EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/3/26

PIPELINE NEWS

• North Dakota Monitor: Judge denies Greenpeace request for new Dakota Access Pipeline trial

• Canadian Press: Ottawa will need other ways to cut emissions to compensate for oil pipeline: Farrell

• CBC: First Nations in B.C. challenge Carney’s Pacific Link pipeline national interest designation

• Financial Post: Fort McMurray braces for another boom

• News & Observer: After outcry, Enbridge shifts final gas pipeline route in NC to avoid private land

• KSTU: Emails show Emigration Canyon explored sharing road project data with pipeline company

• Chicago Tribune: More than 6,400 oil spills occurred in the Great Lakes over a decade, study shows. But the impact is largely unknown

• Appalachian Voices: Ridgeline Pipeline Construction Impacts in Rural East Tennessee

• Iowa Public Radio: Alliant Energy gets $5.1B federal loan — but Linn County doesn’t want its natural gas plant near Cedar Rapids

• Oil & Gas Watch: Proposed 125-mile Constitution Pipeline to receive $42 million in taxpayer funding

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Financial Times: Petrol prices set to hit record high under Trump on eve of US elections

• Politico: Republicans’ last-ditch energy pitch

• Bloomberg: More N.M. Groups Blast Heinrich’s Bill

• Heatmap: New Modeling Finds Permitting Bill Would Likely Cut Emissions

• Politico: Enviro lawyers say the permitting bill could aid Trump’s DC renovations

• Heatmap: Green groups challenge Trump’s argument against carbon restrictions on power plants

• Politico: ‘We will be digging’: Democrats firm up plans to investigate Interior under Burgum

• Inside Climate News: EPA Pulls the Plug on Regulating Air Pollution From Giant Livestock and Poultry Operations

STATE UPDATES

• Arizona Republic: Arizona public land use in jeopardy, groups say. Here’s why.

EXTRACTION

• Oil Change International: Existing fossil fuel projects threaten pollution nearly 7 times the world’s remaining 1.5°C budget

• New York Times: Old, Polluting Jet Engines Are Being Scavenged to Power Data Centers

• Grist: On Wall Street, the ‘energy transition’ includes natural gas and data centers

• Wall Street Journal: Carl Icahn’s CVR Energy Near Over $4 Billion Deal for Marathon Refineries

• Reuters: Blackstone, Canadian pension funds to invest $3.1 billion in LNG Canada for Mitsubishi stake

• Hart Energy: Exxon’s Imperial May Double Production Via Tech, Regulatory Reform

OPINION

• Climb That Hill: Why the Senate Permitting Bill Must Die

PIPELINE NEWS

North Dakota Monitor: Judge denies Greenpeace request for new Dakota Access Pipeline trial
Mary Steurer, 11/2/26

“A North Dakota judge on Monday denied Greenpeace’s request for a new trial in the case brought against the organization by the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “Greenpeace will now move forward with its appeal of the $345 million judgment entered against it earlier this year, the organization announced Monday. “Since the district court refuses to right the wrongs committed at trial, we will next appeal the many wrongly decided and unresolved errors in the case to the North Dakota Supreme Court,” Kristin Casper, general counsel for Greenpeace International, told the Monitor. In early 2025, a Morton County jury directed Greenpeace to pay Energy Transfer about $667 million, finding the environmental group at fault for inciting illegal acts against the company during anti-pipeline protests in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017 and for publishing false statements that harmed Energy Transfer’s reputation… “Following a May decision from the North Dakota Supreme Court, Gion in August ordered Greenpeace International to withdraw any claims in the overseas case that argue that the North Dakota lawsuit lacks a legal foundation. Under the order, Greenpeace International is also barred from seeking any financial compensation that would offset the Morton County jury’s verdict.”

Canadian Press: Ottawa will need other ways to cut emissions to compensate for oil pipeline: Farrell
11/3/26

“The head of the major projects office says Ottawa will need new ways to cut emissions to meet its climate goals because the proposed Pacific Link oil pipeline will emit more than the Pathways carbon capture project,” the Canadian Press reports. “…Citing the energy agreement between Canada and Alberta, Farrell told the committee the Pathways project is expected to reduce emissions by 16 million tonnes a year. An analysis by Environment Canada, submitted to the committee and provided to The Canadian Press, projected the emission reductions from Pathways at 22 million tonnes. Environment Canada estimated that transporting an extra million barrels of oil a day through the new pipeline would increase emissions by 27.7 million tonnes.”

