EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/23/25

PIPELINE NEWS

• The Narwhal: Canada’s spy agency now shares intel with corporations — thanks to a push from TC Energy

• Radio Iowa: Woman convicted of vandalizing Dakota Access Pipeline is out of prison

• West Virginia Public Broadcasting: Mountain Valley Pipeline Receives More Violations In W.Va.

• Reuters: Trans Mountain pipeline, Canada oil shippers in talks to resolve shipping cost dispute

• Herald-Citizen: Pipeline expansion project ready to begin

• Reuters: Woodside enlists Williams as investor for Louisiana LNG as construction ramps up

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Whitehouse threatens to blow up permitting talks

• Inside EPA: Whitehouse Sees No ‘Pathway’ To Permitting Deal, Citing Burgum Remarks

• Washington Reporter: Secretary Doug Burgum and API make the bipartisan case for permitting reform

• E&E News: Westerman warns parks will need to close if shutdown drags

• Bloomberg: Why big oil is asking EPA not to cut its polluter reporting program

• Inside EPA: D.C. Circuit Remands Seven County EIS Over Environmentalists’ Objections

• E&E News: Greens challenge EPA air pollution passes

• New York Times: The Former Lobbyists Making Key Decisions at the E.P.A.

• Reuters: Venture Global gets approval to export LNG from CP2 plant

STATE UPDATES

• E&E News: Suit alleges EPA foot-dragging on California air cleanup plans

• Source NM: Rocky Mountain governors, Japanese ambassador unveil gas plan

• E&E News: Interior preps for Alaskan oil lease sale

• KALB: Louisiana Senate race heats up: John Fleming takes aim at Cassidy, carbon capture, and tax credits

• Santa Fe New Mexican: Hearing begins on oil and gas bonding rules aimed at making ‘polluters’ pay in New Mexico

• Arizona Luminaria: Hundreds pack supervisors meeting to stop Project Blue, but county may have few tools left

• Reuters: Google backs US gas power plant with carbon capture for Midwest data centers

• Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia Power says answer to state’s data center surge is more natural gas

EXTRACTION

• Reuters: EU plans changes to sustainability law as US, Qatar increase pressure

• Climate Home News: Japan uses “diplomatic muscle” to push carbon capture as fossil fuel panacea

• Radio Sweden: Toxic legacy lingers on Blekinge coast two years after oil spill

OPINION

• Edmonton Sun: Central Canadian opinion-shapers woefully misinformed about pipelines

• The Conversation: Mark Carney’s climate inaction is at odds with his awareness of climate change’s existential threat

PIPELINE NEWS

The Narwhal: Canada’s spy agency now shares intel with corporations — thanks to a push from TC Energy
Zak Vescera and Matt Simmons, 10/23/25

“A Canadian oil and gas firm successfully pressed Canada’s spy agency to start sharing government intelligence with the country’s wealthiest companies, something advocates say will protect critical infrastructure but that critics worry could infringe on civil rights,” The Narwhal reports. “TC Energy, a major North American pipeline company, asked the former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to set up regular “information-sharing” meetings between the agency, RCMP and representatives of major Canadian companies, according to internal government documents. TC Energy said the meetings would allow for “private, high-level discussions about security threats facing Canadian industry.” The Canadian government has since passed legislation allowing CSIS to more easily share intelligence with outside organizations, including other governments and private companies… “In a February 2024 email, TC Energy argued it needed access to this kind of information because of unspecified “acute risks from foreign adversaries” seeking to sabotage critical infrastructure… “The result is that large Canadian corporations have unprecedented access to intelligence collected by Canada’s spy agency… “But some critics and observers worry information sharing between CSIS and private companies could chill legitimate political protest, particularly demonstrations against oil and gas projects led by companies like TC Energy… “But Vibert Jack, the litigation director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, argues the existence of such an information-sharing agreement could still discourage people from expressing their views. “I think the overall prospect it raises is a chilling effect on overall dissent and protest,” Jack told the Narwhal. “The more data is being collected about people who are voicing dissent and the more that data gets shared between different parties, the more consequences can flow for all those people.”

