EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 11/3/25

PIPELINE NEWS

• E&E News: FERC faces lawsuit over Northeast pipeline reboot

• Reuters: BP to sell stakes in US onshore pipeline assets for $1.5 billion

• Associated Press: Carbon capture pipelines have struggled to advance. A project in Nebraska found success

• Wisconsin Examiner: Environmental groups react to Army Corps approving Line 5 permits

• Staten Island Advance: New York said this pipeline would contaminate Staten Island waters. Now it’s back for a 4th try; will the state approve it this time?

• Chron: Newest pipeline to connect Texas supply to Louisiana over 155 miles

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Appeals court upholds $1.8 million penalty against pipeline company

• The Tyee: Why Fracking Firms Should Pay for a $100-Million Water Pipeline

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Politico: White House removes Atlantic from oil lease consideration after political backlash

• E&E News: DOE announces $100M to refurbish coal plants

• Latitude Media: DOE’s second ‘Energy Dominance’ loan was reworked to embrace coal

• E&E News: Trump says China expressed interest in buying Alaska natural gas

• Los Alamos Daily Post: Heinrich Emphasizes Need To Safeguard National Historic Preservation Act To Protect America’s Public Lands, Improve Permitting Processes

• E&E News: Greens slam EPA permitting change

• E&E News: Conservative groups rebuff Whitehouse climate probe

• Pro Publica: The EPA Let Companies Estimate Their Own Pollution Levels. We Discovered Real Emissions Are Far Worse.

• E&E News: FERC gives Louisiana gas export project 4-year extension

• E&E News: Inside EPA’s hunt for employees who signed the dissent letter

STATE UPDATES

• E&E News: Judge scolds Oregon lawyer for ‘gobsmacking failure’ in climate lawsuit

• WHYY: Pa. attorney general files criminal charge against fracking company

• Indiana Capital Chronicle: Wabash Valley Resources nabs $1.6B DOE loan for contentious carbon sequestration fertilizer project

• Lookout Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz County officials reviving a statewide coalition to block Trump’s offshore oil drilling plans

• WyoFile: Can BLM ignore land-use plans and lease off-limits ‘Golden Triangle’ habitat for drilling?

• Source NM: NM lawmakers voice concerns over data center Project Jupiter

• Source NM: Republican lawmakers say conservation tax revenue, not industry, should pay for well cleanup

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa AG accuses some small refineries of ‘manipulating’ renewable fuel exemptions

• Carbon Herald: ADM Teams Up with Super6 Carbon To Monetise Carbon Removal At Decatur Site

• Inside Climate News: CSX Train Derailment in Virginia Puts Chickahominy River at Risk

EXTRACTION

• CNBC: Exxon in advanced talks to power AI data centers with natural gas and carbon capture

• E&E News: The AI bubble may pop. Will electricity customers pay?

• Heatmap: Who Will Pay for Data Centers’ Energy? Not You, Utilities Say.

• Heatmap: In the Long Run, Trump Might Not Mean Much for the Climate’s Trajectory

• Globe and Mail: Insufficient disclosure obscuring billions in Alberta oil sands liabilities, advocates say

• CBC: Researchers, hunters study how oilsands noise might impact moose hunting

• Reuters: US Gulf producer LLOG Exploration explores sale at $3 billion valuation, sources say

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Financial Times: State Street withdraws US money manager from global climate group

OPINION

• North Platte Bulletin: Madrid ethanol plant connects to carbon dioxide pipeline

• Green Left: Carbon capture and storage is a dead horse
  

PIPELINE NEWS

E&E News: FERC faces lawsuit over Northeast pipeline reboot
Niina H. Farah, 11/3/25

“Advocacy groups are taking federal energy regulators to court over the resurrection of a canceled gas pipeline expansion in the Northeast,” E&E News reports. “In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Washington, Central Jersey Safe Energy Coalition, the Natural Resource Defense Council and others claim the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission improperly reissued a certificate for the pipeline in September — after developers last year informed FERC that it could not meet a deadline to put the project in service. “FERC has zero legal authority to resurrect this dead and abandoned project,” said Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney at NRDC, in a statement after the groups filed their case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit… “Transco had asked FERC to expedite reissuance of the certificate this spring, citing President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at speeding up fossil fuel projects.”

Reuters: BP to sell stakes in US onshore pipeline assets for $1.5 billion
Shashwat Awasthi, Shadia Nasralla, 11/3/25

“BP agreed to sell minority stakes in some of its U.S. onshore pipeline assets in the Permian and Eagle Ford basins to investment firm Sixth Street for $1.5 billion, it said on Monday,” Reuters reports. “The sale is part of a $20 billion divestment programme aimed at bringing debt levels down that the group is running to end-2027, and comes as BP reviews its oil and gas portfolio and cuts costs… “Once the sale is completed, BP’s U.S. onshore oil and gas business, bpx energy, will hold a 51% stake in the Permian assets and 25% in the Eagle Ford assets.”

Associated Press: Carbon capture pipelines have struggled to advance. A project in Nebraska found success
Jack Dura, 11/3/25

“A multi-state carbon capture pipeline began operating in September, reducing emissions from Midwest ethanol plants and carrying that carbon dioxide gas to be forever buried underground in Wyoming — an achievement after years of complaints, lawsuits and legislation blocked similar efforts by other companies,” the Associated Press reports. “…The reason: community negotiations and financial support. “I wish all energy companies would treat communities with a lot more respect like Tallgrass did,” Jane Kleeb, whose group Bold Nebraska has fought other carbon capture and oil pipelines, told AP… “Tallgrass had one big advantage at the starting point — it converted an existing natural gas line… “But Tallgrass also took pains to engage with communities along its route. The company worked with people to get its project done “instead of trying to push it down our throat,” Lee Hogan, chairman of the Adams County commission in Nebraska, whose home is a half-mile from the pipeline, told AP. It helped that Tallgrass worked with Bold Nebraska, a citizens group, to create a community investment fund that will make annual payments to organizations related to early childhood development, Medicaid-eligible senior care and food pantries… “While lauding Tallgrass’ cooperative approach, Jack Andreasen Cavanaugh, who studies energy policy at Columbia University, told AP it may be hard to replicate the experience since few if any natural gas pipelines will be available for retrofitting, given increases in supply and demand for natural gas domestically and abroad.”

