rep. Dina Titus is pushing back on President Donald Trump’s push to expand AI data centers onto federal lands by proposing the projects must undergo extensive environmental review and public-engagement processes,” Politico reports. “Titus introduced a bill Wednesday, exclusively shared with Politico, that takes aim at Trump’s directive to speed up data center development on public lands… “The legislation comes as Democrats seek to make regulation of AI and data centers a larger political issue ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans are pushing legislation on Capitol Hill to protect consumers from the costs of data centers, but Democrats argue the bill is wholly insufficient amid the broader picture of existential fears about AI development and the booming power needs of data centers. The bill would specifically require hyperscale data centers on public lands to undergo a full environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, prohibit the use of categorical exclusions and require at least 45 days of public comment and a public hearing in the affected community, among other provisions.”
Politico: How China is driving the emerging partisan divide on AI safety
Riley Rogerson, Mia McCarthy and Anna Wiederkehr, 9/17/26
“Americans are divided on whether it’s acceptable to fall behind other countries in the race to develop advanced artificial intelligence. So is Congress,” Politico reports. “A new Politico Poll finds that Americans broadly recognize serious risks from frontier AI models, but many — particularly President Donald Trump’s voters — also prioritize maintaining a lead over other countries, including China. Even as 63% of the poll’s respondents said there’s a real possibility that AI could destroy humanity, they’re split on whether it’s acceptable to slow down and potentially fall behind in order to mitigate that risk. A plurality, 43%, say it is acceptable for the U.S. to fall behind other countries if that means developing AI more responsibly and securely, while 37% take the opposite view, saying the U.S. should not stand down, even if that requires taking risks. Voters who backed Trump in 2024 favor the competition-first position by 50% to 38%.”
Politico: Trump ally Harold Hamm inks preliminary deal to invest in Venezuelan oil
James Bikales, Hannah Northey, Shelby Webb, 9/16/26
“Shale oil pioneer Harold Hamm, a close ally of President Donald Trump, announced his company had signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an oil field in Venezuela on Wednesday,” Politico reports. “It comes amid a burst of progress in the Trump administration’s efforts to facilitate investment in Venezuela, including recent oil production deals by U.S. major Chevron, Italy’s Eni and the U.S. government itself. The developments have fostered criticism on both sides of the aisle, however, that the Trump administration is not sufficiently pushing the country’s interim government toward elections… “Continental Resources said in a press release that the agreement, if finalized, would partner it with Venezuela’s state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, to develop and operate the Ayacucho 2 Block in the Orinoco Belt, a region in the eastern half of the country with some of the world’s largest oil reserves. It said the field contained 30 billion barrels of oil.”
New York Times: House Votes to Block California’s Clean Ship Rules
Maxine Joselow, 9/16/26
“The House voted late Tuesday evening to block California from setting strict limits on harmful air pollution from ships docked at state ports,” the New York Times reports. “The 216-211 vote was the latest salvo by Republicans against the state’s pioneering environmental policies. President Trump and his allies in Congress already barred California last year from imposing its landmark ban on sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. The Clean Air Act authorizes California to set pollution standards that are stricter than federal rules, as long as it receives permission from the Environmental Protection Agency. Under the Biden administration, the E.P.A. granted the state waivers to set tighter limits for ships, cars, trucks and even lawn-and-garden equipment like lawn mowers and leaf blowers. But Republicans have been trying to overturn the waivers. The resolution the House passed Tuesday would revoke a waiver that allowed California to enforce the clean ship rules, which were designed to protect the health of communities near ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Richmond. When enormous container ships and cruise ships dock, they typically keep diesel engines running around the clock to power operations on board. The diesel exhaust contains soot, smog and cancer-causing chemicals that can drift into nearby neighborhoods. The rules that lawmakers targeted Tuesday would require ship operators to turn off diesel engines and plug into local power grids while docked. If that isn’t possible, dock operators would need to use equipment to capture nearly all the pollution from a ship before it is released into the air.”
