EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/21/26

PIPELINE NEWS

• Pipeline & Gas Journal: Canada Energy Regulator audit finds South Bow non-compliant on facility risk assessment and controls

• Politico: SEPARATION SIDESTEPPED

• WMBD: Advocates raise safety concerns over proposed carbon dioxide pipeline

• Times Citizen: Sand, Lahn, Turek oppose eminent domain for pipeline

• The Cool Down: North Dakota judge says state decision on CO2 pipeline doesn’t automatically override local zoning

• News & Observer: Native leaders fight Enbridge gas pipeline in Chatham, press for survey and dialogue

• KSTU: Emigration Canyon opponents demand ‘no’ as Salt Lake City cites risks

• Durango Herald: Two pipeline projects in Southeast La Plata County move forward in permitting process

• Politico: FAKE IT UNTIL

• Energy Watch: Equinor puts EU-backed CO₂ Highway Europe pipeline on hold

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Wall Street Journal: U.S. Needs Energy Push to Win Economic Race, Ex-Trump, Biden Officials Say

• Energy Infrastructure Content Hub: What the Senate Permitting Bill Means for Midstream

• HuffPost: Democrats Could Face A Data Center Backlash Of Their Own

• Politico: Poll: Voters see Republicans as the party of Big Tech tax breaks

• Bloomberg: EPA’s Power Plant Rule Adds to a Predictably Volatile Landscape

• Inside Climate News: After a Decade of Efforts to Regulate Methane, the Trump Administration Promises New Rules

• Legis1: Carbon Sequestration Well Permits Face Backlog and Oversight Gaps

• Reuters: Trump administration loses bid to block NAACP lawsuit against Musk’s xAI over data center

STATE UPDATES

• Cowboy State Daily: Company Powering Google’s Data Center Gives $105M For Yellowstone Conservation

• South Dakota Searchlight: NorthWestern Energy applies for permit to build another natural gas power plant near Aberdeen

• Law360: Florida Law Firm Seeks Toss Of Bank’s $134M BP Oil Spill Suit

• KLAS: New map reveals extent of data center applications on public lands in the West

EXTRACTION

• Carbon Herald: EU Awards €3.4B To 77 Net-Zero Projects, Including First DACCS Grant

• Associated Press: Marine life dramatically declined in Gulf of Mexico in years after BP oil spill, study finds

• Inside Climate News: Deep-Sea Species Struggle to Recover After Deepwater Horizon Spill

OPINION

• Bloomberg: Trump’s Arm-Twisting for a New York Pipeline May End in Regret

• Wes Siler: What’s Behind The $105 Million Donation To Yellowstone National Park?
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Pipeline & Gas Journal: Canada Energy Regulator audit finds South Bow non-compliant on facility risk assessment and controls
10/20/26

“A Canada Energy Regulator audit of South Bow’s facility integrity management program found the Keystone pipeline operator non-compliant on two of six audit protocols, covering risk assessment and controls, and requires the company to file a corrective and preventive action plan,” Pipeline & Gas Journal reports. “…On risk assessment, the regulator said South Bow has a Risk Management Process with defined risk tolerance and acceptance criteria, but the evidence reviewed did not clearly demonstrate how that methodology and those criteria are applied within its Facility Integrity Management Program (FIMP) to evaluate and manage all identified facility-integrity hazards. Auditors noted that the company’s facility piping integrity risk assessment procedure does not require assessing all of the hazards identified in the FIMP, does not use the company’s Operational Risk Matrix and does not explicitly describe risk acceptance criteria. On controls, the CER found that while South Bow has several processes addressing control development and implementation, the evidence did not demonstrate an integrated facility integrity controls methodology that traces identified hazards and risks to specific controls, owners, acceptance criteria, implementation records, verification methods and evidence of effectiveness… “South Bow must file a corrective and preventive action plan within 30 calendar days of receiving the final report. The CER said that despite the findings, the company can still construct, operate and abandon pipelines safely.”

