EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/4/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• WEEK: State engineer recommends rejecting McLean County CO2 sequestration project

• Inside Climate News: Just How Much Money Do CO2 Pipeline Companies Stand to Make From the Inflation Reduction Act?

• Bloomberg: Ethanol Maker Valero to Join $8 Billion Carbon Pipeline Project

• South Dakota Searchlight: Opposition to pipeline could derail landowner protections, House leader warns

• South Dakota Public Broadcasting: Pipeline bills push into last week of legislative session

• Press release: SDFB, SDCGA, SDSA Support Payment to Landowners

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Dickinson County drafts pipeline ordinance with hopes to avoid lawsuit

• Roanoke Times: Head of DEQ previously did consulting work for Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Harvard Crimson: Climate Protester Thrown to the Ground After Interrupting Joe Manchin’s Harvard IOP Talk

• Bloomberg: Trudeau’s Long-Delayed Oil Pipeline Seeks First Crude Deliveries

• Reuters: TC Energy to sell Portland Natural Gas Transmission System for $1.14 bln

• Cardinal News: Pipeline expansion plan runs through Pittsylvania County 

• Finger Lakes 1: Public comment invited on natural gas pipeline work in Seneca, Ontario counties

• Pipeline Technology Journal: [Ask the Experts] Submit questions on “Future Fuels & CO2”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• The Hill: GOP senators introduce bill reversing LNG export pause

• Bloomberg: Oil Heavyweights Take Aim at Biden’s LNG Permitting Freeze

• Axios: What we’re watching: Dems’ LNG wriggling

• E&E News: EPA wins tussle with White House over climate rule

• Utility Dive: Biden taps 3 for FERC seats amid concerns over potential lack of quorum

• Politico: The fossil-fuel-promoting agency that Biden seems powerless to stop

• Associated Press: John Kerry reflects on time as top US climate negotiator and ‘major breakthrough’ in climate talks

STATE UPDATES

• E&E News: Will Colorado Jump-Start National Push To Ban New Oil Wells? 

• Rocky Mountain PBS: Suncor settled with Colorado for $10.5 million but neighbors say ‘they’re trying to shift attention’

EXTRACTION

• Reuters: Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit record high in 2023 – IEA

• Inside Climate News: United Nations Official Says State Repression of Environmental Defenders Threatens Democracy and Human Rights

• Offshore Engineer: Developers Postpone Cedar LNG Final Investment Decision

• Washington Post: A new watchdog satellite will sniff out methane emissions from space

• Associated Press: Oil spill and fertilizer leak from sinking of cargo ship highlight risks to Red Sea from Houthi attacks

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Guardian: ‘Stop insuring fossil fuel’: activists target London insurers in week of action

• Bloomberg: A $1.5 Trillion ESG Debt Market Has Started Bleeding Clients

• E&E News: GOP Continues Probe Of Natural Asset Companies 

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Enbridge: Art Sets the Record Straight, Shows ‘The True Story of African Americans’

• Enbridge: Creating a ‘healthy, happy student population’ through outdoor learning

• Enbridge: Launching a fulfilling journey into the trades

OPINION

• Des Moines Register: Iowa can choose a sustainable agricultural model, or it can choose CO2 pipelines

• The Advocate: Davante Lewis: Biden’s LNG decision helps our planet and energy bills

• The Buffalo News: Another Voice: Fossil fuel executives need to stop their disinformation campaigns

• The New Republic: What Would a Better Plastics Industry Look Like?

• Bloomberg: Hydrogen Wildcatters Still Need to Find Their First Gusher

• NOLA.com: Bob Marshall: Welcome to the Gret Stet of Oilyana
  

PIPELINE NEWS

WEEK: State engineer recommends rejecting McLean County CO2 sequestration project
Lizzie Seils, 2/29/24

“Months after McLean County’s board voted to reject permission for One Earth Sequestration to pump CO2 below ground in the area, an engineer with the State of Illinois is recommending the Commerce Commission do the same,” WEEK reports. “In pages of testimony to the commission, engineer Mark Maple listed several reasons why he believes the company’s request for a necessary certificate should be denied. It’s the third pipeline proposed for the Central Illinois area that received critiques from the state. Wolf Carbon Solutions, a pipeline proposed to run from Iowa to Decatur, passing through Peoria and Tazewell counties. WCS paused its pipeline application following negative testimony from ICC staff. The Navigator pipeline was meant to pass through multiple states, including Illinois. They pulled their application in Illinois following denials and negative testimony from other state regulators. “It seems to me like the commerce commission staffers are looking for a very comprehensive package,” Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance’s Tracy Fox told WEEK. “Navigator hasn’t delivered, Wolf hasn’t delivered it and now One Earth hasn’t delivered it.” “…ICC has until September 18 to release its ruling… “Additionally, Maple testified OES had not secured any agreement with landowners to build the pipeline on their property. OES, for its part, said it has begun negotiations. “OES has yet to acquire any of the necessary easements for the OES Pipeline,” Maple said in testimony. “That lack of progress with landowner negotiations at this stage of the proceeding is highly concerning.” OES is seeking to use eminent domain to get access to some properties… “The lack of landowners agreeing to the project so far indicates there may not be a benefit to the public, according to Maple’s testimony. Elton Rocke, a leader behind Tazewell County: Stop the CO2 Pipeline, told WEEK there’s a growing interest in the pipelines and the concerns surrounding them. “We have over 2,500 members all opposed to the pipeline,” Rocke said before an informational meeting at Rankin’s School District. “Right now, there are basically three pipelines being proposed in Central Illinois and we are firmly opposed to all of them.”

Inside Climate News: Just How Much Money Do CO2 Pipeline Companies Stand to Make From the Inflation Reduction Act?
Nicholas Kusnetz, Kristoffer Tigue, 3/4/24

“Developers who hope to build thousands of miles of carbon dioxide pipelines across the Midwest continue to face fierce opposition from landowners and repeated setbacks from state and local regulators. But that hasn’t stopped one company from attempting to expand its project—already the largest proposed pipeline of its kind in the United States,” Inside Climate News reports. “Summit Carbon Solutions announced in January that it had added 17 additional facilities to its proposed 2,400-mile carbon dioxide pipeline network in the Midwest… “By getting more carbon dioxide under contract, the expansion would help Summit’s financial case and, critically, would open up billions of dollars in additional tax credits, without which the project would never be built. If the pipeline is built and operates at full capacity, Summit and its partners could be eligible for as much as $18 billion in federal tax benefits over 12 years… “Just obscene gobs of money” is how Emma Schmit, an Iowa-based activist with BOLD Alliance, who helps organize landowner opposition to CO2 pipelines, put it… “The pipelines have faced significant backlash from environmentalists and Midwest landowners who worry about potentially dangerous CO2 leaks and are angry with the developers for attempting to seize their land through eminent domain… “The benefits are particularly large for ethanol plants, which produce a near-pure stream of carbon dioxide and are therefore among the cheapest carbon capture operations. The tax credit’s value, at up to $85 per ton of carbon dioxide captured and stored, far exceeds the estimated costs of running carbon capture on ethanol plants, which numerous estimates place between $20 and $40 per ton… “All of this has raised questions of whether the Summit project would be a good use of taxpayer money… “Rohan Dighe, a research analyst at the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, told ICN the tax credit will not likely be enough to make the project profitable, and that Summit is counting on developing markets for low-carbon ethanol.” 

