EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 9/30/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Press release: Indigenous, Environmental and Community Leaders Denounce Inaction By Democrats and Canadian Multinational Enbridge as Corporation Announces Start Date of Line 3 Oil Flow
Park Rapids Enterprise: Oil set to flow in Enbridge Line 3 Friday, bringing praise and condemnation in Minnesota
Star Tribune: Controversial Line 3 'substantially' done; oil to flow Friday, Enbridge says
Bloomberg: Enbridge to Start Oil-Sands Pipe Friday After Long Delays
Omaha World-Herald: Keystone pipeline opponents hail end to eminent domain effort
Bloomberg: Justices to Weigh Pipeline, Climate Petitions in Upcoming Term
Williston Herald: Supreme Court filing seeks to reverse DAPL ruling requiring more environmental study
Virginia Mercury: Mountain Valley Pipeline water permit arguments tread familiar ground
WVTF: Opponents Fear MVP Hearings Could Spread COVID-19
KWWL: Residents meet company proposing $4.5 billion carbon capture pipeline
Facebook: Delaware Riverkeeper Network [VIDEO]: Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum discusses the significance of the [PennEast] win for the environment
Pocono Record: PA advocates laud cancelation of PennEast pipeline
Oil & Gas Journal: PennEast cancels Pennsylvania-NJ gas pipeline project
Politico: Democratic FERC commissioners defend approach to pipeline assessments
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Biden admin revokes Trump-era fossil fuel royalty regs
National Audubon Society: Critical Migratory Bird Protections Restored by Biden-Harris Administration
E&E News: API targets climate legislation with Facebook ad blitz
STATE UPDATES
Center for Biological Diversity: Santa Barbara County to Hold Public Hearings on ExxonMobil’s Plan to Restart Offshore Platforms, Truck Oil
EXTRACTION
S&P Global: Oil group's net-zero goal shuns emissions cuts that would threaten core assets
Guardian: Cutting methane should be a key Cop26 aim, research suggests
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: Harvard cracks on fossil fuels and a dam breaks
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
VPM: Columnist earned over $260k from Dominion while writing newspaper editorials about them
OPINION
Blue Virginia: Penn East Pipeline Canceled After New Jersey Denies Clean Water Act Permit; Virginia Should Do the Same With Mountain Valley Pipeline
PIPELINE NEWS
Press release: Indigenous, Environmental and Community Leaders Denounce Inaction By Democrats and Canadian Multinational Enbridge as Corporation Announces Start Date of Line 3 Oil Flow
9/29/21
“Indigenous, environmental and community leaders released the following statements after news broke that oil will begin flowing through the new Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota as Enbridge announced that the pipeline is “substantially completed and set to be fully operational.” “Line 3 is a crime against the environment and Indigenous rights, waters and lands, and it marks the end of the tar sands era -- but not the end of the resistance to it,” said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director, Honor the Earth. “...I personally want to recognize the many Water Protectors over the years who came from Native communities, from Minnesota cities and from around the country to put their lives on hold to bear witness to the dangerous environmental folly that is Line 3. Your brave efforts about Enbridge’s Line 3 have reshaped the world’s views on the climate crisis we are in, the Treaty Rights of the Anishinaabe, and the escalating divestment in fossil fuels around the world and here at home. You are the true heroes of this tragic saga.” Tara Houska, Founder, Giniw Collective, said: “This shameful moment marks what the promises of the Democratic Party to listen to climate science look like in action, what it looks like when human beings refuse to open our eyes to the burning world around us and respond with equal urgency. Over 800 people from all walks of life were arrested here for protecting our land, treaty obligations to tribal nations were once again violated, statutory requirements were cast aside in favor of corporate greed. We were shot at with rubber bullets paid for by Enbridge, police officers in financial relationship with a foreign company used pain compliance on us, we face years in prison for defending the drinking water of tens of millions downstream from Alberta tar sands oil set to flow through the Mississippi River headwaters, 22 rivers, 800 wetlands. We are not deterred.”
