EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 3/8/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• Reuters: US natural gas pipeline accidents pose big, unreported climate threat

• Reuters: TC Energy’s Keystone oil pipeline restarts after going offline

• Bloomberg: Keystone Oil Pipeline Segment Shuts, Sending Futures Higher

• North Dakota Monitor: Emmons County to appeal pipeline jurisdiction ruling by North Dakota PSC

• Rigzone: Enbridge to Invest in Midstream Expansion, Pipelines

• Portland Press Herald: Maine lawmakers opt to study natural gas use, regulations instead of limiting pipeline expansion

• Danville Register and Bee: Company hosts open house for pipeline expansion project in Pittsylvania County

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Hundreds of green groups urge Biden to expand LNG freeze

• E&E News: Climate Advocates Announce ‘Youth Agenda’ To Prod Biden 

• Reuters: US Democrats Urge Antitrust Regulator To Probe Oil, Gas Mergers 

• Politico: Granholm Sees Good In Oil Mergers 

• Floodlight: Secrecy around LNG export terminals leaves public in the dark on dangers

• Canary Media: One big downside of LNG exports: Price swings for US gas consumers

• NPR: PragerU is a conservative video giant. Here’s why it’s trying to get into schools

STATE UPDATES

• WZFG: Governor Doug Burgum: carbon sequestration would add $70B to North Dakota tax revenues

• Minnesota Public Radio: Proposed natural gas plant in Superior gets renewed scrutiny

• Chem Analyst: Lake Charles Methanol Plans to Invest $3.24 Billion for Low-Carbon Intensity Methanol Production

EXTRACTION

• Reuters: How is Europe cracking down on climate protests?

• Calgary Herald: Alberta First Nation signs deal with Suncor to explore new oilsands mine on reserve lands

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Bloomberg: Green Groups Decry SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule as Too Weak

OPINION

• The Advocate: Carbon capture isn’t the future; it’s more of the same

• RealClearEnergy: The Ideology and Reality of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage

• West Virginia Highlands Conservancy: Carbon Capture and Storage: A Solution for Climate Change?

• Reuters: Five reasons why investors have a financial duty to be acting on climate risk
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Reuters: US natural gas pipeline accidents pose big, unreported climate threat
Nichola Groom, 3/8/24

“Last October, an Idaho farmer using a backhoe punched a hole into a 56cm pipeline buried under a field, sending more than 51 million cubic feet of natural gas hissing into the air. While the incident on Williams Companies’ Northwest Pipeline was big, it was no anomaly along the roughly 4.8 million km of natural gas pipelines crisscrossing the US,” Reuters reports. “Accidental pipeline leaks – caused by things like punctures, corrosion, severe weather and faulty equipment – happen routinely and are a climate menace that is not currently counted in the official US tally of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Reuters examination of public data and regulatory documents. Pipeline mishaps unintentionally released nearly 9.7 billion cubic feet of gas into the atmosphere between 2019 and late 2023, according to a Reuters examination of incident report data maintained by the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). That is the climate equivalent of running four average-sized coal-fired power plants for a year, according to an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) online calculator. Those emissions are currently not included in the nation’s official greenhouse gas count because federal rules exempt large, unexpected leaks, and mainly only capture emissions from regular operations, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)… “Reuters relied on PHMSA data and interviews with researchers, company officials and regulators to provide new detail on the scale of greenhouse gas emissions from accidental pipeline leaks that could soon be added to the official greenhouse gas tally, as well as the potential cost to companies under the looming fees. “I don’t think the public or regulators have realized just how much methane has been lost from pipeline infrastructure,” Kenneth Clarkson, a spokesperson for the Pipeline Safety Trust, a non-profit watchdog, told Reuters. “Newer studies have come closer to capturing the true amount of emissions and this has started catching the attention of policymakers.” Accidental leaks reported from PHMSA by the five biggest US pipelines between 2018 and 2022 showed that those incidents could have significantly increased the facilities’ overall reported emissions, potentially resulting in fees of up to US$40 million under the proposal.”