STATE UPDATES
Pipeline Fighters Hub: Illinois Advocates Petition EPA for Public Comment Extension on CO2 Sequestration Well Permits
Mark Hefflinger, 9/17/26
“The Illinois-based environmental nonprofit Eco-Justice Collaborative submitted a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting a 10-day extension of the public comment period for three draft permits that would be used to inject CO2 into underground waste dump “Class VI” wells,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “Joined by more than 850 citizens who signed onto the comment period extension request, Eco-Justice argues in the letter that EPA has not allowed the public adequate time to evaluate how these three highly technical permits would affect Gibson City’s water supply or the Mahomet Aquifer. These permits would authorize the injection of 90 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into a recharge area of the Mahomet Aquifer, a federally designated sole-source aquifer serving more than 100 communities across 14 counties. On Tuesday, September 22, EPA will hold an availability session from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. and a public hearing from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Countryside Event Center in Gibson City. There will be no presentation of the project. Questions will end when the hearing begins. Members of the public are expected to deliver formal comments on the spot, and the written record closes the following day, September 23, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Residents who attend the availability session and learn something material — as many will — have less than twenty-four hours to reduce that understanding to written comments. “One Earth had years to prepare these applications. The public is being given ninety minutes to evaluate them. That is not a meaningful opportunity to comment, and we do not believe it is the process EPA intends to defend,” the letter states. The letter notes that EPA has previously granted comment period extensions in similar circumstances, with Region 5 granting a 10-day extension on Wabash Valley Resources’ Class VI well permit application in Indiana.”
Daily Yonder: In Rural Illinois, Residents Protest a First-of-its-kind Agreement To Power Data Centers with Natural Gas + Carbon Capture and Sequestration
Ilana Newman and Julia Tilton, 9/17/26
“...Recently, however, the focus of Verlyn Rosenberger’s activism has been close to home: opposing expansion at the nation’s first commercial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) plant in Decatur, Illinois,” the Daily Yonder reports. “...But in 2024, a series of leaks at the company’s CO2 monitoring wells – used to verify that the gas is being stored as expected underground – sparked widespread local concern… “Amidst the growing demand to feed power-hungry data centers across the Midwest, ADM announced a partnership with Google and Broadwing Energy in October 2025 to bring a first-of-its-kind natural gas power plant with CCS technology to Decatur…”We just don’t want to be guinea pigs. We don’t want to be sacrificed. We want total transparency,” Rosenberger told DY in April, when several IPA members gathered to meet with us at a church in Decatur… “Pam Richart has tracked CCS projects across Illinois for nearly two decades. She and her husband, Lan, started the Eco-Justice Collaborative nonprofit in 2007 and realized soon after that the growing carbon sequestration industry posed a threat to their organization’s aims around justice-oriented climate solutions… “We really need to stop and take a holistic view of what we’re doing, and we need to be restoring our ecosystems,” Richart, who sees CCS as a way to continue using fossil fuels rather than a way to curb climate change, told DY… “Often, Richart told DY, old wells are plugged with a kind of cement that can’t always withstand pressure from nearby CO2 plumes if the cement has not been properly injected… “Richart worries about the speed with which ADM is scaling their sequestration efforts, especially with a regulatory body that has experienced cuts from the Trump Administration.”
Ohio Newsroom: Nearly 3,000 acres of Ohio’s only national forest auctioned off for oil and gas development
Kaitlin Thorne, 9/17/26
“The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has leased nearly 3,000 acres of the Wayne National Forest to oil and gas companies,” Ohio Newsroom reports. “Critics warn the move could be damaging to the region, but industry officials say the project is needed to help the nation meet its energy needs. The Bureau announced its plans to lease the land in July. Following a mandatory protest period, 40 parcels within the Wayne National Forest were sold in an online auction on Tuesday. The sales totaled over $11 million… “The Ohio Environmental Council filed a lawsuit claiming the Bureau of Land Management is violating several environmental laws by leasing federal forest land, and filed an official protest ahead of the auction.”
EXTRACTION
Press release: Regenerative Farming Outpaces Tech-Based Carbon Capture Solutions in First Large-Scale Systemic Study
9/17/26
“As world leaders prepare for Climate Week NYC 2026, a new peer-reviewed study from Ecdysis Foundation reveals that transitioning U.S. field crops to regenerative agriculture could capture enough soil carbon to offset 1.5 years of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions—surpassing the projected 2050 carbon capture totals of all proposed technology-based solutions combined… “Regenerative farms store 39% more carbon in soil than conventional farms while producing more nutritious food, maintaining yield equivalence, and earning equivalent net profits per acre. Ecdysis has evaluated regenerative agriculture, which is an outcome-based approach that improves soil health and biodiversity with practices like keeping the soil covered, reducing tillage and synthetic inputs, and integrating livestock, as a complete, interconnected system for the first time… “The climate fix we’ve been searching for isn’t a futuristic technology, but something growing right beneath our feet,” said Jonathan Lundgren, Founder & Director at Ecdysis Foundation…. “Federal subsidies and crop insurance often penalize regenerative transitions and reward maximizing monocrop production. This paper shows that regenerative farms can be economically competitive even without these supports.”
