EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/18/25

PIPELINE NEWS

• North Dakota Monitor: Greenpeace case in hands of jury as Energy Transfer makes case for $800 million in damages

• New York Times: It Fought to Save the Whales. Can Greenpeace Save Itself?

• North Dakota Monitor: Energy Transfer board chair says he sought settlement with Standing Rock in 2016

• Nieman Lab: A pipeline company is suing Greenpeace for $300 million. A pay-to-play newspaper is accused of tainting the jury pool

• Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania A.G. launches criminal investigation into Sunoco pipeline spill

• The Narwhal: PRGT pipeline hit with warning letter for environmental violations

• KXAN: Williamson County pipeline station draws noise complaints, law enforcement attention

• Reuters: Alaskan officials to seek investors in Asia as Trump touts LNG

• CT News Junkie: Lamont, Key Republican Lawmaker Open To New Gas Pipeline Plan

• Ethanol Producer: Green Plains Breaks Ground On Carbon Capture Compression Equipment, Temporarily Idles Clean Sugar Technology Facility

• U.S. Energy Information Administration: Natural gas pipeline project completions increase takeaway capacity in producing regions

• Bloomberg: Explosion Rocks Trans-Niger Pipeline in Nigeria, Vanguard Says

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Trump signs resolutions to undo methane fee, offshore drilling rules

• CNBC: Trump administration sends a clear message to the oil and gas industry: ‘You’re the customer’

• Real Vail: Colorado conservation group slams Trump executive order on national monuments

• Washington Examiner: Colorado congressman pushes to lift restrictions on public land for drilling

• Axios: What to watch when oil execs huddle with Trump

STATE UPDATES

• KALB: Vernon Parish residents voice strong concerns over potential Carbon Capture Sequestration projects

• E&E News: Puerto Rico in line for first US LNG delivery

• Los Angeles Times: Confusion clouds the fate of two new California monuments

• Los Angeles Times: How the EPA’s environmental about-face could upend California’s climate efforts.

EXTRACTION

• Guardian: Environmental groups sound new alarm as fossil fuel lobby pushes for immunity

• CBC: What Poilievre’s plan for the industrial carbon price could mean for the oilsands [VIDEO]

• Law360: Exxon Committed ‘Straightforward Fraud,’ Investors Say

• The Pointer: Federal and provincial governments ‘often too friendly with fossil fuel industry’ have allowed it to shape climate education in schools

OPINION

• The Iowa Standard: Sen. Salmon: Ding! Dong! Is the CO2 Pipeline Dead??

• Bloomberg: The Oil Industry Is Over a Half-Empty Barrel

PIPELINE NEWS

North Dakota Monitor: Greenpeace case in hands of jury as Energy Transfer makes case for $800 million in damages
Mary Steurer, 3/17/25

“Greenpeace and the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline on Monday had their final showdown in the three-week trial over whether the environmental group engaged in a destructive and defamatory campaign against the pipeline that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “…Free speech advocates and environmentalists have raised concerns that a verdict against Greenpeace could have a chilling effect on activist groups… “In his closing statements, Trey Cox, the lead attorney representing Energy Transfer, accused Greenpeace of using a “vulnerable population” to further its anti-fossil fuel agenda… “Cox attributed between $265 million and $340 million in damages to Greenpeace. He said the jury should not only hold Greenpeace accountable for this sum, but also hand down more than double that in punitive damages… “Everett Jack, the lead attorney representing Greenpeace’s U.S. affiliate in the case, said Energy Transfer provided no evidence that Greenpeace was the reason for any violent or destructive acts alleged by the plaintiffs.”

