EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 9/22/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Common Dreams: As Gov. Tim Walz Proclaims 'Minnesota Climate Week,' Ilhan Omar Says 'Stop Line 3'
The Detroit News: Straits tunnel panel must see construction bid plan before vote, state says
Michigan Advance: Judge deems Line 5 mediation at ‘standstill’
Facebook: West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety: HDD drilling continues into its fourth straight month now as they attempt to construct ME2
The Gazette: Public weighing in on Summit’s Iowa carbon capture pipeline project
Stop The Nicor Pipeline: Webinar: Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 5pm CT
Natural Gas Intelligence: Alberta Says Keystone XL Provides ‘Responsibly Produced’ Oil from Reliable Canada Partner
Engineering News-Record: Dakota Access, Line 3 Oil Pipelines Face New Project Issues
Press release: Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Southwestern Energy Company Announce Responsibly Sourced Natural Gas Agreement
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: ‘Major gap.’ Gas industry FERC petitions stoke NEPA concerns
Guardian: Will taxpayers bear the cost of cleaning up America’s abandoned oil wells?
InsideClimate News: Global Methane Pledge Offers Hope on Climate in Lead Up to Glasgow
EXTRACTION
Reuters: BP gambles big on fast transition from oil to renewables
Natural Gas World: IEA URGES FOCUS ON DOWNSTREAM METHANE EMISSIONS
Reuters: ConocoPhillips bets $23 billion on U.S. shale oil as rivals retreat
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Vanguard Comes Up Short on the Climate Front, Think Tank Says
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Politico Morning Energy: BIG OIL OFF THE BIG STAGE
OPINION
MLK50: ‘But our fight isn’t over’: Pipeline opponents push to close regulatory gaps regarding pipelines
Environmental Health News: Op-ed: We don’t have time for another fossil fuel bridge
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Liberal win 'a nothing burger' as oilpatch grapples with new climate policies
Petroleum Media Network: Letter from Canada: Kenney gives Alberta a clean energy image problem
PIPELINE NEWS
Common Dreams: As Gov. Tim Walz Proclaims 'Minnesota Climate Week,' Ilhan Omar Says 'Stop Line 3'
KENNY STANCIL, 9/20/21
“After Gov. Tim Walz took to Twitter on Monday morning to inform his constituents that "Minnesota Climate Week" had begun, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar urged the governor of her state to immediately block further construction of Line 3, Enbridge's multi-billion-dollar oil pipeline that endangers local ecosystems and the global climate,” Common Dreams reports. "This Climate Week, we are reminded that the cost of climate change is clearer than ever," said Walz, marking the start of a themed week he recently established by proclamation. "Together, let's recommit to combating climate change to protect the health and beauty of our state for generations to come," the Democrat added. To protect the state's long-term environmental health, "Let's #StopLine3," Omar, a Democrat representing Minnesota's 5th congressional district, said in response. Omar noted that if completed, "the Line 3 pipeline would nearly double the volume of tar sands crude oil" moving through Minnesota, with 760,000 barrels of "the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet" transported daily from Alberta to Wisconsin—putting hundreds of waterways at risk and violating the treaty rights of the Anishinaabe people whose tribal lands are supposed to be protected… “Honor the Earth, an Indigenous-led organization that has been at the forefront of the fight against Line 3—during which hundreds of activists have been harassed, violently repressed, and arrested—also slammed Walz for what they framed as empty posturing Monday and told the governor to "take real action."
The Detroit News: Straits tunnel panel must see construction bid plan before vote, state says
Beth LeBlanc, 9/21/21
“A panel tasked with overseeing the construction and operation of a new tunnel to house Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipeline is expected to concur next month on a request for bid proposals for tunnel construction,” The Detroit News reports. “But the three members of the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority have yet to see the request for proposals they're supposed to vote on Oct. 13 — a delay causing some members and activists heartburn. The state said its experts have viewed the document on a private server, but authority members won't get a peek until two weeks before the meeting… “Environmental groups are pushing for a speedy disclosure of the request, which most see as a pivotal part of the estimated four-year $500 million project. Oil and Water Don't Mix submitted a public records request for the document but were denied because the report, as of now, only exists on private online software. "We’re less than a month out from them concurring on a hugely important document to the process and the public still hasn’t had any access," Sean McBrearty, the Michigan legislative and policy director of Clean Water Action, told DN… “Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority support staff are reviewing the RFP "to ensure it follows the law and tunnel agreement" on a document platform maintained by Enbridge counsel, Jeff Cranson, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, told DN… "Enbridge is obligated by the Tunnel Agreement to submit the RFP for concurrence by the MSCA prior to advertising it to bidders," Cranson told DN. "Once it has been submitted for approval, it will be in MSCA possession and made public, likely as part of meeting materials for the next scheduled public meeting."
