EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 12/9/25

PIPELINE NEWS

• E&E News: Supreme Court asks for Trump admin’s view on pipeline fight

• KCCI: The latest in Shelby, Story counties request for case to be heard by U.S. Supreme Court

• CBC: B.C. First Nation leaders tell Alberta minister they’re against changes to tanker ban

• WBAY: Energy emergency in Wisconsin due to pipeline disturbance

• Wesleyan Argus: Environmental Advocacy Coalition Hosts Workshop on Gas Pipeline Opposition

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Conservatives sound alarm about Westerman’s NEPA bill

• Inside EPA: Conservative Lawyer Urges NEPA Repeal Following Seven County Ruling

• E&E News: EPA erases references to human-caused climate change from websites

• E&E News: ‘Hail Mary pass’: EPA faces high bar in bid to ditch soot rule

• ExxonKnews: Exxon’s next Supreme Court play

STATE UPDATES

• WLPO: PC Board approves Marquis Carbon Capture Ordinance

• CBS San Francisco: Bay Area conservationist describes offshore oil drilling plan as “serious” threat

• Los Angeles Times: Emergency remediation of ‘orphan’ oil well begins by Newport Beach homes

• Wyoming Public Media: Rawlins’ air quality to be monitored downwind of oil and gas activity

• Press release: Babcock & Wilcox Receives Limited Notice to Proceed to Supply CO2 Capture Technology for U.S. Power Plant

EXTRACTION

• Reuters: Canada’s newest oil tycoon shakes up sector with bold expansion plan

• Reuters: Britain launches second carbon capture licensing round

• BBC: Is there a future for carbon capture and storage in Scotland?

• CNBC: NextEra working with Exxon to develop gigawatt data center for hyperscaler

• Bloomberg: NextEra Shares Fall Amid Push to Move Into Data Centers and Gas

CLIMATE FINANCE

• FOX News: Alaska hits back at insurers accused of using ‘woke’ underwriting to reshape energy policy as ANWR reopens

OPINION

• Michigan Advance: Shutting down Line 5 is not a risk—It’s responsible leadership for Michigan’s future

• Environmental Defence: The “Federal-Alberta MOU” is a gut punch to Canadians. It must be stopped

• Troy Media: Could Canada lose its biggest oil customer?

PIPELINE NEWS

E&E News: Supreme Court asks for Trump admin’s view on pipeline fight
Niina H. Farah, 12/9/25

“The Supreme Court is asking the Trump administration to offer its thoughts on a quarrel over who should pay the legal fees in a landowner dispute over compensation for a pipeline crossing their property,” E&E News reports. “North Dakota rancher Len Hoffmann and other landowners represented by the Institute for Justice want the high court to rule on whether state or federal law determines which party is responsible for covering their attorneys’ fees. On Monday, the court asked the solicitor general to file a brief on the merits of the case, Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission. The input of the solicitor general can play an important role in helping the court decide whether to grant a case. At least four justices have to agree to hear a petition. The Supreme Court petition comes after landowners challenged the rate WBI reimbursed them for their land after the gas company built a pipeline across their property. The landowners had not opposed the pipe itself but instead challenged how the company calculated the value of their land.”

KCCI: The latest in Shelby, Story counties request for case to be heard by U.S. Supreme Court
Suzanne Behnke, 12/8/25

“Monday was the expected deadline for Summit Carbon Pipeline to respond to a petition for a case with Shelby County and others to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court,” KCCI reports. “…In late November, Summit asked for a two-week extension. The counties responded and are offering an extension until Dec. 16, their Washington, D.C., attorney told KCCI Monday.”

