EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 9/27/21
PIPELINE NEWS
MPR: Criminal cases against Line 3 protesters stress rural Minnesota legal system
The New Republic: What It Feels Like to Have a Pipeline Cut Through Your Town
BLCK Press: Ellison’s Keynote Disrupted by Line 3 Protestors
Omaha World-Herald: Nebraska is likely headed for another pipeline controversy — this time over carbon dioxide
Cherokee Chronicle Times: County, landowners reviewing CO2 pipeline
Cherokee Chronicle Times: CO2 pipeline promoters’ letter to landowners
Des Moines Register [VIDEO]: What to know about the proposed Iowa carbon pipelines
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Hanover and neighboring counties fed up with 'less than responsive' communication from company hoping to build a natural gas pipeline
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint: COASTAL GASLINK DESTROYS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE ON CAS YIKH TERRITORY
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint [VIDEO]: Early in the morning on September 25th a supporter was tazered and arrested on the road to the drill pad site where CGL plans to drill under Wedzin Kwa
The Narwhal: Trans Mountain ‘investigating’ claims consultant has ties to Proud Boys terrorist group
VT Digger: Burlington protesters support Indigenous communities fighting Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota
Natural Gas Intelligence: Suncor Teams Up with Indigenous Group to Acquire Stake in Oilsands Pipeline
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Oil states brace for Biden methane rule
CLIMATE FINANCE
National Observer: Canadian banks are loaning Enbridge over $1B with questionable sustainability requirements
Star Tribune: Under student pressure, University of Minnesota to phase out fossil fuel investments
Tribal Business News: ‘LOUD AND CLEAR’: An Indigenous push for the SEC to include tribal human and land rights in its investor disclosures
OPINION
American Prospect: FERC Nominee Willie Phillips Has a Pro–Corporate Utility Record
San Antonio Express-News: Methane tax threat to Texas economy
PIPELINE NEWS
MPR: Criminal cases against Line 3 protesters stress rural Minnesota legal system
Kirsti Marohn, 9/23/21
“Maya Stovall was a student at Carleton College helping organize on climate issues when she learned about the Line 3 oil pipeline. She decided to travel to northern Minnesota to join the protests against the pipeline — and kept going back,” MPR reports. “...For the March incident, Stovall faces misdemeanor charges of trespassing, unlawful assembly and public nuisance. But after a July arrest in Pennington County, she received a more serious gross misdemeanor charge of trespassing on critical infrastructure. Stovall had to wait months to be assigned a public defender to represent her. "It's stressful — a lot of weight from not being able to move forward,” she told MPR. “I would really like to file motions to dismiss my charges, and I cannot do that without representation.” Nearly 900 people have been arrested during protests against the Line 3 oil pipeline, which is being built in northern Minnesota. Most were cited with misdemeanors. But many, like Stovall, have been charged with gross misdemeanors, and some face felony charges. The number of legal cases is straining resources in the northern Minnesota counties where most of the protests took place. In addition to waiting for months for a public defender, some defendants also argue that the charges they're facing are unfairly severe. "What we are seeing at Line 3 are definitely more significant charges or serious charges with the potential for more serious punishments,” Lauren Regan, executive director and a senior attorney at the Civil Liberties Defense Center, which is helping represent pipeline activists, told MPR. She said charges against Line 3 protesters have escalated since the protests began, even though she says their actions have been nonviolent and fairly run-of-the-mill acts of civil disobedience… “The Line 3 protests have stretched the already-thin public defenders' offices in the 17-county Ninth Judicial District in northwest Minnesota, which is handling more than 250 pipeline cases. Several defendants wrote to state public defender William Ward last week, complaining of more than 100 people being put on a waiting list for a public defender in the Ninth Judicial District. They said the delay had created numerous issues and violated their constitutional rights.”
