EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 9/24/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Jacobin: The Fight Against the Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota
The Progressive: Bad River Band Holds Firm Against Enbridge Line 5
CBC: Police in cherry picker remove, arrest anti-pipeline tree-sitter in Burnaby
Burnaby Beacon: RCMP removes tree-sits removed from TMX path
Facebook: Protect the Planet Stop TMX: Trans Mountain is finally encroaching upon our two remaining main treesit platforms
Press release: REPRESENTATIVE MALINOWSKI APPLAUDS WIN FOR LANDOWNERS IN FIGHT AGAINST PENNEAST PIPELINE
WDBJ: Pipeline opponents criticize DEQ oversight
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Bloomberg: Biden Nearing Methane Crackdown Dreaded (and Dodged) by Industry
STATE UPDATES
CPR: Colorado Democrats Urge The EPA To Take A Tougher Stance On Methane From Oil And Gas Drilling
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Summit Midstream Partners pleads guilty in largest U.S. inland spill from oil drilling
Bloomberg: World’s Top Shale Oil Field Is Still Spewing Methane by the Ton
CLIMATE FINANCE
Stop the Money Pipeline: Bank of America renews funding for Line 3 pipeline company while sponsoring New York Climate Week
National Observer: World leaders urged to turn off the tap on fossil fuel subsidies
Oil Change International: 200+ CSOs call on world leaders to end public finance for fossil fuels in 2021
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
BBC: Advertising regulator to clampdown on greenwashing ads
OPINION
OilPrice.com: Oilmen Are The Newest Clean Energy Entrepreneurs
PIPELINE NEWS
Jacobin: The Fight Against the Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota
JULIA ROCK, 9/23/21
“...Dawn Kier, an Anishinaabe woman in her late forties 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,” Jacobin reports. “...Water protectors had high hopes that after a campaign promising to fight climate change, President Joe Biden would revoke permits for the pipeline, but instead, his administration defended the Donald Trump administration’s approval in federal court. Now the project is more than 90 percent complete — and if finished, it will carry nearly one million barrels of oil each day from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to a terminal in Superior, Wisconsin, on the shore of the eponymous Great Lake. That is enough to almost entirely replace the lost supply caused by Biden’s much-vaunted cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline in January… “Enbridge’s success so far in pushing the project through — even as Democrats hold the governorship and half the legislature in Minnesota as well as governing majorities at the federal level — shows that the party is not yet willing to take on the fossil fuel industry.”
The Progressive: Bad River Band Holds Firm Against Enbridge Line 5
MARGARET KATES, KAITLYN FARLEY, 9/23/21
“Naomi Tillison, director of the natural resources department for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe tribe in northern Wisconsin, sees Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline as a serious threat to the Ojibwe people,” The Progressive reports. “The pipeline, she says, isn’t designed to withstand the forces of the river if the waterway and the pipeline overlap. “There’s been a lot of activity going on, and just accessing time and time again can have impacts to the health of the natural resources, including the health of wetlands.” “That obviously is very concerning to us, because downstream of the river is where wild rice grows,” Tillison told the Progressive. “And there’s other really important resources for the tribe that the tribal community depends on, including the fish they harvest.” Wild rice, or manoomin, grows in the Bad River sloughs, and is a sacred staple of the Bad River Band… “In 2017, the Bad River Band voted not to renew easements for the pipeline. Later, in July 2019, they filed a federal lawsuit against Enbridge, arguing for their rights not to renew these easements as the band has basic property rights over the parts of the reservation that the pipeline runs through. The case is still in discovery, and litigation and arguments aren’t expected to begin for a few more months.”
CBC: Police in cherry picker remove, arrest anti-pipeline tree-sitter in Burnaby
9/22/21
“Police used a white cherry picker to extract and arrest a tree sitter Wednesday for breaching an existing court- ordered injunction at the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion worksite near North Road and Highway 1,” CBC reports. “The man was suspended 15 metres in a tree in protest of the pipeline. According to Burnaby RCMP, he was safely removed with the assistance of officers specialized in high-angle rescue. Anti-pipeline activists have been occupying trees at TMX worksites in the area since last year in an effort to stop tree clearing for pipeline construction. The group Protect the Planet Stop TMX said police arrived at the Lost Creek site this morning with a crane capable of reaching the tree sit referred to as "Skypod 1." "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," the group said in a statement.”