CBC: B.C. First Nation leaders tell Alberta minister they’re against changes to tanker ban
12/8/25

“Leaders of a First Nation on British Columbia’s northern coast say they met with Alberta’s minister of Indigenous relations on Friday to express opposition to any changes to Canada’s tanker ban needed to service a potential new pipeline,” the CBC reports. “The Gitga’at First Nation says in a statement they met with Minister Rajan Sawhney in the coastal village of Hartley Bay and presented her with scientific and historical evidence affirming there is no proven method for recovering bitumen spills on B.C.’s North Coast, which it says has some of the highest tidal ranges on Earth. Sawhney, speaking with CBC Radio’s Daybreak North on Monday, said it was important to have “early engagement” and that there were “lessons learned from the past” about making decisions before consulting with Indigenous communities that could be affected by proposed developments. But she suggested there was “quiet support” from some Indigenous communities for a pipeline carrying diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to the coast… “She said she would not divulge which Indigenous communities she spoke with “out of respect and confidentiality.” But, in the Gitga’at First Nation statement, Chief Councillor Bruce Reece said the nation remains opposed to any removal or weakening of the oil tanker moratorium that has been in place for more than 50 years, and the nation will uphold its responsibility to safeguard marine ecosystems. Gitga’at Deputy Chief Cameron Hill says in the statement that the nation’s members source 60 per cent or more of their diet directly from the ocean, and the risk of a spill is too great.”

WBAY: Energy emergency in Wisconsin due to pipeline disturbance
12/8/25

“A pipeline disruption hundreds of miles away is causing major delays for propane suppliers right here in Wisconsin, prompting Governor Tony Evers to declare an energy emergency,” WBAY reports. “…With the delay in the delivery, it can create a backlog of the drivers at the terminals, and it’ll make things tight across the country,” Carl Kiedrowski, the Energy Division Manager at Country Visions Cooperative, told WBAY. Last Friday, Governor Tony Evers declared an energy emergency, temporarily waiving state and federal hours-of-service rules for fuel truck drivers. The goal is to help companies catch up from weather-related and pipeline delays… “The waiver runs through January 2, with the hope the governor’s emergency order will help ease those delays until the pipeline returns to full speed.”

Wesleyan Argus: Environmental Advocacy Coalition Hosts Workshop on Gas Pipeline Opposition
Spencer Landers, Brendan Kelso, 12/9/25

“Dozens of student activists attended a workshop in Exley Science Center on Saturday, Dec. 6, focused on methods to fight gas pipeline expansion in Connecticut and the broader northeast. The event was hosted by No Pipeline Expansion (NOPE) Northeast, a multi-state coalition comprising over a hundred community organizations opposed to gas pipeline expansion projects in the northeast United States,” the Wesleyan Argus reports. “Formerly known as Stop Project Maple Coalition, NOPE was initially established to counter Project Maple, a methane gas pipeline expansion across Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts proposed by multinational oil transportation and energy company Enbridge. Since then, NOPE has broadened its scope to further oppose pipeline projects in the broader northeast, such as the New York Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline… “The first half of the workshop focused on NOPE’s opposition to multiple pipeline concepts that have piqued the interest of both President Donald Trump and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, which NOPE views as a potentially ruinous alliance… “I think we’re in a really critical moment for a number of reasons,” Sarah Dynowski, State Director of Sierra Club Connecticut, told the Argus. “The pressure from the federal government, the Trump administration specifically, to build pipelines that we don’t actually really need is really a challenge. And it’s becoming more and more of a challenge, because the narrative that somehow we need more gas has been taking hold, and we know we don’t.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Conservatives sound alarm about Westerman’s NEPA bill
Kelsey Brugger, 12/5/25

“Members of the House Freedom Caucus are objecting to House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman’s big permitting bill, contributing to a planned floor vote being postponed,” E&E News reports. “House Republican leaders were eyeing a vote next week on the “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act,” H.R. 4776, from Westerman and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine). The bill is now poised to come up the following week… “Westerman has been hearing from Democrats who want changes to the National Environmental Policy Act but think the legislation goes too far. But conservatives are also chiming in. One concern for the right is a bipartisan amendment added in committee meant to protect permits. It was in response to the administration’s attack on already-approved renewable energy projects, particularly offshore wind. “We’re taking in — under advisement — whether [the legislation] goes far enough to free up all the constraints put on oil, gas and nuclear and whether it’s still promoting too much wind and solar which we think have the benefits of subsidies,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told E&E. “I don’t want to fast-track any of the wind and solar. It’s still not a neutral playing field because it’s subsidized,” Roy, who pushed — unsuccessfully — for the immediate repeal of renewable energy credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, told E&E… “The last thing we need to do with offshore wind is to tie the administration’s hands in stopping that ridiculously expensive source of energy that enriches foreign companies with American taxpayer dollars,” Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told E&E. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the ‘SPEED Act’ would do.”