New York Times: It Fought to Save the Whales. Can Greenpeace Save Itself?
Karen Zraick, 3/16/25

“Greenpeace is among the most well-known environmental organizations in the world, the result of more than 50 years of headline-grabbing protest tactics,” the New York Times reports. “…Now, Greenpeace’s very existence is under threat: A lawsuit seeks at least $300 million in damages. Greenpeace has said such a loss in court could force it to shut down its American offices. In the coming days, a jury is expected to render its verdict. The lawsuit is over Greenpeace’s role in protests a decade ago against a pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. The pipeline’s owner, Energy Transfer, says Greenpeace enabled illegal attacks on the project and led a “vast, malicious publicity campaign” that cost the company money. Greenpeace says that it played only a minor, peaceful role in the Indigenous-led protest, and that the lawsuit’s real aim is to limit free speech not just at the organization, but also across America, by raising the specter of expensive court fights.”

North Dakota Monitor: Energy Transfer board chair says he sought settlement with Standing Rock in 2016
Mary Steurer, 3/17/25

“Energy Transfer Executive Chairman Kelcy Warren claimed in court testimony he traveled to North Dakota in December 2016 to discuss a settlement with then-tribal chair David Archambault II to end protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “I said, ‘David, I’m here to make a deal with you,’” Warren said in a video deposition shown to jurors last week during a trial involving Energy Transfer and Greenpeace. “‘What do you want? Money? Land?’” Warren, who was CEO of Energy Transfer at the time, said he was willing to give the tribe a ranch that the company had purchased near part of the pipeline construction site in North Dakota… “Warren said he also offered to build a new school on the reservation. Archambault in a Monday statement to the North Dakota Monitor said his memory of his meeting with Warren is very different… “From my perspective, the purpose of the meeting was not to negotiate a settlement,” Archambault wrote… Given the growing danger, I felt it was necessary to have a direct conversation to discuss de-escalation,” he wrote… “He asked what it would take to stop the movement, and I explained that it was no longer in my control,” Archambault said. “The fight against the pipeline had become much bigger than Standing Rock; it was about Indigenous rights and the long history of injustice faced by our people.” “…Warren in his video deposition speculated that Archambault rejected his offer to settle because he had already made a separate deal with a third party. Warren said he suspects someone had paid money to the tribe and that Earthjustice, an environmental law group, was “the carrier of that money.” “…Warren acknowledged that he did not have concrete evidence that the deal took place.”

Nieman Lab: A pipeline company is suing Greenpeace for $300 million. A pay-to-play newspaper is accused of tainting the jury pool
Miranda Green, 3/17/25

“Last fall residents of Mandan, North Dakota woke up to an unfamiliar newspaper at their doorsteps. The broadsheet Central ND News, printed on newsprint, had columns, standard-sized articles, and headlines. But there was an odd theme to its stories. Many referenced events that had happened nearly a decade earlier, when protestors had swarmed the rural community to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Nieman Lab reports. “…Now, just over two weeks into a $300 million trial brought by the owner of the pipeline against Greenpeace, the environmental organization is blaming the paper and other curious texts that targeted the local community in the weeks leading up to the trial. Greenpeace has argued the media coverage has made it difficult to get a fair trial and unsuccessfully attempted to move the trial to the nearby city of Fargo. If Greenpeace loses, the international environmental activist group could risk bankruptcy. “The bias stemming from jurors’ personal experiences has been compounded by an apparent campaign to exert influence over potential Morton County jurors. In November 2024, Greenpeace Defendants became aware of a direct mailer, stylized as a local newspaper called ‘Central ND News,’ sent to Morton County residents,” Greenpeace wrote in a filing to the North Dakota Supreme Court. “Greenpeace Defendants are at immediate risk of irreparable harm if this trial were to proceed in Morton County.” At least four more print editions of the Central ND News have been distributed to residents in Mandan and neighboring Bismarck since last October, including one as recently as last week… “Honestly, when that thing comes to our house, we recognize it as garbage, and that’s where it goes,” Cecile Wehrman, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, told NL… “Metric is operated by Brian Timpone, a conservative businessman and former TV reporter based out of Illinois. Timpone did not respond to a request for comment. Metric Media has been linked to print newspapers that have shown up at homes on the eves of key elections and that have pushed certain policy positions such as pro-life initiatives.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania A.G. launches criminal investigation into Sunoco pipeline spill
Frank Kummer, 3/17/25