Wisconsin Examiner: Environmental groups react to Army Corps approving Line 5 permits
Isiah Holmes, 10/30/25

“Environmental groups are blasting what some are calling a “premature and unlawful decision” by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to approve federal permits for the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline project in northern Wisconsin,” the Wisconsin Examiner reports. “The permits have been issued despite an ongoing court challenge to state-level permits and before Wisconsin’s water quality certification for the project has been finalized. “This is a clear violation of the Clean Water Act,” Rob Lee, staff attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates, told the Examiner. “It appears the Army Corps is fast-tracking a fossil fuel project at the expense of environmental protection and legal due process.” “…Federal law is clear,” Lee told the Examiner. “The Army Corps can’t approve this project without final water quality certification from the relevant state authority. The DNR’s certification is still being challenged in court, which means it’s not legally final — and that makes this permit premature and unlawful.” Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin told the Examiner that the group was “horrified that the Army Corps is willing to condone an extremely dangerous project that will irreparably destroy the integrity of the watershed.” Conmiller added that “the damage, not to mention the long term risks associated with the pipeline itself, must be considered before any such project would be granted permits to proceed.”

Staten Island Advance: New York said this pipeline would contaminate Staten Island waters. Now it’s back for a 4th try; will the state approve it this time?
Jillian Delaney, 11/2/25

“The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline is seeking state approval for a certificate that has been denied three times in the past,” the Staten Island Advance reports. “…The pipeline failed in 2018, 2019 and 2020 to achieve the Clean Water Act’s Section 401 Water Quality Certification — a legal necessity for the project to move forward. At that time, state environmental agencies that are responsible for the approval were managed by the administration of then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was strongly opposed to the pipeline. Cuomo said in a recent conversation with the Advance/SILive.com that he had fought the project for a decade. Now, advocates who hope to kill the project have coalesced around a similar rallying cry: they say that nothing about the project has changed, and that it should fail approval again… “The concern is that should the pipeline be approved, the pipe itself would have to be embedded underneath the settled seabed: stirring up decades worth of contaminated sand and other materials that have since laid dormant… “Public Citizen filed a protest against the NESE pipeline in the Federal Energy Commission’s docket in late June. “There is nothing conclusive that demonstrates that these things are going to lower energy prices.”

Chron: Newest pipeline to connect Texas supply to Louisiana over 155 miles
Timothy Malcolm, 11/2/25

“Another new pipeline is in the works for southeast Texas, and the energy delivery company behind it is ready to find bidders to fill it up,” Chron reports. “Gulf South Pipeline Company LLC, which is a subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipelines, announced on Thursday a “binding open season” for its Texas Gateway Project that aims to connect natural gas at two hubs in Texas to a hub in southwest Louisiana… “A similar open binding season is underway with the Western Gateway Pipeline, a major project from Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan that aims to connect refined products in Texas to markets in Arizona, California and even Nevada… “Earlier in October, ARM Energy and partner Pacific Investment Management Company unveiled its new Gulf Coast pipeline called the Mustang Express, which aims to connect Bay City to the Katy area and then to Port Arthur at $2.3 billion. Kinder Morgan also has its hands in the 216-mile Trident Intrastate Pipeline that aims to connect Katy to Port Arthur, and Whitewater Midstream is working on the 450-mile Eiger Express, connecting Katy to the gas-rich Permian Basin.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Appeals court upholds $1.8 million penalty against pipeline company
Clark Kauffman, 10/31/25

“The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld a $1.8 million civil penalty against a company that for almost 21 years failed to obtain the required permits for 750 miles of hazardous-liquid pipelines in Iowa,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Enterprise Products Operating had appealed a district court’s ruling that affirmed a decision by the Iowa Utilities Commission to fine the company $1.8 million for nine separate violations of a law requiring permits for interstate hazardous-liquid pipelines and underground storage facilities. In its appeal, Enterprise argued the commission and the district court erred in deciding that Enterprise’s pipeline system required nine permits, rather than one, and had therefore committed nine violations of the law rather than one. The company also claimed the commission lacked the authority to impose a civil penalty of more than $200,000 because the nine violations were each part of a “related series of violations” as defined by state law. The appeals court ruled it could not consider Enterprise’s first claim because it did not preserve error by arguing that point when the case was before the commission and then the district court. The appeals court also found that the commission correctly interpreted the legal cap on penalties.”

The Tyee: Why Fracking Firms Should Pay for a $100-Million Water Pipeline
Ben Parfitt, 11/3/25