Inside EPA: Conservative Lawyer Urges NEPA Repeal Following Seven County Ruling
12/8/25

“A lawyer with the free-market Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is urging Congress to repeal the landmark National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), arguing that after the Supreme Court narrowed the law’s reach, it is now focused on process for the sake of process and officials should instead focus on other environmental laws to take up the slack,” Inside EPA reports. “…As a result, Gilliard said, “I think it’s really time to consider if NEPA really is serving in the way it was intended to and consider getting rid of it…One thing that I would like to see happen more in the future is kind of a challenge to the mindset that I believe undermines a lot of, or is the underpinning of a lot of, modern environmental law, which is this idea’ of scarcity so that ‘natural resources are something that we only should be conserving and preserving, and that any kind of human impact on the environment is necessarily a negative,’ PLF’s Gilliard said at the conclusion of the webinar, laying out her wish list for Congress.”

E&E News: EPA erases references to human-caused climate change from websites
Jean Chemnick, 12/9/25

“EPA has scrubbed references to people’s contribution to rising temperatures from some of its climate change webpages,” E&E News reports. “The agency modified sections of its website by deleting information about human-created greenhouse gases and the role they play in warming the planet. It also removed links to scientific data and information. The website now directs visitors to a subsection on climate “causes” that mentions only natural phenomena as the drivers of warming, like changes in the Earth’s orbit and variations in solar activity. Two subsections titled “Climate Change Indicators” and “Climate Change Impacts and Analysis” have been removed… “But the page makes no mention of people’s contribution to climate change. It discusses only “natural processes” including changes to the Earth’s orbit and rotation, variations in solar activity, changes in the planet’s reflectivity, volcanic activity and naturally occurring greenhouse gases. An EPA spokesperson didn’t answer questions about when the changes were made, but characterized the changes as routine editing that aligned government information with the priorities of President Donald Trump, who rejects the basic tenets of climate science. “Unlike the previous administration, the Trump EPA is focused on protecting human health and the environment while Powering the Great American Comeback, not left-wing political agendas,” the spokesperson told E&E in an email that did not identify the sender. “As such, this agency no longer takes marching orders from the climate cult.” “…Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director for climate and energy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told E&E EPA was “trying to bury facts” about climate change.”

E&E News: ‘Hail Mary pass’: EPA faces high bar in bid to ditch soot rule
Sean Reilly, 12//5/25

“The Trump administration faces steep odds in persuading a federal court to throw out landmark EPA regulations targeting a pollutant that claims thousands of lives each year, according to specialists in environmental law,” E&E News reports. “To me, this is a Hail Mary pass,” Victor Flatt, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, told E&E, alluding to EPA’s decision to abandon its legal defense of a stronger soot exposure standard adopted only last year. As the administration races to skirt a looming enforcement deadline, the bar could be higher still in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision that gave judges the upper hand over federal agencies in interpreting ambiguous provisions of federal law, other experts told E&E. That decision, in the case known as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, was intended “to ensure greater consistency under statutes,” Trish McCubbin, a professor emerita at Southern Illinois University’s Simmons Law School, told E&E. Accordingly, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit “will be hard pressed to give even a minimal level of respectful consideration to EPA’s new reading of the law when it directly contradicts the agency’s position from a year ago,” McCubbin told E&E. In the highly unusual U-turn, the administration is asking the court to vacate the strengthened annual exposure standard for what is technically known as fine particulate matter.”

