EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/27/25

PIPELINE NEWS

• E&E News: Burgum says Alaska LNG demand may outstrip pipeline plans

• Pipeline & Gas Journal: TC Energy’s Midwest Pipeline Expansion Clears FERC Environmental Review

• Canadian Press: Alberta’s latest pipeline push dredges up ghosts of projects past

• Canadian Press: B.C. First Nations make legal challenges to huge Ksi Lisims LNG project

• Canadian Press: Premier Smith affirms Alberta’s 2050 net zero goal in testy committee appearance

• Mexico News Daily: Pemex pipeline spills into Veracruz’s Pantepec River, complicating flood cleanup

• Reuters: Two workers killed in pipeline fire at Iraq’s Zubair oilfield, officials say

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Inside EPA: Capito Projects Optimism For NEPA Permitting Deal, But Maybe Next Year

• New York Times: An E.P.A. Plan to Kill a Major Climate Rule Is Worrying Business Leaders

• San Francisco Chronicle: Trump plan would allow oil drilling all along California coast

• E&E News: Mike Lee bill would gut citizen enforcement of the Clean Air Act

• E&E News: Republican-led states push Trump officials to skip COP30

• E&E News: Harold Hamm, NextEra among Trump’s ballroom donors

• Reuters: US orders part of Talen power plant in Maryland to run above limits through end of 2025

STATE UPDATES

• New York Times: Exxon Sues California Over New Climate Disclosure Laws

• New York Focus: New York Is Violating Its Flagship Climate Law, Judge Rules

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pa. Senate gives bipartisan approval to erase Pennsylvania greenhouse gas consortium rules

• New Jersey Monitor: GOP candidate for governor wants NJ out of carbon tax program

• Los Angeles Times: 10 years since Aliso Canyon: Disaster was wake-up call for U.S. on dangers of underground gas

• Environmental Defense Fund: 10 years later: What we have (and haven’t) learned from the devastating Aliso Canyon methane leak

• The Advocate: Livingston Parish opposes carbon capture in new resolution: ‘We need to kill this now’

• Houston Business Journal: Exxon gets key CCS permit approval, but others around Houston are stuck in long wait times

• The Center Square: Senator says carbon capture gives Michigan more clean energy options

• Wisconsin Public Radio: Proposed transmission line for a Wisconsin data center meets public opposition

• WTLV: AARP Florida creates petition against proposed JEA natural gas plant

• E&E News: Water shortage threatens Texas refining hub

• Marcellus Drilling News: Marietta, OH, Passes 3 Resolutions Against Injection Wells

• KTLA: Methane gas seepage prompts emergency evacuation in Newport Beach

EXTRACTION

• E&E News: 100 countries stall on climate targets ahead of COP30

• Grist: Fossil fuel companies say they support the energy transition. New numbers suggest otherwise.

• E&E News: Report ties dirty air to more than 600K dementia deaths globally

• ExxonKnews: Oil giant Total’s net zero claims broke the law, court rules

• CBC: Mikisew Cree First Nation opposes releasing treated oilsands tailings

OPINION

• Rockland County Times: It’s Not Sexy and It’s a Killer – the Natural Gas Pipeline Problem in NY State
  

PIPELINE NEWS

E&E News: Burgum says Alaska LNG demand may outstrip pipeline plans
Carlos Anchondo, 10/27/25

“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the lead developer of a planned gas export facility in Alaska said Friday that interest in the project is surging, though it would still be years before gas could flow through a proposed pipeline,” E&E News reports. “Burgum said the National Energy Dominance Council he chairs is working “basically all the time” on how to get the Alaska liquefied natural gas proposal built. Gas could make its way from Alaska to Japan in as little as eight days, he said, and demand may far outpace the capacity of the proposed pipeline. The Glenfarne Group, meanwhile, said it signed a letter of intent with Tokyo Gas, a Japanese utility company that would buy 1 million metric tons of LNG per year from the project. “This agreement validates the strength of Alaska LNG’s commercial offering,” said Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval in a statement.”

Pipeline & Gas Journal: TC Energy’s Midwest Pipeline Expansion Clears FERC Environmental Review
Mary Holcomb, 10/24/25

“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released an environmental assessment (EA) for TC Energy Corp.’s ANR Pipeline Heartland Project, concluding that construction and operation of the project would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment,” Pipeline & Gas Journal reports. “…ANR Pipeline Company proposes to construct and operate new facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin, including approximately 68.9 miles of new pipeline, 1.5 miles of replacement line, three new compressor stations, two new meter stations, and upgrades to existing infrastructure… “In May, TC Energy approved its $900 million Northwoods Expansion Project, aimed at adding 0.4 Bcf/d of natural gas capacity to its ANR pipeline system by 2029… “President and CEO François Poirier described Northwoods as a cornerstone of TC Energy’s near-term growth strategy, reflecting its focus on high-value, in-corridor projects supported by long-term contracts.”

