EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/13/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• Bloomberg: North Dakota Wants Your Carbon, But Not Your Climate Science

• The Center Square: Bipartisan push to protect Central Illinois drinking water from carbon capture

• Bleeding Heartland: The muted impact of CO2 pipeline politics in Iowa’s 2024 general election

• KSOM: Guthrie County Supervisors Hire Des Moines Law Firm for Help With a Possible Ordinance Against Pipeline

• North Dakota Monitor: North Dakota seeks to intervene in latest Dakota Access Pipeline lawsuit

• Law360: ND Wants To Back Feds In Dakota Access Pipeline Row 

• CityNewsOKC: Oklahoma City Man In A Legal Battle With Phillips 66 As The Company Plans To Build A Replacement Pipeline Through His Property

• KCLU: State gets big settlement in legal battle with pipeline company over 2015 oil spill on Gaviota Coast

• FracTracker Alliance: Announcing the 2024 Community Sentinel Award Recipients

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Hart Energy: Exclusive: Harold Hamm’s Top Oil, Gas Goals After Trump Victory

• E&E News: Court rejects White House NEPA rulemaking power

• E&E News: Trump considers ‘energy czar’ post

• E&E News: Republicans ready to confirm Trump’s EPA nominee

• E&E News: Question Hangs Over Trump’s Return: How Much Biden Climate Money Is Safe? 

• E&E News: Biden released methane fee imperiled by the Trump presidency 

• E&E News: BLM Advances Sage Grouse Regs That Could End Up In Trump Crosshairs 

• The Hill: Podesta: US climate action will not stop despite Trump election

• E&E News: Trump may end Biden’s ‘green’ hydrogen dream

• The Daily Climate: Hydrogen hubs test new federal environmental justice rules

• Environmental Health News: What’s hampering federal environmental justice efforts in the hydrogen hub build-out?

• Press release: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Releases National Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Research Strategy

STATE UPDATES

• Houston Chronicle: Texas oil companies await return of ‘drill, baby, drill’ era with Trump victory

• Aspen Times: Town of Basalt, Pitkin County sign on to amicus brief ahead of Uinta Basin Railway Supreme Court case hearings

• Denver Post: Colorado’s oil and gas industry says it’s reducing emissions at drilling sites by 95%. Environmentalists aren’t so sure.

• Oregon Capital Chronicle: Oregon geologist looks to volcanic rock to store carbon dioxide as tool to fight climate change

EXTRACTION

• The Hill: World could cross red line for planetary warming by decade’s end, study finds

• Rigzone: Climate Loss and Damage Fund Set to Launch into Action Next Year

• New York Times: Exxon Chief to Trump: Don’t Withdraw From Paris Climate Deal

• Washington Post: Greta Thunberg calls COP29 climate summit ‘beyond absurd’

• Axios: Trump’s return motivating some countries at UN climate summit

• Reuters: US dependence on Canada’s oil should deter Trump tariffs, industry says

• DeSmog: Revealed: Big Oil Told 70 Years Ago That Fossil Fuel Emissions Could Impact ‘Civilization’

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Houston Chronicle: Oil and gas companies struggle with rising insurance costs, coverage issues

OPINION

• Dallas Morning News: Texas is shooting itself in the foot in its anti-ESG crusade 

• Chicago Sun-Times: Memo to Trump: Clean energy is a hit in red states too
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Bloomberg: North Dakota Wants Your Carbon, But Not Your Climate Science
Adam Willis, 11/13/24

“Jason Erickson is a landman on the ranches and farms of western North Dakota,” Bloomberg reports. “…What he does is different, an inverse. He seals land deals so that atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide—hundreds of millions of tons of it—can be pumped deep underneath… “ If all goes according to plan, the well will be used to monitor a vast underground reservoir of CO2 that could rest there forever. This carbon-sequestration project, which Erickson first began peddling to his neighbors more than three years ago, would be the largest of its kind in the US, an $8.9 billion venture by Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions LLC… “The more controversial part of Summit’s plan is a 2,500-mile web of pipeline known as the Midwest Carbon Express… “The pipeline plan has embittered farmers, environmentalists and land-rights defenders across the region, prompting a populist alliance that threatens to block the whole enterprise… “I’m not out here saying we’re saving the planet,” Erickson told Bloomberg. “I want to sustain the fossil fuel industry, and, to me, this is a way we’re going to do it.” “…The environmental left, in organizations such as the Sierra Club and Food & Water Watch, has rejected it as a costly, potentially unsafe tool designed to prolong the life of legacy fuels like ethanol, coal and oil. Some on the right, meanwhile, despise carbon capture for a different, entirely incompatible reason: their stubborn conviction that climate change is not, in fact, a problem… “The notion of sequestering emissions only to pump more oil is blasphemous to climate advocates… “Young people today, Burgum likes to say, have been taught to see carbon as “the devil element on the periodic table.” “…We’ll take all the CO2 that people will ship us,” Burgum told Bloomberg… “Perhaps more worrisome are the pipelines needed to get CO2 to viable storage sites… “The most alarming past incident came four years ago near the town of Satartia, Mississippi, where a CO2 pipeline ruptured, washing much of the area in gas. Dozens of people were hospitalized, some dazed and having trouble breathing, others knocked unconscious. Last year a leak along that same pipeline released more than 100,000 gallons of gaseous CO2 in a southwest Louisiana parish, prompting a shelter-in-place advisory until operators arrived for repairs. Safety aside, carbon capture still has a long way to go to prove it’s worth the cost… “When I arrived at a Best Western in Fort Dodge, Iowa, a sign in the parking lot confirmed I was in the right place. “NO EMINENT DOMAIN,” it read. “NO DEADLY CARBON PIPELINES.” “…I was struck, leaving Fort Dodge, by how uncompromising the crowd had been. There seemed to be a fault line among those aligned with traditional energy sources. Many of the oil and coal proponents I’d met in North Dakota have become full-throated evangelists for carbon capture, even if they don’t readily concede that the CO2 they aim to capture is altering the climate. Almost everyone I met in Fort Dodge was a purist who balked at any concessions to the energy transition.”