ExxonKnews: Exxon’s next Supreme Court play
Emily Sanders, 12/8/25

“Facing a growing number of lawsuits that could hold them liable for billions of dollars in climate damages, oil companies for the fifth time in three years are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the cases before they can reach trial,” ExxonKnews reports. “This time, ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy want the justices to overturn a decision of the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled that a lawsuit brought against the two companies by the city and county of Boulder could move forward earlier this year. The Colorado Supreme Court found that the state law claims against the companies were not preempted by federal law. The potential stakes of the case were brought into sharp focus in 2021, when the Marshall Fire — the most destructive wildfire in Colorado state history — killed two people, burned down more than a thousand homes in Boulder County, and caused at least $2 billion in damage. The companies have previously expressed to the Supreme Court their fear that the cases could result in “massive monetary liability.” Now, stopping them as soon as possible is “a big priority not just for ExxonMobil, but for the entire industry,” said Exxon assistant general counsel Justin Anderson at a November panel discussion hosted by the Federalist Society, a conservative legal advocacy group funded in part by fossil fuel interests. “We’re seeing a lot more courage from people and groups and industry that’s recognizing that we have a problem, and we’re not going to wait another decade” to do something about it, he said. Exxon’s latest request asks the Supreme Court to resolve what the oil giant calls “one of the most important questions currently pending in the lower courts”: whether the cases against Big Oil are preempted by federal law. It’s the same question the justices already declined to review in January, in a virtually identical petition in a case brought by Honolulu that is now proceeding toward trial.”

STATE UPDATES

WLPO: PC Board approves Marquis Carbon Capture Ordinance
12/8/25

“The Putnam County Board approved the plans of Marquis Energy Monday night at the regular board meeting regarding Carbon Capture and Sequestration in injectable wells,” WLPO reports. “The vote was 4-0 in favor with one abstention. Marquis intends to store CO2 from ethanol production in underground storage wells more than 4000 feet deep. Area residents were concerned about the safety of the wells, and several took the opportunity during public comments to voice those concerns. The ordinance which directs details of the project, is largely based on federal guidelines… “Mark Marquis, CEO of Marquis Energy took a moment at the end of the meeting to urge the members of the Board to consider creating an enterprise zone, adopt pro business policies and watch opportunities open up in the area. He also stated that in the last 20 years, Marquis Energy had invested more than a billion dollars in the Putnam County facility.”

CBS San Francisco: Bay Area conservationist describes offshore oil drilling plan as “serious” threat
John Ramos, 12/7/25

“The latest battleground in the fight between California and the federal government isn’t really ground at all; it’s underwater. The Trump administration is renewing its intention to open the state’s coast to offshore oil drilling, and local forces are gearing up for the struggle,” CBS San Francisco reports. “…Charter, a Senior Fellow at the Ocean Foundation, was referring to an announcement on Thanksgiving week that the Department of the Interior will be offering leases to conduct offshore oil drilling. Along with the entire state of Alaska, the full length of the coast of California is now up for sale to oil companies seeking to drill. “I’ve worked on this issue here in California, and other states, for 50 years, and I’ve never seen a threat this serious or this imminent,” Charter told CBS. “This particular administration has, for some reason, decided to conduct what is essentially a battle against the environment.” California has a history of offshore drilling issues. In 1969, a well located off Santa Barbara blew out, releasing millions of gallons of oil, which washed up onto beaches, killing wildlife and fouling the waterfront of the popular tourist destination. “When the Santa Barbara blowout happened, it created a leak in the seafloor that could not be closed,” Charter told CBS. “It was the type of oil spill you can’t turn off. Kind of like Deepwater Horizon, same thing. Lasted for months.” “…California’s congressional delegation has vowed to fight it to the end. “This is yet another outrageous announcement and effort by this out-of-control administration,” U.S. Senator Alex Padilla told CBS.”

Los Angeles Times: Emergency remediation of ‘orphan’ oil well begins by Newport Beach homes
Gabriel San Román, 12/4/25

“A drill rig arrived on 36th Street this week as part of an emergency effort to address a methane leak that impacted several Balboa Peninusla homes,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The leak, which city officials detected in October, originated from a capped “orphan” oil well from the 1920s several hundred feet beneath the neighborhood. “The key to finishing this project is starting it,” Mark Vukojevic, Newport Beach utilities director told the Times. “We’re doing everything we can to push and facilitate construction.” Two months ago, a resident who lives near 36th and a Marcus Avenue noticed signs of seeping oil and reached out to the city… “Officials later declared a local emergency and ordered the evacuation of several homes. Newport Beach Fire Department and the OC Health Care Agency subsequently found unsafe and potentially flammable levels of methane and hydrogen sulfide. City and county workers installed ventilation systems that brought the methane down to a safe level, allowing evacuated residents to return.”