Reuters: TC Energy’s Keystone oil pipeline restarts after going offline
Rod Nickel and Arathy Somasekhar, 3/7/24

“TC Energy’s Keystone oil pipeline resumed service on Thursday after going offline and temporarily restricting a major conduit of Canadian oil to the United States, which sent oil prices higher,” Reuters reports. “The 622,000 barrel-per-day pipeline has been dogged by problems, including a 2022 spill in rural Kansas. TC said in a statement late afternoon that Keystone was safely operating after briefly suspending service as a precautionary measure. The Calgary, Alberta-based company said it had confirmed the pipeline’s integrity and no oil was released. Earlier, TC notified shippers of the outage, citing operational issues but not offering specifics, one industry source told Reuters. The company did not say how much of the Keystone network was down or for how long… “With Keystone, we’re seeing a pattern of these sporadic outages,” Rory Johnston, founder of the Commodity Context newsletter, told Reuters… “Last month, executive vice-president of liquids Bevin Wirzba told analysts on a quarterly call that TC had inspected 80% of the Keystone system during the year since the Kansas spill and found no potential issues with the pipeline’s integrity… “Last year, TC said it planned to spin off its liquids business, including Keystone, to focus on transporting natural gas. The company has been selling assets to reduce debt.”

Bloomberg: Keystone Oil Pipeline Segment Shuts, Sending Futures Higher
Devika Krishna Kumar, Lucia Kassai, and Robert Tuttle, 3/7/24

“TC Energy Corp’s Keystone oil pipeline, which transports heavy Canadian crude to the US Midwest and Gulf Coast, partially shut Thursday, sending oil futures higher in post-settlement trading,” Bloomberg reports. “Pressure dropped on a segment of the line running from Hardisty, Canada, to Steele City, Neb., according to a Wood Mackenzie report seen by Bloomberg. The pressure drop indicates the line stopped moving oil.”

North Dakota Monitor: Emmons County to appeal pipeline jurisdiction ruling by North Dakota PSC
Jeff Beach, 3/7/24

“Another legal issue involving the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline is headed for a North Dakota court,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “The Emmons County Commission on Tuesday, March 5 voted to file a legal challenge to the North Dakota Public Service Commission’s ruling that state law trumps local zoning ordinances on pipeline routes. The five-member county commission voted unanimously to file an appeal and to retain Bismarck attorney Derrick Braaten to represent Emmons County on the Summit pipeline issue. Braaten told the Monitor Wednesday that the appeal will be filed this week in South Central District Court. But Braaten told the Monitor he expected that the case would not be heard until after a PSC hearing on Summit’s pipeline route application… “In an interview after the vote, Commission Chair Erin Magrum told the Monitor the PSC decision was based on “legislative overreach and regulatory misinterpretation.” “It’s really not about the specific pipeline, it’s more about … the interpretation from the PSC that the counties have no authority to site a pipeline, which is pretty disturbing,” Magrum told the Monitor… “The Burleigh County Commission also has petitioned the PSC to reconsider its local ordinance decision. Braaten told the Monitor depending on the outcome of that petition, Burleigh also may file a legal appeal… “The PSC denied Summit a route permit last year, but Summit has asked for reconsideration after making changes to its route, primarily east of Bismarck in Burleigh County. A hearing date for the reconsideration has not yet been set.”

Rigzone: Enbridge to Invest in Midstream Expansion, Pipelines
Rocky Teodoro, 3/7/24

“Enbridge Inc. said it is making new capital investments in line with its Permian export strategy and gas transmission plans,” Rigzone reports. “Enbridge President and CEO Greg Ebel said in a statement Wednesday, “Today we are announcing accretive new capital investments focused on our U.S. Gulf Coast strategy. These include additional export docks and storage tanks at Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center (EIEC) and connecting egress for Shell’s Sparta assets offshore of Louisiana’s coastline”. “These accretive investments provide near-term growth in the U.S. Gulf Coast and set the stage for the future expansion through high quality partnerships and embedded organic opportunities. In combination with today’s announcements, our secured growth backlog sits at $25 billion and is made up of more than 20 highly executable projects”, Ebel noted. The new capital investments include the expansion of the Planning Gray Oak Pipeline of approximately 120,000 barrels per day (bpd), pending a successful open season. The expansion will increase crude capacity throughout Enbridge’s entire integrated Permian super system… “Further, the company has sanctioned around $0.2 billion of offshore pipelines to service Shell and Equinor’s sanctioned Sparta development… “Regarding its planned acquisition of three U.S. gas utilities, Enbridge said it is investing approximately $3 billion annually “in low-risk natural gas utility infrastructure, inclusive of the assumed capital for the acquisitions.”

