PIPELINE NEWS
WDIO: Saxon residents recovering from the Line 5 spill cleanup efforts
Native News Online: Three Fires Confederacy Calls for Labor Day Bridge Walk for Water to Oppose Enbridge Line 5
CBC: Smith sees no threat to Alberta from U.S.-Venezuela oil deal, renews pipeline push
Calgary Herald: ‘Significant competitive threat’: U.S. oil deal with Venezuela has ramifications for Alberta oilsands
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA): Assessing Alberta’s proposed West Coast Oil Pipeline
Neshoba Democrat: Feds approve $1.7B pipeline project that cuts across county
WKBN: Pipeline proposal could bring jobs and opportunity to the Valley
Pipeline & Gas Journal: NextEra takes 49% stake in $1.2-billion Florida natural gas pipeline project
Alberta Views: Mega Pipelines, Mega Resistance
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: ‘Who knows if it will survive’: Experts question how long Trump’s Venezuela oil deal will last
New York Times: How the Pentagon Is Getting Into the Venezuelan Oil Business Under Trump
Newsweek: Americans Disagree With Trump Renaming Lake Ontario: Poll
U.S. Energy Information Administration: U.S. LNG exports rose 23% in the first half of 2026 because of higher capacity
Politico: Republicans struggle for footing on data center response ahead of midterms
Interesting Engineering: 475,000 gallons of water: New US facility to capture 450 tons of CO2 for clean fuel
STATE UPDATES
Syracuse.com: Hochul says NY may appeal judge’s ruling striking down law to charge companies for climate change
Politico: Appeal planned in gas ban case
Las Vegas Sun: Environmental groups win stay in fight over data center near Boulder City
WGVU: State officials respond to oil release at Millennium Park
EXTRACTION
The Safety Mag: Alberta regulator upholds shutdown of oilsands site tied to unpaid workers, disabled safety devices
Carbon Herald: Alberta Allocates $20M To Scale Hydrogen And Carbon Capture
Valor International: Carbon capture hub could serve ethanol industry
OPINION
Empire Report: Constitution Pipeline Can Put New Yorkers Back to Work—and Help Keep Energy Affordable
Alaska Beacon: Alaska gas pipeline’s best hope may be to think like Trump
Mongabay: Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn’t become a carbon dump
PIPELINE NEWS
WDIO: Saxon residents recovering from the Line 5 spill cleanup efforts
9/1/26
“The Line 5 Enbridge pipeline project was put on hold after a truck rolled into the site. A handful of residents are still temporarily evacuated for safety as Enbridge and other safety teams clean up the spill,” WDIO reports. “Two days after the natural gas liquid went billowing into the air, the Wisconsin DNR sent a letter to Enbridge. The agency requested Enbridge to stop all construction following the spill. As well as what the DNR says are “other recent noncompliance events.” The Wisconsin DNR is also asking Enbridge to prove that safety measures are in place to prevent future spill… “The Iron County sheriff’s “no-fly” zone over the site remains in effect. The situation continues as crews work to resolve the spill and ensure safety in the area.”
Native News Online: Three Fires Confederacy Calls for Labor Day Bridge Walk for Water to Oppose Enbridge Line 5
9/1/26
“The Three Fires Confederacy is calling on Native Americans and allies to participate in a Labor Day water walk across the Mackinac Bridge to raise awareness about protecting the Great Lakes and shutting down Enbridge Line 5,” Native News Online reports. “...Organizers are calling on their relatives throughout the Great Lakes — Native people who call these waters home in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario — as well as allies and water protectors to stand with them. Tribal leaders from Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes will participate in this historic event. “It is an opportunity to honor our responsibility to the water and to remind the world that Anishinaabe people are still here, still protecting our homelands, and still carrying our responsibilities to the generations who come after us.”