“The projected cost of a $100-million water pipeline stretching more than 50 kilometres from the Peace River to drought-stressed Dawson Creek is nearly five times greater than what the city received in property tax revenue last year. But the city says the costly pipeline is urgently necessary,” The Tyee reports. “Water levels on the nearby Kiskatinaw River, Dawson Creek’s only source of drinking water, have fallen to points never before recorded. Even with the city instituting water restrictions and residents and businesses reducing consumption, the city has been forced to declare a state of emergency. The declaration opens the door for provincial funding of a stopgap measure: the laying of thick, industrial-grade hoses and pumps that could carry water from the Peace to the drought-stressed city. But the proposed long-term fix — that buried, large-diameter, $100-million pipeline — brings a bigger question: Why should city taxpayers foot the bill, when the biggest user of that water will likely be oil and gas companies? In a proposal submitted to B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office, Dawson Creek says the proposed pipeline would convey 10 million cubic metres of water per year, an amount three times greater than what the city uses. Two-thirds of that water could then be sold, generating revenues that would pay for the project. The biggest likely buyers are oil and gas companies that have water challenges of their own as they ramp up fracking operations that now consume on average nearly 10 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of water at each fracked well. That’s 20 per cent more water per well than just four years ago. And that’s before fracking operators, who pump massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals underground to liberate gas and oil, increase operations to supply a massive methane gas processing and export facility in Kitimat… “If it chose to, the provincial government could use the Dawson Creek proposal as a catalyst to say that the fracking industry as a whole must refrain from using water from small, vulnerable water courses and instead take all its water from the Peace River and its three giant reservoirs.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Politico: White House removes Atlantic from oil lease consideration after political backlash
Ben Lefebvre, 10/31/25

“The Interior Department has removed the federal waters off the Atlantic coast from President Donald Trump’s upcoming offshore drilling plan after Republicans in the region pressed to keep oil and natural gas rigs away from their shores, three people familiar with the latest moves told Politico. The five-year leasing plan, aimed at reopening areas long closed to drilling, will still seek to allow rigs off the California coast, the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations, told Politico. That could create a conflict with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is trying to raise his national political profile in a state that opposes offshore drilling but also has some of the highest gasoline prices in the country. The plan’s latest iteration will also include a portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico but provide a buffer around Florida, a Republican stronghold where politicians from both parties have long opposed drilling, these people told Politico. It’s unclear whether the buffer would be large enough to avoid fierce objections from Floridians, who have battled against similar proposals in past decades because of fears that an oil spill would devastate their tourism economy.”

E&E News: DOE announces $100M to refurbish coal plants
Brian Dabbs, 11/3/25

“The Department of Energy on Friday unveiled $100 million in grants to modernize U.S. coal plants,” E&E News reports. “The funding opportunity is available for plant operators to develop and implement wastewater systems and install retrofits that allow the plants to run on natural gas. It’s also available for “advanced coal-natural gas co-firing systems and system components,” DOE said in a press release… “President Trump has ended the war on American coal and is restoring common sense energy policies that put Americans first,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “These projects will help keep America’s coal plants operating and ensure the United States has the reliable and affordable power it needs to keep the lights on and power our future.”

Latitude Media: DOE’s second ‘Energy Dominance’ loan was reworked to embrace coal
Maeve Allsup, 10/30/25

“On Tuesday, the Department of Energy issued draft rules for its new “Energy Dominance Financing Program,” and established that the Loan Programs Office will stop requiring emissions curtailment and community outreach efforts for projects seeking loans,” Latitude Media reports. “…And the now-final $1.5 billion loan guarantee to Wabash Valley Resources, which was conditionally committed by the Biden administration in September 2024, now has a distinctly Trumpian twist: The fertilizer production project will now use coal from a nearby mine as feedstock… “The project, in West Terre Haute, Indiana, was originally designed to produce low-carbon ammonia fertilizer by bringing an industrial gasifier — a machine used to convert solid materials into gas — back online. When the conditional commitment was first announced, it was framed as “the world’s first, carbon-negative ammonia production facility.” At the time, WVR said it intended to use petcoke (a waste product from the oil refining process) as feedstock, while permanently storing carbon dioxide. But finalizing the loan required adjusting to the priorities of the new administration, Pete Simmons, WVR’s VP of Government Relations, told Latitude. “The Trump administration asked us to use a feedstock blend that uses coal to support the administration’s Energy Dominance strategy,” Simmons told Latitude. Yesterday’s loan closing announcement also did not include mention of carbon dioxide capture or sequestration… “It does send a strong and direct signal to the administration that the office, and projects in some of these sectors that we can see eye to eye on, do seem to have common bipartisan support,” Winslow told Latitude. “Folks want to see projects move and jobs in those districts and states.”

E&E News: Trump says China expressed interest in buying Alaska natural gas
James Bikales, 10/31/25

“Beijing has expressed interest in purchasing natural gas from a proposed export facility in Alaska, President Donald Trump said Thursday after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping,” E&E News reports. “China has “agreed that they will begin the process of purchasing American Energy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social following the bilateral meeting in South Korea. “In fact, a very large scale transaction may take place concerning the purchase of Oil and Gas from the Great State of Alaska.” Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will continue the negotiations “to see if such an Energy Deal can be worked out,” Trump added. Chinese investment in the proposed Alaska gas development could help bring to fruition a $44 billion project that has barely progressed since it was first pitched more than a decade ago. The project’s backers have struggled to sign the long-term supply contracts needed to start building the export plant they’ve planned for the state’s south coast and the pipeline required to bring it gas from Alaska’s North Slope.”

Los Alamos Daily Post: Heinrich Emphasizes Need To Safeguard National Historic Preservation Act To Protect America’s Public Lands, Improve Permitting Processes
Carol A. Clark, 10/30/25

“In his opening statement at a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the National Historic Preservation Act, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the Committee’s Ranking Member, emphasized the importance of protecting America’s public lands by preserving opportunities for communities to have a voice in permitting decisions,” the Los Alamos Daily Post reports. “He also called for improvements to the permitting process, but stressed that meaningful progress is impossible while the Administration continues to eliminate the very staff responsible for reviewing and approving permits. “The National Historic Preservation Act says something very simple: before we build something, we should know if there’s an important piece of our nation’s history or culture in the area that we’re planning to build. Sometimes damage can’t be avoided, and sometimes the project being built is important enough that damage to a historic resource is a trade-off that we choose to make,” Heinrich said. “The NHPA allows for that. But, we should at least check, before we do irreversible damage to our national heritage.” “There is no perfect law on the books, and we should always look for ways to make processes like section 106 consultation more efficient and more effective,” Heinrich noted. “I’m confident we can do that while also protecting the places, even the stories that have forged our national heritage. I’m equally confident we can’t do any of this without staff at the agencies that process permits for projects on federal lands.”

