EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 4/19/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• Bismarck Tribune: Burleigh raises fee for hazardous liquids pipeline permit; commissioners seek delay in state Summit decision

• KMEG: Along the Route: Pipeline safety at forefront of concerns for landowners

• Wayne Daily News: Commissioners Hear From Bold Nebraska On Carbon Pipeline Risks

• WHO: Iowa landowners say Republican leaders are ignoring them in eminent domain fight

• Illinois Newsroom: 217 Today: Farmers, environmentalists oppose carbon dioxide pipeline proposals

• Pipeline Fighters Hub: Webinar: Preemption, County Authority, and CO2 Pipeline Ordinances in South Dakota [VIDEO]

• Clay Center Dispatch: Oil spill will continue to have negative impacts

• Reuters: Chemours, TC Energy to partner on clean hydrogen facilities

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Politico: Manchin to re-introduce permitting bill as Senate committees tee up hearings

• Press release: Manchin Announces Permitting Reform Work Period to Find Path Forward and Ensure American Energy Security

• E&E News: House Republicans target climate law in debt limit bid

• Law360: High Court Ruling Puts Fresh Scrutiny On FERC Enforcement

• OilPrice.com: EPA May Tighten Pollution Regulations For Oil And Gas Facilities

STATE UPDATES

• Alaska Public Media: ExxonMobil says it plans ‘relatively limited’ Arctic investment

• DemocracyNow: New Jersey Climate Activists Hold Peaceful Protest Against Fracked Gas Project

• Mlive.com: Suspected oil puddles, sheen prompt visitor warnings at parks along Grand River

EXTRACTION

• Reuters: Canada’s Suncor releases 5,900 cubic metres of water from oil sands site

CLIMATE FINANCE

• The Hill: Republicans rip SEC chief for crypto lawsuits, climate rules

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Enbridge: Farm to Fork, From County to County, in Pennsylvania

• Enbridge: Dignity, control and a cupboard no longer bare

OPINION

• Times Citizen: Rohlfsen: Pipeline people are lying

• OilPrice.com: How Big Oil Has Adapted To A New Energy Reality
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Bismarck Tribune: Burleigh raises fee for hazardous liquids pipeline permit; commissioners seek delay in state Summit decision
BLAKE NICHOLSON, 4/18/23

“Burleigh County commissioners have sharply increased the fee developers of hazardous liquid pipelines will have to pay to get a special county permit,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “They’ve also finalized a decision to ask state regulators to hold off on approving the North Dakota route of Summit Carbon Solutions’ planned carbon dioxide pipeline, which would pass through northern Burleigh. The decisions are the latest to unfold after county residents north of Bismarck earlier this year expressed safety concerns with the route of the planned Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, as well as worries that it’s too close to developing north Bismarck… “The commission in early March approved a county safety ordinance that requires companies building hazardous liquid pipelines to submit emergency plans to local officials. Commissioners late last month adopted new zoning regulations that require companies building pipelines for hazardous liquids to obtain a special county permit and follow certain rules… “Commissioners on Monday night also voted unanimously to send the state Public Service Commission a letter asking the three-member panel of regulators to hold off on deciding on a permit for Summit’s CO2 pipeline until updated federal rules for such projects are in place… “Bitner said the commission wants the PSC to reject the pipeline “in its current location.” “We’re hearing nothing by opposition to that location,” he said. “I think that there may well be some places in Burleigh County where the citizens would be OK with that on their land, but not in this highly developed area close to the city of Bismarck.”