The Center Square: Bipartisan push to protect Central Illinois drinking water from carbon capture
Catrina Barker, 11/12/24

“After passing a bill that regulates carbon pipelines, a legislator has introduced a supplemental bill adding protections for the Mahomet Aquifer,” The Center Square reports. “State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 3968, which says no person shall conduct a carbon sequestration activity within a sequestration facility that overlies, underlies, or passes through a sole-source aquifer. Julie Fosdick, an opponent of carbon sequestration projects, told The Center Square legislators seem to be protecting the aquifer now that news broke about the Archer Daniels Midland leaks. “People became much more aware that having carbon sequestration near an aquifer is a serious risk after learning ADM had two leaks,” Fosdick told The Center Square. “The one leak had already occurred at ADM when the bill [Senate Bill 1289], but that was kept secret.” “…On the Senate floor this spring, state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, urged the sponsors to add protection for the aquifer. “I don’t want to hear a damn thing about cleaning up the environment when these people can’t drink their water,” Rose said. Rose filed a bill, Senate Bill 3963 in July, that bans carbon sequestration activity over the federally designated sole-source of drinking water, the Mahomet Aquifer… “Recently filed House Bill 5874 also aims to protect the Mahomet Aquifer, which is the sole source of clean drinking water for many in the Central Illinois area.”

Bleeding Heartland: The muted impact of CO2 pipeline politics in Iowa’s 2024 general election
Matthew P. Thornburg, 11/12/24

“…Carbon dioxide pipelines remain the issue Iowa Republicans wish would go away. While most political issues in the state are subsumed into the greater red vs. blue polarization of the country—where Republicans in Iowa enjoy the advantage–CO2  pipelines create an intraparty split between the Iowa GOP establishment and some in the party’s conservative wing,” according to Bleeding Heartland. “…Kevin Virgil challenged incumbent U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra for the Republican nomination in the district and captured almost 40 percent of the vote. Resistance to CO2 pipelines and the use of eminent domain to build them served as a centerpiece to Virgil’s campaign… “Over the 462 precincts located in the fourth Congressional district, Feenstra ran 1.84 points ahead of Trump on average. However, in pipeline precincts, Feenstra’s advantage over Trump was just 1.15 points, compared to non-pipeline precincts where the advantage was 1.96 points. The difference is small, but there is only a very small chance it was produced by random statistical noise. Put another way, in a little under a quarter of pipeline precincts (23.9 percent), Feenstra actually received a smaller vote share than Trump compared to just 13.4 percent of non-pipeline precincts… “Separating pipeline and non-pipeline precincts by whether they are in O’Brien County shows that in pipeline precincts in O’Brien County, Feenstra underperformed Trump by almost three points. Given that Feenstra outperformed Trump in precincts on average by 1.84 points in the district overall, that is a significant underperformance… “Overall, while these differences between pipeline and non-pipeline precincts are real, their magnitude is notably small and easy to miss amid the overall general election results.”

KSOM: Guthrie County Supervisors Hire Des Moines Law Firm for Help With a Possible Ordinance Against Pipeline
Chris Varney, 11/12/24

“The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors voted to pursue an ordinance against the building of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline in Guthrie County,” KSOM reports. “The first step towards a draft of an ordinance is the supervisors have approved the hiring of Tim Whipple of Ahlers and Cooney law firm of Des Moines. The biggest concern for the supervisors is approving an ordinance and then being sued by Summit Carbon Solutions or anybody else wanted to build a pipeline in the county… “Shelby and Story Counties are currently in court cases that will be heard next week says Whipple and once they are resolved, the effect of an ordinance may be known… “The Board then voted unanimously to engage in Whipple’s services — an engagement letter will be drafted and presented to him.”

North Dakota Monitor: North Dakota seeks to intervene in latest Dakota Access Pipeline lawsuit
Mary Steurer, 11/12/24

“The state of North Dakota has asked to become a defendant in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s new lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeking to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “The tribe’s complaint, filed last month, accuses the Army Corps of violating federal law by allowing the pipeline to operate without an easement, adequate environmental study or proper emergency spill response plans, among other violations. North Dakota in a memo filed last week argued that closing the pipeline, often referred to as DAPL, would cost the state government hundreds of millions of dollars, put thousands of jobs in jeopardy and disrupt regional supply chains. North Dakota also argues that a federal court order shuttering DAPL could infringe upon the state’s right to regulate its own land and resources… “If a judge were to grant Standing Rock’s request to shutter DAPL, the North Dakota state government would lose out on a projected $900 million in revenue in the first 12 months, Office of Budget and Management Director Susan Sisk said in a statement filed in court… “She noted more than 10% of North Dakota’s annual general fund revenue comes from oil and gas taxes, and nearly 60% of the state’s tax and fee revenue comes from oil and gas extraction and production. DAPL is a big piece of that equation, according to Sisk… “Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak also submitted statements in support of North Dakota’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit… “Fedorchak noted in her statement that the Public Service Commission invested a significant amount of regulatory resources in DAPL. The route of the pipeline was chosen to minimize safety and environmental risks, to avoid Native and federal land and to align with existing infrastructure, she wrote.”

Law360: ND Wants To Back Feds In Dakota Access Pipeline Row 
Crystal Owens, 11/8/24

“North Dakota wants to back the federal government in a challenge by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe seeking to block a Texas-based energy company from continuing to operate the Dakota Access Pipeline, arguing a shutdown would undermine the state’s interests in oil and gas regulation activity,” Law360 reports. “In a motion to intervene filed Thursday, the state said the Army Corps of Engineers is preparing a court-ordered environmental impact statement stemming from the tribe’s prior litigation — with input from North Dakota as a cooperating agency — and shutting down the 1,100-mile crude oil pipeline would upend that process while substantially impacting the state’s economy and undermining its sovereign interests. “North Dakota therefore has significant and legally cognizable interests (sovereign, environmental, and economic) in the continued and safe operation of [Dakota Access Pipeline], and those interests are not likely to be adequately represented by any other party to this proceeding, including the federal defendants,” it said in a Thursday memorandum in support of the motion.”