“The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office said Monday that its environmental crimes section is investigating a Sunoco pipeline spill that contaminated drinking water wells in a Bucks County community,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. “I can confirm we are investigating,” Brett Hambright, a spokesperson for the office, told the Inquirer… “In addition, a group of residents in the Mount Eyre neighborhood in Washington Crossing, Upper Makefield Township, where the spill occurred, has hired an attorney. Earlier this month, the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Energy Transfer to supply all residents of the neighborhood with bottled water and to install and monitor well filters… “However, a report by PHMSA determined that the line had leaked for at least 16 months before it was discovered and that the line poses a “risk to public safety, property, or the environment.” It ordered Sunoco to reduce the flow as a way of lessening pressure in the pipe… “A report this week by PA Environment Digest, a blog run by former DEP secretary David Hess, noted that Energy Transfer has been fined more than $48.1 million by the state for, “multiple, serious violations related to the construction of the Mariner East Pipelines and the Revolution Pipelines starting in 2018 that resulted in an explosion, contamination of water supplies, pollution of the Marsh Creek State Park lake and the lake at the Raystown Lake Recreation Area.”

The Narwhal: PRGT pipeline hit with warning letter for environmental violations
Matt Simmons, 3/17/25

“The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline has received a warning letter from the BC Environmental Assessment Office for “failing to properly mark environmentally sensitive areas” and failing to fully survey potential bat hibernation sites and roosts before clearing land last fall,” The Narwhal reports. “…The provincial officer cited inconsistencies between required surveys for the presence of bats and the timing of clearing the pipeline right of way, noting workers cleared land before they “identified the presence of big brown or silver-haired bats emerging and in the vicinity” and concluding “these findings provide evidence of non-compliance.” Silver-haired bats are listed as endangered in Canada, due to dramatic population declines in recent years. In its warning letter, the province noted the maximum penalty for failing to comply with an environmental assessment certificate is $1 million and, on subsequent convictions, up to $2 million for each violation… “As pipeline construction began last fall, Hereditary Chiefs from neighbouring Gitanyow Nation burned a benefits agreement they signed with TC Energy and closed their territories to all traffic related to the new pipeline. A few days later, Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups launched legal action against the project, alleging the BC Energy Regulator broke its own rules to green light construction. That was followed shortly by legal action against the proposed liquefaction plant.”

KXAN: Williamson County pipeline station draws noise complaints, law enforcement attention
Mercedez Hernandez, 3/17/25

“On a cloudy Wednesday afternoon, Linda Jo Kuc and dozens of her neighbors gathered in a half-circle shape in her driveway. The ambient hum from a nearby compressor station drifted over grassy plains to their lawnchairs. The noise served as industrial background music, but also a reminder of why they were meeting — to find a way to make the noise stop,” KXAN reports. “…24/7. It’s like standing next to a jet engine on the tarmac out at ABIA. You can’t sleep at night. You can’t go out on the back porch. You can’t open the windows,” Kuc told KXAN. According to a representative of Matterhorn Express Pipeline, the company that built and operates the station, it has looked into the noise complaints related to the compressor station near the intersection of CR 222 and US Hwy 138, just east of Florence… “However, the company said the sound levels it recorded did not exceed limits set by any local or state ordinances. Damon Beierle is the Burnet County Commissioner for Precinct 2, the precinct closest to the compressor station. He told KXAN a recent community meeting of residents nearest the pipeline highlighted how severe the noise concerns had become. Beierle told KXAN he also reached out to Matterhorn, but has also been told that levels are not exceeding “public nuisance” heights.”

