EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/10/25

PIPELINE NEWS

• WHO: Iowa effort to stop pipeline encouraged by new South Dakota law

• KCHA: South Dakota Law Could Block Summit Pipeline in Iowa, Too

• Verite News: Trump withdraws new pipeline rules inspired by CO2 leaks in Mississippi, Louisiana

• Successful Farming: What if Carbon Pipelines Fail?

• WCAU: Energy Transfer ordered to distribute water to Bucks County residents after pipeline leak

• E&E News: Pennsylvania demands ‘expedited’ federal action on pipeline leak

• Patch: Congressman Again Calls For Shutdown Of Pipeline In Upper Makefield

• Los Angeles Times: Trump says South Korea wants to invest in the Alaska gas pipeline. Does it?

• Guelph Today: Enbridge asks to shut out local environmental advocates from hearing

• American Chemical Society: Analysis of the Dynamic Behavior of Supercritical CO2 Pipeline Based on the Nonisothermal Transient Flow Model

• New York Focus: New York Utilities Pour Billions Into Replacing Old Gas Pipes. Is There a Better Way?

• World Pipelines: Tallgrass announces open season for the Pony Express pipeline

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Trump’s next climate move: Show global warming benefits humanity

• E&E News: Trump oil tariffs threaten vulnerable Republicans

• E&E News: Oil industry: CEQ rule reversal is ‘fatal’ to offshore leasing case

• North Dakota Monitor: Could Trump tariffs apply to electricity? Confusion reigns

• Grist: How a Trump effort to cut environmental red tape could backfire

• Washington Post: Trump just reversed course on two key U.S. climate pledges

• Washington Post: EPA reverses course, reinstating dozens of environmental justice workers

• E&E News: Trump GSA to terminate leases for 3 Army Corps district offices

STATE UPDATES

• The Hill: Trump, Texas GOP’s deregulation push sparks hope and fear in the oil field

• Houston Chronicle: Inside the fight over what — and who — is causing earthquakes near Texas oilfields

• WV Metro News: West Virginia Coal Association president says the FirstEnergy natural gas plan is bad for ratepayers

• Louisiana Illuminator: Power for data centers could come at ‘staggering’ cost to consumers

• Gasworld: US AI data centre to use carbon capture for power

EXTRACTION

• Reuters: Top oil executives reckon with downturn even as Trump cheers them on

• E&E News: CERAWeek: Energy reality shoves aside green transition

• BBC: Business leaders urge backing of Acorn project

• Eco-Business: Lawmakers, NGOs decry lack of safeguards in Malaysia’s new carbon capture and storage bill

• Associated Press: US Coast Guard investigates fuel spill off the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques

OPINION

• SD Standard: Sierra Club cheers victory over Carbon Solutions’ eminent domain claim in SD, urges Iowa to follow suit

• InForum: Port: Why does South Dakota have more antipathy to carbon pipelines than North Dakota?

• Danville Register & Bee: Fossil fuel projects

• Dallas Morning News: Texas could be a leader in carbon capture and storage
  

PIPELINE NEWS

WHO: Iowa effort to stop pipeline encouraged by new South Dakota law
Roger Riley, 3/7/25

“South Dakota now has a law that bans the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. The law does not stop the pipeline, but means that eminent domain will not be used in that state. The law offers some hope for people in Iowa wanting to stop the pipeline,” WHO reports. “I guess I would like to thank South Dakota for what they did because I think it does help us,” Kathy Stockdale, a farmer from Hardin County, told WHO. “It gives us a basis to come to Iowa and say here South Dakota has passed no eminent domain for the CO2 pipeline.” Stockdale has been battling the Summit Carbon Solutions plan to construct the pipeline from upper Midwest states to North Dakota, where the carbon would be stored. “We’re hoping it’ll change the game for Iowa, when you talk to, I talk to a couple of the legislators this morning and they both said they truly believe it was God who led to the passing of this bill,” Stockdale told WHO. “I think I’m amazed at South Dakota’s motto, I never knew what it was but it’s ‘under God the people rule’ and I think that’s a great model to have for a state because these people truly are showing that the people rule.”

KCHA: South Dakota Law Could Block Summit Pipeline in Iowa, Too
Mark Pitz, 3/9/25

“South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed a bill Thursday (03.06) banning the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines, which Sierra Club of Iowa Attorney Wally Taylor says should stop Summit Carbon Solutions from building its carbon pipeline in Iowa,” KCHA reports. “…The IUC’s decision also opens the door to Summit using eminent domain in Iowa, but Taylor told KCHA the company likely needs it to build in South Dakota, too. Taylor told KCHA their focus continues to be on getting Iowa lawmakers to block the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines here. Landowners opposed to carbon pipelines and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter will hold a Carbon Pipeline Opposition Rally at the Capitol Tuesday (03.11) to call on the Iowa Senate to pass a pipeline bill… “The Iowa House Judiciary Committee has advanced bills, including legislation led by State Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City, to block hazardous liquid pipelines carrying carbon dioxide from the use of eminent domain.”

