EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 9/23/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: Tribes say Dakota Access oil pipeline's environmental review is biased
Newsweek: Tribal Nations Take On Oil Giant in the Battle Against the Line 3 Pipeline
Memphis Commercial Appeal: In win for environmentalists, Memphis City Council passes bill to protect drinking water
NJ Spotlight: PennEast shelves plan to build pipeline on public lands in New Jersey
E&E News: PennEast pumps brakes on pipeline despite Supreme Court win
Facebook: Protect the Planet Stop TMX: CALL OUT! RCMP HAVE ARRIVED TO EXTRACT CLIMBERS
Cincinnati Enquirer: Court approves construction of Duke Energy's controversial Central Corridor Pipeline
Highland County Press: Columbia Gas of Ohio cited for gas pipeline safety violation
Associated Press: NTSB analyzing fractured gas pipeline in Coolidge explosion
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: Top Democrat says he'll push to address fossil fuel tax breaks in spending bill
E&E News: SEC sends companies a climate ‘wake-up call’
STATE UPDATES
Bloomberg: Why the Most Populous U.S. County Just Ended Oil and Gas Drilling
KDVR: Oil and gas operator K.P. Kauffman fined $2M in pattern of violations
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada fossil fuel workers want victorious Trudeau to keep retraining pledge
Bloomberg: Methane Crackdown Could Threaten U.S. Driller Profits, Citi Says
Friends of the Earth: New Report reveals Big Oil’s $86B offshore tax bonanza
CLIMATE FINANCE
MacArthur Foundation: Aligning Our Investments With Our Mission, Values, and Programs
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
KUSH: TC Energy partners with Cushing to aid in recycling & more
OPINION
Ted Glick: October 11-15 in DC: It’s History Making Time
Los Angeles Times: Op-Ed: How Congress could curtail the Big Oil gravy train
OilPrice.com: How Will Methane Regulations Impact America’s Oil And Gas Industry?
AZ Central: Call a 'methane fee' what it is: A tax that'll sock anyone who uses natural gas
PIPELINE NEWS
Reuters: Tribes say Dakota Access oil pipeline's environmental review is biased
Devika Krishna Kumar, 9/22/21
“Native American tribes, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, on Wednesday told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the environmental study on Dakota Access oil pipeline is biased and urged the Biden administration to bring in the U.S. Interior Department,” Reuters reports. “The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia revoked a key environmental permit for the largest pipeline out of the North Dakota oil basin last year and ordered the study. The tribes, which also include Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said they believe the process is currently designed to justify issuing a new permit in the same location and that the draft of the study does not take into account technical and cultural information that the tribes have presented to the Corps. "Our participation in the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) process and review of the initial draft reveals that the Corps has fundamentally misunderstood the courts' directive and the requirements of the law," the tribes said in the letter addressed to Jaime Pinkham, acting assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works. "The Administration must bring in the U.S. Department of the Interior as a co-equal cooperating agency with appropriate expertise to assist the Corps in centering Tribal impacts and concerns which motivated this EIS in the first place.” “...The tribes on Wednesday also noted the company conducting the EIS - Environmental Resources Management (ERM) - is a member of industry lobby group American Petroleum Institute, saying it should be replaced.”
Newsweek: Tribal Nations Take On Oil Giant in the Battle Against the Line 3 Pipeline
JULIA ROCK, 9/23/21
“...Kier has watched water levels in the river, which eventually flows into the Mississippi, fall as much as six inches in a single day as, amid a historic drought, Enbridge drained billions of gallons of water from the tributary to lay pipes under the riverbed,” Newsweek reports. “Kier, an Anishinaabe woman in her late 40s and citizen of White Earth Nation, is living here to protect the region from further harm. (The Anishinaabe are a group of people indigenous to the Great Lakes region in the present-day United States and Canada.) She has been running an encampment here all summer, one of six Indigenous-led camps for people who call themselves water protectors and have been trying to stop construction of Enbridge's tar sands pipeline… “Minnesota's two U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, have ignored calls to oppose the pipeline. Smith is currently leading clean energy legislation in Congress. Biden, meanwhile, has maintained his silence on the pipeline even, as he traveled along the East Coast surveying the damage from Hurricane Ida, a climate change-fueled storm that claimed at least 60 lives in the U.S and up to an estimated $80 billion in damages. "The nation and the world are in peril," the president told reporters. In Northern Minnesota, that peril has arrived, under Biden's watch. "They are reaching into the last beautiful places, they are coming for the places that we, as Indigenous people have been displaced to, or removed to, or what we were able to save during colonization," Tara Houska told Newsweek. "They are acting like we are sacrifice zones, like it's not real, it doesn't matter. That's never been the case. We are defending the sacred, we're defending our own land."