Politico: SEPARATION SIDESTEPPED
Mike Blanchfield, 10/20/26

“About three-quarters of Alberta voters have opted to stay in Canada, according to the first results of Monday night’s referendum vote,” Politico reports. “…Canada’s oil-rich province is at the heart of Carney’s ambitions to transform the country into an “energy superpower” as a bulwark against U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic aggression toward Canada. Throughout the referendum campaign, Carney warned that the proposed “Pacific Link” pipeline — connecting Alberta’s oil fields to the Asia-facing British Columbia coast — would not survive a pro-independence result… “I’m thrilled that Albertans have chosen unity. They’ve chosen to build together … to move forward together with purpose, high ambition,” Carney told reporters, according to Politico.”

WMBD: Advocates raise safety concerns over proposed carbon dioxide pipeline
Austin Feaman, 10/16/26

“One Earth Sequestration held public meetings to inform the public about a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline near Gibson City that would run through part of McLean County,” WMBD reports. The co-director of the Eco-Justice Collaborative, Pam Richart, shared concerns about the pipeline, saying that if it ruptured, nearby homes, schools and businesses would not be safe or be able to escape… “We want to know how we will be affected,” she said. “We need to see the modeling. And without that, no one will know.” As per the SAFE CCS Act passed in 2024, OES needs to provide emergency information and modeling to the public within a two-mile radius of the pipeline in order for the proposed pipeline to be built, according to Richart. She says that at previous meetings, including the one in McLean County on Thursday night, that information has not been presented to the public… “The problem with all of this is not only that they are not providing information that can be counted on at the forthcoming meeting, but they also didn’t even have a pipeline plan to put up on the screen so nobody could even see the route.”

Times Citizen: Sand, Lahn, Turek oppose eminent domain for pipeline
Casey Jarmes, 10/20/26

“Iowa Easement Team has released a candidate survey, asking candidates running for office about their stances are on the Summit Carbon Pipeline,” the Times Citizen reports. “During an Oct. 15 Zoom press conference about the release of the survey, Kathy Stockdale, Iowa Falls, voiced her feelings on the pipeline. “At Summit’s first meeting, they stated that the use of eminent domain would be used only as a last resort,” Stockdale said. “Apparently, using eminent domain on over a thousand land owners is not a last resort. Instead, it appears as desperation to save their project. The leaders of our state must stand up in opposition to this risky land grab.” ”…Both gubernatorial candidates and Senate candidate Josh Turek responded to the survey, speaking out against using eminent domain for the pipeline.”

The Cool Down: North Dakota judge says state decision on CO2 pipeline doesn’t automatically override local zoning
Marie Perez, 10/16/26

“A North Dakota judge ruled last week that counties do not necessarily lose their zoning authority to state-level decision-making. The decision could reshape a dispute over Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline,” The Cool Down reports. “…Before the matter is resolved, the commission must revisit whether a redacted version of Summit’s carbon dioxide plume dispersion model should be made public, whether an alternative route was adequately examined, and whether the chosen route would impair public welfare. The court also instructed the PSC to decide whether setback rules adopted by Emmons and Burleigh counties are unreasonable… “Lofgren’s decision sends the matter back to the PSC, which appears to be reviewing the decision. One issue the commission must revisit is why it decided the route would not impair public welfare… “The commission still has to make a direct finding on the county setback rules and take another look at an alternate route.”

News & Observer: Native leaders fight Enbridge gas pipeline in Chatham, press for survey and dialogue
Josh Shaffer, 10/20/26

“Native American and environmental groups oppose a natural gas pipeline slated to cross through 28 acres of Chatham County, and they insist on a thorough archeological survey to inventory the region’s rich ancestral history,” the News & Observer reports. “The proposed Enbridge pipeline would run along the Rocky River from Siler City to Moncure, which a crowd of roughly 30 in Pittsboro Tuesday described as fishing and burial ground of the Tuscarora, already listed as a site with the NC Office of Archaeology. The pipeline would potentially disturb land both sacred and historically important to both the Tuscarora, the Eno and the Occoneechi of the Saponi Nation, and Enbridge officials should communicate directly with those tribes, said Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of Seven Directions of Service, a central NC group that protects threatened indigenous land… “Landowners are united in fears that the gas company will not only take their land but foul the rivers and streams that run through it, potentially through leaks.”