Radio Iowa: Woman convicted of vandalizing Dakota Access Pipeline is out of prison
Dar Danielson, 10/23/25

“A Des Moines woman who was convicted of vandalizing the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017 is now out of federal prison,” Radio Iowa reports. “Jessica Reznicek, who is now 44, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for conspiracy to damage an energy facility with a terrorism enhancement. Frank Cordaro of the Catholic Worker House in Des Moines picked up Reznicek at the federal prison in Minnesota October 1st, and she is now serving time at a halfway house in Des Moines. “She has two more years to do, they’re cutting off two full years of the eight years, so she’ll end up doing six years,” he told Radio Iowa. “And the halfway house will keep her until she’s ready to transition to home arrest with an ankle bracelet.” Reznicek and Ruby Montoya vandalized a sign outside the Iowa Utilities Commission office in 2017 and then admitted damaging the pipeline using an oxy-acetylene cutting torch and setting fires near pipeline instruments and equipment in Mahaska, Boone, and Wapello Counties. Reznicek was also ordered to pay more than three million dollars in restitution. “That’s just not going to get paid, not through the halfway house employment or through the rest of her life. But what she deals with now is paying what they take from her, whatever paycheck she gets at a minimum wage job,” Cordaro told Radio Iowa.”

West Virginia Public Broadcasting: Mountain Valley Pipeline Receives More Violations In W.Va.
Curtis Tate, 10/222/5

“The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has issued a total of five notices of violation to the Mountain Valley Pipeline since it opened last year,” West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports. “…It has received a total of 10 notices from the department since construction resumed on the nearly $10 billion project in mid-2023 following a mandate from Congress… “This year’s notices were issued in Summers, Monroe and Webster counties. All of the notices related to erosion control or water quality. No penalties were issued. Last year, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality fined MVP for erosion and sediment control and the release of water during pressure tests.”

Reuters: Trans Mountain pipeline, Canada oil shippers in talks to resolve shipping cost dispute
Amanda Stephenson, 10/22/25

“The operator of Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline and oil shippers are in talks to resolve a shipping cost dispute that has deterred usage of Canada’s only east-west pipeline and hindered the government’s plan to sell it,” Reuters reports. “Documents filed with the Canada Energy Regulator on Tuesday by Trans Mountain Corp and a group of oil shippers including Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, and ConocoPhillips Canada said the parties are having “active commercial discussions.” The talks could settle how much the companies pay to ship oil on the expanded 890,000-barrel-per-day pipeline, which offers direct access to China and other Asian markets at a time Canada is trying to diversify oil exports away from the United States… “The more than two-year-old tolling dispute has added uncertainty to the Canadian government’s plans to eventually sell the Trans Mountain pipeline… “Analysts told Reuters it would be difficult for an Indigenous group or private sector buyer to commit to purchasing the pipeline until the tolling dispute is settled and Trans Mountain’s long-term revenue potential is clear. The completed in 2024 tripled the pipeline’s capacity, but the final price tag was nearly quintuple a 2017 estimate. While approximately 70% of cost overruns will be borne by Trans Mountain Corp, the remaining more than $9 billion are to be covered by tolls under a formula agreed to by shippers and approved by the Canada Energy Regulator more than a decade ago.”

Herald-Citizen: Pipeline expansion project ready to begin
Brian Wilmoth, 10/22/25

“The Ridgeline Expansion Project, running through eight Tennessee counties, is scheduled to begin construction on Nov. 1,” the Herald-Citizen reports. “East Tennessee Natural Gas announced Wednesday that the Ridgeline Expansion Project has received a Notice to Proceed from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and work will begin Nov. 1. In a press release, the company, which is owned by energy infrastructure company Enbridge, said pre-construction work began earlier this week… “It is being built in support of a new natural gas-fired power plant slated to open at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Energy Complex. TVA is currently phasing out most of its coal-fired power plants in support of natural gas.”

Reuters: Woodside enlists Williams as investor for Louisiana LNG as construction ramps up
Christine Chen and Rishav Chatterjee, 10/22/25

“U.S.-based gas pipeline operator Williams tab will invest $1.9 billion in Woodside Energy’s $17.5 billion liquefied natural gas production and export terminal under construction in Louisiana, the companies said,” Reuters reports. “Under the agreement, Williams will own a 10% stake in the project’s infrastructure company and 80% of the Driftwood pipeline that will supply natural gas to the Louisiana LNG project. Woodside’s ownership of the Louisiana LNG project will be reduced to 50%, as the Australian energy company sold a 40% stake to U.S. investor Stonepeak for $5.7 billion in April.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Whitehouse threatens to blow up permitting talks
Kelsey Brugger, Nico Portuondo, 10/23/25