KMEG: Along the Route: Pipeline safety at forefront of concerns for landowners
Katie Copple, 4/18/23

“On February 22nd, 2020 outside a small Mississippi village, a 24-inch pressurized liquid carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide pipeline ruptured. More than 300 people were evacuated from Satartia and surrounding communities. 46 were hospitalized with carbon dioxide poisoning,” KMEG reports. “…This rupture has been a focal point for those opposing two liquid carbon-capture pipelines setting their sights on the midwest… “We’ve had a meeting with a first responder from the Satartia explosion with one of the victims that he found unconscious in the car after his rural 4-wheeler died because it was gas,” Jodie Wilson, who is representing her mother in the fight against two carbon-capture pipelines, told KMEG. “You know, that’s where we don’t believe that they’re going to be doing anything for the safety.” “Or the other thing is about emergency response,” David Hoferer told KMEG. “That’s after a disaster has happened. So how many people are now unconscious? How many need to be rushed to the hospital? And you know, God forbid anyone dies.” “And a hazmat team has to come in and the nearest hazmat team is over two hours away,” Vicki Hulse told KMEG. She’s taking Navigator CO2 to court over her property rights. “What’s going to survive in two hours?” The response to the Satartia rupture was highly flawed. A report by PHMSA, the governmental pipeline oversight agency says first responders around Satartia were not informed of the rupture by the pipeline company, Denbury Gulf Coast Pipelines LLC, or the safety risk with a CO2 pipeline. That left them essentially guessing on how to properly respond to the rupture… “But we will properly train and supply various pieces of equipment that they may need to assist with an issue that may come up from our infrastructure project,” Lee Blank, the CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions, told KMEG about training emergency personnel, “even though the percentage or the odds of that are fairly small.” 

Wayne Daily News: Commissioners Hear From Bold Nebraska On Carbon Pipeline Risks
Aaron Scheffler, 4/18/23

“With the majority of the crowd attending the Wayne County Board of Commissioners being landowners or have interest in the carbon pipelines, a good portion of Tuesday’s meeting was informational,” the Wayne Daily News reports. “From the Wayne County Courthouse courtroom, Jane Kleeb with BOLD Nebraska and the Nebraska Easement Action Team (NEAT), did most of the talking. Kleeb shared concerns about the carbon pipelines and provided information to the board about what the county officials can do. With both Navigator Heartland Greenway and Summit Carbon Solutions being two of the carbon pipelines going through land acquisitions with Wayne County landowners, BOLD Nebraska is looking to protect the landowners against eminent domain. Kleeb mentioned that county officials could require pipeline companies provide setback information, their construction process, road haul agreements, trash removal, pipeline depth emergency response and deal with abandonment of the carbon pipelines. Shelli Meyer with the group also shared her concerns for her fellow landowner neighbors about stress levels and anxiety. The group wanted the commissioners to at least not sign an agreement with the pipeline companies until the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) come out with regulations. BOLD Nebraska and the Nebraska Easement Action Team will plan on filling their lawsuits once eminent domain is used.”

WHO: Iowa landowners say Republican leaders are ignoring them in eminent domain fight
Zach Fisher, 4/18/23

“Residents in Wright County wonder what happened to House File 565 after a second year Iowa Senate Republicans failed to take up the legislation on the chamber floor,” WHO reports. “Well it appears that the senate especially at the statehouse and our beloved governor has turned their heads,” said Robert Ritter, a Wright County Property Owner. “…If you don’t grease the wheels with a little money you don’t get to talk to people.” “I am also disappointed in the governor in the fact that she hasn’t said to the Senate, ‘hey this needs to be brought to the floor, you have been elected to a position to represent the people so let’s do our job’,” said Dean Kluss, Wright County District 2 Supervisor, (R). The bill failed to see a subcommittee when the chair, Iowa State Senator Mike Bousselot (R), from Ankeny said it was too late in the second funnel to advance it, with all the differing opinions.. “Some property owners think 90% voluntary easements before the use of eminent domain is a start. But they also want property owner’s rights to be respected and they believe that the Summit Carbon Solutions go too far with a permanent easement; and the ability to have access to the owner’s land whenever the company needs to get to the pipeline.”