E&E News: Greens slam EPA permitting change
Sean Reilly, 10/31/25

“A recent relaxation of EPA’s Clean Air Act permitting policy is illegal and businesses that seek to take advantage of it could end up in court, three environmental groups told agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in a letter Thursday,” E&E News reports. “Under the new policy, unveiled early last month, companies can begin construction on new plants before actually getting a New Source Review permit as long as the work doesn’t extend to ‘emissions units’ that produce air pollution. Zeldin had previously said the change was needed to speed construction of both new data centers and power plants to supply them with electricity. In Thursday’s letter, however, Earthjustice and the other two groups said that EPA’s new approach “would violate the law and threaten the health of millions of people.” “The [Clean Air] Act expressly requires industries to obtain clean air permits before starting construction to assure that the plant can and will comply with clean air requirements and that impacts and alternatives are fully considered,” the groups added. The law also allows citizen lawsuits against any company that ‘proposes to construct’ a new facility without a permit, they wrote. EPA press aides had no immediate comment Thursday afternoon. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club also signed the letter.”

E&E News: Conservative groups rebuff Whitehouse climate probe
Amelia Davidson, 10/31/25

“A push by Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse to uncover who is influencing Trump administration climate policy is yielding swift — and personal — pushback from conservative groups,” E&E News reports. “Whitehouse requested last month that various companies and advocacy groups hand over troves of internal documents that could potentially link them to EPA’s plan to overturn the so-called endangerment finding, which underpins over 15 years of climate regulations. His probe targeted oil companies like Shell, BP and Chevron, as well as conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Heartland Institute. In total, 24 groups and companies received requests from the Rhode Island Democrat for documents. At least three of the conservative organizations have pushed back, slamming Whitehouse for what they perceived as an overreach of his authority and an unfair characterization of their influence on EPA policies.”

Pro Publica: The EPA Let Companies Estimate Their Own Pollution Levels. We Discovered Real Emissions Are Far Worse.
Lisa Song, 10/30/25

“For decades, noxious, cancer-causing gases poured from some of the nation’s largest industrial polluters, seeping invisibly from cracks in antiquated pipes or billowing out of smokestacks in plumes that choked the communities nearby. And for decades, the Environmental Protection Agency tracked those emissions not by monitoring the air but by relying on a kind of honor system. Companies were allowed to estimate their chemical pollution using methods that even the EPA conceded were often unreliable,” Pro Publica reports. “In 2023, the EPA received irrefutable proof that these estimates were highly flawed. The agency had required 20 industrial facilities to temporarily install air monitors around their perimeters — known as fence-line monitoring — to see how bad the pollution actually was. The results, compiled now for the first time by ProPublica, were shocking. In virtually every case, the actual emissions were higher — often much higher — than the estimates, ProPublica found. At one steel industry plant near Pittsburgh, a potent carcinogen was found at levels more than 30 times higher than estimated. In Louisiana, a chemical facility recorded levels of another toxic chemical that were 156 times higher.. “In fact, among the 20 plants that were forced to conduct temporary monitoring, half would have violated these standards, ProPublica found. Then, shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, his administration announced it was putting a halt to the effort. Not only was Trump’s EPA going to reconsider the new requirements — the first step in rolling them back — but companies in the meantime could apply for two-year exemptions allowing them to evade the rules altogether. In a matter of weeks, regulations that took years to enact had been sidestepped in favor of keeping the status quo.”

E&E News: FERC gives Louisiana gas export project 4-year extension
Carlos Anchondo, 10/31/25

“Developers of a natural gas export terminal planned in southwestern Louisiana now have four additional years to finish construction and place the project in service,” E&E News reports. “In a decision Tuesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted a time extension request for the Commonwealth LNG project — moving the deadline to complete the facility from November 2027 to the end of 2031. “Based on the facts presented in the request and the case record, Commonwealth is granted an extension of time,” said Olubukola Pope, a branch chief in FERC’s Office of Energy Projects. Commonwealth asked for the extra time earlier this month, saying that despite the company’s efforts, “development of the Project has been delayed due to extenuating circumstances outside of Commonwealth’s control.” In its letter, a lawyer for Commonwealth cited the 2024 remand of FERC’s authorization order and its “unprecedented, historic delay” in securing a license from the Department of Energy to export to countries that lack a free trade agreement with the U.S.”

E&E News: Inside EPA’s hunt for employees who signed the dissent letter
Kevin Bogardus, 10/30/25

“EPA was rocked this summer when dozens of employees signed an open letter blasting the Trump administration’s disregard for science and agency staff. Then came the probe: Senior political appointees and career officials went to work to find and later punish critics in EPA’s ranks,” E&E News reports. “Emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act shed light on the internal investigation that began within hours of the EPA “Declaration of Dissent” going public on June 30. In the following days, the administration sifted through names of those who had signed the letter, shared legal advice and responded by placing close to 150 employees on administrative leave while their computers and email accounts were searched. By summer’s end, most were suspended without pay while some were fired. The effort was designed to silence further dissent at the agency, EPA employees granted anonymity because they fear retaliation told E&E… “Stand Up for Science, the nonprofit group that helped organize the dissent letter, would take down from the internet the attached names. But the agency was not deterred in finding the signers. Krysti Wells, another senior mission support official, said in a July 3 email there is “a site called Wayback Machine where you can look up archived websites.” “We looked up the site and recovered the names on the site as of this morning (and downloaded the site into the attached PDF),” she said. Molina responded, “Well done.” “Glass is always half full,” Wooden-Aguilar replied.”