Bloomberg: Ethanol Maker Valero to Join $8 Billion Carbon Pipeline Project
Kim Chipman and Tarso Veloso, 3/4/24

“US fuel refiner Valero Energy Corp. is joining a massive carbon-capture and storage project in the heart of US corn country, lending support to a proposed pipeline plan that faces major hurdles,” Bloomberg reports. “The company, one of the country’s largest gasoline producers and its No. 2 corn ethanol maker by market share, has agreed to transport greenhouse-gas pollution from eight of its facilities on Summit Carbon Solutions LLC’s proposed $8 billion pipeline, according to Summit. The agreement comes after Poet LLC, the world’s largest producer of the biofuel, signed onto the project earlier this year.”

South Dakota Searchlight: Opposition to pipeline could derail landowner protections, House leader warns
JOSHUA HAIAR, 3/3/24

“With most of this year’s legislative session in the rearview mirror, some lawmakers are making a final push on a trio of bills they describe as an effort to balance the interests of both opponents and proponents of a carbon dioxide pipeline,” the South Dakota Searchlight reports. “In Republican-dominated South Dakota, the bills have pitted the party’s traditional support for economic expansion and lower regulatory burdens against its commitment to property rights and local governance. The issue becomes even more complex and contentious when Republican views on federal spending to combat climate change are factored in. Those complex motivations led some Republicans to file and support bills that would block or significantly hinder carbon pipelines. That legislation failed. House Majority Leader Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, told Searchlight if lawmakers don’t pivot to support the remaining bills — which would bolster protections for landowners, without blocking projects — they risk accomplishing nothing on the issue this session. “All this opposition can lead us to a place where we get nothing done for farmers, nothing done for ethanol, that we get nothing done for counties, nothing done for regulatory certainty,” Mortenson said Thursday during a leadership press conference. “If we want to kill everything, that’s where we’re headed.” “…Pipeline opponents felt the changes were unfair, with Chase Jensen of Dakota Rural Action calling the amended legislation “lip service bills” that do not accomplish a true compromise between pipeline opponents and proponents… “Mortenson later reminded fellow lawmakers that “we’re not setting federal climate policy today.” He said during Thursday’s leadership press conference that if what comes out of a conference committee is not an authentic compromise that helps landowners, he will back out of the deal. “If there’s not real benefit in this for the farmers, then I’m out,” he said. “There’s definitely a line in the sand for me.” 

South Dakota Public Broadcasting: Pipeline bills push into last week of legislative session
Evan Walton, 3/1/24

“A group of bills aimed at pipeline regulation and landowner rights are fighting their way to the legislative finish line,” South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports. “…Senate Bill 201 is perhaps the most impactful bill this session aimed at addressing pipelines and landowner rights… “The bill has undergone ten amendments this session. Sen. Casey Crabtree asked that the bill be sent to a conference committee to work out the differences… “Not all lawmakers were onboard. Republican Sen. Tom Pischke and Democratic Sen. Red Dawn Foster rose in opposition to the motion. Foster said a conference committee would completely undo the progress made for landowners this session… “HB 1185 would amend provisions for entry onto private property for examination and surveying purposes. HB 1186 aims to bring clarity to defining requirements for granting a carbon pipeline easement. Crabtree is a prime sponsor of the bills. He told SDPB an amendment that was added along the way provides protections for future generations… “Landowners in attendance did not agree. They said the bills limit local control. “This is not in favor of landowners. They’re the bread and blood. They’re the number one industry in South Dakota. We come to you because we need help. And we are going to ask that you oppose this amendment. It is not for the landowners,” said Joy Hohn, a landowner from Minnehaha County. Both bills passed and now head to the House floor.”

Press release: SDFB, SDCGA, SDSA Support Payment to Landowners
3/3/24

“The South Dakota Farm Bureau (SDFB), the South Dakota Corn Growers Association (SDCGA) and the South Dakota Soybean Association (SDSA) have announced support for a $1 per linear foot payment to landowners with a CO2 pipeline. HB 1186, which passed the House 40-24 on February 8, 2024, included the annual payment slated for landowners with carbon pipeline easements. “The SDCGA is working to back solutions that show respect for landowners. If a pipeline crosses a landowner’s property, we want them to get this payment.” stated Dave Ellens, President of the SDCGA. Scott VanderWal, President of SDFB noted, “From the start, our organizations have advocated for landowners to be treated fairly and we believe it’s fair that those whose land is impacted by a pipeline project should receive an annual share of the profits from the pipeline.” “Ensuring landowner protection, fair compensation, and a profitable future to keep soybean families in business is the goal of SDSA. We believe that linear payments for pipeline access are important”, said Kevin Deinert, President of SDSA.

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Dickinson County drafts pipeline ordinance with hopes to avoid lawsuit
JARED STRONG, 3/1//24

“Dickinson County is considering a carbon dioxide pipeline ordinance that is less restrictive than others in Iowa that have been challenged in court, in an effort to regulate the pipelines without getting sued, according to county officials,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Specifically, the latest draft of the Dickinson ordinance requires the pipelines to be placed at least 1,600 feet — or three-tenths of a mile — away from cities. Other ordinances that are subject to litigation require a two-mile separation. That might help the county avoid lawsuits that have embroiled five other counties that adopted similar ordinances in response to a pipeline proposal under consideration by state regulators, Megan Kardell, zoning and environmental health administrator for Dickinson, told the Dispatch. “We did not zone it out of the county,” Kardell told the Dispatch of her latest draft ordinance. “I’m hoping somebody doesn’t sue us, and that they play ball. They could make something work.” The ordinance is set to be considered March 18 by the county’s planning and zoning commission. If it gets the commission’s approval, it could be subject to a vote by county supervisors in April and become effective in May… “[Summit] has sued five Iowa counties in federal court — Emmet, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Shelby and Story — for their ordinances. Summit was successful in two of the lawsuits, but the judge’s decisions have been appealed. The three other suits are on hold pending resolutions of those appeals. Summit declined to comment on Dickinson’s ordinance or about whether it might sue if it is adopted.”