CityNewsOKC: Oklahoma City Man In A Legal Battle With Phillips 66 As The Company Plans To Build A Replacement Pipeline Through His Property
Todd Shannon, 11/13/24

“An Oklahoma City farmer finds himself entrenched in a legal battle with energy giant Phillips 66 as the company moves forward with plans to build a replacement pipeline through his property, invoking the state’s eminent domain law to press ahead despite his objections,” CityNewsOKC reports. “Don Eckroat, who owns a farm on the city’s outskirts near Britton Road and Midwest Boulevard, received an unwelcome letter last year from Phillips 66. The message outlined plans to replace an aging pipeline segment—a 37-mile stretch of pipeline originally installed in the 1930s—that would cut directly through his land. Phillips 66 argues that the project serves the public good, enabling the continued safe transport of fuel to Oklahoma City and surrounding communities. Yet for Eckroat, the project threatens not just his land but also his vision of preserving his family farm for future generations… “According to his estimates, the damages will cost upwards of $50,000 to repair. Beyond financial worries, Eckroat feels like he’s up against an insurmountable opponent. “This is David and Goliath,” he told CityNewsOKC, expressing frustration at how a large corporation can press forward with construction on private land in the name of public utility… “A spokesperson for the company told CityNewsOKC that they’ve been in touch with Eckroat over the past year, offering a compensation package they claim exceeds market value for the affected land… “Despite this, negotiations stalled when Eckroat declined the offer and resisted further settlement attempts. Phillips 66 then pursued legal channels to access the property… “Eckroat, however, remains skeptical about these assurances. The visible impact on his farm has shaken his confidence in the company’s promises to restore the land.”

KCLU: State gets big settlement in legal battle with pipeline company over 2015 oil spill on Gaviota Coast
Lance Orozco, 11/12/24

“The state has reached a huge financial settlement with an oil pipeline company in connection with the massive 2015 pipeline break, and oil spill in Santa Barbara County,” KCLU reports. “In 2015, the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured on the Gaviota Coast, spilling some 140,000 gallons of crude oil. In addition to the environmental impacts, it forced the shutdown of the area’s oil operations. Venoco filed for bankruptcy. The state got stuck with the cost of decommissioning the company’s oil facilities, as well as offshore oil Platform Holly. The State Lands Commission, and an insurance company sued the pipeline company, claiming negligence led to the situation. The settlement calls for Plains to pay the state $72.5 million.”

FracTracker Alliance: Announcing the 2024 Community Sentinel Award Recipients
11/8/24

“This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship, a decade-long celebration of individuals dedicated to protecting the environment and advancing justice. Established by FracTracker Alliance and Halt the Harm Network in 2015, this award honors those who work tirelessly to mitigate the adverse effects of fossil fuels on their communities and the environment… “Though it was a challenging decision, a distinguished panel of judges have selected four award winners, as well as one award winner selected by members of the community, and we’re thrilled to introduce them to you. NaTisha Washington (she/her/hers) is the Communications Manager at the Breathe Project, where she works with over 60 partner organizations to inform residents about air quality and petrochemical issues; Andrea Pierce (she/her/hers, we/us/our) is a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB), the Policy Director at Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, and the lead organizer of Idle No More Michigan, where she focuses on Native rights and the campaign to shut down Line 5 and stop the Enbridge tunnel; Roishetta Sibley Ozane (she/her/hers) is the founder, director, and CEO of The Vessel Project of Louisiana, providing mutual aid and environmental justice services to vulnerable communities; Patricia Popple (she/her/hers) is driven by a deep desire to care for others, teach, learn, and use her problem-solving and leadership skills to improve conditions for all living things; Quinn Eide (they/them/theirs) is the Executive Director of Fossil Free California, an organization focused on divesting California’s two largest pensions, CalPERS and CalSTRS, from fossil fuels… “The 2024 Community Sentinel Awards Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, December 4, at the Westin Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA, and will be livestreamed for virtual attendees.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Hart Energy: Exclusive: Harold Hamm’s Top Oil, Gas Goals After Trump Victory
Chris Mathews, 11/11/24

“When Harold Hamm talks U.S. energy, President-elect Donald Trump listens. Hamm, the founder and executive chairman of privately-held Continental Resources, ran point on drumming up oil and gas industry support and funding for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign,” Hart Energy reports. “In an exclusive interview with Hart Energy, Hamm refused to take any credit for Trump’s election victory last week—but acknowledged the role he played in getting the U.S. energy industry to rally behind the former president… “Impediments put in place by the Biden administration to slow or halt oil and gas leasing activity on federal lands or in the Gulf of Mexico should be removed, Hamm told Hart… “The permitting process needs to be simplified and streamlined to build out pipelines, downstream facilities or even infrastructure like new housing, Hamm told Hart. “Permitting affects everything,” he told Hart. “You’ve got to turn that loose, and you just need some new people to do it.” “…But there are things Biden did that should probably stay in place, he told Hart. One might be tax subsidies for emerging technologies and infrastructure projects for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)… “I would be thinking that some of these [tax subsidies] would stay in place,” Hamm told Hart. While the U.S. should probably allow new tax subsidies for emerging CCUS technologies, it should review decades-old tax breaks for mature technologies like wind and solar, he argued. “If you’re going to start whacking subsidies, start there,” he told Hart.”

E&E News: Court rejects White House NEPA rulemaking power
Niina H. Farah, 11/12/24

“A divided federal appeals court has rejected the White House’s authority to issue rules for how agencies should comply with the National Environmental Policy Act,” E&E News reports. “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said Tuesday that the White House Council on Environmental Quality violated the separation of powers by instructing agencies how to comply with the landmark environmental law. The court’s ruling, upending long-standing understanding of the agency’s ability to issue NEPA rules, came as part of a legal challenge to a federal plan for regulating tourist flights over four national parks near San Francisco. The lawsuit did not question CEQ’s regulatory power. “This is a very big deal,” James Coleman, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, told E&E. “It will reset court precedents and allow infrastructure-friendly judges to more narrowly interpret NEPA requirements.”

