EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/12/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• Law360: US Sends Mixed Messages In Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline Dispute

• Inside Climate News: Biden Administration Slams Enbridge for Ongoing Trespass on Bad River Reservation But Says Pipeline Treaty With Canada Must Be Honored

• Forbes: Biden CO2, Hydrogen Pipeline Dreams Get Wake-Up Call

• Pipeline Fighters Hub: Exxon/Denbury CO2 Pipeline Leaks in Louisiana, Triggering Shelter in Place Order (Update 4/11/24)

• Pipeline Fighters Hub: What You Need to Know About Summit’s North Dakota PSC Public Hearings

• Patch: Bloomfield Couple Protest Pipeline By Hunkering Inside Wooden Possum

• Law360: Pacific Pipeline To Pay Calif. Landowners $70M Over Oil Spill

• Mid Hudson News: New Paltz Village Board says no Iroquois pipeline expansion

• Bluefield Daily Telegraph: Federal grant to help replace natural gas pipeline in Welch

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: The U.S. Will Need to Spend $100 Billion a Year on Carbon Removal

• The Hill: US emissions increased 1 percent from 2021-2022 but fell 17 percent from 2005 levels: EPA

• E&E News: Biden admin issues license for massive oil export terminal

• Offshore Technology: US Unveils Next Steps In Its 2024–2029 Gulf Of Mexico Oil & Gas Leasing Program 

• E&E News: Interior Review Of Drilling In Arctic Refuge Expected Before July 

• E&E News: Why Interior Could Get Stuck With The Tab For Cleaning Up Oil Platforms 

STATE UPDATES

• North Dakota Monitor: Governor urges lawmakers to budget for court battles over federal regulations

• Carlsbad Current-Argus: 3,000 acres excluded from Permian Basin lease sale to protect local natural resources

• Reuters: Cenovus Energy to invest $1.5 billion in Ohio refineries over next 5 years

• Orlando Sentinel: BP oil spill money to pay for $98.5M high-tech manufacturing center built by FSU

EXTRACTION

• Agora Industry: Low-carbon technologies for the global steel transformation

OPINION

• The Hill: Good policy made the US a carbon-removal leader. Will it last?

• Edmonton Journal: Canada’s choice: Support our energy industry or keep falling behind’

• National Observer: Oilsands disinformation is worse than you think
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Law360: US Sends Mixed Messages In Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline Dispute
Crystal Owens, 4/11/24

“The Biden administration sent mixed messages to the Seventh Circuit for its first time weighing in on Enbridge’s controversial Line 5 oil pipeline, urging the court to upload the court ordered shutdown of the project while adding that a tribe’s public nuisance claim should be dismissed,” Law360 reports. 

Inside Climate News: Biden Administration Slams Enbridge for Ongoing Trespass on Bad River Reservation But Says Pipeline Treaty With Canada Must Be Honored
Phil McKenna, 4/11/24

“The U.S. Department of Justice weighed in on a federal court case between the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of the Chippewa Indians and Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge in a legal brief that offered both good and bad news to the northern Wisconsin tribe,” Inside Climate News reports. “…The brief, filed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and made public on Wednesday, reaffirmed a portion of the prior court ruling in stating that Enbridge is “consciously trespassing on tribal land.” The pipeline company continues to operate its Line 5 pipeline on the Bad River reservation 11 years after portions of its 12-mile easement through the reservation expired. However, the Department of Justice went further, criticizing the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, which made the initial ruling, for only awarding the tribe a “paltry amount that permits Enbridge to profit handsomely from its trespass.” “…While the DOJ was unequivocal in its views on Enbridge’s trespass and the need for additional financial compensation for the tribe, the department noted that the fate of the 71- year-old pipeline on the reservation presented a thornier challenge. At issue are two competing U.S. treaties, one with the tribe, the other with Canada. The 1854 treaty between the United States and the Bad River Band, one of six bands of the Chippewa Nation, established their reservation. The treaty provides the tribe the power to “exclude or place conditions on Enbridge’s continued presence on tribal lands within the Reservation,” the department wrote in an unusually long, 70-page brief to the court. However, the U.S.-Canada Pipeline Transit Treaty of 1977 ensures the uninterrupted transmission of hydrocarbons by pipeline between the two countries… “If Enbridge is forced to shut down its pipeline before alternate transit can be secured, the U.S. risks violating a treaty with one of its top trading partners and may be subject to “substantial monetary damages,” the DOJ noted… “The Department of Justice noted in its brief that a court order allowing Enbridge to trespass perpetually would not be justifiable, but added that “devising the appropriate remedy for this trespass in this case is not a simple matter.”