Roanoke Times: Head of DEQ previously did consulting work for Mountain Valley Pipeline
Laurence Hammack, 3/3/24

“Before he became director of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality in 2022, Michael Rolband headed a consulting firm that did work for the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” the Roanoke Times reports. “Some say Rolband’s past relationship with the pipeline creates a conflict of interest for the leader of a state agency that enforces environmental regulations — rules that DEQ has cited Mountain Valley for violating in the past. “I think that’s a huge conflict of interest,” Donna Pitt of Preserve Giles County told the Times last month, as she watched muddy water in a natural spring flow past her from a nearby pipeline construction site in Newport. “No wonder they haven’t responded,” Pitt told the Times of DEQ’s silence about her complaint that sediment was being washed into nearby Sinking Creek. In 1991, Rolband founded Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc. The natural resources consulting firm was later hired by Mountain Valley to provide advice on dealing with the impacts of running a 42-inch diameter natural gas pipeline through streams and wetlands. By the time Rolband was appointed to head DEQ two years ago, the agency had cited Mountain Valley with more than 300 violations of erosion and sediment control regulations during construction that continues today. The company was fined $2.15 million as part of a 2019 consent decree. At the time, state officials said the legal action was designed to crack down on future violations. But since work resumed last summer under Rolband’s watch, Mountain Valley has so far been cited for just two violations of the consent decree and fined $2,500. What happened in Newport “is not unique along the roughly 100 miles of the pipeline in Virginia,” Russell Chisholm, co-director of Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights coalition, told the State Water Control Board during a Feb. 23 public hearing. DEQ’s failure to act, Chisholm said, is “part of a pattern that reinforces the public perception that the project is self-regulated, self-investigated and allowed to continue polluting with impunity.” “…Rolband — who was present at the recent public hearing but did not speak from his seat at the dais — twice declined invitations for an interview with The Roanoke Times, made by emails to DEQ’s public information officer on Feb. 6 and Feb. 26. But in documents provided to the newspaper in response to a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, he acknowledged shortly after taking his job that his past dealings with Mountain Valley raises “a perceived conflict of interest.”

Harvard Crimson: Climate Protester Thrown to the Ground After Interrupting Joe Manchin’s Harvard IOP Talk
William C. Mao and Dhruv T. Patel, 3/1/24

“An aide to U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) threw a climate action protester to the ground following a confrontation at a Harvard Institute of Politics event Friday morning,” the Harvard Crimson reports. “The incident came just minutes after at least six protesters from Climate Defiance — a climate advocacy group — interrupted a talk Manchin was delivering at the Harvard Kennedy School. The protesters criticized Manchin’s support of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a controversial 300-mile natural gas pipeline in West Virginia that has been condemned by environmentalists. “You sold our futures and got rich doing it, you sick f-ck,” one person shouted, prompting Manchin to stand up from his chair to face the protester. Manchin’s aide quickly jumped between the two of them, before pushing the protester out a door and shoving them to the ground. It was not immediately clear if the protester was injured following the confrontation. In a video of the protest published on Climate Defiance’s X account, Manchin asked the protesters “to sit down somewhere so we can talk,” but the protesters turned down the offer. “I’m not going to sit down,” a second protester said. “You’ve received more funding from fossil fuels than any other senator.” “…Manchin’s daughter — business executive Heather Bresch — was also in attendance and allegedly spoke out when the protesters disrupted the talk, a person at the event told the Crimson. “What I heard was: ‘Doesn’t anybody monitor the doors here?’” the person recalled Bresch saying.”

Bloomberg: Trudeau’s Long-Delayed Oil Pipeline Seeks First Crude Deliveries
Robert Tuttle, 3/1/24

“Canada’s biggest new oil pipeline in more than a decade will begin filling with crude within weeks, according to MEG Energy Corp.,” Bloomberg reports. “The government-owned Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline that connects the oil fields of Alberta to the Pacific Coast is seeking 2.1 million barrels for April and an equal amount a month later, MEG Chief Executive Officer Derek Evans said during a conference call on Friday. Those barrels will be used as so-called line fill, which is the oil initially pumped into a conduit to bring it up to pressure so shipments can begin to flow… “TMX’s initially 2017 start-up target faced repeated delays, cost overruns, construction mishaps and regulatory hurdles. The C$34 billion ($25 billion) project cost is more than six times the original estimate. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government bought Trans Mountain in 2018 from Kinder Morgan Inc. to save the project from cancellation.”

Reuters: TC Energy to sell Portland Natural Gas Transmission System for $1.14 bln
3/4/24

“TC Energy said on Monday it has agreed to sell Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) to BlackRock for $1.14 billion as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce debt and fund investments,” Reuters reports. “Best known for its Keystone oil pipeline, the company is undergoing an overhaul. Last year, it said it would spin off its liquids business to focus on transporting natural gas. CEO Francois Poirier had said in 2022 TC Energy planned to raise more than C$5 billion ($3.69 billion) through 2023. The company is grappling with long-term debt of about C$49.976 billion ($36.84 billion) as of Dec. 31, 2023, as well high costs at its Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia… “Blackrock will assume $250 million of outstanding debt at PNGTS.”

BNN: Scientists Uncover Vibrant Ecosystem Threatened by TC Energy Pipeline in Veracruz, Mexico
María Alejandra Trujillo, 3/3/24

“Javier Bello’s expedition off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, revealed a vibrant marine ecosystem at risk due to TC Energy’s proposed natural gas pipeline,” BNN reports. “This discovery challenges the company’s claim of an insignificant impact on the seabed and raises concerns over environmental damage, community disruption, and climate change exacerbation. Environmental groups, led by the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental, have criticized the project’s environmental impact assessment and lack of transparency, highlighting the potential devastation to the coral reef corridor. During a three-week mission aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, scientists, including marine scientist Javier Bello, discovered a rich marine habitat 328 feet below the surface, contradicting TC Energy’s claims of a barren seafloor… “The pipeline project, a partnership between TC Energy and Mexico’s state-owned electric utility, CFE, has sparked widespread concern. Environmental organizations fear the impact on coral reefs and the broader ecosystem, while local communities worry about the threat to their livelihoods and the exacerbation of climate change effects. Leaked documents and a lack of transparency from TC Energy have only heightened these concerns, with environmental assessments under scrutiny for their methodology and the potential for sediment disruption to harm nearby reefs.”

Cardinal News: Pipeline expansion plan runs through Pittsylvania County 
Matt Busse, 3/4/24

“The natural gas firm Williams plans to add just over 26 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline adjacent to its existing Transco pipeline corridor in Pittsylvania County as part of a larger upgrade to increase how much gas the multistate system can carry,” Cardinal News reports. “Williams will hold an in-person open house about the project from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the community center at 115 S. Main St. in Chatham and a virtual open house from 6 to 7 p.m. March 18… “The Southeast Supply Enhancement would begin at an existing Transco compressor station in Pittsylvania County, where it would connect with the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and continue as far south as Alabama… “Essentially, it’s an efficient way of doing this expansion because we’re using existing facilities and existing rights of way,” Mike Atchie, Williams’ director of outreach, told the News. Atchie told the News all potentially affected Pittsylvania County landowners have been notified, although he declined to provide an exact number. Most are individual landowners, and all are people whose property already has been impacted by the existing Transco pipeline, he told the News… “The Charlottesville-based nonprofit Southern Environmental Law Center said in a statement that Williams’ Southeast Supply Enhancement project “would commit the South to methane gas for the next 30, 40, or 50 years when there are cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable energy alternatives available.”