The New Republic: What It Feels Like to Have a Pipeline Cut Through Your Town
Audrey Gray, 9/27/21
“I’d come to the D&K Corner Bar in Plummer, Minnesota (pop. 289) to understand how neighbors of the new Line 3 oil pipeline felt watching Canadian energy company Enbridge carve a deep trench all the way across their state this summer,” The New Republic reports. “...I sat with dozens of people this summer as they watched segments of pipe trucked in and buried in their backyards. Since then, Arlys’ words and similar sentiments I heard have haunted me: You can’t think too much about this stuff, or you’ll lose your mind. They articulate a common predicament: How are we to stay sanguine and functional day-to-day as we witness increasingly severe weather and worsening air quality battering the places and people we love? How much responsibility for deathly global systems are we able to shoulder before we’re hijacked by fear that we lack agency in our own time? How do we stay alert, sensitive and responsive to our environment when our sensors keep getting overloaded by messages of shame and doom? But I also met Minnesotans who were approaching the issue from another angle: Would acknowledging fear about this new pipeline’s impact really break our brains? Would it kill us? Or would ignoring the risk present the greater threat?” “...Johnson feels guilty for being a typical American energy consumer. He’s not alone. That “personal responsibility” line of reasoning—you are the emitter, and you deserve more fossil fuel infrastructure because you want a warm house and full tank—has been carefully engineered by fossil fuel companies over decades. Enbridge has been no different. They didn’t sneak this project into communities, they built relationships with Minnesotans, asked for their concerns, and spoke with people about the ongoing need for oil in modern lifestyles, all while sponsoring local charities and Fourth of July celebrations. “When they mobilized, it was incredible, the amount of traffic through here,” Samuelson told TNR. “But Enbridge is extremely accommodating. They want to make sure the town board is pleased, and they voluntarily paid for dust control.”
BLCK Press: Ellison’s Keynote Disrupted by Line 3 Protestors
Nadia Shaarawi, 9/24/21
“On Thursday evening, dozens of water protectors with the movement to stop Line 3 interrupted the installation of Mitchell Hamline School of Law’s new dean featuring keynote speaker Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison,” BLCK Press reports. “Others in attendance included Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and state Supreme Court Justice Anne McKeig. During Ellison’s speech, the activists confronted the Attorney General about the Line 3 tar sands pipeline and his silence on the matter. While inside the auditorium, multiple people presented the Attorney Governor with questions about Line 3. One water protector asked, “What will you do about the frivolous charges brought against over 800 people drawing attention to Line 3’s climate impacts and civil rights violations?” Ellison did not address any of the audience’s questions, meanwhile security guards forcibly removed water protectors. The Attorney General agreed to meet with the group after the event in which he did. After the event, Ellison met with protestors outside including Taysha Martineau and Jaike Spotted-Wolf, leaders of Camp Migizi, a frontline Line 3 resistance camp. Ellison spent the majority of the interaction critiquing the activists’ tone and disruptive actions, claiming he’s “never been pro-Line 3, but [doesn’t] have the power to do anything about Line 3”. Martineau expressed deep worry for their daughters and land in light of human trafficking including Enbridge workers and destruction left by construction. Ellison agreed to call commissioners on this issue before leaving the meeting.”
Omaha World-Herald: Nebraska is likely headed for another pipeline controversy — this time over carbon dioxide
Paul Hammel, 9/25/21
“While the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline has finally ended, another pipeline punching match is looming on the horizon in Nebraska,” the Omaha World-Herald reports. “Two environmental groups say they will fight proposals to build two high-pressure pipelines to capture carbon dioxide generated by Nebraska ethanol plants and transport it in liquid form for permanent storage deep underground in North Dakota and Illinois. At least one of those projects, by Summit Carbon Solutions, has already begun contacting landowners in northeast Nebraska. That Alden, Iowa-based company is planning to build 314 miles of pipeline to six ethanol plants as part of a $4.5 billion carbon-capture project covering five Midwestern states. Dallas-based Navigator CO2 Ventures is also planning a five-state carbon dioxide pipeline that would extend from near Sioux City, Iowa, to an ethanol plant in Albion, Nebraska, as part of its 1,200-mile carbon-capture project. Some fertilizer plants may be added as customers as well. Officials with the Nebraska Ethanol Board and the two pipeline companies said these projects are vital to the future of ethanol, by lowering the carbon impact of the corn-based fuel and opening up new markets in states like California and Oregon that have adopted goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming… “But officials with the Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club and Bold Nebraska, which led opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, said their organizations will fight the CO2 pipelines. They said that such pipelines, because they operate at high pressure, can pose a safety risk in the event of a leak and that they are a "greenwashing scheme" for fossil fuels… “But Kleeb told the Herald a lot of energy is required for such carbon capture projects, negating any environmental benefits. She added that the state needs to consider passing regulations of such CO2 pipelines because they are now lacking. Kleeb said that despite the partnership with ethanol plants, she expects that landowners will oppose the pipelines. "I'm confident that farmers don't want eminent domain used against them and have a lot of questions about the risks," she told the Herald.