Reuters: Alaskan officials to seek investors in Asia as Trump touts LNG
Katya Golubkova, Yuka Obayashi and Tim Kelly, 3/17/25

“Alaskan state representatives will visit Japan this month to court investors for a natural gas project President Donald Trump says could pump trillions of dollars into the U.S., but Japanese energy firms remain sceptical of the project’s feasibility,” Reuters reports. “Officials from the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) and development partner Glenfarne Group will visit “allied Asian nations in late March to update industry leaders on Alaska LNG’s economic and strategic competitive advantages, and discuss opportunities for participation”, AGDC spokesperson Tim Fitzpatrick told Reuters. They want to transport natural gas south from Alaska’s remote north via a $44 billion 1,300-km (800-mile) pipeline, to be shipped as liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan… “Companies are interested in it, but still have a lot of reservations. Higher cost has been a focal point” for Alaska for years” Hiroshi Hashimoto, a senior analyst at the government-affiliated Institute of Energy Economics, told Reuters… “The question is whether it can be economically sustainable,” Inpex CEO Takayuki Ueda said at a briefing last month.”

CT News Junkie: Lamont, Key Republican Lawmaker Open To New Gas Pipeline Plan
Donald Eng, 3/17/25

“President Donald Trump last week called for a new pipeline that would potentially give New England states access to natural gas from Pennsylvania,” CT News Junkie reports. “…Gov. Ned Lamont the following day indicated he would not necessarily be opposed to the plan, telling CTInsider’s Ken Dixon that “the president and I will never agree about wind power and solar power, nor will we agree about coal and even oil, but perhaps in the area of natural gas and nuclear there are some ways that we can work together to potentially bring down dramatically the prices of electricity in our state and region.” Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, ranking senator on the Energy and Technology Committee, agreed that the issue boils down to supply and demand. “To potentially bring down prices dramatically in CT, we need more generation,” Fazio wrote Monday in a statement. “As the governor said about a potential new pipeline: ‘Let’s find a way to do it.’” Fazio urged Lamont to “continue working expeditiously with neighboring states to explore greater access to natural gas here in CT in order to lower costs and protect winter reliability.”

Ethanol Producer: Green Plains Breaks Ground On Carbon Capture Compression Equipment, Temporarily Idles Clean Sugar Technology Facility
Erin Voegele, 3/17/25

“Green Plains Inc. today announced that construction has commenced on the compression infrastructure for its carbon capture and storage initiative in Nebraska, an important step in the company’s ongoing transformation to produce low-carbon, high value biofuels and ingredients,” according to Ethanol Producer. “The compression equipment will enable the permanent sequestration of approximately 800,000 tons of biogenic carbon dioxide each year from Green Plains’ three Nebraska facilities in Central City, Wood River and York, keeping the project on track for start-up in the second half of 2025. “Breaking ground at our sites for this project is another milestone in executing our ongoing ‘Advantage Nebraska’ strategy,” Chris Osowski, Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology, told Ethanol Producer. “With construction of the laterals for the Trailblazer CCS project underway and now with compression equipment beginning to be installed, we are positioned to be an early mover in sequestering biogenic CO2, unlocking significant value for our shareholders.”

U.S. Energy Information Administration: Natural gas pipeline project completions increase takeaway capacity in producing regions
3/17/25