Park Rapids Enterprise: Oil set to flow in Enbridge Line 3 Friday, bringing praise and condemnation in Minnesota
Matthew J. Liedke, 9/29/21
“After eight years of regulatory review and construction, Enbridge's new pipeline is set to start sending oil from Canada, through Minnesota, to Wisconsin,” the Park Rapids Enterprise reports. “On Wednesday, Sept. 29, the Canadian energy company announced that the Line 3 replacement project has reached substantial completion, and that it will be in service Friday, Oct. 1… “The response from organizations opposing the Line 3 project was swift Wednesday. In a statement, the Indigenous Environmental Network wrote, "the Line 3 fight is far from over, it has just shifted gears." "It's with a heavy heart we receive the news that the U.S. has tragically failed once again to honor our treaties and protect the water that sustains all life on Mother Earth," IEN stated. "Do not think we are going to go quietly into the night, we will continue to stand on the frontlines until every last tar sands pipeline is shut down and Indigenous communities are no longer targeted, but our right to consent or denial is respected.” “...Opponents of the project continued in September, even getting support from politicians from across the country. On Sept. 4, Democratic Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, Ayanna Presley and Rashida Tlaib visited Bemidji and the surrounding area, calling on the White House to halt the project. Over the course of the project's construction, around 900 people have been arrested during protests. Most have been cited with misdemeanors, but many have been charged with gross misdemeanors or felony charges. The number of legal cases has reportedly strained resources in northern Minnesota counties where the protests have taken place. Some of the arrested protesters have waited months for a public defender.”
Star Tribune: Controversial Line 3 'substantially' done; oil to flow Friday, Enbridge says
Mike Hughlett, Brooks Johnson, 9/29/21
“Oil will begin flowing through the controversial new Line 3 pipeline across northern Minnesota on Friday after Enbridge announced work on the controversial project is "substantially complete," the Star Tribune reports. “...Hundreds have been arrested along the pipeline route as regular protests occurred during the construction. Environmental groups and Ojibwe tribes fought the pipeline before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and in multiple lawsuits, arguing it would open a new region of Minnesota lakes, rivers and wetlands to degradation from oil spills, as well as exacerbate climate change… "Honor the Earth, a Minnesota-based Indigenous environmental group, estimates about 900 people have been arrested. "Line 3 is a crime against the environment and Indigenous rights, waters and lands, and it marks the end of the tar sands era — but not the end of the resistance to it," Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth, said Wednesday. "I personally want to recognize the many Water Protectors over the years who came from Native communities, from Minnesota cities and from around the country to put their lives on hold to bear witness to the dangerous environmental folly that is Line 3.” “...Pipeline opponents have fought various regulatory permits for Line 3 in state and local courts this year. But only one case remains pending, a suit in federal court against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its water and wetlands permit for Line 3's construction. Pipeline opponents had hoped that President Joe Biden's administration would essentially revoke the Corps' permit. Instead, the federal government doubled down on support for the permit.”
Bloomberg: Enbridge to Start Oil-Sands Pipe Friday After Long Delays
Sheela Tobben and Robert Tuttle, 9/29/21
“A long-delayed Enbridge Inc. pipeline extending from Canada’s oil sands to the U.S. Midwest will enter service Friday after years of opposition from environmentalists and indigenous groups,” Bloomberg reports. “The company said its Line 3 replacement project, which will nearly double the capacity of the older line, is substantially completed. Enbridge will begin filling the line with crude Friday. Once that's done, oil should begin to move to U.S. refineries. The pipeline is expected to be fully operational in mid-October, Jesse Semko, Enbridge spokesperson, told Bloomberg. Canada’s oil-sands producers have struggled with a shortage of export pipelines as fossil-fuel proposals face increasing scrutiny. U.S. President Joe Biden, on his first day in office, rescinded a permit for TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL project, which would have helped increase shipments of Canadian crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast… “The pipeline continues to face legal challenges, including a case filed in tribal court over a Minnesota water permit issued to Enbridge and a U.S. federal court challenge to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water permit. “A victory for pipeline opponents in this case could send the Corps back to the drawing board on its environmental review and shut down operation of the pipeline in the meantime,” Gabby Brown, Sierra Club spokeswoman, said in a release.
