EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 2/15/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• Roanoke Times: Appeals court rejects latest effort to slow Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Associated Press: North Dakota takes federal government to trial over costs to police Dakota Access Pipeline protests

• Globe Gazette: Payment of Hancock County bills for proposed carbon pipeline still in limbo

• The Tyee: ‘Quality Cannot Be Compromised Due to Trans Mountain’s Urgency’

• Law360: 10th Circ. Revives Suit Accusing Valero Of Okla. Pipeline Leak

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Political changes can’t derail clean energy shift, IEA head says

• Reuters: US LNG export terminal permit pause could boost coal use abroad, says Williams CEO

• New York Times: U.S. Gas Producers Are Racing to Sell to Asia. And Mexico Is Key.

STATE UPDATES

• USA Today: Fortune 500 oil giant to pay $4 million for air pollution at New Mexico and Texas facilities

• Guardian: What has Louisiana’s governor done his first month in office? Boost fossil fuels

• Alaska Beacon: For third year, Alaska’s top-paid public executive is the gas pipeline boss

EXTRACTION

• Western Standard: Peace River indigenous group blocks oil company from land after 5.8 quake

• Guardian: End fossil-fuel era to address colonial injustices, urges prominent historian

• Reuters: Oil majors rejigger portfolios with $30-per-barrel price in mind

• Reuters: Trinidad and Tobago cleans up beaches following 12-kilometer oil spill

• Reuters: Google to share oil and gas methane leaks spotted from space

• TC Energy: Seven More Reasons to Love Natural Gas!

• Washington Post: The plastics industry would like a word with your kids

• E&E News: Personal net zero? Gas utilities pitch offset plans.

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Wetaskiwin Times: Local student receives Indigenous Legacy Scholarship

OPINION

• WyoFile: Why is Wyoming offering a $10 million enhanced oil recovery ‘stimulus?’

• Duluth News Tribune: Carbon capture: a path to a greener future

• Energy Central: Hydrogen, Carbon Capture Innovations Will Power Pennsylvania’s Future

• Washington Examiner: Methane Taxation Threatens American Energy Independence

• New York Times: We Don’t Have Time for Climate Misinformation
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Roanoke Times: Appeals court rejects latest effort to slow Mountain Valley Pipeline
Laurence Hammack, 2/15/24

“What may be the last legal attempt to slow work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline was nixed Tuesday by a federal appeals court,” the Roanoke Times reports. “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reaffirmed its earlier decision that a lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit in which six landowners in Franklin, Montgomery and Roanoke counties challenged the pipeline’s use of eminent domain to take their property. Mia Yugo, a Roanoke attorney who represents the landowners, told the Times that she plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last year revived the property rights dispute by sending the case back to the Washington, D.C., appellate court for a second review… “Rather than rule on the underlying merits of the lawsuit’s constitutional claim, the D.C. appeals court limited its seven-page opinion to the question of whether a District Court judge erred when he dismissed the case in 2020… “Yugo told the Times her case involves a different constitutional claim, invoking a separation of powers argument, that was not considered earlier. “Private property is the bedrock of liberty,” she told the Times. “This case presents a critical issue for the country. The landowners are entitled to their day in court and that should have already happened.”

Associated Press: North Dakota takes federal government to trial over costs to police Dakota Access Pipeline protests
JACK DURA, 2/15/24

“North Dakota is set to take the federal government to trial Thursday for the costs of responding to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, the culmination of an unusual and drawn-out court fight,” the Associated Press reports. “The state filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking $38 million from the federal government for policing the protests… “In an interview, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley told AP the trial will show examples of numerous requests to the federal government for help and the “complete refusal” to offer resources and financial support in response… “North Dakota relied on compacts to bring in law enforcement officers from around the region and the country for help, he told AP… “The state’s complaint alleges many “trespassers at these unlawful encampments engaged in disruptive, illegal and sometimes violent conduct on federal, State and private lands, including blocking public highways, threatening individuals working on the DAPL pipeline and the local population (such as ranchers), and directly initiating violence against law enforcement personnel and first responders.” “…A public comment period ended in December on the draft of a court-ordered environmental review of the pipeline’s river crossing. The process is key for the future of the pipeline, with a decision expected in late 2024.”