STATE UPDATES

E&E News: Judge scolds Oregon lawyer for ‘gobsmacking failure’ in climate lawsuit
Lesley Clark, 10/31/25

“A judge rejected Chevron’s efforts to remove scientific studies from an Oregon County’s $51 billion lawsuit over climate change, but not without chastising one of the county’s lawyers for behavior “so completely out of bounds it almost defies belief,” E&E News reports. “The oil and gas giant last month accused Multnomah County’s lead counsel of failing to tell the court about his involvement with two papers in the scientific journal Nature that were referenced in court documents. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Benjamin Souede, who heard testimony Thursday, said there was not sufficient evidence to find a ‘fraud on the court’ had been committed — as Chevron alleged. But Souede added in his ruling from the bench that there was an “almost gobsmacking failure by the plaintiff to do anything close to what we expect counsel and a party to do in litigation. Especially in litigation that is well funded, that is hard fought, that is complicated, that is about important issues.” Chevron’s motion to yank the studies came as the oil and gas industry and its allies, including the Trump administration, step up efforts to kill nearly two dozen lawsuits filed by cities, counties and states that seek financial compensation from polluters for the rising cost of climate change. The companies could be on the hook for billions of dollars if the lawsuits are successful.”

WHYY: Pa. attorney general files criminal charge against fracking company
Susan Phillips, 10/31/25

“The Pennsylvania Attorney General has filed criminal charges against natural gas producer Seneca Resources for three separate incidents during its drilling and fracking operations in North Central Pennsylvania,” WHYY reports. “The state alleges the company’s actions led to drinking water contamination as well as ground and surface water pollution in eight counties. Citing Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment, Attorney General Dave Sunday, a Republican, said the charges stem from the company’s lack of action after warnings from the Department of Environmental Protection. “Every Pennsylvanian has a constitutional right to pure water, and these cases resulted in violations of those rights,” Sunday said in a statement. “In one example, a couple’s home — which they worked their entire lives to afford — was subjected to contaminated water. Such outcomes will not be tolerated, and I commend our Environmental Crimes Section for their work in this case.” Two separate grand juries recommended the charges, which include 72 counts of violations of the Solid Waste Management Act and 42 counts of violations of the Clean Streams Law. One case alleges that Seneca Resources unlawfully injected fracking wastewater into a set of wells in Cameron County. Another case alleges the company ignored or disputed the DEP’s warnings that its operations would result in water contamination in Lycoming, Tioga, Potter, Clearfield, Elk, McKean, Jefferson and Cameron counties.”

Indiana Capital Chronicle: Wabash Valley Resources nabs $1.6B DOE loan for contentious carbon sequestration fertilizer project
Leslie Bonilla Muñiz, 10/31/25

“The U.S. Department of Energy of Wednesday closed on a nearly $1.6 billion loan to Indiana’s Wabash Valley Resources for a “clean” fertilizer facility in West Terre Haute — and the project’s carbon dioxide capture and storage system,” the Indiana Capital Chronicle reports. “…A panoply of political and business leaders celebrated the announcement, including Indiana Gov. Mike Braun… “But groups of Hoosier landowners and other opponents denounced the project as a “scam.” “It is shameful that this administration would hand out $1.5 billion to a privately owned, Korean-backed corporation during a shutdown when everyday people can’t receive basic government services and government employees go unpaid. That is not the American way,” Janet Cianteo, a member of the Concerned Citizens Against Wabash Valley Resources and Indiana Action Team, told the Chronicle. Korean firms Hanwha Asset Management and Korea Investment Real Asset Management have invested in Wabash Valley Resources, and the Korean government has also been involved, according to the company’s news release. “This company and its foreign partners will be hard pressed to ever have majority support in our community,” Cianteo told the Chronicle. “We are steadfast in our commitment to protecting Hoosier land and lives from this dangerous scheme.” The Indiana Action Team is part of the Nebraska-based Bold Alliance, best known for its opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline extension. “It is disgraceful that this project is being foisted on Hoosiers with the backing of our government and our public money,” Emma Schmit, the Bold Alliance’s pipeline fighters director, told the Chronicle. “Enough is enough. We should not have to sacrifice our property rights or take on the risks of a proven-to-fail technology so Wabash Valley Resources’ investors can afford another private island.”

Lookout Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz County officials reviving a statewide coalition to block Trump’s offshore oil drilling plans
Tania Ortiz, 10/30/25

“Santa Cruz County officials are taking a stand against the Trump administration’s efforts to allow gas and oil drilling off the California coast by pushing to bring back a local government coalition to stop the attempts to lease protected marine sanctuaries to oil companies,” Lookout Santa Cruz reports. “The county has started reaching out to representatives from every coastal town in the state to help reestablish the Local Government Outer Continental Shelf Coordination program — a coalition of cities and counties that collaborated to streamline communication with the federal government on offshore oil and gas development. Humboldt County officials have moved to join Santa Cruz County in the coalition after passing a resolution in opposition to offshore drilling earlier this month. “We, the citizens of the California coast, will be singing a strong message that we will fight back,” County Supervisor Justin Cummings told a gathering of about 50 community members and elected officials on Wednesday at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf… “The coalition was first established in 1980 by former county supervisor Gary Patton to fight offshore oil development and continued until 1994, said Cummings. The program at the time was successful in halting offshore drilling and helped establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, he said. It also gave local governments across California cost-effective legal, technical and political support to oppose offshore drilling efforts, including lobbying lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and launching public awareness campaigns about the issue.”