Michigan Advance: Judge deems Line 5 mediation at ‘standstill’
LAINA G. STEBBINS, 9/21/21
“The federal judge tasked with determining which court — state or federal — will determine whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline has formally acknowledged the mediation breakdown between the parties,” Michigan Advance reports. “In a Tuesday order, Judge Janet Neff dismisses the state’s Sept. 14 motion regarding its issue with the mediator as moot while settling any doubt as to whether the mediation process is complete. “...But, regardless of the propriety of Rosen’s filing, Neff acknowledges that there has been an “apparent breakdown” in the mediation process that prevents it from continuing either way. “While the Enbridge Parties indicate their willingness to continue to work towards a mutually acceptable resolution, the State Parties filed a ‘response’ to the mediator’s Report indicating that they have ‘no desire to continue with the mediation process’ and requesting that the Court treat the process as ‘completed without a settlement,’” Neff wrote. “Voluntary facilitative mediation necessarily requires voluntary participation by both parties,” she added. Accordingly, Neff dismissed the state’s motion to enforce notice of appointment of facilitative mediator as moot… “Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said the state “walked away” from mediation. “…We believe in the process and participated in mediation in good faith. We are committed to continuing to seek resolution, whether through mediation or by asserting our rights in the courts if necessary. We also support a diplomatic solution consistent with the US-Canada Transit Pipelines Treaty, which prohibits Michigan from impeding the operation of Line 5.”
Facebook: West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety: HDD drilling continues into its fourth straight month now as they attempt to construct ME2
9/21/21
“Meanwhile on Shoen Road in West Whiteland Township HDD drilling continues into its fourth straight month now as they attempt to construct ME2 (ME2X was installed last year after two failed attempts). This drilling sound at >70 decibels is constant, worsening at times as they drill through hard quartzite. You can hear it indoors. What’s even worse though are the vibrations which we can’t capture on video, but are felt throughout the homes and rattle windows, dishes and frames on walls. In addition, heavy trucks come and go every 15 minutes to haul away groundwater flowing from the impacted aquifer turned to industrial waste by their drilling fluids. This is our Monday to Saturday 7am to 7pm for the past three months with no word on when it will end. Since June 2017, we have endured roughly 250 days of this. For residents in Whiteland West Apartments it means having this noise right outside their windows. All to put pipelines under our community to transport highly explosive ethane overseas for plastics production. All for corporate gain at the expensive of the planet and people’s health, safety and well-being. Our densely populated communities are put at risk of a catastrophic event for which we have no credible emergency plan. Meanwhile those responsible for protecting us cross their fingers and claim their hands are tied.”
