EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 9/7/21
PIPELINE NEWS
Star Tribune: Line 3 protests at Capitol, Walz residence yield different outcomes
Roanoke Times: Mountain Valley Pipeline seeks the identity of its anonymous critics
Bloomberg: Enbridge to start moving oil-sands crude in new pipeline [VIDEO]
Finance & Commerce: Trades group accuses Line 3 foes of ‘gaslighting’ workers
Bloomberg: Enbridge in $3 Billion Deal to Add U.S. Oil Export Capacity
Native News Online: Michigan Tribal Leaders Want to Shut Down Line 5 Pipeline Crossing the Straits of Mackinac
Michigan Radio: Environmentalists call on Canada to support the shutdown of Line 5
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Central Virginia pipeline developer wants regulators to find they don't need to approve project
Missouri Times: PSC investigating Spire STL Pipeline contingencies
Indiana Environmental Reporter: Opposition grows to proposed natural gas pipeline
Stratford Beacon Herald: Activists promote world without pipelines
EXTRACTION
CNN: Divers discover a dislodged and broken pipeline that likely triggered Gulf of Mexico oil spill
OPB: Oregon DEQ says it’s denying a permit needed for crude-oil operation to continue in Portland
Canadian Press: Liberals pledge $2B to help 'transition' oil workers; Alberta communities lukewarm
E&E News: Could ‘non-use’ rights boost conservation lands?
Press release: WildEarth Guardians to file suit to protect clean air from fracking in Permian Basin
Bloomberg: Bankruptcies Fueling Environmental Crisis at Abandoned Oil Wells
Press release: EMNRD’s Oil Conservation Division issues civil penalties to Hilcorp Energy Company
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Bloomberg: Satellites find methane plumes over Midwest caused by Energy Transfer
OPINION
New Yorker: The Answer to Climate Change Is Organizing
Star Tribune: I'm a Native American proud to be working on Line 3
The Hill: A legal pillar of environmental justice is now under attack
Real Clear Energy: A Cleaner Oil Industry: Driven by Data and Common Sense
Los Angeles Times: Editorial: Goodbye fossil fuels. California should commit to going carbon neutral by 2045
PIPELINE NEWS
Star Tribune: Line 3 protests at Capitol, Walz residence yield different outcomes
By Stephen Montemayor, 9/6/21
“A week of protests in St. Paul over the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline project last month ended in a pair of law enforcement encounters with vastly different outcomes,” the Star Tribune reports. “Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington hailed his department's work on Aug. 27 negotiating the removal of a teepee that no longer had a permit to be on the Capitol grounds as a "triumph" of community-centered policing. The next day, however, police arrested 69 people outside Gov. Tim Walz's residence as a demonstration escalated to levels state law enforcement leaders say they have not seen in past protests outside the Summit Avenue mansion. "From a public safety standpoint we are simply trying to hold the ground so that public conversation, that civil conversation, can take place without anyone being in fear and without anyone being intimidated unnecessarily," Harrington told the Star Tribune. Taken together, the multiple protests and police actions both in preparation and response offer a glimpse at how state authorities are navigating a wave of demonstrations, ranging from the controversial pipeline to police reform… “A Saturday march to Walz's residence took a decidedly different turn from Friday's peaceful resolution: troopers loaded 69 people onto a bus following a wave of arrests that Langer said began when protesters started locking themselves to the gate around the property and "violently pulling and shaking" the gate… “Jaike Spotted Wolf, a leader of the Cloquet-based Camp Migizi, told the Start Tribune that demonstrators handcuffed themselves to the gate outside Walz's residence that day as a "last-ditch effort" to prompt the governor to engage in conversation and not a deliberate move to get arrested. "We have very few options in terms of what can garner one's attention," Spotted Wolf told the Start Tribune. "If it is Biden or Gov. Walz, we don't have a lot at our disposal in terms of trying to get help and explain why we are out here and what we are doing. Protest is one of those things. Nobody goes into those wanting to be arrested."