Burnaby Beacon: RCMP removes tree-sits removed from TMX path
Dustin Godfrey, 9/23/21
“Within less than a day, Bill Winder scaled a 70-foot tree, slept in said tree, was removed from the tree by police in a cherry picker, arrested, charged, given a court date, and released,” the Burnaby Beacon reports. “When Winder made his way into the tree overnight Tuesday to occupy a “sky pod” that sought to block the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Burnaby, he attached the U-lock to his neck and to the cable lock, which in turn was attached to the tree… “Winder was in 1 of 2 sky pods set up in the Brunette River area of Burnaby, where tree removal work has been underway to build the controversial pipeline… “Winder was ultimately charged with criminal contempt of court for violating a court order that blocked people from obstructing work on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through the Brunette River area… “Winder and other protesters blocking the pipeline work say it’s about the future of the planet. Anti-TMX activists note the construction of the pipeline is linked to expansion in Alberta’s oilsands, which they say is impossible to do while also meeting climate targets. “We’re not going anywhere. We have 2 structures that are much more difficult to take down than these,” Dr Tim Takaro, a physician and SFU professor, who set up the original Brunette River tree-sit in August 2020, told the Beacon. “This pipeline will not be built. It can’t be built. We owe it to our children to stop it.”
Facebook: Protect the Planet Stop TMX: Trans Mountain is finally encroaching upon our two remaining main treesit platforms
9/23/21
“PLEASE come out to physically support us this morning in what may be our very last actions to stop the TMX pipeline, as Trans Mountain (TM) is finally encroaching upon our two remaining main treesit platforms, which have been the core of our holding back the TMX pipeline’s construction for well over a year. Our efforts will likely end today, if TM, with the paramilitary support of the RCMP’s infamous tactical team, the green men — the same unit which had executed the tactical raids at Fairy Creek — are allowed to proceed without substantial physical resistance by additional supporters. TM has intended to force the pipeline through a forested strip of riparian land, through which tributary creeks of the adjacent Brunette river run in the southeast part of the municipality that is known as Burnaby, BC. The small creek by which the immediate area we have occupied is known, is Lost Creek. We need supporters to meet us at a rally point outside of the imposed injunction zone at Lost Creek, in nearby Hume Park. We will be meeting and coordinating people and resources from a covered pavillion-picnic table area approximately 200m east of the North Road/Columbia St entrance at the Burnaby/New Westminster boundary confluence (see map link below), starting at 7am this morning (Thursday, Sept 23), and throughout the day, as practicable.”
Press release: REPRESENTATIVE MALINOWSKI APPLAUDS WIN FOR LANDOWNERS IN FIGHT AGAINST PENNEAST PIPELINE
9/22/21
“The State of New Jersey has reached an agreement in principle with the PennEast Pipeline Company regarding their efforts to seize state-owned land. “I welcome the news that PennEast is standing down from its attempt to seize state-owned land to build a destructive and unnecessary pipeline,” said Representative Malinowski. “This significant development is a major win for the environment and for our coalition of landowners, elected officials, and activist groups opposed to the pipeline. I thank the Murphy Administration for their efforts and I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to make sure, once and for all, that this pipeline is never built.”
WDBJ: Pipeline opponents criticize DEQ oversight
Joe Dashiell, 9/22/21
“Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline turned their attention to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Wednesday,” WDBJ reports. “About a dozen protesters said they were “blowing the whistle” on the state agency. They gathered at the Salem office, saying DEQ has failed to protect Virginia waterways. Cynthia Munley is a member of the group Mothers Out Front, Virginia. “What we have left on the pipeline is the steepest, most challenging slopes,” Munley said during the event, “and there is an imminent danger to large municipal water sources as well as the people up in the upland areas whose aquifers are being messed with.” The group delivered a letter calling on the agency to stop construction on the project… “DEQ has scheduled two public hearings on the Mountain Valley Pipeline Monday night in Rocky Mount, and Tuesday night in Radford.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Bloomberg: Biden Nearing Methane Crackdown Dreaded (and Dodged) by Industry
Jennifer A Dlouhy, 9/24/21
“The free ride for methane, a climate-warming gas 84 times stronger than carbon dioxide, is finally nearing an end in Washington,” Bloomberg reports. “While one atmosphere-heating pollutant after another has fallen under regulators’ sway, powerful petrochemical interests and, until recently, scientific uncertainty about the scale of the problem, have thwarted methane restrictions. That will begin to change in coming weeks when the Biden administration proposes the most aggressive federal methane mandates yet for oil and gas wells… “The administration’s coming regulations, to be proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, will address leaks from nearly a million oil and gas wells -- among the largest sources of the gas. The EPA proposals would order more robust inspections and repairs of equipment at new wells and would force companies to plug leaks on hundreds of thousands of wells that were drilled long ago but have so far escaped restrictions. The proposals also are expected to block drillers from simply venting methane that accompanies oil directly into the air or burning it off, with flares so concentrated they can be seen from space… “The delay in taking action has frustrated environmentalists because existing technology can capture the vast majority of methane from oil and gas sites -- making the industry’s emissions low-hanging fruit in the fight against global warming.”