E&E News: Trump considers ‘energy czar’ post
Robin Bravender, 11/12/24

“President-elect Donald Trump is considering appointing a White House “energy czar” to coordinate the incoming administration’s energy policies across the administration, according to two people with knowledge of the transition,” E&E News reports. “The role could be one of several policy “czars” in the White House under Trump, who has stressed that slashing energy regulations and boosting fossil fuel production are among his top priorities. It could also signal the incoming administration intends to centralize power in the White House as opposed to delegating policy work to departments. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Trump loyalist who was on the president-elect’s shortlist for vice president, is viewed as a possible energy czar, people with knowledge of the transition who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel decisions told E&E… “Burgum is also regularly mentioned as a leading candidate for Energy secretary under Trump, but he has previously downplayed his desire for a Cabinet role… “Some energy industry executives are advocating for Chris Wright, the chair and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, to land a key energy post in the new administration, one of the people familiar with the transition told E&E… “One other name in the mix for White House energy czar is David Bernhardt, who served as Interior secretary during the first Trump administration, the second person with knowledge of the transition told E&E.”

E&E News: Republicans ready to confirm Trump’s EPA nominee
Timothy Cama, Garrett Downs, 11/12/24

“President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead EPA is getting a warm reception among top Capitol Hill Republicans, while Democrats say the choice spells doom for clean air and water regulations,” E&E News reports. “Trump announced on Monday that Lee Zeldin — a former New York representative and one-time GOP gubernatorial candidate — would be his nominee for EPA administrator. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is expected to become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee in January and oversee Zeldin’s confirmation process, lauded the pick and said she would advance the nomination quickly in a statement to E&E… “Democrats are wary of the Zeldin pick, though he has been less opposed to climate and other environmental action compared with other Trump loyalists. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who also sits on EPW, wrote on X that Trump “has chosen to reward a 2020 election denier, whose only job will be to reward corporate polluters by gutting the EPA and making our air and water dirtier.” “…Rep. Jared Huffman of California, a top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, warned that the pick signals Trump’s EPA will focus heavily on slashing regulations that protect the environment. “It signals pretty clearly, and this is no surprise, that [Trump] regards this as an agency where regulations need to be slashed, as opposed to standards protected,” Huffman told E&E.

E&E News: Question Hangs Over Trump’s Return: How Much Biden Climate Money Is Safe? 
Jessie Blaeser, Kelsey Tamborrino, 11/12/24 

“President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power gives him a chance to fulfill his vow to gut the unspent funding in Democrats’ climate law,” E&E News reports. “The big mystery is how much money remains on the table. Federal agencies and departments have announced tentative awards for roughly two-thirds of the $145.4 billion appropriated to climate efforts by the Inflation Reduction Act, according to information tracked by the White House. But the Biden administration has provided no accounting of how much of that money it has formally committed, or obligated — a number that could be crucial for the coming GOP debate over how much of the law to repeal. EPA previously told E&E that it has obligated $33.5 billion, or 80 percent of its $42.1 billion in IRA appropriations, as of Oct. 22. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation obligated $1.1 billion from its $4.6 billion share of the climate law money, according to data that it posts online. But few other agencies have offered a comprehensive breakdown of the IRA dollars that might be secure from Trump’s promised efforts to claw them back.”

E&E News: Biden released methane fee imperiled by the Trump presidency 
Jean Chemnick, 11/12/24

“EPA finalized regulations Tuesday for a fee that oil and gas companies could begin paying on excess methane emissions next year — if Republicans don’t repeal it first,” E&E News reports. “The rule guides implementation of a levy created by the 2022 climate law and is the last important climate standard of the Biden administration. It was unveiled at an event on the sidelines of this year’s U.N. climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, shortly before a U.S.-China methane summit. EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who did not attend the global meeting, said in a statement that the rule is “the latest in a series of actions under President Biden’s methane strategy to improve efficiency in the oil and gas sector, support American jobs, protect clean air, and reinforce U.S. leadership on the global stage.” EPA estimated that the levy would keep 1.2 million metric tons of methane out of the atmosphere through 2035 and deliver “up to $2 billion” in climate benefits.

E&E News: BLM Advances Sage Grouse Regs That Could End Up In Trump Crosshairs 
Scott Streater, 11/8/24

“The Bureau of Land Management on Friday released a final proposed blueprint to save the greater sage grouse that would increase protections for the vulnerable Western bird and its dwindling sagebrush habitat, but maintains certain exemptions to allow for energy development and other activities.” E&E News reports. “The plan, detailed in a final environmental impact statement released Friday, includes substantial revisions from the draft plan unveiled in March, including adjusting the boundaries of ‘priority habitat management areas’ where the strongest regulatory measures are applied. Sage grouse populations have largely been in decline for most of the past decade. That’s largely due to the fact that the survival of the bird depends on the wide-open sagebrush plains that are increasingly threatened by climate change, wildfires and the spread of invasive plants. This can also put the bird — known for its memorable mating dances — in conflict with both oil and gas and renewable energy development, as those projects encroach on its habitat.”

The Hill: Podesta: US climate action will not stop despite Trump election
Rachel Frazin, 11/11/24

“White House climate adviser John Podesta on Monday sought to reassure the world that the U.S. would move forward on combating climate change despite the election of President-elect Trump, who has long cast doubt on the science behind the issue,” The Hill reports. “While the United States federal government under Donald Trump may put climate action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States with commitment and passion and belief,” Podesta said during a press conference at the COP 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.  “Here at COP 29 and moving forward, the private sector must continue to lead to make new and bigger investments in clean energy technologies to continue to innovate and build a net-zero economy, and we will continue to need subnational actors in the U.S. and globally to lead the way,” he added… “We have some important tax guidance that needs to be put out, particularly on the … technology-neutral production and investment tax credits for clean energy production, for clean hydrogen and a couple of other tax credits. So we’re finalizing those rules, and in the meantime, we’re also trying to work, as I said, with our state and local partners,” he said. 