Roanoke Times: Mountain Valley Pipeline seeks the identity of its anonymous critics
Laurence Hammack, 9/4/21
“Very little is publicly known about a very public critic of the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” the Roanoke Times reports. “Appalachians Against Pipelines established a Facebook page in February 2018, about the time that tree-sitters began their efforts to block construction of the massive natural gas pipeline. Since then, the group has used social media as a megaphone to promote its agenda, while otherwise remaining largely invisible. Mountain Valley is trying to find out who they are. In a subpoena recently filed in Roanoke’s federal court, the company asks Facebook to reveal the names and telephone numbers of those who established and maintain a page that has more than 21,000 followers. Appalachians Against Pipelines tells the Times the subpoena is nothing more than an effort to intimidate and silence them — a position shared by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for privacy and free speech on the internet. “It generally gives us concern when we see a company like MVP trying to unmask its critics,” Adam Schwartz, a senior attorney with the San Francisco-based foundation, told the Times. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the rights of critics to remain unnamed, noting that the practice can be traced back to the founders of the nation who published newspaper pieces anonymously out of fear of retaliation from the King of England. In order for a company like Mountain Valley to acquire the names of the administrators of a Facebook page, it must meet a high standard of showing that its needs or concerns outweigh the First Amendment rights of the commenters, Schwartz told the Times.
Bloomberg: Enbridge to start moving oil-sands crude in new pipeline [VIDEO]
Robert Tuttle, 9/1/21
“Enbridge Inc. is getting ready to ship crude from the oil sands in the first new cross-border oil-sands conduit built between Canada and the U.S. in years,” Bloomberg reports. “The company is offering 620,000 barrels a day of capacity in its Line 3 oil pipeline in October, according to a notice it sent to shippers. The Line 3 project will replace and older Line 3 that can ship about 390,000 barrels a day. The project is scheduled to go into operation in the fourth quarter, according to an email from Enbridge. “The capacity provided to shippers is still an estimate as there are numerous factors including linefill, system outages for construction and tie in work that need to be completed,” Jesse Semko, Enbridge spokesman, told Bloomberg. “The start of Line 3 is expected to bring relief to Canada’s oil-sands producers, who have struggled for years with a shortage of export pipelines as projects face increasing scrutiny from courts and regulators... Enbridge will offer 350,000 barrels a day of light oil capacity and 270,000 barrels a day of heavy oil capacity in October, according to a copy of the shipper notice seen by Bloomberg.”
Finance & Commerce: Trades group accuses Line 3 foes of ‘gaslighting’ workers
Brian Johnson, 9/2/21
“Tensions between the construction trades and lawmakers opposing Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 crude oil pipeline project in northern Minnesota ramped up this week over a letter that appears to link some Line 3 workers with public safety threats,” Finance & Commerce reports. “In a statement released Wednesday, the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council accuses two members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation and other elected officials of “lying about” and “gaslighting” workers on the project. The trades council issued the statement in response to an Aug. 30 letter signed by Democratic U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum, who represent the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas, respectively, and dozens of other state and national lawmakers. Arguing that the project is harmful to the environment and public safety and a violation of tribal rights, the letter urges President Joe Biden to “intervene to protect Indigenous sovereignty amidst the construction of the Enbridge Line 3.” In an apparent reference to Line 3 workers, the letter states that the “influx of temporary residents in the region has exacerbated the concerns of violence and health threats to local communities — and to Indigenous people in particular.” A 2020 report to the Minnesota Legislature, the “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force,” noted the “risks on Indigenous women associated with Line 3 and other projects of this nature and predicted that construction would lead to more violence against Indigenous women,” according to the lawmakers’ letter… “Most disturbing in this letter is the claim that Line 3 workers, the majority of whom are members of the affiliated trades we represent, are a threat to the health and safety of the very communities they live and work in,” Joe Fowler, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, said in a statement. “Candidly, we can disagree about whether a construction project should move forward, but lying about and the gaslighting of our members working on the project will not be tolerated. … The Line 3 workers deserve to be able to do their job without being maligned and disparaged by elected officials who know that their claims are false,” Fowler added.
