EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 5/9/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• Chicago Sun Times: ‘Carbon-capture’ pipeline plans across central Illinois worry land owners

• KCUR: Pipelines that would store CO2 beneath Midwest states make some landowners nervous

• Emmons County Record: Pipeline Hearing May 9 in Linton

• Alaska Beacon: State-owned corporation asks for $5.6 million to keep Alaska gas pipeline quest alive

• RBN Energy: The Race To Debottleneck Louisiana Feedgas Routes: Pre-FID Projects

• Marcellus Drilling News: PA AG Indicts 2 Workers for Conspiracy, Fraud re MarkWest Pipeline

• Rigzone: NextEra Partners to Sell Gas Pipeline Assets in Renewables Shift

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Lawmakers look to make progress on debt, energy permitting

• Data for Progress: New Polling on Clean Energy and Permitting Reform

• E&E News: 4 big questions answered about EPA’s power plant rules

• Dominion Post: EPA responds to letter from WVMA and other groups about foot dragging on state oversight of carbon capture project permit applications

STATE UPDATES

• DeSmog: EPA Weighs Superfund Status for Ohio Facility Handling Radioactive Oilfield Waste

EXTRACTION

• Bloomberg: Wildfires Rage Across Canada’s Gas Heartland, Shutting Output

• Petroleum Economist: Letter from Canada: Oil sands return to domestic ownership

• Bloomberg: Phasing Out Fossil Fuels Hasn’t Worked. Europe Has a New Idea for COP28

• Guardian: Italian oil firm Eni faces lawsuit alleging early knowledge of climate crisis

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Reuters: ISS advises Shell shareholders to vote against climate activist resolution

• Canary Media: The investment boom in ​‘renewable natural gas’ is sparking debate

OPINION

• Northern Express: SAVING THE GREAT LAKES

• Bill McKibben: Weather Permitting: A few thoughts about ‘reform.’

• Resource World: Carbon Capture efforts underway in Canada could open doors to investment in oil and gas, critical minerals and hydrogen sectors

• Bloomberg: Oil Companies Give Back the Cash

• South Seattle Emerald: We Must Take Care to Not ‘Greenwash’ Environmental Justice
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Chicago Sun Times: ‘Carbon-capture’ pipeline plans across central Illinois worry land owners
Manny Ramos, 5/6/23

“It was weeks before Christmas in 2021 and bitterly cold when Kathleen Campbell opened a package from an unknown company,” the Chicago Sun Times reports. “The company was called Navigator, who said they were building a pipeline, and they were asking us for an easement, but that, if we refused, they would condemn our property and ask for eminent domain,” Campbell, 71, a central Illinois resident who lives in Glenarm, told the Sun Times. “I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and started panicking. I didn’t even know they could do that.” “…After I got over my panic, I started reading about the project and other projects like this,” Campbell, who’s now part of a coalition working to stop the pipeline, told the Sun Times. “I am not an activist by nature. But I became an accidental activist, and we are working to be protected from this kind of project.” “…But environmental groups including the Sierra Club Illinois are skeptical it can deliver on its promises.  “We are poised to be a ground-zero state for this carbon capture, utilization and storage industrial process, and we don’t have the adequate protections in place,” Christine Nannicelli, Sierra Club Illinois’ Beyond Coal campaign representative, told the Sun Times. “There are a lot of question marks, and we have an enormous amount of skepticism about how effective it will be for a climate solution.” “…For Campbell, a key concern is the threat of corporations coming in and seizing part of her property through eminent domain — a process used to take over private land for public use. “I find it terrifying that anyone can come and just take part of your property,” she told the Sun Times. “Like what kind of property rights do we have here? This can leave a lot of people in trouble.” “…Ariel Hampton, legal and governmental affairs manager for the Illinois Environmental Council, told the Sun Times this practice can allow companies to bully property owners into agreeing to their terms… “Environmental advocacy groups including the Illinois Environmental Council and Sierra Club Illinois want legislators to pass a law allowing for tougher regulations on companies building pipelines and to prevent those companies from using eminent domain authority.”