Verite News: Trump withdraws new pipeline rules inspired by CO2 leaks in Mississippi, Louisiana
Tristan Baurick, 3/7/25

“Nearly five years after a pipeline spewed poison gas across a Mississippi town, federal regulators appeared ready in recent weeks to institute new safety rules aimed at preventing similar accidents across the U.S.’s fast-growing network of carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines,” Verite News reports. “But the proposed rules, unveiled five days before the end of Joe Biden’s presidency, were quietly derailed during the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term. A federal pipeline safety official not authorized to speak publicly told Verite the proposed rules were “withdrawn” in accordance with a Jan. 20 executive order that freezes all pending regulations and initiates a review process by Trump’s newly appointed agency leaders. Putting the pipeline rules in further doubt is a Feb. 19 executive order aimed at rooting out all regulations that are costly to “private parties” and impede economic development… “Pipeline safety advocates still hope to push the Trump administration to approve the rules, which they say are critically important for reducing the risks of potentially deadly accidents across a growing number of states. “It’s not dead yet,” Paul Blackburn, an energy policy advisor for the Bold Alliance, an environmental group that tracks pipeline development, told Verite. “It can be brought back by Trump, and I think the Trump administration should be pressured to do that.” “…The proposed rules show that PHMSA finally recognizes that the threats from CO2 pipelines are different from oil and natural gas pipelines, which can spill, burn or explode, but don’t usually imperil people miles away, Bill Caram, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit watchdog group, told Verite. “These are relatively strong proposals,” he told Verite. “Would these rules make CO2 pipelines completely safe? No. But it would modernize the pipelines… “Unless the proposed rules are enacted, similar or worse accidents are likely, Kenneth Clarkson, the trust’s communications director, told Verite. “In the absence of a rule, blatant regulatory shortfalls will remain, leaving the public fully exposed to the risks of CO2 pipelines,” he told Verite.”

Successful Farming: What if Carbon Pipelines Fail?
Cassidy Walter, 3/7/25

“…These factors, combined with growing societal interest in lowering carbon emissions and the looming existential threat of electric vehicles, signaled to the ethanol industry it needed to find a way to lower CI. CCS pipeline projects emerged as a favored solution,” Successful Farming reports. “…Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), put the benefits of CCS this way: “There’s lots of things you can do to reduce your carbon score. If you don’t do CCS, you almost have to do everything else, and you still may not get there, depending on your facility, and it would be infinitely more expensive.” “…However, from environmental groups to landowners, CCS pipeline projects have faced opposition that jeopardizes their success. It begs the question: What viable alternatives are there?… “Shaw also noted that even if a plant were advantageously located for CCS, it may still need to pipe the CO2 to an appropriate location off the plant’s property… “Bill Howell, chief operating officer of the plant in northwest Illinois, told SF Adkins Energy is working with another company, Real Carbon Technology, to convert captured CO2 into green methanol… “CO2 can also be captured and sold for a variety of uses, including livestock processing and water treatment. But IRFA’s Shaw argues this is not a realistic alternative to sequestration. “The industrial CO2 market includes using carbon dioxide to preserve food safely such as frozen food products,” he told SF. “That market has been longstanding for many years now, and a handful of ethanol plants supply it. So that’s not a viable market opportunity for plants not already doing it. It’s saturated.” Joe Kakesh, general counsel at Growth Energy, told SF if CCS pipeline projects don’t pan out, the industry would look to strategies that fall into one of two major categories: plant energy use and on-farm practices.”

WCAU: Energy Transfer ordered to distribute water to Bucks County residents after pipeline leak
Cherise Lynch and Deanna Durante, 3/7/25

“Several homes in Upper Makefield are demanding answers after a gas leak impacted the quality of their water,” WCAU reports. “…At the end of January, the Twin Oaks Pipeline, operated by Sunoco, leaked jet fuel near the Mt. Eyre neighborhood in Upper Makefield. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says Sunoco’s owner — Engery Transfer — must provide bottled water to neighbors. They will also need to install water treatment systems to more than 100 homes. “Today’s order will ensure that these residents have safe drinking water, the contamination is cleaned up, and the community has a direct line of contact with Energy Transfer to express their concerns,” DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley told WCAU. “Clean, safe drinking water is one of the most important resources we have, whether that is from a public water supplier or a private water well. Pennsylvanians have a constitutional right to pure water and we will work to ensure that right is protected in Upper Makefield Township.” “…Neighbors have packed several meetings with Sunoco and the township to get more information. The next meeting will be held on March 11th… “State and federal elected representatives are calling for the pipeline to be shut down.”

E&E News: Pennsylvania demands ‘expedited’ federal action on pipeline leak
Mike Soraghan, 3/10/25

“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is calling for “expedited action” from federal regulators to ensure public safety after a pipeline leaked at least 6,500 gallons of jet fuel, contaminating a community’s drinking water,” E&E News reports. “Bucks County residents detected the leak in Sunoco’s 66-year-old Twin Oaks pipeline in mid-January. Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Energy Transfer, Sunoco’s parent company, to provide bottled water and install water treatment systems for more than 100 homes as well as submit a long-term cleanup plan. State officials said in a recent news release that Shapiro wants federal officials “to hold Energy Transfer accountable.” “This is the latest incident in a long pattern of safety concerns with Sunoco and Energy Transfer pipelines in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro wrote in a letter last week to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, whose agency includes the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.”

