EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/29/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa House passes eminent domain bill for pipelines

• Cedar Rapids Gazette: Iowa House passes bill allowing court review of pipeline eminent domain requests

• Radio Iowa: On 86-7 vote, Iowa House passes another pipeline-related bill

• Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota Public Service Commission sets details for Summit pipeline hearings

• Mlive.com: ​​Stopping Line 5 could ‘never happen fast enough,’ says U.S. Interior Secretary

• Allegheny Front: Mountain Valley Pipeline Fined $34,000 for 29 Environmental Violations

• Journal-Courier: More lawsuits filed in Spire STL Pipeline battle

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Guardian: Surge Of New US-Led Oil And Gas Activity Threatens To Wreck Paris Climate Goals

• E&E News: Utilities should rethink ‘panicked rush’ to build gas plants — study

• E&E News: Manchin, Capito Air New EPA Methane Fee Complaints 

• E&E News: Most oil and gas execs concerned about methane fee, LNG pause

• The Hill: Court strikes down Biden rule requiring states and cities to set climate targets for transportation

• E&E News: Republicans Accuse Dems Of Meddling On Oil Mergers 

STATE UPDATES

• WABC: Ship that collapsed Baltimore bridge was carrying hazardous materials: NTSB

• Buckrail: Governor opposes EPA waste emission charge for oil and gas producers

• Heatmap: Louisiana Is Officially Getting a Direct Air Capture Hub

• Cowboy State Daily: Gillette’s Dry Fork Station Could Become World’s Largest Carbon Capture Plant

• KERO: Carbon capture project slated for Belrigde Oilfield near Lost Hills

• Cleveland.com: Ohio AG accuses handler of radioactive oil and gas waste of ‘egregious’ violations

• Houston Chronicle: ExxonMobil says a spill of water and crude oil near Houston’s Sylvan Rodriguez Park is contained

EXTRACTION

• E&E News: Oil field services giant bets $380M on CCS

• Global Energy Monitor: Drilling Deeper 2024: Global Oil & Gas Extraction Tracker

• Canary Media: As Europe shifts to clean energy, does it still need so much US LNG?

• Reuters: Aerial surveys show US landfills are major source of methane emissions

• CBC: Premiers Higgs, Smith call on MPs to abandon carbon pricing program

• VIA: B.C. government to launch emissions cap on oil and gas sector

• S&P Global: Oil production and carbon capture takeaways from CERAWeek

• NPR: Chevron Owns This City’s News Site. Many Stories Aren’t Told 

• Bloomberg: Can a Legally Binding Treaty Fix the World’s Plastic Problem?

• Canary Media: How the US fell in love with fossil gas — and LNG [VIDEO]

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Reuters: Citi says 42% of energy clients lack climate transition plans

• Axios: ESG down for the count, but not totally knocked out

OPINION

• Ekalaka Eagle: Don’t Let Eastern Montana’s Ag Lands Become A Corporate Polluter’s Dumping Grounds 

• Counterpunch: Carbon Capture, too Little too Late?

• The Narwhal: ‘You win some, you lose some’

PIPELINE NEWS

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa House passes eminent domain bill for pipelines
JARED STRONG, 3/28/24

“A bill approved by the Iowa House on Thursday would allow landowners who are subject to eminent domain requests by carbon dioxide pipeline companies to challenge the legitimacy of those requests in court earlier in the permit proceedings,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “House File 2664 was approved by a bipartisan, 86-7 vote. Its future in the Senate is unclear. It is the latest attempt by the House to aid landowners who object to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed use of eminent domain to build a sprawling pipeline system that would transport captured carbon dioxide from 30 ethanol plants in Iowa to North Dakota for underground storage… “The new bill the House approved Thursday would not, itself, limit eminent domain for the pipeline projects. It is meant to expedite a court decision about whether eminent domain is allowable — a decision that under current rules might come many months after state regulators issue a permit… “For that entire period, you have the century farms, landowners, people who didn’t especially want to have this pipeline going over their land and have some questions about it, not being able to get an answer on their constitutional law question and not being able to sell their land at full value or make a decision on tiling or make a decision on estate planning for all that period of time,” Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, who is an attorney and managed the bill, told the Dispatch. “This bill corrects that.” “…This legislation simply allows both landowners and companies the opportunity to have a declaratory judgment up front on the constitutionality of an eminent domain request, before precious time and money are wasted,” Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who has been a leading voice against eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines, told the Dispatch. “This legislation would allow landowners a little peace of mind, getting to know up front the validity of an eminent domain request so that they could plan accordingly, as opposed to waiting and fighting for years, their land in limbo, their futures in doubt, their lives full of tension and fear, while they plead with their elected officials to hear them.”

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Iowa House passes bill allowing court review of pipeline eminent domain requests
Caleb McCullough, 3/28/24

“Iowa House lawmakers passed their latest measure Thursday to rein in eminent domain use for carbon dioxide capture pipelines, passing a bill that would allow individuals or companies to ask a court to review whether forced easements are warranted in a pending pipeline case,” the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports. “Supporters said it would expand the rights of landowners and clear up constitutional questions about the eminent domain authority for hazardous liquid pipelines… “All present Democrats voted in favor, and seven Republicans voted no. Republican Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, whose family owns land along the Summit pipeline’s proposed route, recused herself… “Jess Mazour, the conservation program coordinator for the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, said in a statement that the bill would level the playing field for landowners. “We’ve been at the capitol every single week for 3 years. It’s time the Senate gets its priorities straight and quit kowtowing to Summit, Wolf, and (Summit Chief Executive Officer) Bruce Rastetter,” Mazour said… “In an appearance last week on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS, Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said he was not sure if the bill would come up in the Senate. Dawson is chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.”