KSTU: Emigration Canyon opponents demand ‘no’ as Salt Lake City cites risks
Suzanne Stevens, 10/20/26

“Opponents of HF Sinclair’s proposed Westline Connect pipeline pressed leaders in Emigration Canyon and Salt Lake City on Tuesday to take a stronger stand against the project before the company selects a final route,” KSTU reports. “At the Emigration Canyon Council meeting, Save Our Canyons presented a petition with 1,281 signatures opposing the proposal as of Tuesday morning… “HF Sinclair says no final route has been selected. But opponents said waiting for a final route is not an option. “It can’t be committees. It can’t be studies. It has to be: We are saying no,” one speaker told the council… “At the same time, Salt Lake City residents also used public comment at the City Council meeting to raise concerns about the proposed project… “But Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the City Council issued a joint statement afterward saying they were “deeply concerned” about the proposal. They said the project, as presented, was inconsistent with the city’s responsibility to protect residents, visitors, drinking water and the Great Salt Lake from environmental hazards.”

Durango Herald: Two pipeline projects in Southeast La Plata County move forward in permitting process
Tyler Brown, 10/20/26

“Two pipeline projects southeast of Durango have been approved for review under Colorado’s Areas and Activities of State Interest Act by La Plata County,” the Durango Herald reports. “…Mid America Pipeline Co. LLC has proposed replacing 18 miles of natural gas pipeline. Both projects are located in southeastern La Plata County near Animas Air Park and along the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation… “The gas pipeline project aims to replace aging infrastructure while using most of the existing right of way. Minor route deviations are planned to avoid sensitive resources, erosion-prone areas and congested pipeline corridors… “According to a La Plata County determination letter, the county determined that the Mid America Pipeline Replacement Project could have significant impacts in multiple areas, requiring a major permit review.”

Politico: FAKE IT UNTIL
Mike Soraghan, 10/21/26

“More pipeline safety inspections get faked than we’ll ever know about, according to a Justice Department report prepared for a hearing this week,” Politico reports. “The disconcerting news comes from the prosecution of two safety inspectors who skipped doing proper X-rays of the welds that hold natural gas pipelines together, covering their tracks by submitting film from other inspections. The utility and inspection company that employed them were not named, but the pair were responsible for inspecting pipes for Con Edison in the Bronx and Westchester County. The cheat is called “radaring.” “Far more instances of radaring go undetected than result in prosecution,” stated the memo signed by James M. McDonald, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Missing a defective weld, it said, can lead to gas leaks and even explosions. “He put the thousands of people living around the impacted gas pipelines at risk of gas leaks or explosions,” stated the report, which says the gas utility has now spent more than $64 million on reinspecting the lines.”

Energy Watch: Equinor puts EU-backed CO₂ Highway Europe pipeline on hold
10/20/26

“Weak demand for carbon storage has stalled plans to pipe up to 18 million tons of CO₂ a year from continental Europe to the Norwegian shelf, despite EUR 13m in EU funding,” Energy Watch reports.

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Needs Energy Push to Win Economic Race, Ex-Trump, Biden Officials Say
Benoît Morenne, 10/20/26

“Former officials from the Trump, Biden, Obama and other past administrations are warning that the U.S. is at risk of losing a technological and industrial race with China—unless it adopts a sweeping energy-permitting bill,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Mike Pompeo, Janet Yellen and others urge Congress to pass energy-permitting bill… The U.S. isn’t building energy infrastructure fast enough to remain globally competitive, the officials said in a letter to be sent Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.)”

Energy Infrastructure Content Hub: What the Senate Permitting Bill Means for Midstream
Kyle Richards, 10/20/26

“Only a few years ago, natural gas pipeline projects were largely concentrated in Texas and Louisiana. These intrastate systems did not require federal review, making permitting relatively easier,” according to the Energy Infrastructure Content Hub. “…For midstream companies, BAAJA’s most significant provisions address the risk of projects being blocked by state reviews or stopped after approval, a potential concern for interstate natural gas pipelines… “States would need clear and convincing evidence to deny certification, and their reviews of interstate gas pipelines would be limited to direct discharges into waters. The table below summarizes the reforms most relevant to midstream. BAAJA’s litigation reforms could be just as significant… “BAAJA would shorten the six-year window to challenge an approval to 150 days and limit lawsuits to parties that raised concerns during public comment… “Federal agencies could revoke permits only in narrow cases, such as fraud or an urgent safety threat, and developers could seek damages if an administration targets an entire category of projects… “The bill would not eliminate permitting risk, however. It lacks an LNG-specific approval deadline, courts could still halt projects over Endangered Species Act and certain Clean Water Act claims, and it does not address state and local opposition, such as New Mexico’s repeated rejections of an ET pipeline serving a large Oracle (ORCL) data center.”