Canadian Press: Alberta’s latest pipeline push dredges up ghosts of projects past
Lauren Krugel, 10/26/25

“Few are as acquainted with Canada’s graveyard of defunct oil pipelines as Alex Pourbaix, a former executive at the company behind the Keystone XL and Energy East proposals,” the Canadian Press reports. “You can see the scars on my back,” he quipped at a news conference earlier this month, twisting his body at the lectern for emphasis. Pourbaix was on hand as the Alberta government announced plans to propose a new West Coast bitumen pipeline to the freshly created federal Major Projects Office, which aims to speed along projects deemed in the national interest… “Industry players and the Alberta government have said the province’s intervention is necessary to get a project off the ground. As they see it, Canada’s convoluted regulatory system and onerous climate policy has made it near-impossible for private businesses to justify investing. “No pipeline executive would go to his or her board of directors and ask for development money to build a pipeline in Canada,” Pourbaix told the news conference… “Some of the reticence to invest in projects can be pinned on Ottawa, University of Alberta economist Andrew Leach told CP, citing the oil tanker ban on the northern B.C. coast as one example… “People seem to forget that there was this structural change in oil markets in 2014-15 from which we’ve never really recovered.” “…Here is a look at what happened with three ill-fated projects and what can be learned from their demise… “Fundamental to all of it is, to some extent, a really implacable resistance from the environmental movement” to more oilsands crude being produced, Dennis McConaghy, a former TransCanada executive who oversaw Keystone’s development and the early stages of Energy East, told CP. Amid ongoing drama over Keystone XL’s future in 2013, TransCanada pitched an Alberta-to-New Brunswick pipeline that many thought would have a smoother ride. It did not.”

Canadian Press: B.C. First Nations make legal challenges to huge Ksi Lisims LNG project
Darryl Greer, 10/23/25

“Two British Columbia First Nations are taking the federal government to court to quash a decision approving the Ksi Lisims floating natural-gas facility and marine export terminal,” the Canadian Press reports. “The Lax Kw’alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation filed separate judicial reviews in Federal Court earlier this month, alleging the Minister of Environment and Climate Change ignored their concerns about the adverse impacts of the massive LNG project… “But the Metlakatla First Nation says in court documents that the decision relied on “speculative economic concepts” to justify the project’s adverse impacts, while ignoring “mounting evidence” that it’s not economically feasible. The Lax Kw’alaams Band says in court documents that the project is to be located in its traditional territory, and threatens to displace its Aboriginal rights and title in “perpetuity.” “…In September, two other legal challenges were filed in British Columbia claiming that a pipeline to supply the project had not been “substantially started,” contrary to a decision made by the provincial government back in June… “The project is being developed in partnership between the Nisga’a Nation, Rockies LNG Limited Partnership and Western LNG, although documents show the project’s assets will be constructed, owned and operated by wholly owned subsidiaries of Western LNG, based in Houston, Texas.”

Canadian Press: Premier Smith affirms Alberta’s 2050 net zero goal in testy committee appearance
Nick Murray, 10/23/25

“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith reiterated her province’s commitment to becoming a carbon neutral economy by 2050 at a parliamentary committee on Thursday, where MPs are studying Canada’s emissions reduction plan for the end of this decade,” the Canadian Press reports. “Her virtual appearance included testy exchanges as Bloc Québécois MP Patrick Bonin repeatedly demanded to know whether Smith believes in climate change. She suggested that as a Quebecer, he could not grasp the substance of one of Canada’s biggest industries… “Trevor Ebl, the president of Canadian natural gas pipelines at TC Energy, said he’s competing with his United States and Mexico counterparts for capital investment. “TC Energy and other publicly traded companies, we have responsibilities to their shareholders to invest for the lowest risk and highest returns,” Ebl said. “Unfortunately, there is a gap in the returns and a gap in the regulatory certainty. Canada is falling behind on both these fronts.” Ebl compared TC’s Coastal GasLink pipeline in B.C., completed last year, with TC’s Southeast Gateway project in Mexico, which came online in May. “Both of these projects are natural gas pipeline major projects of similar distances. The Coastal GasLink project took about 10 years to complete, from prospecting to in-service. The Southeast Gateway expansion project did it in under 3 years,” Ebl said, adding the pipeline in Mexico went from submitting its permit applications to starting construction in eight months… “So this gives no permanent certainty for investor confidence and proponents who want to build major projects.”

Mexico News Daily: Pemex pipeline spills into Veracruz’s Pantepec River, complicating flood cleanup
10/23/25

“The recent heavy rain in Veracruz damaged a section of the Poza Rica-Ciudad Madero petroleum pipeline, leading to a significant oil spill in the Pantepec River, according to the state oil company Pemex,” Mexico News Daily reports. “Pemex said in a statement on Tuesday that it had repaired the affected section of its pipeline, which is located in the municipality of Álamo Temapache in northern Veracruz. Pemex said that it responded “immediately” to the pipeline’s “loss of containment” through “the activation of industrial and environmental safety protocols.” “…Pemex said that the spill occurred along an eight-kilometer-long stretch of river, but local residents say the damage is more extensive, the news site Latinus reported. Alejandra Jiménez, an activist with the water-focused environmental organization Foundation Chalchi, told the Associated Press earlier this week that it was too early to fully assess the impact of the oil spill. However, she said that the recovery of the ecosystem could take years. “The prevention phase didn’t happen, so now they have to keep it from spreading,” Jiménez told AP.”