Radio Iowa: On 86-7 vote, Iowa House passes another pipeline-related bill
O. Kay Henderson, 3/29/24

“The Iowa House has voted to let landowners seek a court ruling now on whether carbon pipeline developers qualify for the government’s eminent domain authority to force unwilling property owners to let the pipeline on their land,” Radio Iowa reports. “We’re faced with lots of choices in this body. Few go to the heart of Iowa the way this does. Land is the original asset in Iowa. It’s in our souls. An unjust taking of land without remedy is not only irritating, it’s outrageous,” Republican Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City said. “Let’s give Iowans a remedy.” Thomson said right now, property owners are forced to live in limbo for years — waiting for the Iowa Utilities Board decision on the project as well as the resolution of lawsuits expected to challenge that decision. “That means for that entire period you have these Century Farms, landowners, people who didn’t especially want to have this pipeline going over their land and have some questions about it, not being able to get an answer on their constitutional law question,” Thomson said, “and not being able to sell their land at full value or make a decision on tiling or make a decision on estate planning.” “…Kaufmann said government doesn’t exist to make the confiscation of private property easier or cheaper for pipeline developers. The Iowa House has previously passed other proposals to set up pipeline regulations, but all have stalled in the Iowa Senate.”

Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota Public Service Commission sets details for Summit pipeline hearings
JOEY HARRIS, 3/29/24

“The North Dakota Public Service Commission has set the details for public hearings on a route permit for Summit Carbon Solutions’ planned multistate carbon dioxide pipeline,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “…The PSC last September granted Summit a petition for a reconsideration. At the time, one commissioner cited the desire to maintain the record given that Summit would have likely reapplied if the petition was denied. Almost 2,000 additional pages of information have been submitted since the PSC granted Summit its petition for reconsideration. This includes large and small reroutes across the pipeline’s footprint, and the company’s attempts to address the other issues. The first set of hearings will begin April 22 starting at 9 a.m. in the ballroom at the Baymont Inn & Suites in Mandan. This will primarily focus on portions of the project in Burleigh, Morton and Oliver counties, and it could last multiple days… “The second public hearing is set for May 24 at the Harry Stern & Ella Stern Cultural Center at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. This will primarily focus on route adjustments in Dickey, Sargent, Cass and Richland counties in eastern North Dakota. The final public hearing is set for June 4 in the Our Club in Linton. It will primarily focus on adjustments in Emmons, Logan and McIntosh Counties in central North Dakota.”

Mlive.com: ​​Stopping Line 5 could ‘never happen fast enough,’ says U.S. Interior Secretary
Sheri McWhirter, 3/28/24

“America’s first Native American cabinet secretary said the Line 5 oil and gas pipeline can’t be shut down fast enough when she visited Michigan this week,” Mlive.com reports. “The Line 5 fight in Michigan became a focal point during a lecture on Tuesday by U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who came to the University of Michigan’s Rackham Auditorium in Ann Arbor to speak about climate change and environmental justice. The secretary was pressed on the issue both by an undergraduate student and an interrupting protestor. Haaland spoke in solidarity with Indigenous water protectors fighting to shut down the Enbridge-owned Line 5, which crosses between Michigan’s two peninsulas where it runs underwater along Great Lakes bottomlands at the Straits of Mackinac. She likened the fight to the Standing Rock tribe’s battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline. “I understand water is life. You can’t do anything without that. And I know that stopping Line 5 – it could never happen fast enough for anyone,” she said… “Haaland said Native tribes are at the table with federal lawyers as the international issue unfolds. She assured the crowd that she cares deeply about the issue. “They are all at the table, talking, finding a way to make it happen faster,” Haaland said.

Allegheny Front: Mountain Valley Pipeline Fined $34,000 for 29 Environmental Violations
ROXY TODD, 3/28/24

“The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued fines to the Mountain Valley Pipeline for environmental violations. The fines total $34,000 for 29 different violations along the pipeline construction route through Virginia,” Allegheny Front reports. “From September to November last year, inspectors discovered inadequate erosion control, impacts to wetlands and say MVP broke rules outlined in a 2019 consent decree with DEQ… “David Sligh, conservation director with the group Wild Virginia, tolf AF these violations add up to a pattern of instances where mud and sediment likely ended up in water that should have been protected. He told AF he doesn’t think the fines are an adequate response to the pollution MVP has done to rivers, streams and wetlands. “There’s no reason to think that a minimal fine is going to affect their behavior going forward,” Sligh told AF. The pipeline is projected to cost $7.6 billion, and Sligh, who previously was an employee with DEQ, said $34,000 isn’t a very stiff fine for a company of that size. “From what I’ve seen, DEQ seems to be determined to do the bare minimum to give the appearance that they’re enforcing Virginia’s environmental laws, as opposed to truly holding MVP accountable for what they’ve done,” Russell Chisholm, a resident of Giles County and the co-director of the Protect Our Water Heritage, Rights Coalition (POWHR), told AF.”