“Natural gas pipeline projects completed in 2024 increased takeaway capacity by approximately 6.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in the U.S. natural gas-producing Appalachia, Haynesville, Permian, and Eagle Ford regions, according to our latest Natural Gas Pipeline Projects tracker,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “These pipelines deliver natural gas from the producing regions to demand centers in the mid-Atlantic and along the U.S. Gulf Coast: The Mountain Valley Pipeline, operated by Equitrans Midstream Corporation, can move up to 2.0 Bcf/d of Appalachian Basin production from Wetzel, West Virginia, to an interconnect with the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco) in Pittsylvania, Virginia; Transco’s Regional Energy Access project with capacity of a little more than 0.8 Bcf/d was an expansion of existing Transco infrastructure between Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and Middlesex County, New Jersey; DT Midstream’s LEAP Phase 3 project expanded the existing LEAP pipeline by 0.2 Bcf/d; The Matterhorn Express Pipeline, operated by Whitewater Midstream, can deliver up to 2.5 Bcf/d of natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Katy, Texas, area; Pecan Pipeline Company’s Verde Pipeline can move up to 1.0 Bcf/d of producer EOG Resources’ natural gas production from Webb County, Texas, in the Eagle Ford producing region to the Agua Dulce hub in southern Texas. Another five pipeline projects completed last year in Texas and Louisiana increased capacity to deliver natural gas to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals by approximately 8.5 Bcf/d… “A handful of other relatively small interstate and intrastate pipeline projects (less than 0.8 Bcf/d of capacity each) added another almost 3.0 Bcf/d combined of natural gas pipeline capacity for a total of 17.8 Bcf/d in new capacity in 2024… “Interstate project capacity additions outpaced intrastate additions, and total pipeline capacity additions surpassed the previous year’s additions for the second year in a row.”

Bloomberg: Explosion Rocks Trans-Niger Pipeline in Nigeria, Vanguard Says
Nduka Orjinmo, 3/18/25

“An explosion rocked the Trans-Nigeria Pipeline that feeds the Bonny export terminal, Vanguard reported, without citing anyone,” according to Bloomberg. “The affected section of the conduit is on fire, the Lagos-based newspaper said on its website. The authorities have yet to determine what caused the blast, it said.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Trump signs resolutions to undo methane fee, offshore drilling rules
Manuel Quiñones, 3/17/25

“President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation to scrap two Biden administration rules — one to reduce planet-warning methane emissions and the other affecting offshore drilling,” E&E News reports. “Lawmakers acted under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn newly issued rules by simple majority. That bypasses the Senate filibuster. EPA’s rule to implement a fee on methane leaks from the oil and gas industry is the first Biden action killed this year. Democrats mandated the fee in their 2022 climate law. Resolution sponsors Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) and Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) called the fee too punitive. The rule would have charged producers $900 per ton of excess methane released. Pfluger and Hoeven also want to rescind the underlying legislative mandate in the GOP’s upcoming budget reconciliation package. ’Energy producers will not have to worry about this unnecessary natural gas tax, and the American people won’t have to worry about it driving up their utility bills,’ said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) last month.”

CNBC: Trump administration sends a clear message to the oil and gas industry: ‘You’re the customer’
Spencer Kimball, 3/15/25

“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright made clear this week they want to make it as easy as possible to drill on federal land and waters,” CNBC reports. “Burgum said he views companies developing resources on federal lands as “customers” who are contributing to the national “balance sheet.” “You’re the customer,” the interior secretary told oil, gas and mining executives at a conference in Houston… “I’m going to share two words that I do not think that you have heard from a federal official in the Biden administration during the last four years. And those two words are thank you,” said Burgum, who previously served as governor of North Dakota, a state that produces 1.2 million barrels of oil per day… “The value of nation’s abundant natural resources far outweighs its $36 trillion in debt, Burgum said. If financial markets understood the value of America’s natural resources, the 10-year long-term interest rate would come down, Burgum claimed… “Burgum and Wright dismissed policies that support a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, arguing that wind and solar won’t be able to meet rising energy demand in the coming years from artificial intelligence and re-industrialization.”

Real Vail: Colorado conservation group slams Trump executive order on national monuments
3/15/25

“The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss: ‘It’s foolish for President Trump to try to shrink or eliminate our national monuments,” Real Vail reports. “It’s telling that the president made this announcement in the middle of the night, in hopes that Americans might not notice. There is already a huge backlash in the West against his cuts to national park and forest staffing. If he moves ahead with these attacks, it will only add fuel to the fire and increase the president’s unpopularity in the West. National monuments are good for economic development and help drive the West’s rapidly growing recreation economy.”