“A Senate Democrat key to a bipartisan permitting accord Wednesday decried the Trump administration’s sustained attacks against wind and solar power as “gangster ‘Gong Show’ stuff” that was destroying any glimmer of trust on Capitol Hill,” E&E News reports. “The outburst from Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse comes at a time when Republicans have been talking about wooing Democrats on a permitting deal and behind-the-scenes discussions have been ongoing. But Whitehouse seemed to throw cold water on such talks, absent assurances from the White House that they would honor mandates passed by Congress. He even threatened to oppose typical bipartisan bills dealing with water infrastructure and surface transportation. “Why would we want to do bipartisan permitting reform during an administration that won’t faithfully execute that law?” Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said during a hearing… “Whitehouse specifically pointed to the Interior Department’s orders to stop work at Revolution Wind, the Energy Department’s kill list of projects in many blue states and the rescinded approval for what would have been the nation’s largest solar project in Nevada. “This is kind of bureaucratic, Al Capone-quality stuff, so it’s very hard to find a glimmer of good faith.” After the hearing, he suggested he would need to see “personnel changes” at the White House, saying that “some people are just too horrible to be trusted, ever.”

Inside EPA: Whitehouse Sees No ‘Pathway’ To Permitting Deal, Citing Burgum Remarks
10/22/25

“Senate environment committee ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is warning that a long-sought bipartisan deal to streamline National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews is on the verge of failure, citing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s stance to preclude wind power projects from any deal on streamlined reviews,” Inside EPA reports. “I’m not seeing a pathway to that trust” needed to reach an agreement, Whitehouse said at an Oct. 22 hearing on nominees to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Whitehouse renewed his call for Republicans to reject the Trump administration’s overt opposition to wind and other renewable energy sources, as a way to rebuild the political trust needed to ensure a bipartisan NEPA deal by Congress that will be embraced and implemented by the administration. “I will keep working in good faith on the substance of permitting reform, I promise you that. But that gate I’ve said we will need to get through, that trust check, is looking increasingly implausible without a drastic change in behavior,” he told his Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee colleagues.”

Washington Reporter: Secretary Doug Burgum and API make the bipartisan case for permitting reform
Matthew Foldi, 10/22/25

“Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum made an impassioned case for President Donald Trump’s America First energy policy at a conference hosted by the American Petroleum Institute (API), telling a packed room that, under Trump, “we’re doing what people said was impossible,” according to the Washington Reporter. “This is a bipartisan issue,” API’s CEO Mike Sommers stressed on stage with Burgum, who told Sommers and the assembled crew of energy advocates that “the permitting you’re working on is central; it’s nothing short of prosperity at home and peace abroad.” He added that if people want to work on something ‘meaningful’ in their lives, permitting is the way to go.”

E&E News: Westerman warns parks will need to close if shutdown drags
Garrett Downs, 10/22/25

“House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman on Wednesday warned that the nation’s national parks may have to shutter if the government shutdown drags on for too long,” E&E News reports. “The Trump administration has so far kept national parks mostly open, dipping into recreation fees to pay small crews of staff. According to Westerman, however, the administration won’t be able to keep that up for long… “Despite all the extraordinary efforts being made, at some point without funding the public lands will not be accessible to the public,” Westerman said. “The longer this unnecessary shutdown lasts, the more negative consequences that we’ll start to see.”

Bloomberg: Why big oil is asking EPA not to cut its polluter reporting program
Zahra Hirji and Ruth Liao, 10/23/25

“The Environmental Protection Agency says its proposal to stop greenhouse gas reporting for big polluters could save oil and gas companies up to $256 million a year,” Bloomberg reports. “Some of them are countering that it could hurt their business instead. Companies, industry trade groups and other energy experts warn that axing the more than a decade-old Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program could immediately jeopardize oil and gas firms’ ability to claim highly valued tax credits. It could also hurt companies selling liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Asia and Europe in the future, they say, where less carbon-intensive energy sources are increasingly more desirable.”