KCUR: Pipelines that would store CO2 beneath Midwest states make some landowners nervous
Chandler Johnson, 5/8/23

“Karen Brocklesby describes herself as a farm wife and a mother — but over the past several months, she’s also become somewhat of an activist,” KCUR reports. “Brocklesby lives in Christian County, Illinois. She’s one of many rural landowners there fighting to keep a company called Navigator Ventures LLC from injecting carbon dioxide beneath her farmland. “This potential for damaging the water for the future – to me, it just is foolishness. Especially in areas that are good farming areas,” Brockelsby told KCUR. Brockelsby has a list of concerns about carbon sequestration. But chief among them is the worry that sequestered carbon could contaminate the area’s water supply. “It would be a danger to both our agriculture production and, even more importantly, to the drinking water for everybody who lives in this area,” she told KCUR. Brocklesby isn’t alone. Christian County is awash in signs and billboards urging residents to protect the aquifer from pipeline projects… “Landowners like Brockelsby have been organizing for months to stop companies from acquiring the land rights they need to store carbon. “I would like to slow them down to the point where they give up on Illinois entirely,” Brockelsby told KCUR… “But landowners there have questions, and many are concerned about a North Dakota law that could compel them to sell pore space beneath their land to pipeline companies. State Sen. Jeff Magrum told KCUR landowners should have the right not to sell, especially as they grapple with worries over safety.”

Emmons County Record: Pipeline Hearing May 9 in Linton
Kelli Ameling, 5/3/23

“The last of four North Dakota Public Service Commission hearings regarding the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline will be held in Linton. The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 9 at the Emmons County Courthouse Auditorium and will focus on “portions of the project in Emmons, Logan and McIntosh counties,” according to the legal notice published by the Public Service.”

Alaska Beacon: State-owned corporation asks for $5.6 million to keep Alaska gas pipeline quest alive
JAMES BROOKS, 5/5/23

“Alaska’s quest to build a gas pipeline from the North Slope to its southern shore needs additional cash from the state treasury, the president of the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. said this week,” the Alaska Beacon reports. “In a pair of hearings at the state Capitol, corporation President Frank Richards asked state lawmakers for $3.1 million in funding. Without the money, he said, the corporation will shut down. “If the budget does not include this, then yes, we will move out of their offices and we will be laying off our people and putting our projects in boxes,” Richards told the House Finance Committee… “Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, said on Friday that the corporation will get its money, and there are no plans to defund the agency. Since its inception in fiscal year 2014, the AKLNG fund — short for Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas, and the usual source of operating money for the corporation — has received $242.8 million from the state, Alexei Painter, director of the Legislative Finance Division, a nonpartisan office that analyzes the state budget, told the Beacon… “In addition to the $3.1 million needed to keep the corporation operating for another year, Richards requested another $2.5 million to complete the match requirements. Lawmakers this week said they were inclined to approve that money as well.”

RBN Energy: The Race To Debottleneck Louisiana Feedgas Routes: Pre-FID Projects
Sheetal Nasta, 5/9/23

“New U.S. LNG export projects battling rising labor and equipment costs and/or financing woes have one more thing to worry about that the first wave of projects didn’t: ensuring the feedgas supply will be there when they need it,” RBN Energy reports. “Bottlenecks have already developed for moving natural gas volumes to the Louisiana coast, where the bulk of future export capacity will be sited. As more liquefaction capacity is built out and more export projects are greenlighted, a lot more pipeline capacity will be needed to move feedgas supply from the Haynesville and other supply basins into southern Louisiana and across the last mile to the terminals. In today’s RBN blog, we conclude our roundup of pipeline expansions in the Bayou State that would help ease transportation constraints and balance the market, this time with a look at announced-but-yet-to-be sanctioned greenfield pipeline expansions, along with an update on their associated export projects. As we said in Part 1, there are nearly 30 LNG export projects we track in our LNG Voyager report that are jockeying for a piece of the global gas market. Of those, five are under construction or greenlighted for the northwestern corner of the Gulf Coast from the Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX, area to the Mississippi River. There are more that have their regulatory approvals and are inching closer to securing the necessary financing and/or offtake commitments and are likely to take financial investment decisions (FIDs) in the next year, as well as others that are at various stages of regulatory approvals and financing/offtake agreements but still may get done. The expected onslaught of gas demand from these projects, particularly along the Louisiana coast and the increasingly constrained pipeline system in the region, has raised concerns about worsening supply-demand imbalances as new liquefaction capacity comes online. That, in turn, has driven a slew of pipeline project announcements from LNG developers and pipeline companies to ensure the supply will be there when and where it’s needed.”