Journal-Courier: More lawsuits filed in Spire STL Pipeline battle
Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree, 3/29/24

“A St. Louis-based company has filed a lawsuit against 16 landowners in Greene and Scott counties to grant temporary easements to land along pipeline that has been installed there,” the Journal-Courier reports. “Jason Merrill, director of public relations for Spire, told the Journal-Courier the company is seeking access to the lands to perform court-ordered restoration work.  “Last week, Spire STL Pipeline filed condemnation proceedings in Illinois to implement restoration efforts identified by Spire and confirmed by both the state of Illinois and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,” Merrill told the Journal-Courier. “The filings come after years of negotiations with landowners to obtain legal access to fully perform restoration activities long identified by Spire STL Pipeline in its weekly and monthly regulatory reporting.” “…Merrill told the Journal-Courier the company has attempted to work with landowners to provide the needed repairs but have been denied. “We deeply care about our relationships with landowners and do not take this action lightly,” Merrill told the Journal-Courier. “The FERC docket shows years of engagement with stakeholders to resolve these matters. However, Spire STL Pipeline has been consistently denied access to the lands necessary to finally perform critical remediation and environmental compliance work. Without cooperation from representatives of our landowner partners, condemnation is Spire STL Pipeline’s only legal option to access these properties.” Scott Turman, one of the landowners named in the suit, told the Journal-Courier there have been ongoing talks but most offers were well below a serious or realistic offer.  “Instead of settling with us, they have tried everything they could to get around everybody,” Turman told the Journal-Courier. “They gave us another offer last week that was closer to being serious. It wasn’t serious, but it is closer than previous offers.” Turman told the Journal-Courier he and many landowners have denied the company further access to their land because the offered restoration isn’t satisfactory.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Guardian: Surge Of New US-Led Oil And Gas Activity Threatens To Wreck Paris Climate Goals 
Oliver Milman, 3/28/24

“The US, which has produced more crude oil than any country has ever done in history for the past six years in a row, led the way in new oil and gas projects in 2022 and 2023, the report found,” according to the Guardian. “Guyana was second, with countries in the Americas accounting for 40% of all new oil sanctioned in the past two years. The failure to even slightly slow down the hunt for new oil and gas risks a fatal blow to already slender hopes of the world remaining below 1.5C, a limit that scientists expect will be surpassed within a decade. It comes as major oil and gas companies miss or water down their own targets to cut planet-heating emissions. At a recent industry conference in Texas, the boss of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, said people ‘should abandon the fantasy’ of phasing out oil and gas. “Despite the constant and clear warnings that no new oil and gas fields are compatible with 1.5C, the industry continues to discover and sanction new projects,” Scott Zimmerman, project manager of the global oil and gas extraction tracker at Global Energy Monitor, told the Guardian. “It’s disappointing. It shows a lack of supply-side commitment to climate goals.”

E&E News: Utilities should rethink ‘panicked rush’ to build gas plants — study
Brian Dabbs, 3/28/24

“U.S. utilities are rushing to build new natural gas plants even though they could likely meet growing demand with renewable electricity and energy efficiency gains, according to a new study by the research firm Energy Innovation: Policy and Innovation,” E&E News reports. “The study — released Thursday — calls on public utility commissioners, particularly in the Southeast, to be “skeptical of plans to add new gas.” The research firm also encourages expansion of U.S. transmission, more regulations like building codes and appliance standards, and expanded energy efficiency programs that include heat pump incentives and other measures. ”Demand-growth is not a mirage, but a panicked rush towards new gas capacity is not the appropriate response to the challenge — better near- and long- term solutions exist and should be deployed first,” the authors wrote in the study, which is the latest in a string of reports from the research firm in the wake of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.”

E&E News: Manchin, Capito Air New EPA Methane Fee Complaints 
Emma Dumain, 3/27/24

“West Virginia’s senators are again challenging EPA over its efforts to reduce methane emissions. Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito separately wrote EPA administrator Michael Regan this week raising concerns about delays and costs for businesses as EPA seeks to cut down on methane — a noxious, planet-warming greenhouse gas,” E&E News reports. “In their letters, Manchin, chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Capito, ranking member of Environment and Public Works, outlined numerous issues with how EPA is carrying out two separate and complex rules under the Methane Emissions Reduction Program. ‘I am profoundly disheartened that instead of prioritizing genuine emissions reduction efforts, these rules seem intended to serve as yet another avenue to raise the costs of domestic energy production, disregarding the laws actually passed by Congress,’ wrote Manchin, who helped negotiate the methane provisions contained in the Inflation Reduction Act.”

E&E News: Most oil and gas execs concerned about methane fee, LNG pause
SHELBY WEBB, 3/28/24

“Most oil and gas executives surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said the Biden administration’s liquefied natural gas export approval pause and EPA’s proposed methane fee will hurt their businesses,” E&E News reports. “Some industry leaders said in a survey released Wednesday that uncertainty caused by the 2024 presidential election and the candidates’ potential regulatory regimes made them hesitant to drill new wells — even though current oil prices are more than high enough to make drilling profitable. President Joe Biden is expected to face former President Donald Trump in November. “I can’t recall a more uncertain time with disturbing world conflicts and the choice we have to make in the U.S. presidential election,” an unnamed executive told the Dallas Fed. The survey — which polled 147 companies across Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana — found that activity in the oil and gas sector remained “relatively unchanged” during the first quarter of this year. About 55 percent of companies expected employment levels to remain about the same throughout this year, and about 30 percent expected a slight increase in employment. But responses also pointed to a decline in oil and natural gas production.”

