EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/12/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• E&E News: Pipeline protesters rip Biden as political gap widens

• Pipeline Fighters Hub: Omaha Ethanol Conference Attendees Greeted with Faux Magazine, Digital Billboards Sponsored by Landowners Opposed to Carbon Pipeline Projects

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Judge rejects pipeline company’s request for land entry

• Cedar Rapids Gazette: Illinois ethanol plant will test green methanol plan, possible alternative to pipelines

• Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota Public Service Commission schedules hearing to discuss protected Summit pipeline information

• Bismarck Tribune: South Dakota’s Minnehaha County passes rules for CO2 pipelines

• Radio Iowa: GOP presidential candidate Burgum says energy production key to U.S. economy

• E&E News: FERC pipeline battle erupts over social cost of carbon

• Tribal Business News: North Dakota tribe acquires Enbridge pipeline in $5M deal

• Mlive.com: From turtle rescues to trenches: How Consumers Energy is constructing a $550M pipeline in Michigan

• PBS: Facing Down the Fossils [VIDEO]

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Committee To Spotlight Bill Against Contested BLM Rule 

STATE UPDATES

• Washington Post: Young people challenging Montana’s energy policies will get their day in court

• Los Angeles Times: The revolving door at public utilities commissions? It’s alive and well

• Associated Press: Protest Derails Planned Celebration Of 20-Year Ban On Oil Drilling Near Chaco National Park 

• Indiana Business News: West Terre Haute carbon-capture project viewed as a forerunner

• Iron Range Today: Walz: Minnesota can ‘absolutely’ reform energy permitting process

• Teen Vogue: Meet the Climate Activist Demanding Action Against Colorado’s Only Oil Refinery

• Los Angeles Times: Bay Area refinery fallout does not pose significant health risk, authorities say

EXTRACTION

• InsideClimate News: UN Considering Reforms to Limit Influence of Fossil Fuel Industry at Global Climate Talks

• Reuters: EU plans strategy to scale up investment in capturing CO2 emissions

CLIMATE FINANCE

• E&E News: Rich nations pledge climate action but invest in fossil fuels

• Common Dreams: 140+ Groups Demand Insurers End Support for ‘Toxic’ LNG Terminals

OPINION

• Bismarck Tribune: Tribune editorial: Burleigh must use caution in pipeline fight

• Sioux City Journal: LETTER: Pipelines aren’t necessary to lower CO2 at plants
  

PIPELINE NEWS

E&E News: Pipeline protesters rip Biden as political gap widens
Carlos Anchondo, 6/9/23

“Opponents of the Mountain Valley pipeline gathered Thursday outside the White House to criticize leaders who backed the natural gas project, the latest sign of a growing schism between climate activists and President Joe Biden,” E&E News reports. “The protest against the 303-mile pipeline came five days after Biden signed an agreement into law that avoided a national default while expediting completion of the embattled Mountain Valley project. On Thursday, a couple hundred people gathered on the edge of Washington’s Lafayette Square in hazy and unhealthy air tied to wildfires in Canada. Speaking in front of protesters — some sitting in rocking chairs — Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said the Mountain Valley pipeline “should’ve never been part of the debt crisis deal.” “Let me tell you something: What the hell does a pipeline have to do with reducing the deficit?” Tlaib said. “It’s bullshit.” Neither a White House spokesperson nor a spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign responded Thursday to a request for comment.”

Pipeline Fighters Hub: Omaha Ethanol Conference Attendees Greeted with Faux Magazine, Digital Billboards Sponsored by Landowners Opposed to Carbon Pipeline Projects
6/12/23

“Attendees at this week’s “Fuel Ethanol Workshop” at the CHI Health Center in downtown Omaha will be greeted this morning with a “wake-up” call in the form of a faux industry publication calling out the risks and tax-related issues with proposed carbon dioxide pipeline projects that are currently partnering with Midwest ethanol plants, along with a mobile digital billboard truck that will be circling the event venue and hotels on Monday.  Bold Alliance, a group started to help organize farmers and ranchers opposed to the defunct Keystone XL pipeline, sponsored the send-up of event media sponsor Ethanol Producer Magazine, with a faux cover announcing the latest edition of “Ethical? Carbon Pipelines” magazine, along with a Table of Contents page styled after the magazine’s, but featuring reports and articles published by Bold Alliance attorney Paul Blackburn, and others – such as “Double-Dipping of Federal Tax Credits for Carbon Pipelines?” and “The Inflation Reduction Act May Save the Fossil Fuel Industries.” The mobile digital billboard truck circling the event venue features similar messages, including images of Iowa landowners holding signs saying “No Eminent Domain” and “Our Land is Not For Sale.” “The ethanol industry has long been an ally to landowners and advocates who want to take market share from Big Oil,” said Bold Alliance founder and director Jane Kleeb. “Supporting carbon pipelines literally hands billions of dollars to Big Oil to keep their grip on our energy portfolio. In the end, ethanol plants and landowners will be left holding the bag with this latest tax scam, because we all know when the 45Q tax credit goes away, the pipelines and capture equipment will be left for us to clean up. These risky and under-regulated carbon pipelines want to use eminent domain for private gain. We are asking the ethanol industry to stand with rural folks opposed to these pipelines, since we have stood with them for decades.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Judge rejects pipeline company’s request for land entry
JARED STRONG, 6/9/23