Omaha World-Herald: Keystone pipeline opponents hail end to eminent domain effort
Nancy Gaarder, 9/29/21
“Opponents of the now-scuttled Keystone XL pipeline hailed an agreement between a Canadian company and Nebraska landowners to terminate the company's efforts to condemn their land,” the Omaha World-Herald reports. “On Monday, a Madison County District Court judge accepted an agreement between TC Energy Corp and the Johnson and Herrick families to rescind condemnation proceedings… “Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, credited the work of everyday Nebraskans with stopping the pipeline. "Land justice happened only because of the hard work of citizens, grassroots organizing, and a legal team who believed the land was worth protecting,” she said. Mark Hefflinger, also with Bold Nebraska, told OWH about 60 landowners were in a situation similar to the Herrick and Johnson families. He said pipeline opponents hope that TC Energy will reach similar agreements with the other families. Additionally, pipeline opponents want to see easements granted to TC Energy be revoked so that they can't be transferred to another company.”
Bloomberg: Justices to Weigh Pipeline, Climate Petitions in Upcoming Term
9/29/21
“The Supreme Court will kick off a new term next week with an environmental docket that could wade into big-ticket climate, water, and pipeline issues,” Bloomberg reports. “The justices gathered Sept. 27 for their long conference to debate what issues to take on in the coming months. The environmental case list is light, but court watchers are paying close attention to a few major issues, including petitions over power plant emission rules… “The court will also consider a petition by Dakota Access pipeline operators who dispute the D.C. Circuit’s finding that the project needs further federal environmental review. Davina Pujari, co-chair of the environment and natural resources group at Hanson Bridgett LLP, told Bloomberg they will have an eye on how agency deference potentially plays out in that case. “Folks have been watching Supreme Court cases over the last few years, and have been waiting for the case where Chevron deference is reexamined by the court, by this particular court,” she said. Here are the environmental and energy cases to watch this term:.. “Dakota Access LLC v. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe: The Dakota Access pipeline has been the subject of much litigation by groups who say the Army Corps of Engineers failed to complete an adequate environmental review. Dakota Access LLC wants justices to step in and eliminate uncertainty surrounding the project’s operation, according to its petition. The pipeline also seeks review of the D.C. Circuit’s requirement that the Corps make a “convincing case” in responses to objections to its environmental review… “Future Cases: Environmental Defense Fund v. FERC: Spire STL says it will seek the high court’s review of the D.C. Circuit’s decision to revoke the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s certification for its natural gas pipeline. Spire will ask the Supreme Court to decide whether remand without vacating an agency decision is appropriate where the agency can fix its decision on remand and vacating the agency action could have “serious disruptive effects.” Analysts at ClearView Energy Partners LLC told Bloomberg they believe Spire has until Dec. 6 to file its petition.”
Williston Herald: Supreme Court filing seeks to reverse DAPL ruling requiring more environmental study
Renée Jean, 9/29/21
“Dakota Access has filed a case with the Supreme Court in the pipeline case, asking it to reverse a lower court decision that requires a more thorough review of the pipeline due to its controversial nature,” the Williston Herald reports. “...In its filing to the Supreme Court, Dakota Access argued that requiring an agency to resolve all criticisms of a federal agency’s environmental analysis before concluding a project doesn’t need a more thorough environmental review reverses three decades of prior case law for the National Environmental Policy Act. The new standard would also shift power from agencies to courts, Energy Transfer said in its petition, and creates enormous new implications for large projects in general and the nation as a whole. Allowing the ruling to stand forces large projects in general to complete the more lengthy and expensive EIS regardless of whether it is really needed. Otherwise, they will face the possibility of being shutdown at any time after the fact. It is not known what the chances are that the case will be taken up by the Supreme Court, which takes only a fraction of cases each year.”