Bloomberg: Enbridge in $3 Billion Deal to Add U.S. Oil Export Capacity
By Simon Casey, 9/7/21
“Enbridge Inc., the Canadian pipeline giant, agreed to acquire a smaller U.S. rival to add export capacity on the Gulf Coast,” Bloomberg reports. “The company is buying Moda Midstream Operating LLC for $3 billion in cash from EnCap Flatrock Midstream, Enbridge said Tuesday in a statement. Enbridge, which already handles about a quarter of all crude produced in North America, is betting on a strong outlook for exports of oil pumped from the Permian and Eagle Ford shale basins. The fracking revolution has not only revived U.S. oil production over the past decade, it has turned the country into one of the largest shippers of the commodity. “Our strategy is driven by the important role that low cost, sustainable North America energy supply will play in meeting growing global demand,” Enbridge Chief Executive Officer Al Monaco said in the statement. The deal includes Ingleside Energy Center, near Corpus Christi, Texas. Built in 2018, it’s North America’s largest crude export terminal, which loaded 25% of all U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports last year. Enbridge will also acquire a 20% stake the Cactus II Pipeline, which connects the Permian with the Gulf Coast, plus the Viola pipeline and the Taft Terminal.”
Native News Online: Michigan Tribal Leaders Want to Shut Down Line 5 Pipeline Crossing the Straits of Mackinac
BY LEVI RICKERT, 9/7/21
“Under a light drizzle, traditional Great Lakes canoes and a couple of dozen kayaks participated in the Sixth Annual Pipe Out Paddle Up Flotilla on Saturday morning at the Straits of Mackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan,” Native News Online reports. “One hundred other people remained on shore to lend their support for those who participated in the flotilla. The annual event happens on the Saturday of Labor Weekend to draw attention to the dangers of Enbridge’s Line 5 twin oil pipelines that cross through the Straits of Mackinac. Michigan Indian leaders and environmental allies want to stop the oil flowing through Line 5 because the 68-year-old dual pipelines were built to last only 50 years… “The participants heard remarks from Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Chairperson Regina Gasco-Bentley and Sault Ste. Marie of Chippewa Indians Tribe Chairperson Aaron Payment. Payment said if the pipe would burst during the winter when the Straits of Mackinac freezes over, the spill would be catastrophic to the Great Lakes. Millions of gallons of oil would flow into the fresh waters and the spill would not be reached for at least two weeks. “This whole notion of a tunnel originated under our previous governor — the same governor who poisoned children in Flint, Michigan, (and) who told us, ‘trust us, just trust us.’ The proposed tunnel is a red herring. We know from our environmental directors from across our tribes that a tunnel is not feasible. It is a smokescreen to allow them to operate as long as they can or until a spill happens. And a spill will happen if we don’t stop Line 5,” Payment said.
Michigan Radio: Environmentalists call on Canada to support the shutdown of Line 5
By LESTER GRAHAM, 9/1/21
“Environmental groups are demanding Canada stop opposing the shutdown of Enbridge Energy’s Line 5,” Michigan Radio reports. “The group Oil and Water Don’t Mix and its supporters are calling on the government of Canada to go along with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order to shut down the pipeline. “It is past time for Canadian officials to join their neighbors in Michigan and act to protect the Great Lakes in our climate instead of advancing Enbridge's fossil fuel agenda,” Christy McGillivray with the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club, told Michigan Radio. Government officials in Canada officials have said Line 5 is important to the country’s energy needs. Whitmer ordered Enbridge Energy to shutdown Line 5 in May, an order which has been ignored by the Canadian pipeline company while it challenges it in U.S. federal court. Environmentalists believe the 68-year-old oil and natural gas liquids pipeline which sits on the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lakes Michigan and Huron, is a threat to the environment of the lakes and the economy of Michigan communities on the lakes. The group Oil and Water Don't Mix sent Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau some water from the Straits as a reminder that Canada shares responsibility for safeguarding the lakes. “Today, we call on Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to work with Michigan's governor and the Biden administration on a decommissioning plan for Line 5,” said Jamie Simmons with Michigan Climate Action Network, one of the speakers at a protest in Detroit. The government of Canada has not responded to a request for comment.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Central Virginia pipeline developer wants regulators to find they don't need to approve project
Patrick Wilson, 9/3/21
“The developer of a proposed natural gas pipeline in central Virginia asked the State Corporation Commission on Friday to issue a ruling saying the project can go forward without commission approval,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. “The proposed Chickahominy Pipeline would serve a yet-to-be-built natural gas power plant in Charles City County. The line would run through a route in Louisa, Hanover, New Kent, Henrico and Charles City counties. The proposed route has not been disclosed but property owners have received letters from the developer about it. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in July that property owners concerned about environmental impacts plan to fight the pipeline. The developer, Irfan Ali, has said he can build it without approval from the State Corporation Commission. He also said he would change the route to accommodate any property owners who didn’t want it coming through their land. Ali’s company, in Friday’s filing with the commission, said it wants confirmation that the construction and operation of the pipeline is not subject to the commission’s jurisdiction… “Lynn Peace Wilson of Henrico owns property in New Kent and received one of the letters regarding her New Kent property. She’s helping lead opposition to the pipeline. “I have a lot of confidence in the State Corporation Commission that they will do the right thing,” she told the Times. She said she’s skeptical that the developer wouldn’t need to forcibly take land from property owners for the pipeline.”