Forbes: Biden CO2, Hydrogen Pipeline Dreams Get Wake-Up Call
Dipka Bhambhani, 4/12/24

“The Energy Department faced a hard truth last month: Its aggressive plans to expand, and ideally retrofit, crude and natural gas pipelines to transport carbon emissions and blue hydrogen may be delayed,” Forbes reports. “There are still a lot of challenges” in converting, building, and burying pipelines to accommodate CO2 and hydrogen, Daniel Swanberg, energy practice leader in Houston for the global design and engineering company, Stantec, based in Edmonton, Alberta, told Forbes. Swanberg was one of three-dozen energy experts from whom DOE Loan Programs Office chief Jigar Shah sought input about “carbon management” during a three-hour, closed-door workshop at S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference in Houston in March. Carbon management was one of three DOE Deploy Dialogues during CERAWeek that was kept well under wraps… “During the carbon management Dialogue at CERAWeek, experts were divided into four breakout groups directed to dissect deployment, supply chain and scalability, financial realities, and barriers to build out pipeline infrastructure. Carbon management turned out to be code for DOE’s interest in subsidizing transport infrastructure for carbon emissions from blue hydrogen production, and the hydrogen itself… “Questions remain, such as the impact CO2 or hydrogen in a pipeline underground would have on the environment. The EPA’s National Environmental Policy Act, how it comports with DOE’s goal to expand infrastructure, was also brought up as a question and concern. “There are all these uncertainties,” Swanberg said. “No matter how much the push is from DOE, people are hesitant.” During his session, Swanberg said there was no clarity about how to get landowners to allow for new or existing pipelines under or around their property. “If you want the community, you’ve got to get the landowners. You’ve got to incentivize them. That’s the only way it’s going to take off.” “…They know what natural gas is going to do. They know what crude is going to do,” but there are still questions when it comes to hydrogen and CO2 for local stakeholders, he said… “One issue raised during the discussion was federal oversight of hydrogen and CO2 pipelines… “PHMSA has four active projects to determine how to safely operate CO2 pipelines. The projects will examine the impact of leaks, leak detection methods, and the material quality of pipelines to see if they can be repurposed for underground storage facilities for CO2 transport and storage. “The results of these may help inform a current rulemaking related to carbon dioxide pipelines,” Brown told House members. “I could go in circles for hours and hours with all the gaps that I see,” that the government and institutional investors are not seeing in DOE’s push for pipelines, Swanberg said. “We can figure it out from the financial, government level, how it works on paper, the business case. But none of that matters if you can’t move the product sustainably,” he said.

Pipeline Fighters Hub: Exxon/Denbury CO2 Pipeline Leaks in Louisiana, Triggering Shelter in Place Order (Update 4/11/24)
Mark Hefflinger, 4/11/24

“The National Response Center has published the initial report of the CO2 pipeline accident, including timing and estimated spill volume,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “At 6:18 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 3, 2,548 barrels or 107,016 gallons (6.34 MMFCS in gas quantity) of CO2 were released over the course of the next two hours, until the final valve was closed at 8:22 p.m. The CO2 gas spread widely enough into the surrounding area that the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury issued a shelter-in-place order from around 6:30 p.m. until 9:16 p.m. for a quarter-mile radius in the neighborhood where the leak took place at Exxon/Denbury Resources’ Lake Charles Pumping Station near Sulphur, La. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and local police department were initially notified by whomever on the scene called to make the initial report to the National Response Center, and an investigation “assumed cause is due to an O Ring failure on the launcher pig trap door. Investigation is still underway.”