ExxonMobil: Lower-carbon steel and permanent storage: CCS expands across the Gulf Coast
9/16/26
“ExxonMobil has begun carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations at Nucor’s direct reduced iron (DRI) facility in Convent, Louisiana. The project will capture, transport, and store up to 800,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, resulting in the lowest-carbon DRI at scale in North America. This is our third CCS startup for a third-party customer and the second we’ve brought online in 2026, marking another step forward as our Gulf Coast CCS network — including the Rose carbon storage project — continues to grow… “The startup at Nucor also reflects continued progress across our broader CCS network. That progress depends on having dedicated CO2 storage capacity (Class VI injection wells) available at scale. ExxonMobil’s permit for our Rose carbon storage project has cleared a major hurdle, receiving approval from the Texas Railroad Commission… “Rose is the first Class VI storage site in ExxonMobil’s CCS system along the Gulf Coast and will help provide the dedicated storage capacity needed to support industrial customers like Nucor in their emissions-reduction goals. Each CCS startup represents real progress toward a future where carbon management is integrated into industrial operations—reducing emissions while supporting essential production. Projects like Nucor demonstrate growing demand for CCS, while projects like Rose provide the infrastructure needed to support that growth. With three third-party CCS projects now operational and additional infrastructure in development, our network is growing to meet increasing demand. The stage is set for growth. We’re excited to start injecting.”
Guardian: Datacenter rush will create ‘tsunami’ of discarded electronics, report says
Erin McCormick, 9/16/26
“The ongoing campaign to build thousands of massive datacenters for AI will create a “tsunami” of discarded electronics, putting the world on a course to triple its annual generation of toxic e-waste in the next 25 years, a new report projects,” the Guardian reports. “The electronic trash AI generates in the next 25 years could fill enough shipping containers to encircle the globe six times, it said. Yet, says the report by the non-profit environmental group Basel Action Network (BAN), there is no plan to deal with that waste – which typically contains toxics like lead, mercury, cadmium and forever chemicals, as well as valuable metals that are challenging to reclaim… “There are 4,871 new datacenters in the construction pipeline in the US, the report said, adding that, while not all are clearly designated for use by AI, many will be… “By taking this wide view of all the various types of e-waste that will be created, the BAN report projects that AI-driven equipment retirement will generate up to 13m metric tonnes per year by 2030 – a far higher estimate than a handful of previous studies… “BAN’s white paper notes that this unprecedented spending “is roughly the cost of ending world hunger for the next 75 years – being spent in just five”.
New Scientist: Natural feedbacks will warm world an extra 20 per cent this century
Alec Luhn, 9/10/26
“Feedbacks that cause ecosystems to emit more carbon will make the climate crisis more severe than expected, amplifying global warming by 20 to 30 per cent this century,” New Scientist reports. “It isn’t just fossil fuel emissions that raise temperatures. Warming itself creates more warming. For instance, a hotter atmosphere absorbs more water vapour, which traps more heat in the atmosphere, which then holds more water vapour. Climate models already incorporate most global feedback loops like this one, and they have started to include feedbacks that are disrupting carbon storage in particular ecosystems. But no single model includes all ecosystem feedbacks. Now, a study has shown that these natural feedbacks will heat the planet by an extra 0.2°C to 0.4°C by 2100, on top of at least 1°C to 2°C of global warming already expected between now and then. “That suggests we’re going to go further over 1.5°C global warming than we thought, with all the extra risks that brings,” Tim Lenton at the University of Exeter in the UK, who wasn’t involved in the new research, told NS.”