Missouri Times: PSC investigating Spire STL Pipeline contingencies
BY CAMERON GERBER, 9/1/21
“Missouri’s Public Service Commission (PSC) ordered Spire Missouri to file contingency plans as the fate of the Spire STL Pipeline remains in flux,” the Missouri Times reports. “The 65-mile interstate pipeline was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the PSC’s federal counterpart, in 2018. However, three judges on a federal appellate court vacated its approval in June and remanded the issue following a legal challenge mounted by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). FERC has yet to take the next step on the case. Spire and other stakeholders — including members of Missouri’s congressional delegation and the PSC itself — have advocated for an emergency certificate from FERC to allow the pipeline to continue operating while its fate is decided. The PSC ordered Spire to submit monthly reports on its contingency plans and conditions that may impact its ability to provide service to the St. Louis area through March 2022 during Wednesday’s agenda meeting.”
Indiana Environmental Reporter: Opposition grows to proposed natural gas pipeline
Enrique Saenz, 9/2/21
“Environmental and consumer advocacy organizations have come out against a proposed natural gas pipeline project that would link potential gas-fired electric units to a natural gas network,” according to the Indiana Environmental Reporter. “The Sierra Club and the Citizens Action Coalition have come out in opposition to the proposed construction of a 24-mile Texas Gas Transmission LLC pipeline connecting Robards, Kentucky to two possible new gas-fired electric generating units at CenterPoint Energy’s A.B. Brown Generating Station in Posey County. CenterPoint Energy has not received approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the agency that approves energy projects in the state, and the possibility exists that construction of the new units could be denied, making the Texas Gas Transmission project a pipeline to nowhere. Texas Gas Transmission also wants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency in charge of reviewing and approving interstate energy projects, to approve the project without having to complete an environmental impact statement. The Sierra Club has submitted comments to FERC, saying that the proposed pipeline would cause additional environmental impacts to parts of Indiana and Kentucky that are already bearing a disproportionate share of pollution.”
Stratford Beacon Herald: Activists promote world without pipelines
Monte Sonnenberg, 9/6/21
“Ontario and Quebec will have to fast-track their transition to renewable energy now that momentum is building to shut two pipelines that supply nearly half of the two provinces’ crude oil needs,” the Stratford Beacon Herald reports. “That’s the position of activists who staged a day-long event Saturday in support of closing Enbridge pipelines, one of which transects the Great Lakes at the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Superior with Lake Huron. A group called Allies of the Onkwehonwe began with a sunrise ceremony at Chiefswood Park in Ohsweken, which followed by a solidarity paddle on the Grand River and then an afternoon at Chiefswood with speakers covering various topics, including the pipelines, traditional gardening and women and children’s issues… “They should have been investing in green energy and thermal heating a long time ago,” said Jennifer Vermeer of Hamilton, Ont., an ally of the Onkwehonwe. “Now, they’re going to have to turn it up all at once. Crude oil is a finite resource. They’ve had 50 years to get this under control. Now they’re stuck. Now they’re going to have to step it up.”