Cherokee Chronicle Times: County, landowners reviewing CO2 pipeline
By Paul Struck, 9/27/21
“Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) representatives communicated with the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors meeting electronically and provided an informative presentation about a proposed carbon sequestration pipeline that would travel 2000 miles across five states to a permanent underground storage location in North Dakota,” the Cherokee Chronicle Times reports. “...If ultimately approved by the Iowa Utilities Board, the project would generate tax revenue for the County, pay-outs to landowners for easements, and millions in profits for ethanol plants, pipeline promotors, and investors. SCS will be seeking easements through affected properties for the pipeline and could possibly invoke the eminent domain process to secure land easements, providing the IUB ultimately signs off on the admittedly “hazardous” project… “Local public information meetings are being conducted by SCS with a representative from the Iowa Utilities Board in attendance to answer landowner questions. The meeting in Cherokee was last Wednesday at the Community Center. Landowners have been contacted by SCS since August to negotiate easement rights where applicable… “Written comments or objections to the proposed pipeline can be filed electronically using the IUB’s online comment form, by emailing customer@iub.iowa.gov or by writing to the Iowa Utilities Board, Attention: Docket No. HLP-2021-0001, 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, Iowa, 50319.”
Cherokee Chronicle Times: CO2 pipeline promoters’ letter to landowners
Paul Struck, 9/27/21
“Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) plans a CO2 pipeline through Iowa to North Dakota where the liquified CO2 will be injected and stored underground. A series of affected landowner fast-track “informational” meetings conducted by SCS and an Iowa Utilities Board rep are under way, including one in Cherokee last Wednesday evening. In August, the following letter was sent to affected landowners by SCS,” the Cherokee Chronicle Times reports. “Dear Landowner: The purpose of this letter is to remind you about Summit Carbon Solutions’ (SCS) upcoming information meetings. The notifications you or your neighbors received are required before SCS’ CO2 sequestration project, Midwest Carbon Express, can be considered for approval by the Iowa Utility Board (IUB). We urge you to: actively engage in one or more of those information meetings, ensure that the unique issues involved in this project are thoroughly vetted, take time to fully understand the economic, safety, and environmental trade-offs before making your decisions about the SCS proposal... “You may be asked to sign a lease or an easement agreement which provides SCS access to and through your land. You should understand the value your land provides and perhaps consider engaging an attorney. Most importantly you should know your options before you sign. Whether or not an easement through your property is being requested by SCS, we urge you to become involved. As stated above, there appear to be significant safety, medical, and emergency response issues that should be addressed.”