Pipeline Fighters Hub: What You Need to Know About Summit’s North Dakota PSC Public Hearings
Emma Schmit, 4/11/24

“The North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) is getting ready to begin the reconsideration hearing process for the Summit carbon pipeline. If approved, the hazardous pipeline would cross 332 miles of the state and dump up to 18 million metric tons of supercritical CO2 underground in North Dakota each year,” according to the Pipeline Fighters Hub. “…However, despite this long list of deficiencies, Summit quickly filed a Petition for Reconsideration which the PSC granted in a 2-1 vote. By taking this approach, Summit was able to avoid restarting the application process from scratch. Instead, they have been able to submit further evidence to address the identified shortcomings in their application. Once all evidence from both Summit and the public has been presented, the Commission will conduct a new vote to approve or deny the pipeline. As part of the evidence gathering process, three hearings have been scheduled between April 22nd, 2024 and June 4, 2024. Each hearing will focus on different locations of the proposed pipeline. However, if you are an affected landowner and you cannot make the hearing date centered on your county, the Commission will likely allow you to testify at one of the other hearings… “The hearings are intended to answer three key questions that Summit failed to properly address the first time around: Will construction, operation, and maintenance of the facility at the proposed location produce minimal adverse effects on the environment and upon the welfare of the citizens of North Dakota? Is the proposed facility compatible with environmental preservation and the efficient use of resources? Will construction, operation, and maintenance of the facility at the proposed location minimize adverse human and environmental impact while ensuring continuing system reliability and integrity and ensuring that energy needs are met and fulfilled in an orderly and timely fashion?” 

Patch: Bloomfield Couple Protest Pipeline By Hunkering Inside Wooden Possum
Eric Kiefer, 4/11/24

“Who needs a Trojan Horse when you have a giant possum? Jane Califf and Ted Glick – a married couple from Bloomfield, New Jersey who have been together for 45 years – recently had a unique idea to raise awareness about a controversial gas pipeline in Virginia: use a huge, wooden possum to block construction crews from accessing the site,” Patch reports. “On Wednesday, Califf and Glick locked themselves inside the wooden critter on Honeysuckle Road in Roanoke County, temporarily blocking work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline… “But according to opponents such as Glick and Califf – who have echoed the call that other protesters are making against the pipeline – it would have serious environmental consequences for the people living nearby, many of whom live in low-income, rural and underserved communities. Califf and Glick said they are concerned about the impact that a fracked gas pipeline will have across 303 miles of Appalachia. “We are taking action together as elders deeply concerned about the future facing our 3-year-old grandson, all children and all life on Earth,” the married couple said in a joint statement. “That is why we have joined with many others to stop the destructive and abusive Mountain Valley Pipeline, as well as any new fossil fuel infrastructure.” This week, they climbed inside their wooden possum – with a sign reading “Defend This Land!” – blocking the MVP’s access to the pipeline easement, a work yard and two access roads for more than six hours. According to a statement from advocacy group Appalachians Against Pipelines, Califf and Glick were eventually arrested and charged with three misdemeanors. They were assigned bail for $3,000 and were released from jail later that day.”

Law360: Pacific Pipeline To Pay Calif. Landowners $70M Over Oil Spill
Henrik Nilsson, 4/11/24

“A class of landowners urged a California federal judge to sign off on a $70 million deal with Pacific Pipeline Co. to resolve litigation stemming from the rupture of an onshore pipeline that leaked 140,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara, California, according to a motion for settlement entered Wednesday,” Law360 reports. 

Mid Hudson News: New Paltz Village Board says no Iroquois pipeline expansion
4/12/24

“The New Paltz Village Board has gone on record urging the governor to deny the expansion of the Iroquois pipeline,” Mid Hudson News reports. “Deputy Mayor Alexandria Wojcik said the expansion of the line would be detrimental to the environment. “We already know all the health impacts, environmental impacts, and we know that we are supposed to be completely off this natural gas infrastructure all together. So, why would we be expanding it when we are supposed to be moving toward this green energy future,” she asked. Emily Skydel, a senior organizer with Food & Water Watch, told the News actions like the one taken by New Paltz carry weight in Albany. “When local governments take a stand like the Village of New Paltz, it sends a really strong message to Governor Hochul and she has been known to be quite responsive to the concerns and demands of local municipalities,” she told the News.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph: Federal grant to help replace natural gas pipeline in Welch
GREG JORDAN, 4/12/24

“More than $2.1 million in federal monies will help replace a natural gas line exposed to potential flood damage and serve between 40 to 50 customers in the city of Welch,” the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports. “U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced Thursday that $2,115,394 from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for the Welch Gas Cooperative Association. The funding will support a construction project that will replace 0.67 miles of natural gas pipeline. “I’m pleased the DOT is investing more than $2.1 million to upgrade and improve natural gas pipeline infrastructure in Welch,” Manchin told BDT. 