EXTRACTION
CNN: Divers discover a dislodged and broken pipeline that likely triggered Gulf of Mexico oil spill
By Keith Allen, 9/6/21
“Divers using underwater sonar discovered a 12-inch oil pipeline Sunday that had become dislodged and is possibly the source of an oil spill discovered off the coast of Louisiana, officials said,” CNN reports. “Houston-based Talos Energy said in a statement that it was informed of a potential oil release Tuesday by Clean Gulf Associates, a nonprofit oil spill cooperative, because it previously leased the oil block in Bay Marchand off the coast of Port Fourchon. Talos began sending vessels to the impacted area Wednesday and divers later discovered the damaged pipeline and determined it does not belong to Talos Energy, the company said. The pipeline "appears to be bent and open ended," Talos Energy said.”
OPB: Oregon DEQ says it’s denying a permit needed for crude-oil operation to continue in Portland
Monica Samayoa, 9/1/21
“A controversial oil-by-rail terminal in Portland’s industrial Northwest area received another blow Wednesday, when a state agency said it’s turning down the renewal of its air quality permit application,” OPB reports. “The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s proposed denial for Zenith Energy’s air quality permit renewal followed the city of Portland’s refusal to endorse such an action. The city’s Bureau of Development Services said it was denying its certification for a land use compatibility statement, which the DEQ required as part of its own approval process for the air permit. The city bureau said Zenith Energy is not aligned with Portland’s comprehensive plan and goals to reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels. Zenith said it plans to challenge the city’s bureau decision... “Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Portland, was among those to praise the action of city and state regulators. “The City of Portland and DEQ have demonstrated the state’s commitment to the health of our community, addressing the climate crisis and helping our state transition definitively away from fossil fuel dependence,” she said in a statement.
Canadian Press: Liberals pledge $2B to help 'transition' oil workers; Alberta communities lukewarm
Amanda Stephenson, 9/1/21
“The federal Liberals have pledged $2 billion to help workers in oil-producing provinces transition to a greener economy, but the proposal is getting a lukewarm reception in communities that might be beneficiaries of the funding,” the Canadian Press reports. “In Cold Lake, Alta. — where more than 2,000 of the city's 15,000 residents are employed at nearby oilsands operations — Mayor Craig Copeland said he doesn't believe most people working in the sector want to switch jobs… "We already have a huge industry that generates enormous wealth for people," Copeland said, calling the Liberals' transition proposal a "made-in-Ottawa" solution not grounded in reality. "Until you find a way to replace that, people won't even look at retraining." “...While there are different ways to accomplish that goal, Isabelle Turcotte — director of federal policy for clean energy think-tank the Pembina Institute, told CP — the outcome will undoubtedly have an impact on oil and gas employees. "It's been hard in Canada to talk about reductions in oil and gas, because of workers," Turcotte told CP. "But regardless of the pathway (to net-zero) we choose ... we will see a decrease in production and consumption of oil and gas, all the way to 2050."
E&E News: Could ‘non-use’ rights boost conservation lands?
Jennifer Yachnin, 8/27/21
“Despite winning contracts for 1,200 acres of public lands across Utah in 2016 and even paying rental fees, Tempest Exploration Co. LLC ultimately lost its leases — because conservation activist Terry Tempest Williams admitted to the Bureau of Land Management that she wasn’t interested in actually taking oil out of the ground,” E&E News reports. “But now, amid the Biden administration’s push to conserve at least 30 percent of the nation’s lands, a coalition of researchers is arguing that Williams’ idea — a "nonuse" right — deserves a new look from the federal government. "What do you do in a landscape where there are a lot of existing resource rights that are already allocated? That’s certainly the case when you think of public lands in the West," Shawn Regan, vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center, told E&E. In a new analysis published in the journal Science, researchers from Montana-based PERC along with the Environmental Defense Fund, the Hoover Institution, the National Bureau of Economic Research and several universities, call for an overhaul of laws and regulations that mandate the "productive use" of public lands… “Under existing laws, companies and individuals who lease public lands, stake mining claims or hold grazing permits must exploit those assets or risk losing their rights to use the public lands. Instead, Regan and his co-authors argue, the government should consider the creation of a "nonuse" right, or the ability to purchase an oil or gas lease, grazing permit or timber contract without having to actually extract or harvest the resource… “The proposal would require that Congress amend laws or agencies reinterpret regulations to expand "productive use" to include conservation — something that researchers argue could occur as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing review of the federal oil and gas leasing program.”
