EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 9/8/26

PIPELINE NEWS

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Concerns rise over Line 5 after natural gas spill, multiple frac outs

• WAOW: Enbridge to build temporary bypass around Line 5 pipeline leak

• Mlive.com: Michigan tribes lead Mackinac Bridge Walk in united stand against Line 5 pipeline

• Alaska Beacon: Alaska’s state-owned gasline corporation says it will continue to pursue AKLNG pipeline in 2027

• Reuters: Asia is poised to take up 70% of Canadian oil exports, pipeline executive says

• Raincoast.org: Herring eggs can’t get away from disaster

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• The Hill: US launches retaliatory strikes on 3 Iranian oil carriers in response to attacks against Navy warships

• Politico: House committee launches investigation into 19 climate groups

• Press release: Committee Investigates Radical Environmental Groups Profiting From Taxpayer Dollars

• USA Today: Federal court rejects claim of constitutional right to clean water

• Reuters: The Venezuelan billionaire the US investigated for money laundering now has a Pentagon oil deal

• The Hill: Trump administration moves to fast-track oil drilling approvals in Alaska

• Inside Climate News: Underserved Communities Again Ask Courts to Restore Justice Grant Funding

STATE UPDATES

• New York Times: Behind on 2030 Climate Goals, States Are Cutting or Even Scrapping Them

• Reuters: South Korea, US agree on more than $20 billion gas plant investment in Texas, media reports

• Salt Lake Tribune: Trump officials eye expanded oil and gas leasing beneath a Utah wildlife refuge. Critics call it ‘wildly irresponsible.’

• Colorado Sun: Colorado faces a federal oil and gas leasing fire sale. One man on a Moffat County mountain is fighting back

• Inside Climate News: Error in a Recent BLM Lease Sale Has Wyoming Residents Concerned Over New Oil and Gas Rules

• Grist: Michigan invests $7.5M to find out if it’s sitting on a clean energy gold mine

EXTRACTION

• Alberta Energy Centre: New Houston terminal strengthens Canadian oil’s path to global markets

• Royal Bank of Canada: Trade Zone: Can Venezuelan oil displace the oilsands?

• Reuters: Europe’s largest carbon capture facility opens in Netherlands

• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL): Europe’s Largest Carbon Capture Project is a ‘Pass to Keep on Polluting’

• Associated Press: Dozens die in Nigeria oil theft attempt after inhaling toxic fumes

OPINION

• Peninsula Clarion: Crooked path may be only straight answer for gas pipeline

• Keys News: Rallying against offshore oil drilling in the Gulf

PIPELINE NEWS

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Concerns rise over Line 5 after natural gas spill, multiple frac outs
Laura Schulte, 9/8/26

“A late August natural gas spill in rural Iron County may be the largest of its kind ever in Wisconsin, raising concerns about its impact on the surrounding environment, and the overall safety of the controversial pipeline that was damaged,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. “Clean Wisconsin is contending the spill is unprecedented, and “one of the most dangerous” ever seen in the Northwoods, with more than 1.3 million gallons of hazardous liquids released. The environmental advocacy group contends Enbridge is continuing to burn off 5,000 barrels of chemicals at the site. “We’ve said from the beginning that building an oil and gas pipeline puts Wisconsin’s Northwoods and the families who live there at tremendous risk,” said Clean Wisconsin attorney Evan Feinauer in a media release. “This dangerous, toxic spill shows the harmful consequences that can result from Line 5 pipeline work and construction.” “…The company declined to answer further questions about how much liquid was spilled at the site, and to respond to claims this is the largest spill to take place in Wisconsin. But advocates have pointed to previous spills, where it took months for Enbridge to release full information about the amount of products spilled from various pipelines, including a 2019 spill, resulting in 1,386 gallons of petroleum diluent leaking from Line 6 in Jefferson County and a 2024 spill resulting in 69,300 gallons of crude oil, also from Line 6 in Jefferson County.”

WAOW: Enbridge to build temporary bypass around Line 5 pipeline leak
Brad Miller, 9/7/26

“Enbridge plans to build a temporary bypass around a leak of natural gas liquids from the Line 5 pipeline in Iron County,” WAOW reports. “On Aug. 25, a parked semi rolled into a construction site near Saxon, hitting the exposed pipeline and causing a leak that vaporized an estimated 31,000 barrels of propane and butane. Another 2,000 barrels was estimated to remain liquid in the trench… “Enbridge says it will construct a temporary bypass of 1,500 feet around the area of the leak, allowing work to continue to address conditions at the leak site while delivering product. Enbridge now anticipates returning Line 5 to service on Sept. 12.”