CBC: First Nations in B.C. challenge Carney’s Pacific Link pipeline national interest designation
Peter Zimonjic, 11/2/26

“Several First Nations in B.C. are challenging the federal government in court and seeking to overturn its decision to designate the Pacific Link pipeline project as a project of national interest,” the CBC reports. “The Pacific Link pipeline, which is planned to transport one million barrels of Canadian crude oil per day, from Bruderheim, Alta., to a deepwater port near Delta, B.C., was designated as a project of national interest in October under the Building Canada Act… “The nations say listing the pipeline project in such a way “effectively acts as an approval,” and that Canada’s duties to consult and accommodate the nations must be met before a project is listed… “The St’át’imc Chiefs Council (SCC), representing 11 communities of St’át’imc Nation, said Monday morning that Canada has breached its duty to consult First Nations by listing the project… “Other First Nations in B.C. that have applied for judicial reviews include Boston Bar First Nation, Cheam First Nation, Lower Nicola Indian Band, Kwantlen First Nation, kʷikʷəƛəm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation, Skeetchestn Indian Band and Tsartlip First Nation, and Cold Lake First Nations in Alberta filed a similar application for judicial review in October. Adam Olsen, the Tsartlip First Nation’s chief negotiator, told CBC’s All Points West that the process for consultation with First Nations under the Building Canada Act was “very challenging.” “…Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said at a news conference that the law is on side of First Nations.”

Financial Post: Fort McMurray braces for another boom
Graison Foster, 11/2/26

“…And suddenly Ottawa and Alberta, normally at odds with one another, are shaking hands on a new oil pipeline to the West Coast,” the Financial Post reports. “This oilsands outpost has known tremendous prosperity, the hard years of belt-tightening that followed and the 2016 wildfire that emptied this place. With all of that behind it, there is a realization that the next wave of wealth may not rise as high as the last one… “Much of the hope in Fort McMurray rests on the Pacific Link oil pipeline that would carry up to one million barrels of oil a day from Bruderheim, Alta., to a proposed terminal in Delta, B.C. and filling it would take growth in the oilsands. The Métis leaders gathered here are not against the pipeline itself… “Petersen doubts Pacific Link can move quickly. Alberta’s Cold Lake First Nations filed in Federal Court on Oct. 8 a challenge to Ottawa’s decision to designate the pipeline a project in the national interest… “Shaz Merwat, Royal Bank of Canada’s energy policy lead, told the Post, “Everyone’s kind of still pointing to a pipeline becoming operational in 2032, 2033.” A start with shovels in the ground in 2027 would be “ambitious,” though the process has already gone “a lot faster” than he expected.”

News & Observer: After outcry, Enbridge shifts final gas pipeline route in NC to avoid private land
Lily Carey, 11/2/26

“After months of outcry, natural gas utility company Enbridge has decided to reroute part of its proposed Chatham County pipeline to avoid running through private property,” the News & Observer reports. “The final route will run along existing highways and power lines for 13 miles of the pipeline’s 28-mile route — a shift from the original plan, which would have run almost entirely through private properties and forested areas. Protests from residents and local leaders pushed Enbridge to try and “reduce impacts on landowners” in the final route, company spokesperson Persida Montanez told the News & Observer. “Feedback received from stakeholders and landowners played an important role in the route evaluation process,” Montanez told the News & Observer. “As a result, nearly half of the final route is proposed to be adjacent to existing utility or transportation corridors to reduce impacts on habitats and undeveloped areas.” The plan still leaves 15 miles where the pipeline will run through forests and private lands. Enbridge’s proposed route would cross forests, farms and several major rivers, sparking concerns about environmental impacts in some of the Triangle’s most rural stretches. While Enbridge North Carolina is its own company, pipelines run by its parent company have a documented history of occasional leaks and explosions. In recent weeks, county leaders and state officials have spoken out against the pipeline. Indigenous communities have also raised concerns that it would cut through lands along the Rocky River that were historically important fishing and gathering sites for the Tuscarora, the Eno and the Occoneechi of the Saponi Nation.”