E&E News: Trump may end Biden’s ‘green’ hydrogen dream
Brian Dabbs, 11/13/24

“President-elect Donald Trump’s victory is threatening to quash a major source of low-carbon energy before it gets off the ground: “green” hydrogen,” E&E News reports. “The industry, which wants to make hydrogen with renewable energy, is heavily backed by the Biden administration, the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Facing potentially less federal support under Trump, the sector could struggle to compete with natural gas and other cheaper, dirtier fuels. That would put billions of dollars in projects at risk, according to experts. “It is going to be much more difficult for green hydrogen to compete,” Mary Baker, a government affairs counselor at K&L Gates, which represents hydrogen companies, told E&E. “Across the board in the clean energy space, there is angst.” “…Regardless of the content of the Biden administration’s final rules, the Trump administration could trash them and create new ones that favor “blue hydrogen,” which involves linking fuel production with carbon capture… “Moreover, Trump is likely to trash EPA carbon rules that could force gas power plants to mix fuels with hydrogen and install carbon capture, and he’s all but certain to decide against new greenhouse gas emissions regulations for the industrial sector. That means demand for clean hydrogen could be hard to come by.”

The Daily Climate: Hydrogen hubs test new federal environmental justice rules
Kristina Marusic, Cami Ferrell, 11/12/24

“A massive push for hydrogen energy is one of the first test cases of new federal environmental justice initiatives. Communities and advocates so far give the feds a failing grade,” The Daily Climate reports. “On a rainy day in September, Veronica Coptis and her two children stood on the shore of the Monongahela River in a park near their home, watching a pair of barges laden with mountainous heaps of coal disappear around the riverbend. “I’m worried they’re not taking into account how much industrial traffic this river already sees, and how much the hydrogen hub is going to add to it,” Coptis told EHN… “Now, she sees a new fight on the horizon: The Appalachian Regional Hydrogen Hub, a vast network of infrastructure that will use primarily natural gas to create hydrogen for energy. Part of the new Appalachian hydrogen hub is expected to be built in La Belle, which is about a 30 minute drive north along the Monongahela River from her home. “I have a lot of concerns about how large that facility might be and what emissions could be like, and whether it’ll cause increased traffic on the river and the roads,” Coptis, who works as a senior advisor at the climate advocacy nonprofit Taproot Earth, told EHN. “I’m also worried that because this will be blue hydrogen it will increase demand for fracking, and I already live surrounded by fracking wells.” “…The promises DOE has made are just not being met, according to their own definitions of what environmental justice looks like,” Batoul Al-Sadi, a senior associate at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national environmental advocacy group that’s been pushing for increased transparency for the hydrogen hubs, told EHN… “Communities do not have the right to refuse the hydrogen hub projects if the burdens prove greater than the benefits. The DOE is failing to adhere to its own plans for community engagement, according to experts and advocates. “Right now the [federal environmental justice] regulations are in the best place they’ve ever been,” Stephen Schima, an expert on federal environmental regulations and senior legislative counsel at Earthjustice, told EHN. “Agencies have an opportunity to get this right…it’s just a matter of implementation, which is proving challenging so far.”

Environmental Health News: What’s hampering federal environmental justice efforts in the hydrogen hub build-out?
Kristina Marusic, Cami Ferrell, 11/12/24

“One Wednesday evening last May, Yukyan Lam stared into the camera on her computer, delivering carefully prepared remarks during a virtual listening session convened by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The goal of the event was for the federal agency to hear concerns and questions from communities that could be impacted by the Mid-Atlantic hydrogen hub, one part of a massive federal program working to establish a national hydrogen energy network,” Environmental Health News reports. “Lam, the director of research at The New School’s Tishman Environment & Design Center, had just three minutes to present research on a wide range of potential health impacts associated with carbon capture and storage and hydrogen energy deployment, including increased rates of respiratory issues, premature mortality, cardiovascular events, and negative birth outcomes. Later, after reading the DOE’s public summary of the event, she felt frustrated… “They’re moving these projects forward but they haven’t meaningfully engaged with communities yet.” Lam told EHN… “In 2023, the Biden administration passed historic federal policies directing 80 agencies to prioritize environmental justice in decision-making. The DOE pledged to lead by example with the seven new hydrogen hubs, but impacted communities across the country say that just isn’t happening. EHN spoke with more than 30 community members and dozens of organizations in the regions where the hydrogen hubs are planned. They told EHN details of the projects remain hazy, public input is only planned after industry partners have received millions of dollars in public funding, and communities feel that they have no say in the decision-making. Community members have also expressed concerns about the alleged climate benefits and potential pollution from the hubs. “This hydrogen hub is just one piece of this larger picture about the U.S.’s carbon management strategy,” Lam told EHN. “These technologies are risky, with a lot of potential to cause health harms in environmental justice communities, and they also don’t work particularly well … If they were a great climate solution we still wouldn’t be on board if it was unjust, but the fact is that carbon capture is not even a great climate solution.” “…I don’t think the president is aware that his environmental justice priorities are being ignored for the [Midwest hydrogen hub] proposal,” Chris Chyung, executive director of the environmental advocacy group Indiana Conservation Voters, told EHN.

Press release: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Releases National Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Research Strategy/
11/12/24

“Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is releasing a national strategy to advance research on the benefits, risks, and tradeoffs of marine carbon dioxide removal, an innovative technology that could help address the climate crisis. Marine carbon dioxide removal uses ocean processes to increase the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide the ocean takes up, but it requires additional research to determine if it is a safe and effective climate tool. “From wildfires and floods, to devastating heat waves in the ocean and record temperatures around the world, the impacts of climate change are devastating communities and ecosystems,” said OSTP Deputy Director for Climate and Environment Jane Lubchenco. “In addition to cutting our emissions substantially, new technologies like marine carbon dioxide removal could be another tool in our toolkit to fight the climate crisis, but those technologies require more research to know if they can be used safely and effectively. This strategy will foster innovation and promote research collaboration between the federal government, other sectors, and communities to better understand and evaluate if marine carbon dioxide removal works and can be done in a safe, responsible, and accountable manner.” This strategy responds to a key objective of the Ocean Climate Action Plan, and provides recommendations to guide federal research and clarify the regulatory process for researchers while engaging with community members through every step of the process.”