Inside EPA: D.C. Circuit Remands Seven County EIS Over Environmentalists’ Objections
10/22/25

“The D.C. Circuit has remanded the environmental impact statement (EIS) at the heart of the recent Supreme Court decision narrowing the scope of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, allowing the Trump administration to approve the project and marking another loss for environmentalists who had asked the court to retain its prior vacatur,” Inside EPA reports. “In an Oct. 17 per curium judgment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) the EIS for the 88-mile rail line to bring crude oil from rural Utah to Gulf Coast refineries ‘for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s opinion’ in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, CO. In its May 29 ruling, the high court limited situations in which agencies must assess the indirect environmental effects of projects under NEPA and directed courts to defer to agencies’ scope of review. “A 1970 legislative acorn has grown over the years into a judicial oak that has hindered infrastructure development ‘under the guise’ of just a little more process,” says the 5-4 ruling by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that reversed the D.C. Circuit’s August 2023 decision vacating the STB’s NEPA review of the railway.”

E&E News: Greens challenge EPA air pollution passes
Sean Reilly, 10/22/25

“Environmental groups have launched a second legal challenge to the Trump administration’s extraordinary use of “presidential exemptions” to benefit polluting industries,” E&E News reports. “In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, a coalition of 10 organizations seeks to void the White House’s July decision to give 50 chemical plants and refineries another two years to comply with Biden-era regulations aimed at limiting toxic emissions tied to cancer and other serious health problems. That decision “grossly exceeds” President Donald Trump’s authority under the Clean Air Act, the suit says, adding that it is a pretext to let industry off the hook while EPA works to repeal the regulations in question. The suit follows an earlier challenge to a separate round of exemptions for almost 70 coal-fired power plants also subject to stronger standards put in place last year. In a sign of the potential headwinds to speedy action, proceedings in the first suit are now on hold to give EPA time to reconsider — and possibly roll back — those standards.”

New York Times: The Former Lobbyists Making Key Decisions at the E.P.A.
Hiroko Tabuchi, 10/21/25

“It’s been a busy year at the Environmental Protection Agency. Especially for former lobbyists,” the New York Times reports. “Over the past year, I’ve been covering how the Trump administration has been staffing the E.P.A. with appointees who previously lobbied or litigated on behalf of industries. My latest article is about Kyle Kunkler, who was previously the top lobbyist for America’s soybean industry, and is known for advocating for the continued use of a contentious weedkiller called dicamba. He is now in charge of pesticides policy at the E.P.A… “Weeks after Kunkler arrived at the E.P.A., the agency proposed rolling back several restrictions on dicamba’s use. Critics told the Times the E.P.A.’s proposal aligns closely with recommendations from Kunkler’s former employer, the American Soybean Association. Kunkler is one of a number of former industry insiders who have been hired by the E.P.A. Others include: Nancy Beck, a former executive for the American Chemistry Council, is now in a senior role within an E.P.A. division that evaluates chemical safety and approves new chemicals. Lynn Dekleva, also a former lobbyist with the American Chemistry Council and who fought formaldehyde regulations, now helps lead that E.P.A. chemical safety office. Steven Cook, a former chemical industry lawyer, now has a senior role at the agency and is pushing to repeal a “forever chemical” cleanup rule, potentially shifting billions of dollars in costs to taxpayers… “It’s incredible,” Lori Ann Burd, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Times, “the entire leadership of that office comes directly from industry.”

Reuters: Venture Global gets approval to export LNG from CP2 plant
Curtis Williams, 10/21/25

“U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright gave Venture Global final approval on Tuesday to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its CP2 plant, under construction in Louisiana, to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the U.S.,” Reuters reports. “The approval will allow Venture Global to export 28 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) or 3.96 billion cubic feet per day of U.S. natural gas to so called non-Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries… “Venture Global is the second-largest U.S. exporter of LNG and when the CP2 plant is complete could leapfrog Cheniere Energy and become the largest U.S. exporter of the super-chilled gas”

STATE UPDATES

E&E News: Suit alleges EPA foot-dragging on California air cleanup plans
Sean Reilly, 10/21/25

“A new lawsuit alleges that EPA is unlawfully late in addressing more than 130 California Clean Air Act cleanup submittals dating as far back as 2018,” E&E News reports. “The suit, filed Sunday by Our Children’s Earth Foundation, says that “at least” 136 such submittals are still awaiting EPA’s approval or disapproval past a statutory one-year deadline for a decision. They include regulations issued both by the California Air Resources Board as well as regional air quality management districts around the state related to requirements on ships, motor vehicles and a variety of industries, according to a list attached to the suit. For members and employees of the non-profit foundation, the delays “create doubt and concern” both over whether they are exposed to illegal levels of air pollution and whether federal intervention is needed. EPA does not comment on active litigation, but the suit could provide an early test of the effectiveness of a looming reorganization that will create an “Office of State Air Partnerships” intended in part to improve the working relationship between state, federal and local air regulators.”