Press release: WildEarth Guardians to file suit to protect clean air from fracking in Permian Basin
Jeremy Nichols, 9/1/21
“WildEarth Guardians announced this week its intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to crack down on smog pollution in the Permian Basin of southeast New Mexico, where unchecked fracking is taking a dangerous toll on clean air. “Despite the Biden administration’s promises to put public health first, the oil and gas industry is getting a free ride to pollute the Permian Basin and undermine clean air,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “The Environmental Protection Agency needs to stop dragging its feet and start helping people.” In the face of booming oil and gas extraction, levels of ground-level ozone–the key ingredient of smog–have violated federal health standards in southeastern New Mexico. In light of these violations, WildEarth Guardians in March called on the Environmental Protection Agency to declare the region a dirty-air area, otherwise known as a “nonattainment” area, under the Clean Air Act. In a Clean Air Act petition filed with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator, WildEarth Guardians also called on the Agency to sanction the State of New Mexico for turning its back on the serious smog problem and allowing the oil and gas industry to keep increasing air pollution in the region.”
Bloomberg: Bankruptcies Fueling Environmental Crisis at Abandoned Oil Wells
9/2/21
“A tide of failing energy companies has government regulators racing to address the nation’s stockpile of abandoned, methane-leaking oil wells as environmental liabilities come to a head in oil and gas bankruptcy proceedings,” Bloomberg reports. “More than 260 domestic oil producers filed Chapter 11 over a six-year period marked by depressed commodity prices and the global economic shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many distressed fossil fuel companies are passing environmental obligations on to government bodies amid the worst crude crash in history. Some of those companies use bankruptcy to shift multimillion or even multibillion-dollar decommissioning burdens to predecessors and joint interest holders. The prolonged downturn now has lawmakers and regulators enhancing efforts to address an environmental crisis more than a century in the making. “In general, we don’t want the taxpayer picking up the bill for decommissioning,” John Filostrat, a spokesman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, told Bloomberg. “We want to make sure there’s no public bailout of companies and their obligations.” But decades of lenient regulation coupled with the economics that have long guided a cyclical boom-or-bust industry in the U.S. have made it challenging to ensure drillers are covering their cleanup costs.”
Press release: EMNRD’s Oil Conservation Division issues civil penalties to Hilcorp Energy Company
9/1/21
“Today the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s (EMNRD) Oil Conservation Division (OCD) announces that it issued a notice of violation (NOV) and associated administrative civil penalties of $1,620,000 to Hilcorp Energy Company (Hilcorp) for failing to remediate unauthorized releases and for not meeting the operational and reporting conditions of approval at six active remediation sites. The OCD considers failing to comply with the required terms, conditions, and provisions of a permit, administrative order, authorization, or approval to be a serious violation. Such violations undermine the OCD’s ability to ensure that a release is promptly managed and remediated to ensure that human health and the environment are protected. In August 2021, the OCD conducted a compliance review of all active Hilcorp Soil Vaper Extraction (SVE) remediation sites. SVE is a technique where remediation is performed directly on the site without excavating soil contaminants or causing disturbance to the soil structure. SVE is commonly used to remove volatile and some semi-volatile compounds such as petroleum and chlorinated products. During the investigation, OCD inspectors discovered that the SVE remediation systems at six sites were out of compliance with their approved plans and written conditions of approval. Based on the approved plans, Hilcorp was required to maintain a minimum sanctioned SVE run-time, collect initial and annual gas samples, and submit regular status reports to the OCD. Hilcorp failed to comply with the outlined terms, conditions, and provisions of their approved plans.”