STATE UPDATES

Houston Chronicle: Texas oil companies await return of ‘drill, baby, drill’ era with Trump victory
James Osborne, 11/11/24

“When former President Donald Trump won election Tuesday night, Kirk Edwards, the 65-year-old owner of a small oil and gas company in West Texas, felt relief,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “For four years, Edwards told the Chronicle, he and his colleagues across Texas’ oil and gas fields have been in a near constant battle with the Biden administration about a slate of new regulations on issues ranging from methane emissions to the endangered prairie chicken. And with Trump set to return to the White House in January, they are looking forward to a return to the “drill, baby, drill” era of past Republican administrations. “Having someone that is a leader of our country talking about helping us, that’s a breath of fresh air right off the bat,” Edwards, the owner of Latigo Petroleum in Odessa, told the Chronicle. “Unlike when the Biden administration came in and immediately started trying to dismantle the industry.” “…Whether it was Democrats or Republicans there wasn’t going to be a seismic shift,”Joanne Salih, a Houston-based energy consultant with Oliver Wyman, told the Chronicle. “It’s become increasingly in the last few years clear that without a reliable energy supply (from oil and natural gas) you expose yourself quite substantially to price volatility. Trying to move through the transition too quickly creates a lot of problems that governments worldwide are now coming to realize.” Trump’s election threatens to derail international efforts to address climate change, at a time scientists are warning nations must immediately begin lowering greenhouse gas emissions if they are to avoid catastrophic impacts to the planet including deadly heat waves and inundated coastlines.”

Aspen Times: Town of Basalt, Pitkin County sign on to amicus brief ahead of Uinta Basin Railway Supreme Court case hearings
Regan Mertz, 11/12/24

“The town of Basalt and Pitkin County signed onto an amicus brief in October supporting Eagle County’s position urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the decision to overturn the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the Uinta Basin Railway project based on a flawed environmental review,” the Aspen Times reports. “Included in the brief were communities that would be affected by the railway, including Pitkin, Routt, Grand, and Boulder counties, the cities of Basalt, Avon, Minturn, Red Cliff, and Crested Butte, Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, and the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. It was filed by the Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. “The Colorado River is among the most critical natural resources in our state — and our most critical water source,” Weiser said in an Oct. 25 news release. “The risk to our state and others from shipping hundreds of thousands of oil barrels along the river daily is significant — from wildfires caused by rail track sparks and oil car leaks contaminating the river to, at worst, derailments, and spills. The risk of harm to our state and mountain communities and others affected by this rail line are simply too great to ignore.” The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway would connect the eastern Utah oil fields to Gulf Coast refineries via the national railroad network running through Colorado, according to previous reporting. Federal regulators say 90% of the resulting traffic would be routed east on the Union Pacific railroad through the Rocky Mountains and into Denver. Reporting went on to say that some of the state’s most scenic, fragile, and densely populated areas could soon be traversed by as many as five two-mile-long trains of tanker cars per day, hauling an average daily load of 315,000 barrels of Utah’s waxy crude oil. That would be more crude oil than was transported by rail across the entire U.S. in 2022, according to federal data — making the Colorado River Valley and parts of the Front Range the nation’s new oil-train superhighway.”

Denver Post: Colorado’s oil and gas industry says it’s reducing emissions at drilling sites by 95%. Environmentalists aren’t so sure.
Noelle Phillips, 11/11/24

“A new battle between Colorado air regulators and environmentalists is brewing along the Front Range over how effective pollution-control devices at oil and gas drilling sites are at eliminating methane emissions — and a company set to drill near the Aurora Reservoir is at the center of that dispute,” the Denver Post reports. “At issue are enclosed combustion devices, or flares, that burn off methane and volatile organic compounds released by drilling operations in Colorado, one of the first states where the industry has widely adopted the technology… “State regulators and oil and gas companies say those flares eliminate 95% of the harmful emissions produced by oil wells. But environmentalists aren’t so sure. There is little monitoring or testing to check the performance of those flares and it’s impossible to measure how effective they are, Jeremy Nichols, a senior advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that works on issues that affect plants, wildlife and people, told the Post.  “If that assumption is not actually reality, that’s a huge problem,” Nichols told the Post. “That means the so-called best rules on the books are just a facade.” The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in late September that asks an Adams County District Court judge to block two new air pollution permits that would authorize Crestone Peak Resources to operate two well pads in the county. The center’s lawyers argue that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Air Pollution Control Division allows oil and gas companies to claim their enclosed combustion devices eliminate 95% of harmful air pollutants without actually verifying the emissions coming from the flares.”

Oregon Capital Chronicle: Oregon geologist looks to volcanic rock to store carbon dioxide as tool to fight climate change
Alex Baumhardt, 11/12/24

“Layers of volcanic rock in eastern Oregon, the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Basin have created fertile soil for farming and ranching, but in the future it could provide fruitful ground for a whole other industry designed to fight climate change,” the Oregon Capital Chronicle reports. “Oregon’s state geologist is pitching a novel idea of using the region’s rocky basalt layer – born of lava that flowed millions of years ago from cracks in the Earth’s crust –  to be a bank for storing planet-warming carbon dioxide. Ruarri Day-Stirrat, state geologist and executive director of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, discussed the potential for geologic carbon sequestration at a State Land Board meeting in Salem last month, and will seek funding to begin investigating potential sites in eastern Oregon… “But places like Oregon, Washington and Iceland that have lots of volcanic rock are unique in their potential to store carbon deep underground… “There’s potential to store more than 14,000 megatons of carbon dioxide in the basalt beneath Oregon and Washington, according to a 2013 U.S. Geological Survey study… “Modeling from the En-ROADS simulator developed by the nonprofit Climate Interactive and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that direct carbon capture and storage is not the most effective way to spend money in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it would be far more effective in the next 75 years to spend money to decarbonize the energy sector and to tax polluters.” 