Patch: Congressman Again Calls For Shutdown Of Pipeline In Upper Makefield
Jeff Werner, 3/10/25

“U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick is again calling on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to shutdown the Sunoco Pipeline running through Bucks County until all corrective measures are fully implemented and the safety of the pipeline is unequivocally confirmed,” Patch reports. “…After meeting with impacted residents from the Mt. Eyre Manor community, the Bucks County congressman fired off a letter on Friday to Ben Kochman, the acting administrator of PHMSA, outlining the concerns of residents. “The public has repeatedly been met with half-answers, or worse, no answers at all,” he wrote. “My constituents have asked for full transparency and accountability. I believe the residents of our community deserve nothing less. “The impact of this leak on our community cannot be overstated. Families are now dependent on bottled water as their primary source of drinking water, many have unknowingly consumed contaminated water, and property values have been compromised,” he continued. “Perhaps most profoundly, our residents are living in a constant state of fear and uncertainty, questioning whether they can ever trust their environment again.” Joining the congressman in calling for a shutdown of the pipeline are U.S. Senator John Fetterman, the Bucks County Commissioners, State Senator Steve Santarsiero and State Rep. Perry Warren who represent the township in Washington, Harrisburg and Bucks County. The Upper Makefield Board of Supervisors have also asked that the line be temporarily shutdown… “Upper Makefield will hold its next public meeting and update with Sunoco, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on Tuesday, March 11 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The Crossing Church, 1895 Wrightstown Road, Washington Crossing.”

Los Angeles Times: Trump says South Korea wants to invest in the Alaska gas pipeline. Does it?
Max Kim, 3/6/25

“In his speech to Congress this week, President Trump said that South Korea, alongside other countries such as Japan, wanted to invest “trillions of dollars each” in a $44-billion liquefied natural gas pipeline in Alaska that he has touted since taking office,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “But in South Korea, where the government has made no such concrete pledge, the claim is being interpreted as pressure to play ball amid the looming threat of tariffs such as those recently levied against Canada, China and Mexico… “But the proposal, controversial for its potential impact on the climate, has also been dogged by long-standing doubts about its commercial viability, with ExxonMobil, BP and ConocoPhilips backing out of the project in 2016. That bumpy track record has not gone unnoticed in Seoul… “A major point of skepticism is the pipeline’s projected launch date of the early 2030s, Kim Tae-sik, a researcher at the Korea Energy Economics Institute, a government think tank, told the Post. “South Korean firms don’t have much experience building pipelines in such frigid conditions, so there can easily be unexpected delays in construction, not to mention any potential lawsuits from locals or environmental groups there,” he told the Post. Kim believes the pipeline would be operational by 2040 at the earliest.”

Guelph Today: Enbridge asks to shut out local environmental advocates from hearing
Taylor Pace, 3/10/25

“A local environmental group worries they’ve barred from attending an upcoming hearing to determine whether the city can collect fees from Enbridge,” Guelph Today reports. “…In the fall, the City of Guelph called on the province to allow municipalities to charge for-profit gas utility companies fees for the use of public lands, something done in provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta… “eMERGE Guelph, which lobbied the city to collect the fees in the first place, has been denied intervenor status at the hearing. “Enbridge is getting free access to use our public lands for its pipelines. Pipeline companies in other jurisdictions (including Alberta and Saskatchewan) pay millions of dollars in fees to use public lands. We should be able to charge fees too. Guelph needs the revenue,” Evan Ferrari, executive director of eMERGE, told GT. “Free access to our public lands is an unfair fossil fuel subsidy. Natural gas is actually methane gas and a huge contributor to climate change. Burning this gas causes one-third of our overall emissions in Ontario. We should not be subsidizing this.” “…But Enbridge objected to their intervenor request, encouraging the OEB to block them from the hearing and to limit the City of Guelph’s intervention.”

American Chemical Society: Analysis of the Dynamic Behavior of Supercritical CO2 Pipeline Based on the Nonisothermal Transient Flow Model
Qiyun Jia, Yuxing Li, Qihui Hu, Xuefeng Zhao, Buze Yin, Lan Meng, Jianlu Zhu, Jianxin Lu, 3/28/25

“In supercritical CO2 pipeline transport, the operation of pumps and valves often causes the pipeline to enter a transient state,” according to the American Chemical Society. “Accurately describing the dynamic response in this state is crucial for making safety control decisions. This paper proposes a nonisothermal one-dimensional transient flow model for supercritical CO2 pipelines based on one-dimensional transient flow equations and equipment characteristic equations. By comparison with experimental data, the GERG-2008 equation, known for its high accuracy, is chosen to calculate the physical property parameters of CO2. By comparing with several sets of literature data, the results show that the errors are all within the acceptable range, which verifies the high accuracy of the model. The study investigates the hydraulic and thermal changes in the pipeline under transient operating conditions, including valve closure, slow startup, and sudden shutdown of the centrifugal pump. The results showed that the water-strike intensity of a supercritical CO2 pipeline is one-third that of a water pipeline but 12 times that of a methane pipeline, which requires sufficient attention. The effect of impurity composition on water strike is significant, particularly when the N2 content reaches 5%, at which point the maximum pressure decreases by 15.1%. In addition, the timing and method of valve shutoff significantly impact water strikes. It is recommended to prioritize the calculation of piping cycles, determine the maximum valve closing time in conjunction with industry standards, and use a linear valve closing method to reduce the water strike pressure. Studies have shown that the startup or sudden shutdown of centrifugal pumps at the inlet can cause sharp fluctuations in the pressure and flow rate, but the new equilibrium state will be established quickly. In addition, doping reduces the magnitude and rate of pressure changes in the pipeline. This study provides an essential foundation for the safe and stable operation of supercritical CO2 pipelines.”