Marcellus Drilling News: PA AG Indicts 2 Workers for Conspiracy, Fraud re MarkWest Pipeline
5/8/23

“On Friday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced her office has filed criminal charges against two men for falsifying paperwork and risking catastrophe while working on a natural gas pipeline project in western PA,” Marcellus Drilling News reports. “The AG’s Environmental Crime Section and the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General investigated a case of suspected fraud in falsifying records for portions of a MarkWest Liberty Pipeline to transport NGLs.”

Rigzone: NextEra Partners to Sell Gas Pipeline Assets in Renewables Shift
Jov Onsat, 5/9/23

“NextEra Energy Partners LP announced Monday it will divest its natural gas pipeline stakes as it gives up its non-renewables business to capitalize on the transition to clean energy,” Rigzone reports. “It will sell its assets in South Texas Midstream LLC (STX Midstream), which it co-owns with capital investor EIG Global Energy Partners, this year. Meade Pipeline Co. LLC, the 39.2-percent owner of the Central Penn Line that NextEra Energy bought 2019 for about $1.37 billion, will be sold 2025. Proceeds will be spent on buying out shares to transform NextEra Energy Partners’ capital base into 100 percent renewables… “Upon successfully completing the sales of the natural gas pipeline assets, NextEra Energy Partners is expected to achieve Real Zero carbon emissions in 2025 and become the leading 100% renewables pure-play investment opportunity”, the Florida state-headquartered company said in Monday’s announcement. “The partnership believes these changes could potentially invite a new class of investors looking for a carbon-free, pure-play option to participate in the energy transition”. NextEnergy Partners cited “the low-cost nature of renewables and the significant capital investment needed to decarbonize the U.S. economy”.

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Lawmakers look to make progress on debt, energy permitting
Timothy Cama, Jeremy Dillon, 5/9/23

“President Joe Biden and congressional leaders will huddle Tuesday afternoon on the debt ceiling, a first step to avert a cataclysmic default ahead of a projected June 1 deadline,” E&E News reports. “The permitting overhaul is almost certain to come up. The recent House-passed bill raising the debt limit also contains provisions that would revise laws mandating environmental reviews for energy projects… “Republicans are seeking deep cuts to spending, advancement of an energy package and a rollback of clean energy subsidies… “And over the weekend, 43 GOP senators signed on to a letter organized by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) supporting the House GOP’s push for dramatic spending cuts in exchange for a debt ceiling hike. While Senate Democrats have a slim majority, they would need 60 of the chamber’s 100 votes to move forward on a debt limit increase… “Permitting overhaul could be in play in a debt limit deal; it has also provided an opening for other lawmakers to push their own permitting ideas… “A potential compromise will be the subject of a Senate hearing this week as ENR will meet Thursday. The hearing will feature industry and labor leaders. Manchin, the ENR chair, has pressed Biden administration officials on the need for an overhaul over the past two weeks… “Carper, the EPW chair, announced he intends to release bill text of his own proposal. He said his bill would have three core demands: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, certainty for clean energy developers and meaningful community engagement. White House adviser John Podesta will announce more details about the Biden administration’s viewpoint at an event Wednesday.”

Data for Progress: New Polling on Clean Energy and Permitting Reform
5/3/23

“Following House Republicans’ vote last week to repeal parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, permitting reform is once again a subject of national debate,” according to Data for Progress. “…The choice between quickly building out the clean energy infrastructure of the future and protecting communities and safeguarding bedrock environmental laws is often presented as a binary choice, but recent polling from Climate Power, Earthjustice, and Data for Progress demonstrate that voters understand the need for both. As permitting conversations continue in Congress and the White House, policymakers should look for solutions that quickly build the clean infrastructure of the future while ensuring that communities have a say in the projects impacting their homes and communities.  Climate Power, Earthjustice, and Data for Progress conducted a national survey from April 1-2, 2023, of 1,243 likely voters to assess their preferences surrounding permitting reform. More than three-quarters of voters (76 percent) favor maintaining existing environmental and health protections, regardless of whether they believe permitting reform should prioritize clean energy (52 percent) or fossil fuel energy projects (24 percent). More than three-quarters of voters (78 percent) believe the U.S. should be doing more to strengthen its energy security, while a majority of voters (56 percent) think we should prioritize building out infrastructure for clean energy projects over fossil fuel ones in order to do so. Community input on new energy projects is paramount to voters. An overwhelming 87 percent of voters across party lines believe it is very important or somewhat important to incorporate the concerns of communities potentially impacted by new energy projects in project planning and decision making.”