The Gazette: Public weighing in on Summit’s Iowa carbon capture pipeline project
John Steppe, 9/22/21
“While some prominent officials laud carbon capture pipelines like the one proposed for Western Iowa, Summit Carbon Solutions is taking its Midwest Carbon Express project to a more unpredictable audience: the public,” The Gazette reports. “Summit’s “strong desire” is to acquire land necessary for the route through voluntary easements, Summit’s Harris told the Gazette. It plans to use “third-party reputable sources” for determining the value of land, pay most of the damages from the lack of crops in the first three years and return the land to its original use after construction. Those commitments haven’t been enough to convince every landowner along the potential route, though. “The government has NO RIGHT to take our land for their own climate delusions or for the fattening of large corporations,” said Janna Swanson, of rural Ayrshire, in a letter filed Aug. 30 with the state regulators. Swanson emphasized her “right to defend ourselves and secure our property” and quoted from the Bible in her letter. The company isn’t ruling out requesting permission from regulators to use the power of eminent domain if landowners do not agree to the easement… “Summit has sought confidential treatment of the mailing lists of potential landowners affected by the proposal. Harris said it's a matter of privacy. “We're mindful that people like to have our privacy respected, and they don't want a bunch of groups that are going out there to solicit for one thing or another as part of this project, either in support or opposition to this,” Harris told the Gazette. The company used public tax records to find the information for contacting landowners. The Office of the Consumer Advocate, which is under the purview of the Iowa Attorney General, expressed concern. The utilities board has options “to protect the privacy and security of vulnerable landowners while still providing meaningful public access to the list,” Consumer Advocate Jennifer Easler said in a letter filed Sept. 14. Easler also disagreed with Summit’s assertion that there is no public benefit to having the lists be public. “As numerous objectors have noted, public disclosure of the lists could enable affected landowners who object to the project to collaborate in joint defense,” Easler said… “Along with receiving approval from the Iowa regulators, Summit also needs approval from the four other states involved and from the federal level. Should the project pass through all the necessary regulatory requirements at the county, state and federal levels, Summit is eyeing 2023 for the start of construction and 2024 for the beginning of operations, Harris told the Gazette.
Stop The Nicor Pipeline: Webinar: Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 5pm CT
9/22/21
“Join Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Renewable Living and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance for a Virtual Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 5pm (CT) to discuss and mobilize against the Nicor pipeline development threatening to destroy Pembroke Township’s rich ecosystem and literally rob Black families of their land. You can register for the virtual Town Hall meeting here: 1u2j.short.gy/preservepembroke This event includes a panel discussion with Dr. Jifunza Wright-Carter of Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Renewable Living, Troya Wright of Mothers Out Front, and Keshaun Pearson from Memphis Community Against the Pipeline all of whom have experience organizing (and winning) in resistance work to preserve our environment. This is an opportunity to listen in on what is happening on the ground in Pembroke Township, Illinois, how we are mobilizing to resist the pipeline, and how you can get involved.”
Natural Gas Intelligence: Alberta Says Keystone XL Provides ‘Responsibly Produced’ Oil from Reliable Canada Partner
GORDON JAREMKO, 9/21/21
“President Biden rejected a top-ranked supplier on the global environment, social and governance (ESG) investment scale by blocking TC Energy Inc.’s Keystone XL oil export pipeline project, according to the Alberta provincial government,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “Based on aggregated…performance from the Yale Environmental Performance Index, Social Progress Index, and World Bank Governance Index, Canada is third behind Norway and Denmark in ESG,” said the amicus brief filed by the province. “This rating is a direct reflection of the importance that Canada, Alberta, and their oil producers place on improving environmental performance and governance, investment in technology and innovation, and open and strong stakeholder and Indigenous relations.” TC in July revived a five-year-old trade damages claim topping $15 billion against the U.S. government for refusing to let the oil export project have a construction permit. Alberta in its brief cited the Canadian ESG score in a 30-page filing in Houston with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The brief supports a lawsuit to overturn the Biden administration’s veto in January of the pipeline system, joining a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 23 GOP-led states… “Without responsibly produced Canadian oil and reliable and safe energy infrastructure” like the Keystone XL system, “the world, including the United States, will have to rely on countries that do not share these environmental and social values, commitments, and achievements,” the province noted in its brief.
Engineering News-Record: Dakota Access, Line 3 Oil Pipelines Face New Project Issues
Mary B. Powers, 9/21/21
“Energy Transfer LP, the Texas energy firm now operating the 1,712-mile Dakota Access oil pipeline, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court ruling that required the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a major environmental review for a 1.7-mile segment that crosses under a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation,” Engineering News-Record reports. “The 2020 decision by a federal district court in Montana requires the Corps to “convince the court” that the agency's earlier decision not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) was correct. Energy Transfer told the high court in its Sept. 20 petition "that standard shifts power from the agencies to the courts” under the National Environmental Policy Act… “The lower court’s decision, if left standing, “would establish a novel precedent of breathtaking scope that could delay or thwart any number of other national infrastructure projects and provide litigants a weapon to shut down even long-operational, essential infrastructure projects,” the petition says. Critics have called Energy Transfer’s petition a longshot, since justices accept few petitions to move to hearing status… “In other pipeline developments, energy firm Enbridge Inc. could face possible criminal charges for breaching an underground aquifer during construction of the Line 3 oil line replacement project. The Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources ordered the company to pay $3.3 million for piercing the confining layer of an artesian aquifer, resulting in an unauthorized groundwater appropriation during construction near Enbridge’s Clearbrook, Minn., terminal in the northwestern part of the state. The agency referred the matter to the Clearwater County Attorney for criminal prosecution for violating a state law that makes it a crime to appropriate waters of the state without a permit.”