Reuters: Two workers killed in pipeline fire at Iraq’s Zubair oilfield, officials say
10/26/25

“At least two workers were killed in an oil pipeline fire in Iraq’s Zubair oilfield on Sunday, oilfield officials said. There was no impact on oil flows, they said, with throughput currently at 400,000 barrels per day,” Reuters reports.

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Inside EPA: Capito Projects Optimism For NEPA Permitting Deal, But Maybe Next Year
10/23/25

“Senate environment committee Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is urging optimism on prospects for a deal with Democrats to speed permitting for energy and other projects while tempering expectations that final passage is still possible this year, suggesting highway legislation could be a vehicle for permitting reforms next year,” Inside EPA reports. “Capito’s appraisal came during Oct. 23 remarks where she also amplified her prior calls for permit streamlining legislation to benefit all types of energy projects — a point she made just days after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appeared to publicly oppose any effort to include offshore wind in such an agreement. “Let’s be optimistic today and hope that we can get there” on permitting, Capito told the audience at an American Council on Renewable Energy forum on the power grid. “We need your help,” she added, urging the audience to press its priorities on Capitol Hill with respect to power transmission and other issues that observers have said would have to be part of a comprehensive permitting deal, including under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).”

New York Times: An E.P.A. Plan to Kill a Major Climate Rule Is Worrying Business Leaders
Karen Zraick and Lisa Friedman, 10/25/25

“The Environmental Protection Agency is promising to erase a scientific finding that underpins climate regulations nationwide. But some business leaders said they are wary that the move could lead to a costly legal quagmire,” the New York Times reports. “The rule, known as the “endangerment finding,” is the conclusion by the E.P.A. that greenhouse gases endanger public health and therefore must be regulated by the federal government. Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, has said the agency would repeal the finding, claiming that the burden to industries of cutting greenhouse gas emissions is more harmful than a warming planet. And yet carmakers, electric utilities and even the oil and gas industry have asked the E.P.A. to tread carefully. If the federal government were to stop regulating greenhouse gases, it could clear the way for states and municipalities to sue companies for damages from climate change. And it could spur individual states to come up with their own pollution limits, creating a patchwork of regulations. Environmental groups have also promised to sue the E.P.A. if it repeals the finding, leading to more uncertainty for businesses. “This is something that the vast majority of industry didn’t ask for and doesn’t want,” Zach Friedman, the senior director of federal policy at Ceres, a nonprofit group that submitted a letter from 59 companies and investors opposing the E.P.A. plan, told the Times… “Scott Saleska, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, told the Times the evidence that supported the endangerment finding 16 years ago has only grown stronger since then… “Ignoring that evidence, as the E.P.A. appears poised to do, Dr. Saleska told the Times, “puts an exclamation point on the idea that science, as the best method the human species has ever come up with for discerning objective reality, has no role in this government.”

San Francisco Chronicle: Trump plan would allow oil drilling all along California coast
Tara Duggan, 10/23/25

“If the Trump administration had its way, oil rigs could soon start drilling along the entire California coast, according to documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “Drilling could take place in the pristine waters off of Sonoma County and Big Sur, and theoretically even near the Golden Gate, if the administration were to find a way to bypass National Marine Sanctuary protections. California elected officials, environmental organizations and tourism and fishing industries expressed opposition to the plan, which they’d been expecting and dreading for months. The documents confirmed that the administration plans to open federal waters, which run 3 miles to 200 miles from shore in California, to oil and gas leasing as soon as 2027, according to the Houston Chronicle. “This means the oil industry gets open season on the entire California coast,” Richard Charter, who has worked on the issue for decades and directs a program that coordinates local governments concerned about the impact of offshore leasing on their economies, told the Chronicle.”

E&E News: Mike Lee bill would gut citizen enforcement of the Clean Air Act
Sean Reilly, 10/27/25

“Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee has introduced legislation to strip the public of its long-standing prerogative to bring Clean Air Act enforcement lawsuits,” E&E News reports. “The Utah Republican’s S. 3049, the ‘Fair Air Enforcement Act,’ would repeal Section 304 of the act, which allows citizens to file suits against both individual businesses and EPA for alleged violations… “In a news release, he accused ‘climate extremists’ of weaponizing the judicial system against small businesses. The legislation, he said, ‘will prevent partisan political groups from abusing the legal process to drag private citizens and industries through frivolous lawsuits.’ Instead, enforcement suits would be left up to state governments and relevant agencies, according to the release.”

E&E News: Republican-led states push Trump officials to skip COP30
Lesley Clark, 10/24/25

“Republican state attorneys general are calling on Trump administration officials to sit out next month’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil,” E&E News reports. “In letters led by West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, 17 states argued that sending a delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference would lend credibility to what they said is an anti-fossil fuel event. “Now, more than ever, America needs to take a strong stance against the anti-coal, anti-gas and anti-oil policies that the COP promotes,” the letter said, adding that if the United States participates, “it would serve only to legitimize such unsound science and policies.” Letters went out Thursday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.”