The Hill: Court strikes down Biden rule requiring states and cities to set climate targets for transportation
RACHEL FRAZIN, 3/28/24

“A federal court struck down a Biden administration rule Wednesday night requiring states and cities to set climate targets for transportation,” The Hill reports. “Judge James Hendrix, a former President Trump appointee, agreed with the Republican-led states that sued over the rule that the Biden administration did not have the authority to require them to set the targets… “The rule, from the Federal Highway Administration, required state and local transit authorities to set targets for decreasing planet-warming emissions and report on its progress. It also set up a national framework for measuring and reporting transportation-related emissions… “This was a clear case of blatant overreach by the Biden Administration from the beginning, and we commend the Court for its ruling,” Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) told The Hill. 

E&E News: Republicans Accuse Dems Of Meddling On Oil Mergers 
Kelsey Brugger, 3/28/24

“Congressional Democrats have for months been calling for probes of oil industry mergers. Now Republicans are pushing back,” E&E News reports. “In a letter Thursday to the Federal Trade Commission, more than 35 Senate Republicans told the commission to ‘follow the law and the facts’ in its recently announced review of oil and gas mergers — and not impose ‘policy preferences’ about ‘climate science’ to further political ends. ‘Unfortunately, some of our Democratic colleagues do not want you to apply relevant facts or antitrust precedent fairly to these mergers, as demonstrated through their letter,’ the Republicans wrote to FTC Chair Lina Khan. ‘Their letter makes specious and speculative claims about what these mergers would allegedly portend for ‘climate science’ and ‘climate legislation,’ among other things,’ the lawmakers wrote.”

STATE UPDATES

WABC: Ship that collapsed Baltimore bridge was carrying hazardous materials: NTSB
3/27/24

“The cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse was carrying hazardous materials, the National Transportation Safety Board said,” WABC reports. “NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told WABC there are 56 containers aboard containing hazardous materials, including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries. She told WABC some containers were breached and a sheen was identified in the water that will be dealt with by authorities… “According to an unclassified memo from the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, federal officials are also monitoring about 1.8 million gallons of fuel inside the container ship Dali for its “spill potential.” But a U.S. official familiar with the matter told CNN “lots would have to go wrong” for that amount of fuel to spill.”

Buckrail: Governor opposes EPA waste emission charge for oil and gas producers
3/27/24

“On Tuesday, March 26, Governor Mark Gordon submitted comments criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule establishing a waste emission charge for methane discharges from oil and gas facilities,” Buckrail reports. “There is little doubt this proposed rule will likely have significant regulatory and economic impacts on Wyoming and our oil and gas producers, but identifying those impacts is virtually impossible since it is tiered off the proposed Greenhouse Gas Reporting Proposed Rule and Methane Fee Proposed Rule,” Gordon said in the announcement. “This stacking renders accurate analysis highly speculative because we are basing comments on what might be.” “…Governor Gordon’s comments to the rule stressed that states like Wyoming are effectively addressing methane and other emissions… “The proposed charge for such emissions is another example of the federal government attempting to ‘help’ the states by promulgating top-down requirements without adequate consultation from the states,” Gordon said in his announcement. 

Heatmap: Louisiana Is Officially Getting a Direct Air Capture Hub
EMILY PONTECORVO, 3/27/24

“The Department of Energy is giving the green light to Project Cypress, a cluster of facilities in southwest Louisiana that will filter carbon dioxide directly from the air and store it underground. The agency announced Wednesday that it will award the project $50 million for the next phase of its development, which will be matched by $51 million in private investment,” Heatmap reports. “Before receiving any money, the Project Cypress team had to reach an agreement with the DOE regarding how they would engage with community and labor stakeholders. The result, also released Wednesday, was a series of commitments — for example, to assemble a community advisory board, to partner with local workforce development organizations, and to create a public website with project information. The developers have yet to provide a list of more concrete, measurable benefits the project will bring to the community. This was more like a plan to make a plan that will have robust community input. That the project sits near Lake Charles, home to some of the most contested energy projects in the country, will not make the next steps easy, however… “Members of the community, however, are skeptical that the project will benefit them… “Many residents have spent the last few years furiously fighting the buildout of several new LNG plants that are expected to increase pollution even more. One of those activists is James Hiatt, a former refinery worker based in Sulphur, Louisiana. About a year ago, Hiatt founded a group called For A Better Bayou because he wanted to build a grassroots movement to reimagine the future of Louisiana — to be for something, not just against heavy industry. “I want people to really imagine and embrace an alternative future for ourselves,” he told Heatmap. But to him, direct air capture is not it. “I wish I was so sold on it, like this is the way forward and I could get behind it and we could be like oh yeah, let’s do this,” he told Heatmap. “But it just does not add up for me.”