Illinois Newsroom: 217 Today: Farmers, environmentalists oppose carbon dioxide pipeline proposals
Owen Henderson and Sydney Wood, 4/18/23

“In today’s deep dive, we’ll hear how proposals to capture and store carbon dioxide underground in the Midwest have created some unusual alliances between farmers and environmentalists,” Illinois Newsroom reports.

Pipeline Fighters Hub: Webinar: Preemption, County Authority, and CO2 Pipeline Ordinances in South Dakota [VIDEO]
4/18/23

“Attorney Paul Blackburn with Bold Alliance speaks on the topic of “preemption” — when a higher-level authority’s power to enact laws supersedes a lower-level’s authority — in this instance as it relates to states and counties putting protections in place for their communities when faced with proposed large industrial projects like carbon dioxide pipelines,” according to the Pipeline Fighters Hub. “Counties are empowered to enact protections against these risky projects, despite claims to the contrary and threats of lawsuits from developers.”

Clay Center Dispatch: Oil spill will continue to have negative impacts
Elby Adamson, 4/18/23

“It is likely the oil spill on Dec. 7, 2022 from a failed pipe in TC Energy’s Keystone Pipeline in Washington County will continue to have negative impacts on the local environment for some time to come,” the Clay Center Dispatch reports. “This includes damage to fish and wildlife. Contacted for information about the situation with wildlife, TC Energy told the Dispatch on March 29, “We have a third-party wildlife rehabilitation organization on-site that has been approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). That organization works to clean, care for, and rehabilitate captured wildlife in conjunction with a licensed veterinarian and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) until the animals can be released back into their habitat in a safe and suitable location…”

Reuters: Chemours, TC Energy to partner on clean hydrogen facilities
4/19/23

“Chemical maker Chemours Co said on Wednesday it has partnered with TC Energy Corp to develop two clean hydrogen production facilities in West Virginia,” Reuters reports. “Clean hydrogen, made using renewable energy to power electrolyzers to convert water, is being backed by many governments for vehicles and energy plants, but it is currently too expensive for widespread use… “The agreement covers the companies’ interest in developing, constructing and operating clean hydrogen production facilities and associated infrastructure.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Politico: Manchin to re-introduce permitting bill as Senate committees tee up hearings
JOSH SIEGEL, 4/18/23

“Senate committee leaders confirmed Tuesday that they plan to hold hearings soon to focusing on overhauling the federal permitting process for energy and infrastructure projects in an effort to reach a deal on the thorny policy issue this year,” Politico reports. “Senate Energy Committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event he plans to re-introduce his permitting legislation that failed to pass late last year, and to hold hearings to discuss ways to “make it better.” Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), the chair and top Republican of the Environment Public Works Committee, respectively, said at the same event that they are planning to hold a pair of permitting hearings, starting with one on April 26… “House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is pushing Democrats to ease permitting rules as part of a series of policy changes Republicans are seeking in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, which must be reached this summer for the federal government to continue paying its bills. But the senators at the Chamber event said they prefer for a permitting bill to go through the “regular order” committee process, and suggested it would take time to flesh out disagreements among Democrats and Republicans on what types of projects to prioritize in changing permitting rules… “I do think it’s possible to have permitting reform on there [the debt ceiling],” Capito told Politico. “But I think even more possible is to get the policy right, work this through committee, and then you get the vehicle [to pass it].”

Press release: Manchin Announces Permitting Reform Work Period to Find Path Forward and Ensure American Energy Security
4/18/23

“Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced his committee agenda for the April-May work period. Each hearing will share a common focus on the urgent need for comprehensive energy permitting reform, energy security and fiscal responsibility. “Our permitting process is broken, and although political agendas got in the way of passing comprehensive reform last Congress, I have not stopped fighting for changes that that will enable us to get American produced energy to the people that need it, drive down energy costs, support our allies and help us achieve energy security. These upcoming hearings are vital to understanding how we can achieve bipartisan consensus that makes it possible for America to build again and maintain our status as a global energy leader. Americans cannot wait any longer, and neither can I,” said Chairman Manchin.