CBC: Smith sees no threat to Alberta from U.S.-Venezuela oil deal, renews pipeline push
Vincent McDermott, 9/1/26
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she sees no immediate threat to the province’s oil sector following a deal granting the United States access to billions of barrels of Venezuelan oil,” the CBC reports. “At an unrelated news conference in Calgary on Tuesday, Smith said that the oilsands have infrastructure and logistical advantages over Venezuela, which the International Energy Agency says is currently producing roughly 1.1 million barrels of oil per day. Alberta already produces about five million barrels a day, she said. “It really just reinforces why the West Coast oil pipeline is the right answer, why we want to get an additional million barrels to the B.C. coast so that we can expand markets to Asia,” she said. “I’m seeing most of the analysis suggest that it’s quite an expensive and long haul before they (Venezuela) even get to 1.5 million barrels.” “...I’m not sure I would put a lot of faith in its sustainability because companies actually have to invest tens or hundreds of billions of dollars of capital to develop the Venezuelan industry,” Richard Masson, a former executive with the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission, told CBC… “Heather Exner-Pirot, the energy director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute think-tank, told CBC News she believes Canada’s main competition is not Venezuela, but rather oil reserves in Guyana, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. She said Canada can adapt by pivoting towards Asian markets.”
Calgary Herald: ‘Significant competitive threat’: U.S. oil deal with Venezuela has ramifications for Alberta oilsands
Chris Varcoe, 9/1/26
“...The announcement by President Donald Trump last week that the United States has reached an agreement to take control of Venezuelan oil reserves — as the South American country seeks to increase oil production after years of deterioration — warrants attention in Canada, Bob Geddes, president of Calgary-based Ensign Energy Services, told the Calgary Herald. “...For Canada, we should be doubling down on our pipeline to the West Coast, because it could create some challenge long term. I don’t see any challenge short term. Venezuela is going to take a while to develop.” Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Premier Danielle Smith said most analysts expect an “expensive and long haul” before Venezuela can significantly increase its output, while Alberta can provide a safe environment to companies looking to develop more resources… “If I had a wish or an ask, it would be let’s accelerate the plan for the West Coast oil pipeline, get it to market faster.” “...The head of the Oil Sands Alliance, a group of five large oilsands operators in Alberta, told the Herald the deal in Venezuela could have ramifications for the Canadian industry. “What people often forget is the last big ramp-up of Canadian oilsands production — from the kind of early 2000s to the mid-teens — coincided exactly with Venezuela’s drop-off in production over the same period,” alliance president Kendall Dilling told the Herald. “Now, we’re kind of the incumbent. It’s ours to lose, but Venezuela very much has the resources and the market access — and especially with U.S. support now, if they start increasing production — it’s a very significant competitive threat to us, which then also speaks to the importance of the West Coast oil pipeline.”
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA): Assessing Alberta’s proposed West Coast Oil Pipeline
Mark Kalegha, Will Scargill, 9/1/26
“IEEFA’s analysis of future supply scenarios and global market conditions challenges the notion that the West Coast Oil Pipeline can be justified based on capacity need,” according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). “Brownfield pipeline expansion projects can accommodate forecasted production growth at lower costs with higher degrees of execution uncertainty. The West Coast Oil Pipeline’s tolls are likely to be significantly higher than existing pipelines, and the project would likely represent a net loss to the industry. Even if oil exported to the Pacific can achieve a premium, this is unlikely to translate to WCS prices, and high tolls would mean lower netbacks for producers… “The large commitments required to support the West Coast Oil Pipeline may harm rather than secure future returns for Alberta’s oil industry as wider market conditions required to support rapid output growth appear unlikely. The large public investments proposed in the pipeline are also likely to be exposed to significant execution risk.”