STATE UPDATES
CPR: Colorado Democrats Urge The EPA To Take A Tougher Stance On Methane From Oil And Gas Drilling
Bente Birkeland, 9/22/21
“Colorado’s Democratic Congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to “swiftly” adopt stricter rules on methane, a potent greenhouse gas and byproduct of oil and gas drilling, saying an aggressive approach could cut methane pollution in half by the year 2030,” CPR reports. “Human-caused methane emissions are responsible for at least 25 percent of the warming we are experiencing today, with recent studies finding that methane alone contributes around half a degree to global warming,” states the letter signed by Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, as well as Democratic Reps, Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, Jason Crow and Ed Perlmutter. “Climate change is happening, and it’s happening more and more quickly. We’ve had smoke sitting in the Denver area for two and a half months now,” Perlmutter said. “So we just think we’ve got to, as a nation, do all we can to reduce our pollution to try to slow this change that’s happening.” The three Republicans in the state’s delegation did not sign the letter. The Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies in western states, called the letter factually inaccurate and redundant.”
EXTRACTION
Reuters: Summit Midstream Partners pleads guilty in largest U.S. inland spill from oil drilling
By Sarah N. Lynch, 9/22/21
“Pipeline operator Summit Midstream Partners (SMLP.N) pleaded guilty in federal court in Bismarck, North Dakota, on Wednesday to criminal water pollution charges stemming from what prosecutors call the largest-ever land-based spill from oil drilling,” Reuters reports. “The company agreed to pay $36.3 million to settle the criminal charges, as well as parallel civil charges filed by the U.S. government and the state of North Dakota. The company acknowledged that it was criminally negligent when in August 2014, 29 million gallons (132 million liters) of produced water, a waste product from fracking, spilled from its pipeline near Williston, North Dakota, contaminating the groundwater as well as more than 30 miles (48.28 km) of tributaries of the Missouri River. Produced water caused by this method of drilling contained high concentrations of saline, as well as oil, radioactive substances and pollutants such as ammonia, aluminum and arsenic, The spill continued for five months before it was finally contained and reported to the federal government, as required by the Clean Water Act. Email evidence obtained by government investigators shows that company officials and contractors were aware of numerous blowouts while the pipeline was being pressure-tested, with an inspector at one point saying the company was using lower-than-recommended testing pressures. "What is known, is that the installation was negligent and that the rupture was consistent with negligent installation," the government wrote in court filings.”
Bloomberg: World’s Top Shale Oil Field Is Still Spewing Methane by the Ton
By Zachary Mider and Rachel Adams-Heard, 9/23/21
“When researchers flew over an Energy Transfer LP facility in the Permian Basin of West Texas two months ago, a NASA-designed sensor on their airplane detected a colossal plume of methane pouring into the air,” Bloomberg reports. “Over the next two weeks, they returned twice and found large amounts of the powerful greenhouse gas each time. It was just one of many persistent methane emitters discovered by an aerial survey conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund over the largest U.S. oil field in July and August. The invisible leak was later calculated at more than a ton per hour, with a short-term impact on the atmosphere equivalent to about 47,000 idling cars. Halting methane leaks has become one of the most important fronts in the fight against climate change, and companies across the U.S. energy industry have been pledging to curb their emissions of the gas. But the study released Thursday shows a shocking amount of pollution continues… “The results of the flyovers don’t appear to show much progress compared to a similar survey conducted in 2019, David Lyon, a senior scientist at EDF, told Bloomberg. “Emissions are still very high, so there’s still a lot of opportunities for companies to reduce.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Stop the Money Pipeline: Bank of America renews funding for Line 3 pipeline company while sponsoring New York Climate Week
9/23/21
“The theme of this year’s New York Climate Week is “getting it done.” However, one of the event’s corporate sponsors, Bank of America (BofA), just closed a deal this week to underwrite a new CAD $1.5 billion bond for Enbridge Inc. Enbridge is infamous as the company building the Line 3 tar sands pipeline and reimbursing Minnesota law enforcement for cracking down on unarmed Indigenous water protectors. Enbridge is also a part owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline. “Bank of America’s client, Enbridge, has paid out over $2M to local law enforcement here in my people’s territory,” said Tara Houska, Giniw Collective, “We’ve been tortured, shot at, maced, and jailed. Over 800 arrests and gross human rights violations alongside the irrevocable harm to our land, our water, our wild rice. To call any part of this tar sands company ‘sustainable’ is unconscionable. To fund its destruction of what ecosystems remain against the will of multiple tribal nations is abhorrent.” Bank of America is the only US-based bank underwriting the bond.”