Mlive.com: Michigan tribes lead Mackinac Bridge Walk in united stand against Line 5 pipeline
Skyla Jewell-Hammie, 9/7/26

“Clear skies made for a beautiful sunrise start to the 2026 Mackinac Bridge Walk on Monday, where roughly 34,000 people participated,” Mlilve.com reports. “…The walk across the bridge at 6:30 a.m. Monday was especially significant for Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes opposing the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline. Several tribal chairs, chiefs, ogimaag and presidents joined together to activate the ancestral Three Fires Confederacy’s first collective call to action. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was among the thousands walking across the bridge Sept. 7. She filed a response brief in August challenging Enbridge’s claim that it can continue operating the Line 5 oil pipeline through the Great Lakes regardless of state authority… “We are calling on our relatives throughout the Great Lakes—Native people who call these waters home in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario—and our allies and water protectors to stand with us,” the nonprofit Tribal Support Network stated. “This is not just a demonstration. It is a ceremony.” “…On behalf of the Three Fires Confederacy, the morning walk marked the first unified call to action, a peaceful demonstration of Anishinaabe presence to protect their homelands, treaties and waters. Thousands walked in ribbon skirts and other regalia to honor the call to action, in partnership with the Anishinaabek Caucus and Michigan Climate Action Network.”

Alaska Beacon: Alaska’s state-owned gasline corporation says it will continue to pursue AKLNG pipeline in 2027
James Brooks, 9/4/26

“The Alaska Gasline Development Corp. plans to ask the Alaska State Legislature for additional funding as it renews its pursuit of a proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline in 2027,” the Alaska Beacon reports. “Frank Richards, AGDC’s president, said the state-owned corporation will seek $2.5 million from state lawmakers next year for a previously announced program that would allow Alaskans to invest in the pipeline project… “It was the first time the board had met since the Alaska House voted down a compromise tax-cut bill intended to advance the latest version of the pipeline project… “Dunleavy proposed a compromise halfway between the House and Senate-backed ideas during the third special session this summer, but neither half of the Legislature took it up. A new governor will take office in December, and new legislative majorities will take office in January. “So next year we’ll have a new administration. Next year we’ll have — certainly — a newly elected legislature, and they’ll be starting again from scratch. Hopefully, looking at tax relief in some way or form for the project,” Richards said.”

Reuters: Asia is poised to take up 70% of Canadian oil exports, pipeline executive says
Chen Aizhu and Trixie Yap, 9/8/26

“Asia, led by China, is expected to buy 70% of Canadian crude oil exports after the country’s only pipeline that ​provides access to the continent expands its capacity by a ‌third by the end of 2028, a Canadian industry executive said on Tuesday,” Reuters reports. “…Mark Maki, chief executive officer of the pipeline ​operator Trans Mountain, told Reuters the pipeline expansion would add 90,000 bpd ​transport capacity in the fourth quarter, and another 210,000 bpd by the end ‌of ⁠2028. “About two-thirds of ships that leave the dock go to Asia and then as we expand, I would expect that most of that (expansion) will be going to Asia,” Maki told Reuters. Canada in July also announced plans to build an oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast, ​which would give the country greater capacity to export ​to Asia. China, ⁠the world’s biggest importer of oil, will remain Canada’s single largest customer going forward, as heavy Canadian oil is an ideal feedstock for ⁠petrochemicals, Maki told Reuters. Maki told Reuters he expected some new countries ​to become customers, including Thailand, and that India, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam would ​increase their purchases of Canadian oil.”