Memphis Commercial Appeal: In win for environmentalists, Memphis City Council passes bill to protect drinking water
Samuel Hardiman, 9/21/21
“Tuesday became a red-letter day for environmental regulation in the city of Memphis. The Memphis City Council passed an ordinance that creates a wellhead protection zone around public drinking water wells operated by Memphis, Light, Gas and Water,” the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. “The ordinance, which passed unanimously, is an outgrowth of the environmental justice movement that opposed the now-scuttled Byhalia Connection Pipeline and its route through Memphis. The pipeline and its potential path through historic Southwest Memphis neighborhoods sparked cries of environmental racism, and galvanized public and political opposition to the pipeline. When the companies behind the pipeline abandoned the project in July, the activists fighting it continued to push for ordinances like the one the city council passed Tuesday. That continued activism appeared to pay off with the 13-0 city council vote. Justin J. Pearson, co-founder of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline, praised the council for passing the wellhead ordinance but rebuked the body for not passing two other aquifer-related ordinances. "We need to pass more laws to protect our environmental justice community and Aquifer. We need to hear the public’s input in this process too. We are glad to see Ordinance 5795 pass today, and we have roughly 75% of our city still unprotected," Pearson said in a text message. "The City Council must act to fill that geographic gap where people can be exploited with the passage of just regulation by passing ordinances 5784 and 5794." “...Two other ordinances — one that would've mandated a 1,500-foot setback for oil pipelines from homes, churches and schools and one aimed at protecting the health and safety of the Memphis Sand aquifer — were held by the council.”
NJ Spotlight: PennEast shelves plan to build pipeline on public lands in New Jersey
JON HURDLE, 9/23/21
“PennEast Pipeline Co. has dropped a plan to use New Jersey state lands for its controversial natural gas pipeline — at least for now — dealing a major blow to the long-delayed project in the state,” NJ Spotlight reports. “The company’s decision not to pursue eminent-domain claims on 42 parcels of publicly owned land was announced in an agreement with the Attorney General’s office and recorded in a brief notice sent on Sept. 20 to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which is overseeing the company’s claims. “The parties to these consolidated matters have agreed in principle to a stipulated voluntary dismissal of these matters,” the notice said, referring to the eminent-domain claims. In plain language, the notice means that PennEast won’t seek to seize the lands to build the pipeline, said Leland Moore, a spokesman for the AG’s office, which argued against the company’s use of public lands before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. The nation’s highest court had sided with PennEast, ruling that it had the right to use eminent domain to acquire the state land it needed for the project… “Pat Kornick, a PennEast spokeswoman, would not tell Spotlight whether the agreement means the company has abandoned its plans for the New Jersey section of the pipeline, which has twice been denied state environmental permits, and has roused strong opposition in the communities where it would be built. “Given the uncertainty on timing to resolve the remaining legal and regulatory hurdles, PennEast believes it is not prudent to complete the acquisition of the rights of way in the pending actions as it might not be necessary for some time,” she told Spotlight… “The company is talking to attorneys about “restarting legal proceedings once it clears the regulatory hurdles and has a better understanding of when it would need to acquire the property interests,” she told Spotlight. It was unclear what the regulatory requirements might be, since DEP permits could only be applied for after the lands had been condemned under eminent-domain laws… “Jeff Tittel, former director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, told Spotlight it will now be “extremely difficult” for PennEast to find enough private land in New Jersey on which to build the pipeline. He said the company appears to have accepted that it would not get the permits it needed from New Jersey, and perhaps has been worn down by public opposition over the past seven years.”