KSTU: Emails show Emigration Canyon explored sharing road project data with pipeline company
Suzanne Stevens, 11/2/26

“Newly released emails show Emigration Canyon officials discussed whether HF Sinclair could help pay for survey and right-of-way data collected for a proposed road safety project as the company evaluated a fuel pipeline route through the same corridor,” KSTU reports. “The road project and pipeline are separate proposals. But the discussions have added to concerns among some residents who say they were already struggling to get answers about how widening Emigration Canyon Road could affect their property. One email in particular has drawn scrutiny. In an Aug. 14 message, HF Sinclair’s Jeremy Price described data sharing as a way to “minimize public engagement at this stage” and attributed the suggestion to Emigration Canyon city attorney Cameron Platt. Price went on to reference property owners who had already been vocal about the road project… “Pamela Carpenter, an Emigration Canyon resident who has spoken out about the road project, told KSTU she felt residents’ concerns were not being meaningfully addressed… “Price described the potential arrangement as a suggestion from Platt that could minimize HF Sinclair’s public engagement at that stage. He also referred to property owners who had already been vocal about the road project… “For Carpenter, the newly released emails have deepened a concern she told KSTU began with the road project: whether the people affected by decisions are being heard.”

Chicago Tribune: More than 6,400 oil spills occurred in the Great Lakes over a decade, study shows. But the impact is largely unknown
Finnegan Belleau, 11/1/26

“A pipeline that spilled at least 1.3 million gallons of hazardous natural gas liquids in Wisconsin two months ago garnered national attention and more calls for scrutiny. But thousands of small oil spills in the Great Lakes over the past decade have gone largely unnoticed, and little is known about their effects on the ecosystem, a new study shows,” the Chicago Tribune reports. “The Lake Superior State University study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, listed more than 6,400 oil spills across the lakes and their connecting waters between 2015 and 2024. Lead author and ecologist Cecilia Heuvel told the Tribune the majority of these spills were small, or less than 1,000 gallons… “The incidents highlight the risks Line 5, 6B and similar pipelines pose to natural waterways, Liz Kirkwood, strategic partnership officer at Flow Water Advocates, a nonprofit aiming to protect the Great Lakes, told the Tribune… “Research by the Environmental Integrity Project documented what it referred to as the largest pipeline construction boom in decades, enabled by the Trump administration’s undermining of safety rules and environmental reviews… “But environmental advocates say the emergency declaration wasn’t warranted and has been used to fast-track projects harmful to the environment. Of 193 U.S. natural gas pipeline projects proposed or under construction in multiple states, at least a quarter of them received or requested expedited reviews due to the emergency designation, according to the report from the Environmental Integrity Project. Jen Duggan, executive director of the project, referred to the emergency act as a “sham,” saying reports from the U.S. Department of Energy indicate the U.S. electric grid has been reliable… “There is no energy emergency, and there is no justification for putting people at risk of oil spills,” Duggan told the Tribune.”

Appalachian Voices: Ridgeline Pipeline Construction Impacts in Rural East Tennessee
Abby Hassler, 11/2/26

“It’s been more than a year since East Tennessee Natural Gas, a subsidiary of multibillion-dollar Canadian fossil fuel company Enbridge, began construction on the 122-mile Ridgeline Expansion Project. The methane gas pipeline runs through eight counties in Middle and East Tennessee to supply the Tennessee Valley Authority’s new gas power plant in Kingston,” Appalachian Voices reports. “Ridgeline, which went into service this month, crosses hundreds of waterways and numerous private properties, including Patricia Smarsh and her husband Jeffrey Gilliam’s “little piece of heaven” in Wartburg, Tennessee. The pipeline runs directly in front of their house and through many of their neighbors’ properties. “I made this place my serenity,” Smarsh told AV. “And never thought I would go through such a horrible time having a pipeline go across my property. It’s been really depressing and just heart-wrenching.” Smarsh and Gilliam didn’t know about an old pipeline easement on their property until a pipeline company representative showed up on their doorstep a few years ago… “Construction has not only torn up property, but neighbors have expressed that the loud noise and disruptions feel never-ending. Enbridge doesn’t inform landowners when crews will show up or leave. Or when construction will be completed… “One of the worst moments came when crews began hammering through rock for 10 to 12 hours a day for several days over the summer… “Smarsh and Gilliam believe construction vibrations have damaged their home’s foundation and have raised their concerns with the pipeline developer. They also worry about being so close to the pipeline if something goes wrong.”