Source NM: Rocky Mountain governors, Japanese ambassador unveil gas plan
Patrick Lohmann, 10/20/25

“The Japanese ambassador to the United States joined Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in Santa Fe on Monday to describe a path for Rocky Mountain states like New Mexico to export liquefied natural gas to Asian countries,” Source NM reports. “ Ambassador Shigeo Yamada’s visit coincided with the release of a new “roadmap” from the Western States and Tribal Nations Energy Initiative that argues that with the right infrastructure, Rocky Mountain states can produce fast, green and cost-effective natural gas to domestic and Asian markets… “And the ambassador said Japan is a willing customer, particularly after the country agreed to spend $7 billion a year to purchase energy from the United States as part of tariff negotiations. Importing natural gas from Rocky Mountain states “is one of the options we will have on the table,” Yamada said Monday, as the country looks to meet the terms of that agreement… “The report identifies two main routes—the Pacific Northwest Pathway and the Southwest Pathway—to efficiently move an increased amount of gas to markets in the Southwest and elsewhere on the West Coast, as well as to Mexico or Washington state, where it can be shipped overseas without needing to go through the Panama Canal or risk bad weather in the Gulf of Mexico.”

E&E News: Interior preps for Alaskan oil lease sale
Ian M. Stevenson, 10/21/25

“Interior Department officials moved Tuesday to open up a 23-million-acre reserve in Alaska to oil and gas drilling as the Trump administration pushes to hold the first lease sale in the area since 2019,” E&E News reports. “The Bureau of Land Management published a request for feedback about which areas within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) should be made available for leasing this winter. The call for nominations and comments was scheduled to be published Wednesday in theFederal Register. The administration asked the public to recommend areas of the western Arctic that should be made available for leasing and also requested comments “on tracts that should receive “special concern and analysis.”

KALB: Louisiana Senate race heats up: John Fleming takes aim at Cassidy, carbon capture, and tax credits
Jay McCully, 10/22/25

“…Current State Treasurer John Fleming, a Republican and former congressman, made a stop in Alexandria on October 21 to speak with members of the Alexandria Kiwanis Club at Brocato’s restaurant,” KALB reports. “…According to a recent JMC Analytics and Polling survey, Fleming currently holds a slight two-point lead over Cassidy among likely Republican voters. While addressing the group, Fleming made it clear he’s strongly opposed to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects in Louisiana, a process that traps carbon dioxide from industrial sources and stores it underground. “I’ve been opposed to that from day one because it can actually be dangerous,” Fleming said. “It’s wasteful spending of taxpayer money for this. That’s really nonsense. But lastly, it allows private companies, both domestic and foreign, to confiscate use of your land without payment. That could obviously lower the value of your land.” Fleming also took aim at 45Q, the federal tax credit program that he claimed helps fund CCS projects… “There’s no marketplace for this — no one buys or purchases this. It’s simply confiscating your money and my money through taxes to pay for it. And if we end that money, then the whole thing goes away.” If elected, Fleming said the first bill he would introduce in the Senate would be one to repeal or defund the 45Q tax credits altogether.”

Santa Fe New Mexican: Hearing begins on oil and gas bonding rules aimed at making ‘polluters’ pay in New Mexico
Nicholas Gilmore, 10/20/25

“A hearing that began Monday could lead to higher bonding requirements for oil and gas operators in New Mexico, with environmentalists and state regulators aiming to shift the growing costs of “orphaned wells” from the public to the industry,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. “The proposed rules, backed by a host of environmental advocacy groups as well as by the New Mexico State Land Office and the state Oil Conservation Division, would increase the amounts in bonds, or financial assurance, that oil and gas operators are required to put up for their wells throughout the state. The proposal would also tighten the state’s regulations around inactive and nonproducing wells and create stricter rules for transfers, aiming to prevent problem operators from acquiring aging wells they are likely to abandon. Oil and gas trade groups — including the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico — as well as Occidental Petroleum Corp., or Oxy, have pushed back against the proposal, arguing it amounts to overreach that would harm the industry, particularly smaller operators… “Advocacy groups who are pushing for the new rules point to a report published by the Legislative Finance Committee in June that warns the state could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars — and up to $1.6 billion — for plugging and remediating orphan wells in the coming years, based on the agency’s current projections… “Attorneys for the Western Environmental Law Center have said the rule change is about “fairness” and “making sure the polluters, not the public, pay the cleanup bill.”