E&E News: PennEast pumps brakes on pipeline despite Supreme Court win
Niina H. Farah, 9/23/21
“The developer of the PennEast pipeline won’t use eminent domain power to acquire state-controlled land in New Jersey, prompting questions about the fate of the project three months after it scored a key win in the Supreme Court,” E&E News reports. “Earlier this summer, the justices ruled that PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC could sue New Jersey to take 42 parcels of Garden State land to build a 116-mile natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania (Energywire, June 30). But PennEast has now "agreed in principle to a stipulated voluntary dismissal" of the condemnation proceedings, according to a letter filed yesterday in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew Bruck (D)... “PennEast said it still plans to move forward with the pipeline and is instead "exploring" the dismissal of condemnation proceedings with attorneys for affected landowners… “Opponents of the pipeline speculated that PennEast could be planning to cancel the project. "I know they’re claiming that they’re not abandoning the project, but to not move forward with taking these state lands after getting the Supreme Court to back their ability to do so is pretty telling," Tom Gilbert, campaign director for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, told E&E… “If PennEast chooses to resume the process of seizing land for its pipeline, the developer would have to start from scratch, Jennifer Danis, an attorney representing the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, told E&E… “It’s possible that either PennEast or the environmental groups challenging the project’s FERC certificate could request that the matter be sent back to the agency, David Bookbinder, senior counsel at the Niskanen Center and a landowner attorney in the PennEast litigation, told E&E. Yesterday’s letter is "further evidence that PennEast is at least contemplating throwing in the towel," he told E&E.
Facebook: Protect the Planet Stop TMX: CALL OUT! RCMP HAVE ARRIVED TO EXTRACT CLIMBERS
9/22/21
“The siege against the tree sitters that began 16 days ago along the Brunette River corridor, has reached its zenith. The "Tank" has been deployed, a 40 foot huge tracked vehicle to reach the 50 foot high first Skypod 1. Our sources inside the Federal Government, said TMX would not confront the protesters until after the Federal Election. One inside source said, "Trudeau does not want to risk loosing a few seats over a Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline confrontation". Climbers have occupied a set of “skypods”, simple hammocks type tents suspended 50’ above the ground. The stakes are high; serious injury is just one of many risks the climbers are taking. The skypods are strategically linked to various structures on the ground and in the forest canopy with the aim of deterring tree cutting. The land defenders oppose destruction of this urban forest, and are calling for climate leadership in cancelling the TMX and ending the expansion of tar sands.”
Cincinnati Enquirer: Court approves construction of Duke Energy's controversial Central Corridor Pipeline
Brook Endale, 9/22/21
“The Ohio Supreme Court has approved the construction of Duke Energy’s controversial Central Corridor Pipeline,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. “The pipeline runs about 14 miles through Sharonville, Sycamore Township, Blue Ash, Evendale, Reading, Amberley Village and Golf Manor. Duke says the new pipeline is necessary to replace aging infrastructure. It will reduce reliance on gas from stations south of the region and allow Duke to retire peaking plants that supply gas in cold weather. Residents in the communities on the pipeline's route have long opposed the project, saying they fear for their safety and worry the pipeline will leak or explode. Critics have said the risks outweigh the pipeline's potential benefits. For example, the pipeline will only reduce reliance on one southern station by 5%, according to a Duke consultant. Reading, Blue Ash, and Neighbors Opposed to Pipeline Extension appealed the Ohio Power Siting Board decision granting Duke a certificate to construct the pipeline. They argued the board misapplied the statutory criteria governing certificate approval, decided the case on incomplete information, misweighed the evidence, and limited their ability to meaningfully participate. The court ruled while the board failed to follow its own rule by allowing Duke to submit a proposed route without also providing a fully developed alternative route, those appealing the decision couldn’t prove they were harmed by the error.”