E&E News: 4 big questions answered about EPA’s power plant rules
Jean Chemnick, 5/9/23

“The Biden administration will plunge into transforming the U.S. power sector on Thursday by requiring utilities to capture much of their carbon emissions — or not produce as many to begin with,” E&E News reports. “The release of EPA’s proposed rules for power plants will answer a slate of questions about how the agency plans to achieve maximum carbon reductions from natural gas- and coal-fired generation… “Here are four things to look for. Will the rules cause coal-fired plants to shut down? Maybe. But only incidentally… “Will gas plants have to capture carbon, too? Yes — if they’re big and run most of the time… “Can utilities skip using carbon capture? Yes. Power companies and state regulators can meet the rules’ standards any way they like… “There’s a much wider array of options available to states, and one of those is clean energy resources,” Julie McNamara, a deputy policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told E&E… “Can EPA propose stronger standards for other kinds of power plants this time around? Environmental groups have urged EPA to require new gas plants and existing coal and gas plants to capture and store most of their emissions. Evergreen Action argued recently that a 90 percent capture rate was feasible for existing plants and new gas — though it stopped short of suggesting that as the standard.”

Dominion Post: EPA responds to letter from WVMA and other groups about foot dragging on state oversight of carbon capture project permit applications
David Beard, 5/8/23

“The U.S. EPA recently responded to a letter from the West Virginia Manufacturers Association joined with seven other business and industry groups from five states to urge the EPA to get the ball rolling on permitting for injection wells used for curbing greenhouse gas emissions through carbon capture and sequestration projects,” the Dominion Post reports. “In its response, EPA explained why it takes so long and said it aims to do it faster. But the answer contained no specifics on how it plans to improve its performance ; the answer left at least two of the seven signatories unsatisfied… “Four states — including West Virginia — have pending primacy applications with at least eight more expressing interest in applying, they wrote. More than 30 proposed Class VI permits remain under review by EPA, some of which have been in the queue for years… “EPA response EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox directed the agency’s response to Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Director Kevin Sunday. Fox said the EPA supports primacy efforts and reviews each application carefully, to ensure that the State’s Class VI application is complete and that its Class VI permitting regulations are as stringent as the federal regulations. Fox said EPA expects to complete its review of Louisiana’s application and publish a proposed rule in the coming weeks. It’s also working with three other states to help them complete their applications. “Geologic sequestration is a complex process that is highly dependent on site-specific conditions ; therefore, a robust and comprehensive permit application and permit review process is fundamental to preventing endangerment of underground sources of drinking water from these injection activities,” Fox said. IEPA has told Congress, Fox said, that it’s working to update its process and achieve target permitting timeframes… “Luke Bernstein, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, told The Dominion Post, “We appreciate that the leadership of the EPA has responded to our letter. Their response underscores the significant time it has taken the agency to review and respond to requests for delegations of permitting authority to the states.

STATE UPDATES

DeSmog: EPA Weighs Superfund Status for Ohio Facility Handling Radioactive Oilfield Waste
Justin Nobel, 5/8/23

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has flagged an Ohio oilfield waste processing facility with a history of radioactive contamination for possible inclusion under the agency’s Superfund program, reserved for the nation’s most contaminated hazardous waste sites,” DeSmog reports. “Last year, EPA toured the Martins Ferry facility, operated by Pennsylvania-based Austin Master Services, at the request of Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR). This local advocacy group has documented a lengthy list of concerns. In a March 31, 2023 letter to CORR, EPA said the agency “primarily evaluated potential chemical and radionucleotides releases from [Austin Master Services] based on prior operations, and treatment and processing of fracking waste.” The next steps include a two-year site inspection, in which EPA will visit the facility, which is part of a larger property called 4K Industrial Park, to collect data, assess contamination, and characterize the potential contaminants and their movements… “The irony of EPA considering Austin Master’s plant for Superfund status is that a 1980 federal exemption recognizes oilfield waste as non-hazardous and therefore exempt from federal rules that would otherwise apply to hazardous waste. But assessing this facility under Superfund may allow the EPA to recognize that oilfield waste is, in fact, hazardous and provide oversight that has so far eluded these types of facilities. “It is a victory,” Beverly Reed, an Ohio Valley business owner and member of CORR, told DeSmog of EPA’s decision. “The U.S. EPA views the levels of radium as a problem and they are taking action. That’s huge for a small citizen’s group, especially given the amount of pushback we’ve gotten from the city of Martins Ferry.”