Neshoba Democrat: Feds approve $1.7B pipeline project that cuts across county
Jace Henderson, 9/1/26
“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a $1.7 billion natural gas pipeline project planned to run through Neshoba County,” the Neshoba Democrat reports. “The Mississippi Crossing Project, led by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, will run from Washington County, Miss., to Choctaw County, Ala. The 42-inch pipeline will cross nine Mississippi counties, including approximately 18 miles through Neshoba County, before continuing into Alabama… “Kinder Morgan has contacted about 70 affected landowners in Neshoba County, covering 96 tracts of land. Survey work is complete, and the company will begin negotiating with landowners for a 50-foot permanent easement where the pipeline will be buried underground.”
WKBN: Pipeline proposal could bring jobs and opportunity to the Valley
Karen Lucrece, 9/1/26
“...Now local leaders are looking at whether the same route could also help connect those communities to more natural gas after a recent study by East Gate,” WKBN reports. “They just released a 142-page study that shows the feasibility of running a pipeline up Route 11,” said Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy. The recent study looks at a potential pipeline stretching through Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. “Everyone from electricians, to people who deal with masuries and smelt work and construction, it’s just going to create a wealth of industry and jobs here that we missed out on,” Malloy said… “The study shows that the pipeline construction could bring in more than 9,000 jobs across four counties and hundreds of millions of dollars in labor income. The next step is looking for private companies that may be interested in helping the project move forward… “So while there is no pipeline being built just yet, county leaders say Tuesday’s brief conversation is about looking ahead and seeing what this investment could mean for the Valley’s future.”
Pipeline & Gas Journal: NextEra takes 49% stake in $1.2-billion Florida natural gas pipeline project
9/1/26
“Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has sold a 49% ownership interest in its planned $1.2-billion Florida Energy Pathway natural gas infrastructure project to NextEra Energy Resources, bringing a new partner into the proposed South Florida transmission system,” Pipeline & Gas Journal reports. “Under the agreement, Chesapeake Utilities subsidiary Peninsula Pipeline Holdings will retain a 51% interest in the project, while NextEra Energy Resources will hold the remaining 49%. Chesapeake subsidiary Peninsula Pipeline Company will construct, manage and operate the system. Florida Energy Pathway is planned as a 24-inch intrastate natural gas infrastructure project extending from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County… “Total investment is estimated at approximately $1.2 billion, subject to final design and development activities.”
Alberta Views: Mega Pipelines, Mega Resistance
Liza Piper, 9/1/26
“As we approach the precipice of another pipeline battle, now is an opportune moment to pick up Amy Janzwood’s insightful and comprehensive analysis of the successes and failures of pipeline resistance in the opening decades of the 21st century,” Alberta Views reports. “Janzwood recounts the divergent fates of two pipelines: the Northern Gateway, cancelled on the same day in November 2016 that prime minister Justin Trudeau approved the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX), which was completed in 2024. Janzwood, a political scientist, seeks to understand the conditions shaping the completion, delay or failure of oil sands pipeline projects in the recent past and uses these examples to flesh out some important answers… “The actors at the heart of Janzwood’s book are those who made up campaign coalitions opposing mega pipelines: Indigenous peoples, grassroots groups, non-governmental environmental organizations, politicians and community members. Interviews with many of the main players enrich Janzwood’s analysis, which is grounded in a sophisticated scholarly literature on coalition formation, influence, strategies and success. From Janzwood’s account, we see how the coalitions against Northern Gateway changed the politics of pipelines in Canada.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico: ‘Who knows if it will survive’: Experts question how long Trump’s Venezuela oil deal will last
Ben Lefebvre, James Bikales and Nahal Toosi, 9/1/26
“Oil company executives and Venezuela experts are looking skeptically at the Trump administration’s $100 billion plan to boost Venezuelan oil production, raising questions about whether the deal will yield significant oil any time soon — or ever,” Politico reports. “Under the deal the White House announced Monday, the United States would receive a 35 percent stake in oil company North American Blue Energy Partners to drill for oil in Venezuela, the latest instance of the Trump administration taking shares in a private business… “Oil executives are warning, however, that the fields targeted for production will take years to develop and expressed little confidence that the deal the White House announced with a company few are familiar with would lead to much. “F-ck all, what is this?” an executive at one oil company granted anonymity to speak frankly about the administration’s plans told Politico. “This thing is way too big for a company with no capabilities and no credibility.” “...It’s not just industry officials expressing doubt. Giving the U.S. ownership of an asset seen as a national treasure is already drawing heat from across the political spectrum, according to Liliana Diaz, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center… “Industry executives are also raising issues ranging from the quality of the oil fields Venezuela offered for the venture, the amount of time and money needed to get oil flowing in a country that recently suffered a massive earthquake and whether the deal itself was actually legal.”