Virginia Mercury: Mountain Valley Pipeline water permit arguments tread familiar ground
SARAH VOGELSONG, 9/29/21
“It could have been 2017 or 2021. For three hours Tuesday night, a crowd of Southwest Virginia residents, pipeline workers and environmental activists batted back and forth the same arguments the State Water Control Board has been hearing for the past four years as the Mountain Valley Pipeline project has ground forward, stalled, ground forward again and stalled again,” the Virginia Mercury reports. “...The hearing in Radford, which followed a Monday night session in Rocky Mount, was convened to gather public comment on Mountain Valley’s most recent attempt to obtain a key state water permit to complete the 303-mile pipeline intended to carry natural gas from West Virginia into Virginia. Del. Chris Hurst, D-Montgomery, whose district encompasses about 35 miles of the pipeline route, rejected the economic development arguments. “You all are the State Water Control Board, and what we are trying to determine is what’s going to happen to water quality, not what’s going to happen to the economy,” he said. He along with other opponents pointed to more than 300 environmental violations Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General in 2018 linked to Mountain Valley Pipeline... “Opponents, however, cast the pipeline’s ongoing troubles and delays as proof the board should have denied the project its initial state permit in 2017. “Everything the citizens told you would happen has happened,” said Tammy Belinsky of Floyd.
WVTF: Opponents Fear MVP Hearings Could Spread COVID-19
Sandy Hausman, 9/24/21
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline would cross streams and wetlands in about 350 places if the state and federal governments say okay. Some people are doubtful, but at Wild Virginia David Sligh tells WVTF they’re reluctant to attend meetings in Rocky Mount or at Radford University,” WVTF reports. “A lot of people are understandably concerned about going to an in-person hearing, especially if there are significant crowds as there have been for years now." DEQ’s Director of Wetlands and Stream Protection says, by law, the meeting must be held in person now that the governor’s emergency order has expired, and Dave Davis says opponents are free to share testimony in writing. “Oral comments and written comments are equally acceptable. Written comments can either be turned in at the public hearings or they can be mailed to DEQ.” But Sligh says not everyone is comfortable putting their thoughts on paper. “Not everybody is used to these regulatory systems and how to phrase things, but they can show up and tell their story, and those are important things for the board members to hear.” A group of citizens wrote to the governor, asking him to intervene and arrange for a meeting where they could participate using their computers or phones.”
KWWL: Residents meet company proposing $4.5 billion carbon capture pipeline
Travis Breese, 9/29/21
“Iowa could soon be the biggest piece of a $4.5 billion privately-funded project to make ethanol greener, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Summit Carbon Solutions, based in Ames, is trying to connect 31 ethanol plants across the upper Midwest and capture their CO2 emissions before they enter the atmosphere,” KWWL reports. "Our hope is to come in, install the pipeline, restore the land, give it back to the landowners for 100% use," Jake Ketzner, VP of governmental relations for Summit, told KWWL. “...Summit will seek 100-ft. easements on people's land to install the line. Fifty feet of that is permanent, meaning they will always retain access to it, and 50 feet of it is temporary, meaning they will give it back after construction is over… “Some farmers at the meeting were concerned about yield loss for corn and soybeans as a result of the project. A natural gas pipeline came through their county 20 years ago and some farmers say their yield is still lower under that line. "When the big pipeline came through 20 some years ago, you can still go out there today and see where we're having yield loss," Garth Griffin said, who would be impacted by the Summit project. Summit says it will pay people for land easements and yield loss. They will repay 100% of yield loss the first year of the project, 80% in the second year, and 60% in the third year. "You're only paying three years of yield loss. Is that adequate? I don't think so," Griffin said. Some people were also concerned about a possible leak of CO2 along the line. Since CO2 is denser than air, it stays near the surface and can suffocate people in the area… “Summit can start landowner negotiations in Chickasaw County now that the info session has been held. The company still hasn't filed a formal application with the Iowa Utilities Board. Summit says the earliest it would start construction is 2023.”