EXTRACTION

Bloomberg: Wildfires Rage Across Canada’s Gas Heartland, Shutting Output
Robert Tuttle and Sheela Tobben, 5/7/23

“Wildfires raging across western Canada forced the evacuation of 30,000 residents and cut at least 234,000 barrels a day of oil and gas production as companies shut down wells and pipelines,” Bloomberg reports. “A total of 109 blazes were burning as of late Sunday, 30 of which were classified as out of control, and a provincial state of emergency has been declared. Evacuation orders have been issued for communities, including some less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the provincial capital, Edmonton. The fires are affecting energy production in the region, which accounts for most of Canada’s hydrocarbon exports… “Pipeline operator TC Energy Corp. halted two compressor stations on its Nova Gas system nearest to active wildfires, the company said in an email Sunday. Other sections of the system and other networks continue to operate safely. The company is keeping workers away from facilities near active blazes unless necessary… “The government-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline, the sole link carrying Canadian crude to the Pacific coast, is still in operation but the company has deployed mitigation measures, including a perimeter sprinkler system at its Edson pump station, and is ready to deploy additional protection measures if needed, the company said. 

Petroleum Economist: Letter from Canada: Oil sands return to domestic ownership
5/8/23

“Continuing exodus of foreign companies means assets are coming back to Canadian-headquartered firms,” Petroleum Economist reports. “Oil sands developer Suncor Energy’s agreement to acquire TotalEnergies’ Canadian assets in a C$5.5bn ($4.1bn) all-cash deal in late April was yet another step in the accidental return of the oil sands industry to domestic ownership since the second half of the last decade. The reasons for IOCs fleeing the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves have been primarily economic and environmental to date, with the former being a relatively important factor for US-based firms and the latter for Europe-headquartered ones. However, the primary reason for the next wave is likely to be geopolitical, with Chinese state oil companies now looking for the door…”

Bloomberg: Phasing Out Fossil Fuels Hasn’t Worked. Europe Has a New Idea for COP28
John Ainger, 5/7/23

“Near the end of the United Nations climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh last year, European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans offered a grand bargain to break the deadlock in the two-week negotiations,” Bloomberg reports. “The 27-member bloc would consent to the creation of a finance facility to pay for loss and damage caused by climate change, fulfilling a demand made by developing countries. But the EU’s support would come only if all countries agreed on a stronger commitment to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. The loss-and-damage fund promise made it into the final deal at COP27; the stronger agreement to phase out fossil fuels did not. That defeat still stings for Timmermans. “There’s no way — no way — we’re going to achieve any of our goals if we do not do more on mitigation,” he said at last week’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, an event aimed at boosting ambition before the annual UN climate summit in Dubai at the end of the year. Without stronger action against emissions, “whatever we do on finance, on adaptation, on loss and damage, will fall on short of what we need.” “…Al Jaber said at last week’s climate event that diplomats should focus on phasing out emissions from oil and gas, rather than eliminating those fuels themselves. That’s seen as leaving the door open for burning oil and gas while scaling up carbon capture technologies. EU diplomats aren’t convinced. “I don’t think carbon capture is going to get us there,” Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s climate envoy, told Bloomberg. “What we really need to see, and I think that countries of the world will bring that forward, is the end of the fossil fuel era and the build up of renewables.” “…Tom Evans, a policy advisor for think tank E3G, told Bloomberg it’s essential that any goal is directly linked to the phasing out of fossil fuels rather than allowing coal and gas plants to keep working… “In the meantime, a separate global goal to boost energy efficiency could be easier to achieve, a European official familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.”  