Des Moines Register [VIDEO]: What to know about the proposed Iowa carbon pipelines
Donnelle Eller and Erin Davora, 9/24/21
“Two companies have proposed capturing carbon dioxide from ethanol and other industrial ag plants in Iowa and permanently sequestered underground,” the Des Moines Register reports.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Hanover and neighboring counties fed up with 'less than responsive' communication from company hoping to build a natural gas pipeline
Holly Prestidge, 9/24/21
“Leaders in three central Virginia counties in the path of a natural gas pipeline say the company behind the project isn’t returning their calls or showing up for meetings,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. “Hanover County Administrator John Budesky told the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday night that repeated attempts to reach out to Chickahominy Pipeline LLC since mid-July have been met with little response. It’s frustrating county officials, who want to advocate for residents who got letters over the summer that say Chickahominy wants to investigate their properties as potential sites affected by the construction of the pipeline. The pipeline is part of an ongoing proposed project that involves a new power plant in Charles City County. The pipeline would run through the counties of Louisa, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Charles City and supply the gas for the plant… “We share our residents’ concerns,” Budesky said Wednesday night. “We have done our very best to reach out” to Chickahominy Pipeline for answers. “They have been less than responsive,” he said… “Henrico Chief of Staff Cari Tretina echoed all of those communication woes, adding that her staff had to get the pipeline map from Louisa officials because Chickahominy did not respond to Henrico’s requests for information, including a map, “which to be frank, a locality should not have to ask for.” Tretina told the Dispatch that while the pipeline is proposed to cross only through the northeastern tip of the county and could affect at least 18 to 20 properties, the area in question contains protected conservation easements and the environmental impact is among the biggest concerns. “It doesn’t feel right — you don’t have any information,” Tretina told the Dispatch. “There’s something about this situation that lends itself for more time,” both for county officials to study the impact, as well as public engagement and understanding. By phone Friday afternoon from Northern Virginia, Irfan Ali, managing member of Balico LLC, balked at the idea that he and his company have been anything less than forthcoming with information to the affected counties. He told the Dispatch he’s given his team, including the company’s legal representation, the “green light” to share as much information as possible and said they have done just that.”
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint: COASTAL GASLINK DESTROYS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE ON CAS YIKH TERRITORY
9/23/21
“On September 22, 2021, after days of conflict between Gidimt’en/Cas Yikh Chiefs and members, Coastal GasLink and the RCMP, contractors completely cleared an archaeological site which has been destroyed with heavy machinery for the construction of a methane gas pipeline. Gidimt’en chiefs and supporters have been defending a number of culturally significant archeological sites from destruction on unceded Cas Yikh (Grizzly House) territory belonging to the Gitdimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en people. The Coastal GasLink pipeline company has obtained a Site Alteration Permit (SAP) from the BC Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) through a flawed and ineffective consultation process and without the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. The Wet’suwet’en have argued for years that the pipeline route endangers critical species, cultural use and heritage sites, and is not supported by Wet’suwet’en land use plans, particularly around the development of climate change policies. This archaeological site in particular, is significant to the Wet’suwet’en in the protection of our cultural heritage for future generations and for protecting our oral histories and heritage values for ongoing rights and title negotiations. The company continues to violate their own regulations and conditions set forward by governing bodies such as the OGC and their own Environmental Assessment Certificates. Neither CGL nor the BCOGC undertook consultation with Cas Yikh or the Office of the Wet'suwet'en for the permit… “The work that is continuing just hundreds of meters from Gidimt’en Checkpoint, a reoccupation site belonging to Cas Yikh, is in violation of the provincially legislated DRIPA. It is happening without the consent of Cas Yikh and therefore we demand that the permit be revoked and a proper consultation process begin.”