WyoFile: Can BLM ignore land-use plans and lease off-limits ‘Golden Triangle’ habitat for drilling?
Mike Koshmrl, 10/20/25

“In December, after an extraordinarily controversial planning process, the Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management signed off on a final resource management plan that’s now governing 3.6 million acres of southwestern Wyoming. The Rock Springs-area plan sought to balance the needs of development and wildlife, though unhappy Wyoming leaders maintained it tilted too far toward conservation at the expense of industrial activities,” WyoFile reports. “Over 280,000 acres of the so-called Golden Triangle, for example — home to the densest population of sage grouse left on Earth — was designated as an “area of critical environmental concern,” excluded from surface-disturbing activities and expressly closed to mineral leasing. Ten months later, the BLM is proposing to put 14 parcels encompassing 19,839 acres of the closed area up for auction at a June 2026 oil and gas lease sale, according to a Rocky Mountain Wild analysis… “If you’re [offering] parcels that have been closed under a valid and existing RMP, that would seem to be illegal,” Matt Gaffney, an attorney who directs legal and government affairs for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, told WyoFile. The illegality is spelled out in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the law governing the administration of BLM lands, Gaffney told WyoFile… “If the BLM violates its own land-use plan, he told WyoFile, the remedy would be suing to stop the action in federal district court or filing an appeal with the Interior Board of Land Appeals.”

Source NM: NM lawmakers voice concerns over data center Project Jupiter
Leah Romero, 10/30/25

“Several southern New Mexico state lawmakers this week voiced concerns about the environmental impacts the proposed AI data center Project Jupiter will have on southern Doña Ana County communities, and what they described as a lack of transparency about the project,” Source NM reports. “Members of the Water and Natural Resources Committee met in Artesia this week where they received an update on the $165 billion development, which is the subject of two recently filed lawsuits, as well as criticism from county residents, also over environmental impacts and transparency. The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners voted in September to approve $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds to support the development, during a meeting that attracted attendance of several hundred county residents. “This issue is really important to me, and we can talk about the water piece, the energy piece, but I think what’s been really overwhelming to me is just the lack of community involvement in this process,” state Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces) said during the meeting. “This is the pattern that I have continuously seen in my decade serving in this Legislature, is that we’re constantly looking at these shiny things, shiny industries coming into this state, while we leave our communities left out of this conversation.”

Source NM: Republican lawmakers say conservation tax revenue, not industry, should pay for well cleanup
Danielle Prokop, 10/30/25

“Amid ongoing proposed rulemaking that would require more funds from oil and gas operators to clean up New Mexico’s abandoned wells, Republican state lawmakers on Thursday pressed state officials over the current funding for such work,” Source NM reports. “In a tense and sometimes testy interim Water and Natural Resources Committee hearing in Artesia, members of the minority party told presenters from the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and the State Land Office to reconsider pursuing higher investment from oil and gas operators, saying it would harm the industry as a whole, and smaller oil producers in particular… “Earlier this year, legislative analysts estimated that in the coming years, New Mexico faces between $700 million to $1.6 billion in costs to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells. One of the June report’s recommendations included updating the state’s rules around the bonds companies guarantee to better reflect the costs for cleanup. That proposal is currently under consideration—and receiving public comment—by the state’s oil and gas regulatory committee. The state has identified more than 700 “orphan wells” that need to be plugged, EMNRD Deputy Secretary Ben Shelton told the committee, but many more wells are entering the end of their lifespans. “There’s another 4,000 to 5,000 that are currently sitting in an inactive status or extremely low-producing status that we have an eye on that looms in the background of our current plugging list,” Shelton told the committee. Rep. Rod Montoya (R-Farmington), however, called the proposed revamped rules a “money grab,” and said the state should instead change the distribution of tax revenue intended to address the issue.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa AG accuses some small refineries of ‘manipulating’ renewable fuel exemptions
Cami Koons, 10/3025

“Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird sent a letter to federal regulators Thursday urging an investigation into refineries that receive exemptions for renewable fuel blending standards,” Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Bird, who was joined by attorneys general from Nebraska and South Dakota in the letter, said some of the small refineries that are eligible for renewable fuel exemptions are “manipulating” the program and feigning they face “disproportionate economic harm” while publicly telling investors they are “financially thriving.” “The possibility that refineries are gaming the system to receive government handouts when they don’t need them hurts Iowa farmers,” Bird said in a statement. “They should be investigated by the federal government to ensure that all refiners are following the rules.” “…Bird wrote in the letter that some refineries are “intentionally lowering” their production rates to meet the 75,000 barrel per day minimum and remain eligible for the exemptions… “In a time when crop prices are low and increased biofuels usage is a key solution, it is deeply troubling to see what appears to be an attempt by some oil refiners to game the system and avoid their legal requirements under the RFS,” Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, told the Dispatch.”

Carbon Herald: ADM Teams Up with Super6 Carbon To Monetise Carbon Removal At Decatur Site
Vasil Velev, 11/3/25

“Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is moving into the fast-evolving carbon removal market through a strategic non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Super6 Carbon, Inc.,” the Carbon Herald reports. “Under the agreement, Super6 Carbon will supply captured CO2 to ADM’s established carbon capture and storage (CCS) operations in Decatur, Illinois, enabling the issuance of high-quality carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits via permanent underground storage. Super6 Carbon, which specializes in engineered CDR projects emphasizing credit integrity, scalability and cost-efficiency, will receive a minority stake from ADM once final contracts are signed… “With this partnership, ADM expands its carbon-management business beyond its bio-ethanol operations and positions itself in the burgeoning carbon-removal credit marketplace.”