Guardian: Italian oil firm Eni faces lawsuit alleging early knowledge of climate crisis
Stella Levantesi, 5/9/23

“The Italian oil major Eni is facing the country’s first climate lawsuit, with environmental groups alleging the company used “lobbying and greenwashing” to push for more fossil fuels despite having known about the risks its product posed since 1970,” the Guardian reports. “Greenpeace Italy and the Italian advocacy group ReCommon aim to build on a similar case targeting the Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands to force Eni to slash its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030… “The allegations rest in part on a study Eni commissioned between 1969 and 1970 from its Isvet research centre, which has been shared with the Guardian by the nonprofit climate news service DeSmog. The report made clear that left unchecked, rising fossil fuel use could lead to a climate crisis within just a few decades. “[C]arbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to a recent report by the UN secretary, given the increased use of [fossil fuels], has increased over the last century by an average of 10% worldwide; around the year 2000 this increase could reach 25%, with ‘catastrophic’ consequences on climate,” the report said. Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon have also unearthed a 1978 report produced by Eni’s Tecneco company, which included a projection of how much atmospheric CO2 levels would rise by the turn of the century… “Further research by DeSmog has shown that Eni’s company magazine Ecos made repeated references to climate change during the late 1980s and 1990s – while running advertising campaigns promoting planet-warming natural gas as a “clean” fuel… “The lawsuit will also name two government entities – the ministry of economy and finance, and the development bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti – for the “influence they exercise on Eni”, the writ of summons states.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Reuters: ISS advises Shell shareholders to vote against climate activist resolution
Shadia Nasralla, 5/6/23

“Shell (SHEL.L) shareholders should vote against a climate activist resolution seeking faster emissions cuts, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said on Saturday, while acknowledging the merits of the proposal,” Reuters reports. “Shell investors will vote at an annual general meeting on May 23 on a resolution filed by the Follow This activist shareholder group which asks the energy giant to align with the 2015 Paris climate deal… “ISS, whose recommendations steer many investors’ voting, told Reuters Follow This’s “argument that intensity metrics are not a substitute for absolute metrics is entirely valid” and is echoed by ISS analysis. It told Reuters the merits of the activist resolution are “fully accepted” but if adopted it would “represent a change in strategy from the one that Shell has adopted” which is why ISS recommends a vote against it. At Shell’s 2022 shareholder meeting, Follow This received 20% of votes, down from 30% the previous year.”

Canary Media: The investment boom in ​‘renewable natural gas’ is sparking debate
Maria Gallucci, 5/8/23

“U.S. grocery stores toss out billions of pounds of wilted lettuce, rotten apples and moldy bread every year. Most of that food ends up rotting in landfills, where it releases methane — a potent greenhouse gas — into the atmosphere. But a growing effort is underway to rescue all those stinky scraps and turn them into energy instead,” Canary Media reports. “Divert, a Massachusetts-based technology company, is doing just that. The firm works with retailers to reduce food waste and donate edible goods; it then collects whatever’s left and hauls it to anaerobic digesters, where the organic matter is converted into fuel. The resulting ​“biogas” is used to heat and power buildings, or it’s turned into so-called ​“renewable natural gas.” The RNG can be injected directly into existing pipelines, where the fuel mixes with fossil gas fracked from the earth… “Investment in RNG, also called ​“biomethane,” is soaring as energy companies seek what they claim are cleaner ways of powering the economy. Reuters recently likened the trend to a ​“land grab,” with investors snapping up landfills, manure-sodden dairy farms and food-waste streams as if claiming a corner of the Bakken oil and gas shale fields… “Divert, which operates 10 anaerobic digesters, plans to build 30 additional facilities in the next eight years to turn supermarket scraps into RNG. Enbridge, the Canadian pipeline operator, committed $1 billion in March to finance the new digesters and invested $80 million in Divert itself — a step Enbridge said should help reduce its own climate pollution… “The Enbridge deal came on the heels of Divert’s $175 million agreement to supply BP with RNG over 10 years. Separately, the oil and gas giant spent $4.1 billion last year to acquire another RNG firm, Archaea Energy, which makes fuel from landfill gas. The industry’s spending boom and the raft of new subsidies are raising fresh concerns among environmental groups and watchdogs… “Critics say they worry that RNG is being touted as a transformative climate solution, on par with electrifying buildings and replacing gas-burning power plants with wind, solar and other renewable sources. That refrain is often repeated by the U.S. gas industry, which sees RNG as a means of justifying infrastructure expansion… “There’s a lot of risk involved in creating markets to drive that kind of methane capture,” Sasan Saadat, a senior research and policy analyst for the environmental organization Earthjustice, told Canary. ​“Because when you commoditize pollution, you could actually end up perversely incentivizing it.” 