Globe Gazette: Payment of Hancock County bills for proposed carbon pipeline still in limbo
Rob Hillesland, 2/14/24

“Despite being on the meeting agenda, Hancock County supervisors did not get an opportunity to discuss unpaid bills for prep work done for Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline on Feb. 12,” the Globe Gazette reports. “County Drainage Administrator Ann Hinders said she was informed Summit Pipeline Project Manager Grant Terry was not attending the meeting, either in-person or remotely, because Summit’s legal counsel had not communicated about the matter with the county’s legal counsel… “Landowner Glen Alden told the board that Summit is applying for more water permits for their proposed pipeline that would be constructed through Hancock County. Alden said that a pumping station proposed in the county will require large amounts of water for cooling… “He said contaminants could be discharged in the water, which would be nice to anticipate and address in advance rather than clean up later. Since Terry was not participating in the weekly meeting, an update was provided by Kristina Paradise of Snyder & Associates, which is the county’s inspector and engineering firm for the proposed pipeline. She said all required reporting folders and templates for the proposed project have been created per instruction from the Iowa Utilities Board, which is reviewing the company’s permit application… “Paradise noted that every county must have a county inspector on the ground during pipeline construction. She said that Snyder & Associates could likely have as many as 4-5 inspectors on the ground at any given time because when construction starts there will be trenches open at multiple locations in the county.”

The Tyee: ‘Quality Cannot Be Compromised Due to Trans Mountain’s Urgency’
Zoë Yunker, 2/14/24

“Trans Mountain’s pipeline expansion project, which began in 2013 with the aim of sharply increasing the pipeline’s capacity to bring bitumen from Edmonton to Burnaby, is facing its last big obstacle: a 2.3-kilometre wall of volcanic rock next to the Fraser River between Hope and Chilliwack that the section’s director, Jim Huber, has described as “some of the most challenging terrain in North America for pipelines,” The Tyee reports. “…While the Canada Energy Regulator initially rejected Trans Mountain’s first application for the updated plan, it changed course a month later in response to a followup request, allowing the company to use the new pipes in the section known as Mountain 3. “It’s a weird situation,” Eugene Kung, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, told The Tyee. “It does not instil a lot of confidence, I’ll say that.” “…Last week the company announced it was having “technical issues” getting the pipe into so-far impenetrable rock, citing an undefined “obstruction” and delaying its in-service date to the second quarter of 2024… “First, the rock is so hard that Trans Mountain regularly breaks tools while drilling. “We had to go in after and fish out the tools,” said Corey Goulet, chief project execution officer for the Trans Mountain expansion project, during an oral hearing in January. Second, “pressurized aquifers” run through the rock and into the pipeline’s path. Trans Mountain said that the water from these aquifers dilutes its drilling fluids, making the drilling process slow and potentially impossible. The company tried to plug the aquifers with grout, but as water levels grew, they abandoned the approach… “But that fast purchase of surplus stock was not compliant with Trans Mountain’s quality management plan — the ninth condition placed on the pipeline cited when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved the project in 2019… “The offered pipe is second-hand pipe,” wrote Trans Mountain senior procurement specialist Naomi Goto in an email co-ordinating a purchase from one of the unvetted pipeline companies, adding that “the pipe is from a cancelled project in the USA.” Those already manufactured pipes come with added risks, Cavanaugh told the Tyee.”.

Law360: 10th Circ. Revives Suit Accusing Valero Of Okla. Pipeline Leak
Madeline Lyskawa, 2/14/24

“The Tenth Circuit has partially revived a cattle ranch’s lawsuit against Valero Energy Corp. alleging a pipeline leak contaminated its property, saying an Oklahoma federal judge misinterpreted state law when he tossed the ranch’s negligence claims,” Law360 reports.

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Political changes can’t derail clean energy shift, IEA head says
Hannah Northey, 2/14/24

“The head of the world’s energy agency on Wednesday said a shift in U.S. leadership won’t hamper the global shift to cleaner energy,” E&E News reports. “I don’t expect the political changes of a president or a minister or anything else will be able to stop the clean energy transition. The economic and technological dynamics are very strong,” said Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, when asked about how his group would respond to a potential second term of former President Donald Trump, who has said that boosting fossil fuels would be one of his top priorities. “I believe the clean energy transition will continue to move fast, whoever the next president or the minister or this or that country will be,” said Birol. Birol made the comments at the closing press conference at IEA’s 2024 ministerial meeting in Paris, where top Biden administration officials Tuesday touted the administration’s focus on equity and accelerating decarbonization under the Inflation Reduction Act. Global leaders at the meeting also agreed to accelerate clean energy to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, create a critical minerals “security program” and start discussions with India about joining the IEA.”