New York Times: How the Pentagon Is Getting Into the Venezuelan Oil Business Under Trump
Edward Wong, Rebecca F. Elliott and Anatoly Kurmanaev, 8/31/26
“As the U.S. government faced shortcomings in the country’s weapons manufacturing, the Pentagon set up a new office that would make investments to help boost defense industrial production,” the New York Times reports. “That effort, which began in 2022 during the Biden administration, is now taking a sharp turn with the Pentagon’s involvement in an oil production deal between the United States and Venezuela that President Trump announced on Friday. The Pentagon’s little-known Office of Strategic Capital, which reports to the deputy defense secretary, is the leading U.S. government entity in forming a partnership with a private oil producer whose founder, Alejandro Betancourt López, is a powerful and polarizing figure in international commerce… “Typically, companies issue warrants in exchange for something of value. During the coronavirus pandemic, for example, the federal government bailed out U.S. airlines with more than $50 billion in grants and loans to help the companies pay employees and cover other costs. In return, the Treasury Department received warrants from roughly a dozen airlines, most of which it later sold to private investors. In this case, the deal would come “all at zero cost to the United States,” the White House said in a statement on Monday night. The federal government’s partnership and seal of approval could make it easier for the company to raise money from private investors and also shield it from legal scrutiny or political upheaval in Venezuela.”
Newsweek: Americans Disagree With Trump Renaming Lake Ontario: Poll
Khaleda Rahman, 9/1/26
“A majority of Americans oppose President Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’ amid his trade war with Canada, a new poll has found,” Newsweek reports. “Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the U.S. geographic naming system. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in response, noted that the name is over 400 years old. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they opposed the name change, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from Friday to Sunday. In contrast, only 14 percent said they supported the change and the rest were not sure or didn’t answer the question… “The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that Americans disapprove of Trump’s tariffs against Canada. Only 20 percent of respondents said they supported higher tariffs on Canadian goods, while 57 percent said they opposed them.”
U.S. Energy Information Administration: U.S. LNG exports rose 23% in the first half of 2026 because of higher capacity
9/1/26
“U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports averaged 17.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in the first six months of the year, 23% more than the same period in 2025, according to our Natural Gas Monthly,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports. “In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, we estimate U.S. LNG exports will average 17.3 Bcf/d in the second half of 2026 (2H26) before rising to 18.7 Bcf/d in 1H27. Export capacity additions from startup production at new terminals and expansions at existing terminals boosted LNG exports at the fastest rate since the United States began large-scale exports in 2016. Plaquemines LNG is exporting at full capacity, and Corpus Christi Stage 3 is currently exporting from six of seven liquefaction trains. These terminals, when complete, will increase nominal U.S. export capacity by a combined 4.0 Bcf/d. Golden Pass LNG began exports in April 2026 and is expected to increase exports from Train 1 through the end of 2026, adding another 0.7 Bcf/d of nominal export capacity. Golden Pass LNG Train 2 is expected to be completed in late 2026.”