Arizona Luminaria: Hundreds pack supervisors meeting to stop Project Blue, but county may have few tools left
John Washington and Yana Kunichoff, 10/21/25

“More than 300 people, most bedecked in red and many holding signs, packed the Oct. 21 Board of Supervisors meeting to express ongoing dismay with Project Blue moving forward,” Arizona Luminaria reports. “The call-to-audience session, with some interruptions, stretched well over two hours, as speakers invoked Tucson’s “moral courage” and voiced fierce opposition to the proposed data center, citing concerns about water and energy use. Many dozens of signs were held up at the meeting, including: “Listen to your constituents. We do not want data centers.” “Water is life. Not an infinite commodity.” “…Community members filled out all of the seats in the meeting room, crowded into the lobby, and were standing outside the county building… “Marisol Winfrey Herrera, a member of the No Desert Data Center Coalition noted there was “so much spirit and so much energy” in the room. She reminded the supervisors to “We’re doing this for the land, the water, for our children.”

Reuters: Google backs US gas power plant with carbon capture for Midwest data centers
Laila Kearney, 10/23/25

“Google has entered into the first corporate agreement to buy electricity from a U.S. power plant using carbon capture and storage in a deal to help fuel its data centers in the country’s Midwest region, the technology company said on Thursday,” Reuters reports. “…Google’s latest power offtake agreement involves a 400-megawatt power plant in Decatur, Illinois, which will be developed by privately held Low Carbon Infrastructure. It is expected to produce power using carbon capture, which involves trapping about 90% of CO2 emissions and injecting them underground, in the early 2030s. Natural gas-fired power that is produced while capturing and storing carbon dioxide had been missing from the equation, Michael Terrell, head of Advanced Energy at Google, told Reuters. “We’ve been really focused on advancing all these new technologies for around-the-clock clean technologies and this is an important piece of the puzzle,” Terrell told Reuters. “It’s a very important technology that the world needs.” “…However, critics have questioned its cost, scalability and long-term effectiveness.”

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia Power says answer to state’s data center surge is more natural gas
Kristi E. Swartz, 10/21/25

“Georgia Power officials will make their case to state regulators beginning Tuesday to build gas-fired power plants and add solar and battery storage to the power grid over the next five years to support an unprecedented amount of electricity demand driven by data centers,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. “The state’s largest electric company wants to add to its fleet 10,000 megawatts — roughly the capacity of 10 nuclear reactors at its Plant Vogtle power station near Augusta. This amount will boost the utility’s power generation fleet by a historic 42%… “It’s just a staggering amount of new capacity resources,” Bob Sherrier, staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, told AJC… “None of this new proposed electricity will come from nuclear power, however, and less than half will come from other carbon-free sources of electricity. Rather, Georgia Power wants nearly 60% of it to come from new or existing natural gas plants, which produce a potent greenhouse gas called methane. The utility, as well as much of the power sector, argues that natural gas power plants are the best choice because they can be built faster than nuclear, are cleaner than coal and run 24/7, unlike certain renewable sources such as solar. But natural gas is a volatile fuel that is subject to wide price swings. It also contributes to climate change… “We’re starting to put more pressure on the gas system, and it’s not clear that the cumulative demand for gas is going to be sustainable or met in the next five years,” Simon Mahan, executive director of the Southern Renewable Energy Association, told AJC.”

EXTRACTION

Reuters: EU plans changes to sustainability law as US, Qatar increase pressure
Tala Ramadan, Ahmed Elimam and Kate Abnett, 10/22/25

“Qatar and the U.S. have written to EU heads of state expressing deep concern over corporate sustainability rules and their potential impact on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, according to a statement from QatarEnergy on Wednesday,” Reuters reports. “Last week, Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, told Reuters that Qatar will not be able to do business in the EU, including supplying Europe with LNG to plug its energy gap, if further changes are not made to its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The letter signed by Kaabi and U.S Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the directive “poses a significant risk to the affordability and reliability of critical energy supplies for households and businesses across Europe and an existential threat to the future growth, competitiveness, and resilience of the EU’s industrial economy.”