E&E News: House Republicans target climate law in debt limit bid
Emma Dumain, Jeremy Dillon, 4/19/23

“House Republicans are considering repealing parts of Democrats’ signature climate law — and replacing it with parts of their own — in their opening bid in talks to raise the debt ceiling,” E&E News reports. “Substituting elements of the Inflation Reduction Act with the House GOP’s energy package, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called “dead on arrival” in his chamber, captures the party’s current negotiating strategy: throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. “We need as much leverage as possible because we know it will get watered down in the Senate,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told E&E. “If you have more leverage on the front end, that will hopefully get us a better outcome on the back end.” This gambit, however, carries some serious risks as President Joe Biden likely has a mid-June deadline to sign legislation to extend the nation’s borrowing authority or trigger economic catastrophe… “But on Tuesday afternoon, conservative hardliners like House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) — both of whom initially opposed McCarthy’s bid for the Speaker’s gavel and now enjoy significant influence — were making clear that scrapping the Inflation Reduction Act’s green tax incentives was necessary to win their votes, and leadership would have to comply.” “…Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), said Tuesday that it was important not to dismiss H.R. 1 out of hand, adding there were portions of it worth discussing. He added, however, that he preferred to deal with the debt ceiling and permitting separately. Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) — the chair and ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee who have been meeting to discuss potential opportunities for cooperation on permitting overhaul legislation — were also lukewarm on the concept Tuesday. “Putting all of H.R. 1 on there is probably a bite of the apple just a little bit too big,” Capito said at an event on permitting reform hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which she attended with Manchin and Carper. “But if we can narrow down to meaningful permitting reform, … I don’t think exclusively that would be the only thing that would push the debt limit bill over, but I do think it’s possible to have permitting reform on there.”

Law360: High Court Ruling Puts Fresh Scrutiny On FERC Enforcement
Keith Goldberg, 4/18/23

“A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has opened the door for constitutional challenges to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforcement cases, though attorneys say broader fights over the agency’s use of in-house judges remain a long way off,” Law360 reports.

OilPrice.com: EPA May Tighten Pollution Regulations For Oil And Gas Facilities
Julianne Geiger, 4/18/23

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would tighten up pollution regulations for oil and gas facilities and equipment after being sued by environmental groups,” OilPrice.com reports. “The EPA agreed this week by way of a consent decree to take another look at its emissions rules relating to oil and gas storage, production, and transmission facilities. The Sierra Club, California Communities Against Toxic, and the Coalition for a Safe Environment filed a lawsuit last spring alleging that the EPA violated Section 304(a) of the Clean Air Act by failing to review its rules every 8 years, but had not taken any review since 2012. The lawsuit also alleges that the 2012 rules failed to cover all of the oil and gas operations and equipment that could emit pollutants, including storage tanks or oil wells. The plaintiffs asked the court to force the EPA to consider requiring new leak monitoring technologies and processes, as well as what they considered to be loopholes that don’t hold oil and gas companies responsible when emissions violations stem from equipment malfunctions… “Republican Environment and Public Works Committee, in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, provided consequences and analyses of increased oil and natural gas emissions regulations, including reduced oil and natural gas production and increased costs for consumers.”

STATE UPDATES

Alaska Public Media: ExxonMobil says it plans ‘relatively limited’ Arctic investment
Liz Ruskin, 4/17/23

“ExxonMobil told shareholders last week the company doesn’t expect to expand its activities in the Arctic,” Alaska Public Media reports. “Our current investment plans do not include exploration activity within the (global Arctic) region, and we plan relatively limited investment to sustain our existing interests in the region,” it said in an April 13 proxy statement. Exxon has been a major player in Alaska since the dawn of the state’s oil industry… “Environmental groups trumpeted the news as a sign that next year’s lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be a bust. “I think it shows that oil companies are losing interest in the Arctic and recognizing that it’s a bad investment and it’s bad business,” Tim Woody, a spokesman for The Wilderness Society in Alaska, told APM… “Kara Moriarty, president of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, told APM Exxon’s statement does not indicate any change in the company’s strategy for the region. “And it does not say that they have no interest, because if they had no interest, then their assets would be up for sale,” she told APM.