E&E News: Harold Hamm, NextEra among Trump’s ballroom donors
Timothy Cama, 10/23/25

“A major electric utility company and oil mogul are helping to finance President Donald Trump’s project to demolish part of the White House and replace it with a massive ballroom,” E&E News reports. “Florida-based NextEra Energy and Continental Resources Chair Harold Hamm were listed among the more than three dozen companies, individuals, foundations and others the White House said Thursday have donated to the 90,000-square-foot space for Trump to host events, which he said could cost upward of $300 million, up from the previous estimate of $200 million.”

Reuters: US orders part of Talen power plant in Maryland to run above limits through end of 2025
Timothy Gardner, 10/24/25

“U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Friday issued an order that allows part of Talen’s oil-fired Wagner power plant in Maryland to run above limits through the end of 2025, saying it would boost the reliability of the grid,” Reuters reports. “…In July, Wright granted a request by the PJM Interconnection regional grid manager to allow the nearly 400-megawatt unit to run above limits. It was one of several units at Wagner that had been set to shut permanently in May before federal energy regulators approved keeping it open until 2029. The Energy Department said on Friday the “growing resource adequacy concern” that PJM cited in their July request “still exists today.” Wright has also ordered a Michigan coal plant and a Pennsylvania plant that runs on natural gas or oil to stay open.”

STATE UPDATES

New York Times: Exxon Sues California Over New Climate Disclosure Laws
Karen Zraick, 10/25/25

“Exxon Mobil sued California late Friday claiming that two new state laws that aim to fight climate change would violate the oil company’s free speech rights,” the New York Times reports. “The two laws, passed in 2023 and known as the California Climate Accountability Package, would require thousands of large companies doing business in the state to calculate and report the greenhouse gas emissions created by the use of their products, along with the business risks that climate change represents for the companies… “Exxon’s lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, argued that the laws would force the company to use flawed methodology to calculate these emissions and would misrepresent the role that Exxon and its products play in warming the world. The suit asked a judge to block the state from enforcing the laws against it… “While California might believe that making Exxon Mobil report historical emissions for an oil refinery acquired in Canada or speculative business risks for a Kazakhstan pipeline is the best way to spur climate solutions, Exxon Mobil disagrees,” the lawsuit said. “The First Amendment bars California from pursuing a policy of stigmatization by forcing Exxon Mobil to describe its non-California business activities using the State’s preferred framing.” “…Tara Gallegos, a spokeswoman for Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, told the Times it was “truly shocking that one of the biggest polluters on the planet would be opposed to transparency.” She added that the laws “have already been upheld in court and we continue to have confidence in them.”

New York Focus: New York Is Violating Its Flagship Climate Law, Judge Rules
Colin Kinniburgh, 10/24/24

“New York is violating its climate law — and doesn’t get a pass because implementing the law is “complicated,” a judge found Friday,” New York Focus reports. “The 2019 law, which remains one of the most ambitious in the country, gave the state Department of Environmental Conservation until the start of 2024 to issue regulations that would “ensure” New York meet its binding greenhouse gas emissions targets. More than a year and half later, it has not — a fact that Ulster County Supreme Court Judge Julian Schreibman said was “undisputed” in the case. Schreibman gave the DEC until February 6 to issue regulations that comply with the law, called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act… “Climate groups brought the case in March after Governor Kathy Hochul slammed the brakes on what was expected to be her signature policy to implement the climate law: an emissions pricing program known as cap and invest… “Schreibman said there were two possible paths forward: Either the legislature can step in and change the law, or the DEC must act on it. He set his deadline in February, a month into the next legislative session, to give state lawmakers a chance to weigh in. If the legislature leaves the climate law intact, he said, he is “highly unlikely” to grant DEC an extension.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pa. Senate gives bipartisan approval to erase Pennsylvania greenhouse gas consortium rules
Ford Turner, 10/22/25

“Voting on a controversial issue in a rapidly changing energy environment, six Democratic senators, including Nick Pisciottano of Allegheny County, joined all Republicans on Wednesday to pass a bill that would erase Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative regulations from Pennsylvania’s books,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. “The RGGI rules came into being after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf took executive action in 2019 to put Pennsylvania into the market consortium of a dozen states. It is designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Pennsylvania’s active involvement in RGGI was put on hold after opponents went to court… “We cannot keep waiting on the court decision,” said Sen. Lisa Boscola, a Northampton County Democrat, during the Senate debate Wednesday. “RGGI is a relic. It does not reflect the reality of today’s grid or today’s cost.” A Democratic supporter, Sen. Carolyn Comitta of Chester County, said she voted ‘no’ because of a worsening climate crisis and the lack of action by Pennsylvania government on it. She also said the state must support either RGGI or a new plan submitted by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.”