Washington Examiner: Colorado congressman pushes to lift restrictions on public land for drilling
Barnini Chakraborty, 3/17/25

“Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO) wants the government to lift restrictions on oil and gas production that would free up millions of acres of federal land — much of it in his Colorado district — for drilling and other energy-related initiatives,” the Washington Examiner reports. “The move, consistent with the Trump administration‘s push to increase domestic energy production, would reverse years of efforts to protect the land. It also widely ignores complaints from the public and environmentalists. Specifically, the Productive Public Lands Act, introduced by the first term Republican congressman, would reverse decisions made under former President Joe Biden‘s administration and impact 2.3 million acres in Colorado alone as well as roll back protections for big game species under threat. The act also targets land in Wyoming, Oregon, and Montana.”

Axios: What to watch when oil execs huddle with Trump
Ben Geman, 3/17/25

“The industry — which cut lots of checks for his campaign — is greeting the Trump 2.0 agenda with both enthusiasm and concern. Execs are pleased with the deregulatory push, LNG project support, plans for expanded leasing and more. But they’re worried about tariffs’ effect on demand, prices, and supply chain costs,” Axios reports. “The big picture: The meeting comes after last week’s CERAWeek by S&P Global conference, which mixed focus on growing fossil fuel markets with C-suite angst about trade-related headwinds. ’[S]lower demand growth, oversupply fears, and near-term uncertainty driven by the U.S. administration cast a shadow on broader sentiment in most of our sideline conversations this year,’ RBC Capital Markets said in a note. State of play: “President Trump’s energy agenda has set our nation on a path toward energy dominance,” Bethany Williams, a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, whose members are meeting with Trump, told Axios”

STATE UPDATES

KALB: Vernon Parish residents voice strong concerns over potential Carbon Capture Sequestration projects
Rob LaPerle, 3/17/25

“Officials with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources partnered with the Vernon Parish Police Jury to host an informational seminar on Carbon Capture Sequestration projects,” KALB reports. “Multiple people in attendance voiced deep concerns and criticisms about the introduction of CCS into Louisiana, citing previous incidents across the nation involving the leaking of compressed carbon. Dangers from a pipeline or well leakage can include asphyxiation or water contamination if left unaddressed. “What if a leak goes unnoticed and it gets into the water system and you see people dropping dead from drinking ”carbon water”. What’s the plan there?… “Other concerns brought up by attendees were the potential loss of property rights, due to private companies having access to eminent domain powers, as granted through the Louisiana constitution. Many residents in attendance voiced dissatisfaction with the information and answers given by LDENR, with one resident saying they haven’t, “given one straight answer yet, [LDENR} can’t answer anyone’s questions”.

E&E News: Puerto Rico in line for first US LNG delivery
Carlos Anchondo, 3/18/25

“For the first time, a tanker sailing under the U.S. flag will transport liquefied natural gas from the mainland to Puerto Rico — an undertaking meant to give the territory greater fuel stability,” E&E News reports. “Florida-based Crowley announced an agreement Tuesday with Naturgy, a Spanish energy company, for the “regular delivery” of LNG sourced from the U.S. mainland to an operating power plant on Puerto Rico’s southern coast. “LNG is an ample, reliable energy source available in the U.S. that provides a more resilient and lower-emission option as part of our nation’s energy portfolio for quickly serving the growing power needs of Puerto Rico,” said Tom Crowley, the CEO of Crowley, in a statement.”

Los Angeles Times: Confusion clouds the fate of two new California monuments
Doug Smith, 3/16/25

“The Trump administration touched off consternation and confusion over the weekend, issuing, and then apparently rolling back, an announcement implying the president had rescinded his predecessor’s order creating two popular national monuments in California,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The confusion arose over a bullet item referencing President Trump’s rollback of the monument designations in a White House fact sheet posted Friday that details the reversal of various Biden administration policies. On Saturday, the reference to monuments was dropped without explanation. The change left unclear the fates of the Chuckwalla National Monument adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California. But the expectation that Trump intended to roll back the status for the two California monuments led to immediate reaction from their supporters, among them conservation and environmental groups, tribal leaders and local and national elected officials. “Trump’s gutting of the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla national monuments is a gruesome attack on our system of public lands,” Ileene Anderson, California desert director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Times. “Both these monuments were spearheaded by local Tribes with overwhelming support from local and regional communities including businesses and recreationalists,” Anderson said in a statement. “This vindictive and unwarranted action is a slap in the face to Tribes and all supporters of public lands.” “…Attempts to alter monuments in California and elsewhere would almost certainly be met with lawsuits, conservation and environmental groups warned.”