Wyoming Public Media: Rawlins’ air quality to be monitored downwind of oil and gas activity
Caitlin Tan, 12/4/25

“The air quality around Rawlins will be monitored over the next year. This comes after a national group flagged surrounding areas for compromised air quality,” Wyoming Public Media reports. “The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Air Quality Division (AQD) placed a mobile testing unit near the Rawlins Family Recreation Center, which is downwind of oil and gas operations… “It’ll show levels for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and methane/non-methane hydrocarbons… “The American Lung Association (ALA) gives cities and counties across the country letter grades based on the area’s number of high ozone and particle pollution days, and it assesses the impacts to the community. The group didn’t analyze Carbon County, but nearby areas received low grades. Sweetwater and Albany counties were given an ‘F’ air quality grade. The ALA said if you live in these areas, “the air you breathe may put your health at risk.”

Press release: Babcock & Wilcox Receives Limited Notice to Proceed to Supply CO2 Capture Technology for U.S. Power Plant
12/8/25

“Babcock & Wilcox announced today that it has received limited notice to proceed with engineering and long-lead procurement on a SolveBright post-combustion, regenerable solvent-based carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system for an existing power plant in the United States. The full notice to proceed is anticipated to be signed by March 2026, with an estimated value of $80 million and the potential for additional scope and construction services. B&W’s SolveBright system design will allow the use of both an advanced specialty solvent and widely available commodity solvents, providing significant operational flexibility and potential cost savings for the plant owner. The SolveBright solution will be capable of capturing and storing more than 550,000 tons of CO2 annually.”

EXTRACTION

Reuters: Canada’s newest oil tycoon shakes up sector with bold expansion plan
Amanda Stephenson, 12/9/25

“Canadian banker-turned-oil-tycoon Adam Waterous, an industry outsider who lives in a Rocky Mountain tourist town, not energy hub Calgary, has a plan to cement his company’s status as one of North America’s fastest-growing oil companies,” Reuters reports. “Waterous intends to more than double crude production by Strathcona Resources and expand more aggressively than any of its rivals after the company’s hostile bid for MEG Energy failed. He also wants Canada, the fourth-biggest oil producer, to double oil and gas output to unlock economic growth during a time of trade tensions with the U.S. “If I’m saying a whole country should increase oil production by two times, well, what am I doing? I’m trying to do my share,” Waterous, 64, Strathcona’s executive chairman, told Reuters in an interview, his first since announcing the strategy. Waterous, the former head of global investment banking for Scotiabank, is doubling down on oil as Canadian public sentiment shifts in favor of fossil fuel development… “The plan will see Strathcona — which Waterous built from scratch to Canada’s fifth-largest oil producer — expand from 125,000 barrels per day in 2026 to up to 300,000 bpd by 2035.”

Reuters: Britain launches second carbon capture licensing round
Shadia Nasralla, 12/9/25

“Britain launched its second-ever carbon capture licensing round on Tuesday for 14 locations that could potentially store up to 2 gigatons of carbon dioxide, the North Sea Transition Authority regulator said,” Reuters reports. “…But making such projects commercially viable is difficult in the context of a fragmented carbon price landscape, typically leaving them dependent on government subsidies. Britain awarded 21 carbon capture licenses in 2023. In terms of receiving actual permits to proceed towards CO2 injection, so far only two projects – Endurance and HyNet, which predate the 2023 licensing round – have reached that stage. The new licensing round will run until March 24, 2026, the NSTA said, adding licensing would likely be awarded in early 2027.”