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: The U.S. Will Need to Spend $100 Billion a Year on Carbon Removal
CORBIN HIAR, 4/11/24

“The U.S. government needs to spend roughly $100 billion annually on carbon dioxide removal by 2050 to help the world avoid extreme climate change, according to an analysis released Wednesday,” E&E News reports. “That’s 20 times more than what lawmakers committed to in landmark climate bills that aimed to jump-start the development of carbon removal technologies and companies, the Rhodium Group estimated. For context, the sum is also about as much as the entire budget of the Department of Agriculture. The new analysis comes amid a fierce battle for control of Congress, the White House and the future of U.S. climate policy. The Republican Party is rallying behind former President Donald Trump, whose campaign has promised that if reelected he would “oppose all of the radical left’s Green New Deal policies.”

The Hill: US emissions increased 1 percent from 2021-2022 but fell 17 percent from 2005 levels: EPA
ZACK BUDRYK, 4/11/24

“American greenhouse gas emissions rose 1 percent between 2021 and 2022 but fell nearly 17 percent from 2005 levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual emissions inventory report,” The Hill reports. “Net U.S. emissions increased by 1.3 percent in 2022 for a total of 5,489 million metric tons of carbon dioxide compared to the previous year, according to the EPA. The agency attributed the bulk of the increase to higher levels of fossil fuel combustion as the economic rebound and lifting of pandemic-related restrictions that began in 2021 continued. Despite the year-over-year increase, however, the EPA determined that net emissions fell 16.7 percent compared to 2005 levels between 1990 and 2022. This decrease was partly due to a decline in emissions from industry over the last decade, according to the EPA. The agency attributed this drop to several factors, including macroeconomic trends like the shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy. Improvements in energy efficiency also played a role, as did transitions to lower-carbon fuels… “The vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were carbon emissions, which comprised 79.7 percent of total emissions, followed by methane emissions at 11.1 percent.”

E&E News: Biden admin issues license for massive oil export terminal
Heather Richards, 4/10/24

“The Biden administration has given a final green light for a massive oil export terminal to be built off the Texas coast and send U.S. crude to Asia and Europe,” E&E News reports. “Enterprise Products Partners announced Tuesday that it had received a final license for the Sea Port Oil Terminal, or SPOT, from the Department of Transportation. The license lets Enterprise build a deepwater oil export facility off the coast of Freeport, Texas, that can load 2 million barrels of crude oil onto ships daily. The license issuance comes just days after a federal appellate court upheld the Biden administration’s argument that the port would be in the national interest, in a blow to environmental groups and climate activists who had tried to reverse its approval. The port, one of several seeking a nod from the Biden administration, responds to a jump in exports of crude oil amid record levels of domestic production, a dynamic that’s challenged President Joe Biden’s decarbonization agenda and could alienate climate voters in the upcoming presidential election. The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the division of the DOT that issued the port license, said “the project would make the transport of oil safer for the public and the environment,” in a statement Wednesday… “Environmental groups lamented last week’s decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding Biden’s earlier approval. “It is in the national interest to halt, not promote, the proliferation of fossil fuel dependence through expanded crude exports that will increase oil spill risk and emissions of cancer-causing, climate-disrupting pollution, which SPOT would generate on a massive scale,” Sierra Club senior attorney Devorah Ancel told E&E.

Offshore Technology: US Unveils Next Steps In Its 2024–2029 Gulf Of Mexico Oil & Gas Leasing Program 
Melisa Cavcic, 4/10/24

“The final program for 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico comes with the lowest number of lease sales in U.S. history, encompassing a maximum of three potential oil and gas lease sales – 262, 263, and 264 – slated for 2025, 2027, and 2029, respectively,” Offshore Technology reports. “These three proposed lease sales are said to be the minimum number that would enable the Interior Department to continue to expand its offshore wind leasing program through 2030 in compliance with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The plan entails zero oil and gas lease sales in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaskan waters.” 