New York Focus: New York Utilities Pour Billions Into Replacing Old Gas Pipes. Is There a Better Way?
Colin Kinniburgh, 3/10/25

“If you live in Brooklyn, Buffalo, or Long Beach, you might have heard it lately: the clatter of jackhammers as utility workers replace gas lines under the street. The process can drag on for months, as workers dig up roads and sidewalks and drill into homes to swap out aging metal pipes for new, plastic ones,” New York Focus reports. “…Altogether, the eight major utilities serving gas in New York spent $2 billion in 2022 and 2023 to replace gas mains, according to a new research brief by the consulting firm Synapse Energy Economics for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. They spent another $400 million connecting new customers to the gas system. The utilities plan to charge customers for that new fossil fuel infrastructure for decades to come, even though the state has committed to largely phasing out fossil fuel use by 2050… “Over the coming decades, while New York is legally required to decarbonize nearly its entire economy, utilities are planning to sink tens of billions more dollars into replacing old gas mains, according to a new study by the climate think tank Switchbox. That’s despite the fact that, in some cases, it would be cheaper to remove them and install cleaner alternatives for every customer they serve. “This is a very disappointing waste of money that we’re seeing here,” Jessica Azulay, program director of the climate group Alliance for a Green Economy, told NYF… “But critics argue that instead of simply replacing the pipes, utilities could be doing more to steer customers toward greener alternatives. The Public Service Commission, New York’s utility regulator, has sought to promote “non-pipe alternatives,” like home electrification, to avoid the costly infrastructure investments that utilities tend to favor. And utilities say they’re on board.”

World Pipelines: Tallgrass announces open season for the Pony Express pipeline
Alfred Hamer, 3/10/25

“Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline, LLC (Pony Express), operated by Tallgrass, has announced a new binding open season for incentive tariff rates,” World Pipelines reports. “…This open season will run for 30 days and commenced 7 March 2025.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Trump’s next climate move: Show global warming benefits humanity
Scott Waldman, 3/10/25

“President Donald Trump has long rejected climate science. Now, his administration is grappling with how to assemble a body of federal climate research to show a warming world is benefiting humanity. The claims would be highly misleading and ignore decades of scientific research that shows climate change will have increasingly dire effects,” E&E News reports. “But a federal report downplaying or denying the threat of climate change would become a cornerstone of Trump’s efforts to end or weaken climate regulations while expanding executive authority… “When EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin recommended in February that the White House attempt to reverse the endangerment finding — which requires EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions — he may have kick-started a process to produce a government report intended to tear down climate rules… “Any attempt to reject or replace the endangerment finding would be a challenging legal battle for the administration to wage, according to legal experts and scientists. But a key first step is to go after established climate science. Officials from Trump’s current and previous presidency have laid out pathways to produce such a report, which would rely on incomplete or selective research and flawed claims. Proposals include putting together a new endangerment finding to supplant the current one, conducting a hostile review of U.S. and international climate reports, and recruiting a White House-approved list of researchers to produce a National Climate Assessment based on partisan research and industry studies… “One strategy that Trump could resurrect from his first term involves casting doubt on established science by claiming there are flaws in climate research, Steve Koonin, a physicist at New York University and former top scientist at BP who co-led the effort five years ago, told E&E. That could topple the endangerment finding, he told E&E… “Overturning the consensus would be a heavy lift, especially since the Supreme Court has rejected three previous attempts to revisit the endangerment finding, Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, told E&E.”

E&E News: Trump oil tariffs threaten vulnerable Republicans
Garrett Downs, 3/7/25

“President Donald Trump and Republicans promised to cut gas prices in half on the campaign trail. Now, Trump’s tariffs on Canadian energy threaten to balloon energy costs where Republicans are vulnerable in the 2026 midterms,” E&E News reports. “The Midwest and New England are deeply dependent on Canadian oil and gas to fuel cars, trucks and homes — making them susceptible to inflation caused by Trump’s 10 percent duty on Canadian energy. Both regions also have critical tossup congressional races next year that will determine the balance of power for the second half of Trump’s term… “Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the only Republican federally elected in New England, is up for reelection. Democrats are seeking to hold the seat of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and will battle for two open swing seats in Michigan and Minnesota. There are also troves of competitive House races that could feel the brunt of the tariffs. Iowa Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn are targets for Democrats in Iowa. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who is the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee that has jurisdiction over oil and gas development on public land, acknowledged the opening for the party. “I think there will be political opportunity,” Huffman told E&E. “The other thing that is almost a given is whatever harmful effects are felt by these Republicans and their constituents, they won’t have the guts to do anything about it, they’re going to just roll over.”