DemocracyNow: New Jersey Climate Activists Hold Peaceful Protest Against Fracked Gas Project
4/18/23

“In New Jersey, climate activists held a nonviolent civil disobedience protest Monday at the construction site of a fracked gas expansion project,” DemocracyNow reports. “If completed, the East 300 Upgrade Project would expand the flow of methane through Kinder Morgan’s aging Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Among those detained by police at Monday’s protest was Paula Rogovin, a longtime environmentalist and peace activist, who called on New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy to cancel the project. Paula Rogovin: “Governor Murphy, you promised! You promised environmental justice! You promised clear air, clean water. And what do you do? You allow this lousy compressor station to be built. You allow pipelines.”

Mlive.com: Suspected oil puddles, sheen prompt visitor warnings at parks along Grand River
Michael Kransz, 4/18/23

“Officials are continuing to advise visitors to avoid areas of two riverside parks in Kent and Ottawa counties after suspected oil puddles and sheens have been found,” Mlive.com reports. “Over the past week, suspected oil puddles and sheens were found around an inland lake at Bend Area park, located at 9500 12th Ave. in Jenison, and, more recently, on one of the ponds at Millenium Park, located at 1415 Maynard Ave. SW in Walker. Bend Area park is much more impacted, with several, large puddles of suspected crude oil around the lake and nearby wooded areas, David Wierzbicki, incident management specialist with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), told Mlive. As crews vacuum, dig and rake up the suspected oil, the northern portion of the park remains off-limits until the clean-up has concluded, Ottawa County parks officials said Monday, April 17. The clean-up is expected to take several weeks. That work began April 13 — three days after a kayaker spotted suspected oil in the water and shoreline of the lake… “While it’s too soon to locate a source, some potential culprits include nearby, defunct oil and brine wells as well as the nearby, defunct Butterworth Landfill, he told Mlive… “At this time, it appears the release of suspected crude oil has stopped and there are no reports of the Grand River being impacted, he told Mlive.

EXTRACTION

Reuters: Canada’s Suncor releases 5,900 cubic metres of water from oil sands site
Nia Williams, 4/18/23

“Canada’s Suncor Energy has reported the release of 5,900 cubic metres (208,400 cubic feet) of water with more than twice the approved level of suspended solids from a sedimentation pond at its Fort Hills oil sands project in northern Alberta,” Reuters reports. “The release on April 16 was reported to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) because the total suspended solids, in this case mud, in the water exceeded the approved limits, Suncor said… “Oil sands companies are under scrutiny for how they manage water on their sites, after Imperial Oil said in February that tailings ponds at its Kearl site had been seeping for months and another spill released 5,300 cubic metres of process water in late January… “The AER told Reuters Suncor is working to understand why the release into the Athabasca exceeded the approved regulatory limit for total suspended solids, and has taken water quality samples for analysis. “Suncor have contacted indigenous communities in the area and we have followed-up with our own communication,” the AER told Reuters.

CLIMATE FINANCE

The Hill: Republicans rip SEC chief for crypto lawsuits, climate rules
KARL EVERS-HILLSTROM, 4/18/23

“Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler defended his aggressive regulatory agenda from a wave of Republican attacks during Tuesday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing,” The Hill reports. “…GOP lawmakers on the panel took aim at Gensler’s proposed market overhauls, including regulations to tighten rules for crypto firms and mandate disclosure of public companies’ climate change risk… “Republicans are largely allied with corporate America in their push to delay, modify or scrap SEC proposals that they say would undermine U.S. competitiveness… “The National Association of Manufacturers sent a letter to committee members Tuesday criticizing the climate disclosure rule, arguing that it would “substantially increase compliance costs and legal risks for public companies.”  The lobbying group called on the SEC to ax a provision that would place new reporting burdens on private businesses that are part of a public company’s supply chain… “We’ve gotten 15,000 comments. On the investors’ side, it’s almost uniformly supportive of mandating climate risk disclosures,” Gensler told lawmakers. 