Reuters: US LNG export terminal permit pause could boost coal use abroad, says Williams CEO
Laura Sanicola, 2/13/24

“The Biden administration’s pause on approving permits for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals could backfire by boosting coal usage overseas, Alan Armstrong, CEO of U.S. natural gas pipeline operator Williams Companies, told Reuters on Tuesday. “…Even with new projects paused, the U.S. is set to expand its LNG capacity. International LNG consumers, especially in burgeoning electricity markets like Southeast Asia, are considering building infrastructure that relies on coal rather than natural gas in the wake of the pause, Armstrong said in an interview at Williams’ Clean Energy Expo in Washington on Tuesday. “We had a huge opportunity as a country to grab market share that was getting scared away by Russia’s activity, and now we’ve pretty well destroyed what was on the bubble,” Armstrong told Reuters… “There have been no public announcements about altered projects in Southeast Asia since the U.S. pause. However, some countries in the region, including Vietnam, that are on the fence about whether to build infrastructure to accommodate coal or LNG will be particularly affected by the pause, Armstrong told Reuters. “They are thinking, ‘we were on the bubble between coal and, and LNG, and (the U.S.) just made our mind up for us.”

New York Times: U.S. Gas Producers Are Racing to Sell to Asia. And Mexico Is Key.
Max Bearak, 2/13/24

“​As soon as next year, the United States’ fossil fuel industry will gain its first foothold on a valuable shortcut to sell natural gas to Asia. The shortcut goes straight through Mexico,” the New York Times reports. “The new route could cut travel times to energy-hungry Asian nations roughly in half by piping the gas to a shipping terminal on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, bypassing the traffic- and drought-choked Panama Canal. The terminal is symbolic of an enormous shift underway in the gas trade, one that will influence fossil-fuel use worldwide for decades and have consequences in the fight against climate change… “In Mexico, the action is centered for now on a gas terminal, Energía Costa Azul, that was originally designed to send gas in the other direction: For more than a decade it has unloaded gas from Asian tankers and piped it to California and Arizona to be burned to produce electricity. Fracking changed everything. Now Costa Azul, pinched between Baja California’s agave-covered mountains and the vast Pacific Ocean, is undergoing a $2 billion transformation into an export facility for American-produced gas. It’s the first in a network of gas exporting facilities planned down Mexico’s West coast… “The operation of those export projects would mean not only a great deal of carbon and methane emissions but also the industrialization of a pristine ecosystem,” Fernando Ochoa, who runs Northwest Environmental Defense, a nonprofit focusing on the region, told the Times… “Any expansion in Mexico is tantamount to an expansion in the U.S.,” Gregor Clark, who researches energy projects across the Americas for Global Energy Monitor, told the Times. 

STATE UPDATES

USA Today: Fortune 500 oil giant to pay $4 million for air pollution at New Mexico and Texas facilities
Minnah Arshad, 2/14/24

“A Fortune 500 oil and natural gas company will pay $4 million in civil penalties for unlawful air pollution in New Mexico and Texas, the Justice Department announced Tuesday,” USA Today reports. “According to the federal lawsuit, Houston-based Apache Corporation violated the Clean Air Act across 23 of its oil and natural gas production facilities in Lea and Eddy Counties in New Mexico and Loving and Reeves Counties in Texas.  Between 2019 and 2022, Apache improperly stored oil at several of its facilities, federal prosecutors said, fueling a rise in air pollutants that can cause lung irritation and exacerbate respiratory illnesses. “This settlement shows that oil and gas operators deserve greater scrutiny because too many are failing to comply with federal and state rules,” said New Mexico environment cabinet secretary James Kenney. “As a result, bad actors will cause greater federal and state regulation of the entire oil and gas industry as ozone levels rise and public health suffers.”