E&E News: Oil industry: CEQ rule reversal is ‘fatal’ to offshore leasing case
Niina H. Farah, 3/10/25

“The fossil fuel industry is testing whether the White House’s decision to scrap its National Environmental Policy Act regulations could quash a pending lawsuit seeking more substantive environmental review of an offshore lease sale,” E&E News reports. “In a letter Friday to a federal district court, the American Petroleum Institute and Chevron USA argued that environmental groups no longer have grounds for their challenge of the NEPA analysis of an offshore oil and gas lease sale, now that the White House Council on Environmental Quality no longer has binding rules for how agencies should comply with the bedrock environmental statute. “The withdrawal of the legal bases for Plaintiffs’ lawsuit is fatal,” the industry groups told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.”

North Dakota Monitor: Could Trump tariffs apply to electricity? Confusion reigns
Robert Zullo, 3/9/25

“…And though Trump has since pulled back on tariffs for some products from Canada and Mexico and said he will postpone others until April 2, the moves have sown uncertainty around what the tariffs mean for electricity, or even if they apply at all,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. ”…Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on Canadian “energy and energy resources” that fall outside of a previous free trade agreement. But a pair of trade analysts at the global law firm White & Case wrote that the administration has not provided tariff schedule codes that would lay out what qualifies under those terms. A spokesperson for the U.S. International Trade Commission, the federal agency that maintains the U.S. tariff schedule and provides information on tariffs, trade and competitiveness, told States Newsroom the Trump tariffs do not apply to electricity… “However, some of the regional transmission organizations that manage the electric grid in parts of the U.S. and Canada are laying the groundwork for the possibility of collecting duties on electricity… “Based on legal precedent, we do not believe the tariffs placed on Canadian imports apply to electricity, but we are seeking additional guidance,” Mary Cate Colapietro, a spokesperson for ISO New England, which coordinates the flow of power for Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, told the Monitor.”

Grist: How a Trump effort to cut environmental red tape could backfire
Naveena Sadasivam, 3/7/25

“For roughly half a century, a little-known body called the White House Council on Environmental Quality has been in charge of overseeing implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, a 1970 statute widely considered the “Magna Carta” of environmental law,” Grist reports. “…This sweeping requirement created a need for coordination within the government. Given the number of federal agencies involved and the potential for larger projects to require authorization from multiple departments — a pipeline, for example, might require sign-off from the Department of Transportation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency — Congress created the Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ, and housed it within the White House in part to oversee NEPA implementation across the federal government. Since then, CEQ has been a central clearinghouse for interpreting the landmark law… “Last month, the Trump administration unraveled those rules, and with them the council’s central role in implementing NEPA. By issuing a new interim rule, the White House is proposing to rescind CEQ’s guidance and instruct federal agencies to develop their own individual guidelines. The White House’s rule is expected to be finalized in the coming months, at which point every agency, from the Bureau of Land Management to the U.S. Forest Service, will be expected to develop its own standards and processes for determining whether a project complies with NEPA requirements, a process that could take years. Their interpretations could also be challenged in court, creating further uncertainty about what standards now apply for getting nearly any infrastructure project approved by the feds… “But simply throwing out a longstanding, centralized playbook for agencies to follow will create uncertainty and slow the process down, at least in the short term, Justin Pidot, a law professor at the University of Arizona who was the general counsel at CEQ during the Biden administration, told Grist. “It’s a huge mistake,” Pidot told Grist. “It’s going to be very resource-intensive for them to do all these new procedures, and there’s going to be more uncertainty, and the permitting process is going to be harder and more complex. And all that is going to be happening at a time when there are fewer federal employees with less expertise.”

Washington Post: Trump just reversed course on two key U.S. climate pledges
Chico Harlan, 3/8/25

“The United States, under President Donald Trump, is withdrawing from a pair of global programs it had once deemed crucial for curtailing fossil fuels and dealing with the consequences of climate change,” the Washington Post reports. “In a letter obtained by The Washington Post, the United States said it is withdrawing from a board overseeing a fund for vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters. That “loss and damage” fund had stemmed from a hard-won diplomatic agreement reached in 2023. Separately, a treasury spokesperson told the Post the United States is pulling out of a global climate finance program — known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) — that seeks to help several large developing countries move away from fossil fuels, particularly coal. The treasury spokesperson told the Post the move was consistent with Trump’s executive order putting “America first in international environmental agreements.” The spokesperson told the Post the United States would “continue to engage with partner countries on energy and investment issues of common interest.” “…By turning its back on international climate financing, the U.S. is failing its moral obligation as a historic polluter, abandoning the global community and shirking its share of our collective responsibility,” Namrata Chowdhary, the chief of public engagement for 350.org, a climate advocacy group, told the Post.”

Washington Post: EPA reverses course, reinstating dozens of environmental justice workers
Amudalat Ajasa, 3/7/25

“Less than a month after placing the entire staff of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on administrative leave, the Environmental Protection Agency has reinstated dozens of employees in offices across the country,” the Washington Post reports. “Employees at regional EPA offices received an email Monday asking them to return to work, four employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media told the Post, and they returned to work on Wednesday… “The reversal came, according to one of the employees, because their role involved tasks that are required by law. This person told the Post that other staff members who were reinstated also performed roles related to statutory or regulatory requirements. Not all the reinstated staff members worked in environmental justice roles… “These leaves were conducted indiscriminately and without any consideration of statutory requirements, or of the effect the firings would have on Americans,” Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told the Postl. “It is further evidence that DOGE and the Trump Administration do not understand what federal employees do.”