Finger Lakes 1: Public comment invited on natural gas pipeline work in Seneca, Ontario counties
3/3/24

“Residents of Phelps, Waterloo, Tyre, and Seneca Falls have until March 14 to submit their comments on the proposed maintenance and repair of a natural gas pipeline running through their towns,” Finger Lakes 1 reports. “Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage Inc., based in Bridgeport, West Virginia, is seeking permits for the project that involves evaluating the pipeline’s condition, installing corrosion protection systems, replacing a valve, and maintaining existing infrastructure. The pipeline stretches across these four towns, lying beneath both land and regulated freshwater wetlands. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has reviewed the project’s environmental impact and issued a negative declaration, indicating the maintenance work is not expected to harm the environment. The project will take place in five specified locations along the pipeline route, affecting DEC-regulated wetlands and their adjacent areas.”

Pipeline Technology Journal: [Ask the Experts] Submit questions on “Future Fuels & CO2”
3/4/24

“Each time, the Ask the Experts section focuses on a new topic of particular relevance to the pipeline industry,” Pipeline Technology Journal reports. “We would like to invite you to send in your questions which will afterwards be answered publicly by selected experts from the respective field. Our topic this time for “Ask the Experts” is Future Fuels & CO2. The experts for this round of questions will be provided by DNV. Please follow the link below to ask your questions. We will accept questions until 14 March. The answers will be published within ptj 2/2024 and here on our website.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

The Hill: GOP senators introduce bill reversing LNG export pause
ZACK BUDRYK, 2/29/24 

“GOP Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.) and Bill Cassidy (La.), two of the Senate’s most outspoken critics of the Biden administration’s energy policies, introduced a bill Wednesday that would reverse a federal pause on new exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG),” The Hill reports. “…The Senate Republicans’ bill would require that the Energy Department approve LNG exports to any country that currently imports Russian or Iranian natural gas or have in the past.  “President Biden’s decision to stop approving LNG exports is a disaster. We already know LNG exports are good for American workers, our economy, our national security, and the planet. We don’t need a new study to make that clear,” Barrasso told The Hill.”

Bloomberg: Oil Heavyweights Take Aim at Biden’s LNG Permitting Freeze
Jennifer A Dlouhy and Ruth Liao, 2/26/24

“Top oil industry lobbying groups set the stage for a potential lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s pause in approving new liquefied natural gas exports,” Bloomberg reports. ”In a petition filed Monday with the Energy Department, the American Petroleum Institute and six other groups say the indefinite delay runs afoul of a legal mandate for the agency to issue permits to broadly export LNG unless there’s been a clear finding the shipments aren’t in the public interest. The petition calls the move “arbitrary and capricious” and says it violates administrative requirements in federal law — a prelude to potential litigation that could raise the same claims. The filing underscores deep industry angst over the Biden administration moratorium that threatens to disrupt plans for multibillion-dollar export projects along the US Gulf Coast — while potentially encouraging overseas rivals to boost their LNG output… “At a time of geopolitical turmoil around the world, the Department of Energy’s arbitrary LNG freeze is not only unlawful, it cedes America’s energy advantage to hostile nations while jeopardizing thousands of American jobs,” Rob Jennings, an API vice president, said in a news release. “There is bipartisan recognition that this move is political, and we will continue to take any steps necessary to resume American leadership on LNG.”

Axios: What we’re watching: Dems’ LNG wriggling
Jael Holzman, 2/29/24

“We’re starting to see vulnerable Democrats wriggling beneath the difficult politics of President Biden’s LNG export permit pause,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: Republicans are plotting hard messaging votes that may split Dems away from Biden’s position … and from what climate voters want. Driving the news: A raft of Democrats are working with lawmakers across the aisle to try and block the pause on new permits for export terminals… “Bob Casey, who is up for re-election in the fracking state of Pennsylvania, left the door open to voting in favor of undoing the pause, in a short hallway interview. “I’m most concerned about what happens to Pennsylvania, especially Pennsylvania jobs,” he told Axios. “We don’t know what will be proposed on the floor. We’ll see that when and if there’s something on the floor.” “…Between the lines: Sherrod Brown, who is also up for re-election in a fracking state, put out a bill Thursday that would ban LNG exports to China — which feels like a counter-messaging play. His main cosponsor is Jeff Merkley, who helped lead the push for the pause on the Senate side.”

E&E News: EPA wins tussle with White House over climate rule
Jean Chemnick, 3/1/24

“EPA is sending a new version of its power plant carbon rule to the White House at any moment. This time the agency hopes it won’t be changed by West Wing political advisers,” E&E News reports. “The final rule won’t include a provision that was inserted into an earlier draft of the regulation by the president’s climate team last year — covering existing natural gas plants. The move sheds light on a disagreement between agency officials and White House climate advisers over a key aspect of the president’s agenda to address rising temperatures. Existing gas plants produce 43 percent of power sector electricity, and the pace at which they’re regulated could affect the administration’s efforts to eliminate carbon emissions in the sector by 2035. By jettisoning the most contentious and legally problematic element of the rule, EPA says it can forge “a new, comprehensive” approach to regulating existing gas plants for carbon and other pollutants. But it also injects uncertainty into the prospect of reducing emissions at those facilities because the administration wouldn’t be able to finalize a stand-alone rule for those plants until President Joe Biden’s second term — if he wins the election against his likely challenger, former President Donald Trump. But many industry, state and environmental advocates tell E&E it’s the right approach. They argue that EPA is trading in a rule that was abruptly altered last year to cover a small portion of existing gas plants for a future one that could reduce more pollution from more gas plants… “White House climate officials pushed to add some of the nation’s biggest gas plants to last year’s draft rule at the urging of environmentalists… “But insiders told E&E News that the White House climate team led by adviser Ali Zaidi pushed to include existing large baseload gas plants in the rule, using the same performance standards that were proposed for new baseload gas plants… “We all want to address pollution from existing gas sources and are working together to develop an approach that takes advantage of all we have learned since our proposal,” EPA said in an email to E&E News.