National Observer: World leaders urged to turn off the tap on fossil fuel subsidies
By John Woodside, 9/23/21
“Hot on the heels of major climate announcements at the United Nations this week, more than 200 civil society organizations from dozens of countries are calling for an end to public financing of fossil fuels,” the National Observer reports. “On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country would axe financing for coal-fired power plants abroad, while U.S. President Joe Biden said his nation would double financial aid to other countries to support their transition to a cleaner economy. The letter — signed by groups like the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Oil Change International, Climate Action Network International, and others — references the International Energy Agency’s landmark net-zero report that says if the world is going to hold warming to the Paris Agreement target of as close to 1.5 C as possible, there is no room for any new coal, oil, or gas projects, and existing production must be ramped down rapidly… “On average, Export and Development Canada (EDC) pumps more than $13 billion annually into the fossil fuel industry, but money flows from the Business Development Bank of Canada, provincial governments, and other agencies, too. EDC is “the main culprit at the federal level, and interestingly, the incoming Liberal government does include in (its) platform a plan to phase out public financing of the fossil fuel sector –– including from Crown corporations like EDC,” Corkal told the Observer.
Oil Change International: 200+ CSOs call on world leaders to end public finance for fossil fuels in 2021
9/23/21
“One day before world leaders meet to discuss the energy transition at the United Nations High Level Dialogue on Energy, more than 200 civil society organizations (CSOs) from over 40 countries have released a statement calling on world leaders to end international public finance for coal, oil and gas. The statement points to International Energy Agency modelling that shows limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires ending all investments in new oil and gas fields and coal mines in 2021 and rapidly winding down existing fossil fuel production and use. Yet, G20 members still provide at least three times as much public finance for fossil fuels (USD 77 billion) as for clean energy (USD 28 billion) every year. New data published alongside the CSO statement show that the amount of fossil fuel finance provided by the richest countries is also still higher than their estimated level of climate finance. The CSOs point out that clean alternatives such as wind and solar are already cost-competitive and respond effectively to clean cooking and electricity needs in the Global South. At the same time, they highlight, any new public financial support to oil and gas risks locking-in outdated energy infrastructure in the places that most critically need public investments in clean energy.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
BBC: Advertising regulator to clampdown on greenwashing ads
By Beth Timmins, 9/23/21
“The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is to release new guidance to ensure ads don't mislead people about the environment,” the BBC reports. “The regulator will be launching inquiries to analyse environmental claims made by companies in sectors such as energy, waste and transport. It found there's currently "significant scope" for firms to make mistakes. The ASA will also commission research into carbon neutral and net zero promises made in ads… “Recent examples where the ASA found firms misleading customers on environmental credentials include a banned ad campaign by Ryanair in which it claimed to have the lowest airline CO2 emissions.”
OPINION
OilPrice.com: Oilmen Are The Newest Clean Energy Entrepreneurs
Haley Zaremba, 9/23/21
“Last month the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its landmark 6th Assessment Report on the worldwide state of global warming and the response to changing climates and the greenhouse gas emissions that are powering that change,” Haley Zaremba writes for OilPrice.com. “...Let’s not overstate it; oil, gas, and coal are still king. And they will not be disappearing overnight. But solar and wind are getting competitive, and there is an extremely promising amount of investment in the research and development of new clean energy technologies. And some of the most inventive and innovative clean energy initiatives are coming from a surprising place: the oil and gas industry… “But one of the more interesting ideas currently receiving a lot of investor attention is a method that, on the surface, is anathema to the clean energy sector: fracking. Houston-based Quidnet is pumping water underground, not to release oil and gas, but to store that water in a high-pressure environment until energy is needed, at which point the water is released, gushes to the surface, turns a turbine, and creates electricity… “The green frackers are far from the only example of oil and gas workers using their know-how for the greener good. Drillers are using their cutting-edge technologies to improve geothermal energy potential, a movement being spearheaded by more Texans including Houston’s Fervo Energy. Others are using oil and gas industry methods for capturing and storing carbon in underground wells.”