Climate Home News: Japan uses “diplomatic muscle” to push carbon capture as fossil fuel panacea
Mara Budgen, 10/23/25

“Japan has led two major regional summits this month to promote carbon capture technologies, an effort that climate groups say could create a smokescreen for the continued use of fossil fuels,” Climate Home News reports. “Last week, Tokyo hosted the Japan CCUS Summit, focused on “carbon capture, utilisation and storage”, a conference that was attended by major domestic and international oil and gas firms, as well as government officials from the UK, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and South Australia. The day after, energy ministers from Japan, Australia and nine Southeast Asian countries met in Kuala Lumpur under the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), an initiative that Japan launched in 2023 to propel decarbonisation but has since been criticised as promoting and prolonging fossil fuel use… “While CCS is regarded as a solution to reduce emissions in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise like steel or cement, it has so far proved expensive, and capture rates have been lower than expected… “There’s a lot of diplomatic muscle that Japan is deploying behind the promotion of CCS,” James Bowen, a climate and energy policy analyst at Climate Analytics, a research organisation, told CHN. “Japan has already played a significant role in previous COPs in pushing this idea of abated fossil fuels being a viable alternative to fossil fuel phaseout.”

Radio Sweden: Toxic legacy lingers on Blekinge coast two years after oil spill
10/22/25

“Two years after the major oil spill after the ferry Marco Polo went aground off the coast of Blekinge, there are still elevated levels of carcinogenic hydrocarbons on land,” Radio Sweden reports. “The county administrative board is now stopping livestock from grazing in one of the worst affected areas due to health risks. “The spill will continue to affect people, wildlife, and nature for a long time to come,” the board says in a statement.”

OPINION

Edmonton Sun: Central Canadian opinion-shapers woefully misinformed about pipelines
Kenneth P. Green, Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

“In a recent episode of CPAC PrimeTime Politics, three bureau chiefs from three major Canadian newspapers discussed the fracas between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Smith government plans to submit a proposal to Ottawa to build an oil pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia’s north coast. The episode underscored the profound disconnect between these major journalistic gatekeepers and the realities of energy policy in Canada,” Kenneth P. Green writes for the Edmonton Sun. “First out of the gate, the Globe and Mail’s Robert Fife made the (false) argument that we already have the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX), which is only running at 70 per cent, so we don’t need additional pipelines… “Simply put, TMX is essentially fully subscribed and flowing at a high percentage of its physical capacity. And the idea that we don’t need additional capacity is also silly… “Next, Mia Rabson, Ottawa deputy bureau chief of the Canadian Press, implied that Smith’s proposal is not viable because it comes from government, not the private sector. But Rabson neglected to say that it would be foolish for any company to prepare a very expensive project proposal in light of current massive regulatory legislative barriers (tanker ban off B.C. coast, oil and gas emission cap, etc.). Indeed, proposal costs can run into the billions… “If these are the gatekeepers of Canadian news in central Canada, it’s no wonder that the citizenry seems so woefully uninformed about the need to build new pipelines, to move Alberta oil and gas to foreign markets beyond the United States, to strengthen Canada’s economy and to employ in many provinces people who don’t work in the media.”

The Conversation: Mark Carney’s climate inaction is at odds with his awareness of climate change’s existential threat
Bruce Campbell is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Free Expression, Toronto Metropolitan University; York University, Canada, 10/22/25

“Mark Carney has long been recognized as an authority on climate change. In 2015, as the governor of the Bank of England, he gave his famous “tragedy of the horizon” speech that introduced climate change to bankers as a threat to international financial stability,” Bruce Campbell writes for The Conversation. “…Under consideration for a second round of projects is carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) proposal from Pathways Alliance, a consortium of oilsands companies. The industry claims the project will allow the continued expansion of so-called decarbonized oilsands bitumen and natural gas. But an Oxford University study concluded that regarding CCUS “as a way to compensate for ongoing fossil fuel burning is economically illiterate.” In fact, the very term “decarbonized oil and gas” has been denounced as a falsehood by the co-chair of the federal Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB), climate scientist Simon Donner… “The fossil fuel industry has essentially guaranteed that Canada’s 2030 reduction targets will not be met due mainly to continued increases in oilsands production, now accounting for 31 per cent of the total Canadian emissions… “Yet Carney is avoiding answering whether Canada will meet its 2030 Paris Agreement target. His attendance at the upcoming COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil has not been confirmed, and he unexpectedly withdrew from the UN Secretary General’s recent climate summit — all of which suggests he’s not prioritizing climate action.”