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Bloomberg: Satellites find methane plumes over Midwest caused by Energy Transfer
by Naureen Malik and Aaron Clark, 9/2/21
“Plumes of the super-warming greenhouse gas methane were spotted over the Midwest last month. U.S. pipeline giant Energy Transfer said the releases were triggered by “routine work” on its natural-gas infrastructure,” Bloomberg reports. “The emissions were likely limited in scope. By one estimate if they lasted an hour they would have roughly the same short-term climate impact as the annual emissions of about 700 cars. A spokesperson for Energy Transfer, which also owns the contentious Mariner East pipeline in Pennsylvania, had no information on the amount released. However, the releases raise questions about the urgency and ability of operators to respond to the climate crisis, and whether these emissions can be avoided. "During this time routine work was being performed," the spokesperson said in an email. "All appropriate notifications were made." Many global oil and gas operators have said they are committed to reducing the methane intensity of their operations by cutting back on intentional emissions of the greenhouse gas. The industry is under pressure to improve operations to tackle climate change and respond to increasing investor scrutiny on environmental issues. Still, multiple operators continue to justify releases as a part of normal operations.”
OPINION
New Yorker: The Answer to Climate Change Is Organizing
Bill McKibben, 9/1/21
“A more personal note than usual this week, because this will be the last of these Climate Crisis columns I’ll write (though it’s not the end of my work for the magazine),” Bill McKibben writes in the New Yorker. “...I’ve long had two identities, as a writer and an activist; for the past couple of years, the former has dominated—in part because the pandemic has made activism hard. And, in truth, part of me hoped that all those who had built movements in the past decade had done enough. Victories have been won, from Keystone XL to fracking bans to divestment to—one hopes—the infrastructure bill now making its tenuous way through Congress. Certainly, the Zeitgeist has been moved—the polling makes clear that even Americans, living in the center of well-funded climate denial, have decisively shifted toward concern about global warming. But the science has also shifted… “The only way I can think of to meet this challenge is with more mass organizing. Young people are now fully engaged and leading the way; we’re seeing remarkable activism in frontline and indigenous communities. But there’s a group that, I think, is not pulling its weight, and it’s a group I’m now a part of. Call us “experienced Americans”—the baby boomers and silent generations that make up a huge percentage of the population, own a remarkable share of its financial assets, and vote in large numbers. As a rule, people do become more conservative as they age, but it’s not an inviolable maxim—many of the people in these generations witnessed broad cultural and political change in their early years, and now, conscious of their kids and their grandkids, they may be emerging from the primes of their lives with the skills and the resources to help make big change again. And so some of us are planning an organization called Third Act, an effort to mobilize older Americans in defense of environmental sanity and economic and racial fairness. I do not, precisely, relish the prospect of another bout of organizing. Part of me has always thought it’s crazy that we have to build these movements: Why must we fight so hard, even go to jail, in order to get our leaders to take more seriously the clear and unequivocal warnings of scientists? But I’ve long accepted that we’re engaged in a fight, not an argument—and that the main way to counter the malign power of vested interest is to meet organized money with organized people.”
Star Tribune: I'm a Native American proud to be working on Line 3
Matt Gordon is an owner of Gordon Construction of Mahnomen, 9/2/21
“If you read news about the Line 3 pipeline currently under construction in northern Minnesota, you would be led to believe that a foreign company is violating the rights of Native Americans who live there,” Matt Gordon writes for the Star Tribune. “That is so far from the truth. I should know — I'm an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation who also owns a construction company that has been working on the pipeline since December. I can understand the public's misperception, because opponents of Line 3 have created a false impression that Native Americans are uniformly opposed to the project. This narrative is accepted by people because Hollywood celebrities and politicians far removed from Minnesota say it must be true, so others believe it. As with most things in the world today, you can't always believe what you see on your smartphone. People should listen to those of us who are actually working on the project, living where this pipeline is being built and creating economic opportunities for our people… “I am proud that my company is working on this important infrastructure project, which provides much needed work for people in our part of Minnesota. I am also pleased that we are able to provide good-paying wages to Native Americans who are looking to better their future with a career in construction.”