E&E News: Trump GSA to terminate leases for 3 Army Corps district offices
Miranda Willson, 3/7/25

“The Trump administration is terminating the leases on some Army Corps of Engineers buildings, affecting regional operations in Chicago and Charleston, South Carolina,” E&E News reports. “Representatives of those district offices told E&E the General Services Administration told them their building leases were being canceled. They told E&E they have no details on where employees will work. There are also multiple reports about the termination of the lease for the Jacksonville, Florida, district headquarters. Affected in the Chicago District are the downtown headquarters and a building 30 miles south in Griffith, Indiana, spokesperson Jacob Zdrojewski told E&E.”

STATE UPDATES

The Hill: Trump, Texas GOP’s deregulation push sparks hope and fear in the oil field
Saul Elbein, 3/10/25

“President Trump and Texas lawmakers are pushing to loosen the laws and liabilities governing the state’s oil and gas industry and give companies a freer hand to “drill, baby, drill,” drawing mixed reactions from the heart of oil country,” The Hill reports. “…Industry executives are hailing the new administration as a breath of fresh air: an end, as oil executive Kirk Edwards of Odessa-based Latigo Petroleum told The Hill shortly before Trump’s inauguration, to “these useless regulations that have been coming our way that we have to battle all the time.” Energy experts have been widely dismissive of the idea that Trump can increase drilling, however. They say that a rising global price of oil — potentially driven by more upheaval abroad — is the only likely driver of further oil-sector expansion. In regulatory terms, fossil fuel “investors have a friend in the White House,” Trey Cowan of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis told The Hill. But he added that markets, and not the White House, would determine whether there would be more drilling… “The current efforts to limit liability in the oil and gas industry are part of a larger pattern of deregulation that has reshaped trucking and oil field work over the past four decades. In 1980, in the name of fighting inflation, Congress passed the Motor Carriers Act, which ended policies that had sought to protect truckers’ incomes by setting federal standards for rates and driving hours… “A new bill filed by state Sen. Brent Hagenbuch (R) in February, SB 1135, seeks to close those loopholes, further shielding trucking companies from liability in cases involving alleged unsafe hiring, training or maintenance. And industry groups are pushing for more.”

Houston Chronicle: Inside the fight over what — and who — is causing earthquakes near Texas oilfields
Amanda Drane, 3/7/25

“The common oilfield practice of disposing of the industry’s dirty water in deep underground caverns hit a wall in recent years as regulators, scientists and industry experts reached a consensus — the practice was causing earthquakes,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “But Houston-based disposal company Blackbuck Resources pressed on, even after the Texas Railroad Commission banned the practice in places with more frequent seismic activity. More than a year after the commission suspended permits within the Northern Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area, Blackbuck is still injecting high volumes of wastewater in the stretch of land that straddles Culberson and Reeves counties near the state’s border with New Mexico. It has done so even as earthquakes have continued to plague the region. One of the state’s strongest earthquakes to-date — a magnitude 5.0 — rattled the Culberson-Reeves area last month. Four days later, a second earthquake in the area reached magnitude 4.7. Blackbuck argues that its own well couldn’t be causing earthquakes and challenges both the commission’s scientific backing and its legal authority to suspend the company’s permit, state filings show. Blackbuck also says shutting down the well, as the Railroad Commission directed, would deal a significant financial blow… “Whether or not there is a fault or fracture providing a direct pathway, each well is contributing to underground pressure that can trigger earthquakes, Katie Smye, principal investigator at the Bureau of Economic Geology’s Center for Injection and Seismicity Research at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Chronicle. “The broad and clear scientific consensus is that changes in pressure associated with deep injection have led to seismicity,” she said of the area. “Each active deep injection well contributes something to that regional pressure increase.”

WV Metro News: West Virginia Coal Association president says the FirstEnergy natural gas plan is bad for ratepayers
Mike Nolting, 3/9/25

“The president of West Virginia Coal Association believes the announced plan FirstEnergy plan to add natural gas to two power plants is not a good value for taxpayers or residents of Harrison and Monongalia counties,” WV Metro News reports. “…We’re really surprised and shocked at this, and it will be a real hardship for that area up there,” Chris Hamilton said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “So, we really hope they’ll reconsider this major policy decision.” The decision, which FirstEnergy announced to its shareholders late last month, reverses the plan to retire the Fort Martin and Harrison power stations over the next 15 years… “Hamilton told the News there is money in the Inflation Reduction Act specifically for the upgrade and modernization of coal-fired power plants… “Sierra Club West Virginia Chair Jim Kotcon supports shutting down the coal-fired plants but stops short of giving his full support. Natural gas is still a fossil fuel that creates greenhouse gases that continue to harm the environment, Kotcon told the News… “Hamilton told the News over the last decade or so, the move to renewable energy has shown it cannot meet the base-load power demands.”