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Enbridge: Farm to Fork, From County to County, in Pennsylvania
4/18/23

“One in nine central Pennsylvanians face hunger every day,” according to Enbridge. “…The Food Bank works to provide healthy food through an extensive network of partners across 27 counties and enlists the help of more than 16,000 volunteers to serve more than 150,000 people each month who might otherwise go hungry… “Enbridge provided financial support to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in 2021 and 2022 through our Fueling Futures grants, which support initiatives that contribute to a sustainable future by helping to improve, grow and nurture the environment. Each donation of $5,000 has been directed toward the Food Bank’s general operations. In addition to funding, Enbridge employees participated in a volunteer day during Hunger Action Month last September to pack 360 food boxes for seniors in need.”

Enbridge: Dignity, control and a cupboard no longer bare
4/18/23

“Thanks to inquiring minds, 34,000 fewer young bellies were impacted by empty cupboards and empty stomachs in 2022,” according to Enbridge. “…iCAN partners with 25 frontline social service agencies to address food insecurity in Calgary, and provide support to households with children… “In 2022, Enbridge made a $15,000 Fueling Futures donation to I Can for Kids Foundation as part of our commitment to building vibrant and sustainable communities near our operations. The funding purchased grocery gift cards for families, supporting approximately 750 kids.”

OPINION

Times Citizen: Rohlfsen: Pipeline people are lying
Greg Rohlfsen, 4/19/23

“So, there’s a lot of discussion about the CO2 pipelines, but there’s something that’s not being discussed,” Greg Rohlfsen writes for the Times Citizen. “They say they are going to store it. I call that a lie. Oil fields have drilled the easy oil. The rest is trapped in rocks. But they found out that if you inject liquified CO2 into the rocks, it ejects the oil, allowing the drills to keep drilling. These pipeline people are lying. It’s a money grab. There’s already CO2 pipelines going to the oil fields in Canada. It’s just rich people trying to get richer. You’re being sold a lie.”

OilPrice.com: How Big Oil Has Adapted To A New Energy Reality
Irina Slav, 4/17/23

“The last decade or so has been tumultuous for the oil industry. It’s an industry underpinning every world economy, except perhaps isolated communities in the Amazon jungle, yet its existence has been called into question repeatedly and persistently,” Irina Slav writes for OilPrice.com. “After enjoying many decades of government support because of the essential nature of the products it extracts from the ground, now the oil and gas industry is finding itself under fire from those same governments that used to support it. It’s the target of activist pressure the likes of which the world has not seen before. It has encountered a whole new—and very dangerous—kind of activism: investor activism. And financial regulators are breathing down businesses’ necks on climate disclosures. What’s an industry to do?… “From a digital transformation to streamlined costs and improved efficiencies across operations, to diversification into things like low-carbon energy generation and carbon capture, the industry has adapted… “That same Exxon is now staking a major claim on carbon capture. Indeed, the company believes its low-carbon business department, where carbon capture features heavily, could in the future outperform its traditional business of extracting and refining oil and gas… “Speaking of forcing, litigation—and the threat of litigation—has become a major motivator for oil and gas companies to “clean up their act”… “Activists are unhappy with such developments. Yet these developments are as unavoidable as the outflow of investor money from so-called sustainable funds that only invest in low-carbon companies. The reason they are unavoidable is the simple truth stated earlier: the world needs oil and gas. In fact, the world needs energy, and few people actually care where this energy comes from… “With enough anti-oil and gas activity from governments and activists, supply may shrink just enough to make for more record profit years.”