Utility Dive: Biden taps 3 for FERC seats amid concerns over potential lack of quorum
Ethan Howland, 3/1/24

“The White House on Thursday said it intends to nominate two Democrats and a Republican to be commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a first step in filling the agency’s five seats,” Utility Dive reports. “The nominees are Judy Chang, a managing principal at the Boston-based Analysis Group and former undersecretary of energy and climate solutions for Massachusetts; David Rosner, a FERC energy industry analyst on loan to the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Lindsay See, the West Virginia solicitor general. See is a Republican; Chang and Rosner are Democrats. See argued a case — West Virginia v. EPA — at the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to curb the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The court in June 2022 ruled that the EPA cannot set fleet-wide greenhouse gas emissions limits for existing power plants under the Clean Air Act’s Section 111(d). “She is well positioned to ensure that FERC faithfully adheres to its mission of supporting the abundant supply of American natural gas and electricity,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. and ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Friday… “Rosner and Chang fit the conventional mold of candidates who have engaged extensively at FERC,” Devin Hartman, director of energy and environmental policy at the R Street Institute, a free market oriented think tank, told Utility Dive. “See’s background is less common for a FERC nominee, and reflects Republicans’ concern of federal overreach of executive agencies.” “…Manchin could schedule a hearing in a few weeks, which at the earliest could lead the nominees to be seated in May, ClearView Energy Partners said Friday in a client note. However, ongoing efforts by the Senate and House to reach an agreement on appropriations could slow the process, according to the consulting firm.”

Politico: The fossil-fuel-promoting agency that Biden seems powerless to stop
SARA SCHONHARDT, 3/3/24

“The federally created body that promotes U.S. exports is continuing to finance fossil fuel projects abroad — even after advisers aligned with President Joe Biden’s climate goals pointed out those investments’ risks,” Politico reports. “Five people with firsthand knowledge of discussions inside the U.S. Export-Import Bank described a sense of frustration among members of the organization’s climate council that the agency continues to invest in projects that run counter to the president’s policies. Those include oil and gas development in Bahrain and an Indonesian oil refinery that received a $100 million loan. The bank, known as EXIM, is an independent federal agency focused on creating jobs and boosting American competitiveness by promoting U.S. exports… “Several council members repeatedly voiced concerns over the incongruity between the bank’s financing of fossil fuel projects and U.S. climate policy, several of the people who were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive information told Politico. Some advisers have also argued during council meetings that the bank is assuming that investments in fossil fuel infrastructure will lead to long-term benefits, such as jobs, at a time when the U.S. and other countries have agreed to shift away from oil, natural gas and coal. “I think it really comes down to transparency about the jobs created and the opportunities for long-term exports,” one person told Politico. “Can you look at the public information and be able to justify that? I don’t think so, and that’s the real frustration.”

Associated Press: John Kerry reflects on time as top US climate negotiator and ‘major breakthrough’ in climate talks
SETH BORENSTEIN, 3/4/24

“Time was running out and U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry knew it. International climate talks in mid-December were stuck with no agreement to phase out oil, gas and coal, fossil fuels that are the root cause of global warming,” the Associated Press reports. “…Instead, the deal struck turned out to be what Kerry now calls the high point of the world’s 30-year effort to curb ever-worseningclimate change… “This was a major breakthrough,” Kerry told AP, one that made him ready to leave his climate diplomacy job after three years. In January, Kerry announced plans to step down and Wednesday will be his last in office… “We now have an agreement globally that we have to transition away from fossil fuel, that we have to do it with urgency, immediately in this decade, beginning now, and that we have to do it by including all greenhouse gases,” Kerry told AP. Still, not everyone is enamored with international climate efforts so far. “Overblown,” climate negotiations historian Joanna Depledge told AP, referring to Kerry’s assessment of Dubai as the high point of climate diplomacy. “Have you seen oil and gas prices shift in response to the adoption of the Dubai Consensus?” Depledge of the University of Cambridge in England told AP. “No, nor have I. We are making incremental progress. That’s great. But a whole new track? No.” “…But today Kerry told AP he assures leaders of other countries that even if a candidate like Trump, who is running for re-election, were to win, “no one person can reverse what the world is doing now.”

STATE UPDATES

E&E News: Will Colorado Jump-Start National Push To Ban New Oil Wells? 
3/4/24

“Colorado is weighing a major shift in its oil and gas policy, spurring a debate that could echo nationally in the push to slash greenhouse gas emissions,” E&E News reports. “Democratic state lawmakers have proposed two sweeping pieces of legislation — including what would be the first-ever statewide ban in the U.S. on all new oil and gas wells. The bills are case studies of a rising intolerance to oil and gas production in blue states, even in a place like Colorado known for its large fossil fuel footprint. New York legislators are looking to ban the use of carbon dioxide for oil and gas recovery this year. In California, lawmakers passed a law in 2022 banning oil and gas drilling within 3,200 feet of structures including homes, schools and hospitals, causing the number of new well approvals to plummet. That California law has not gone into effect yet and will head to a statewide referendum election in November. One of the proposed Colorado bills would put a ban on new oil and gas drilling permits by phasing out permitting of new oil and gas wells starting in 2028 and effectively banning new drilling permits in 2030. It also would increase liability bonds for wells that are drilled. The second proposal would require oil and gas operators to halt production for five months every year.”

Rocky Mountain PBS: Suncor settled with Colorado for $10.5 million but neighbors say ‘they’re trying to shift attention’
Elle Naef, 2/29/24

“Near I-70, pipestills spewing puffs of smoke tower over a nearby neighborhood. Suncor Energy, an oil and gas refinery in Commerce City has faced scrutiny for polluting the nearby neighborhood since the company took over the property in 2003,” Rocky Mountain PBS reports. “In early February, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) fined Suncor $10.5 million for pollution violations between July 2019 and June 2021. In 2022, Suncor Energy’s annual gross profit was $27.07 billion, a 45.72% increase from 2021. While the fine is the highest in Colorado history, Commerce City leaders and advocates said it barely scratched the surface. “I think that the community is feeling, perhaps rightfully so, that this fine doesn’t go nearly far enough for a polluter that has been contaminating these neighborhoods for decades,” state representative Manny Rutinel told PBS… “The current settlement structure doesn’t address the root cause,” Guadalupe Solis, director of environmental justice programs for Cultivando, a Commerce-City based social equity organization, told PBS. “It just allows for polluters to continue to pollute, pay their way out of these fines, and then receive money back so that they can continue their business.”

EXTRACTION

Reuters: Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit record high in 2023 – IEA
Susanna Twidale, 3/1/24

“Global energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) hit a record high last year, driven partly by increased fossil fuel use in countries where droughts hampered hydropower production, International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday,” Reuters reports. “Steep cuts in CO2 emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, will be needed in the coming years if targets to limit a global rise in temperatures and prevent runaway climate change are to be met, scientists have said. “Far from falling rapidly – as is required to meet the global climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement – CO2 emissions reached a new record high,” the IEA said in a report… “A global expansion in clean technology such as wind, solar and electric vehicles helped to curb emissions growth, which was 1.3% in 2022. But a reopening of China’s economy, increased fossil fuel use in countries with low hydropower output and a recovery in the aviation sector led to an overall rise, the IEA said in its report.”