Guardian: What has Louisiana’s governor done his first month in office? Boost fossil fuels
Terry L Jones for Floodlight, 2/14/24

“In his first four weeks in office, Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, has filled the ranks of state environmental posts with executives tied to the oil, gas and coal industries,” the Guardian reports. “Landry, who has labeled climate change “a hoax”, has also taken aim at the state’s climate taskforce for possible elimination as part of a sweeping reorganization of Louisiana’s environmental bureaucracy. The goal, according to Landry’s executive order, is to “create a better prospective business climate”… “A key indicator of where Landry is headed is the choice of Tyler Gray to lead the state’s department of energy and natural resources. Gray enters the new administration after spending the past two years working for Placid Refining Company as the oil company’s corporate secretary and lobbyist. For environmentalists, these are worrying signs for a state that is the site of a boom in proposed liquified natural gas facilities and carbon capture projects that they say threaten to increase Louisiana’s already high contribution of climate-changing greenhouse gasses… “Anne Rolfes with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a grassroots non-profit focused on accountability in the petrochemical industry, has a grim outlook on Louisiana’s future – and its past. ”The state has never stood up to the oil industry,” Rolfes told Floodlight. “Under every administration, there is this myopic idea of destroying our state via the oil and gas industry is somehow economic development.” “…Angelle Bradford, a spokesperson with the Delta chapter of the Sierra Club, told Floodlight Landry’s moves show “Louisiana is not taking the climate crisis seriously”. “It’s once again the usual Good Ol’ Boy mentality where we’re putting people in positions who not only won’t follow the rules but create rules that make it harder for the other side, which is us.”

Alaska Beacon: For third year, Alaska’s top-paid public executive is the gas pipeline boss
JAMES BROOKS, 2/14/24

“The head of the state corporation in charge of a long-planned trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline is once again Alaska’s top-paid public executive,” the Alaska Beacon reports. “Frank Richards, president of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., received $479,588 in compensation during 2023, according to the latest version of the state’s annual executive compensation report, released in January… “The annual compensation report includes only executives, not all public employees, but Richards has traditionally topped the list among all employees as well. The state’s second-highest-paid executive in 2023 was University of Alaska President Pat Pitney, according to the report… “Gov. Mike Dunleavy received $144,536 in compensation during 2023, the report said.”

EXTRACTION

Western Standard: Peace River indigenous group blocks oil company from land after 5.8 quake
Shaun Polczer, 2/14/24

“A Peace River-area native group has advised regulators that the planned expansion of a Calgary-based oil producer cannot proceed as planned after improper waste disposal triggered one of the largest earthquakes in Alberta history,” the Western Standard reports. “The Woodland Creek First Nation (WCFN) on Wednesday said it had notified the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) that Obsidian Energy would not be allowed to access ‘unauthorized’ land and has set up a series of “traditional monitoring camps” to “safeguard” their land… “It comes after Obsidian was hit with environmental protection orders related to a series of incidents last spring and the previous fall that triggered a series of “seismic events” including a 5.8 temblor that shook residences and rattled nerves. A subsequent investigation found it to be related to wastewater injection wells designed to dispose of brines and other harmful contaminants from oil drilling. That’s resulted in a war of words and duelling press releases between the company and the First Nation. “Obsidian have not met the basic legal requirements necessary to proceed with development on our territory. They refuse to address any of our environmental, health or safety concerns. This is some of the poorest behaviour from a resource company I have ever seen,” Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom told the Standard. “The Supreme Court of Canada has been extremely clear. If a company wants to develop resources on indigenous land, it has a duty to consult and a duty to address the impacts upon indigenous communities. Our rights under Section 35 of the constitution and under Treaty 8 are not ambiguous.” 