Iowa Public Radio: Alliant Energy gets $5.1B federal loan — but Linn County doesn’t want its natural gas plant near Cedar Rapids
Eliza Billingham, 10/30/26

“The U.S. Department of Energy announced that Alliant Energy could get a $5.1 billion loan to invest in new natural gas plants, gas pipelines or battery storage systems across Iowa and Wisconsin,” Iowa Public Radio reports. “The investments will add more than 2.6 gigawatts of new or upgraded power generation capacity and deliver up to $1.2 billion in electricity cost savings for American families and businesses across both states,” Alliant spokesperson Taylor Adams told IPR… “Examples include new natural gas generation, Advanced Gas Path projects, gas pipelines and battery energy storage systems,” Adams wrote. Meanwhile, Linn County is trying to stop plans for an Alliant natural gas plant near Cedar Rapids. The federal loan announcement came the same day Linn County supervisors sent a request to the Iowa Utilities Commission to deny a generating certificate for Alliant’s proposed Morgan Valley Energy Center… “Supervisors said they’re concerned for ratepayers, worried about air quality and convinced the plant doesn’t fit the county’s comprehensive plan… “The Iowa Utilities Commission is set to hear the proposal on Dec. 7.”

Oil & Gas Watch: Proposed 125-mile Constitution Pipeline to receive $42 million in taxpayer funding
Paul MacGillis-Falcon, 10/29/26

“The Energy Department said it would use up to $42 million in Defense Production Act funding for a pipeline recently revived after being canceled in 2020,” Oil & Gas Watch reports. “Williams, one of the U.S.’s largest pipeline companies, is behind the proposed 125-mile natural gas pipeline from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, to Schoharie County, New York. The Trump Administration says the project will bring gas to the Northeast that has limited access to low-cost fuel… “The Energy Department said the $42 million in defense funding would support “eligible pre-construction and permitting activities necessary to advance the project.” The department’s press release does not explain why Williams needs taxpayer funding, especially with the company’s profits increasing due to soaring energy costs from Trump’s war with Iran.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Financial Times: Petrol prices set to hit record high under Trump on eve of US elections
Myles McCormick, Jamie Smyth, 11/2/26

“Petrol prices since Donald Trump returned to office are poised to set a record high for a US presidential administration just a day before Americans vote in midterm elections dominated by the rising cost of living,” the Financial Times reports. “An FT analysis of federal data shows the average price of a gallon of petrol during Trump’s second term will top $3.46 a gallon on November 2, beating the previous average high set under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden… “High energy prices are a key driver of the affordability concerns that are going to be top of mind for people at the polls,” Jason Bordoff, head of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told FT. “And those energy prices are the result of self-inflicted wounds this administration has imposed on the country.” On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump won over many voters with a pledge to slash petrol prices to $2 a gallon and tackle rampant inflation that had dogged Americans under Biden. Instead, the war has sent prices markedly higher… “A recent FT survey found 56 per cent of voters claimed to be financially worse off under Trump… “Trump has stirred up anger by hailing energy groups’ earnings as a boon for the US. “I don’t give a damn, I’m going to say it: we’re making a freaking fortune,” he told a crowd in Georgia, provoking a backlash in some parts of the country. “Trump and his ultra-wealthy Big Oil buddies are popping champagne as they pocket billions off of Americans’ pain,” Alex Glass at Climate Power, an environmental non-profit group, told FT.”

Politico: Republicans’ last-ditch energy pitch
James Bikales, 11/2/26

“As energy ministers from around the globe travel to the world’s largest oil conference in Abu Dhabi this week, the Trump administration is making its closing energy case to voters at home,” Politico reports. “Energy Secretary Chris Wright spent Friday in a very different oil capital, Oklahoma City, pitching America as a global energy power… “On Friday, Wright argued that American oil and gas abundance has prevented prices from being worse. “We have the lowest gasoline prices [in the world] right now. We have the lowest diesel prices right now,” Wright said. “They’re still much higher than we would like, but we’re in a much better position than everyone else in the world.” But Republicans face an uphill battle to convince voters to trust their energy strategy, as record U.S. crude production has not shielded Americans from disruptions halfway around the world this year.”