Portland Press Herald: Maine lawmakers opt to study natural gas use, regulations instead of limiting pipeline expansion
Stephen Singer, 3/7/24

“Lawmakers have scaled back an ambitious proposal to limit natural gas expansion in Maine, instead advancing a compromise that would require a trio of state studies about its use,” the Portland Press Herald reports. “The Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee approved a measure Wednesday that now heads to the House and Senate requiring the Public Utilities Commission, Governor’s Energy Office and a group of lawmakers, industry representatives and labor leaders to conduct separate reviews. A lawmaker complained that the compromise is vastly different from the measure’s initial intent and Maine Public Advocate William Harwood told the Herald it reflects strong opposition from the industry. “I understand gas utilities are fighting for their corporate lives,” Harwood told the Herald… “The original legislation proposed limiting natural gas expansion in Maine by prohibiting gas companies from charging ratepayers for construction and expansion of gas service mains and gas service lines beginning Feb. 1, 2025. Instead, only business and residential customers that benefit from new gas mains and service lines would pay the costs. Environmentalists and consumer advocates backed the measure, while gas utilities fiercely opposed it… “Environmental advocates said the intent was to require users to pay the true cost of gas, rather than force others to subsidize utility hookups.”

Danville Register and Bee: Company hosts open house for pipeline expansion project in Pittsylvania County
Charles Wilborn, 3/8/24

“A natural gas corporation hosted a community meeting Wednesday on plans to expand its current Transco pipeline’s capacity through roughly 26 miles of Pittsylvania County,” the Danville Register and Bee reports. “Roughly half of those at the Pittsylvania County Community Center in Chatham were with the Williams company, all identified by blue shirts… “Most of the landowners involved already have a pipeline running through their property. This project would grant an extra easement to Williams… “That way they don’t have to come in and create a whole new line. A new line basically runs beside the existing one. “It’s a really efficient way for us to add capacity without having to create a whole new energy corridor.”They can deliver more options for customers in the “growing Southeast market,” he said… “Also at the open house were members of FERC — the acronym for the federal group — mainly to have a presence and answer questions… “A representative from the Sierra Club — an environmental organization — also attended, pointing to the group’s stance against pipelines.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Hundreds of green groups urge Biden to expand LNG freeze
3/7/24

“Several hundred environmental and advocacy groups are pushing the Biden administration to go beyond the Department of Energy’s pause on new liquefied natural gas export permits, according to a letter shared with E&E News. The groups cheered President Joe Biden’s decision in January to freeze LNG export approvals to non-free-trade-agreement countries. But they’re arguing now that he should widen the pause to “include stopping all LNG and related fossil fuel infrastructure permits across all U.S. federal agencies.” That would include infrastructure that “specifically facilitates the transport and/or export” of LNG, according to Seth Gladstone, a spokesperson for Food & Water Watch, one of the organizations behind the letter to Biden. Other signatories on the letter — which is being sent to the White House on Thursday — include the Center for Biological Diversity, Oil Change International, Earthworks and 350.org. “Any new development of LNG and associated infrastructure is antithetical to your recognition of climate change as an existential threat to all of us, and your commitment to environmental justice,” the groups said in the letter… “Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch, told E&E the Biden administration can take action beyond FERC. In a statement, he told E&E the administration “shouldn’t continue to pretend that its hands are tied over FERC’s involvement in LNG permitting.” He told E&E DOE’s final stamp of approval to export LNG “is only the last stage in a long line of permitting points the administration can intervene in,” adding that the Biden administration can take action in other places… “In the Thursday letter, the groups also pressed Biden to implement a “robust and democratic public comment period” as part of DOE’s assessment update for LNG exports… “Introducing additional hurdles to the LNG permitting process would be a loss for American allies, U.S. jobs and global climate progress,” Rob Jennings, vice president of natural gas markets at the American Petroleum Institute oil and gas trade group, told E&E.