HuffPost: Democrats Could Face A Data Center Backlash Of Their Own
Arthur Delaney, 10/20/26

“Democrats of all ideological stripes have adopted a progressive push against data centers, turning opposition to the massive projects into a key part of their midterms message as they look to take control of the House and Senate next year,” HuffPost reports. “But opposition to the projects could soon boomerang: Some progressives are now using data centers to undermine permitting reform legislation beloved by many of the party’s moderates, arguing that faster approvals for energy infrastructure projects will inevitably benefit data center bigwigs. “Data centers have tremendous energy demand, and the permitting bill will facilitate a buildout of the energy infrastructure necessary to build these mega facilities,” Jim Walsh, policy director for Food & Water Watch, told HuffPost… “Environmentalists argue, however, that data center developers would be the ultimate beneficiaries of the bill’s provisions facilitating the potential construction of things like interstate power lines, gas pipelines and power plants… “If you wouldn’t have had that energy infrastructure but for a data center, if you wouldn’t have had those pipelines but for a data center, if you wouldn’t have had the litany of impacts happening, you can’t separate those things out from each other,” Walsh told HuffPost… “The left-wing groups opposing the legislation hope the party is unwilling to even inadvertently help speed construction of the facilities in the wake of a midterm victory.”

Politico: Poll: Voters see Republicans as the party of Big Tech tax breaks
Bernie Becker, 10/20/26

“Americans are fed up with data centers and Big Tech, and Republicans are poised to take more of the political blame in the Nov. 3 midterms,” Politico reports. “The POLITICO Poll found last week that Americans were far more likely to associate the GOP with giving tax incentives to tech companies at a time when the public’s concerns about artificial intelligence and data center sprawl are only deepening. Nearly half of respondents — 47% — called Republicans the party of tech tax breaks, more than double the 21% who said the same for Democrats. Voters are also far more likely to want candidates who propose stripping away tax incentives for the data centers needed to fuel the AI boom, according to the new poll, conducted by PF Global. About a fifth of respondents said that ending those tax breaks would be among their most important tax issues in the midterms, while only 1 in 10 wanted to offer new preferences for data centers… “A majority of respondents said that tech chief executives had been secretive about the potential risks of AI, while a plurality of Americans believe both that the risks of artificial intelligence development outweigh the benefits and that the government should strictly regulate the emerging technology.”

Bloomberg: EPA’s Power Plant Rule Adds to a Predictably Volatile Landscape
Amanda Shafer Berman, Meghan Greenfield, 10/21/26

“Days after the Environmental Protection Agency repealed most Biden-era standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants last month, environmental groups and states sued to challenge it,” Bloomberg reports. “Both the Sept. 14 rule — which eliminates requirements for fossil fuel-fired power plants to install carbon capture and sequestration technology — and the litigation challenging it were predictable. The outlook for affected industries is exactly the opposite… “This one will follow the same course but may raise bigger questions than prior rounds of greenhouse gas litigation: Can the EPA regulate greenhouse gas emissions under a provision of the Clean Air Act (Section 111) that appears to give it wide latitude to regulate all types of air pollutants, but doesn’t specifically address greenhouse gases? Assuming the EPA has that authority, is carbon capture and sequestration technology available and functional enough to make it the appropriate choice to do that — that is, does it offer the “best system of emissions reduction” under Section 111?… “We expect the new litigation challenging EPA’s latest round of greenhouse gas deregulation to proceed slowly… “It could be years before power plants and other industries subject to greenhouse gas regulations have any clarity on whether and how EPA may limit emissions under the Clean Air Act. It’s possible that the pendulum will swing again, prompting a new round of greenhouse gas regulation and litigation, before the Supreme Court weighs in on the scope of EPA’s authority in this critical area.”