Guardian: End fossil-fuel era to address colonial injustices, urges prominent historian
Philip Oltermann, 2/15/24

“Cities in the global north that curb their carbon emissions are doing more to address colonial injustices than those who focus their efforts on taking down statues and changing street names, one of Europe’s leading historians has said,” the Guardian reports. “David Van Reybrouck, the Belgian author of a bestselling history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new book on Indonesia’s independence from Dutch rule, has become one of the key drivers of a nascent and often fraught debate about Europe’s colonial legacies. Those who have lauded his work include the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan. But in an interview with the Guardian, Van Reybrouck criticised the movement of historical reckoning for being too focused on the past, calling instead for more awareness of the “colonisation of the present and the future”. “There is more to colonialism than historical colonialism,” Van Reybrouck told the Guardian. “Today’s climate change is deeply colonial: it has been largely caused by the temperate zones from the northern hemisphere and it is most deeply felt in the tropics and the Arctic. You cannot decolonise without decarbonising and vice versa.” “…A mayor who makes her city fossil-free by 2040 has done more against colonialism, racism and discrimination than another mayor who decolonises all the street names, statues and schoolbooks while keeping the city running on fossil fuels,” he told the Guardian. Former colonial powers, Van Reybrouck told the Guardian, should jointly contribute to funds to fight the impact of the climate crisis in the global south rather than just engaging in state-to-state negotiations about reparations.”

Reuters: Oil majors rejigger portfolios with $30-per-barrel price in mind
Sabrina Valle, 2/14/24

“Oil majors are targeting new oilfields that can be profitable even if oil prices fall to about $30 per barrel, using a third year of rising demand to reshape portfolios amid uncertainty over the industry’s future,” Reuters reports. “Investors have not returned to oil stocks despite recent high earnings… “The shift to fields with favorable break-even points follows deeper and more frequent boom-cycles in the last decade. It also reflects executives’ belief that current high prices may not last… “That uncertainty and inventor demands for returns underpin executives’ focus on buying lower-cost crude production and the flexibility to adjust output in response to price swings… “Exxon, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), opens new tab recently struck deals worth a combined $125 billion to acquire companies that will help them pump oil for between $25 and $30 per barrel… “Those low costs are about half the break-even level for oil projects a decade ago, and are about 40% of today’s Brent global oil benchmark . But they are a bet that improved productivity of wells will continue… “The cost imperative has led companies to conduct wholesale restructurings of their portfolios and to concentrate operations in fewer areas… “New production tends to be highly prolific deepwater fields, where platforms turn into cash machines once paid off, or shale, where a collection of small and easy-to-tap wells allows for adjusting volumes depending on energy prices.”

Reuters: Trinidad and Tobago cleans up beaches following 12-kilometer oil spill
2/13/24

“First responders and volunteers from Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday sought to contain an oil spill detected last week in the Caribbean country’s waters and clean areas of Tobago island’s coast already affected by the incident,” Reuters reports. “Trinidad and Tobago’s coast guard first spotted the spill on Feb. 7, about 6 kilometers off the coast of Studley Park, the chief secretary of Tobago’s national assembly, Farley Augustine, said in a press conference on Sunday. Barriers have been installed to contain the spill, which earlier this week had already spread in a 12-kilometer (7.5 mile) line, and protect the Scarborough port in Tobago, used by cruise ships, especially during high season as current Carnival. First responders have been focused on containing the spill as tides change, protecting surrounding areas, cleaning beaches, deploying divers, isolating toxic material and assessing its impact to wildlife, according to officials and media reports. “This is a national emergency here in Trinidad and Tobago,” Prime Minister Keith Rowley said on Sunday, after saying that a vessel had capsized and made contact with a reef on the coastline, causing the spill.”

Reuters: Google to share oil and gas methane leaks spotted from space
2/14/24

“Google and environmental group Environmental Defense Fund on Wednesday unveiled a partnership to expose sources of climate-warming emissions from oil and gas operations that will be detected from space by a new satellite,” Reuters reports. “MethaneSAT will launch next month, one of several satellites that are being deployed to monitor methane emissions across the globe to pinpoint major sources of the invisible but potent greenhouse gas. It is a partnership led by EDF, the New Zealand Space Agency, Harvard University and others… “Google also said it will create a map of oil and gas infrastructure, using artificial intelligence to identify components like oil tanks. MethaneSAT’s data on emissions will then be overlayed with the Google map to assist in understanding which types of oil and gas equipment tend to leak most. The information will be available through Google Earth Engine, a geospatial analysis platform, later this year. Earth Engine is free to researchers, nonprofits and the news media. “We think this information is incredibly valuable for energy companies, researchers and the public sector to anticipate and mitigate methane emissions in components that are generally most susceptible,” Yael Maguire, vice president of geo sustainability at Google, said on a call with reporters.”