Cowboy State Daily: Gillette’s Dry Fork Station Could Become World’s Largest Carbon Capture Plant
Pat Maio, 3/28/24

“A research lab located on the doorstep of the Dry Fork Station power plant about 10 miles north of Gillette could become the catalyst for boosting coal burning fuel in the future,” the Cowboy State Daily reports. “A strategic partnership between an energy research organization associated with the University of Wyoming and a California filtration business received $4.6 million Thursday from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue cutting-edge work on capturing and storing carbon dioxide at one of the nation’s youngest coal-fired power plants… “The pilot project could tee up for commercial applications to capture carbon dioxide and for storing the gas emitted from power plants and industrial factories, Fred McLaughlin, director of SER’s Center for Economic Geology Research, told CSD… “When operational later in 2024, the pilot plant will be the largest capture plant based on clean membrane technology in the world… “The project aims to “capture, compress and store” onsite 3 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, achieving at least a 90% capture rate, according to the DOE announcement.”

KERO: Carbon capture project slated for Belrigde Oilfield near Lost Hills
Sam Hoyle, 3/28/24

“Aera Energy held a community gathering at Lost Hills Park where community members could learn about the energy company’s ‘Carbon Frontier’ project and ask any questions they had about it,” KERO reports. “The project will focus on capturing carbon dioxide created at the Belridge Oilfield and storing it underground to keep it from being released into the atmosphere… “23ABC spoke with Aera’s Community Outreach Specialist and Carbon Team Manager to learn more about the company’s efforts on the project and how they’re keeping the community informed. We also spoke with the president of the Caprenter’s Local Union 743, to get their perspective on what projects like this can do for communities regarding employment… “To make sure that we maintain these highly skilled jobs. We’ve got to get people into training opportunities, and it’s projects like this, that through the commitment of era to hire contractors that will participate in apprenticeship programs. It’s going to offer the local community a way in to get some good skills and offer them mortgage-paying jobs down the road,” said Josh Taylor.

Cleveland.com: Ohio AG accuses handler of radioactive oil and gas waste of ‘egregious’ violations
Jake Zuckerman, 3/28/24

“State Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against an oil and gas waste facility with a long track record of poor handling of hazardous and radiologic waste it processes,” Cleveland.com reports. “The suit, filed against Pennsylvania-based Austin Master Services in the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas, accuses the facility of “egregious violations of Ohio law at its oil and gas waste facility” in Martins Ferry on Ohio’s eastern border. The facility allowed radioactive liquids and sludge to flow uncontained onto the floor of its facility, stored more of its sometimes-radioactive waste than its state permit allows, and used improper storage containers (including a dumpster) in violation of its permit, according to Yost’s lawsuit.”

Houston Chronicle: ExxonMobil says a spill of water and crude oil near Houston’s Sylvan Rodriguez Park is contained
Yvette Orozco, 3/27/24

“An oil spill that occurred this week near Houston’s Sylvan Rodriguez Park has been contained and is being monitored by cleanup crews, an ExxonMobil representative said Wednesday,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “An email from ExxonMobil stated that produced water containing crude oil, which comes out of wells during oil production, overflowed from a containment tank and overflow pit at a Denbury location, and the overflow is believed to be due to a power outage.  Denbury, an oil and natural gas company, is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, and a clean up crew at the site Wednesday was from Denbury… “Clear Lake resident Emily Buckler told the Chronicle she’d noticed the cleanup effort in the park two days before. “I know that smell, and it smelled like oil,” Buckler, who worked for years at a Louisiana refinery and recognized the bright orange booms commonly used to soak up oil after a spill, told the Chronicle… “Crews from the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, which conducts air monitoring and environmental consulting, were on hand Wednesday morning taking samples from the waterway, and a company spokesperson couldn’t tell the Chronicle how long the clean up would last. “

EXTRACTION

E&E News: Oil field services giant bets $380M on CCS
Shelby Webb, 3/29/24

“Oil field services giant SLB announced Wednesday it plans to combine its carbon capture business with Norwegian company Aker Carbon Capture in a $380 million deal that aims to help decarbonize the industrial sector,” E&E News reports. “Texas-based SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, is expected to own 80 percent of the combined venture, while Aker will retain a 20 percent stake. While oil majors such as Exxon Mobil have beefed up their carbon capture units through acquisitions in the past few years, it’s rare to hear of an oil field services company moving into the business, Graham Bain, principal analyst for energy transition research with Enverus Intelligence, told E&E. “I would have never thought this would have been something that SLB would have been interested in in the first place,” Bain told E&E. “But I think it makes a lot of sense from where SLB stands — they have a lot of solutions that help these operators with carbon storage primarily.”

Global Energy Monitor: Drilling Deeper 2024: Global Oil & Gas Extraction Tracker
Scott Zimmerman, 3/28/24

“Globally last year, oil and gas producers sanctioned and discovered the equivalent of all the proven oil reserves in Europe. They aim to quadruple the amount sanctioned by the end of the decade, despite scientific consensus that any new field developments are incompatible with scenarios to limit temperature increases to 1.5°C, finds a new report from Global Energy Monitor. Data in the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker show at least 20 fields reached final investment decision in 2023, sanctioning the extraction of eight billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). By the end of the decade, companies are aiming to sanction nearly four times that amount — 31.2 billion boe across 64 additional fields. In addition, 19 new fields containing roughly 7.7 boe were discovered in 2023. GEM’s newest report reveals an alarming 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent in new oil and gas fields despite scientific consensus that any new field developments are incompatible with scenarios to limit temperature increases to 1.5°C. Despite mounting scientific evidence highlighting the urgent need to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the majority of top oil and gas producers are still exploring for and sanctioning new projects. According to the report, last year alone saw the global sanctioning and discovery of the equivalent to all proven oil reserves in Europe. Key findings from the report include: At least 20 fields reached final investment decisions in 2023, paving the way for the extraction of eight billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). 19 new fields containing roughly 7.7 billion boe were discovered in 2023 alone. South America and Africa have emerged as global hotspots for new oil and gas projects… “These findings underscore the urgent need for action to address the escalating climate crisis.”