Facebook: Gidimt'en Checkpoint [VIDEO]: Early in the morning on September 25th a supporter was tazered and arrested on the road to the drill pad site where CGL plans to drill under Wedzin Kwa
9/26/21
“Early in the morning on September 25th a supporter was tazered and arrested on the road to the drill pad site where CGL plans to drill under Wedzin Kwa, where they would destroy precious salmon habitat and make the pristine water undrinkable. We will not accept any violence against our guests! Supporters that come to stand with us against capitalist greed and destruction do so with the invitation, full support and protection of Dinï ze' Woos. Our relatives and supporters continue to hold the space, with our Herediatry Chiefs and community members support we will continue to protect Wedzin Kwa for our future generations! For more info visit yintahaccess.com”
The Narwhal: Trans Mountain ‘investigating’ claims consultant has ties to Proud Boys terrorist group
Mike De Souza, 9/23/21
“Trans Mountain, a Canadian government-owned pipeline and energy company, says it is investigating allegations that one of its consultants has ties to the Proud Boys, a group on a federal list of terrorist organizations,” The Narwhal reports. “The allegations follow a massive data breach of records from Epik, a U.S.-based internet company known for hosting and providing online services for far-right content. The records, released by the online hacktivist group Anonymous, include a trove of personal information about some of the names behind viral campaigns promoting racism, misinformation, disinformation and other extremist views online, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The Narwhal reviewed invoice records from the breach that appear to reveal the name, personal address and phone number of a Calgary-based consultant who said on LinkedIn that he worked for Trans Mountain as a geographic information systems technologist since November 2019. According to the leaked records, the Calgary man registered the domain ProudBoysCalgary.com on Dec. 9, 2019. It was not immediately clear whether the person who registered the Proud Boys domain name was the same person from Trans Mountain or whether it was a case of mistaken identity. “We are currently investigating the claim,” Trans Mountain told The Narwhal in a short email on Thursday, responding to questions about the revelations, which have been shared repeatedly on Twitter over the past few days. The person who was named in the social media posts appeared to remove or restrict public access to his social media accounts on Facebook and on LinkedIn on Thursday after a new series of messages were posted about him on Twitter. “I’m seeking advise [sic] and counsel from a lawyer and cannot speak to anything at this time,” said the man in an email sent to The Narwhal on Thursday evening. “I categorically deny any and all involvement and the police are involved and assisting me in this matter.”
VT Digger: Burlington protesters support Indigenous communities fighting Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota
Emma Cotton, 9/26/21
“Speaking to a crowd of demonstrators gathered in Battery Park, environmental activist Julie Macuga described her recent trips to Minnesota, where she protested the ongoing construction of an oil pipeline,” VT Digger reports. “The Burlington resident saw floodlights block the stars, feared the threat of chemical weapons, and heard the “ceaseless noise of a giant drill burrowing its way under the river,” she said. The crowd, gathered Friday evening, was roughly 200-strong, organizer Laura Simon told VT Digger. “Why would we face all that violence? I will tell you,” Macuga said. “If the Line 3 pipeline is built, it will leak into the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Indigenous-led resistance camps stand between the behemoth black snake and a network of rivers that fractal across 32 states in two provinces.” “...Friday’s demonstrators want to see global companies with local branches, such as JP Morgan Chase and TD Bank, stop investing in the project. Why protest in Burlington, some 1,200 miles away? Geoffrey Gardner, a member of the Upper Valley Affinity Group, which organizes around environmental and energy issues, told VT Digger the situation matters in Vermont.”
Natural Gas Intelligence: Suncor Teams Up with Indigenous Group to Acquire Stake in Oilsands Pipeline
GORDON JAREMKO, 9/17/21
“A group of Northern Alberta Indigenous communities has teamed up with Suncor Energy Inc. to purchase TC Energy Inc.’s stake in an oilsands pipeline,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “The partnership between oilsands producer Suncor and the Tahsipiy (Three Rivers) group of eight Indigenous communities announced plans on Thursday to acquire TC’s 15% share in the Northern Courier Pipeline. The 90-kilometer (54-mile) dual pipe conduit transports oilsands products north of Fort McMurray. The stake is valued at C$1.3 billion ($1 billion). The purchase would be completed by Astisiy LP, which includes Suncor and the eight Indigenous communities. Astisiy is a Cree word meaning “sinew.” Suncor President Mark Little called the pipeline deal a step in “progressive relationship building and economic reconciliation.” Suncor previously sold a 49% ownership of a jumbo oilsands tank farm for C$500 million ($400 million) to Fort McKay First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation… “The Indigenous partners include Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Chipewyan Prairie First Nation and Fort McMurray First Nation. It also includes the Conklin, Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay, McMurray, and Willow Lake Métis communities.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Oil states brace for Biden methane rule