Politico: Republicans struggle for footing on data center response ahead of midterms
Amelia Davidson and Kelsey Brugger, 9/2/26
“Vulnerable House Republicans returned to Washington this week pushing for action before the midterms on reining in data centers, only to find their leadership still undecided on the volatile issue,” Politico reports. “Further complicating the debate: President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post Monday saying that the only reason Americans might not want data centers built in their communities is if they “want to end up being backwards and poor.” “...Multiple lawmakers pushed back on Trump’s Monday comments in the closed-door meeting and in other conversations with Johnson and House GOP leaders after the president’s post, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told Politico… “Guthrie believes the so-called Ratepayer Protection Act and another bill on data center water use align with Trump’s recent data center support while still providing relief for the communities where they’re built… “House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, though, said that some in the Republican conference have also expressed concerns about anti-data center sentiment and whether it is being fueled by China.”
Interesting Engineering: 475,000 gallons of water: New US facility to capture 450 tons of CO2 for clean fuel
Atharva Gosavi, 9/2/26
“A new direct air capture facility in New Jersey has begun operations, with the capacity to remove 450 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year while producing about 475,000 gallons of clean water,” according to Interesting Engineering. “Developed by Avnos with funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, Project Brighton is located in Bridgewater and will support testing to use captured CO2 to produce sustainable aviation fuel, while also generating operational data for larger commercial deployments… “Unlike some direct air capture technologies that require significant external heat or water inputs, Avnos says its HDAC process captures atmospheric CO2 while simultaneously producing clean water, without relying on external heat. That combination is intended to make the technology suitable for applications ranging from data centers and geologic carbon storage to low-carbon fuel production… “Brighton’s development with funding from the Office of Naval Research also gives Avnos a larger operating platform for gathering performance data as it works toward commercial-scale deployments… “The company has also received backing from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense as it develops HDAC systems for carbon removal, water production and other commercial applications.”
STATE UPDATES
Syracuse.com: Hochul says NY may appeal judge’s ruling striking down law to charge companies for climate change
Jon Moss, 9/1/26
“Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday she is considering further legal action after a judge struck down a landmark state law to tax polluters to pay for infrastructure upgrades needed due to climate change,” Syracuse.com reports. “We’re looking at our options of appeal,” she said at an unrelated news conference in New York City. Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes ruled Monday that the state Climate Change Superfund Act was pre-empted by the federal Clean Air Act.”
Politico: Appeal planned in gas ban case
Marie J. French, Mona Zhang, 8/31/26
“New York’s gas industry interests plan to take their legal challenge of building electrification requirements to the U.S. Supreme Court, Brian Baran, an attorney representing plaintiffs in the case, told Politico. ”...The appeals court agreed with the lower court ruling, finding that state and local bans on gas appliances were not preempted by federal law… “New York also paused the implementation of the All Electric Buildings Act, a bill that would ban gas appliances in certain new buildings in New York that passed as part of its 2024 budget, while the case was resolved. The law will remain paused until plaintiffs have exhausted their appeals. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled differently in a similar case, finding that Berkeley’s ban on gas piping in new buildings is preempted by federal law. That creates a circuit split that gas industry interests in New York are hoping that the Supreme Court will pick up on.”
Las Vegas Sun: Environmental groups win stay in fight over data center near Boulder City
Grace Da Rocha, 9/1/26
“A federal board has granted a stay blocking a proposed data center near Boulder City from moving forward while it reviews challenges to the project’s federal approval, the city said today in a news release,” the Las Vegas Sun reports. “...The U.S. Department of the Interior’s board of land appeals found they were likely to succeed in showing the project was approved without the project-specific environmental review required under the National Environmental Policy Act… “In their appeal, the environmental groups argued that “permanent and irreparable harm is likely to occur to its members’ aesthetic and recreational interests in the project site” if the data center is built, and that this outweighs the “temporary financial harm to Townsite from the delay.” The Board of Land Appeals, in granting the stay, wrote that the “timely development of data center infrastructure” doesn’t supersede the benefits of “a thorough and open consideration of the potential environmental effects of that development,” according to a city news release.”