Inside Climate News: United Nations Official Says State Repression of Environmental Defenders Threatens Democracy and Human Rights
Keerti Gopal, Bob Berwyn, 3/3/24

“A United Nations authority on environmental activism says rising state repression of environmental defenders in Europe threatens human rights and democracy, citing international legal frameworks with implications in the U.S. and beyond,” Inside Climate News reports. “In a position paper published Wednesday, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst chronicled the increasing criminalization of environmental activists in Europe and argued for states to protect protesters and listen to their demands instead of harassing, intimidating and repressing those engaged in peaceful acts of civil disobedience.  Meanwhile, the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law tracks state and federal legislation introduced in the U.S. that restricts first amendment rights to peaceful assembly and has found 42 currently enacted laws and 25 pending bills that would restrict these rights. Examples include new or expanded “critical infrastructure” laws in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and West Virginia that explicitly protect pipelines and mining operations, ramping up fines and multi-year prison sentences for trespassing or impeding operations. Some states will also fine those conspiring with individuals found in breach of critical infrastructure laws up to $100,000. At the U.N., Forst’s analysis followed a year-long inquiry in a landscape of rising risk for environmental defenders: As global public demand for decisive climate action grows and activists engage in more frequent and targeted forms of civil disobedience, there’s been an uptick in violent crackdowns from law enforcement, harsh sentencing for protesters and legislation to make it harder for protesters to engage in peaceful demonstrations. The first step toward correcting the deficiencies identified in the report should be for governments to address the climate crisis, which is the root cause of the activism, Forst wrote. States should also proactively counter descriptions of environmental protesters as criminals or terrorists and avoid using the increase of activism as justification to limit civic space for protest.”

Offshore Engineer: Developers Postpone Cedar LNG Final Investment Decision
3/4/24

“Cedar LNG and its partners, the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline, have postponed the final investment decision (FID) for the proposed floating LNG facility in Canada’s British Columbia to mid-2024,” Offshore Engineer reports. “Cedar LNG has completed several key project deliverables, including obtaining material regulatory approvals, advancing inter-project agreements with Coastal GasLink and LNG Canada, signing a heads of agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries and Black & Veatch, and executing a lump sum engineering, procurement, and construction agreement. The FID for the project was expected to be reached in the first quarter 2024, but according to developers, this has put off until the middle of 2024. “Though numerous milestones have been achieved, a number of schedule-driven, interconnected elements require resolution prior to making a FID, including binding commercial offtake, obtaining certain third-party consents, and project financing. A final investment decision is now expected in the middle of 2024,” Cedar LNG said.

Washington Post: A new watchdog satellite will sniff out methane emissions from space
Nicolás Rivero, 3/4/24

“The global crackdown on methane emissions will get a boost this week from a watchdog satellite built to track and publicly reveal the biggest methane polluters in the oil and gas industry,” the Washington Post reports. “The satellite, designed by scientists from the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Harvard University, will monitor areas that supply 80 percent of the world’s natural gas. Unlike other methane tracking satellites, it will cover a vast territory while also gathering data detailed enough to spot the sources of emissions. “Soon, there will be no place to hide,” Ben Cahill, a climate expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national security think tank, told the Post. “There’s going to be a lot of public data on methane emissions, so companies will have very strong incentives to figure out the problem and fix it.” “…But so far, it’s been hard to track companies’ progress… “Now, a new generation of satellites, led by MethaneSAT, promises to give a more complete picture of the oil and gas industry’s global methane emissions. “We’re on the verge of a methane data revolution … in which satellites are having a very prominent role,” Manfredi Caltagirone, who heads the United Nation’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, told the Post. “MethaneSAT is exciting in particular … because it’s expected to give us so much better data than what we have now.”

Associated Press: Oil spill and fertilizer leak from sinking of cargo ship highlight risks to Red Sea from Houthi attacks
JOSHUA GOODMAN, 3/2/24

“A vibrant fishing industry, some of the world’s largest coral reefs, desalination plants supplying millions with drinking water. They’re all at risk from large amounts of fertilizer and oil spilled into the Red Sea by the sinking of a cargo ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels,” the Associated Press reports. “Officials on Saturday said the M/V Rubymar, a Belize-flagged vessel reportedly carrying 22,000 metric tons of toxic fertilizer, sunk after taking on water in the Feb. 18 attack. Even before plunging to the ocean’s depths, the vessel had been leaking heavy fuel that triggered an 18-mile (30 km) oil slick through the waterway, which is critical for cargo and energy shipments heading to Europe. Since November, the Houthi rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel’s offensive in Gaza… “What remains, he told Ap, are poorly maintained vessels, oil tankers and bulk carriers that pose far greater environmental risks. “With fewer and fewer container ships to target, the odds of another spill with massive environmental impact has increased enormously,” Ralby told AP.

CLIMATE FINANCE

Guardian: ‘Stop insuring fossil fuel’: activists target London insurers in week of action
Damien Gayle, 3/1/24

“Traffic petered out on Gracechurch Street, in the heart of London’s financial district, as hundreds marched down the road, in step with samba drummers beating a military tattoo. “Climate activists for a free Palestine,” said the banner that led them,” the Guardian reports. “Their target was No 20, an office housing the UK headquarters of Axa insurance group, which, as well as being the world’s sixth biggest underwriter of fossil fuel projects, has been singled out as a facilitator of Israel’s illegal settlements. All week, London has been at the forefront of a global campaign of actions against insurance companies. Activists in nearly 30 countries across five continents have held marches, rallies, protests, community events and sabotage attacks targeting the industry. The aim, according to Ilana Winterstein, a spokesperson for the Insure Our Future campaign, has been to “spotlight the key role the insurance industry plays in the climate crisis – without insurance, fossil fuel projects can’t operate – and to highlight that insurers could be the unlikely heroes the world needs if they act now and stop insuring fossil fuel expansion.”

Bloomberg: A $1.5 Trillion ESG Debt Market Has Started Bleeding Clients
Alastair Marsh and Greg Ritchie, 3/3/24

“In the world’s second-biggest ESG debt market, corporate clients are starting to walk away,” Bloomberg reports. “Extra regulatory requirements, fewer financial incentives and the risk of being accused of greenwashing are putting off clients who just a few years ago were champing at the bit to attach an environmental, social or governance label to their financing, according to bankers and lawyers close to the market.The products in question are so-called sustainability-linked loans, a market that BloombergNEF has estimated is worth $1.5 trillion, making it second in size only to the global market for green bonds. Largely unfettered by regulations, borrowers and financiers have been relatively free to construct their own standards for SLLs. But as financial watchdogs start to erect guardrails around ESG labeling, a broader market retreat appears to be underway. Last year, issuance of SLLs plummeted 56% to $203 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”

E&E News: GOP Continues Probe Of Natural Asset Companies 
3/4/24

“House Republicans are set to continue their investigation of a recently nixed proposal that would have allowed investors to trade companies with a focus on preserving nature,” E&E News reports. “The Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has scheduled a hearing this week focused on a Securities and Exchange Commission draft rule, withdrawn in January, that would have authorized so-called natural asset companies to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Congressional Republicans last week also filed legislation that would prevent the SEC from ever advancing a similar proposed rule in the future. The withdrawn SEC proposal would have made it possible for investors to purchase shares of these natural asset companies, which would put a value on things like soil quality, climate stability and wildlife habitat. Subcommittee Chair Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and other Republicans have said this would potentially allow environmental groups and foreign investors to control the use of federal and state public lands.” 