Bloomberg: More N.M. Groups Blast Heinrich’s Bill
11/2/26

“Of the four primary negotiators of the bipartisan Senate permitting bill (S. 5653), Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has taken the most heat publicly from climate and conservation groups opposing the compromise legislation,” Bloomberg reports. “The latest salvo came in a letter from 29 New Mexico-based organizations. “We simply cannot support” the bill, “given that it falsely pits infrastructure development against the imperative to protect New Mexico’s communities, lands, waters, and wildlife,” wrote Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center, on behalf of representatives from groups in the state including GreenLatinos, Healthy Climate New Mexico, and Amigos Bravos, a clean water organization.”

Heatmap: New Modeling Finds Permitting Bill Would Likely Cut Emissions
Robinson Meyer, 11/2/26

“The bipartisan permitting reform bill is likely to slightly cut greenhouse gas emissions and lower electricity bills by 2040 — or at worst leave emissions on the same trajectory that they are on today — as compared to the status quo, according to a new analysis of many of its provisions by the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm,” Heatmap reports. “…BAAJA will make it easier to build not only long-distance transmission lines, which are essential for clean energy, but also natural gas pipelines, which can expand fossil fuel production. Yet the climate benefits likely outweigh or balance out the harms, at least among the studied policies, the report finds. In the best case scenario, the bill could cut U.S. economy-wide emissions by 4%, reduce energy bills by $78 per year, and drive more than 200 gigawatts of new clean energy capacity by 2040, compared to status quo policy. In a worst case scenario, greenhouse gas emissions would remain unchanged on their current trajectory… “The analysis does not look at the bill’s permitting certainty provisions, which Democrats initially sought to stop President Trump’s war on wind but have become one of its thorniest sections… “They found that the bill’s changes to the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act would enable more gas pipeline development, which, in isolation, would increase emissions relative to a world without BAAJA. More pipelines means more production of oil and natural gas, which means higher methane and CO2 emissions throughout the fossil supply chain. Under a worst case scenario, they estimate a 4% increase in the amount of new gas capacity, although gas-fired generation as a whole increases by less than 1% in 2040.”

Politico: Enviro lawyers say the permitting bill could aid Trump’s DC renovations
Nico Portuondo, 11/2/26

“The bipartisan permitting reform bill designed to aid new energy projects would make it harder for opponents to slow President Donald Trump’s Washington makeover, environmental lawyers say,” Politico reports. “The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, unveiled in September and expected to receive a Senate vote as early as next week, would limit plaintiffs’ ability to halt work on permitted energy projects while they challenge federal approvals… “But those same provisions could also make it more difficult for groups to challenge and slow the Trump administration’s construction plans for the East Potomac Golf Course, the proposed triumphal arch at Memorial Circle and the Kennedy Center, among other projects, the lawyers said. “Anything where you’re altering the built environment or affecting areas covered by the National Historic Preservation Act, which of course … there’s tons of those in D.C., will be much easier to bulldoze,” Matt Littleton, co-founder of Envolve Law and a former Justice Department counsel, told Politico… “It could also create a political vulnerability for supporters of the bipartisan legislation, particularly Democrats, who could face criticism from constituents if they are seen as helping advance Trump’s projects that have drawn widespread public opposition… “The plaintiffs seeking to stop the East Potomac Golf Course renovations based their recent legal challenge on allegations that the administration attempted to bypass NEPA.”

Heatmap: Green groups challenge Trump’s argument against carbon restrictions on power plants
Alexander C. Kaufman, 11/3/26

“When the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded its plans to restrict how much carbon dioxide U.S. power plants can emit, the Trump administration argued that shutting down the coal- and gas-fired stations that supply most of America’s electricity “would have no more than a trivial effect” on health outcomes due to climate change,” Heatmap reports. “But a lengthy new formal comment co-signed by eight of the largest mainstream green groups in the country said the EPA “misinterprets the Clean Air Act, ignores scientific evidence, and entirely misunderstands its own duty as the agency responsible for protecting public health and the environment,” and accused the agency of using its flawed approach as the basis for a “tectonic and unreasoned policy shift.” The remarks, which the Natural Resources Defense Council shared exclusively with Heatmap, was endorsed by a range of groups that includes the Clean Air Task Force, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. As part of the 271-page comment, the groups submitted a new analysis that projected emissions from U.S. power plants to cause $20.4 trillion in health-related damages by 2100. That’s nearly equal to the entire U.S. gross domestic product in 2024.”