Raincoast.org: Herring eggs can’t get away from disaster
9/4/26

“Don’t build new risks into herring nurseries. Robert’s Bank Terminal 2 and the West Coast Oil Pipeline would add different pressures to the same nearshore waters. Pacific herring should not have to absorb both,” according to Raincoast.org. “Herring and other small forage fish feed our ocean food web. Herring lay their eggs on eelgrass and seaweed in shallow coastal water. Once laid, the eggs can’t leave – if habitat is damaged or oil reaches shore, they have no way to escape. Two projects could harm herring in the Fraser River Estuary. Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) would reshape shallow water habitat. The West Coast Oil Pipeline (WCOP)4 would add the risk of oil-spills and disturbance. 86-100% of sampled herring eggs died or failed to hatch normally at three oiled shorelines after the 2007 Cosco Busan spill… “Persistent contaminants can accumulate through herring predators like salmon, and build up in killer whales.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

The Hill: US launches retaliatory strikes on 3 Iranian oil carriers in response to attacks against Navy warships
Sarah Davis, 9/5/26

“U.S. Central Command (Centcom) on Saturday conducted strikes on several Iranian crude oil carriers in response to “multiple unprovoked” Iranian attacks on two U.S. Navy warships, according to the military command,” The Hill reports. “The U.S. military “permanently disabled” three of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s (IRGC) crude oil carriers located near Kharg Island and in the Gulf of Oman… “Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours,” Centcom Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement shared on social media. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

Politico: House committee launches investigation into 19 climate groups
Amelia Davidson, 9/4/26

“Republican members of the House Natural Resources Committee launched an investigation Friday into 19 environmental nonprofits, accusing them of running a scheme to profit from climate litigation,” Politico reports.”Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Oversight Subcommittee Chair Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and 15 other Republican lawmakers sent letters to environmental groups requesting testimony and written answers about their finances. The letters said the committee was looking to investigate the “outsized influence preservationist environmental nonprofit organizations wield … over the federal government, law and natural resources policy.” The lawmakers specifically accused the groups of acting as “taxpayer-funded law firms,” by bringing lawsuits under laws like the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act that have fee shifting provisions. Those provisions mean that a court can reimburse a successful party in a citizen lawsuit for their legal fees… “These members of Congress seek to punish nonprofit organizations that are exercising their Constitutional rights and advocating to protect our environment from polluters and efforts by powerful elites to seize our public lands and kill cherished and imperiled wildlife,” Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Politico.”

Press release: Committee Investigates Radical Environmental Groups Profiting From Taxpayer Dollars
9/4/26

“Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and fifteen Committee members launched an investigation into nineteen radical environmental groups’ unscrupulous tactics to profit from taxpayer dollars. The members wrote in part: “The House Committee on Natural Resources is conducting oversight related to the outsized influence preservationist environmental nonprofit organizations wield over the federal government, law, and natural resources policy… “In order to ensure compliance with Congress’ legislative intent for statutes with fee-shifting provisions and inform legislative reforms to prevent abuse by radical environmental groups, Congressional oversight of [the organizations’] lawfare campaigns and subsequent fee awards is imperative.” “…Continuing its oversight work, today the Committee sent letters to the following nineteen organizations demanding written answers and in-person testimony regarding their business practices: Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, High Country Conservation Advocates, Montana Environmental Information Center, Native Ecosystems Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oregon Wild, Rocky Mountain Wild, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Sierra Club, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, The Wilderness Society, Wilderness Watch and Wilderness Workshop.”

USA Today: Federal court rejects claim of constitutional right to clean water
Karissa Waddick, 9/7/26

“A federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the right to clean drinking water in a Sept. 4 decision rejecting Jackson, Mississippi, residents’ lawsuit over the city’s lead-contaminated water system,” USA Today reports, “The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling dismissing residents’ 2022 lawsuit. The plaintiffs, Priscilla Sterling, Raine Becker, Shawn Miller and John Bennett, alleged that the city knowingly allowed residents to drink unsafe water. They argued that the water contamination violated their constitutional right to bodily integrity under the 14th Amendment’s due process clause. In the majority decision, Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote that while the deprivation of clean water was ‘grievous,’ it did ‘not infringe upon any deeply rooted constitutional right.’ “We are skeptical that the right to not be harmed by lead-contaminated water fits within the right to bodily integrity, and Plaintiffs point us to no historical tradition or Supreme Court precedent convincing us,” he wrote. “…The lawsuit against the City of Jackson stemmed from testing conducted by the Mississippi State Health Department between 2010 and 2013 showing rising levels of lead in the water. The four plaintiffs argued that the city failed to take steps to prevent further lead from entering the water supply and gave residents false assurance that the water was safe.”