Highland County Press: Columbia Gas of Ohio cited for gas pipeline safety violation
9/22/21
“The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) this month ordered Columbia Gas of Ohio to pay $250,000 for violations of natural gas pipeline safety regulations related to a November 2020 house fire in South Point, Ohio,” the Highland County Press reports. “The order accepted a settlement agreement between PUCO staff and Columbia Gas of Ohio. The agreement calls for Columbia to review its operations and procedures and examine how employees are trained and their qualifications are verified. Columbia must report its findings to the PUCO. Columbia will also pay a $250,000 civil forfeiture to the state of Ohio. A PUCO investigation alleged that Columbia personnel repairing a damaged pipeline ultimately led to a house fire in South Point on Nov. 23, 2020. The incident destroyed a house and three vehicles, causing over $800,000 in property damage, and injured a utility employee. The investigation stated that Columbia allegedly failed to follow its own operating procedures when repairing a natural gas pipeline that had been struck by an excavator, including assigning unqualified workers to perform the repairs. The investigation report also noted a similar pattern of repeated alleged safety violations.”
Associated Press: NTSB analyzing fractured gas pipeline in Coolidge explosion
9/22/21
“The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday released its preliminary report on last month’s gas line explosion in Coolidge that destroyed a home and killed a man and his 14-year-old daughter,” the Associated Press reports. “NTSB investigators said a natural gas pipeline ruptured around 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 15 about 120 yards away from a family’s rural farmhouse on the outskirts of Coolidge, a small Pinal County city located south of Phoenix. Authorities said the explosion was heard for miles and the resulting fire burned for more than 2 ½ hours. A 46-foot section of the pipeline was ejected during the explosion, according to investigators. But right before the explosion, the NTSB said the gas pressure of the pipeline was below the maximum allowed operating pressure… “The NTSB said the fractured and unaffected portions of the pipeline still were undergoing analysis and testing and the agency’s investigation of the explosion was ongoing.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
The Hill: Top Democrat says he'll push to address fossil fuel tax breaks in spending bill
RACHEL FRAZIN, 9/22/21
“Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Wednesday that he’s pushing for legislation to address fossil fuel tax breaks to be included in Democrats' $3.5 trillion spending bill,” The Hill reports. ““President Biden, to his credit, in the campaign, said that there should not be special tax breaks — his words, not mine — for fossil fuels. Clean Energy for America meets that campaign pledge,” he told reporters, referring to a bill advanced by his committee. “We’re going to push for it in the reconciliation bill as well,” he added during a press conference. Such provisions have not been included in the House version of the reconciliation bill — sparking criticism from some progressives. During Wednesday's press conference, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said the eventual Democratic bill “may well have” provisions like a carbon tax to encourage the transition to clean energy.”
E&E News: SEC sends companies a climate ‘wake-up call’
Avery Ellfeldt, 9/23/21
“The Securities and Exchange Commission has started to put more pressure on publicly listed companies to say more about how climate change affects their business,” E&E News reports. “The agency in recent weeks has sent letters to businesses regarding the climate-related data they included — or did not include — in their most recent 10-K filings… “Notably, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has sent letters to companies in a range of sectors, including those that aren’t particularly carbon intensive. “It’s probably in its infant stages now, it’s probably not a sweep yet, but I would suspect by the end of the year you will hear about triple digit — 300 to maybe 500 letters — going to companies. Because this is sort of a wake-up call, if you will, is what they’re signaling. And also a data-gathering exercise," James Moloney, a partner at Gibson Dunn who used to work at the SEC, told E&E. It doesn’t come as a surprise that the agency has started to pressure companies on the issue. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has made it clear since he took office in April that climate risk is among his top priorities and that the agency under his leadership would develop rules to ensure companies provide more robust and consistent climate information… “But late yesterday afternoon, the SEC posted to its website an example of a letter the agency might send to a company regarding the climate-related information it embedded — or failed to embed — in recent securities filings. The sample letter touched on a range of issues, including the possibility that some companies include more exhaustive disclosure of climate-related risks and efforts in their voluntary sustainability reports than they do in their required filings, which are subject to more legal and regulatory scrutiny… “The letter provided by the agency also prodded the unnamed company to disclose whether it could face climate-related litigation, risks from physical climate impacts — such as extreme weather events — or losses associated with looming international efforts to curb carbon emissions.”