Facebook: Delaware Riverkeeper Network [VIDEO]: Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum discusses the significance of the [PennEast] win for the environment
9/27/21
“After years of opposition from environmental groups, communities and individuals, the PennEast Pipeline Company has announced it will cease development of the project. Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum discusses the significance of the win for the environment.”
Pocono Record: PA advocates laud cancelation of PennEast pipeline
Mike Deak, Kathryne Rubright, 9/28/21
“It's over. PennEast announced Monday that it will stop all further development of a 110-mile natural gas pipeline that would have sliced through five eastern Pennsylvania counties on the way to New Jersey,” the Pocono Record reports. “...The PennEast decision was a victory for the opponents that have waged a seven-year campaign against the project. “We knew we would get here eventually, it was just a matter of time,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and staunch opponent to the PennEast Pipeline. “Organizations like the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Berks Gas Truth, Environment NJ, NJ Sierra and Clean Water Action, have been partnering with frontline organizations, community leaders, property owners, and environmental advocates literally since day one." Defeat of the pipeline has been a grassroots effort, van Rossum said. Advocates quickly gathered on a celebratory Zoom call after learning of PennEast’s decision. “I’m very happy that our group, all 120 miles of it, has stuck together for seven years. I think that is the key to our success here,” said Linda Christman, president of Save Carbon County, a group of “environmentalists and impacted land owners.” She praised New Jersey’s government for — unlike Pennsylvania’s — fighting the pipeline “with all the resources of the state.”
Oil & Gas Journal: PennEast cancels Pennsylvania-NJ gas pipeline project
9/28/21
“PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC has cancelled development of its proposed 120-mile, 1.1-bcfd natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. PennEast cited outstanding permits—including a water quality certification from the State of New Jersey—as having motivated the cancellation,” Oil & Gas Journal reports. “...Environmental groups lauded the cancellation as a victory, noting that 74% of the pipeline’s contracted takeaway capacity consisted of agreements between its developers and affiliate companies. But Interstate Natural Gas Association of America president and chief executive officer Amy Andryszak said in response to the cancellation that "Natural gas is foundational to meeting President Biden’s climate change goals, but that requires the ability to transport that fuel from where it is produced to where it is needed. Natural gas has proven itself a versatile, baseload energy source that enables power sector emissions reductions and complements the deployment of renewables while ensuring energy remains reliable. The legal and regulatory roadblocks that led to the cancellation of the PennEast Pipeline – which would have been built with union labor – are putting energy affordability and reliability at risk in America." “...Democrat Commissioner Richard Glick dissented from the approval, citing both a lack of need for the pipeline and FERC’s refusal “to consider the consequences its actions have” on climate change according to Natural Gas Act and Natural Environmental Policy Act requirements.”