Inside Climate News: CSX Train Derailment in Virginia Puts Chickahominy River at Risk
Charles Paullin, 10/31/25

“A train derailment last Saturday dumped coal and diesel fuel into wetlands near the Chickahimony River in Virginia, and nearby residents and environmentalists worry that the contaminants could flow into the waterway,” Inside Climate News reports. “The CSX train travelling from Hinton, West Virginia, to Newport News, Virginia, derailed about 30 minutes past Richmond in New Kent County, sending 53 cars full of coal and two engines with diesel fuel to within about 400 feet of the river, one of several tributaries feeding into the James River that flows into the Chesapeake Bay… “But the 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and about 4,000 tons of coal that spilled into wetlands between the tracks and the river have proven difficult for environmental personnel to access to cleanup… “The coal is primarily a physical contaminant,” John Giese, a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson, told ICN, meaning that “as the rail cars of coal derailed, the spilled coal would have smothered flora and fauna on which it came to rest.” The diesel fuel, however, “can impact plants and animals due its toxicity.”

EXTRACTION

CNBC: Exxon in advanced talks to power AI data centers with natural gas and carbon capture
Spencer Kimball, 10/31/25

“Exxon Mobil is holding advanced talks with power providers and technology companies to cut the emissions of AI data centers that rely on natural gas by deploying carbon capture technology, CEO Darren Woods said Friday,” CNBC reports. “I’m hopeful that many of these hyperscalers are sincere when they talk about the desire to have low emission facilities, because certainly in the near to medium term we’re probably the only realistic game in town to accomplish that,” Woods said on Exxon’s earnings call… “Exxon aims to capture 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions emitted by natural gas plants that power data centers, Woods said. The oil major is talking with power companies to decarbonize their plants, he said… “We secured locations. We’ve got the existing infrastructure, certainly have the know-how in terms of the technology of capturing, transporting and storing [carbon dioxide],” Woods said.”

E&E News: The AI bubble may pop. Will electricity customers pay?
Jason Plautz, 10/31/25

“The nation’s largest tech companies aren’t slowing down their data center construction boom, despite uncertainty about when artificial superintelligence might emerge. But if they’re wrong in downplaying the risk of an AI bubble bursting, those paying the price could be the Americans footing the electricity bills to make the grid upgrades that power-hungry data centers need,” E&E News reports. “No such worries appeared Wednesday on the mind of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who said on an earnings call that he thinks the right strategy is to ‘aggressively front-load building capacity’ — though he acknowledged that it’s ‘of course possible to overshoot.’ Worst case, he said, is ‘we effectively have just prebuilt for a couple of years … but we’d grow into that and use it over time.’ Likewise, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said during her company’s earnings call Wednesday that she has ‘very high’ confidence that all the data centers will be needed. Executives from Amazon and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, also said on earnings calls this week that they’re moving full steam ahead with data center construction.”

Heatmap: Who Will Pay for Data Centers’ Energy? Not You, Utilities Say.
Matthew Zeitlin, 10/31/25

“With electricity prices rising faster than inflation and public backlash against data centers brewing, developers and the utilities that serve them are trying to convince the public that increasing numbers of gargantuan new projects won’t lead to higher bills,” Heatmap reports. “…Who will pay for energy storage and tolling agreements? A DTE spokesperson, Jill Wilmot, clarified in an email that “DTE will meet the 1.4 gigawatts of demand from the data center with existing capacity,” and that “new energy storage will be built — and paid for by the customer” — that is, Stargate — “to help augment times of peak demand, ensuring continued reliability for all customers.” Data centers help spread out the fixed costs of the grid more widely, Wilmot went on. “Data center development in DTE’s electric service territory will not increase customer rates,” she told Heatmap, adding that “DTE is ensuring the data center will absorb all new costs required to serve them — in this case, battery storage. Our customers will not pay.” “…Consumer advocates were skeptical of the utility’s claims. “When you are talking about new demand as massive as what would be created by this data center, we can’t afford to just take DTE at its word that other customers won’t be affected,” Amy Bandyk, the executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, told Heatmap. She called for Michigan regulators “to require DTE and the data center customer to agree on a tariff specific to that customer that includes robust protections against cost-shifting and provisions that any incremental costs will be solely covered by this new customer.”

Heatmap: In the Long Run, Trump Might Not Mean Much for the Climate’s Trajectory
Emily Pontecorvo, 11/3/25

“It’s that time of year when COP, the annual United Nations climate conference, draws near, and a flood of reports assess how much progress the world has made (or not made) to limit global warming,” Heatmap reports. “Given the sharp reversal in U.S. climate policy under President Trump, it may seem inevitable that the future will look bleaker than before. His administration has spent the past nine months dismantling nearly every bit of domestic climate policy implemented by its predecessor, and has even managed to thwart international efforts at climate cooperation. The annual climate outlook from the Rhodium Group, a U.S. energy and climate research firm, offers a somewhat hopeful counterpoint to that narrative, however. It finds that the range of possible climate futures has essentially not changed in the past two years… “Now, the Rhodium Group estimates that warming is highly unlikely to exceed 3.9 degrees by 2100, and could be limited to 2 degrees. The numbers themselves are not hopeful. This is a vast range in terms of the potential impacts implied, and even 2 degrees of warming should not be considered “little.” “…Putting those dire projections aside, what’s interesting is that this 2- to 3.9-degree range is about the same as what the Rhodium Group forecast when it published its first Climate Outlook report in 2023. Also relatively unchanged: a finding that global power sector emissions will peak within the next decade, and that total emissions will likely remain constant or subtly decline through 2060, but then go up again as Global South countries see more rapid economic development in the latter half of the century.”