STATE UPDATES
Bloomberg: Why the Most Populous U.S. County Just Ended Oil and Gas Drilling
By Brentin Mock and Laura Bliss, 9/21/21
“Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously last week to phase out oil and gas drilling in unincorporated parts of the nation’s most populous county, in what advocates hailed as a victory in a years-long movement for environmental justice. But thousands of derricks within city limits are unaffected by the new ordinance, and advocates say the fight is ongoing, with hopes that the vote will be a model for other places,” Bloomberg reports. “This decision is a huge deal because it can potentially impact a very large number of people,” Rachel Morello-Frosch, an environmental health scientist at the University of Berkeley, told Bloomberg, “and can also influence a statewide conversation about the regulation of upstream oil and gas production in California.” Led by County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who represents large portions of central and south Los Angeles, the motion sets the county on a path to shutter the roughly 1,600 active and idle oil and gas wells that span its unincorporated communities. Drilling the vast oil fields that sit below Los Angeles was the city’s first big industry. By the 1920s and 1930s, extraction was so prolific that the Los Angeles Times compared the rigs dotting the Santa Monica Bay to “trees in a forest.” “...Morello-Frosch has conducted several studies on the health impacts of living near oil and gas developments, finding that pregnant women are among the most vulnerable: They experience a significant increase in the risk of premature babies with low birth weights and other abnormalities. The babies are also at a higher risk of being small for gestational age, particularly in urban areas, such as L.A., Morello-Frosch found. Pollution emitted from these sites also disproportionately impacts the birth weights of Black and Latino mothers in L.A. “This is definitely an environmental justice issue,” Morello-Frosch told Bloomberg, “which is why it’s so gratifying that the county now recognizes this as an EJ issue and is seeking to remove a major source of environmental hazard in these communities that they have had to live with for a long time.”
KDVR: Oil and gas operator K.P. Kauffman fined $2M in pattern of violations
Lanie Lee Cook, 9/21/21
“Colorado’s energy regulator has lodged a fine of more than $2 million against oil and gas operator K.P. Kauffman in a series of spills and leaks,” KDVR reports. “In a hearing Tuesday, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission found the company engaged in a pattern of violations. Because of that finding, the COGCC applied an aggravating factor that increased penalties to a total of $2,014,530… “The COGCC tried the Denver-based company, known as KPK, on allegations that the company ignored flow line leaks and oil spills and had lax cleanup efforts. During the trial, the COGCC called the company unreliable, incapable and impactful and said they were “unable to operate in Colorado safely.” They said the company failed to act when notified of spills or leaks and consistently failed to properly dispose of contaminated soil during cleanup efforts.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Canada fossil fuel workers want victorious Trudeau to keep retraining pledge
Nia Williams, 9/22/21
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s narrow election victory this week reinforced Canada’s commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but workers in the country’s sizable fossil fuel sector said they also expect him to keep his promises to retrain them for jobs in a clean-energy economy,” Reuters reports. “Oil worker advocacy group Iron & Earth estimates Canada will need around C$10 billion ($7.8 billion) over 10 years to retrain fossil fuel workers, but is sceptical about government promises to help after past pledges failed to materialise. “At what point do these stop being promises and start being actions? These are people’s livelihoods on the line,” Luisa Da Silva, executive director of Iron & Earth, told Reuters. “Da Silva told Reuters the country risks losing the skilled labour crucial to a clean energy economy if the government does not prioritise transition funding, which the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement recognizes as important to ensure no workers are left behind as the world decarbonizes… “But Steve MacDonald, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta, a provincial government-funded organization that invests in emissions-reducing technology, told Reuters it would be difficult to recreate the sustained economic contribution that was associated with the oil and gas sector… “In the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, where a nearly a third of all jobs are in fossil fuels, workers are nervous. “We are a one-industry city,” Dirk Tolman, 59, a heavy equipment operator and union leader at Suncor, who has worked in the oil sands since 2008, told Reuters. “Without the oil sands I don’t know if anybody would be staying in Fort McMurray.” Even if clean energy jobs do replace oil and gas jobs, they are unlikely to be in the same location. Sean Cadigan, a professor of history at Memorial University of Newfoundland, who has studied the impact of the collapse of Atlantic Canada’s fishing industry in the 1990s, told Reuters oil and gas communities need new industries to develop alongside any shutdown of fossil fuels. “(Otherwise) it will lead to a profound dislocation of people and that will always have grave impact on communities left behind.”