Politico: Democratic FERC commissioners defend approach to pipeline assessments
CATHERINE MOREHOUSE, 9/29/21
“FERC’s two Democratic commissioners on Monday defended the agency’s efforts to scale up its analysis of how fossil fuel infrastructure contributes to climate change and its harmful impact on low income communities and communities of color against criticism from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo),” Politico reports. “Barrasso, who serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, earlier this month had accused the commission of unnecessarily delaying pipeline approvals in an effort to scrutinize greenhouse gas emissions more closely… “FERC is in the midst of revisiting its 1999 gas pipeline policy statement, and has started assessing projects’ impact on climate change in some scenarios. But critics, including Republican Commissioner James Danly, have called out the commission for changing its analysis informally. Meanwhile, recent rulings from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found the commission is not scrutinizing pipeline and gas infrastructure projects closely enough… “FERC Chair Richard Glick and Commissioner Allison Clements in separate letters to Barrasso on Monday argued that ignoring those court rulings may only lead to more uncertainty and risk for pipeline developers. “Over the last several years, I became increasingly concerned that the Commission majority often cut corners in a manner that fell short of the Commission’s obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Natural Gas Act (NGA),” Glick wrote. “As I have explained, that dramatically increases the risk that the courts will invalidate the Commission’s decisions, which in turn adds substantial risks for the infrastructure developers who rely on Commission orders when investing millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars in new projects.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Biden admin revokes Trump-era fossil fuel royalty regs
Heather Richards, 9/28/21
“The Interior Department will ax Trump-era regulations this week that would have eliminated millions in federal revenues each year from coal and oil extraction,” E&E News reports. “The Trump administration finalized the soon-to-be withdrawn valuation rule in January, after a failed attempt to repeal Obama-era reforms to how the federal government determines royalties payments on federal minerals. The Obama rule had eliminated controversial practices in the coal industry like “arms-length” sales of coal to subsidiaries at a discount, which depress royalty costs. It had also tightened oversight of the oil and gas sector’s royalty dues. But the Biden administration is withdrawing the Trump changes, a potential benefit of $64.6 million a year, according to the Office of Natural Resource Revenue press release earlier this year. In its justification for withdrawing the 2020 rule, the ONRR today listed several “defects,” including a “lack of reasoned explanations for many of the amendments."
National Audubon Society: Critical Migratory Bird Protections Restored by Biden-Harris Administration
9/29/21
“Birds will be safer in this country thanks to the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration,” said Dr. Elizabeth Gray, president and acting CEO, National Audubon Society. “Reinstating these protections will restore decades of bipartisan precedent. The newly announced plans to strengthen the century-old law are a welcome and necessary step to address the loss of three billion birds in North America.” The Biden-Harris administration announced a final rule today which will revoke the previous administration’s gutting of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The administration also published an intent to establish a new authorization program and clarification of these longstanding protections. In January of this year, the Trump administration finalized a change that limited the MBTA’s protections only to activities that purposefully kill birds, exempting all industrial hazards from enforcement. Any “incidental” death—no matter how inevitable, avoidable or devastating to birds—became immune from enforcement under the law. If this change had been in place in 2010, BP would have faced no consequences under the MBTA for the more than one million birds killed in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. “Over the last century the MBTA has been critical to protecting birds, including spurring the recovery of the Snowy Egret, the Sandhill Crane, the Wood Duck, and more,” said Erik Schneider, policy manager, National Audubon Society. “Birds are telling us they are in trouble, and with their protections returning, we must now strengthen the MBTA for the future.
E&E News: API targets climate legislation with Facebook ad blitz
Scott Waldman, 9/30/21
“Two lobbying groups for the oil and gas industry have bombarded Facebook with hundreds of ads opposing climate legislation in Congress that have been viewed 23 million times,” E&E News reports. “The American Petroleum Institute and the American Gas Association have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the ads to attack climate provisions in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package proposed by Democrats, according to a report released today by InfluenceMap, a London-based nonprofit that tracks climate lobbying. Since Aug. 8, API spent $423,000 on ads that have been viewed 21 million times, the analysis found. The American Gas Association has spent $18,000 since Aug. 11 on similar ads that were viewed 2.2 million times. “These industry groups are pulling out all the stops — from advertising to public messaging — to oppose the reconciliation bill,” Kendra Haven, InfluenceMap’s U.S. program manager, told E&E. “This level of strategic activity, particularly through targeted advertising campaigns, exposes the value of their positive-sounding, top-line statements on climate.” “...The American Gas Association encouraged ad viewers to reject the Biden administration’s plan to impose methane emissions pricing.”