Inside Climate News: After a Decade of Efforts to Regulate Methane, the Trump Administration Promises New Rules
Dylan Baddour, 10/20/26

“…The Obama administration proposed methane standards in 2015, but the first Trump administration rolled them back. The Biden administration developed a detailed set of rules, which the second Trump administration blocked. Now, the Trump administration plans to release its own proposed rules for methane this month, according to a recent announcement by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin,” Inside Climate News reports. “…There is still no sign that methane emissions from fossil fuel operations are falling, despite well-known and proven mitigation pathways,” said the International Energy Agency’s 2026 global methane tracker… “But the second Trump administration blocked them all. A fee for methane emissions was scheduled to begin in 2025, but was delayed for 10 years in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Zeldin laid out broad exemptions to a Biden-era prohibition on routine flaring of gas at new wells, one week before the rule took effect in May 2026. The Trump administration has also proposed ending all requirements for companies to report greenhouse gas emissions, including methane. Soon, the Trump administration will release its own proposed rules on methane from oil and gas, followed by a public comment period and, potentially, the publication of a final rule.”

Legis1: Carbon Sequestration Well Permits Face Backlog and Oversight Gaps
Carolyn Robinson, Joanne Levine, 10/20/26

“The rescission by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August of its 2023 environmental-justice guidance for Class VI carbon sequestration wells has left it unclear how public participation and environmental justice considerations will apply across federal and state permitting programs, according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report,” Legis1 reports. “The permitting backlog includes 142 individual wells across 44 projects that were pending EPA review as of September, more than ten times the 13 wells currently operating under EPA-issued permits… “Three 2025 executive orders, EO 14148, EO 14151 and EO 14173, revoked prior executive orders related to environmental justice and directed EPA and other agencies to change course. Without the rescinded guidance, the report states, states with Class VI primacy may differ in how they consider public participation and environmental justice issues not specifically required by regulation… “The Primacy Certainty Act of 2025, introduced as H.R. 4880 by Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and as S. 2505 by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), would require EPA to decide a state’s Class VI primacy application within 180 days; both measures remain in committee with no further action recorded… “Congress is weighing whether EPA’s 2010 Class VI rule should be amended and whether to address stakeholder concerns about public participation and the potential environmental and community impacts of Class VI wells.”

Reuters: Trump administration loses bid to block NAACP lawsuit against Musk’s xAI over data center
Mike Scarcella, 10/20/26

“A federal judge in Mississippi has rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to dismiss a lawsuit by civil rights groups ​alleging Elon Musk’s xAI violated environmental laws to power an AI data center,” Reuters reports. “US District Judge Debra Brown ‌on Monday said the US Environmental Protection Agency could intervene in the case but lacked authority under the Clean Air Act to unilaterally terminate the lawsuit after joining it. The lawsuit, filed in April by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ​and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, alleges that xAI and a subsidiary violated federal ​law and state regulations by constructing and operating a gas-fired power plant in Southaven, ⁠Mississippi, without required permits. In a statement, Abre’ Conner, director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP, told Reuters “our case ​has always been about holding polluters accountable and making sure that entities follow the law. The court made clear today that the law applies to everyone, including the federal government.”

STATE UPDATES

Cowboy State Daily: Company Powering Google’s Data Center Gives $105M For Yellowstone Conservation
Clair McFarland, 10/19/26

“The energy company working to power a 2.7-gigawatt data center for Google in Cheyenne is donating $105 million to conservation and education efforts in Yellowstone National Park,” Cowboy State Daily reports. ““We wanted to try to find a way to be a force for good outside of the city and county lines,” Tallgrass government and public affairs representative Steven Davidson told CSD, pointing to the company’s earlier philanthropy toward the University of Wyoming and its sports programs. Gov. Mark Gordon voiced gratitude to the company in a Monday phone interview with Cowboy State Daily… “Gordon told CSD he suspects not everyone will feel as “copacetic” about private enterprise being involved. “But the fact of the matter is that private enterprise has always been involved in our parks,” he told CSD… “Tallgrass hasn’t run short of controversy in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily this summer reported that the mystery client for which the energy company is working to power a 2.7-gigawatt data center is Google.”