Bloomberg: Methane Crackdown Could Threaten U.S. Driller Profits, Citi Says
David Wethe, 9/22/21
“Natural gas drillers’ earnings would take a hit from a potential U.S. crackdown on methane leaks, according to Citigroup Inc. -- but the magnitude of the impact depends on how emissions are measured,” Bloomberg reports. “Lawmakers have proposed adding a $1,680-per-ton fee on methane to the budget bill making its way through Congress. If the levies are based on figures reported by the companies themselves, the hit to gas producers will be less than 1% of 2023 earnings, Citigroup said. But if the gauge is based on the much higher levels of emissions detected by satellite from shale basins, the financial impact could jump to 8.5% of earnings, according to the bank. Basin-wide studies done using satellite data point to methane emissions “an order of magnitude higher” versus what companies have reported, Citi analysts including Scott Gruber wrote Wednesday in a note to investors. “While there’s still debate as to whether or not a methane fee is included in the reconciliation bill, another key on this topic appears to be the accuracy of reported fugitive methane figures.”
Friends of the Earth: New Report reveals Big Oil’s $86B offshore tax bonanza
9/22/21
“ A new report from Friends of the Earth, Oxfam America, and BailoutWatch shines a light on $86 billion worth of offshore tax loopholes benefiting Big Oil. The report provides fresh details about the history and potential cost of these subsidies, which are embedded deep in the tax code. Fossil fuel subsidies like these are a hot topic for climate and justice groups, who see the misspent funds as low-hanging fruit that could help pay for Democrats’ proposed $3.5 trillion climate and care reconciliation package. Recent legislation passed by the House Ways and Means Committee would eliminate two subsidies addressed in the new report: the exemption for Foreign Oil and Gas Extraction Income (FOGEI) and special treatment for dual-capacity taxpayers, worth at least $86 billion to just a handful of oil majors. Unfortunately, the legislation left intact at least another $35 billion in domestic fossil fuel subsidies that President Biden proposes ending, some of which are over a century old. Alternative proposals in the Senate like Chairman Wyden’s Clean Energy For America Act would address both domestic and international polluter giveaways. “The House bill made a decent start by targeting Big Oil’s international tax loopholes, but it went nowhere near far enough,” said Lukas Ross, Climate and Energy Justice Program Manager at Friends of the Earth, “Leader Schumer needs to lead on climate and ensure that all $121 billion in fossil fuel subsidies are repealed in the final package.” Repealing the Trump-era exemption for FOGEI will raise an estimated $84.8 billion in revenue.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
MacArthur Foundation: Aligning Our Investments With Our Mission, Values, and Programs
9/22/21
“MacArthur President John Palfrey shares our path to divest from fossil fuels and diversify our asset managers. Climate change is likely the greatest existential threat to our planet and our collective well-being. With each major scientific report on climate change, the news is more worrisome, not less. Charitable foundations like ours must use all the tools at our disposal to ensure it does not get worse… “The MacArthur Foundation works to create a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. One of our Big Bets seeks to support Climate Solutions through a coordinated strategy of grantmaking and impact investments. In line with these goals, we are committing to greater alignment between our endowment investments and our programmatic goals, mission, and values. Today we share that we are on a path to divesting from fossil fuels. As we begin to divest our investment assets from businesses in the fossil fuel industry, we are ramping up investments in companies and funds that seek to address climate change. We have taken several steps toward divestment from fossil fuels to date. In late 2019, we ceased new investments in private funds that invest in oil and gas exploration. These funds are winding down over time, and we will continue our efforts to sell these privately-held assets in a manner consistent with our fiduciary duties. Beginning this fall, we are changing the way we own equity exposure. We used to hold derivatives based on broad indices. Starting in the U.S. we will use an index that excludes companies with fossil fuel reserves. As these derivatives become practical to use globally, we will switch.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