OPINION

Northern Express: SAVING THE GREAT LAKES
Barbara Stamiris is an environmental activist living in Traverse City, 5/6/23

“If you visualize our water planet from afar, sending oil through Earth’s largest freshwater system is unfathomable. Even in 1953, using the Great Lakes as a shortcut for Canadian oil was senseless, except to the oil company,” Barbara Stamiris writes for Northern Express. “…At Senator Peters’ 2018 Anchor Strike Hearing, experts called the Mackinac Straits “the worst location in the U.S. for an oil pipeline.” “…Why is Line 5 so dangerous? In a busy shipping lane, anchor strikes are inevitable… “When Gov. Whitmer ordered Line 5 shut down in 2020 to protect the Great Lakes, Enbridge sued to keep it operating. While Enbridge lawsuits drag on, Line 5—well beyond its 50-year design life—continues to bring in billions by operating in defiance of the state order… “Another strategy that keeps Line 5 operating is promising a tunnel. Knowing Line 5 is obsolete, Enbridge said a tunnel would replace it by 2024, but the Army Corps has announced a delay in its review which pushed tunnel completion to 2030. So if the tunnel is approved, Line 5 would be nearing 80 years old. If the tunnel is not approved, Enbridge has said it will continue to operate old Line 5. Enbridge has no decommissioning date… “While Enbridge avoids risk, taxpayers must fund years of state and federal review for a tunnel unlikely to be built… “When Canada’s interests collide with U.S. interests, silence is not an option. Doing nothing leaves Enbridge calling the shots. Biden can revoke the permit for Line 5—and save the Great Lakes—if he acts before it’s too late… “From a planetary perspective, it’s a no-brainer. If the world’s most dangerous pipeline has an easy solution, get the oil out of the water. Now.”

Bill McKibben: Weather Permitting: A few thoughts about ‘reform.’
Bill McKibben is an author, educator, and environmental activist; a founder of 350.org and Third Act, 5/8/23

“Assuming that the Congress decides to avoid pushing the global economy off a cliff over the debt ceiling (and this is almost certainly an incorrect assumption, since Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced that any sign of compromise from her fellow Republicans “would be a career ending move unless they want to switch parties”), sometime later this year the House and Senate might take up the question of “permitting reform,” Bill McKibben writes. “The argument is that if we’re going to build the renewable energy we need to get out of the ever-deeper climate hole, and particularly if we’re planning to do it in the time that physics allows, there needs to be an easier path to getting projects permitted. If it does come up, advocates need to be prepared… “Looking forward: a climate test. When he was trying to make up his mind over the perhaps the most contentious energy permit yet, for the KXL pipeline, Barack Obama said “our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” Given that the climate crisis is the greatest threat our species has yet faced, that seems like the most no-brainer position anyone could ever take. But of course the fossil fuel industry and its Congressional harem would like to use permitting reform to build more stuff that would produce carbon. This is literally absurd. As Abigail Dillen, president of EarthJustice, says: “The only science-based climate screen is no new fossil fuels projects. The world’s climate scientists are crystal clear about that, and we can do it.” If there’s going to be permitting reform, it should take physics into account. Looking backward: a fairness test. You don’t actually have to be a history professor to know who’s been damaged by our energy system in the past: Indigenous people, whose land has been too often wrecked, and vulnerable communities who have gotten to live next to the refineries and highways. So Indigenous communities and environmental justice communities deserve an extra layer of protection from big projects—how that should be structured is not for me to decide, but I note that the Inflation Reduction Act targets dollars at those communities, which in one respect is good but may also raise the pressure to do developments in those places… “This one’s more of a long shot—but I’d try to insure it would be easier to get a permit if the ownership of the, say, wind farm was going to be public.”

Resource World: Carbon Capture efforts underway in Canada could open doors to investment in oil and gas, critical minerals and hydrogen sectors
Bruce Lantz, 5/8/23