Press release: Plains to Acquire Powder River Basin Assets from Silver Creek Midstream
9/16/26
“Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Plains GP Holdings announced today that a wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SCM PR II, LLC (“Silver Creek”) from subsidiaries of Tailwater Capital and The Energy and Minerals Group for an aggregate cash consideration of approximately $585 million. Silver Creek owns and operates one of the largest integrated crude oil gathering systems in the Powder River Basin, serving a diversified customer base that includes many of the basin’s leading producers. The system provides customers with access to Plains’ existing Rockies infrastructure through the Guernsey and Fort Laramie hubs. The acquired assets include: Approximately 600 miles of crude oil gathering and transmission pipelines; More than 350,000 barrels per day of operating capacity; Approximately 1.2 million barrels of operational storage capacity 49% non-operated interest in the Powder River Gateway JV, including Iron Horse and Powder River Express.”
Upstream: US player completes purchase of Barnett shale assets and carbon capture plant
Robert Stewart, 9/16/26
“BKV Corporation has completed an acquisition of upstream, midstream, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) assets in Texas’ Barnett shale, the Denver-based operator said,” Upstream reports.
Edmonton Journal: Northern Alberta communities raise concern over week-long foul odour from oilsands site, benzene leak speculation debunked
Itoro Umanah, 9/16/26
“Over the past week, odour complaints have echoed through the Wood Buffalo region, with the Fort McKay area most affected but extending up to 43 kilometres south to Fort McMurray,” the Edmonton Journal reports. “Some residents have described the odours as unbearable and even compared it to the smell of cat urine. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) released a statement on Friday after receiving complaints from surrounding communities, stating the smell was coming from the Syncrude Mildred Lake oilsands facility. The site, which is operated by Suncor Energy, is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance, which Suncor said may have contributed to odours that residents experienced over the past week… “The oilsands site also debunked speculations of a benzene leak. The highly monitored BTEX compound is a known human carcinogen found in oilsands bitumen, with long-term exposure resulting in an increased risk of cancer. Short-term exposure to high levels of the compound can also cause headaches, drowsiness, and skin irritation.”
OPINION
Times Citizen: No Corridor
Kathy Stockdale, Iowa Falls, 9/16/26
“I recently attended the Rob Sand Town Hall in Iowa Falls and was able to ask him a question as to where he stands on eminent domain for C02 pipelines,” Kathy Stockdale writes for the Times Citizen. “He did say he does not support eminent domain for carbon capture, but he went on to say he also supported a wider corridor… “On Summit’s original route, the corridor was about 1,500 feet on each side, if I remember correctly. On the Phase Two dockets (the one coming from Poet in Iowa Falls), they increased this to at least a mile on each side, so two miles total… “Legislation to widen the corridor by five miles on each side of the pipeline (total 10 miles) for the C02 pipeline was brought up in the 2025 legislature by Senator Mike Bousselot (former employee of Summit Ag) during debate on HF 639 (the bill Governor Kim Reynolds vetoed). Landowners fought this because those affected in the wider corridor would not be notified or be allowed to have a public hearing, and it would still allow the use of eminent domain. His amendment was defeated… “A proposed bigger corridor does not stop the use of eminent domain. The only way to have better negotiations, like what Rob Sand talked about, is to completely take away the use of eminent domain for C02 pipelines… “Make sure that whoever you vote for this November, that you vote for a Governor that will put this bill at the top of his priority list to support our constitutional rights and PROTECT OUR PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS.”
Sioux City Journal: Rescind Summit’s 2021 permit for CO2 pipeline
Deborah Main, Sioux City, 9/13/26
“Summit Carbon Solutions has futilely attempted to construct a hazardous CO2 pipeline in Iowa for the last five years. Summit’s leadership, after three CEOs and continuing staff turnover, no longer resembles the company presented to us in 2021. The original project no longer resembles the footprint presented in 2021,” Deborah Main writes for the Sioux City Journal. “Although nothing is filed with the Iowa Utilities Commission, the focus now seems to be moving the CO2 west through Nebraska rather than north. But without a sequestration site, it is a pipeline to nowhere… “Yet, with this damning evidence that Summit is not a good business partner, the IUC moved forward with scheduling conferences for additions to Summit’s base project. However, the jurisdiction over the HLP-2021-0001 permit lies with the District Court due to a lawsuit challenging the permit. If the permit is overturned, conferences concerning additions are moot, a waste of time and money. Summit’s 2021 project permit should be rescinded.”