TC Energy: Seven More Reasons to Love Natural Gas!
2/14/24

“It’s affordable, abundant and reliable, but did you know natural gas goes beyond serving as a heating and power source? Find out why natural gas continues to be a great choice for consumers’ wallets, the environment, the energy transition, the industrial sector and public health,” according to TC Energy. “It’s always been natural: As an organic compound, natural gas comes by its ‘natural’ moniker honestly… “A high-demand, affordable choice: Canada and the U.S. have abundant natural gas reservoirs that position this energy source to be affordable for years to come.  Natural gas’s lower emissions profile, when compared to coal and wood, also makes it a valued commodity as liquified natural gas (LNG) for international customers as a cleaner energy source… “Fueling vehicles with compressed natural gas (CNG): Natural gas is one of the only fuels that can lower a fleet’s carbon footprint while maintaining affordability and reliability making CNG an emerging, popular alternative fuel for transportation vehicles in North America… “Using energy from waste: Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) is sourced from decomposing organic matter – animal waste, waste from landfills, and wastewater sludge — capturing methane to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere and processing it as a clean energy source… “Natural gas fuels industry and provides a raw material for products: Natural gas is used in various ways to manufacture cosmetics, medicine, synthetic fibers and plastics, including medical products such as acrylic lenses to improve vision for those with cataracts… “Harnessing hydrogen: Hydrogen energy is considered to have a low emissions profile because when it’s burned, the main byproduct is water. Using natural gas to extract hydrogen is a way to harness this low-emission energy source, which can then be used to generate electricity, heat and power engines, most often via fuel cell technology. Creating a healthier homefront: When it comes to heating your home, natural gas is a much more environmentally friendly and healthy choice than using wood. That’s because wood releases about 75% more CO2 than natural gas and causes elevated exposure to toxic substances including benzene, formaldehyde and fine soot particles.”

Washington Post: The plastics industry would like a word with your kids
Evan Halper, 2/14/24

“Wearing a lab coat, Eve Vitale asked a chemistry class at Warren Mott High School if anyone had heard anything bad about plastics. Hands shot up. It doesn’t degrade, said one student. It hurts the environment, said another. But “that’s not really the plastic’s fault,” said Vitale, chief executive of the Society of Plastics Engineers Foundation, a group of industry professionals. “That’s the fault of humanity,” the Washington Post reports. “After warning what a “mess” it would be in supermarkets and hospitals without plastics, Vitale instructed that the plastic pollution crisis could be addressed through stepped up personal responsibility, product innovation and improvements in recycling. School campuses are a new battleground in an increasingly bitter brawl over plastics, as groups like Vitale’s seek to improve the reputation of a material that has become infamous as an environmental menace. The efforts are partially funded by companies involved in or dependent on fossil fuel production, through donations and conference sponsorships… “Vitale’s group dispatches its “PlastiVan” program throughout the academic year, with its team of plastic evangelists talking up the wonders of polymers to young audiences. Once housed out of an actual van, the program has since grown into a sophisticated messaging and recruitment operation, visiting as many as 175 schools annually. In Northeast Texas, hundreds of Girl Scouts have been awarded a PlastiVan-sponsored merit badge. Another industry ally working separate from PlastiVan, conservative advocacy group PragerU, provides public school teachers in at least five states a classroom video that assures students they should not feel guilty about using so much plastic because plastics actually help the environment — an assertion many environmental scientists would find absurd. Yet industry plans for the future are confronting a hostile regulatory landscape. Even in the classroom, the industry is finding itself up against tough adversaries. Anti-plastics groups are promoting their own lesson plans, which push a very different perspective, one that focuses on industry culpability and guides students to organize against single-use plastics.”

E&E News: Personal net zero? Gas utilities pitch offset plans.
Jeffrey Tomich, 2/15/24