Reuters: The Venezuelan billionaire the US investigated for money laundering now has a Pentagon oil deal
Sarah Kinosian, Marianna Parraga and Gram Slattery, 9/5/26

“The billionaire who helped broker the Trump administration’s sweeping long-term oil deal with Venezuela was until recently a target of U.S. money-laundering investigations involving funds embezzled from the state-owned oil company PDVSA,” Reuters reports. “Now, after assisting U.S. authorities ahead of the capture of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro, Alejandro Betancourt is Washington’s key partner in an unusual oil agreement with Caracas… “The deal marks a striking change of fortune for Betancourt, who four people familiar with U.S. policy in Venezuela told Reuters was key to U.S. strategy and planning in the lead-up to the January 3 operation that removed former President Maduro from power and flew him to New York to face charges of drug-trafficking, which Maduro denies. Asked about the investigations of Betancourt, a U.S. official who declined to be named told Reuters most of the legal challenges were nearly a decade old — and that he currently has no legal problems in the United States. NABEP’s record of pumping oil in Venezuela made Betancourt the best partner to help boost output under the arrangement, the official told Reuters. Reuters could not determine precisely when U.S. federal prosecutors paused their investigation into Betancourt or whether it came in exchange for his cooperation with the Trump administration.”

The Hill: Trump administration moves to fast-track oil drilling approvals in Alaska
Rachel Frazin, 9/4/26

“The Trump administration announced Friday it was proposing to fast-track approvals for oil drilling projects in Alaska after a request from a trade group to do so,” The Hill reports. “The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a proposal that would seek to quickly approve oil and gas drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA)… “In its proposal, the BLM said it would consolidate multiple approval procedures into a single review and set timelines that it hopes will ‘expedite’ project approvals… “What we’re seeing here is a concerted attack by the Trump administration to greenlight oil and gas drilling in the Western Arctic while ignoring the harm it will cause to these irreplaceable public lands and also the government’s obligation to protect these lands for wildlife and future generations,” Earthjustice Attorney Erik Grafe told The Hill.”

Inside Climate News: Underserved Communities Again Ask Courts to Restore Justice Grant Funding
Amy Green, 9/4/26

“Plaintiffs are continuing to press the Trump administration in federal court to restore $3 billion in grant funding for environmental and climate justice programs that would benefit underserved communities, as a Sept. 30 deadline nears,” Inside Climate News reports. “The plaintiffs in the litigation over the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program filed a motion late Tuesday asking the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina in Charleston to effectively put on hold the grants’ original expiration date at the end of September. Last week the plaintiffs filed a separate petition in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking the full court to reconsider a previous ruling by a three-judge panel of the court that prevented the disbursement of the funding. The Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program, established in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, offered grants for community-driven initiatives such as enhancing natural disaster preparedness, expanding workforce development opportunities, improving air quality, mitigating stormwater and flood damage and combating high energy costs. The Trump administration canceled the program in 2025 as part of a widespread dismantling of environmental and equity-related initiatives across the federal government.”

STATE UPDATES

New York Times: Behind on 2030 Climate Goals, States Are Cutting or Even Scrapping Them
Francesca Paris and Ben Blatt, 9/4/26

“After President Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement during his first term, many Democratic-led states passed their own laws to curtail carbon emissions,” the New York Times reports. “But most states that set goals for 2030 are not on track to meet them. Now, with voters worried about inflation, and with the war in Iran raising energy prices, some states have begun to cut back or abandon those goals instead… “The law allowed citizens to sue if regulations to meet emissions targets were not enforced. With the state behind on its goal, it had a choice: drastically push forward on its emissions target, or abandon it. In May, New York scrapped the state’s 2030 emissions target. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said sticking to the plan would have imposed “additional crushing costs” on New Yorkers… “Most states need to decrease emissions 4 to 6 percent per year to hit their 2030 goals. But in the late 2010s and early 2020s — around the time when states were setting their targets — emissions in many such states were falling by only 1 to 2 percent, or in some cases rising… ”With energy prices increasing and emissions targets seemingly out of reach, other states have begun loosening their goals as well as the policies designed to hit those targets… “The Trump administration has made it harder for states to reach these goals. It has removed consumer tax credits for electric vehicle purchases and heat pump installations, canceled federal grants for solar projects, sued states over plans to make polluters pay, halted offshore wind projects, and scaled back funding for E.V. chargers. But there is another reason these states with ambitious goals are struggling to reach their targets: Most of them had already made a lot of progress.”