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Enbridge: Art Sets the Record Straight, Shows ‘The True Story of African Americans’
3/1/24

“The woman in the painting stares straight ahead, her bright eyes showing intelligence and strength. Her emerald green dress is overlaid with words in metallic ink: steam engine, rolling pin, pencil sharpener, typewriter, traffic light. A quick internet search confirms it’s a list of inventions, each one designed by an African American,” according to Enbridge. “…Enbridge helped HMH bring this vibrant and vital body of work to Houston with a $10,000 Fueling Futures grant. In 2022, we funded another exhibit at HMH, a collection of iconic fashion collars cast in bronze to show the strength of powerful women in history. As an employer and community partner, we take seriously our commitment to further equity, diversity and inclusion where we live and work. Art is a powerful way to bring about change—to spotlight lost narratives and help shift perspectives. We recognize the importance of exhibits such as these two at HMH as a way to reach people and inspire them to learn and grow, which in time we hope will lead to a more just society for everyone.”

Enbridge: Creating a ‘healthy, happy student population’ through outdoor learning
3/3/24

“Station by station, students visiting the El Sauz Ranch in South Texas explore what happens behind the scenes at a working ranch,” according to Enbridge. “…In support of the initiative, Enbridge recently awarded the Foundation a Fueling Futures grant of $15,000 to fund a learning station. Each year, the Foundation helps thousands of youth form stronger connections to the land—and the East Foundation’s work to foster sustainability and educate future generations of students aligns with our company’s commitment to protecting the environment.”

Enbridge: Launching a fulfilling journey into the trades
3/4/24

“A stay-at-home mother of two stepped out of her comfort zone and enrolled in a trades exploration program. It changed her life. She started earning more than a living wage immediately after finishing her free training through Women Building Futures (WBF), a non-profit based in Edmonton, Alberta,” according to Enbridge. “…Enbridge is proud to be a WBF Employer of Choice. We believe diverse workplaces contribute to healthy, vibrant communities. This week, as we all celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, we extend an invitation to women and women-identifying individuals to explore a fulfilling career at Enbridge. In recognition of the impact Journey to Trades has on women workers in our industry, we awarded WBF a $105,000 Fueling Futures grant to support the expansion of its programming into Saskatchewan.”

OPINION

Des Moines Register: Iowa can choose a sustainable agricultural model, or it can choose CO2 pipelines
James A. Merchant, MD, DrPH, is professor emeritus, Colleges of Public Health and Medicine, founding dean emeritus of the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa, 3/3/24

“…Standing up for citizen rights is bedrock of being a U.S citizen — regardless of the oppressor,” James A. Merchant writes for the Des Moines Register. “…Served by agricultural commodity associations and state Farm Bureau Federations, industrial agriculture, or Big Ag, is remarkably unified in its messaging as it exerts its political sway with muscle and money over farm state politicians, federal and state governmental agencies, farm state universities, most county supervisors and many captive farmers… “Now, Summit Carbon Solutions is busy suing counties and politicking for the use of eminent domain to force farmers and other rural land owners to allow a high pressure liquefied CO2 pipeline to be trenched across their land. CO2 is an odorless, colorless, heavier than air asphyxiate gas that, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is immediately dangerous to life or health at 50,000 parts per million. The risk is not theoretical — pipelines fail… “Given the level terrain of the proposed pipeline, there is a very real pipeline rupture asphyxiation risk from a colorless, odorless, heavier than air plume killing people, livestock, and poultry. Also anticipated is loss in property values, compromised economic development by affected communities, compaction of soil, and disruption of drainage tiles. Plus, CO2 pipelines require millions and millions of gallons of water that drought stricken Iowa does not have to give. It is therefore refreshing, and not surprising, that farmers and other rural landowners have become organized and are now asserting their property rights in opposition to the Summit CO2 pipeline. Even some Iowa legislators are opposing this scheme that would make rich pipeline investors filthy rich, even after sharing Inflation Reduction Act CO2 sequestration dollars with the biofuel industry. The rapid transition of the public and commercial fleets to electric vehicles, which pits the biofuel industry against Big Oil’s deeper pockets, sharper elbows, more energy per gallon (but more carbon), and a robust extant infrastructure, is indeed an existential battle for the biofuel industry — not, whether it can be served by a CO2 pipeline. Many, I among them, believe biofuel production, with its substantial environmental and soil degradation costs, should not guide US policy… “Iowa agriculture is being given a historic opportunity to begin to transition from the current industrial model to a more resilient, sustainable and collaborative approach that would stem current severe environmental and public health impacts. A good way to support this transition is to stand with those opposing construction of hazardous and unnecessary CO2 pipelines and instead invest those IRA dollars in regenerative agriculture.”

The Advocate: Davante Lewis: Biden’s LNG decision helps our planet and energy bills
Davante Lewis is public service commissioner for District 3, 2/26/24

“Recently, President Joe Biden made a decision that will not only help save our planet and Louisiana’s fragile coast, it will also save Louisianans over $1,000 a year on energy bills,” Davante Lewis writes for The Advocate. “The decision was to pause approvals of liquefied natural gas export terminals and include the terminals’ climate impacts when issuing permits… “Louisiana already has five of these terminals along our coast. They’re destroying our coastal protections from storms, decimating our local fishermen’s livelihoods and releasing pollutants into our communities. The oil and gas industry wants to build at least 20 more, but Biden’s decision halts their plans to turn Louisiana into an industrial wasteland. In expected fashion, Louisiana’s industry-bought Republicans lambasted the decision. They repeated the industry’s talking points, saying this would leave our European allies hanging in their need for gas after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But, they failed to mention two things: This decision will only impact new terminals that wouldn’t come online until the end of the decade, right as Europe transitions to renewables and no longer needs as much gas, and Biden’s decision will lower utility bills for all Americans, but especially for Louisianans. The more gas we export, the less we have domestically, the more we have to pay for the gas that heats our homes. A recent study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found that gas exports cost U.S. consumers $100 billion… “As one of Louisiana’s Public Service Commissioners, it’s my job to protect you from the energy industry’s attempts to profit off raising your utility bills. One company, Venture Global, already made $18 billion by exporting gas. That’s why I support Biden’s decision and why I must call out the politicians trying to funnel money from Louisianans’ pocketbooks into oil and gas CEOs’ coffers.”