E&E News: Climate Advocates Announce ‘Youth Agenda’ To Prod Biden 
3/7/24

“Young climate advocates are urging President Joe Biden to ‘run on a bold and progressive agenda’ in his 2024 reelection bid by taking a series of big moves on climate change and other policy issues,” E&E News reports. “Organizations including the Sunrise Movement included a list of climate demands as part of a broader ‘youth agenda’ unveiled this week. “The climate emergency is here,” the agenda said. “We need a mass government mobilization to do everything possible to keep people safe and end this existential threat from claiming thousands of lives.” Among the groups’ climate demands: use existing laws to reject new oil, gas and coal projects; ensure that the United States achieve 100 percent clean energy no later than 2035; and guarantee free health care and safe housing following climate disasters. The agenda comes as Biden prepares to deliver his annual State of the Union address Thursday to lay out his policy agenda for the coming year and as former President Donald Trump has shored up his position as the presumptive Republican nominee. It also comes amid mounting tension on the left over how far to go in criticizing Biden on climate and other issues as the 2024 election draws closer and some fear that failing to rally behind the president could help put Trump back into the White House.” 

Reuters: US Democrats Urge Antitrust Regulator To Probe Oil, Gas Mergers 
3/6/24

“Nearly 50 Democrats in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday urged the Federal Trade Commission to probe oil and gas company deals and expand current investigations to protect consumers and industry competition,” Reuters reports. “The industry went on a $250 billion buying spree in 2023, taking advantage of companies’ high stock prices to secure lower-cost reserves. Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp, and Occidental Petroleum made acquisitions worth a total of $135 billion in 2023. The trend has continued this year with deals such as Chesapeake Energy agreeing in January to buy Southwestern Energy, a $7.4 billion deal that will make it the largest independent U.S. natural gas producer. “If a small group of dominant firms is allowed to control this industry, American consumers and industry competition will only suffer,” the Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Representative Ro Khanna, wrote in a letter to the FTC.”

Politico: Granholm Sees Good In Oil Mergers 
3/6/24

“Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday that the rash of mergers in the oil industry could boost climate progress by bringing smaller producers in line with the decarbonization efforts of larger companies,” Politico reports. “One of the things that’s good about the mergers is that many of the majors … have been taking action on climate and clean energy, and a lot of the folks who are mid- to small-level producers were not as interested or didn’t have the resources to address [it],” Granholm said during an Axios event. She added that she always has “anti-competitiveness concerns about large mergers” and worries that “monopolization” could raise prices (Democratic lawmakers raised new concerns about the mergers in a letter to the FTC on Wednesday). A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute told Politico in response to the Democratic letter that the mergers “do not alter the fundamental dynamics of supply and demand that dictate petroleum prices around the world.”

Floodlight: Secrecy around LNG export terminals leaves public in the dark on dangers
Pam Radtke, 3/6/24

“During a summer’s afternoon in 2022, a 450-foot fireball exploded at a liquefied natural gas terminal south of Houston, rocking sunbathers on Quintana Beach, adjacent to the Freeport LNG terminal, and rattling homes for miles around,” Floodlight reports. “Eighteen months later, residents around the plant have yet to receive any information directly from Freeport LNG about what caused the explosion, or what to do if it were to happen again, Melanie Oldham, one of the founders of Better Brazoria, an environmental and public health advocacy group who felt the blast in her living room, 3 miles from the terminal, told Floodlight. John Allaire frequently hears the internal alarms go off at Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal, just a mile from his home on the Gulf Coast in southwest Louisiana, but he never knows what’s causing them. He told Floodlight when he asked about the alarms, a Venture Global executive told Allaire to call 911 if he was concerned… “But those living near the eight terminals already operating in the U.S. and the seven that are under construction have more immediate concerns — their safety.  Unlike other industrial facilities, such as chemical plants and oil refineries, LNG operators don’t have to share with the general public information such as what chemicals are being used onsite and how an accident could impact the people who live around the facility.  “If people knew the risks around LNG, there would be so much public outcry that this buildout wouldn’t happen,” Naomi Yoder, who researched the safety of LNG facilities as a staff scientist at the environmental watchdog Healthy Gulf, told Floodlight… “But the information needed for the public to verify that claim is often confidential because LNG terminals are considered critical infrastructure and could be terrorist targets. Companies also can shield information they consider to be trade secrets. Even some of the computer models used to determine the risks of potential accidents at LNG terminals are proprietary. So scientists such as Jerry Havens — a professor emeritus of chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas who worked on the original safety standards for LNG import terminals — can’t verify their findings. And Havens is skeptical. “What it means is that these places are being built shiny and new and approved with 1,100 and 1,200-page reports. But they are neglecting a major hazard. These calculations need to be checked.” The risks around the terminals are made even more opaque by the fact the LNG industry is regulated by three federal agencies: the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Coast Guard. “ 