“Gas utilities are increasingly urging customers to join in on their “net zero” journeys by pushing voluntary programs that allow homeowners and businesses to reduce emissions from furnaces, water heaters and stoves through an extra monthly fee,” E&E News reports. “In northern Indiana, NiSource says customers can pay to designate a percentage of their gas use to come from “renewable” sources. In Michigan, DTE Energy customers can join the utility’s “Natural Gas Balance” for $4 to $16 a month. In North Carolina, Duke Energy’s Piedmont Natural Gas sells carbon mitigation in $3 “GreenEdge” blocks with each representing about a fourth of an average residential user’s emissions. The programs are not eliminating emissions by reducing fuel use. They’re mostly delving into the multibillion-dollar market for carbon offsets — heavily scrutinized financial instruments that represent a metric ton of carbon dioxide-equivalent that’s either prevented from entering the atmosphere or removed from it. While some offsets are derived from local forest management projects, others are being sourced half a world away. NiSource’s Northern Indiana Public Service (NIPSCO), for instance, bought offsets in December from a wind energy project that powers a textile mill in southern India, company spokesperson Joshauna Nash told E&E. The use of offsets by utilities has elicited backlash from environmental and consumer advocates, who have broadly labeled the utility programs as “greenwashing.” Other critics question whether monopoly utilities should be selling offsets that allows them to claim an environmental benefit while maintaining or even increasing gas sales rather than investing more in solutions that address the root cause of the climate crisis… “While utilities in Michigan and other states have gotten approval from regulators to offer offset-based programs to consumers, utility commissions in states such as Pennsylvania and Kentucky have denied similar proposals… “Columbia Gas dropped proposals in Ohio and Maryland after consumer advocates pushed back.”

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Wetaskiwin Times: Local student receives Indigenous Legacy Scholarship
2/14/24

“TC Energy is pleased to share that Tyler Ermineskin, has been awarded an Indigenous Legacy Scholarship. Ermineskin is attending the University of Alberta, and is a second year law student,” the Wetaskiwin Times reports. “…Applicaions are now open for the TC Indigenous Legacy Scholarship until May.”

OPINION

WyoFile: Why is Wyoming offering a $10 million enhanced oil recovery ‘stimulus?’
Veteran Wyoming journalist Kerry Drake has covered Wyoming for more than four decades, previously as a reporter and editor for the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle and Casper Star-Tribune, 2/13/24

“…This year we have Senate File 78 – Carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery stimulus. It would provide a $10 million “stimulus” to encourage more carbon capture for use in the oil industry,” Kerry Drake writes for WyoFile. “The primary potential beneficiary of this bill would appear to be ExxonMobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company… “I know what you’re probably thinking: Does ExxonMobil, with its staggering resources, really need Wyoming’s $10 million?… “Proponents say it could boost Wyoming’s severance, royalty and property tax revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars while making the process more profitable for corporations… “But some members of the legislative panel questioned why Wyoming should provide incentives to huge corporations that could easily afford to expand their own carbon dioxide-EOR operations. “These incentives go to Exxon, but they’re already selling all that they can, and this would just provide an increased margin for them,” said Rep. Scott Heiner (R-Afton). “How do we get that benefit to the small operator … and utilize money in the state rather than just for a large corporation?” The Powder River Basin Resource Council, a Sheridan-based landowner advocacy group, generally supported EOR until December, when it passed a resolution opposing the process. The technology, the council noted, is “more likely to contribute to a greater atmospheric load of greenhouse gasses rather than reducing anthropogenic emissions.” “…Roberts explained that while we need oil, companies are driven by the profit motive to sell as much as possible. But humanity’s long-term interest means using as little oil as possible… “If the likely result is lining the pockets of Exxon-Mobil, but not more carbon storage, let’s not gamble with the state’s money.”

Duluth News Tribune: Carbon capture: a path to a greener future
Joe Radinovich of Crosby is a former elected representative in the Minnesota House, 2/14/24

“The Environmental Protection Agency projects that the number of hot days exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the next seven decades will likely double,” Joe Radinovich writes for the Duluth News Tribune. “…To address this issue, our focus should be on reducing carbon-dioxide emissions, a significant contributor to global warming… “However, many industries — including mining, chemical production, and fertilizer production — currently face challenges in achieving decarbonization… “We must find a solution that safeguards these industries’ workers while working toward our climate objectives. This is why we need to continue exploring alternative solutions like carbon capture and storage… “North Dakota is one of only two states with the authority to develop new CCS projects, which would be beneficial for Minnesota. This is because Minnkota Power Cooperative is leading the construction of Project Tundra, which promises to be the world’s largest CCS facility… “States and businesses are already investing in CCS, but they are facing challenges. Approximately 30 projects across the country are awaiting approval from the EPA, while Project Tundra is nearing completion.”