Politico: ‘We will be digging’: Democrats firm up plans to investigate Interior under Burgum
Ian M. Stevenson, Heather Richards, 11/3/26

“Democrats are locking in plans to go after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and his department if they gain control of either chamber of Congress in the midterm elections,” Politico reports. “Burgum and senior leaders at Interior can expect a series of congressional investigations, ranging from the botched Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool repairs to administration officials’ close ties to oil and gas companies… “Under Trump, the administration reduced by 90 percent the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments in Utah and dissolved a tribal coalition formed to help oversee those lands. Meanwhile, Burgum’s Interior overhaul cut national park staff by more than a quarter… “Last spring, Huffman and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) raised concerns about the administration’s approvals of oil and gas projects in the Gulf of Mexico in increasingly deeper waters.”

Inside Climate News: EPA Pulls the Plug on Regulating Air Pollution From Giant Livestock and Poultry Operations
Georgina Gustin, 11/3/26

“The Environmental Protection Agency late last week announced it would end a 20-plus-year effort to develop methods to monitor air pollution from factory farms, effectively shuttering the agency’s stop-and-start attempts to regulate the potentially pollutant-spewing facilities under the Clean Air Act,” Inside Climate News reports. “…When tens of thousands of animals are packed into one place, pollution from their waste is blown from ventilation fans or emanates from giant lagoons of liquid effluent… “Research has shown that emissions from these operations are a major cause of air pollution, causing nearly 12,700 deaths in the United States a year. Strictly speaking, concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, are required to get permits under the Clean Air Act and report emissions of these pollutants under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability and Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. But through a deal crafted in tandem with the EPA and the livestock industry, they’ve been given amnesty from doing so for more than 20 years.”

STATE UPDATES

Arizona Republic: Arizona public land use in jeopardy, groups say. Here’s why.
Shi En Kim, 11/2/26

“…In two weeks, a U.S. Senate vote on a bill could topple all the organization’s hard work to oppose a behemoth mine that was moving into southern Arizona. Group leaders urged participants to call their representatives,” the Arizona Republic reports. “…The bill in question is the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, more colloquially known as BAAJA or the permitting reform measure. It’s billed as a way to speed approval of transmission projects on public lands… “But many environmental organizations warn it’s much more, calling it a massive deregulation of public lands oversight. In a letter to the Senate, 215 groups raised concerns over the bill’s dismantling of the environmental review process and the restriction of legislative avenues to appeal permitting decisions… “Going forward, the bipartisan permitting reform bill would automatically greenlight public land use for tailings disposal. It would also apply to the storage of nuclear waste from reactors.”

EXTRACTION

Oil Change International: Existing fossil fuel projects threaten pollution nearly 7 times the world’s remaining 1.5°C budget
10/29/26

“Fossil fuel extraction projects already operating or under construction contain enough oil, gas, and coal to produce nearly seven times the carbon pollution the world can afford to emit to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and risk driving temperatures as high as 2°C, according to new analysis released today by Oil Change International (OCI) ahead of the COP31 United Nations climate negotiations in Antalya, Türkiye. The findings underscore that it is urgent for governments to develop fossil fuel transition roadmaps that plan for the early phaseout of existing fields and mines, guided by equity and backed by fair finance… “The updated Sky’s Limit analysis finds that burning all the fossil fuels in existing oil and gas fields and coal mines would release an estimated 897 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), compared with a remaining carbon budget of just 130 billion tonnes for a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C. In a stark warning against the global rush to expand liquefied natural gas (LNG), the analysis also finds that existing gas fields alone contain enough fossil fuel to exceed the entire remaining 1.5°C carbon budget, even without accounting for a single additional barrel of oil or tonne of coal.”

New York Times: Old, Polluting Jet Engines Are Being Scavenged to Power Data Centers
Hiroko Tabuchi, 11/3/26

“…Several companies are racing to strip the engines out of old aircraft to convert them into electrical generators. And data centers, desperate for power, are snapping them up,” the New York Times reports. “…Elon Musk’s A.I. company, xAI, has installed eight converted turbines in Mississippi to power one of its massive data centers, according to permits with the state and satellite imagery, both reviewed by The New York Times. The generators have state permission to emit carbon monoxide at twice the rate of other turbines at the site. The permits also allow a 25 percent higher limit for pollutants known as volatile organic compounds. Both carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds pose significant health risks… “A few months ago, in an extraordinary court intervention, the Trump administration sided with xAI against a legal challenge by environmentalists against the company’s generators, telling a judge that citizens’ groups shouldn’t be allowed to bring environmental lawsuits. In its filing, the administration said the lawsuit threatened national security by undermining Mr. Trump’s goal of ‘global A.I. dominance.”