E&E News: Interior Review Of Drilling In Arctic Refuge Expected Before July 
Heather Richards, 4/12/24

“The Biden administration’s final environmental review of a plan to sell oil rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is expected by the end of June, according to a recent federal court filing,” E&E News reports. “The analysis, which had been expected by the end of March, is critical to the Interior Department meeting its legal obligation to sell oil and gas leases in the coastal plain of the 19.6 million-acre protected refuge by 2025. The Department of Justice told the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in late March that the review will be finished before July, with a final record of decision released by the end of September. The court is reviewing a lawsuit over the Trump-era oil program. The review began after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in 2021 that the Arctic oil program inked during the Trump administration likely contained ‘legal deficiencies.’ Interior promised a deeper exploration in a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) of how oil and gas will affect wildlife like polar bears and the vulnerable ecosystem of the refuge’s coastal plain before it holds a lease sale. Drilling for oil in the refuge is the decadeslong mission of many of Alaska’s leaders who believe it holds massive oil reserves to replace declining production on state and Alaska Native lands. But oil and gas exploration was staved off for years by environmental opposition, including from some Alaska Native communities.”

E&E News: Why Interior Could Get Stuck With The Tab For Cleaning Up Oil Platforms 
Heather Richards, 4/12/24

“Two hulking platforms have sucked oil out of the ocean floor off this sunny local beach for nearly five decades. The Hogan and Houchin platforms are now rusting monuments to California’s once-powerful fossil fuel industry,” E&E News reports. “Abandoned by their last owner, they should have been torn down years ago. But a series of companies tied to the platforms say it’s not their job — and now, they want the federal government to take on the multimillion-dollar responsibility. The saga echoes the unfolding fight to clean up the nation’s deteriorating fossil fuel infrastructure. More than 2,700 offshore oil and gas wells and 500 platforms are overdue for decommissioning in the Gulf of Mexico alone, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office. The Interior Department has long struggled to ensure oil companies pay up and clean up once they’ve stopped pumping oil, a challenge that could only increase as decades-old infrastructure off the nation’s coastlines faces retirement. If not maintained, old platforms and their wells can leak toxins and degrade ecosystems, becoming serious environmental hazards.”

STATE UPDATES

North Dakota Monitor: Governor urges lawmakers to budget for court battles over federal regulations
MARY STEURER, 4/10/24

“Gov. Doug Burgum told a group of lawmakers Wednesday to spare no expense in fighting federal regulations that affect North Dakota’s energy industry,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “…Analysis by the EPA found the rule will have “relatively minor impacts” on the energy industry, according to a fact sheet on the federal agency’s website. Yet in testimony before the Energy Development and Transmission Committee, Burgum called the rules and other federal regulations cumbersome, illogical and an “existential threat” to North Dakota’s energy and agriculture industries. The governor said he fears this trend will only continue if Biden is reelected — and that the Legislature should be ready to finance a spate of new lawsuits against the federal government in hopes the courts will roll the regulations back… “Fending off the rules will mean giving the Attorney General’s Office more money to hire special assistant AGs, he continued… “Burgum said the Legislature set aside at least $15 million in the 2023-25 state budget for lawsuits challenging federal regulations. Of that, $6 million went to the Industrial Commission — $3 million for lignite lawsuits, and the other $3 million for oil and gas litigation, he said.”

Carlsbad Current-Argus: 3,000 acres excluded from Permian Basin lease sale to protect local natural resources
Adrian Hedden, 4/10/24

“Thousands of acres of public land in southeast New Mexico were dropped from an oil and gas lease auction scheduled in June after the lands were found to be in sensitive geological areas near two national parks,” the Carlsbad Current-Argus reports. “A federal agency found extraction in those areas could lead to contamination of the region’s water table and collapse cave systems nearby. The Bureau of Land Management recently published a final notice for its second quarter lease sale planned for June 20, removing seven parcels in the Carlsbad area and cutting the sale by 3,152 acres… “The parcels were deferred after the BLM found they were in areas known for karstic landforms. Karst is a landscape formed by dissolved bedrock, mostly limestone and gypsum and other soluble rocks. That rock is eaten away by slightly acidic water, fueled by carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and in the soil when rain falls to the ground, creating a weak carbonic acid… “If entered by water, contaminants could leach into the local water table and impact drinking water quality throughout the region. Surface disturbance could cause the landforms to collapse, impeding their ability to filter ground water needed by local communities. Karst was a key reason the lands were deferred, according to BLM records. The remaining lands were offered on the condition that no surface disturbance occur within 200 meters of known cave entrances or significant karst features… “Emily Wolf with the National Parks Conservation Association told the Argus  the deferral was a step toward better conservation of sensitive natural resources amid growing oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin.”