Canary Media: As Europe shifts to clean energy, does it still need so much US LNG?
Julian Spector, 3/28/24

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 fundamentally changed the energy landscape in Europe, as Germany, France and their neighbors scrambled to ditch Russian fossil fuels,” Canary Media reports. “…But the continent did not cut out gas entirely — far from it. Along with shifting to renewables, European countries worked to swap out Russian gas for other sources, rapidly building import terminals to bring in liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas. The lion’s share of Europe’s LNG imports now comes from the United States, which became the biggest LNG exporter in the world last year. When President Joe Biden paused federal approvals for new LNG export facilities in the U.S. in January of this year, LNG interests were quick to criticize the move, arguing that limiting exports would empower Putin and weaken U.S. allies. Climate advocates, including several dozen green and left-leaning members of the European Union parliament, argued in turn that with Europe’s clean energy transition well underway, the continent does not need expanded exports from the U.S., and that demand for gas will continue to decline in the unstoppable march toward electrification and decarbonization… “In short, it’s premature to conclude that Europe’s efforts to reduce gas demand will render new sources of LNG wholly unnecessary. Gas demand has decreased, but not far enough… “The open question for American policymakers is whether Europe’s future energy security requires ongoing expansion of U.S. LNG export capacity or if the status quo will suffice. The EU parliamentarians who defended Biden’s LNG pause wrote in their January letter that current imports are meeting demand and that gas demand is set to continue declining. “Europe should not be used as an excuse to expand LNG exports that threaten our shared climate and have dire impacts on U.S. communities,” they wrote, affirming Biden’s decision to pause new LNG approvals pending an updated analysis of their costs and benefits.”

Reuters: Aerial surveys show US landfills are major source of methane emissions
Valerie Volcovici, 3/28/24

“Over half of U.S. landfills observed by aerial surveys are super-emitting sources of methane, according to a new study in the journal Science published on Thursday,” Reuters reports. “The study is the largest assessment to date of methane from landfills, the third-largest source of U.S. methane emissions, and suggests an opportunity to tackle climate change by targeting a prevalent and potent greenhouse gas… “Around 52% of landfills had observable methane emission point sources compared to the 0.2% to 1% of “super-emitter” sites in the oil and gas sector, the largest U.S. source of methane. Super emitters are sources that spew at least 100 kilograms (100 lbs) of methane per hour, according to the EPA. At large emitting landfills, 60% had methane leaks that persisted over months or years while the majority of leaks at super-emitting sites in the oil and gas sector were “short-duration events,” the study said… “The EPA’s own greenhouse gas reporting system has underestimated the scale of methane leaks in landfills, according to the study. Aerial surveys showed emission rates were 1.4 times higher than the EPA’s estimates.”

CBC: Premiers Higgs, Smith call on MPs to abandon carbon pricing program
Peter Zimonjic, 3/28/24

“Conservative premiers continued their war on the Liberal government’s carbon pricing policy Thursday, telling MPs on a parliamentary committee that the planned increase to the price should be scrapped along with the entire federal program,” CBC reports. “Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs made their arguments before the government operations and estimates committee, a day after Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe appeared to make similar arguments. Smith said the planned increase from $65 to $80 per tonne, scheduled for April 1, should be called off. She also described the plan to increase the price to $170 per tonne by 2030 as “reckless,” “immoral” and “inhumane.” “The added pressure will ruin countless lives, futures and dreams. It’s a weight that Canadians can’t bear,” Smith said. “It’s why Alberta has been calling on the federal government to eliminate the carbon tax since 2019.” “…Premier Blaine Higgs, testifying at federal committee about the carbon tax hike — which he opposes — made a push for exporting LNG to Europe, saying there’s increasing demand for the liquified natural gas in countries like the Czech Republic… “Both Smith and Higgs called for an alternative greenhouse gas emissions reduction policy centred on article six of the Paris climate change agreement… “For the second straight day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused conservative premiers and the federal Conservative Party of misleading Canadians on the climate debate.”

VIA: B.C. government to launch emissions cap on oil and gas sector
Stefan Labbé, 3/28/24

“The B.C. government says it will introduce an emissions cap on fossil fuel production in the province as a backstop should a federal cap fall short in the coming years,” VIA reports. “In a release Thursday, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy said the province is in discussions with the federal government to align their policies, and avoid regulatory duplication.  The B.C. government says it will introduce regulatory measures in 2025 so that the cap takes effect in 2026. If at any point, a federal emissions cap does not go far enough to meet B.C.’s reduction targets, the provincial cap will kick in.  Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, told VIA by placing a cap on oil and gas emissions and not production, the measures would provide industry with “certainty” to allow it to decarbonize… ”To ensure compliance with the emissions cap, the government said it’s considering “absolute emission reductions; technology applications; verifiable trade-able carbon credits; verifiable carbon offsets; and compliance payments.” The heads of two green think tanks immediately came out in support of the new B.C. oil and gas emissions cap. The Pembina Institute’s executive director Chris Severson-Baker urged the federal government to respond with its own oil and gas emissions cap, while Mark Zacharias, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, told VIA he was “pleased” with the latest move.  “Our position is clear: New fossil fuel projects can only proceed if they fit within B.C.’s climate targets and the emissions cap is the best way to ensure that this happens,” Zacharias said in a statement. Jens Wieting, senior policy and science advisor from the Sierra Club of BC, told VIA he was “very concerned” about the announcement, especially coming just a day after the Tilbury Marine Jetty Project received environmental certificates. Wieting told VIA that if the B.C. and federal governments couldn’t deliver on a emissions cap “in a timely manner,” they should put a “temporary pause” on all new fossil fuel projects as U.S. President Joe Biden did for U.S. LNG projects.” 