STATE UPDATES
Center for Biological Diversity: Santa Barbara County to Hold Public Hearings on ExxonMobil’s Plan to Restart Offshore Platforms, Truck Oil
9/28/21
“The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission will hold online public hearings Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 on ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks along hazardous California highways so it can restart three drilling platforms off the Santa Barbara coast. The plan calls for up to 24,800 oil-filled truck trips per year on coastal Highway 101 and hazardous Route 166, 24 hours a day, to refineries for up to seven years or whenever a new coastal oil pipeline is completed, whichever is shorter. ExxonMobil’s three offshore platforms near Santa Barbara were shut down in 2015 after the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured and spilled thousands of gallons of oil along the California coast. ExxonMobil’s oil trucking scheme is strongly opposed by a coalition of 35 community and conservation organizations, who recently sent a letter urging the commission to reject the project. They cited the project’s threat of more offshore oil spills, fueling climate change, and endangering motorists and communities with dangerous oil tanker truck crashes. “Now is not the time to turn the clock back and return to our old ways of relying on fossil fuels to meet our energy needs,” the letter concludes. “The County of Santa Barbara is moving towards a clean energy future by adopting renewable energy targets and joining the Central Coast Community Energy program. Allowing ExxonMobil to resume oil production off our coast will lead to decades of fossil fuel production that we cannot afford.”
EXTRACTION
S&P Global: Oil group's net-zero goal shuns emissions cuts that would threaten core assets
Karin Rives, Allison Good, 9/29/21
“Twelve of the world's largest oil companies plan to cut their carbon and methane emissions by 50 million metric tons annually by 2025. But what the companies excluded from a recent pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 may increasingly weigh on the sector,” S&P Global reports. “Specifically, the 12-member Oil and Gas Climate Initiative said its companies aim to reach net zero emissions from operations under their control, which spans Scopes 1 and 2 emissions. The commitment did not include Scope 3 emissions: those associated with products and services needed for exploration and production of oil. Importantly, Scope 3 also includes downstream greenhouse gases emitted from the oil, gasoline and diesel oil that companies sell to anyone who drives a car or flies a plane. These kinds of emissions make up the vast majority of an oil company's total carbon footprint, with the downstream category far ahead of any other, S&P Global Trucost data shows. Such emissions are becoming a vexing issue for an industry that must now weigh dual pressures from investors: reducing their carbon footprint while maintaining profitability. Tackling Scope 3 emissions is "becoming the biggest pain point for companies," World Resources Institute director and carbon accounting expert Cynthia Cummis said at a recent Moody's event.”
Guardian: Cutting methane should be a key Cop26 aim, research suggests
Fiona Harvey, 9/29/21
“Sharp cuts in methane from leaking gas drilling platforms and production sites could play a major role in the greenhouse gas emissions reductions necessary to fulfil the Paris climate agreement, and should be a key aim for the Cop26 UN climate talks, new research suggests,” the Guardian reports. “Cutting global emissions of methane by 40% by 2030 is achievable, with most cuts possible at low cost or even at a profit for companies such as oil and gas producers. It would make up for much of the shortfall in emissions reductions plans from national governments, according to the Energy Transitions Commission thinktank… “Methane is also flared from some oil production sites. Staunching such leaks or capturing the methane instead can be done at a low cost, and can even be profitable for gas producers, especially now as the international gas price soars. Just a few key producers – Russia, the US, China and Canada – could make a massive impact. Lord Adair Turner, chairman of the ETC, told the Guardian: “It is clear that if you add up NDCs they are not big enough to keep us to 1.5C. There is a huge gap left. But there are some actions that you can imagine groups of countries taking that could close that gap… “We have not focused enough on methane, but it can be a really important lever, and cutting it has an impact [on global heating] sooner rather than later, which matters if there are feedback loops in the climate system,” Turner told the Guardian.