Globe and Mail: Insufficient disclosure obscuring billions in Alberta oil sands liabilities, advocates say
Jeffrey Jones, 11/3/25

“Shareholders of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies could be left with a shortfall of tens of billions of dollars for future environmental liabilities tied to spent wells and oil sands mines, and insufficient disclosure and auditing are obscuring the problem, an investor advocacy group warns in a new report,” according to the Globe and Mail. “Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) has estimated a $113-billion gap between a figure that a senior Alberta regulator official had tallied for total decommissioning liabilities in 2018, and what the top 15 energy companies carry on their books for abandonment and reclamation obligations. The estimate stems from an analysis of the financial statements of the companies, which show wide variations in how they account for future cleanup, making comparisons difficult for investors. The issue of underfunded environmental liabilities from tens of thousands of inactive wells and aging oil sands mines has been a years-long public-policy headache for successive Alberta governments, the energy industry and rural landowners. But to date it has seldom been seen as influential determiner of market value of such companies as Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. – the largest of the 15 listed in the study. However, it is key for institutional investors to gauge how the transition to a low-carbon economy could affect the scale and timing of environmental cleanup, said Jessica Carradine, senior analyst at I4PC and author of the report. “They need full transparency from companies in order to be able to make investment decisions,” she told the Globe and Mail.”

CBC: Researchers, hunters study how oilsands noise might impact moose hunting
Jesmeen Gill, 11/3/25

“Hunters in northern Alberta are helping scientists test how industrial noise from the oilsands affects moose hunting — a food source and a connection to cultural traditions for many rural and Indigenous communities,” the CBC reports. “As forest landscapes are cleared for operations, moose habitats become more open, making animals easier to spot, but also exposing them to more predators… “In a new mandate letter from Premier Danielle Smith to Energy Minister Brian Jean, the province is aiming for higher oil production. But this has some community members raising concerns about how industrial noise is affecting traditional hunting practices. That question led to the Moose Calling Pilot Project, a collaboration between the Conklin Resource Development Advisory Committee, the University of Alberta and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. The study aims to test whether noise from oilsands operations affects hunters’ ability to call and detect moose… “Fortna told CBC community interviews revealed that industrial noise and landscape changes are believed to be impacting how people hunt and how successful they are at calling moose.”

Reuters: US Gulf producer LLOG Exploration explores sale at $3 billion valuation, sources say
David French, 10/31/25

“Gulf offshore drilling operation LLOG Exploration Offshore is exploring a potential sale, which may value one of the largest privately held oil and gas producers in the U.S. Gulf at more than $3 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Covington, Louisiana-based company is working with investment bankers at Guggenheim Securities on the effort, with a limited number of parties contacted in recent weeks to gauge buyer interest, the sources told Reuters… “While overall deal activity in U.S. upstream oil and gas has been subdued this year after reaching historic highs in the previous two years, U.S. Gulf operations have continued to attract attention as energy firms value the region’s long-term production potential… “Given LLOG’s scale, the sources told Reuters an energy major would be a logical buyer, but it would also be a desirable acquisition for an international oil and gas operator with offshore experience seeking entry into the U.S. Gulf.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Financial Times: State Street withdraws US money manager from global climate group
Alexandra White and Kenza Bryan, 11/2/25

“State Street’s asset management arm pulled its US operations out of what was once a leading climate action industry group, in a move symbolic of the retreat by money managers previously leading the charge in America,” the Financial Times reports. “It said it had decided that only its units serving UK and European clients would remain part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. The initiative itself on Wednesday removed a reference to 2050 climate goals in its manifesto. State Street Investment Management, one of the world’s largest money managers, follows BlackRock, Vanguard and JPMorgan Asset Management, which have all left the NZAM in the US. JPMorgan and State Street both quit another green investor group, Climate Action 100+, last year. This followed threats of litigation from Republican-led states over what they alleged was collusion by financiers to withdraw funding from the fossil fuel industry, which is being boosted by the Trump administration… “The pressure intensified after US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission in May warned that institutional investors could be in breach of federal antitrust laws if they used their holdings to influence corporate strategy.”

OPINION

North Platte Bulletin: Madrid ethanol plant connects to carbon dioxide pipeline
Mike Jacobson represents Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Thomas, Hooker and the majority of Perkins counties – Dist. 42 — in the Nebraska legislature, Nov. 2, 2025

“Last week, I was invited to attend the celebration in Madrid related to the Mid America Agri Products/Wheatland ethanol plant’s connection to the Tallgrass Trailblazer CO2 pipeline. This was the first ethanol plant to connect to the pipeline, and several more will be connected over the next several months,” Mike Jaconson writes for the North Platte Bulletin. “…The Trailblazer pipeline will play a huge role in making locally produced ethanol more competitive in the low-carbon fuels market. Many end users insist on low-carbon fuels when purchasing products. Since the fermentation process used by ethanol plants produces high levels of CO2, finding a way to sequester the CO2 is key to getting the best value for the product. Using a pipeline to deliver the product to Wyoming, where many spent gas wells exist, you can safely store the CO2 below ground in a safe manner. This helps ensure that Nebraska’s ethanol plants will be competitive well into the future… “This is how rural Nebraska fosters economic development — by generating taxable income and creating employment opportunities.”

Green Left: Carbon capture and storage is a dead horse
John Quiggin, 11/3/25

“Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has long been presented as a magic bullet to solve the problem of decarbonising the energy system,” John Quiggin writes for Green Left. “If CCS works, we can keep on burning carbon-based fuels, then capture and bury the resulting carbon dioxide. Unsurprisingly, this technology conveniently fills a big hole in lots of plans to achieve net zero. The idea can also be turned around, by saying “go ahead and build new coal plants, as long as they have CCS”. Either way, the big problem has been that so far, CCS hasn’t worked… “The total in 2025 is not much more than the set listed as being operational or in advanced development in 2021 or even in 2011. And the recent growth rate has been modest, as compared with the rapid growth of projects in the light and dark blue “in development” bars… “Even in the improbable event that the five-fold increase projected in the report is delivered by 2030, CCS will be no more than a marginal contributor to emissions reductions. And as electrification of transport reduces oil demand, the economics of CCS, based on secondary oil recovery, will become even less appealing. This is a dead horse, and it’s time to stop flogging it.”