Los Angeles Times: How the EPA’s environmental about-face could upend California’s climate efforts.
Hayley Smith, 3/14/25

“The Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to repeal or weaken more than two dozen regulations could deliver a direct blow to California policies on air and water quality standards, electric vehicle initiatives and efforts to curb planet-harming greenhouse gas emissions,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “…Zeldin said the current federal rules impose more than $700 billion in regulatory and compliance costs, and that the EV mandate takes away Americans’ ability to select the car of their choice while increasing the cost on all products delivered by trucks. California has set an even more aggressive target than the federal government on EV adoption, with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate banning the sale of gas cars by 2035 — a move the Trump administration has already set out to block.”

EXTRACTION

Guardian: Environmental groups sound new alarm as fossil fuel lobby pushes for immunity
Dharna Noor, 3/13/25

“As fossil fuel interests attack climate accountability litigation, environmental advocates have sounded a new warning that they are pursuing a path that would destroy all future prospects for such cases,” the Guardian reports. “Nearly 200 advocacy groups have urged Democratic representatives to “proactively and affirmatively” reject potential industry attempts to obtain immunity from litigation. “We have reason to believe that the fossil fuel industry and its allies will use the chaos and overreach of the new Trump administration to attempt yet again to … shield themselves from facing consequences for their decades of pollution and deception,” reads a letter to Congress on Wednesday. It was signed by 195 environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, Earthjustice and Sunrise Movement; legal non-profits including the American Association for Justice and Public Justice; and dozens of other organizations. Over the last decade, states and municipalities have brought more than 30 lawsuits accusing big oil of intentionally covering up the climate risks of their products, and seeking potentially billions in damages. The defendants have worked to kill the cases, with limited success. Now, with Republicans in control of the White House and both congressional chambers, advocates fear the industry will go further, pursuing total immunity from all existing and future climate lawsuits. To do so, they could lobby for a liability waiver like the one granted to the firearms industry in 2005, which has successfully blocked most attempts to hold them accountable for violence.”

CBC: What Poilievre’s plan for the industrial carbon price could mean for the oilsands [VIDEO]
3/17/25

“Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’d repeal standards for pricing greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial emitters, if elected. That could have major consequences for planned carbon capture and sequestration projects in Alberta. The Pembina Institute’s Janetta McKenzie explains,” the CBC reports.

Law360: Exxon Committed ‘Straightforward Fraud,’ Investors Say
Spencer Brewer, 3/17/25

“Exxon Mobil Corp. investors told a Texas federal court that the energy giant’s antics surrounding its operations in Kearl Lake amount to a “straightforward fraud,” and that the court should reject Exxon’s bid for judgment as a matter of law,” Law360 reports.

The Pointer: Federal and provincial governments ‘often too friendly with fossil fuel industry’ have allowed it to shape climate education in schools
Anushka Yadav, 3/17/25