KUSH: TC Energy partners with Cushing to aid in recycling & more
9/22/21
“Ask and ye shall receive.” Cushing Pride Director Richard Thackray submitted a request for grant assistance from TC Energy and received a grant to purchase colorful sorting sacks to be handed out to the recycling public to be used in separating aluminum, steel cans, plastics #1 and #2,” KUSH reports. “Additional funds were granted to purchase decorative trash cans to be installed around the city, as well as cigarette receptacles, in hope of cutting down on litter. The grants will help with efforts to keep Cushing clean and beautiful. The four decorative benches will be placed along the Memorial Park walking trail. “Today was a great day for a great partnership,” Thackray told KUSH. Along with a big thank you to TC Energy and TC Energy Foundation, Thackray gave special thanks to Gary McDonald who kept them informed and assisted in the process. “We will be forever thankful for your help in returning Cushing to a cleaner and more responsible community!”
OPINION
Ted Glick: October 11-15 in DC: It’s History Making Time
Ted Glick is a volunteer organizer with Beyond Extreme Energy and president of 350NJ-Rockland, 9/22/21
“We are now in a hugely consequential season when it comes to ending the dominance of the polluting fossil fuel industry and shifting urgently to clean and renewable energy sources like wind and solar,” Ted Glick writes. “...What could send a strong and clear signal to the world that the US is serious about this emergency? One would be for President Biden to actually sign an executive order declaring a climate emergency. And using that declaration as the basis, he should then announce that this year, following the call for such action by the International Energy Agency, he is instructing his agencies to stop approving any new fossil fuel infrastructure. No new oil and gas pipelines. No new gas compressor stations to push gas through the pipelines. No new Liquified Natural Gas export terminals. No new gas or oil storage terminals. No more saying one thing and then letting just the opposite happen. Are these realistic demands? “...They are realistic if there’s enough political pressure from below right now. That is why thousands of people are planning to descend on Washington, DC three weeks from now to take part in organized, nonviolent direct action at the White House the 11th-14th and Congress on the 15th. In the words of a letter to Biden from frontline activists around the country, “President Biden, in light of the upcoming COP26 United Nations climate summit, you cannot claim to be a climate leader when you are supporting fossil fuels. Stand with frontline communities, stand with future generations, stop approving fossil fuel projects, declare a climate emergency now. Their statement concludes with these wise words: “If you have ever marched, rallied, called your representatives, lobbied, signed petitions to urge governmental leaders to act—we call on you to take the next step. Nonviolent civil disobedience is a time-tested tactic for change. Every movement for change, from suffragists to the Civil Rights movement, has proven that the defining moments are those where people are willing to risk arrest. “If we all come together, put our bodies on the line in the name of climate justice, we may be able to change the course of history. Please consider joining us on October 11-15 for one day, for the entire week, or for whatever time you can offer. “In solidarity for the protection of Mother Earth and the next seven generations of life.” https://peoplevsfossilfuels.org – that’s where you can find out more, find answers to your questions, and sign up.”