New Jersey Monitor: GOP candidate for governor wants NJ out of carbon tax program
Nikita Biryukov, 10/24/25

“Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican former assemblyman hoping to be elected governor on Nov. 4, wants to pull New Jersey out of a multistate compact that boosts costs for fossil fuel plants in hopes the withdrawal will control recent rises in electricity rates,” the New Jersey Monitor reports. “Ciattarelli, who has made rising utility bills a focus of his campaign for the governorship, says it’s time for New Jersey to leave the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative again, arguing a program created in 2005 to limit emissions is now just boosting costs for Garden State ratepayers. “That carbon tax initiative has been a failure. Air’s no cleaner. Electricity’s only more expensive,” Ciattarelli said at a debate last month. “By pulling out of RGGI, we can save half a billion dollars a year for ratepayers.” The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — or RGGI, pronounced Reggie — is a cap-and-trade system meant to lower greenhouse gas emissions by requiring fossil fuel plants to purchase tradable emission allowances at annual auctions. In effect, member states require fossil fuel plants within their borders to pay to pollute. The cost of purchasing those allowances is added to the cost of producing electricity, raising rates for fossil generators in RGGI states, which receive revenue from the sale of emission allowances.”

Los Angeles Times: 10 years since Aliso Canyon: Disaster was wake-up call for U.S. on dangers of underground gas
Hayley Smith, 10/23/25

“…Over the course of 112 days, the Aliso Canyon facility would spew an estimated 120,000 tons of methane and toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. It was the worst natural-gas well blowout in U.S. history, and an environmental disaster whose effects will be unpacked for generations,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The event was widely seen as a wake-up call to the dangers of methane and underground natural gas storage. Methane, a planet-warming greenhouse gas, is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for about a quarter of all the human-caused climate change we are experiencing. A study published by UCLA researchers last month found that women in their final trimester of pregnancy who were living within 6.2 miles downwind of the blowout in 2015 had a nearly 50% higher-than-expected chance of having a low birth-weight baby. The blowout ushered in a wave of new regulations to strengthen the governance of natural gas storage facilities in California and the United States, as well as new tools and technology to monitor methane emissions. But 10 years later, some Porter Ranch residents say the wounds still feel fresh, and too many promises have been broken. After the disaster, then-Gov. Jerry Brown called for the permanent closure of Aliso Canyon by 2027 — a goal his successor, Gavin Newsom, called a top priority and vowed to meet even sooner. Instead, Aliso Canyon remains open, with regulators voting in December to continue using the facility for years — probably into the 2030s — citing the need for natural gas to help maintain affordable energy rates and grid reliability in California. The facility is a key asset for Southern California Gas. In an emailed statement, the company said the state would struggle to meet electricity demand without Aliso Canyon’s storage… “California has committed to reaching 100% carbon neutrality by 2045. But SoCalGas says it still needs Aliso Canyon. “SoCalGas is aligned with the state of California in pursuing the technologies and infrastructure that supports California’s climate plan, including clean renewable hydrogen and renewable natural gas, that could, over time with other renewable energy projects, deliver the reliability and affordability Aliso Canyon supports today,” the utility told the Times. However, any decision to reduce or eliminate operations at Aliso Canyon must be based on genuine reduced demand that is permanent, the company told the Times.”.

Environmental Defense Fund: 10 years later: What we have (and haven’t) learned from the devastating Aliso Canyon methane leak
Jon Goldstein and Adam Peltz, 10/23/25

“This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Aliso Canyon methane leak — the largest natural gas leak in U.S. history that pumped more than 100,000 tonnes of the potent greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere. Many have compared the resulting environmental damage to the catastrophic 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” according to the Environmental Defense Fund. “The leak occurred at an underground gas storage facility northwest of Los Angeles and went on for over 100 days before eventually being plugged. By that time, thousands of residents were displaced from their homes and reported experiencing severe nose bleeds, headaches and other health impacts. Studies on the longer term health impacts of the disaster are still ongoing, but a recent study indicated that pregnant women living near the facility were significantly more likely to have babies with low birth weight. Meanwhile the climate impact of the gas emitted during the leak is similar to that of a large European country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. The gas company responsible for the leak ultimately agreed to pay out over $1 billion to settle lawsuits regulated to the damages. The facility has remained in operation in order to meet the region’s energy demands but with new regulations to help prevent another incident. Will it be enough? The leak exposed significant vulnerabilities in the way the United States’ natural gas system is managed — drawing attention to both the impacts of mega leaks at storage facilities, as well as to the millions of smaller leaks occurring everyday across the entire natural gas supply chain. So what has changed since the leak drew international attention to the methane problem?”