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: Harvard cracks on fossil fuels and a dam breaks
JORDAN WOLMAN, 9/28/21
“Academic endowments are entering a new normal after the richest school in the world followed the lead of other colleges and universities to divest from fossil fuels,” Politico reports. “Harvard University and its nearly $42 billion endowment succumbed to years of pressure this month when President Lawrence Bacow said it would phase out its current fossil fuel holdings. The institution said it has no intention of making future investments in the industry. Now a cascade of similar announcements has followed, with Boston University, the University of Minnesota and the $8 billion MacArthur Foundation pulling the plug on fossil fuels. “We’re going to see this ripple out in the coming months. There really are no more excuses for any financial institution to stay invested in fossil fuels,” Richard Brooks, climate finance director at Stand.earth, a San Francisco-based nonprofit group, told Politico. “The financial arguments have never been stronger, with declining demand for oil, gas and coal. The social acceptability has now shifted as well.” “...U.S. academia is falling in line with a global movement that includes 1,337 institutions valued at more than $14 trillion, according to the climate change campaign Fossil Free… “Despite shifting public opinion and mounting evidence that environmental metrics can contribute to investment returns, some institutions are standing pat. Boston College students voted overwhelmingly in favor of divestment at the Jesuit institution in 2019, and the Vatican even urged Catholics to stop their fossil fuel investments… “Boston College is “opposed to divestment on the grounds that it is not an effective means of addressing climate change,” spokesperson Jack Dunn told Politico.
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
VPM: Columnist earned over $260k from Dominion while writing newspaper editorials about them
Ben Paviour, 9/29/21
“Dominion Energy paid Hampton Roads newspaper columnist Gordon Morse over $60,000 per year as he wrote unsigned editorials praising the utility, according to new paperwork filed by Dominion,” VPM reports. “The company also paid over $20,000 to Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, from 2017 to 2020 for an annual speech he has given to Dominion executives for three decades. Sabato’s staff say those earnings were donated to the university… “The disclosures list dozens of firms, lobbyists, communication shops and consultants, including Gordon Morse. VPM detailed Dominion’s relationship with Morse, a columnist for the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, in a story last December. Kris Worrell, the papers’ editor-in-chief, confirmed Morse wrote “some” of at least seven Dominion-focused editorials published last year. The unsigned editorials praised or defended the company. Worrell said Morse was taken off editorials related to Dominion after they learned of his part-time contract as an executive speechwriter for the utility… “Kelly McBride, chair of the Poynter Institute's Center for Ethics and Leadership, told VPM last year the lack of disclosures in the editorials could erode reader trust in the newspapers. Unlike Morse’s columns, the editorials were unsigned. “If you disclosed [Morse’s Dominion work], you would undermine credibility,” McBride, who also serves as NPR’s public editor, told VPM. “And that's a key red flag that tells you in journalism, that you probably shouldn't be doing that.”
OPINION
Blue Virginia: Penn East Pipeline Canceled After New Jersey Denies Clean Water Act Permit; Virginia Should Do the Same With Mountain Valley Pipeline
Jon Sokolow, 9/27/21
“Today, PennEast Pipeline Co. announced that it has canceled a proposed-116 mile fracked gas pipeline in New Jersey,” Jon Sokolow writes for Blue Virginia. “Cancelation comes despite the fact that the company has received federal permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and despite the fact that it recently won a Supreme Court decision that allowed it to use eminent domain to take land owned by the State of New Jersey. PennEast’s cancelation brings to mind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which in 2020 also won what turned out to be a pyrrhic victory in the Supreme Court on a permit to cross national forest land, only to cancel the entire $8 billion project several months later because it lacked other required permits. PennEast was canceled because New Jersey exercised its power under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to deny state certificationt… “As we noted just last week, the Virginia State Water Control Board is holding hearings September 27-28 to consider whether it should issue the same Section 401 permits that New Jersey refused to issue for PennEast. A final decision on the permit is expected in December. Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality is pushing hard for the citizen board, whose members were appointed by Governor Ralph Northam, to issue the permit, which would allow Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross more than 100 water bodies and wetlands in Virginia… “Mountain Valley already has inflicted huge damage on Virginia’s pristine water and land resources, violating Virginia law hundreds of times, which is why it was fined millions of dollars by the Commonwealth. That is reason enough for Virginia to do exactly what New Jersey had the courage to do and deny Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request to inflict even further damage on our resources.”