“Canada has some tough decisions to make regarding Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), and much is at stake for both the industry and the nation,” Bruce Lantz writes for Resource World. “Already a world leader in the fight to reduce carbon emissions and stall global warming, Canada must act now to ensure it doesn’t get left behind as other nations scramble to initiate their own projects to capture the carbon dioxide produced by power generation or industrial activity, transporting it, storing it deep underground, a kilometre or more in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers, and then re-using it in industrial processes by converting it into, for example, plastics, concrete or biofuel… “Getting it right will not only create opportunities for Canada’s oil and gas sector, but it will also open the door to investment into critical minerals, hydrogen, small modular nuclear reactors, and other industries that will drive the nation toward a future, lower-carbon economy. Fifty-three CCUS projects, hubs and expansions have been proposed or are in various stages of development across Canada — 39 in Alberta, which has the highest emissions in the nation — representing billions of investment dollars… “The U.S. has taken a dramatic step forward in terms of their tax framework for CCUS and is now on par with Norway. With global energy demand growing along with an imperative for effective GHG (greenhouse gas) emission reductions, there is an opportunity for the government to work collaboratively with the oil and gas sector on developing an approach that can accelerate the development of CCUS projects in Canada,” Jay Averill, spokesman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, told Resource World Magazine. “There is still time for the federal and provincial governments, and the oil and natural gas industry, to work together on an enhanced made-in-Canada approach that can effectively compete to attract global investment capital at a time of a softening economic outlook.”

Bloomberg: Oil Companies Give Back the Cash
Matt Levine, 5/8/23

“Here is a theory you could have: The world runs on oil right now, demand for oil is high, the price of oil is high, and getting oil out of the ground is lucrative,” Matt Levine writes for Bloomberg. “In X years — pick a number — the world will not run on oil, because the environmental effects of burning oil are bad, and eventually, through some combination of better green-energy technology, consumer demand and government regulation, the world will stop burning oil. Therefore the oil-drilling business will produce a series of cash flows that is large now and will, over the next X years, decline to zero. You don’t have to believe this theory, but something like it seems to be pretty popular. In particular, environmental, social and governance investors often express some version of this; they talk about the need to transition to green energy and question the long-term viability of fossil fuels. I suspect that many oil-and-gas executives and investors don’t believe this theory, but what if they do? If you are the chief executive officer of an oil company, and you believe this, what should you do about it? What is the best way to create long-term value for your shareholders? Here are three imaginable answers: 1.Do what you’ve always done. Drill lots of oil, acquire new leases, explore the deep ocean, make long-term investments in drilling technology, keep being an oil company, hope it all works out.  2.Pivot to renewables. 1 Drill oil for now, but make your long-term investments in green energy; build wind farms or drill geothermal wells or whatever, so that in X years, when the world stops using oil, you will be able to sell whatever it does use. 3.Drill the oil you’ve got, but plan for decline. Stop making lots of new long-term investments in oil fields. Maximize current cash flow, and spend it on stock buybacks. Eventually, in X years, your cash flows will be zero, and you will close up shop gracefully. But in the meantime there is money coming in, and rather than waste it on drilling new oil fields, you give it back to shareholders.”

South Seattle Emerald: We Must Take Care to Not ‘Greenwash’ Environmental Justice
Grant Gutierrez currently serves as the Duwamish Valley program coordinator at the City of Seattle, 5/8/23

“You might say environmental justice is having something of a renaissance in mainstream environmental politics in the United States,” Grant Guiterrez writes for the South Seattle Emerald. “…From the halls of Congress to local community meetings, the idea that every person, regardless of their background, deserves to live in a healthy environment is gaining traction, honoring the basic tenets and history of the environmental justice movement rooted in civil rights traditions… “But the environmental justice movement has been largely overlooked and marginalized by the mainstream environmental movement, which has been dominated by white, middle-class environmentalists focused on issues like land conservation and biodiversity protection… “As the idea of environmental justice goes mainstream, some advocates are concerned the movement will be co-opted by powerful interests, such as corporations and government agencies, that will use it as a way to deflect criticism and maintain the status quo. This is not an unfounded fear. History has shown that social movements can be co-opted by those in power who use the language of justice and equality to advance their own interests. Another concern is that environmental justice will become a buzzword, used by politicians and corporations to give the appearance of concern for marginalized communities while doing little to address the underlying issues (read: corporations like Microsoft creating environmental justice positions and programs). This is sometimes referred to as “greenwashing,” and it is a real danger in a society where image and perception often matter more than substance. Like the word “sustainability,” environmental justice advocates cannot let the term come to mean everything and therefore nothing as it gains traction in mainstream environmental politics.  A third concern is that environmental justice will be reduced to a narrow set of technical solutions, such as emissions trading or renewable energy credits, that fail to address the underlying structural causes of environmental injustice… “So what can be done to address these concerns and ensure the environmental justice movement remains true to its roots? One key step is to ensure the voices of those most affected by environmental harm are front and center in any discussion of environmental justice. This means involving community members in decision-making processes and giving them the power to shape the policies that affect their lives.”