The Advocate: Livingston Parish opposes carbon capture in new resolution: ‘We need to kill this now’
Claire Grunewald, 10/26/25

“The Livingston Parish Council, after fierce vocal support from residents, approved a resolution Thursday night taking a stand against carbon capture projects in the parish,” The Advocate reports. “About 100 people packed into the council chambers for Thursday’s regular meeting, with 75 residents signed up to publicly speak in support of a resolution opposing permitting and establishment of any Class VI injection wells and pipelines in the parish. Council member Dean Coates proposed the resolution, which said the council is prioritizing the well-being of its residents and local environment by taking the action. The crowded chambers erupted in applause and cheers when the council unanimously approved the resolution. Every resident who signed up to speak was in support of the resolution, with reportedly none in opposition. “There’s not one person in this room who wants this,” said Bill Whittington, president of the Lake Maurepas Preservation Society. The resolution comes a few weeks after Gov. Jeff Landry issued a moratorium on new applications for carbon capture injection wells in Louisiana. State officials selected six carbon capture projects as priorities; none are located in Livingston Parish… “Residents like Todd Phillips of Denham Springs, who owns a camp in Maurepas, told the council that carbon capture projects would negatively impact the activities his family enjoys at the lake, such as crabbing and power boating… “We need to kill this now and really need to push our federal representatives to get on board with this,” Norred said.”

Houston Business Journal: Exxon gets key CCS permit approval, but others around Houston are stuck in long wait times
Naomi Klinge, 10/27/25

“Spring-based Exxon Mobil Corp. has received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for its Rose carbon capture and storage project, the second approval of its kind in Texas,” the Houston Business Journal reports. “Exxon’s Class VI well application, which is to permit wells designated for carbon dioxide injection and sequestration, proposed three carbon injection wells in Jefferson County as part of the company’s efforts to build out a carbon transportation and sequestration network along the Gulf Coast… “Exxon’s permit was approved faster than the estimated timeline. When the company submitted its application in March 2024, the estimated 24-month completion date was April 2026. But many permit approvals take much longer than those estimates. Occidental’s Bluebonnet Sequestration Hub in Chambers County is the only other project in the Houston-to-Beaumont region that is expected to beat that timeline, but even that project had originally applied earlier, likely in 2023.”

The Center Square: Senator says carbon capture gives Michigan more clean energy options
Elyse Apel, 10/24/25

“The Michigan Senate recently passed new legislation that will fast track the use of carbon capture and storage in Michigan,” The Center Square reports. “State Sen. John Cherry, D-Flint, is one of the group of three bipartisan legislators leading the charge on the carbon capture bill package… “One of the key pieces to understand is Michigan has excellent geology for carbon sequestration,” Cherry told TCS… “The fact that it is good policy, both from a ratepayer perspective and as an investment in taking the dollars raised and investing it in the communities and natural resources of our state, really makes it easier to reach bipartisan consensus.” The Michigan SUCCESS Coalition is one of the groups leading the push for carbon capture and storage technology. “Expanded use of CCUS technology will accelerate the decarbonization of Michigan’s essential manufacturing facilities, which will protect jobs, create new CCUS construction jobs, and incentivize new economic development investments,” it said in its endorsement of the legislation… “At a time when energy costs are skyrocketing, this legislation adds additional burdens to Michigan energy customers without providing guarantees that these projects will deliver real benefits, so as passed by the Senate, it is a bad deal for Michigan energy customers and taxpayers,” Ben Poulson, state government affairs director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, told TCS. “Instead of creating excuses for fossil fuel plants to pollute even more, we should be stopping carbon emissions at the source by expanding cleaner, more affordable renewable energy sources that we know will save ratepayers money.”

Wisconsin Public Radio: Proposed transmission line for a Wisconsin data center meets public opposition
Evan Casey, 10/23/25

“Farmington resident Beth Csaszar lives about 12 miles away from the planned data center development in Port Washington. She was aware of that development, but she didn’t think it would affect her directly,” Wisconsin Public Radio reports. “That is, until she got a flyer from American Transmission Co. in her mailbox in August about their plans for a $1.4 billion transmission line project to help support the data center. One of the proposed routes for the project runs in front of her home. American Transmission Co. wants to build new transmission lines, rebuild existing lines and build new substations across several counties as part of the project, according to a recent application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. Port Washington residents have spoken out against the data center plans during recent public meetings. The Port Washington Common Council approved the development agreement for the project in August… “The preferred route of the transmission line project for that data center campus is just over 90 miles long and would include the construction of new 345-kilovolt lines and new substations. An alternate route, which would cost an estimated $1.64 billion, is also included in the application.”

WTLV: AARP Florida creates petition against proposed JEA natural gas plant
Zach Wilcox, 10/27/25

“The plan for a new natural gas plant in Jacksonville is fueling some pushback. AARP Florida has started a petition calling for city leaders to reconsider,” WTLV reports. “The coal plant off New Berlin Road shut down in 2018, which now shows weeds creeping in on the old sign and decaying buildings. Now JEA is full steam ahead on a natural gas plant that would use gas and steam to generate electricity. But folks have probably already noticed a rate hike that took effect this month to help pay for Plant Vogtle, which is fueling AARP’s concerns about what another new plant would mean for your wallet. Florida AARP’s petition includes a prewritten message for its members to sign, that includes the line “This project represents a significant and growing cost burden on ratepayers like me.” AARP mentioned rate payers are already dealing with a 5% rate hike that took effect this month. So in the petition, AARP asked JEA to consider more affordable and sustainable options, saying: “Clean energy alternatives are not only cheaper, but they also protect customers from future fuel price spikes and deliver long-term savings.”