S&P Global: Oil production and carbon capture takeaways from CERAWeek
Jeff Mower, Starr Spencer, Binish Azhar, 3/28/24

“The 2024 CERAWeek by S&P Global conference just wrapped up in Houston, where oil industry executives were talking up, often aggressively, the need for oil and gas to remain in the mix during the transition to cleaner energies. They also discussed environmental solutions which will be needed to keep that oil flowing, namely the need for large-scale carbon capture projects,” S&P Global reports. “Jeff Mower talks with upstream oil editor Starr Spencer and midstream oil editor Binish Azhar about the outlook for oil production in the US, as well a roadblocks for CCS projects that are hinging on lengthy regulatory approvals.”

NPR: Chevron Owns This City’s News Site. Many Stories Aren’t Told 
Miranda Green, David Folkenflik, 3/28/24

“Open flames shot upward from four smokestacks at the Chevron refinery on the western edge of Richmond, Calif. Soon, black smoke blanketed the sky. News spread quickly that day last November, but by word of mouth, says Denny Khamphanthong, a 29-year-old Richmond resident,” NPR reports. “We don’t know the full story, but we know that you shouldn’t breathe in the air or be outside for that matter,” Khamphanthong told NPR. “It would be nice to have an actual news outlet that would actually go out there and figure it out themselves.” The city’s primary local news source, The Richmond Standard, didn’t cover the flare. Nor had it reported on a 2021 Chevron refinery pipeline rupture that dumped nearly 800 gallons of diesel fuel into San Francisco Bay. Chevron is the city’s largest employer, largest taxpayer and largest polluter. Yet when it comes to writing about Chevron, The Richmond Standard consistently toes the company line. And there’s a reason for that: Chevron owns The Richmond Standard. “If you look at Chevron’s website and you look at The Richmond Standard, a lot of the information is copy and paste,” Katt Ramos, a local climate activist, told NPR. “They present a very skewed viewpoint that is bought and paid for by Chevron.”

Bloomberg: Can a Legally Binding Treaty Fix the World’s Plastic Problem?
Akshat Rathi, Tiffany Tsoi, and Leslie Kaufman, 3/27/24

“Plastic is literally everywhere: It shows up in the ocean, in our communities, even in the human body. And because plastics can break down into microplastics — and even nanoplastics — it easily reaches every corner of the world,” Bloomberg reports. “Today, over 430 million tons of plastic are produced every year, an amount that’s expected to triple to roughly 1.2 billion tons by 2060, according to the OECD. That haul could contribute almost 4 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere at a time when countries and companies are meant to be focused on reducing emissions and reaching net zero. The plastic problem is so prevalent, and so acute, that the United Nations’s Environment Program aims to tackle it with a new treaty that calls for a reduction in plastic production and an increase in recycling. The treaty has been submitted for negotiations and, if all goes right, could become a legally binding contract by next year — a relatively speedy process for global environmental deal-making.”

Canary Media: How the US fell in love with fossil gas — and LNG [VIDEO]
3/27/24

“A decade ago, the U.S. barely sent any of its natural gas overseas — but as of last year, it became the largest exporter of the leak-prone, planet-warming gas in the world,” Canary Media reports. “How did we get here? To really answer that question, we’ve got to go back in time, to an era when coal was still king and fracking was just an emerging technology. That’s exactly what our friends at Climate Town did in their new video, produced in partnership with Canary Media. The video chronicles how fossil gas rose to the top of the U.S. energy food chain, becoming the country’s primary source of electricity — and how it became a major export, too, in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Climate Town walks us through the whole story, shining a light on why these developments present such an urgent problem for the planet.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Reuters: Citi says 42% of energy clients lack climate transition plans
Isla Binnie, 3/28/24

“Almost half of the energy companies Citi (C.N), opens new tab lends to are lacking plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the fourth-largest U.S. bank said in a climate report, opens new tab released on Thursday,” Reuters reports. “Banks are combing through their loan books for information on the risks businesses face from climate change and how they are preparing to shift to a lower-carbon economy, as regulators around the world increase their own demands for disclosure. Citi ranked the energy companies in its loan portfolio from “low” to “strong” on the basis of their plans to reduce emissions across three categories, known as scopes. In 42% of cases, it found “absence of a substantive transition plan,” and a lack of disclosure of Scope 3 emissions, which are released into the atmosphere from companies’ supply chains and customers… “Citi found just 8% of its energy clients had a “comprehensive and ambitious transition plan targeting Scopes 1-3 emissions reductions and demonstrated ability to execute.” The proportion rose to 37% when Scope 3 emissions were excluded.”