Louisiana Illuminator: Power for data centers could come at ‘staggering’ cost to consumers
Pam Radtke, Floodlight, 3/6/25

“The explosive growth of data centers around the country — driven in large part by the burgeoning use of artificial intelligence — could come at a “staggering” cost for average residents with skyrocketing electricity bills,” the Louisiana Illuminator reports. “A new report from Harvard’s Electricity Law Initiative says unless something changes, all U.S. consumers will pay billions of dollars to build new power plants to serve Big Tech… “We’re all paying for the energy costs of the world’s wealthiest corporations,” report author Ari Peskoe, director of the initiative at the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program, told the Illuminator… “In many cases, agreements between tech companies and utilities are confidential, limiting the information that’s available including how much electricity a data center will use and how much it will pay for the power, according to the report… “Peskoe and the researchers found that in some cases, utilities appear to have hidden how much average residents pay to offset special rates or incentives given to other customers, including data centers… “We should be skeptical of utility claims that data center energy costs are isolated from other consumers’ bills,” the report says… “Rather than adding cleaner, renewable sources, “utilities … are instead offering to meet data center demand with transmission (upgrades) and gas-fired power plants, which have been the industry’s bread-and-butter for decades,” according to the report. “Some utilities are even propping up their oldest and dirtiest power plants to meet data center demand.”

Gasworld: US AI data centre to use carbon capture for power
Anthony Wright, 3/7/25

“Sharon AI, a US-based high-performance computing company, and New Era Helium, a New Mexico-headquartered energy infrastructure firm, have signed a letter of intent to acquire a 200-acre site in Ector County, Texas, for a 250 megawatt (MW) Net Zero energy data centre,” Gasworld reports. “The project aims to power artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing while reducing its carbon footprint through integrated carbon capture technology. New Era Helium will supply natural gas to the facility and develop its supporting energy infrastructure. The site will include a gas-fired power plant equipped with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) systems, with captured carbon dioxide potentially used in enhanced oil recovery.”

EXTRACTION

Reuters: Top oil executives reckon with downturn even as Trump cheers them on
Arathy Somasekhar, 3/9/25

“The world’s energy industry leaders meet in Houston next week as plummeting oil prices push Big Oil to slash thousands of jobs even as a pro-fossil fuel U.S. administration encourages them to pump more,” Reuters reports. “…Trump’s policies on trade and foreign policy have, however, threatened to drive up the cost of millions of barrels of oil that U.S. refiners need from Canada and Mexico… “It’s a revolution in energy policy that is unfolding… The industry is trying to catch its breath,” Dan Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and vice chairman of conference organizer S&P Global, told Reuters. “I don’t think there’s ever been this amount of upheaval and recalibration happening.” “…In a lower price environment, there is little sign that oil investment and output is going to grow. Oil companies are focused on capital discipline, improving productivity and shareholder returns, rather than drilling more. “The costs are way higher and that affects the profitability,” Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests, told Reuters. “You’re starting to see producers hold back their capital. It’s the opposite of what the president wants.”

E&E News: CERAWeek: Energy reality shoves aside green transition
Shelby Webb, Jason Plautz, 3/10/25

“The rhetorical whiplash between the climate-conscious Biden administration and President Donald Trump’s pledges to ramp up fossil fuel production will take center stage this week as the world’s energy leaders gather in Texas,” E&E News reports. “…Chevron CEO Mike Wirth is among the scheduled speakers at CERAWeek by S&P Global, whose agenda starts Monday and features prominent Trump appointees such as Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. The CEOs of some of the world’s most influential companies are also slated to be here, from BP and Saudi Aramco to NextEra Energy and Edison International. Top of mind for attendees are a slew of policy changes and pronouncements Trump has made since taking office less than two months ago, including gutting regulations around methane emissions, withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, pausing construction of electric vehicle charging stations and looking into nixing standards for fossil fuel power plants. Over the past several years, conversations about an energy transition at CERAWeek and in the energy industry have been trending away from climate commitments and renewable targets that became a rallying cry several years ago amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The oil and gas industry has largely been welcoming the shift in how elected officials and energy analysts are talking about the global energy mix… “Rather than replacing conventional energy sources, the growth of renewables is coming on top of that of conventional sources,” they wrote. “And with Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency, priorities will focus again on conventional energy production and what his administration calls ‘energy dominance.”

BBC: Business leaders urge backing of Acorn project
3/10/25

“Business leaders have called on the chancellor to back the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Aberdeenshire,” the BBC reports. “The project at St Fergus would take greenhouse gas emissions and store it in depleted gas reservoirs under the North Sea… “Signatories on a letter to Rachel Reeves include oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood and business organisations such as the Scottish Chambers of Commerce… “The letter states: “We write to urge the UK government to commit, in its comprehensive spending review, to progressing Scotland’s only opportunity for industrial decarbonisation, the Acorn CCS project, as an immediate priority. “There has never been a more important time for this project to proceed at pace. “Scotland must not be left behind.” “…Commenting on the letter, the UK government told BBC: “Acorn has already received over £40m for development and it is our firm ambition to proceed with the projects in the Track-2 clusters… Our historic funding for two initial carbon capture clusters is just the first step in developing a self-sustaining market for the industry.”

Eco-Business: Lawmakers, NGOs decry lack of safeguards in Malaysia’s new carbon capture and storage bill
Samantha Ho, 3/10/25

“A new law to govern the carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) industry in Malaysia, passed last Thursday, has been met with alarm by opposition lawmakers and environmental non-profit organisations,” Eco-Business reports. “The bill was passed just two days after being tabled in Parliament, despite concerns about inadequate environmental safeguards and high public costs. The government argued that the speed was necessary to secure long-term foreign imports of carbon dioxide. According to the Global CCS Institute, Malaysia has the potential to store over 150 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide in its ocean floors.”