South Dakota Searchlight: NorthWestern Energy applies for permit to build another natural gas power plant near Aberdeen
Joshua Haiar, 10/20/26

“NorthWestern Energy wants to build another natural gas power plant just south of Aberdeen,” the South Dakota Searchlight reports. “The proposed Hub City Energy Park would generate up to 131 megawatts of electricity at peak capacity, and is expected to operate at 15% to 25% of capacity annually, generating enough power for about 26,000 homes. The company’s 2025 annual report says the project is expected to cost $300 million… “The company also plans to build a new natural gas pipeline connection stretching a few miles, but it has not yet selected a route. The company does not expect to need eminent domain, which is a legal way of forcing landowners to allow access if negotiations fail.”

Law360: Florida Law Firm Seeks Toss Of Bank’s $134M BP Oil Spill Suit
Carolina Bolado, 10/19/26

“A Florida law firm urged an Ohio federal court to toss a bank holding company’s $134 million malpractice suit over litigation tied to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, arguing the claims are time-barred and the company did not qualify for economic damages in the oil spill litigation,” Law360 reports.

KLAS: New map reveals extent of data center applications on public lands in the West
Greg Haas, 10/20/26

“A map released this week shows at least 17 data centers under consideration on public lands in six western states including Nevada,” KLAS reports. “The Center for Western Priorities (CWP) identifies 35 sites on Bureau of Land Management territory, 15 located in Nevada… “Data centers are not like oil, gas, or minerals, which are extracted from public lands because that’s where they exist. Unlike mining or drilling, there are no natural resources that make it necessary to develop data centers on public lands, and there is no reason to assume data centers belong on them,” CWP Deputy Director Lauren Bogard told KLAS… “None of these projects should move forward without a permitting framework that lets communities decide where, how, or if data centers get built. That process must include robust, site-specific environmental review and public input opportunities, as well as meaningful, negotiated community benefits that ensure the public is compensated when private companies profit from public lands.”

EXTRACTION

Carbon Herald: EU Awards €3.4B To 77 Net-Zero Projects, Including First DACCS Grant
Violet George, 10/21/26

“The European Commission has awarded €3.4 billion in grant financing to 77 net-zero technology projects under the December 2025 Innovation Fund call, funded through EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) revenues,” the Carbon Herald reports. “The selected awards mark the EU Innovation Fund’s first-ever grant allocations for both a direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) asset and a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) development… “Capitalized through EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) carbon revenues, the funding call targets industrial carbon management, cleantech manufacturing, critical raw materials processing, and renewable energy storage. The selected developments are projected to avoid approximately 290 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions during their first decade of commercial operation.”

Associated Press: Marine life dramatically declined in Gulf of Mexico in years after BP oil spill, study finds
Seth Borenstein, 10/19/26

“In a deep, dark part of the Gulf of Mexico, the number of marine animals plummeted by about 60% in the years following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, a new study found,” the Associated Press reports. “In a crucial part of the Gulf between the light surface and the darkest depths, where the BP-operated well failed and dumped 134 million gallons of oil, the number of fish found dropped by 63.5% from the year after the spill to 2015. Crustaceans, including shrimp and krill, a key food for whales, went down 62%, and larger animals like squid and octopuses fell 59.7%, according to a study published Monday in the journal PNAS. And those populations haven’t come close to recovering, the study found… “They returned to the same place with the same equipment three-and-a-half years later and found sea life was between one-third and one-quarter of what it was in 2011… “Researchers kept on sampling since 2015 and the low populations remain… “Both the oil and the dispersants used to clean the spill hurt fish, but in different ways, study co-author Isabel Romero, a chemical oceanographer at the University of South Carolina, told AP… “A lot of marine life died instantly after the explosion, which killed 11 workers, and from nearly five months of leaking oil and gas. Those pollutants got stored in the eggs of survivors and subsequent generations of critters got more compromised and weaker, Sutton told AP… “Worm and Colwell told AP this damage should be kept in mind as the world talks about deep-sea mining and increased oil drilling in deep waters.”