WGVU: State officials respond to oil release at Millennium Park
Dee Morrison, 8/31/26
“The Kent County Parks Department became aware of an oil release from a historic, previously plugged well in a body of water inside Millennium Park Friday,” WGVU reports. “Crews from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy responded, placing a containment boom around the well to prevent further oil spread into the water while they determine next steps. The 1,400-acre Millennium Park occupies land that includes former gypsum mines, gravel pits and petroleum wells tied to the Walker Oil Field which began drilling in the 1930’s… “Parks Director Ben Swayze stated, “Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking people to avoid the affected area and refrain from entering or recreating in the lake at this time.”
EXTRACTION
The Safety Mag: Alberta regulator upholds shutdown of oilsands site tied to unpaid workers, disabled safety devices
Jim Wilson, 9/1/26
“An Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) hearing panel has upheld orders forcing Sunshine Oilsands Ltd. to permanently shut down and decommission its West Ells thermal project, according to a recent report,” The Safety Mag reports. “The Calgary-based company’s appeal was dismissed after commissioners concluded Sunshine could not be trusted to bring the site, located north of Fort McMurray, into compliance, CBC News reported… “Hearing documents describe workers going unpaid for months, in some cases more than a year, at the remote site reachable only by a 52-kilometre dirt road described as barely passable, according to CBC. Inspectors found a warped, near-failing boiler, leaking steam valves, fractured gas lines and unpurged pipelines with undetected leaks. Both power turbines were dead, and gas-detection safety devices had been bypassed. Environmental monitoring stopped entirely at one point because Sunshine had stopped paying workers and contractors, triggering 19 separate monitoring violations. The AER’s compliance branch told the hearing that “a promise that one will comply with a regulatory regime is not the same as compliance.”
Carbon Herald: Alberta Allocates $20M To Scale Hydrogen And Carbon Capture
Violet George, 9/2/26
“The Government of Alberta has committed $20 million from its Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund to advance four commercial-scale clean technology projects across rural parts of the province,” the Carbon Herald reports. “Administered by Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), the funding package supports field testing, scaling, and commercial deployment of technologies designed to strengthen local industry competitiveness while lowering carbon footprints. In total, the four funded initiatives are projected to create nearly 600 local jobs and eliminate approximately 1,400 tons of annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Grant Hunter, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, emphasized that investing in rural industrial innovation helps communities seize new economic opportunities while leveraging the province’s existing manufacturing and energy expertise.”
Valor International: Carbon capture hub could serve ethanol industry
Camila Souza Ramos, 9/126
“A company founded by former Petrobras and biofuel industry executives has asked the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) for authorization to test a project in west-central São Paulo that would capture and store underground the carbon dioxide emitted by the region’s ethanol plants,” Valor International reports. “EnduraCarbon, founded a year ago, plans to capture the CO2 and inject it permanently underground, generating carbon removal credits for companies seeking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions… “EnduraCarbon plans to develop a hub with underground carbon injection wells that would receive liquefied CO2 emitted by different mills… “Calculations by EnduraCarbon’s partners indicate that the hub would require an investment of R$1.5 billion if testing confirms its viability. It could store 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year… “EnduraCarbon has already signed an agreement with Usina São Manoel, located in the municipality of São Manuel, São Paulo, under which the mill will supply the project with CO2 and electricity cogenerated by burning sugarcane biomass.”