Canary Media: One big downside of LNG exports: Price swings for US gas consumers
Julian Spector, 3/6/24

“Electricity bills in Louisiana didn’t use to fluctuate based on geopolitical turmoil on the other side of the world. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022 and kicked off a fossil gas shortage in Europe, the reverberations hit home in the Gulf Coast parishes that depend on the fuel for electricity, cooking and hot water,” Canary Media reports. “…Louisiana burns gas for nearly 70% of its electricity generation, far more than the national average of 40%. When gas prices spiked, the state’s electric utilities passed that cost right along to households and businesses. Residents in two-bedroom homes suddenly found themselves paying $600 to $700 for a monthly utility bill, for months in a row, Logan Burke, a leading consumer energy advocate for households in Louisiana, told Canary. “It was showing up boldfaced, underlined and italicized,” Burke told Canary Media. ​“People’s bills suddenly reflected an international commodities market. Louisianans, whether they know it or not, are competing with fertilizer plants and petrochemical plants in Europe and Asia.” “…Along with better assessing the local environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions of LNG infrastructure, the administration will look closely at the burdens placed on American consumers by the LNG export expansion. Numerous studies have found that LNG exports push prices upward for American consumers, but analyses differ on how much this harms them given other potential benefits exports bestow on the overall economy. 

NPR: PragerU is a conservative video giant. Here’s why it’s trying to get into schools
Lisa Hagen, 3/7/24

“Despite the suggestive sound of its name, PragerU is not a university. It’s a content creator. The conservative media nonprofit makes short, well-produced videos crafted to appeal to college students and young people,” NPR reports. “It has polished animations and titles like “What Radical Islam and the Woke Have in Common” and “Is There Really a Climate Emergency?” Recently, news headlines have focused on its PragerU Kids content. Arizona recently became the latest state where education officials have embraced online videos produced by PragerU. It follows at least four other states that approved Prager’s material for use in public school classrooms last year, though it’s unclear how many students have watched these videos. In a podcast interview last fall, the group’s CEO, Marissa Streit, argued that the U.S. education system is “a left-wing propaganda machine” that teaches students to hate America. PragerU Kids, she says, is the supposed inoculation. “PragerU shows up everywhere with medicine for the mind so that we can cure and help people think clearly,” said Streit. Educators have voiced alarms about the tone and accuracy of some of PragerU’s videos, such as one that features an animated Christopher Columbus saying: “Being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no? I don’t see the problem.” PragerU officials have said the video accurately portrays what Columbus would have felt about slavery. Cartoon Columbus goes on to scold two time-traveling kids for judging him based on current-day thinking about slavery. The group markets its thousands of videos as nonpartisan explorations of big ideas. But that’s a misleading framing, according to Eliah Bures with the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies. “It’s always tilted relentlessly in a single ideological direction,” Bures told NPR. “You would come away from it thinking that the position that’s just been laid out is the only one that reasonable, sane people could ever possibly hold.”

STATE UPDATES

WZFG: Governor Doug Burgum: carbon sequestration would add $70B to North Dakota tax revenues
Tom Tucker, 3/6/24

“North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum continues to tout what he calls the benefits of carbon sequestration,” WZFG reports. “I was up at the University of North Dakota at the Environmental Energy Research Center. I think the graph they had up there said that carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery would add 70 billion dollars of tax revenue to North Dakota over the coming decades, tax revenue. Think of the legacy fund we could build with that,” said Burgum. Burgum is a vocal backer of the plan by Summit Carbon Solutions to build an underground pipeline spanning five Midwestern states… “Opponents are expressing concerns about potential environmental impacts and property rights.” 