The Hill: A legal pillar of environmental justice is now under attack
James Goodwin is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR). Rob Verchick is a professor of law at Loyola University New Orleans and the president of CPR, 9/1/21
“A few weeks ago, the Army Corps of Engineers made a startling announcement: It would give Sharon Lavigne and her neighbors in St. James Parish, La., a chance to tell their stories,” The Hill reports. “The fact one of the world’s largest chemical companies has fought for years to keep Lavigne quiet tells you how commanding her stories are. Those stories may stop this particular company from building a multi-billion dollar chemical plant surrounding her neighborhood. For this, we can thank a simple law, signed by President Nixon in 1970, called the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Unlike other environmental laws, NEPA doesn’t tell agencies what choices they must make — like where to erect a levee or whether to permit a plastics plant. But it does insist their choices be informed… “Corporate interests are using fast-moving infrastructure legislation as a vehicle for dismantling crucial procedural safeguards afforded by NEPA, wrongly claiming that the law stands in the way of a green energy grid, expanded mass transit, and other aspects of a green economy. The bipartisan infrastructure bill pending in the House of Representatives would, among other things, exempt many kinds of government actions from NEPA’s requirements and make it harder for communities to hold agencies accountable when they fail to comply with the law… “President Joe Biden and supporters of good governance in Congress should reject this gambit. We can’t tackle the climate crisis by throwing critical members of our team off the field. Community advocates like Sharon Lavigne and the other members of RISE St. James should have more opportunities to enter the decision-making process, not less. For more than a half-century, NEPA has helped us protect the environment and pursue social justice at the same time. It’s time to build on that legacy, not undo it.”
Real Clear Energy: A Cleaner Oil Industry: Driven by Data and Common Sense
Paul Steidler is a Senior Fellow with the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank based in Arlington, Virginia, 9/1/21
“The West’s largest oil companies – Exxon Mobil, BP, and Chevron – have made pledges to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions soon and will remain under strong pressure from environmentalists and investors to do so,” Paul Steidler writes for Real Clear Energy. “By combining the engineering prowess at these companies and other U.S. producers with far-ranging applications of data analytics, dramatic changes can be instituted to make their operations cleaner. This includes significantly reducing methane emissions, increasing the success of drilling operations, and improving refining processes so that they are more environmentally friendly and more efficient, thereby producing cleaner fuels. Those championing climate change prevention should embrace these steps from Big Oil, while tracking the progress on these innovations and assessing plans to further cut emissions by 2050. BP has already said it will be a net-zero emitter by then. Attempts by some environmentalists to use the industry’s posture to bludgeon and drive it out of business are not only highly counterproductive, but not likely to work. Simply put, the world needs large quantities of oil and will still need much of it in 2050. Environmental and climate change activists are in a strong position with oil companies, which they can embrace and use to the advantage of transforming oil and gas into cleaner industries… “Push too hard, though, and things can quickly unravel to the point where we will be asking on foreign governments, with inferior environmental standards, to produce more oil. Just ask President Biden and the tens of millions of Americans who are frustrated with today’s high gas prices.”
Los Angeles Times: Editorial: Goodbye fossil fuels. California should commit to going carbon neutral by 2045
BY THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD, 9/7/21
“Last month, the United Nations issued a dire warning: It’s too late to stop the effects of global warming, which are fueling record-breaking heat waves, flooding and wildfires. But by dramatically reducing the use of fossil fuels starting now and zeroing out planet-warming gases by the midcentury, the report noted, the world could prevent greater devastation,” the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board writes. “In theory, California is already moving in that direction. The state has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. And then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order in 2018 setting the goal even higher: carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning the state would remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it emits… “The reality is that California and the world must move fast if there is any hope of stopping climate catastrophe. Transitioning an entire economy from fossil fuels to clean technology will be challenging, time consuming and expensive for businesses and residents. But the cost of inaction is unthinkable. If we don’t accelerate the work now, it will be nearly impossible to zero out planet-warming emissions by the middle of the century… “The summer has already given us a terrible glimpse of the future if we don’t move aggressively now. California can continue to lead the fight against climate change by passing AB 1395.”