OPINION
Empire Report: Constitution Pipeline Can Put New Yorkers Back to Work—and Help Keep Energy Affordable
Patrick Guidice is chair of the Utility Labor Council of New York State, 9/2/26
“New York’s energy future will not be built by slogans. It will be built by skilled people doing demanding work: the union labor force that constructs, operates, maintains, and restores the systems families and businesses rely on every day. That is why the Constitution Pipeline deserves a serious, constructive look from utility leaders, regulators, and customers,” Patrick Guidice writes for the Empire Report. “Its construction should be the start of a broader commitment to practical energy infrastructure—one that pairs affordability and reliability with lasting opportunity for organized labor. The Utility Labor Council of New York State represents 22,000 workers who power the Empire State. Our members understand that dependable energy is not theoretical… “A pipeline project creates work for the crafts that build it, but it also supports the people and enterprises that follow equipment suppliers, material yards, engineering firms, restaurants, hotels, trucking companies, maintenance contractors, local governments and utility workers… “These findings should not be read as an argument against New York’s clean-energy goals. They are reminders that reliability and affordability must be designed into the transition… “New Yorkers deserve an energy policy that welcomes investment, protects customers, and respects the workers who make essential service possible. Constitution Pipeline can be a first step toward that more balanced approach. It can show that New York is ready to build again—and that organized labor will be central to building what comes next.”
Alaska Beacon: Alaska gas pipeline’s best hope may be to think like Trump
Larry Persily, 9/1/26
“...But rather than criticize the guy, the president’s actions give me an idea: The state needs to go full Trump if it is ever going to get a North Slope gas pipeline project built,” Larry Persily writes for the Alaska Beacon. “Clearly, trying to make the uneconomic project magically economic by giving it free gravel from state lands, billions of dollars in property tax relief, and not taxing the corporate profits of the private developers hasn’t worked. Nor has the more than $1 billion the state has spent on the effort in the past quarter-century changed the outcome… “We need to think like Trump, just without the obscenities and insults in his social media posts… “First, the state offers a share of its 25% stake in the project to the president’s sons, in-laws, friends, whatever it takes to buy their support, much like the Trump family has embraced deals with Middle East oil and gas producers the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar… “The second part of my proposal is that Alaska win the president’s attention by making his enemies our enemies. We let Trump know that if Alaska does not get a gas pipeline, utilities in the Anchorage-dominated population center may have to import natural gas from Canada for heat and power. No way he could let that happen… “But what if Alaska plays its trump card and the president imposes a tariff on Canadian natural gas imported into the U.S., same as hockey sticks? The risk may be worth it. Nothing else has worked to get the pipeline built. We need to start thinking like Trump.”
Mongabay: Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn’t become a carbon dump
Craig R. McClain is a deep-sea biologist with extensive research experience in the Gulf of Mexico, including long-term monitoring of deep-sea ecosystems affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, 8/31/26
“…Lying roughly 168 miles (270 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, beneath more than a mile (2.2 km) of water, the Orca Basin is one of the most extraordinary environments on the planet. It is a lake on the seafloor, where the water is so salty and so dense that it resists mixing with the overlying seawater, and has occupied a vast depression on the gulf floor for thousands of years,” Craig. R. McClain writes for Mongabay. “...It teems with microbial organisms that have evolved over millennia to thrive where nothing else can… “Scientists have used it to peer back in time, to understand how organic matter is buried and preserved, to study the outer limits of where life can survive… “And now it’s in danger from a company proposing to introduce into it the equivalent of a small convoy of trucks packed with crop waste. Carboniferous Inc., an atmospheric carbon removal startup, has received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to drop 20 tons of sugarcane bagasse, a compressed agricultural waste, into the Orca Basin. The idea, called the Marine Anoxic Carbon Storage project, or MACS, is that the basin’s anoxic (oxygen-free) conditions will prevent the biomass from decomposing, locking its carbon away permanently, to fight climate change. They plan to monitor the experiment for 14 months, then declare the results… “It is a poorly designed experiment that risks damaging one of the world’s rarest ecosystems in exchange for scientific answers that we either already have or cannot responsibly collect as proposed… “First, contact your congressional representatives, especially if they are on the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, both of which have jurisdiction over ocean environments, and ask them to demand oversight of how this permit was approved and what safeguards are in place before any deployment proceeds. And if you live along the Gulf Coast, your delegation has a particular stake in this, so urge them to push for independent baseline science in the Orca Basin, research conducted by scientists with no stake in the outcome, so that we at least know what we are risking, before we risk it.”