Minnesota Public Radio: Proposed natural gas plant in Superior gets renewed scrutiny
Dan Kraker, 3/6/24

“A long-planned natural gas power plant in Superior is facing new scrutiny from local officials who originally backed it, at the same time labor unions and other supporters are ramping up their advocacy for the controversial project,” Minnesota Public Radio reports. “Duluth-based Minnesota Power, along with electric power cooperatives based in Wisconsin and North Dakota, are pushing to build the 625 megawatt power plant dubbed the Nemadji Trail Energy Center. Utilities say it is needed to help them make the transition to a renewable energy future. Environmental groups have fought NTEC since it was first introduced seven years ago, arguing the project would lock in the burning of fossil fuels for decades, and that energy needs could be better met through investing in carbon-free sources… “Mayor Jim Paine, who originally supported the project, now says he doesn’t think the power plant will ever get built. “The community’s really rising up against this,” Paine told MPR… “There are also three neighborhoods nearby. Paine, the city’s mayor, argues that heavy industry doesn’t make communities prosperous. It generates pollution, he says, not economic activity. “The reason that industry tend to get concentrated is because nobody really wants to live around it. We don’t want to be compromised anymore. We’ve kind of done our share,” Paine told MPR.

Chem Analyst: Lake Charles Methanol Plans to Invest $3.24 Billion for Low-Carbon Intensity Methanol Production
Patricia Jose Perez, 3/8/24

“Lake Charles Methanol II LLC (Lake Charles Methanol) has recently revealed ambitious plans to invest $3.24 billion in the construction of a groundbreaking manufacturing plant,” Chem Analyst reports. “This facility, situated at the Port of Lake Charles, is set to produce low-carbon intensity methanol along with other chemicals. By incorporating advanced auto thermal gas reforming technology and utilizing carbon capture and secure geologic storage, the company aims to generate low-carbon hydrogen for subsequent conversion to methanol… “Lake Charles Methanol’s proposed facility is poised to leverage advanced auto thermal gas reforming technology, a cutting-edge process for transforming natural gas and renewable gas feedstocks into hydrogen. Simultaneously, the facility will employ carbon capture techniques to secure and store geologic carbon dioxide emissions. The captured carbon dioxide will then play a crucial role in the production of approximately 3.6 million ton per year of methanol. This innovative approach underscores the company’s commitment to adopting eco-friendly practices in the production of chemicals. Lake Charles Methanol’s commitment to environmental responsibility is evident in its collaboration with a third party to capture and sequester about 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually… “Local leaders, including Westlake Mayor Hal McMillin, have expressed enthusiasm for the Lake Charles Methanol project.”

EXTRACTION

Reuters: How is Europe cracking down on climate protests?
Beatrice Tridimas, 3/7/24

“Across Europe, governments are introducing new rules, doling out stricter punishments and ramping up surveillance in response to a rise in climate demonstrations and direct action protests, such as blocking roads or throwing paint at artworks,” Reuters reports. “The clampdown could have a chilling effect on the ability of climate activists to protest and could constitute a threat to democracy, according to rights experts, the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Rights groups also note that while climate protests often lead to arrests, authorities have acted less harshly towards farmers, who blocked roads this year to protest against green policies they blame for lost earnings. The European Union agreed to delay some green regulations to ease tensions. Lawmakers across Europe have introduced legislation targeting tactics frequently used by people demonstrating to demand more action on climate change and have also increased penalties for those who take part in direct action protests. In January, Italy approved the so-called “eco-vandals” law, which toughened penalties for people who damage monuments and cultural sites with new fines of up to 60,000 euros($65,406). In Germany, state police in Bavaria have frequently used an amendment to rules governing police powers to hold activists in preventative detention. In 2022, Britain introduced the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act that empowers police to restrict a protest if it is considered too noisy. The act, which also makes causing a public nuisance an offence, has been criticised by the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst… “The Council of Europe said climate activists have faced heavy-handed policing despite the fact that their disruptive protests are mostly peaceful and non-violent… “Laws protecting critical oil and gas infrastructure have been introduced in the U.S. and Canada in response to major climate protests… “Human Rights Watch says new laws introduced across Australia that increase fines for blocking roads and ban locking-on tactics are part of a “politically motivated crackdown” designed to intimidate the climate movement.”