E&E News: Water shortage threatens Texas refining hub
Shelby Webb, 10/27/25

“One of the largest petrochemical and refining hubs along the Gulf Coast is facing its most severe water shortage in history, raising concerns among industrial and residential consumers,” E&E News reports. “Corpus Christi, Texas, has been under major drought restrictions since last December. And city water officials estimate they’ll reach a Level 1 water emergency late next year — a status triggered when the city has 180 days before water demand outstrips water supply. That could lead to water curtailments for industrial users, which could cause some plants to shut down operations for the length of the curtailment, Bob Paulison, executive director of the Coastal Bend Industry Association, told E&E… “A water emergency in Corpus Christi would be the first of its kind for a refining and petrochemical focal point in the region along the Gulf of Mexico, which President Donald Trump renamed the Gulf of America… “Most of the water used to refine that oil comes from the city of Corpus Christi’s water system, which also serves more than 500,000 customers across a seven-county region in South Texas. Large-volume water users, which mostly include petrochemical plants and refineries, used more than 1.1 billion gallons of water in September, according to the city. That was more water than residential and commercial customers used combined… “Jake Hernandez, a Coastal Bend field organizer with the Texas Campaign for the Environment, told E&E the burden of curbing water use thus far has fallen more on residents than on major industrial companies.”

Marcellus Drilling News: Marietta, OH, Passes 3 Resolutions Against Injection Wells
10/23/25

“In August, Marietta, OH, officials, including the city’s Republican mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members, asked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas to deny a permit application from DeepRock Disposal Solutions for the Stephan #1 injection well, which would be the company’s fifth injection well in the area,” Marcellus Drilling News reports. “… Earlier this month, the Marietta City Council passed three resolutions to block new injection wells in the area. One resolution asks the state to block new injection wells statewide.”

KTLA: Methane gas seepage prompts emergency evacuation in Newport Beach
Lily Dallow, 10/23/25

“The City of Newport Beach has declared a local emergency after methane gas was discovered seeping from an abandoned oil well beneath a home on the Balboa Peninsula, prompting an evacuation order for nearby residences on Thursday morning,” KTLA reports. “Officials said the gas was detected Wednesday evening at a property in the 3600 block of Marcus Avenue and is believed to be caused by oil intrusion from an abandoned private oil well located beneath the home. City officials said they were initially contacted by the homeowners, who had noticed visible oil on their property for some time. When crews responded Wednesday evening, they detected methane gas in the home’s courtyard walkway.”

EXTRACTION

E&E News: 100 countries stall on climate targets ahead of COP30
Sara Schonhardt, 10/27/25

“Dozens of nations have failed to strengthen their climate targets — a requirement of the Paris Agreement — as they race toward global negotiations next month with planet-warming pollution on the rise,” E&E News reports. “Two weeks before climate talks begin in Brazil, the lapse by more than 100 countries in submitting new United Nations plans for tackling global warming is colliding with rising enmity by President Donald Trump, who has eviscerated climate measures in the U.S. while urging, and threatening, other nations to abandon the fight against climbing temperatures. The EU is struggling to fill the vacuum left by America’s reversal on global climate cooperation. And China, while pledging to cut its world-leading carbon pollution, has announced a target that analysts say is too low to prevent catastrophic climate impacts. The COP30 climate conference in the Amazon port city of Belém is facing perhaps the biggest political pushback since negotiations started 30 years ago, with the Trump administration openly working to undermine measures aimed at reducing climate pollution from cargo ships and other sources. “The rest of the world knows they have to deal with Trump, and they’re trying to figure out, particularly in this [climate] sphere, how do you make progress when he’s driving so hard in the opposite direction of where everyone else wants to go,” John Podesta, who served as senior adviser for international climate policy under President Joe Biden, told E&E.

Grist: Fossil fuel companies say they support the energy transition. New numbers suggest otherwise.
Rebecca Egan McCarthy, 10/24/25

“…Depending on who you ask, COP is either the world’s best attempt to date at collective climate action or a massive forum for greenwashing: At last year’s COP29, the human rights NGO Global Witness found that oil and gas lobbyists significantly outnumbered negotiating officials from the 10 countries most threatened by climate change,” Grist reports. “We genuinely believe that COPs have been co-opted by the fossil fuel industry, to such an extent that we’re seeing thousands of lobbyists turn up each year,” Patrick Galey, the head of fossil fuel investigations at Global Witness, told Grist. “And they are not lobbying for green energy.” “…But a new study in the academic journal Nature Sustainability appears to bolster Galey’s side of the argument, by demonstrating exactly how little fossil fuel companies are investing in renewable energy. The study’s authors analyzed data from Global Energy Monitor, an open source database that tracks oil, gas, coal, and renewable energy use worldwide, to figure out just how involved major fossil fuel companies are in the deployment of renewables. The researchers fully expected measures of fossil fuel producers’ investment in renewable energy to be low — but not this low: Of the 250 largest oil and gas companies, they found, only 20 percent were operating any renewable energy projects at all. Overall, fossil fuel producers own only 1.42 percent of global renewable energy projects, and those projects are responsible for a measly 0.1 percent of their total energy production… “Llavaero Pasquina told Grist that he hoped his research would be used to support excluding fossil fuel producers from any role in setting international climate goals.”