“Children’s minds are like blank slates, ready to absorb knowledge—but who holds the pen? In the face of a climate crisis, fossil fuel companies are quietly shaping climate education in Canada,” The Pointer reports. “…A scathing report by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and For Our Kids, with support from the Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring, uncovers how over the past two decades—amid growing climate-related disasters and the rise of youth climate activism—the oil and gas industry has shifted from sowing doubt about climate change to actively delaying action by ‘funding and providing misleading climate education to children across Canada.’ “…At least 39 oil and gas companies and 12 industry-tied organizations, including Shell, TC Energy and Pathways Alliance, are involved in climate education, either by supplying education materials directly to schools, through government partnerships, or funding third-party nonprofit providers of such materials. The reach of these programs extends to every province in Canada,” the report found. The report reveals that industry-sponsored educational materials often downplay the fossil fuel sector’s role in climate change, exaggerate its environmental efforts, promote quick fixes, and shift responsibility to individual actions rather than addressing systemic issues. This is simply what’s called greenwashing. “Greenwashing is a significant obstacle in defeating the climate crisis. Greenwashing can delay action by misleading consumers about the nature or the scale of environmental issues, it can also unduly influence decision-makers to refrain from implementing necessary laws and policies,” Ecojustice staff lawyer Fraser Thomson told The Pointer.

OPINION

The Iowa Standard: Sen. Salmon: Ding! Dong! Is the CO2 Pipeline Dead??
Sandy Salmon, 3/17/25

“Yes, it’s altogether possible the CO2 pipeline may be dead!!,” Sandy Salmon writes for The Iowa Standard. “The biggest reason for this optimism is that the South Dakota legislature just passed and their governor just signed a bill prohibiting the exercise of eminent domain for constructing or operating a CO2 pipeline… “Summit Carbon could try to reroute their pipeline through Minnesota and get to North Dakota that way but: 1. they wouldn’t be able to get the CO2 from all the ethanol plants in South Dakota, which helps them make money from your taxpayer dollars, and 2. Minnesota has very strict eminent domain laws, much better for protecting private property rights than Iowa has. Summit would find it pretty rough going in Minnesota… “Meanwhile we keep working as hard as we can to get private property rights protections here in Iowa. Even if the CO2 pipeline project never happens it has pointed out the lack of protection from eminent domain abuse in our law. So we still need to act… “Unless we act, about 850 pieces of land and about 450 farmers and landowners are in danger of easements being foisted on them by Summit Carbon. It may not be you today having your property rights trampled on, but it could be you tomorrow. Summit and its supporters often say “you can’t change the rules in the middle of the game”. I often think of how Summit is changing the rules in the middle of the landowners’ “game”. This is the 4th year of fighting for property rights protections for farmers and landowners against eminent domain abuse by more powerful economic interests. This has caused them untold and needless worry and stress over the past 4 years. Our federal and state constitutions both require a public use in order to use eminent domain and our state law requires that the CO2 pipeline promote the public convenience and necessity. In no way does this project meet these requirements. Nearly 80% of Iowa’s citizens can see this… “The time is long past due for the governor and Senate leaders to step aside and let the private property rights protection agenda of We the People receive votes on the floor of not just the House but also the Senate.”

Bloomberg: The Oil Industry Is Over a Half-Empty Barrel
Javier Blas, 3/16/25

“Remember: The Barrel Is Always Half Full.” That’s the message on a huge electronic billboard in Midland, Texas, the capital of the US shale oil revolution. The meaning is clear: Throughout booms and busts, American oilmen should always look to a brighter future,” Javier Blas writes for Bloomberg. “Yet, that upbeat spirit is nowhere to be seen today. Overwhelmingly, the industry sees the barrel as half empty. “There’s a lot less optimism,” Scott Sheffield, a shale pioneer, told me in Houston last week during CERAWeek by S&P Global, the annual gathering of the American energy industry. The gloom seems counterintuitive. Donald Trump has brought his “drill, baby, drill” slogan back to the White House, and installed an industry insider as secretary of energy: oil executive Chris Wright. The mood at the annual jamboree that attracts about 10,000 executives, bankers and traders, should have been ebullient. It wasn’t. True, in public, everyone is happy about eased regulations and the prospect of lower taxes, not to mention the subject of climate change becoming taboo for this administration. But in private, executives are far more worried about Trump’s push for lower oil prices and the potential of a trade war-induced recession. If anyone in Houston needed a reminder, as the conference got underway, Trump spoke in Washington, saying he was “very happy” with the drop in prices.”