Calgary Herald: Alberta First Nation signs deal with Suncor to explore new oilsands mine on reserve lands
Chris Varcoe, 3/7/24

“More than five years ago, after then-Suncor Energy CEO Steve Williams opened the company’s long-awaited $17-billion Fort Hills mine, he told reporters the company wasn’t done building major oilsands projects in Alberta,” the Calgary Herald reports. “A lot has changed since then, including the collapse and recovery in oil prices, growing climate concerns, prognostications of peak demand and the imminent completion of the Trans Mountain expansion. During that time, not a single greenfield oilsands mine has moved forward. But Fort McKay First Nation Chief Raymond Powder hopes that might change. The First Nation has signed a memorandum of understanding to examine “a prospective oilsands mine development on our reserve,” Powder said Thursday in an interview. And it inked the deal with Suncor. “Fort McKay First Nation wants to continue growing, just like any other First Nation or other communities right across Canada,” he said Thursday. “This will be not only a financial investment, but also a return for our Nation . . . This is an opportunity for us to manage prosperity, as opposed to managing poverty.” “…Suncor executive vice-president of oilsands Peter Zebedee said the agreement could potentially provide the company’s existing operations — including the nearby Fort Hills mine, along with Syncrude’s Aurora operations — with bitumen supply options past 2040… “Advancing a new oilsands mine in Canada today would be a “significant uphill battle,” given federal policy, oilsands expert Ben Brunnen, a partner with Garrison Strategy, told the Herald.

CLIMATE FINANCE

Bloomberg: Green Groups Decry SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule as Too Weak
Zahra Hirji and Lily Meier, 3/7/24

“Another piece of the Biden administration’s sweeping policy response to climate change fell into place Wednesday, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission voted to approve highly anticipated climate disclosure requirements for public companies,” Bloomberg reports. “Environmental advocates long pushed for such disclosures. But their immediate response was largely negative, with many saying the rule falls far short of what’s needed and leaves investors lacking crucial information about climate risks.”

OPINION

The Advocate: Carbon capture isn’t the future; it’s more of the same
Autumn Hanna is vice president for Taxpayers for Common Sense and oversees programs and serves as spokesperson and legislative strategist; James Hiatt is the founder of For a Better Bayou and a climate resilience specialist based in Lake Charles, 3/1/24

“Across the United States, opposition to carbon capture projects is intensifying, fueled by concerns about community impacts, infringement on private property rights, environmental justice issues and the squandering of taxpayer dollars,” Autumn Hanna and James Hiatt write for The Advocate. “Compounding this problem, the Biden administration decided to transfer the approval authority for these controversial projects to Louisiana (with more fossil fuel-friendly states likely to follow suit). Taxpayers and communities must not be forced to subsidize carbon capture, which merely allows the oil and gas industry to continue with business as usual… “Instead, they extend the life of fossil fuels, waste billions of taxpayer dollars, and perpetuate pollution in overburdened communities. After more than a decade of trying and billions of wasted taxpayer dollars, carbon capture has consistently failed to deliver climate benefits. The fossil fuel industry champions carbon capture because it locks us into oil and gas for decades to come. Furthermore, the captured carbon is typically used to produce even more fossil fuels — under the guise of being part of the climate solution. That’s why one of us is working to protect taxpayers from wasting billions on subsidies for a technology that has never been proven to reduce net carbon emissions. The other is working to protect communities from the harmful impacts and false promises of the oil and gas and carbon capture and storage industries. And we agree there are cheaper, more effective ways to reduce climate pollution… “The federal government cannot continue wasting billions of dollars subsidizing technologies that have failed for more than decade, only to see these industries continue burning fossil fuels and harming communities… “American taxpayers and communities deserve just and effective solutions to combat climate change, and carbon capture has proven to be neither.”

RealClearEnergy: The Ideology and Reality of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage
Philip Rosetti is a Senior Fellow for Energy and Environment at The R Street Institute; Robert G. Eccles is at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, 3/8/24