Reuters: South Korea, US agree on more than $20 billion gas plant investment in Texas, media reports
Heejin Kim, 9/7/26

“South Korea and the United States have agreed on the size of Seoul’s planned investment in a gas project in Texas at around $22.3 billion, Korean media outlet Edaily reported on Monday, citing unidentified officials and politicians,” according to Reuters. “The project, which would be Seoul’s first U.S. investment under last year’s trade agreement, aims to build a 6.3-gigawatt gas plant in Encinal, Texas, to meet rising power demand for AI data centres, according to the media reports. The investment would be part of the trade deal signed by the two allies last year, under which Seoul pledged $350 billion worth of U.S. investments in exchange for favourable U.S. tariffs on imports of South Korean goods. The reports did not say whether Seoul would shoulder the whole cost of the Texas project.”

Salt Lake Tribune: Trump officials eye expanded oil and gas leasing beneath a Utah wildlife refuge. Critics call it ‘wildly irresponsible.’
Leia Larsen, 9/8/26

“The Trump administration is considering opening a vast swath of a wildlife refuge near Vernal to expanded oil and gas leasing,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “Under the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s proposal announced last week, 5,200 acres of the 12,000-acre Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, which includes about 16 miles of the Green River, could be opened to oil and gas leases… “The Ouray National Wildlife Refuge lies about 35 miles southwest of Vernal, in the middle of the Uintah Basin’s oil and gas country. The federal government created the refuge in 1960 to protect migratory and nesting habitat for birds like sandhill cranes and yellow-billed cuckoos, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act… “Environmental groups worry that drilling beneath the refuge could contaminate groundwater or the Green River. Hydraulic fracturing could also pollute the wells that supply water to the hatchery, Taylor McKinnon, southwest regional program director for The Center for Biological Diversity, told the Tribune.”

Colorado Sun: Colorado faces a federal oil and gas leasing fire sale. One man on a Moffat County mountain is fighting back
Mark Jaffe, 9/8/26

“From his bare-bones cabin on a little mountain thick with forests and laced with streams near the Wyoming border north of Craig, Joel Mayne is waging a one-man battle against the Trump administration’s push to sell oil and gas leases,” the Colorado Sun reports. “…While Mayne is carrying on a solitary struggle on Bakers Peak, he is not alone as environmental groups, state wildlife officials and local governments are protesting an unprecedented wave of public land oil and gas lease sales across Colorado… “In all, from the December 2025 auction, including the Bakers Peak leases, to the planned December 2026 sale, BLM is slated to offer more than 400,000 acres of land in Colorado for oil and gas drilling across six auctions… “It’s not simply a story about oil and gas production,” she told the Sun. “It is a story about the future of public land and whether it will continue to be managed for multiple uses and multiple generations, or managed to serve a single industry.”

Inside Climate News: Error in a Recent BLM Lease Sale Has Wyoming Residents Concerned Over New Oil and Gas Rules
Jake Bolster, 9/5/26

“A mistake in the federal documents offering public land in Wyoming for oil and gas leases has Cowboy State residents and environmentalists questioning whether government agencies are prepared to handle President Donald Trump’s ‘energy dominance’ agenda,” Inside Climate News reports. “…The agency’s misstep occurred as the Department of the Interior revises the BLM’s oil and gas rules, implemented under President Joe Biden, which reformed oil and gas royalty rates, raised bond requirements for cleanup funds and put conservation on equal footing with resource development. Among other changes, the revised rules would scrap preference criteria analysis… “But higher bonding minimums help prevent a well from being shuffled from a bigger driller to a less capable one, Rachael Hamby, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation nonprofit, told ICN. “It’s supposed to weed out financially insolvent operators so that they can’t take on responsibilities that they aren’t going to be able to handle.”