E&E News: Report ties dirty air to more than 600K dementia deaths globally
Sean Reilly, 10/23/25

“Some 626,000 people worldwide died from dementia in 2023 stemming from air pollution exposure, according to a new report that further documents the links between dirty air and debilitating neurological diseases,” E&E News reports. “That estimated tally accounted for more than one-quarter of total dementia deaths for that year, according to the latest edition of the State of Global Air overview released Thursday by the Health Effects Institute. It’s the first time the Boston-based research organization has put a number on the toll as researchers continue to detail increasingly concrete evidence of the connection. In tightening its annual exposure standard for the microscopic fine particles commonly called soot, for example, EPA last year predicted that the change could eventually prevent about 1,000 hospital admissions annually for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. A paper published soon after tied long-term soot exposure to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.”

ExxonKnews: Oil giant Total’s net zero claims broke the law, court rules
Emily Sanders, 10/24/25

“A Paris Court ruled Thursday that French oil giant TotalEnergies is misleading consumers with claims that it aims to reach “net zero” emissions and help lead the energy transition even while it makes plans to increase its fossil fuel production, marking the first time an oil company has been forced to remove such claims by a court of law,” ExxonKnews reports. “By promoting its “ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050” and “to be a major player in the energy transition” as it pursued new oil and gas projects across the world, Total misrepresented its environmental commitments in violation of European Union consumer protection law, the court ruled. Total “deliberately made an environmental claim likely to mislead consumers, by leading them to believe that by buying its products or services, they were participating in the emergence of a low-carbon economy,” according to a translation of the court’s decision. The French court ordered Total to cease those statements within a month or face a fine of 10,000 euros per day, and to display the court’s ruling on its website for 180 days. The case, filed in 2022 by NGOs Greenpeace France, Friends of the Earth France, and Notre Affaire à Tous, is part of a growing global wave of climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. One of the biggest and fastest-growing categories of those lawsuits are cases relating to false climate or environmental advertising, according to a report by Oil Change International and Zero Carbon Analytics last year. The groups filed the lawsuit after Total rebranded itself in 2021 as TotalEnergies and launched a campaign touting its new “carbon-neutral approach, together with society,” along with goals to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. But as of 2023, the company was the world’s second-largest developer of “carbon bombs,” or massive fossil fuel extraction sites, reported Le Monde. Total is still expanding its oil and gas operations and ownership of fossil fuel assets in Uganda, Namibia, Iraq, the United States, and elsewhere across the globe.”

CBC: Mikisew Cree First Nation opposes releasing treated oilsands tailings
Jesmeen Gill, 10/24/25

“Mikisew Cree First Nation is speaking out against a government-appointed committee’s recommendations for releasing treated oilsands tailings,” the CBC reports. “Alberta’s oilsands mine water steering committee released a report with its nine recommendations on tailings management last month. One of its recommendations is to expedite the creation of standards to release treated oilsands mine water. Mikisew Cree First Nation, based in northern Alberta, says it opposes the plan’s implementation, worrying it would threaten the health of downstream communities and ecosystems. The First Nation held a rally about the issue last week in Fort McMurray. The event brought together Indigenous leaders, environmental advocates and community members. “Treat and release is a no-go for Mikisew Cree First Nation,” Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro told CBC. He told CBC collected community data shows higher rates of cancer in Fort Chipewyan… “Tuccaro told CBC the First Nation won’t stay idle in the face of decisions that could impact the health of the community.”

OPINION

Rockland County Times: It’s Not Sexy and It’s a Killer – the Natural Gas Pipeline Problem in NY State
10/27/25

“…These are the three big pipelines and companies many people want stopped,” the Rockland County Times Editorial Board writes. “All of these pipelines have compressor and pigging stations, built to push more gas through at higher pressure, which expels CO2, which leaks methane, particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and other noxious chemicals and can explode – causing fires… “Governor Hochul seems to be compromised in that she was willing to trade passing Congestion Pricing for NYC (to lower emissions and pollution) with re-booting the Constitution Pipeline (which would raise emissions and pollution), a pipeline that was denied water permits by the NY State Department of Conservation (DEC) five years ago. President Trump basically said that he would “allow congestion pricing and maybe wind power if she would ok the Constitution pipeline.” Hochul’s administration has signaled support for NESE through the Public Service Commission… “There have been massive protests against natural gas pipelines… “Governor Hochul has a legal mandate to fulfill the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which Governor Cuomo signed into law in 2019. This was designed to “get us off of gas”, reducing greenhouse gases with the focus on renewable energies – solar, wind, geothermal and geothermal networks, batteries and battery storage, transmission and distribution, by 2030-2040. She needs to follow the law. Please call Governor Hochul at 1-518-474-8390 and tell her no more gas pipelines in NY State. No to Project Maple, the Constitution Pipeline, the Williams-NESE Pipeline– and while you are at it – no to nuclear power facilities in NY State – there is nowhere to store the waste!”