Associated Press: US Coast Guard investigates fuel spill off the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques
3/8/25

“The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday investigated a fuel spill off the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques, which is popular with tourists,” the Associated Press reports. “A mile-long sheen and a strong diesel odor was reported by local emergency medical officials on Friday afternoon along Sun Bay Beach, which is known for its clear, turquoise waters. At least one person was exposed to the unknown substance and received treatment, the Coast Guard said Friday.”

OPINION

SD Standard: Sierra Club cheers victory over Carbon Solutions’ eminent domain claim in SD, urges Iowa to follow suit
Jess Mazour is the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club conservation coordinator, 3/7/25

“Landowners across the Midwest are celebrating a hard -fought victory for property rights,” Jess Mazour writes for the SD Standard. “On Thursday, Gov. Larry Rhoden signed HB1052 into law, which bans the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines… “With Summit Carbon Solution’s project now in limbo, Iowa landowners call on the Iowa Senate to finally take on the issue and pass a bill to protect Iowa landowners’ rights as well. Similar bills to ban eminent domain on agricultural land have been introduced in the Iowa House, HSB287 and Senate, SF92. HSB287 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee Thursday morning, making it through Friday’s funnel deadline. Landowners opposed to carbon pipelines and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter are holding a Carbon Pipeline Opposition Rally at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 18, to call on the Iowa Senate to pass SF92/HSB287… “South Dakota is protecting their landowners’ freedoms and property rights,” Hardin County landowner Kathy Stockdale said. “Time for Iowa and Gov. Reynolds to do the same.”

InForum: Port: Why does South Dakota have more antipathy to carbon pipelines than North Dakota?
Rob Port, 3/7/25

“South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden recently signed a bill prohibiting the use of eminent domain by companies seeking to build carbon pipelines,” Rob Port writes for InForum. “…Anti-pipeline activists and their sympathizers in the news media have regaled this legislation as a terrible blow to Summit’s project, but it’s not clear that this is so. Summit never ruled out using eminent domain, but the company also remained focused on voluntary easements and said they have 85% of the pipeline route locked in… “What’s interesting is the stark difference in pipeline sentiments between North and South Dakota. Politically and culturally, our two states are alike, but we’re miles apart on this issue. South Dakota just passed its anti-eminent domain bill, but similar legislation in North Dakota’s House and Senate got slaughtered… “A lot of it comes down to electoral politics. In South Dakota, a populist insurgency took out 14 incumbent Republican lawmakers in the state’s primaries, with many of the insurgents leaning on their opposition to carbon pipelines… “The populist politics driving anti-carbon capture sentiment in South Dakota just hasn’t penetrated as profoundly here in North Dakota. But also, we must consider that North Dakotans are just a lot more familiar with pipelines than South Dakotans are… “Not only does that mean North Dakotans are culturally and politically more familiar with pipelines, but it also means that we have more economic interests riding on carbon capture and its attendant infrastructures… “Thus, South Dakota can afford to indulge this populist uprising against carbon capture in ways that North Dakota simply cannot.”

Danville Register & Bee: Fossil fuel projects
Jessica Sims, Richmond, 3/7/25

“Pittsylvania County faces pollution risks from three proposed fossil fuel projects: a new gas plant from the developer Balico, a massive extension of the existing Transco pipelines (the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project) and an extension of the ruinous Mountain Valley Pipeline,” Jessica Sims writes for the Danville Register & Bee. “…The Pittsylvania Branch of the NAACP, alongside other community members, helped raise the alarm about the project’s disproportionate impacts on the Banister District. In North Carolina, the Department of Environmental Quality denied Southgate’s water permit. Subsequently, Southgate lay dormant for years… “Those impacted by the project should please consider becoming an intervenor, and anyone concerned about the project’s impacts to air and water quality, personal property, proximity to the SSEP, or MVP’s record of violations and safety order deficiencies, should weigh in. The current deadline to submit comments or intervene is March 11 by 5 p.m.”

Dallas Morning News: Texas could be a leader in carbon capture and storage
Tony Bennett is the president and chief executive of the Texas Association of Manufacturers, 3/10/25

“…Today, there is increasing global demand for lower-carbon solutions in these critical industries, making carbon capture and storage an immense economic opportunity for the Lone Star State,” Tony Bennett writes for the Dallas Morning News. “…However, to compete at a global scale, Texas must be able to execute on these projects. Today, these projects have been hamstrung by slow permitting… “This proven technique has safely injected millions of tons of carbon dioxide into mature oil fields to maximize production. What makes enhanced oil recovery particularly significant for carbon capture and storage is its established infrastructure and the industry’s expertise in handling carbon dioxide. The enhanced oil recovery industry has successfully captured, transported and injected large volumes of CO2 with a strong overall safety record, though rare incidents, such as pipeline leaks, have occurred… “Texas has already applied for primacy over its Class VI wells, which are essential for underground carbon storage. Granting Texas this authority would shift project approvals from the federally controlled EPA to state regulators, significantly reducing permitting delays and providing greater certainty for carbon capture and storage investments… “For the many CCS projects already in development in Texas, timing is crucial. Extended permit waiting periods and regulatory uncertainty could determine whether a project succeeds or fails. We joined several other trade and economic development organizations in sharing this urgency in a recent letter to the Trump administration’s EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.”