EXTRACTION

The Hill: World could cross red line for planetary warming by decade’s end, study finds
Saul Elbein, 11/12/24

“The release of planet-heating chemicals into the atmosphere is set to hit a record high in 2024 — with “no sign” of a peak in sight, a new study has found,” The Hill reports. “This year, fires and smokestacks around the world will have released a billion tons more carbon dioxide than the already-record levels in 2023, according to projections by the Global Carbon Budget in the journal Earth System Science Data. Those emissions will drive further heating and extreme weather for decades or centuries to come, magnifying the effects already seen in today’s worsening heat waves, flash droughts and hurricanes. And they are on track to rise further in 2025, the global team of 120 researchers found in their paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. At current rates of emissions, that means the world has a coin-toss chance of being consistently above 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the decade, the study found — a level scientific consensus holds as a red line above which more dangerous impacts of climate change will begin to be felt… “The fossil fuel industry has for the past decade touted its ability to use carbon reduction and carbon capture tools to reduce — and ultimately reverse — the implacable rise in temperatures.  The researchers found, however, that the carbon captured or reduced by such projects accounts for just one-millionth (0.0001 percent) of the chemicals released by the burning of fossil fuels.”

Rigzone: Climate Loss and Damage Fund Set to Launch into Action Next Year
Jov Onsat, 11/13/24

“Agreements have been signed to pave the way for a United Nations-backed fund for the most climate-vulnerable countries to start project financing in 2025, COP29 host Azerbaijan said Tuesday,” Rigzone reports. “The “loss and damage” fund’s board signed a Trustee Agreement and a Secretariat Hosting Agreement with the World Bank and a Host Country Agreement with the Philippines at a ceremony in Baku. At the ceremony, part of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP), Sweden also pledged about $19 million, subject to approval by the Swedish government. This raised commitments to over $720 million, according to a statement on the COP29 website. France and Italy lead commitments at about $112 million each, followed by Germany and the United Arab Emirates at $100 million each, according to online data from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the COP convenor… “The signing of the agreements “will allow us to finally turn pledges into real support”, said COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, the Eurasian country’s minister of ecology and natural resources. “That means that funding will be able to flow in 2025”. “It means houses being rebuilt, people being resettled, and lives and livelihoods saved”, Babayev added. Countries reached the agreement to establish the fund at COP27 in 2022 in Egypt. The text of the decision put needed global investments for the transition to a low-carbon economy at $4 trillion to $6 trillion per year.”

New York Times: Exxon Chief to Trump: Don’t Withdraw From Paris Climate Deal
Rebecca F. Elliott, 11/12/24

“Darren Woods, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, cautioned President-elect Donald J. Trump against withdrawing from the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions, saying Mr. Trump risked leaving a void at the negotiating table,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Woods, speaking at an annual U.N. climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, described climate negotiations as opportunities for Mr. Trump to pursue common-sense policymaking. “We need a global system for managing global emissions,” Mr. Woods said in an interview with The New York Times in Baku. “Trump and his administrations have talked about coming back into government and bringing common sense back into government. I think he could take the same approach in this space.” Mr. Woods also urged government officials to create incentives for companies to transition to cleaner forms of energy in a profitable way. “The government role is extremely important and one that they haven’t been successfully fulfilling, quite frankly,” he said. Mr. Woods’s presence in a stadium teeming with diplomats is all the more noteworthy because of who is not here in Azerbaijan, a petrostate on the Caspian Sea that was once part of the Soviet Union. Many heads of state, including President Biden, have taken a pass, as have the leaders of several big oil companies like Shell and Chevron. Hanging over this year’s negotiations is the election of Mr. Trump, who has falsely called global warming a hoax, encouraged oil companies to “drill, baby, drill” and vowed to withdraw from the Paris climate treaty — again. Mr. Woods, who supports the climate accord, warned that pulling out would “leave a void with respect to what the Trump administration could bring to this process.”

Washington Post: Greta Thunberg calls COP29 climate summit ‘beyond absurd’
11/12/24

“More than 100 world leaders are traveling to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the U.N. Climate Change Conference — even as scores are skipping the annual talks, known this year as COP29,” the Washington Post reports. “Swedish activist Greta Thunberg chose to skip the conference: Speaking Monday at a protest in Tbilisi, Georgia, she called the summit’s host Azerbaijan “an authoritarian petrostate,” and added that the choice of location was “beyond absurd.”

Axios: Trump’s return motivating some countries at UN climate summit
Andrew Freedman, 11/12/24

“President-elect Trump’s shadow looms large at the UN global climate summit that began Monday — but his second term seems to be more motivating than dispiriting for some countries,” Axios reports. “Trump’s reelection raises the stakes for the gathering, known as COP29, at which leaders must come up with funding that would help developing countries adapt to climate impacts and shift their economies to cleaner energy. The U.K., under new Prime Minister Keir Starmer, unveiled its new plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 81% below 1990 levels through 2035, which goes further than its previous commitment… “On day one of the talks, negotiators gaveled through an agreement on how carbon markets would function, allowing money to flow between companies and countries investing in carbon offsets. Civil society groups have panned this idea. They view the offsets, which could include carbon removal projects, as rife with “greenwashing” opportunities… “There are calls for as much as $1 trillion in overall climate finance, though that may be out of reach at COP29… “What we’re watching: How negotiations progress given the thorny topic of money, and if there are any other countries that come forward with emissions pledges for the post-2030 period.”

Reuters: US dependence on Canada’s oil should deter Trump tariffs, industry says
Nia Williams, 11/12/24

“Canada’s energy industry does not expect U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s broad plans for protectionist trade measures will include tariffs on Canadian oil imports, because many U.S. refineries rely on barrels from north of the border,” Reuters reports. “…However, some told Reuters any increase in U.S. oil and gas production could raise competition for Canadian exports to other parts of the world… “Trump has floated the idea of a 10% or more tariff on all goods imported into the U.S. Most industry analysts told Reuters that is unlikely to include Canadian oil, which cannot be easily replaced since it differs from grades that the U.S. produces. “If you were to slap on a bunch of tariffs for Canadian oil, it’s not like there’s an alternative readily available,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Jeremy McCrea told Reuters… “The chances of Trump imposing tariffs on Canadian barrels are extremely slim, Commodity Context analyst Rory Johnsto told Reuters,  but any trade measures would also hurt Canadian producers because they have few options to export elsewhere… “Canadian oil industry players told Reuters while the idea of tariffs is concerning, they also saw the potential for fewer regulations around oil and gas to rub off on Canadian policymakers. “This is a pro-development and pro-build president, and that will extend into Canada as well, some of that investment,” Tristan Goodman, CEO of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, told Reuters.