Grist: Michigan invests $7.5M to find out if it’s sitting on a clean energy gold mine
Vivian La, 9/2/26

“Michigan is investing $7.5 million to research geologic hydrogen — a clean energy source buried beneath the state that experts say could help power a transition away from fossil fuels,” Grist reports. “…If used as a fuel or in fuel cells, a large store of hydrogen could help clean up the state’s high-emissions industries, such as trucking and steel as well as cement manufacturing, Kevin Mehren, director of the Michigan Infrastructure Office, told Grist… “Geologic hydrogen “is a major decarbonization tool, I think one of the strongest that we have come across,” Mehren told Grist. “It has massive potential across all aspects of our economy, just to fill gaps and provide a new energy source for us.” “…Companies in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa — states also highlighted in the USGS survey — are currently drilling for geologic hydrogen, according to Sandia National Laboratories… “Existing infrastructure for drilling in the region might also make it a good spot for research, Brian Ellis, an associate professor at the University of Michigan and co-director of MI Hydrogen, the school’s hydrogen research program, told Grist.” “…The U.S. Department of Energy set aside about $20 million in 2024 for projects related to geologic hydrogen through its Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy program, and national laboratories have conducted early research in the growing field.”

EXTRACTION

Alberta Energy Centre: New Houston terminal strengthens Canadian oil’s path to global markets
9/8/26

“Canada’s oil producers have gained a new gateway to one of the world’s most important energy hubs with the opening of Enbridge’s Houston Oil Terminal (EHOT), strengthening market access to the U.S. Gulf Coast refining sector and international exports,” according to the Alberta Energy Centre. “The terminal, which opened in July, represents the final link in the company’s integrated transportation network connecting northern Alberta’s oil sands production directly to the Houston region, home to the largest concentration of refining and export infrastructure in North America… “The terminal is the latest example of what Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel called a “wave of development” that is unfolding across North America… “According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Canada supplied about 20 per cent of all U.S. Gulf Coast oil imports so far this year, indicating a significant opportunity for further growth… “By linking directly into Houston’s refining, storage and marine export network, the new EHOT facility provides Canadian oil producers with more potential refining customers on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and additional pathways to reach global markets.”

Royal Bank of Canada: Trade Zone: Can Venezuelan oil displace the oilsands?
9/4/26

“U.S. President Donald Trump put Canada “on notice” with a Venezuela pivot and plan to take control of a portion of the South American country’s oil reserves. But can Venezuela realistically displace the oilsands?,” the Royal Bank of Canada reports. “…The U.S. cannot easily replace Canadian supply: domestic production is overwhelmingly light, and heavy-crude alternatives from Mexico and Venezuela have structurally declined. The Venezuelan-Canadian heavy oil rivalry is not new. The two were vying for space in U.S. refineries in the 1990s and early 2000s —but that hasn’t been the case for years. Heavy crude exports from Venezuela to the U.S. has plummeted from more than 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2000 to negligible levels in recent years… “The cost of boosting production in Venezuela would be staggering. It would require billions in investment over a decade, in part due to the mismanagement of infrastructure and assets in Venezuela from the mid-2000s onward, as well as the aging of many of the country’s most prolific fields, according to the RBC Commodity Strategy Team. A Venezuelan oil comeback “would likely be slow, expensive and politically fragile,.” wrote Shaz Merwat, RBC Thought Leadership Energy Policy Lead in a note late last year… “Canada is looking to Asia. Efforts are also underway to help Canada diversify if Venezuela boost productions in a more meaningful way. The proposed West Coast Pipeline will bring one million bpd from Alberta to B.C., targetting Asia. Regardless of how U.S. policy evolves, Canadian producers are positioning themselves to secure diversified market access and greater resilience, amid the rising competition.”

Reuters: Europe’s largest carbon capture facility opens in Netherlands
Marta Fiorin, Kate Abnett, 9/7/26

“The largest carbon capture facility in Europe opened in the Netherlands on Monday, developed by Norwegian fertiliser company Yara ​International,” Reuters reports. “The carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Sluiskil, in ‌the southern Dutch province of Zeeland, will cut emissions at one of Europe’s largest fertiliser production sites and transport captured carbon to Norway, Yara ​said… “The carbon ⁠will be transported and stored 2.6 km (1.6 miles) beneath the ​seabed on the Norwegian continental shelf by transport and storage operator ​Northern Lights… “Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said the Sluiskil ​project offers a solution that is both scientifically advanced and ​commercially viable. “Our climate challenge lies in industry because that’s where we find the ‌combination ⁠of labor, capital, and technology. And of course energy is all around it. So being modern energy nations, the Netherlands is first among them, is the way to go,” Stoere said… “Critics say CCS ⁠can ​allow companies to continue producing oil and ​gas while promising to capture emissions in the future.”