Press release: Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Southwestern Energy Company Announce Responsibly Sourced Natural Gas Agreement
9/21/21
“Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), and Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE: SWN) today announced the initiation of a responsibly sourced natural gas (RSG) strategic agreement. The goal of the agreement is to further reduce methane emissions across the natural gas value chain by receiving and transporting RSG to market and, in this case, specifically to a market in the Northeast. RSG is natural gas that has been produced from a natural gas well and transported by companies whose operations have been independently verified as meeting certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, particularly related to methane emission reductions. RSG goes through a rigorous verification process to certify that it meets or exceeds the standards established by the ONE Future coalition, which are designed to achieve a 1% or lower methane intensity level, or 99% methane efficiency, by 2025… “As part of the agreement, SWN will produce and TGP will transport the RSG on its existing pipeline infrastructure to benefit a large market in the Northeast where the distribution of the RSG is expected to power the equivalent of approximately 100,000 homes annually while reducing GHG emissions equal to the removal of approximately 5,000 internal combustion engine vehicles from the road.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: ‘Major gap.’ Gas industry FERC petitions stoke NEPA concerns
Miranda Willson, 9/22/21
“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is weighing proposals from several energy companies that could set a precedent for how the agency applies a bedrock environmental law to oversight of natural gas,” E&E News reports. “In three cases, project developers are asking FERC to declare that their proposals for liquefied natural gas facilities are outside the agency’s jurisdiction. If the independent agency grants the petitions, it could shake up federal LNG reviews at a time when the Biden administration is facing industry pressure to embrace U.S. exports of the fuel. The petitions showcase what critics say is a major gap in how the U.S. government handles environmental reviews of gas projects under the National Environmental Policy Act… “The National Environmental Policy Act fight stems in part from a Trump-era rule inked not at FERC but at the Department of Energy. Finalized in December — and so far upheld by the Biden administration — the rule exempts DOE from carrying out NEPA reviews for proposed new LNG export facilities through a "categorical exclusion.” The rule was designed to ensure that DOE does not “unnecessarily duplicate” FERC’s processes, the agency said at the time. Critics, however, said the decision to defer to FERC overlooks the fact that the independent agency excludes a wide range of LNG facilities from its own NEPA oversight, meaning some projects could effectively slip through the cracks of federal review altogether. “There’s a huge, gaping hole in the review of natural gas infrastructure,” Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, told E&E. “There could be many projects that completely evade FERC reviews and NEPA reviews" depending on how the agency rules on the petitions.
Guardian: Will taxpayers bear the cost of cleaning up America’s abandoned oil wells?
Leanna First-Arai, 9/21/21
“Oil and gas companies have a century-old bad habit of drilling wells and ditching them,” the Guardian reports. “And while Congress finally has a plan to plug some abandoned wells, new proposals effectively pass the fossil fuel industry’s cleanup costs on to taxpayers and may even enable more drilling. Concerned parties seem to agree on the scale of the crisis: millions of wells sit untended across the US, leaking toxins that pose public health problems along with the potent greenhouse gas methane, which contributes to the climate emergency. But powerful special interests have carved out a presence in federal well-plugging efforts – one of the most bipartisan corners of Joe Biden’s $1tn infrastructure bill, which is due for a vote later this month. Instead of requiring fossil fuel companies to cover the actual cost of drilling and cleanup, policy experts say the proposal is an additional multibillion-dollar subsidy for the industry most responsible for driving the climate crisis… “Congress’ 30-page proposal does provide a much-needed plan to inventory, measure and track methane emissions and groundwater contamination associated with orphan wells – abandoned wells with no identifiable owner. But tucked inside the proposal is $2m in funding that goes directly to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), an organization closely linked to the fossil fuel industry. The draft bill empowers the group to consult with the federal government as it issues billions of dollars in grants for states to plug, remediate and restore orphan wells. The infrastructure bill treats the commission innocuously, granting it duties and access to federal research and development funds as if it were a formal government entity. The trouble is, it’s not.”