DeSmog: Revealed: Big Oil Told 70 Years Ago That Fossil Fuel Emissions Could Impact ‘Civilization’
Rebecca John, 11/12/24

“The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), one of the most powerful oil lobbies in the United States, played a central role in concealing the fossil fuel industry’s impact on both smog and climate change,” DeSmog reports. “April 6, 1955, was a perfect spring day in Los Angeles. Downtown, the skies were unusually smog-free as Lauren B. Hitchcock, president of the Air Pollution Foundation, made his way up the marble steps of the city’s exclusive California Club for a meeting with some of the West Coast’s most powerful businessmen… “Several weeks earlier, the foundation had also published a report containing the bombshell warning that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels could have considerable long-term consequences for “civilization.” Displeased, WSPA’s senior leaders summoned Hitchcock to the California Club where they reprimanded him, spelling out in no uncertain terms exactly what they expected in return for their hefty financial contributions. Over lunch, WSPA’s oilmen criticized Hitchcock for supporting pollution controls across California, for drawing “attention” to refinery pollution, and for conducting “too broad a program” of research. Instead, they told him they had formed the Air Pollution Foundation to be “protective,” that Hitchcock should serve as “the research director for the oil industry” and the foundation should publish “findings which would be accepted as unbiased” where the oil industry’s findings were not seen as trustworthy. This frank exchange, reported in detail by Hitchcock in a never-before-seen memo, unmasks the strategic motivations behind Big Oil’s sponsorship of air pollution research. Alongside dozens of other newly obtained documents, the memo shows that 1950s L.A. was ground zero for a tactic that has since become a key element of the oil industry’s PR playbook: funding a third-party community front group to sponsor and publicize research aimed at downplaying or denying the harmful impacts of burning fossil fuels.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Houston Chronicle: Oil and gas companies struggle with rising insurance costs, coverage issues
Mella McEwen, 11/4/24

“Oil and natural gas companies are facing several issues as they seek insurance coverage,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “… Ryan Edgmon, managing director of the energy division at Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services, first cited to the Chronicle the rising cost of auto insurance for oilfield fleets. The industry has seen claim settlements soar from $50,000 10 or 15 years ago to $500,000 to $1 million today. But the biggest pressing issue for oilfield companies is umbrella coverage, policies that Edgmon explained sit over auto, general liability and workers’ compensation coverage. “A service contractor in the field working for a major operator is required now to carry $10 million in umbrella coverage. Five or 10 years ago, the operator required $5 to $10 million,” he told the Chronicle. Service contracts are faced with not only increases in umbrella policy premiums, but decreased capacity in obtaining coverage. He told the Chronicle he had a large client carrying a $25 million umbrella policy now pays $1.85 million a year, up from $480,000 several years earlier, and it took four carriers to provide that $25 million. Companies working in the completions sector may have difficulty finding carriers with an appetite for insuring them, he told the Chronicle.” 

OPINION

Dallas Morning News: Texas is shooting itself in the foot in its anti-ESG crusade 
Sarah Stogner is an oil and gas attorney. She was recently elected district attorney for Loving, Reeves and Ward counties, 11/12/24

“…These industry players are a powerful force in Texas politics,” Sarah Stogner writes for the Dallas Morning News. “Under the pretense of saving the oil industry, some Texas lawmakers have zeroed in on financial firms that they don’t consider friendly enough to the industry. These firms are charged with considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in their investment decisions, which might mean they don’t prioritize certain poorer-performing wells. If a firm seems too friendly to the environment, the Texas Comptroller can put them on a blacklist, banning them from doing any business with state and local governments. If they acknowledge the potential financial impact of climate change, state pension funds and even county governments issuing bonds can be barred from working with them. For a state that touts being “good for business,” Texas is sacrificing its reputation by using the heavy hand of government to force investment into oil wells owned by a group with lots of political influence: the owners of the least-producing, highest-polluting oil wells… “Texas lawmakers are actually undermining the industry’s efforts to remain competitive by forcing Texas pension holders to underwrite the worst-polluting wells.”

Chicago Sun-Times: Memo to Trump: Clean energy is a hit in red states too
Ben Jealous is executive director of the Sierra Club and a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania, 11/12/24

“More jobs. Better jobs. Lower energy prices. Cleaner water. Cleaner air. Fewer asthma attacks. Fewer heart attacks. Those are just a few of the benefits working people and communities across this country are reaping from the transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy. Sure, it is also about saving the planet, which most of us can agree is a good thing. But the economic and health benefits for millions of American families are very real as well,” Ben Jealous writes for the Chicago Sun-Times. “Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda have threatened to upend the clean energy transition and move us backward. He has shown us he is more interested in lining the pockets of fossil fuel oligarchs than helping everyday Americans. But we will not go backward. That is due in part to market forces that are not going anywhere. And it is due to the resistance that strong leaders and a strong justice movement will wage in defense of the American people. In Illinois, more than 130,000 people are now employed in clean energy jobs… “In addition to good jobs and the rebirth of American manufacturing, another major real-life benefit of the clean energy transition is improved health outcomes. Ditching fossil fuels saves lives… “Make no mistake, Trump has made big promises to the fossil fuel industry. He is a climate denier. And it is not unwarranted to be worried about what his next presidency will mean for the clean energy boom. But the clean energy transition is already happening and some bumps in the road will not stop it… “And it is because of those of us dedicated to combating the climate crisis and protecting communities. We are going to redouble our efforts, grow our movement, and help people understand what speeding up the clean energy transition means for their pocketbooks and their health.”