By Mike Lee, Carlos Anchondo, 9/27/21
“The Biden administration is set to release a major crackdown on oil and gas methane emissions in the coming weeks, but concerns are brewing about how the rule could affect small operators and how much the nation’s leading oil- and gas-producing states may fight the plan,” E&E News reports. “Small oil and gas operators say the coming methane rules from EPA could have an outsize impact on the low-producing wells that are their lifeblood, and trade groups and companies have filed comments with the agency asking for a carve-out to protect those sites. They argue that EPA lacks adequate emissions data for low-producing wells, while environmental groups say the so-called stripper wells are a serious emissions problem and need to be regulated. The forthcoming rules are also expected to be received differently in states like Texas and North Dakota, where efforts to cut methane have largely been voluntary. That contrasts to states like Colorado and New Mexico, where Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) has tasked state agencies to craft what would be the tightest methane controls in the nation. While lawsuits over the regulations are all but inevitable, some industry officials also say that the context of the debate has changed. They are advocating for specific protections that will give parts of the industry breathing room, instead of denying that climate change is happening or that there is a need to address it… “Ed Longanecker, the president of the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association, also sounded the alarm. “To those within the DC Beltway, regulation of low production wells may not be of much concern,” Longanecker said in a statement to E&E News. “To the mom and pop/small businesses across the country, excessive regulation of low production wells could unnecessarily sound the death knell for many businesses that fuel the country’s economy. EPA should wait on the data from the DOE.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
National Observer: Canadian banks are loaning Enbridge over $1B with questionable sustainability requirements
John Woodside, 9/27/21
“Canada’s largest banks have signed a new deal to pump $1.5 billion into Enbridge that will help the oil and gas company expand its pipeline network, with the vast majority of that money referred to as “sustainability linked” in the term sheets,” the National Observer reports. “Of the $1.5 billion Enbridge is receiving, $1.1 billion is “sustainability linked,” which means the interest rate changes over time based on whether the company meets its environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. These goals include reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity 35 per cent by 2030 compared to its 2018 emissions, and targets to increase racial diversity among its staff and the number of women on its board of directors… “Still, the terms of the recent financing make clear Enbridge plans to use the money to pay off debt, and for capital expenses like pipelines. “The (corporation) does not intend to allocate the net proceeds specifically to projects or business activities meeting environmental or sustainability criteria,” Enbridge says in the risk factor section of the terms in its sustainability-linked financing agreement. Stand.earth climate finance director Richard Brooks told the Observer the money is to build out Enbridge’s pipeline network. “Money coming into the company, even at the corporate level, is going to go into big capital expenditures, and in this case, it would be all the pipelines that Enbridge is expanding,” he said… “Brooks also called Enbridge’s commitment to reduce emission intensity as part of its ESG goals a “slap in the face” because the goal only addresses the emissions the company is directly responsible for, without including the emissions created when the fossil fuels are ultimately burned.”
Star Tribune: Under student pressure, University of Minnesota to phase out fossil fuel investments
Ryan Faircloth, 9/24/21
“The University of Minnesota plans to withdraw all of its investments in fossil fuel-related companies over the next five to seven years amid pressure from students who want the school to do more to fight climate change,” the Star Tribune reports. “The U shared details about its intention to move away from fossil fuel investments this week after student government leaders at the Twin Cities campus renewed demands for the state's flagship university to divest from coal, oil and natural gas. "Students and community members have been pushing for this for so many years at this point," senior Maddie Miller, environmental accountability committee director for the Minnesota Student Association, the U's undergraduate student government, told the Star Tribune. "This is just one really small step in the grand scheme of things." Across the country, college students concerned about climate change are pushing their schools to divest from fossil fuels. Harvard University said this month that it would divest its endowment from fossil fuels, while two of the U's Big Ten peers — Rutgers University and the University of Michigan — have also chosen to disinvest from fossil fuel-related companies. In Minnesota, St. Olaf College has committed to phasing out its fossil fuel investments, and Macalester College announced in August it would divest from all dedicated, publicly traded oil and gas assets. Just over 4% of the U's $1.75 billion central endowment is invested in fossil fuel-related companies, according to a university statement.”