InsideClimate News: Global Methane Pledge Offers Hope on Climate in Lead Up to Glasgow
By Phil McKenna, 9/20/21
“The United States and the European Union pledged on Friday to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030, ushering in the start of what they hope will be a “global methane pledge” to quickly address warming, as the next round of international climate negotiations nears,” InsideClimate News reports. “...The announcement follows a landmark report by the United Nations in May that underscored the need to rapidly rein in emissions of methane, the second leading driver of climate change. The report noted that reducing methane emissions is “one of the most cost-effective strategies to rapidly reduce the rate of warming and contribute significantly to global efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” “...Drew Shindell, the lead author of the UN report and an earth science professor at Duke University, told ICN Friday’s announcement is “really ambitious.” Using the same yardstick as the U.N. report, the U.S.-E.U. pledge represents a 35 percent cut in methane emissions below the 2030 business-as-usual baseline. “It’s most of the way there,” Shindell told ICN. “Compared with where we’ve been going—which is up, up, up really fast—going down at this rate is a great step forward if it actually comes to pass.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: BP gambles big on fast transition from oil to renewables
By Ron Bousso, 9/20/21
“Deep in the Oman desert lies one of BP's more lucrative projects, a mass of steel pipes and cooling towers that showcases the British energy giant's pioneering natural gas extraction technology,” Reuters reports. “The facility earned BP Plc (BP.L) more than $650 million in profits in 2019, according to financial filings reviewed by Reuters. Yet the oil major agreed to sell a third of its majority stake in the project earlier this year. The deal exemplifies a larger strategy to liquidate fossil-fuel assets to raise cash for investments in renewable-energy projects that BP concedes won't make money for years… “BP Chief Executive Bernard Looney, who took office in February 2020, is gambling that BP can make the clean-energy transition much faster than its peers. Last year, he became the first major oil CEO to announce that he would purposely cut future production. He aims to slash BP's output by 40%, or about 1 million barrels per day, an amount equal to the UK's entire daily output in 2019. At the same time, BP would boost its capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources to 50 gigawatts, a 20-fold increase and equivalent to the power produced by 50 U.S. nuclear plants. To hit those targets, Looney plans $25 billion in fossil-fuel asset sales by 2025. That's equivalent to about 13% of the company's total fixed assets at the end of 2019. Under his watch, BP has already sold legacy projects worth about $15 billion.”
Natural Gas World: IEA URGES FOCUS ON DOWNSTREAM METHANE EMISSIONS
JOSEPH MURPHY, 9/21/21
“Downstream facilities accounted for 20% of all oil and gas sector methane emissions last year, according to the IEA,” Natural Gas World reports. “The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for greater attention to be paid to methane emissions that come from downstream facilities in the oil and gas industry, noting that most existing regulation is geared towards reducing upstre…
Reuters: ConocoPhillips bets $23 billion on U.S. shale oil as rivals retreat
By Sabrina Valle, Arunima Kumar, 9/21/21
“ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Ryan Lance on Monday doubled down on U.S. shale and the world’s continued demand for oil with his second blockbuster acquisition in less than a year,” Reuters reports. “His $9.5 billion purchase of Royal Dutch Shell’s West Texas properties, nine months after closing a $13.3 billion deal for Concho Resources, puts the company’s future squarely in shale after exiting Canada’s oil sands, U.S. offshore and British North Sea fields. The strategy depends on a world thirsty for cheap oil and Conoco’s ability to extract it with less carbon emissions. While Shell, BP and Equinor quit shale for renewable fuels, Lance argues oil and gas will not be soon supplanted. “We don’t believe the existential threat to this business is right around the corner,” he told analysts in June. With Shell’s assets, Conoco gets more than 10 years of output and rewards shareholders willing to stick with fossil fuels, said Lance. “We’re going to create a lot more value over the next 10 years and beyond with this acquisition,” Lance told analysts on Tuesday, promising to deliver higher returns for shareholders than paying a one-time dividend… “But the acquisition does not sit well with environmentalists, who this year pushed Conoco to address customers’ emissions from using its fuels. In May, 58% of shareholders voted in favor of a non-binding petition to set reduction targets including from products. “Buying fossil fuel assets is exactly the opposite of what investors actually want,” Mark van Baal, founder of Dutch advocacy group Follow This, told Reuters. “Eventually he will have to listen.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Bloomberg: Vanguard Comes Up Short on the Climate Front, Think Tank Says