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL): Europe’s Largest Carbon Capture Project is a ‘Pass to Keep on Polluting’
9/7/26

“The opening of Europe’s largest carbon capture project by fertilizer giant Yara in Sluiskil, Netherlands, announced today by the European Commission as a ‘strategic investment’, risks using billions in taxpayers’ money to fund a dangerous distraction that delays climate action, according to the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). The ammonia plant — used to primarily make nitrogen fertilizers — is projected to capture 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year which the company claims it will then transport and inject 2.6 kilometers beneath the Norwegian seabed. CIEL’s experts warn that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a speculative technology that fails to achieve its promised capture rates and does nothing to address the greenhouse gases emitted throughout the ammonia supply chain or during its use. Reacting to the news, Rachel Kennerley, Senior International Carbon Capture Campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) said: “Carbon capture and storage does not deliver emissions reductions safely, affordably, or at scale. The technology has repeatedly failed to deliver on its promises, relies heavily on public funding, and creates risks for people and the environment. All capture and storage projects suffer from the same problem: they distract attention and resources from cutting emissions at source and give polluting industries like fertilizer production a pass to keep on polluting.”

Associated Press: Dozens die in Nigeria oil theft attempt after inhaling toxic fumes
Dyepkazah Shibayan, 9/4/26

“An attempt to steal oil from a loading vessel in Nigeria’s oil-producing Rivers state left at least 37 people dead, most of them from inhaling toxic fumes, an advocacy group said Friday,” the Associated Press reports. “The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Center told AP the victims were simultaneously siphoning crude products into their boats from an “illegal tapping point” on Thursday. It caused them to inhale toxic fumes at high pressure, it said. Many are still missing, according to the report, quoting a network of volunteers… “Oil theft is common in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, where decades of oil exploration have led to high levels of poverty and environmental degradation. The Nigerian government said oil theft causes several billion dollars in losses annually and has been clamping down on the practice.”

OPINION

Peninsula Clarion: Crooked path may be only straight answer for gas pipeline
Larry Persily lives in Anchorage and is publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel weekly newspaper, 9/6/26

“President Donald Trump has a lot of irresponsible ideas…But rather than criticize the guy, the president’s actions give me an idea: The state needs to go full Trump if it is ever going to get a North Slope gas pipeline project built,” Larry Persily writes for the Peninsula Clarion. “Clearly, trying to make the uneconomic project magically economic by giving it free gravel from state lands, billions of dollars in property tax relief, and not taxing the corporate profits of the private developers hasn’t worked. Nor has the more than $1 billion the state has spent on the effort in the past quarter-century changed the outcome. And we aren’t alone in spending money: North Slope oil and gas producers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars too, searching for an economically viable project to sell the gas to customers somewhere, anywhere. The companies gave up in 2016 and turned over the project to the state… “We need to think like Trump, just without the obscenities and insults in his social media posts… “The second part of my proposal is that Alaska win the president’s attention by making his enemies our enemies. We let Trump know that if Alaska does not get a gas pipeline, utilities in the Anchorage-dominated population center may have to import natural gas from Canada for heat and power. No way he could let that happen.”

Keys News: Rallying against offshore oil drilling in the Gulf
Dora DeMaria is the Assistant Executive Director of Reef Relief in Key West, 9/4/26

“Reef Relief is going on 40 years of conservation. Since 1986, we have been fighting to protect our coral reef ecosystems, advocating for better water quality, and working to preserve the waters that make the Florida Keys so special,” Dona DeMaria writes for Keys News. “…More than 20 endangered and threatened species depend on these waters. Sea turtles. Manatees. Dolphins. Whales. Sharks. Coral reefs. Countless species that we may never even see, all of them are at risk because of the decisions we make today. The recent decision to exempt offshore oil and gas exploration from certain protections under the Endangered Species Act is just one example of the challenges our wildlife faces. Coupled with proposals to expand offshore oil and gas activity in the Gulf, the potential consequences for our marine life are enormous. We know what an oil spill can do. On April 20, 2010, just days before Earth Day, the Deepwater Horizon exploded. Over the next 87 days, an estimated 200 million gallons of oil entered the Gulf of Mexico. More than 1,300 miles of shoreline were impacted. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, marine mammals, and birds died, along with an unimaginable number of fish and other marine organisms… “Last week, I attended an event where organizers showed a simulation of what could happen if an oil spill occurred in the area being proposed for offshore activity. I was stunned… “When we stand together, we have the power to protect the places we love.”