Axios: ESG down for the count, but not totally knocked out
Javier E. David, 3/28/24

“ESG investing is dead. Long live ESG investing. Driving the news: Released earlier this week, an analysis of the often derided environmental, social and governance investing trend paints a mixed picture of what some critics have denounced as “woke capitalism,” Axios reports. “Pitchbook’s “State of Private Market ESG and Impact Investing in 2024” notes that asset managers are retreating from ESG commitments — at least in public. But it also found others are leaning into it as a method of “value creation and protection … in the challenging macroeconomic environment.” “…Additionally, the analysis cited the “extreme” political backlash — in combination with macroeconomic factors like still-high inflation rates —as reasons for asset managers to reconsider their stance. “This is a significant departure from the rapid adoption and branding around ESG in the private markets that transpired at the beginning of the pandemic,” the firm notes. What they’re saying: Marcos Carrington, CEO and founder of Environmental Stock Exchange (ENVX), counts himself among the skeptics. Among other things, he believes the investing framework “will continue to see massive outflows and diminished returns in the coming cycles, primarily due to its failure to generate competitive adjusted rates of return, prohibits asset managers from maintaining their fiduciary responsibility and perceived hyper politicization.” “…Meanwhile, proponents of environmental and social investing are “leaning in,” noting the potential for upside, Pitchbook’s analysts noted… “The bottom line: ESG may be on the ropes, but it’s not completely down for the count.”

OPINION

Ekalaka Eagle: Don’t Let Eastern Montana’s Ag Lands Become A Corporate Polluter’s Dumping Grounds 
Liz Barbour is a ranch manager in Hammond, Montana, and member of Northern Plains Resource Council, a grassroots conservation and family agriculture group, 3/29/24

“I’m a ranch manager in Carter County,” Liz Barbour writes for the Ekalaka Eagle. “…Join me in protecting Montana, our home, from a disturbing plan from the Exxon corporation that uses our tax dollars and public lands in a scheme to pump 150 million tons of pollution underground, threatening the land, water, and livelihoods of my agricultural community. We’ve seen this playbook before. Out-of-state corporations lobby the government for money used to steamroll rural communities with projects that enrich shareholders and executives while treating farmers, ranchers, and rural folks as disposable refuse. In this case, the big player is Denbury, Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon. The plan is called the Snowy River Carbon Sequestration Project, and it’s part of a larger corporate ploy to use government handouts for unproven technologies that are supposed to address climate change. In reality, it’s an expensive fig leaf that leads to more climate pollution.”

Counterpunch: Carbon Capture, too Little too Late?
ROBERT HUNZIKER, 3/28/24

“Will carbon capture technology bail society out of the latest version of greenhouse gas emissions, CO2 suddenly doubling its rate of increase when compared to the past decade, in breathtaking fashion, thus overheating the ocean and the Arctic and Antarctica and hammering Greenland?,” Robert Hunziker writes for Counterpunch. “The relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and carbon capture technology is best seen as a metaphor of athletes in the Olympic games: Team Emissions is setting world records in the 100-meter dash; Team Carbon Capture is still training for the 10,000-meter marathon. Direct Air Capture (DAC) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) fall far short of meeting timelines as global emissions are outrunning all timelines, increasing two-fold within only one year… “According to MIT, to stay “even-with-the-board on CO2 annually,” nearly 20 billion tons needs to be captured each year. It’s overwhelming. Meanwhile, Earth soaks up half of the 37 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions per annum. With all of that, it still leaves too much CO2 already in the atmosphere to take the heat off global warming… “In strong opposition to DAC, Mark Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University says DAC is a waste of funds… “Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry claims it can continue to produce as much oil and gas as it wants to because Carbon Capture and Sequester -CCS- will effectively neutralize CO2 emissions. No, it will not… “Based upon a reasonably comprehensive study, it appears that carbon capture technology is/will be too little too late. Global warming is not waiting around.”

The Narwhal: ‘You win some, you lose some’
Carl Meyer, 3/28/24

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That might be the slogan of all lobbyists and politicians in Ottawa — and it was certainly the approach Irving Oil took last year, according to documents I got my hands on for my latest investigation,” Carl Meyer writes for The Narwhal. “This story, however, is about more than persistent lobbying. It’s a reminder of how oil and gas companies are adept at diverting political and public attention towards dealing with their concerns, on their terms — and away from the fact that fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis.  To recap: Irving Oil asked the federal government to change some pollution rules to favour its Atlantic Canada refinery. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault rejected the request in a letter sent in early January last year. Changing it would go against the whole point of the program, he wrote, which is to cut down on the carbon used to make the gasoline and diesel that Canadian vehicles guzzle daily, and to help make low-carbon alternatives more available… “Irving Oil argued that not getting what it wanted could “negatively impact” not only its own business, but the “regional economy and potential job creation.” “…If this all sounds familiar, it’s because the industry often tries to frame its lobbying against climate action in terms of economic or affordability impacts on Canadian workers and consumers… “Canada’s oil and gas lobbying has the ability to crowd out space talking about the importance of fossil fuel infrastructure in a way that can lead to decisions that lock in our dependence on these energy sources. It can dominate the conversation at a time when there’s an urgent need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and for governments to help consumers switch to cleaner — and often cheaper and more efficient — technology like renewables or heat pumps.”