Saijel Kishan, 9/22/21
“Vanguard Group Inc., one of the world’s largest money managers, says it cares “deeply” about the long-term impact of climate change. It joined an investor group that’s announced a net zero-emissions target and oversees pension funds for technology companies, where employees have a long tradition of being environmentally conscious,” Bloomberg reports. “But Vanguard, with $8.1 trillion in assets, is falling short on addressing climate through its investments relative to its biggest rivals, including BlackRock Inc., the think tank Universal Owner said. According to its analysis, Vanguard has just one employee to monitor climate issues for every 300 of its portfolio companies and lacks a policy to divest some funds from coal producers. The group also said the asset manager has lent millions of dollars to tar sands companies, whose projects are among the most harmful to combatting global warming. As such, Vanguard stands to lose $3 trillion by 2050 from its U.S. equity investments by failing to act on climate change, Universal Owner said in a report released Sept. 22. “Vanguard isn’t understanding its position in the market,” Thomas O’Neill, director of Universal Owner, told Bloomberg. “It should be focused on stewarding the whole market,” he said, referring to how money managers vote on shareholder resolutions and talk with companies to persuade them to change their ways. “Its decisions about where to allocate capital and what shareholder resolutions to support have a tectonic influence on the real economy,” Universal Owner said in the report. The think tank, with offices in London and Edinburgh, says it seeks to systemically change the financial industry on climate change and biodiversity issues through data-driven analysis.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Politico Morning Energy: BIG OIL OFF THE BIG STAGE:
Matthew Choi, 9/21/21
“Oil and gas majors will not have any organizing role in this year’s UN climate conference, with COP26’s British organizers barring companies that haven’t set carbon reduction targets in-line with current climate science from actively participating in the event, The Wall Street Journal reports,” according to Politico Morning Energy. “A U.N.-backed third party “Science Based Targets” initiative determines if would-be participants meet the criteria. Fossil fuel companies have participated in past COPs, particularly when they took place in the companies’ home countries, though environmentalists often raised objections. Officials from BP and Shell were disappointed in being unable to have a more active role in the conference, the Journal reports, but still plan to send staffers as observers.”
OPINION
MLK50: ‘But our fight isn’t over’: Pipeline opponents push to close regulatory gaps regarding pipelines
Justin J. Pearson, 9/21/21
“The point of least resistance.” That’s what a crude oil company’s representative called our predominantly Black, Southwest Memphis community as it planned to ram a pipeline through our neighborhoods. It’s not surprising the corporation thought it could build a dangerous pipeline through a minority community with little pushback; after all, it’s something fossil fuel companies have done for decades. The surprise came when we mobilized to stop them,” Justin J. Pearson writes for MLK50. “If approved Tuesday during the 3:30 p.m. meeting, the measures will become laws that will require new city approvals and create restrictions for any revival of the Byhalia Connection Pipeline and future projects like it. One measure is a joint ordinance between the council and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners that would require 1,500 feet between a crude oil pipeline and residential areas… “Another ordinance would create a Wellhead Protection Overlay District that, without a council-approved exception, prohibits various risky developments near wellheads, including oil-related business. A third ordinance would create a new permit and review process for the underground storage or movement of hazardous materials. The permit would give the council the final say over such projects… “The pipeline’s cancellation is proof that when you amplify the voices of those who have been marginalized for decades, you create a force that is more powerful than the wealth and clout of multi-billion-dollar companies. It’s more powerful than the team of lawyers hired to block our efforts. It’s more powerful than the fossil fuel industry that lobbied against us. It’s more powerful than the pipeline representatives who call our communities the “point of least resistance.” We proved we are not the “point of least resistance” – we are the point of resilience. But our fight isn’t over. While we are taking a moment to celebrate this immense victory for Southwest Memphis, this movement’s next challenge is to turn environmental justice into just policy.”