Reuters: Cenovus Energy to invest $1.5 billion in Ohio refineries over next 5 years
4/11/24

“Cenovus Energy on Thursday said it plans to invest $1.5 billion in its Ohio refineries over the coming five years, including Lima and Oregon,” Reuters reports. “The investment in Ohio refineries include maintenance, reliability measures and market access projects, the company said. Cenovus produces oil and natural gas with locations in Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region and is the largest refiner in the state of Ohio where it employs almost 1,200.”

Orlando Sentinel: BP oil spill money to pay for $98.5M high-tech manufacturing center built by FSU
RYAN DAILEY, 4/11/24

“Florida State University is in line to receive up to nearly $98.5 million to construct aerospace and advanced manufacturing facilities in Panama City, under a contract approved Wednesday by the Triumph Gulf Coast Board of Directors,” the Orlando Sentinel reports. “…The seven-member board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a contract to pay for the project through a grant award agreement of up to $98.453,615. The money is part of the funds that came to the state through a settlement with BP oil company over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s intended to help Panhandle counties impacted by the oil spill. The contract said that InSPIRE would be designed to serve as FSU’s “applied research and workforce development arm” with a “mission of accelerating technology innovation, cultivating corporate investment, nurturing the growth of new industries, and fostering high- skill, high-wage employment opportunities” in the eight counties most affected by the BP oil spill.”

EXTRACTION

Agora Industry: Low-carbon technologies for the global steel transformation
4/11/24

“The steel sector’s transformation is speeding up: COP28 saw pledges to procure low-CO2 steel, fresh steps to harmonise measuring the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions and the launch of the Climate Club, aimed at fostering international cooperation to accelerate industrial decarbonisation,” according to Agora Industry. “…While the current primary steelmaking route is hugely CO2 intensive and coal dependent, our study shows that near-zero CO2 technologies, in particular those based on the direct reduction of iron, can be deployed this decade, offering flexible pathways and new business cases for economies at different stages of industrial transformation. However, these key low-carbon technologies are often more expensive than current production methods. This is especially the case in the early stages of the transition. Targeted support and increased international cooperation are needed to build on the current momentum and enable an accelerated transformation of the global steel sector… “Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is unlikely to save the coal-based BF-BOF route. Retrofitting ­BF-BOF plants with CCS is a risky strategy: it leaves high residual emissions, requires significant CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, needs to take high upstream methane emissions from coal mines into account and will become less and less commercially attractive as hydrogen costs decline and CO2 prices rise. The higher cost of low-CO2 steelmaking requires targeted regulatory support and international cooperation to accelerate large-scale deployment of low-CO2 steelmaking. Measures need to address the entire steelmaking value chain, including support for technological options and the development of a global market for green products.”

OPINION

The Hill: Good policy made the US a carbon-removal leader. Will it last?
Daniel Sierra is compliance director at Puro.earth, a crediting platform for engineered carbon removal, 4/11/24

“The Biden administration and Congress have wisely moved to encourage engineered carbon removal in the U.S. Demand for technologies that take carbon out of the atmosphere and store it away is rapidly growing — the market grew by 1,400 percent between 2022 and 2023 — and clever policy design directed a lot of this expansion into the U.S.,” Daniel Sierra writes for The Hill. “…However, other countries are not far behind, and the race to lead the global carbon removals market is only just beginning. The suite of technologies that remove carbon from the air and store it on or under the ground — including biochar, carbonated materials bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and direct air carbon capture and storage — have gone from a niche to a necessary piece of the climate change solutions puzzle… “The World Resources Institute estimates that up to 10 gigatons of carbon must be removed from the atmosphere each year by 2050 to reach the targets outlined in the Paris Agreement. That’s as about as much carbon dioxide as the entire U.S. emitted in 2022. But only 5 million tons of carbon has been removed by engineered removal technologies to date, meaning that the engineered carbon removal market has an enormous playfield into which it must expand… “A carbon removals market that delivers gigaton-scale removals could be worth up to $1.2 trillion by 2050, supporting a range of players, including investors, suppliers, buyers, traders, and other intermediaries, and creating jobs and new skillsets… “But Canada, Brazil and other countries are close behind the U.S. in the engineered carbon removal supply and demand. To keep the U.S. among the leaders in a market that must grow alongside other climate solutions, policymakers should continue leveraging the buying power of the U.S. business community, the ingenuity of its scientists, and the scalable potential for carbon removals help achieve a climate safe future for everyone.”