Tribal Business News: ‘LOUD AND CLEAR’: An Indigenous push for the SEC to include tribal human and land rights in its investor disclosures
ROB CAPRICCIOSO, 9/20/21
“A group of Indigenous-focused policy and legal advocates is taking steps to ensure that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is responsive to tribal human and land rights whenever the agency makes disclosures to investors,” Tribal Business News reports. “The push comes as the SEC works to create new federal rules involving climate risk and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards… “Twenty-two Indigenous and environmental groups sent a 15-page letter to the SEC in June, explaining that they believe human and land rights for Indigenous people must be a part of any of the agency’s climate-risk disclosures to investors. “Disregard for the land rights and human rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples regularly leads to project delays and even cancelation,” the groups wrote in the letter, which cited several recent examples. “This disregard also helps accelerate environmental degradation, climate change, and social conflict and violence.” The groups say the SEC has often overlooked such considerations. The problem has led to major financial costs (sometimes in the millions to billions of dollars) for companies and investors, including those involved with Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline, as well as those connected to Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 and Line 5 expansion and restoration projects in tribal areas of Minnesota and Michigan, respectively. Concurrently, there has been independent movement on this front from banks, asset managers and financial firms who are “publicly recognizing the crucial role of respect for Indigenous and tribal rights,” according to the letter.”
OPINION
American Prospect: FERC Nominee Willie Phillips Has a Pro–Corporate Utility Record
DOROTHY SLATER, 9/23/21
“Earlier this month, President Biden announced his intention to nominate Willie Phillips to be the tie-breaking fifth commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Biden did so in spite of nearly 500 groups urging him to nominate a climate and environmental justice champion, which Phillips is definitively not, and in the face of his own promises to fight climate change and restore faith in government. The groups offered Biden several names, all of them independent from fossil fuel–aligned utilities,” Dorothy Slater writes for American Prospect. “Phillips has relevant experience for the role. But his experience is the wrong kind—and not just because he was Jeff Sessions’s press secretary from 2000 to 2002. Phillips has made a career of representing dirty-energy utilities, showing extreme loyalty to Pepco and Washington Gas at the expense of D.C. residents while chairing the District of Columbia’s Public Service Commission (DCPSC). He also has no experience working with tribal governments, which would be part of the job requirement… “A comprehensive look at Phillips’s career makes those of us who are dependent on a livable climate and affordable, clean energy—which is to say, all of us—rightfully skeptical of this nomination. In combination with an expansion of offshore drilling, the dangerous and illegal continuation of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, and a whole slew of pro–fossil fuel stances from administration officials, President Biden is failing at his most urgent and existential task. Judging by his past, it seems likely that Phillips is using a FERC commissioner run as a résumé booster to gain a lucrative utility board position. He could very well continue acting as a utility hack who put profits over the lives of all the world’s grandchildren.”
San Antonio Express-News: Methane tax threat to Texas economy
Ed Longanecker is president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, 9/26/21
“A punishing national energy tax is included in the behemoth $3.5 trillion reconciliation package under consideration in Congress. Under the guise of reducing emissions, the tax singles out petroleum and natural gas production and could cripple small Texas operators and all consumers,” Ed Longanecker writes for the San Antonio Express-News. “As written now, the tax would levy a $1,500 annual fee against energy producers for each metric ton of methane emissions produced — a 2,600 percent increase from last year’s costs. The tax would be felt in the livelihoods of all Texans. By targeting petroleum and natural gas industries, the proposed national energy tax takes aim at the 2.5 million jobs the oil and natural gas industry supports across the state’s economy, and the $411.6 billion toward the state’s gross domestic product that the industry contributed in 2019. With inflation raising the costs of basic necessities, this new tax will unnecessarily increase the burden on Texas consumers and hinder the state’s economic recovery. Besides being ineffective, this tax also completely ignores the industry’s continuing progress to reduce methane emissions and does so at the cost of residential affordability… “Instead of levying a tax, Congress should recognize the oil and natural gas industry of Texas for meeting record levels of production and their commitment to methane emission reduction. Targeting America’s oil and gas industry and the consumers who depend on it won’t solve climate change. It will only further the negative impacts on all Texans through spiking energy costs and diminishing economic prospects, while increasing our reliance on foreign imports for our energy needs.”