Los Angeles Times: Op-Ed: How Congress could curtail the Big Oil gravy train
Katie Porter (D-Irvine) represents California’s 45th District in the House of Representatives. Robert Weissman is president of Public Citizen., 9/22/21
“The fossil fuel industry is a poster child for corporate welfare,” Katie Porter and Robert Weissman write for the Los Angeles Times. “Federal subsidies and tax breaks prop up fossil fuel development, even when drilling projects should be too expensive to turn a profit. Below-market leasing rates, royalties and fees subsidize oil and gas companies, encouraging them to exploit our public lands and leaving taxpayers on the hook for the environmental damage. In the “Build Back Better” Act, Congress has an opportunity to make oil and gas corporations play by the same rules as everyone else. The House has included common-sense oil and gas reforms in its version of the bill, and the Senate should follow suit. Taxpayers should get a fair return from oil and gas companies that drill on publicly owned lands and waters. The House bill would make this change. Right now, these polluters pay below-market rates to extract resources that belong to all Americans… “As the great harm climate change is doing becomes increasingly clear, it’s more important than ever that we act on what may be a once-in-a-generation chance to overcome the oil and gas industry’s concentrated political power. In the coming weeks, the fossil fuel industry will undoubtedly put up a fight. But if the public keeps up the pressure on their lawmakers, Congress may have the courage to eliminate many longstanding fossil fuel subsidies and giveaways. Make your voice heard. Hold the industry accountable so it can no longer count on taxpayers for a free ride.”
OilPrice.com: How Will Methane Regulations Impact America’s Oil And Gas Industry?
By Tsvetana Paraskova, 9/21/21
“The United States and the European Union are calling on the world to join a global initiative for a significant reduction in methane emissions, as major economies proceed with plans to tackle the worst effects of climate change,” Tsvetana Paraskova writes for OilPrice.com. “At a recent summit, the United States, the EU, and several other countries, including OPEC’s number two, Iraq, indicated that they would support the so-called Global Methane Pledge. The initiative, expected to be launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in November in Glasgow, calls for countries to join it in committing to a collective goal to cut global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030. The signatories would also pledge to use the best available inventory methodologies to quantify methane emissions, with a particular focus on high-emission sources. A pledge to slash methane emissions could directly impact regulations concerning the U.S. energy sector, which has already expressed its opposition to plans from House Democrats to introduce a fee on methane… “The energy sector has the greatest potential for targeted reduction of methane emissions by 2030, the joint EU-U.S. statement on the initiative says… “The Biden Administration will surely want to have the oil and gas industry slash their methane emissions, but punitively taxing the sector—which still provides the single largest share of electricity in the U.S., 40 percent—may not be the best course to achieve lasting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while keeping America’s energy supply reliable.”
AZ Central: Call a 'methane fee' what it is: A tax that'll sock anyone who uses natural gas
Eric Knott is chairman of the board of the Arizona Small Business Association and the owner of FinePoint HR, an human resources consulting firm in Phoenix, 9/22/21
“American families have been battered by COVID-19. One-third of households face a challenge in meeting energy needs, according to the Energy Information Administration. If we want to build back better, we must do what is right for these families and the small businesses that are the backbone of our economy. That starts with keeping costs low for basic needs like food, medicine and energy,” Eric Knott writes for AZ Central. “A proposed energy tax as part of the budget reconciliation plan threatens that… “The affordability of natural gas has led to at least $123 billion in savings for American businesses since 2009. With all that in mind, it is shocking that a group of U.S. senators have proposed a “methane fee” – or more plainly, an energy tax consumers will have to pay, in the budget resolution making its way through Congress. This misguided attempt to reduce emissions will have the opposite result by raising prices and dissuading customers from using a lower carbon fuel. Further, this fee lessens the willingness of investors to expend capital for the infrastructure upgrades that natural gas utility companies continuously make to reduce emissions… “The methane fee, if enacted, would likely necessitate rate increases for natural gas and electricity customers, including families, small businesses and power generators. In one scenario the industry looked at, such a fee could result in the average customer seeing an approximate increase of 17% in their natural gas bill, or over $100 per year for the average American family.”