“One of the greatest technological advancements in the climate change space is, arguably, the fact that we now have the technology to outright remove CO2 from its point of emission, or even the atmosphere,” Philip Rosetti and Robert Eccles write for RealClearEnergy. This technology–called carbon capture utilization and sequestration (carbon capture for short)–is a huge step forward in solving the challenge of pollution from fossil fuel and should be considered a huge coup for the climate movement. Wrong. Back in 2021, over 500 conservation organizations took out a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post opposing any carbon capture technology, leading to a bizarre irony where climate-focused organizations are opposing proven climate solutions. The carbon capture debate has revealed that in many ways climate progress is not held back by economics, but by idealogues that have an alternative agenda that overlaps with—but is not consistent with—climate progress. Is the objective to put fossil fuel companies completely out of business (a naïve and impractical goal) or to solve the problem of climate change from carbon emissions?… “However, for some climate advocates, because carbon capture does not eliminate fossil fuel use, they fear that instead this technology will lead to expanded fossil fuel consumption and infrastructure globally. As such they staunchly oppose any use of carbon capture technology. There are, though, two big problems with this animosity towards carbon capture. The first is that, at this time, we do not expect the world to rapidly wean itself off fossil fuels… “The second is that every credible scenario projection to achieve global net-zero emissions is underpinned by carbon capture technology… “Reason, not emotion, is the better path to address the challenge of climate change… “If we allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good, climate goals will forever remain out of reach… “In the future, we will see plane tickets that are carbon neutral thanks to carbon dioxide removal, and natural gas power plants that have no pollution at all. These are opportunities to be welcomed, rather than solutions to be shunned for the unforgivable sin of not being an environmental activists’ preferred climate solution.”

West Virginia Highlands Conservancy: Carbon Capture and Storage: A Solution for Climate Change?
John McFerrin, 3/7/24

“Things are moving into place for West Virginia to go headlong into what is called carbon capture and storage. Before we dive in completely, it would be useful to consider more carefully the technology, its potential benefits and deficiencies,” John McFerrin writes for the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. “…It could theoretically be used on such things as coal-fired power plants, extending their useful life at a time when concerns about climate change would demand that they be phased out. Right now, however, this may be a gleam in Appalachian Power’s (or the West Virginia Coal Association’s) eye, but nobody has made any public proposals… “The more immediate proposals—ones that are barreling down the track right now—are those from Mountaineer Gigasystems and the larger Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), known as the hydrogen hub. Mountaineer Gigasystems is a complex proposed for Point Pleasant that would use hydrogen for various purposes. It is well on its way, spurred on by a 25 million dollar grant (the euphemism is “forgivable loan”) from the state of West Virginia… “Meanwhile, over in the Legislature, the trains are running. During its 2023 session, it passed a law allowing carbon dioxide to be stored beneath many of West Virginia’s public lands… “In a nutshell, West Virginia is all in on hydrogen. Whether this is a good idea depends upon West Virginia’s faith (and at this point, it is faith) that carbon capture and storage works… “Unless the energy for all these steps comes from unconventional sources (wind, solar, geothermal), producing all that energy will result in the release of carbon dioxide… “Maybe someone will figure out a way to make the separating technology more efficient. Maybe someone will figure out how to make every step less energy-intensive. Right now, however, blue hydrogen is not part of the solution to the problem of climate change.”

Reuters: Five reasons why investors have a financial duty to be acting on climate risk
Mindy Lubber, 3/6/24

“Climate change creates monumental financial risks as well as human and environmental risks,” Mindy Lubber writes for Reuters. “…Yet over the past 15 months, investors in the United States are facing political attacks for doing their jobs – considering the material financial risks of the climate crisis in their investment decision-making. Climate risk is financial risk, and these risks are growing. The most basic duty of any investor is to manage these kinds of material risks and ensure long-term shareholder value. To use the vernacular of markets, it is a fiduciary duty of an investor to manage all risks, whether those related to climate change, inflation or labor shortages… “Climate Action 100+ engages the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitting companies across all sectors to reduce emissions and support corporate investments in a cleaner and more resilient economy… “Fact 1: Investor engagement is working. Companies are making climate progress… “Fact 2: Collaborative investor engagement on climate risk management is aligned with an investors’ fiduciary duty and does not violate anti-trust or any other U.S. law… “Fact 3: More than 700 investors back Climate Action 100+, and the list keeps growing… “Fact 4: Investor engagement is one tactic in a comprehensive approach to reducing climate risks that is exactly like what investors do with other risks… “Fact 5: Climate risks, including weather disasters, continue to increase, and with more frequency, so engagement that leads to action is essential… “While Climate Action 100+ has made a crucial impact to date, we recognize that more progress is needed to slow global temperature rise. Progress – not just disclosure – on material climate risks is, and has been, a core goal of Climate Action 100+ since the beginning. Engaging with the 170 largest emitters to assess and reduce the impacts they present is not just in line with an investor’s fiduciary duty to safeguard portfolio value, but necessary to achieve a cleaner and more resilient economy.”