Edmonton Journal: Canada’s choice: Support our energy industry or keep falling behind
Lisa Baiton is the president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, 4/11/24

“As a Canadian, I’m worried,” Lisa Baiton writes for the Edmonton Journal. “…It should be distressing to all Canadians that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is projecting Canada to be the worst-performing economy — dead last — out of all 38 advanced countries over the next 40 years. All political leaders should be sweating bullets that over the past seven years, Canada’s investment growth rate has ranked 44th out of the 47 countries tracked by the OECD. The Bank of Canada has warned that weak productivity and low business investment is a national emergency… “One of Canada’s greatest competitive advantages in the global economy is our energy. Canada has a world-class resources base… “We have a growing market for our products and the energy industry is a builder of the types of projects that can power an entire economy. The soon-to-be-operational expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline has employed thousands of Canadians, including over 3,000 Indigenous workers, and spent billions of dollars within our borders… “The $40-billion LNG Canada natural gas export facility represents the largest private investment in Canadian history… “We have three more LNG export facilities in various stages. In addition, LNG Canada is considering an expansion that would double its export capacity. In Alberta alone, there are 25 carbon capture projects under consideration. But in the current environment, these projects are not a given. For them to happen, we need to tackle the fundamental policy barriers that are driving investment away. The evidence shows we need to urgently reset our regulatory framework to make Canada competitive again for global investment capital… “Canada has a choice. Do we continue down this path of driving away the very investment we need to rebuild our flagging economy? Or do we change course and start supporting our largest industries and reclaim our place as one of the world’s most prosperous countries?”

National Observer: Oilsands disinformation is worse than you think
Chris Russill is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Communication and an academic director at Re.Climate, a centre for climate communication and public engagement, both housed at Carleton University in Ottawa; Patrick McCurdy (PhD) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Ottawa; Jenny Kliever is a PhD student in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University 4/12/24

“We need to get to the bottom of fossil fuel greenwashing people encounter when conducting searches on Google,” Chris Russill, Patrick McCurdy and Jenny Kliever write for the National Observer. “…For these Google Searches, the initial results were often from oilsands behemoth Pathways Alliance, an organization of six companies accounting for 95 per cent of production in a sector whose carbon emissions have spiked immensely over the last two decades. This is sponsored content, paid for by an organization already under investigation for greenwashing, to put the oilsands perspective at the forefront of climate debates. The content consists of digital advertisements that claim oilsands companies are supporting climate action, reducing carbon emissions and working towards net zero by 2050. The top search results on Google are the ones people use to form opinions on things like carbon taxes, energy options or anything, really. These are among the hundreds of search keywords purchased by Pathways Alliance to direct those curious about climate change to oilsands content — schoolchildren doing their homework, cash-strapped farmers trying to understand carbon taxes or voters interested in Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. On these and other climate subjects, but especially carbon taxes and net zero, oilsands companies paid Google so you hear from them first… “These ads are part of a wider PR campaign that made 1.5 billion impressions for Pathways Alliance in 2023 (an impression is a person’s exposure to promotional content). That’s a lot in a country of less than 40 million people. And these ad impressions are part of a still broader influence campaign by Pathways Alliance. Our research identified numerous indicators of greenwashing in Pathways Alliance’s public-facing communications, including promotion of its net-zero plan… “The role of Google in generating content, tracking users and optimizing influence efforts with AI tools seems completely missing from current discussions… “The promises of fossil fuel companies to climate action should be supported by substantiation that is visible to all, not hidden behind non-disclosure agreements, especially when tens — if not hundreds — of billions of dollars in government assistance is requested for net-zero plans lacking basic credibility… “Google’s claims to confront climate change head-on are meaningless if it generates and displays misleading claims to climate action for oil companies… “Unfortunately, Pathways Alliance has responded to these concerns with still more ads — now buying Google Searches of “pathways alliance greenwashing.”