Energy Central: Hydrogen, Carbon Capture Innovations Will Power Pennsylvania’s Future
Mike Butler, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic for the Consumer Energy Alliance, 2/14/24

“The evolution of our energy system holds the key to Pennsylvania’s bright economic and environmental future,” Mike Butler writes for Energy Central. “But as consumers look for cleaner energy and more sustainable products, Pennsylvania has a new opportunity to lead the country in the deployment of emerging technologies like carbon capture and storage and hydrogen production, which can sustain economic growth for a new generation… “On Oct. 13, the Biden Administration awarded $7 billion for seven regional hydrogen hubs, which will benefit 16 states. Our Commonwealth is the only state to host two hubs, one in the east and one in the west. They are expected to create 32,400 construction jobs for our skilled tradespeople and nearly 10,000 permanent jobs… “It is heartening to see Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg identify carbon capture and storage as an opportunity to decarbonize power production and major manufacturing sectors that need large amounts of energy, like steel and concrete… “Unfortunately, anti-energy activists in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere are unsurprisingly trying to blunt this amazing opportunity and forestall adoption of hydrogen and carbon capture infrastructure, part of their ongoing, misguided campaign against natural gas and oil… “We should expect these activists to keep opposing an inclusive Treasury policy… “Stifling the technological innovation the hydrogen hub program is designed to stimulate is wasteful and short-sighted.”

Washington Examiner: Methane Taxation Threatens American Energy Independence
Tim Tarpley is president of the Energy Workforce & Technology Council, the national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector, representing more than 665,000 U.S. jobs in the technology-driven energy value chain, 2/14/24

“The Biden administration’s recent implementation of a methane tax on energy producers is a misguided assault on American energy independence and a threat to the wallets of hardworking people. While supposedly set to help decrease emissions production, the new tax will only hinder our nation’s ability to provide affordable and reliable energy to its citizens. The details of the methane fee, conveniently released by the Environmental Protection Agency during election season, reveal a burdensome tax structure that will escalate over time, adding significant costs to energy production. Starting at $900 per metric ton this year and rising to a staggering $1,500 by 2026, this fee will undoubtedly drive up prices for consumers and strain the budgets of American families. This punitive tax scheme will also stifle innovation and investment in our energy sector, hampering its ability to thrive and grow.” 

New York Times: We Don’t Have Time for Climate Misinformation
Dr. Michael Mann is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons From Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis”; Peter J. Fontaine is chair of the environmental law practice at the law firm Cozen O’Connor and served as co-counsel for Dr. Mann in the defamation lawsuit detailed in this essay, 2/15/24

“The climate is warming. Polar ice is melting, glaciers are receding, the chemistry of the ocean is becoming dangerously acidic, sea levels are rising. All of this and more are consequences of the greenhouse gases we continue to emit into the atmosphere, where they trap and radiate heat that would otherwise escape into space. Those are facts, not conjectures. Yet the scientists researching the fallout from that inconvenient fact, established more than 100 years ago, continue to face attacks that threaten their research, reputations and livelihoods,” Dr. Michael Mann and Peter J. Fontaine write for the New York Times. “One of us, Michael Mann, is just such a scientist. Twelve years ago, he found himself accused of research fraud for his work documenting the rapid rise of Earth’s temperature since the early 20th century. An adjunct scholar at the time at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has said it “questions global warming alarmism,” compared Dr. Mann on a blog hosted by the institute to a convicted sex offender. “Instead of molesting children,” the post read, “he has molested and tortured data in the service of politicized science.” Then a conservative writer republished parts of that post on a blog hosted by National Review and added that Dr. Mann was “behind the fraudulent climate-change ‘hockey stick’ graph.” Last week, after a decade-long journey through the court system, a jury in Washington, D.C., found that both writers were liable for defamation. We hope this sends a broader message that defamatory attacks on scientists go beyond the bounds of protected speech and have consequences… “Clean energy solutions are readily available. But meaningful action in the United States, one of the world’s biggest carbon emitters, is in jeopardy of being blocked or slowed if a significant portion of the electorate does not accept the basic scientific facts and understand their implications. Voters should keep this in mind when they go to the polls later this year. With climate science still under attack and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations increasing, we’re running out of time.”