Inside Climate News: Deep-Sea Species Struggle to Recover After Deepwater Horizon Spill
Bob Berwyn, 10/19/26

“Across hundreds of miles of the northern Gulf of Mexico, a deep-water ecosystem collapsed after the massive 2011 Deepwater Horizon oil and gas spill, and recovery is uncertain, new research concludes,” Inside Climate News reports. “The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that animal populations, including octopus, krill, squid and shrimp declined by 60 to 85 percent in the three-and-a-half years after the spill, with few signs of recovery since. Krill and lanternfish, both foundational species in the Gulf’s food web, were among the hardest hit. The findings also suggest that the die-off is causing genetic bottlenecks that could further hinder ecosystem recovery. The researchers identified it as the “fastest and most severe faunal decline reported for Earth’s largest ecosystem type” ever documented. The widespread die-off of marine organisms may also reduce the ocean’s ability to transport carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep sea… “Remote ocean depths and habitats miles below the surface may seem buffered from the impacts of human activity, the authors wrote, but their findings suggest an industrial disaster pushed part of it into a diminished state with “limited resilience to facilitate recovery.” They said their findings also show that proposed industrial deep-sea mining could damage the ecosystem before baseline conditions are assessed.”

OPINION

Bloomberg: Trump’s Arm-Twisting for a New York Pipeline May End in Regret
Liam Denning, 10/21/26

“President Donald Trump has spent most of the year on a war footing, and not just in Iran. He has repeatedly invoked the Defense Production Act, passed in 1950 at the outbreak of the Korean War, to advance his energy policy goals of elevating fossil fuels and sidelining clean technologies,” Liam Denning writes for Bloomberg. “…Energy Secretary Chris Wright just announced up to $42 million of DPA funding for permitting and pre-construction work for the 125-mile Constitution Pipeline… “Wright, along with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, framed the funding as advancing a critical project that will reduce energy costs and enhance national security, thereby righting the wrongs of prior Democratic administrations and “blue states” that have sought to choke off abundant US gas supplies. The need to blame energy inflation on anything other than Trump’s war in Iran, and show that the White House is doing everything possible to alleviate prices, is paramount as November’s elections loom… “Moreover, the pipeline doesn’t seem to have yet secured contracts from customers, raising questions over whether it is genuinely needed, an important consideration for regulators… “Republicans may well cheer when that is done to aid a gas pipeline or an offshore oil field. They may feel less enthusiastic when some future administration takes a leaf from Trump’s playbook, declares a climate emergency, and imposes solutions of a different nature.”

Wes Siler: What’s Behind The $105 Million Donation To Yellowstone National Park?
Wes Siler, 10/20/26

“Yesterday, at an event staged in front of Old Faithful, a Blackstone portfolio oil, gas, and artificial intelligence developer announced the establishment of a $105 million fund to benefit Yellowstone National Park. It’s the largest private donation to the National Park Service ever, and comes at a time in which Yellowstone and other parks are facing unprecedented funding shortfalls. So it’s a good thing, right? Of course not,” Wes Siler reports. “…dTallgrass Energy Partners is an energy infrastructure development company based in Kansas that’s recently focussed on AI datacenter development. Its current flagship project is the development of a data center and associated infrastructure outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. With Google as its end user, Tallgrass is investing $7 billion in the project… “Tallgrass is currently seeking permits from BLM for pipeline linkages, that carbon sequestration, and associated infrastructure. BLM is an agency within the Department of the Interior, which is run by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Burgum was present at the Old Faithful announcement of the $105 million fund, and thanked Blackstone and Tallgrass in a statement… “The President and CEO of Tallgrass is Matthew Sheehy, Senator Tim Sheehy’s big brother. Tim and Doug already have an established history of pursuing corrupt schemes together… “Tallgrass is seeking its permits under emergency permitting procedures. Trump recently delegated Burgum Defense Production Act authority, which allows the Secretary to personally step in and circumvent normal permitting procedures for projects he deems important to national security… “According to WyoFile reporting, $35 million of that $105 million will be spent building a new visitor center in Yellowstone’s Norris Geyser Basin. If that center features Tallgrass branding or messaging in any form, it will represent the only privately-branded or messaged infrastructure in any national park in the country… “Yellowstone is one of America’s great natural treasures,” stated Sean Klimczak, Blackstone’s Global Head of Infrastructure, while standing in front of Old Faithful. And they just turned it into a corrupt corporate greenwashing opportunity for the ages.”