BBC: Is there a future for carbon capture and storage in Scotland?
Kevin Keane, 12/9/25

“It’s long been seen as a vital technological solution to dealing with our hard-to-tackle greenhouse gas emissions. But a catalogue of issues have led some academics to believe the Acorn carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) project in Aberdeenshire is facing an uncertain future,” the BBC reports. “Technical problems in potential storage fields, the loss of two key industrial sites in Scotland and funding are all identified as stumbling blocks. One of the major stakeholders, Storegga, has put its share up for sale – but project leaders insist that should not be interpreted as a sign of wider problems… “Prof John Underhill, director of the Energy Transition Institute at Aberdeen University, believes the closures mean the amount of available carbon dioxide from Scottish sites is “much reduced.” He added: “Storegga is now seeking to reduce its stake so that suggests that investor confidence in the project is not what it was… “The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has also said it believes the decision has no bearing on the commercial viability of the project. A DESNZ spokesman added that it was “working closely with the Scottish government and industry to secure a buyer and realise the site’s potential to create thousands of jobs and drive industrial renewal in Scotland.” “…Since 2016 or so, this project has existed in some form or another. What needs to happen is some of that £200m needs to be unlocked.” However the UK government says that money will not be made available until the 2026/27 financial year.”

CNBC: NextEra working with Exxon to develop gigawatt data center for hyperscaler
Spencer Kimball, 12/8/25

“NextEra and Exxon are developing a 1.2 gigawatt power plant that combines gas generation with carbon capture technology,” CNBC reports. “…There is no signed agreement with a customer yet… “The 1.2 gigawatt power plant would combine gas generation with Exxon’s carbon capture technology to reduce emissions, according to NextEra’s presentation to investors. They plan to market the site to a hyperscaler in the first quarter of 2026…”NextEra and Exxon have secured 2,500 acres of land for the facility. The site will be located in the Southeast in close proximity to Exxon’s carbon dioxide pipeline infrastructure, according to NextEra.”

Bloomberg: NextEra Shares Fall Amid Push to Move Into Data Centers and Gas
Josh Saul and Will Wade, 12/8/25

“NextEra Energy Inc., the big clean-power developer that’s been pivoting into natural gas generation preferred by President Donald Trump, announced Monday a flurry of plans to develop data centers and expand its fossil-fuel footprint,” Bloomberg reports. “Shares dipped as much as 2.6% as investors questioned whether the company could make that switch. Jefferies analysts attributed the drop to weak renewable development and a need to convert data-center announcements into deals and earnings… “NextEra said in its investor day presentation that it will partner with Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud to develop data centers across the US and agreed to supply about 2.5 gigawatts of clean-energy capacity to Meta Platforms Inc. The Florida-based company is also buying a natural gas retailer and plans to develop gas plants separately with Exxon Mobil Crop. and Comstock Resources.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

FOX News: Alaska hits back at insurers accused of using ‘woke’ underwriting to reshape energy policy as ANWR reopens
Charles Creitz, 12/8/25

“The state of Alaska sent warning letters Monday to four major insurance firms, saying their climate-related policies may violate state insurance and consumer-protection laws by creating an uneven playing field for energy projects,” FOX News reports. “The news comes as Alaska’s congressional delegation led a successful effort to disapprove – or overturn – Biden-era restrictions placed on energy exploration in Section 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Thursday, effectively lifting those restrictions… “Alaska took issue with Chubb’s March 2025 announcement that it would no longer underwrite oil and gas projects in International Union for the Conservation of Nature management categories one through four – which it noted included ANWR. Cox and Sande wrote that the underwriting prohibition on ANWR is one that ‘uniquely affects Alaska’ and that ‘Alaska has invested years of planning and permitting work to open responsible opportunity in the ANWR… no other state faces this kind of prohibition.”

OPINION

Michigan Advance: Shutting down Line 5 is not a risk—It’s responsible leadership for Michigan’s future
Beth Wallace is the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes climate and energy director and serves as board chair for the Pipeline Safety Trust, 12/8/25