Environmental Health News: Op-ed: We don’t have time for another fossil fuel bridge
Seth Mullendore is vice president and project director for Clean Energy Group, 9/21/21
“In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama praised natural gas as "the bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change." Switching from coal to gas was a key pillar of Obama's Clean Power Plan to reduce climate emissions, which big environmental groups lined up to praise and fight for,” Seth Mullendore writes for Environmental Health News. “We now know that methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. We know that gas plants are, at best, no more than a marginal improvement over coal. Today, wind and solar are the cheapest sources of new energy generation. The fight has largely shifted from coal to gas. Some energy companies and utilities still hold up gas as a bridge to enable more renewables, filling in the gaps when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. Others – including the oil and gas industry, the Biden Administration, and, inexplicably, many big green groups – are laying the foundation for a new bridge, touting the climate benefits of two dubious strategies: carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen. Many of the voices holding up carbon capture and hydrogen as new climate solutions are the same voices that fought for the natural gas bridge a decade ago. And, once again, they're leading us down the wrong path, building a bridge to decades of additional emissions when we're rapidly running out of time to avoid the most dire impacts of climate change… “The best climate strategy we have is to fully commit to the rapid scale-up of solutions that we already know will work - solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, battery storage, energy efficiency, demand management. We already have the tools to realize deep decarbonization. It is not the time to dump billions of dollars into another fossil fuel bridge to nowhere. Carbon capture utilization and storage and hydrogen are not the technologies we need today or tomorrow. If anything, they should be end-of-the line solutions when all other options have been exhausted. They should only be a bridge of last resort.”
Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Liberal win 'a nothing burger' as oilpatch grapples with new climate policies
Chris Varcoe, 9/22/21
“With another Liberal minority government elected Monday, new energy and environmental policies are coming, although investors and oilpatch players see it as an evolution, not a revolution, of Canada’s climate objectives,” Chris Varcoe writes for the Calgary Herald. “The industry has gone through the stages of mourning and now we’re in the acceptance phase,” Eric Nuttall, a senior portfolio manager with Ninepoint Partners, an investor in Canadian energy companies, told the Herald. “It’s a nothing burger . . . I do not view last night’s outcome as a major catalyst one way or the other.” On Monday, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau won 158 seats in the federal election, more than any other party but not enough to secure a majority government. The Canadian oil and gas industry is trying to puzzle out what the fallout will be for the sector, from the cost of meeting new regulations to the implications for future liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects… “What is clear is bedrock Liberal climate and energy policies will remain in place, including a higher price on carbon and a national target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Two campaign promises will affect the province’s largest industry in the coming years… “Oilsands producers such as Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus Energy have already adopted net-zero targets by 2050 and are working together to hit those goals. They are also looking for significant government assistance on major investments in carbon capture, utilization and storage projects (CCUS). The Liberals plan on introducing a tax credit for such big-ticket projects… “The issue facing Canada’s oilpatch is how the government implements a plan to hit its Paris target and what will be required by producers, Robert Johnston, managing director of global energy with Washington-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told the Herald. Along with tighter methane restrictions from Ottawa, he expects a “very limited appetite for new greenfield projects” that increase Canadian oil and gas output — and emissions.”
Petroleum Media Network: Letter from Canada: Kenney gives Alberta a clean energy image problem
Vincent Lauerman, 9/21/21
“Alberta is seeking to position itself as a base for the budding cleantech and new energy sector in Canada, but the province’s current administration may have jeopardised those ambitions,” Vincent Lauerman writes for Petroleum Media Network. “The province, home to much of Canada’s oil and gas industry, has certain advantages when it comes to its clean energy goals, including many highly trained but unemployed or underemployed energy workers, plus a massive amount of vacant and very affordable office space in downtown Calgary. Alberta’s efforts to become Canada’s clean energy capital could, though, be thwarted by a serious image problem.”