Grist: On Wall Street, the ‘energy transition’ includes natural gas and data centers
Austin Corona, 11/3/26

“Blackstone’s is one of several energy transition funds at private equity firms that have consistently grown over the past decade. That growth has continued even as general climate-oriented investment has fallen over the last few years,” Grist reports. “Colloquially, ‘energy transition’ refers to the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy that is necessary to limit the worst impacts of climate change. But on Wall Street, the term can mean something a bit different. Some transition funds — including Blackstone’s — see opportunities for profit in natural gas, data centers, and rising electricity costs… “Off Wall Street, the question of whether natural gas and data centers have a role to play in the energy transition is hotly debated. Natural gas has cut emissions from the power sector when it has replaced coal, while data centers have spurred investment in grid improvements and clean energy sources. But using natural gas still produces significant emissions — both when it’s burned and when it leaks out of infrastructure — and data centers are spurring more fossil fuel use, potentially slowing progress on global power sector emissions. Plus, some grids are already finding ways to provide reliability with cleaner alternatives to gas, like batteries, which can store renewable energy to use when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Most climate and environmental groups argue emphatically that gas should not be seen as a transition fuel.”

Wall Street Journal: Carl Icahn’s CVR Energy Near Over $4 Billion Deal for Marathon Refineries
Collin Eaton, 11/2/26

“CVR Energy, the oil refiner controlled by investor Carl Icahn, is near a more than $4 billion deal to buy refineries from Marathon Petroleum, according to people familiar with the matter,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The deal is set to be announced Tuesday morning, the people told the Journal, assuming the talks don’t fall apart.”

Reuters: Blackstone, Canadian pension funds to invest $3.1 billion in LNG Canada for Mitsubishi stake
Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Nivedita Balu, 11/2/26

“Blackstone and a group of Canadian pension funds will invest $3.1 billion to acquire a 49.9% interest in Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp ‘s holding company that owns its stake in the LNG Canada project, the companies said on Monday,” Reuters reports. “The holding company owns a 15% stake in LNG Canada, the Shell -led export project in British Columbia that started production in June 2025. Mitsubishi said its stake is valued at about $1.6 billion. The remaining investment will be used for phase 2 expansion that will double the production’s facility. The Blackstone-led group includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP).”

Hart Energy: Exxon’s Imperial May Double Production Via Tech, Regulatory Reform
Michelle Thompson, 11/2/26

“Exxon’s Imperial Oil says its portfolio of undeveloped oil sands assets could eventually support a doubling of its gross operated upstream production as the Canadian company advances recovery technologies,” Hart Energy reports. “Imperial generated approximately $2.3 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and continued returning capital to shareholders.”

OPINION

Climb That Hill: Why the Senate Permitting Bill Must Die
Larry Shapiro, 11/3/26

“We need to kill the Senate permitting bill. I’m posting this the morning of Election Day because I think it’s relevant regardless of the results. The Senate is slated to start considering the bill on Monday, November 9,” Larry Shapiro writes for Climb That Hill. “…And here, on the Property Rights and Pipeline Center website, is a brilliant discussion of portions of the bill by noted environmental lawyer David Bookbinder. David wrote in an October 30 memo that the bill “permanently locks in place the terms of all a project’s federal permits; none of them can ever be made more protective, regardless of any change in circumstances. Title IV goes even further, by then making it virtually impossible for the federal government to enforce even those permits – or any other federal environmental statute – against the project. In fact, Title IV limits the enforcement of all federal laws against any project with any federal permit.” “…Even if Donald Trump could be trusted to uphold his end of the deal, I think this is a terrible deal. And, of course, he can’t be trusted… “But please focus on the mistaken belief of the two Democratic sponsors and some of their supporters that they can make a deal with a President who can never be trusted to operate in good faith… “This bill deserves to die. And regardless of the results of this election, climate funders have a responsibility to help kill it.”