“We are told we face a difficult choice: protect our water or secure our energy. This is a false narrative, manufactured by a foreign corporation and its allies to disguise their illegal occupation of our Great Lakes. The real choice before us, and the urgent duty before our state officials, is between upholding the law or capitulating to corporate power,” Beth Wallance writes for the Michigan Advance. “…An orderly, planned shutdown of Line 5 is not a concession; it is an affirmation. It is how we uphold the laws that protect the Public Trust Doctrine enshrined in our state constitution. It is how we defend state sovereignty by enforcing our Governor’s valid revocation of an easement that a corporation continues to violate with impunity. It is how we honor Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights, respecting the original stewards of these waters whose survival and culture are non-negotiable. Critically, moving forward with a shutdown is how we boost jobs and domestic energy security. Since the Snyder administration, studies have confirmed that alternatives exist, but corporate greed has blinded our decision makers. Shutting Line 5 means investing in Michigan labor to build and maintain modern, safer energy infrastructure, not relying on a 70-year-old line in the heart of our Straits to send Canadian oil to foreign markets. True energy independence is built on innovation and resilience, not on doubling down on a risky, outdated conduit… “The call is clear. Use every tool of State government to end this illegal occupation and manage a transition that protects our water and our workers. Demonstrate to the nation that when the health of the Great Lakes and the rule of law are at stake, Michigan will lead. Our Great Lakes are not a bargaining chip. They are the foundation of our identity, economy, and future. Upholding the law to protect them isn’t a threat to our prosperity, it is its very source. The political will to act now is the only leadership worthy of this moment and this magnificent trust.”

Environmental Defence: The “Federal-Alberta MOU” is a gut punch to Canadians. It must be stopped
Tim Gray, Executive Directorm 12/8/25

“It is hard to describe the scale of the attack on the public interest represented by this MOU, because it tries to resurrect the Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline, fast-track polluting gas-powered AI data centres, and trash climate action. But it needs to be done,” Tim Gray writes for Environmental Defence. “…A shipwreck and tanker rupture would send heavy oil to the bottom of the shallow strait, where it would move with the tides and waves, decimating marine and linked terrestrial life. The communities and cultures, particularly those of coastal First Nations, would face devastating impacts for generations. At the same time, the multi-billion-dollar fisheries and tourism industries would collapse, threatening livelihoods and local economies. Moving inland, the pipeline would have to be built to cross approximately 1,900 km of mountains, valleys, and forests to reach Fort McMurray. This means countless rivers, wetlands, and streams that would be disturbed and put at permanent risk of a pipeline break… “More oil produced also means 25 per cent more tailings per year being dumped together with the trillions of litres of toxic wastewater and mud that already lie unprocessed and leaking into the Athabasca River and downstream into the water supply of the people at Fort Chipewyan and Mikisew Cree First Nations… “The massive tax subsidies planned for the oil industry’s carbon capture and oil recovery project, even if they work as planned (and existing plants have not) , will only capture a small proportion of the increase in pollution that will occur as a result of filling the new pipeline and will do nothing to address the pollution that is being emitted today. Oh, and the carbon dioxide pipeline that will snake across the landscape to the carbon capture plant would be incredibly deadly if it leaks… “Over ten years ago Canadians came together to stop the Northern Gateway pipeline and secure climate action. Unfortunately, we will have to do so again, and we will. Our economic, environmental and cultural future depends upon it.”

Troy Media: Could Canada lose its biggest oil customer?
Rashid Husain Syed is an analyst specializing in energy and politics, 12/8/25

“The United States’ confrontation with Venezuela could lead to a reduction in the U.S. long-term need for Canadian crude, a shift that would have major consequences for Canada,” Rashid Husain Syed writes for Troy Media. “About 97 per cent of Canada’s crude exports go to the U.S., according to the Canada Energy Regulator. When Venezuelan supplies are disrupted, prices for heavy oil rise, and Canada benefits in the short term. But if the standoff brings political change and Venezuela rebuilds its oil sector, the U.S. could begin relying less on Canadian barrels. Canada is one of the world’s major producers of heavy crude, mostly from Alberta’s oil sands. U.S. Gulf Coast refineries were designed to run on heavy oil because it was cheap and plentiful for decades. That is why what happens in the Caribbean matters to Canada. Venezuela holds almost a fifth of the world’s known oil reserves yet produces less than one per cent of global supply… “If the U.S. gains access to millions of barrels of new Venezuelan supply in the years ahead, Canadian producers could face a shrinking market. Canada needs to find new buyers. Relying on one customer leaves the country vulnerable to geopolitical shocks it cannot control.”