The Buffalo News: Another Voice: Fossil fuel executives need to stop their disinformation campaigns
Rahwa Ghirmatzion is senior policy fellow at Just Solutions Collective, 3/3/24

“Buffalo is the “city of good neighbors.” When times get tough, we show up for each other. In recent years, we’ve been hit hard by climate disasters, including the Blizzard of 2022 in which 47 members of our community died. While many in our community are embracing the opportunities that climate solutions present for health, safety, and jobs, there are also powerful people who are working overtime to hold us back,” Rahwa Ghirmatzion writes for The Buffalo News. “To me, being a “good neighbor” means protecting my community from their efforts to mislead us about climate action. That’s why my colleague Marc Weiss and I have partnered with fed-up New Yorkers and Adam McKay’s Yellow Dot Studios to start “Shut the Fossils Up,” a campaign to spotlight fossil fuel executives who are poisoning our public discourse with disinformation campaigns… “But many gas utilities are sparing no effort to slow down the clean energy transition, including spending a lot of money to stir up fear about climate solutions… “Donna DeCarolis, president of National Fuel Gas (NFG), spent two and a half years on the state’s Climate Action Council doing everything she could to protect hers and other polluters’ interests… “Is it rude to call out a specific person? Maybe. But DeCarolis and her colleagues are putting all of us in danger. Sometimes being a good neighbor requires a little bit of good trouble. It’s past time we stop being polite and tell them to #STFU.” 

The New Republic: What Would a Better Plastics Industry Look Like?
Kate Aronoff, 3/1/24

“Millennials in the United States grew up taking their ability to recycle plastic bottles, food containers, and other kinds of packaging as an article of faith. The more eco-conscious among us might even have chided classmates in school for tossing their Gatorade bottles into the trash instead of colorful bins emblazoned with the distinctive “chasing arrows” symbol, found on all sorts of plastic packaging as an indicator of its recyclability. By the 1990s and 2000s, that image had become synonymous not just with recycling but with a broader environmentalist ethos: Reduce, reuse, recycle. We now know that this was a myth,” Kate Aronoff writes for The New Republic. “Vanishingly few plastics are recycled: about 10 percent worldwide, according to one estimate, and perhaps just 5 to 6 percent in the United States. As the Center for Climate Integrity found in a recent report, the plastics industry itself has known for decades that recycling plastic was much harder than its P.R. and lobbying blitzes suggested. The recycling myth was propagated to dissuade people from talking about the obvious problems of waste and the even more obvious solution: making less plastic… “Some jurisdictions are now trying to tackle the problem of plastic waste head-on. The New York Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act currently making its way through the New York State Legislature would require companies with a net annual income of more than $1 million to reduce their plastic packaging by half over the next 12 years, while regulating some of the more damaging, less viable forms of recycling… “Of course, the plastics industry isn’t enthusiastic. Corporate interests, including the Business Council of New York State, Dupont, and Chemours, have come out against the bill. The Plastics Industry Association (formerly SPI) has called the bill “impractical and unworkable” as written… “The American Chemistry Council, or ACC—whose members include top plastics producers ExxonMobil and Shell—has a total of 13 lobbyists currently registered in New York state… “For fossil fuel producers, then, the threat of public backlash and ensuing regulation comes at a delicate moment, as the petrochemicals industry faces shaky economic prospects… “The plastics industry’s greatest victory over the last several decades might have been in convincing consumers that plastic waste was their problem… “As plastics production continues to rise—and its toll continues to mount—the question is whether lawmakers will halt the endless growth machine or fall for a new set of lies.”

Bloomberg: Hydrogen Wildcatters Still Need to Find Their First Gusher
David Fickling, 2/3/24

“Think of an iconic image of the petroleum age, and you may well be picturing a fountain of crude spouting hundreds of feet into the air, scattering thousands of barrels around a smashed drilling derrick,” David Fickling writes for Bloomberg. “…Right now, the absence of a gas gusher is the main factor holding back geological hydrogen, a promising fuel that few had given any thought to 12 months ago… “Only recently have geologists realized the earth’s crust might hold vast quantities of the stuff… “Natural processes are probably producing 23 million metric tons a year, according to one paradigm-breaking 2020 study. Unpublished research by the US Geological Survey suggests that’s a gross underestimate: There might be 5 trillion tons below the surface, capable of producing 500 million tons a year, the Financial Times reported last month. That could be sufficient to displace about 40% of current natural gas consumption. The discoveries might spark a “clean energy gold rush,” New Scientist magazine announced in a recent cover story… “There is the potential for such discoveries, but we don’t know how likely it will be. So far, there are no world-class discoveries,” Mengli Zhang, a former PetroChina Co. geologist now working at the Colorado School of Mines, told Bloomberg… “There’s still a path for geological hydrogen to succeed, but it’s not the only route to decarbonizing H2. Chinese companies already claim to be able to produce green hydrogen from splitting water molecules with wind and solar power for less than 20 yuan ($2.78) per kilogram, with prices worldwide expected to decline toward $1/kg as the technology rolls out this decade. Mined green hydrogen will need to decisively undercut those numbers if it’s to compete. Right now, there’s a gold rush brewing in green H2. If they don’t hit pay dirt, though, the current wave of prospectors will move on to the next hot commodity. Geological hydrogen is enjoying its moment in the sun. It had better start showing results soon.”

NOLA.com: Bob Marshall: Welcome to the Gret Stet of Oilyana
Bob Marshall is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Louisiana environmental journalist, 3/3/24

“As he was cruising to victory in the governor’s race last fall, I wrote that Jeff Landry’s persistent denial of climate science made him a clear and present danger to the drive for a sustainable coastal zone — basically Louisiana’s bottom third — as well as the rest of the state. Turns out that may have been an understatement. Because so far, the theme of Landry’s rule seems to be “Oil and Hate,” Bob Marshall writes for NOLA.com. “That would be a toxic mix anywhere, but it will be a disaster for Louisiana’s future. Landry flooded his administration so thoroughly with officials who have ties to the oil, gas and petrochemical industries that you wondered if he would replace the pelican on our license plates with a drilling rig and rename the state “Oilyana.” The most outrageous and dangerous move is his proposal to place the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority under the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. The CPRA is charged with saving coastal communities and fisheries by protecting the few wetlands we have left and building new ones. The DENR’s mission is helping oil and gas companies to “drill baby drill” in those wetlands — and everywhere else. Landry claims this is just a conservative’s approach to streamline government for better efficiency. No one believes that… “Landry, of course, always says he knows better than scientists on any issue with negative impacts on the oil and gas industries. Indeed, for his eight years as our attorney general, he waged a series of court battles against federal regulations designed to reduce the pollution oil and gas industries were pumping into our lives. To obscure the true impacts of his efforts — less poisons for us would mean fewer profits for his friends — Landry has gone full demagogue, claiming his crusades are defending us from the predations of a federal government that hates our way of life… “Now he claims anyone opposing his plan to give even better tax breaks to polluting industries by reducing requirements they provide lasting jobs must “hate the middle class.” I’m not about to say that people who want to maintain or increase the lethal poisons our children are exposed to hate our middle class. But is it possible they love the oil and gas industry more?”