“A carbon dioxide pipeline company did not properly notify a pair of northwest Iowa landowners before it sought to survey their farmland, a state district court judge has concluded,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “In a recent ruling, Judge Roger Sailer rejected Navigator CO2 Ventures’ request for an injunction to facilitate the Woodbury County land survey, but he also said the state’s survey law is constitutional. It was the third ruling on the constitutionality of the law that has arisen from two pipeline companies’ lawsuits against landowners to compel the surveys, which are important to determine the path and depth of the potential projects. Sailer and another judge upheld the law, which allows the surveys after the companies hold informational meetings and give a 10-day notice via certified mail. A third judge, who was the first to issue a ruling on the matter, said it’s unconstitutional. Several other similar lawsuits are pending with different judges, and they all feature roughly the same arguments. Navigator and Summit Carbon Solutions say they followed the law and should be enabled access to private property with the assistance of law enforcement, if necessary. Landowners — many of whom have rejected the certified mailings from the companies — say they weren’t properly notified and contend the surveys amount to an illegal taking of their land. The litigation isn’t likely to have much of an effect on the companies’ abilities to obtain permits to construct their pipelines. State law does not require all survey work to be complete before the Iowa Utilities Board approves the permits, Don Tormey, a spokesperson for the board, told the Dispatch.”

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Illinois ethanol plant will test green methanol plan, possible alternative to pipelines
Erin Jordan, /69/23

“A company that wants to use carbon dioxide from ethanol plants as an ingredient to make green methanol has signed a deal with an Illinois plant,” the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports. “CapCO2 Solutions and Adkins Energy LLC, based in Lena, Ill., will partner for a project to test technology that would capture CO2 at the plant, combine it with hydrogen and turn it into green methanol — a desirable renewable fuel. “The ethanol industry is anxious for alternatives to the CO2 pipeline proposals,” Josh Manske, board member of the Iowa Farmers Union and National Farmers Union, said in a news release this week. “The agricultural world has been looking for just such a solution.” CapCO2 CEO Jeff Bonar visited Iowa and Illinois in March to meet with ethanol plant owners, farmers and other stakeholders to promote his product as an alternative to CO2 pipelines — contentious in Iowa because two of the projects want to use eminent domain to gain access to privately held land to build the underground pipelines. Pipeline companies plan to sequester the CO2 underground, but also have announced plans to use the CO2 from ethanol plants as an ingredient for other materials, such as jet fuel. The difference between those plans and what CapCO2 has proposed is the CapCO2 process would be done at the ethanol plant versus having to pipe the CO2 elsewhere. Real Carbon Tech, a Polish firm that developed the technology being used by CapCO2 in the United States, built the system in shipping containers that can be set up outside ethanol plants. As an ethanol plant emits CO2, the gas is captured, compressed and processed with hydrogen. The end product is methanol, a fuel being used in some industries to replace diesel.”

Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota Public Service Commission schedules hearing to discuss protected Summit pipeline information
Joey Harris, 6/8/23

“The North Dakota Public Service Commission has scheduled a hearing to consider whether to grant Summit Carbon Solutions permission to protect information related to its Midwest Carbon Express project,” the Bismarck Tribune repots. “The hearing scheduled for June 27 will focus on the company’s request to withhold a pipeline risk assessment and carbon dioxide dispersion model from the public. Challengers argue the risk assessment and carbon dioxide dispersion model should be made public, but Summit cited security risks as the reason why the information needs to be protected. The documents are required by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the agency that regulates pipelines. The Public Service Commission also requested the information. The company’s application to protect the information was challenged by an attorney for the John H. Warford Jr. Revocable Trust, an intervenor in the pipeline’s siting application. Warford, a former Bismarck mayor, is among landowners near the pipeline route who oppose the project’s plans. Warford’s attorney argues that the dispersion model is public health information and can be separated from details in the security system plan that could threaten the pipeline’s integrity. In an email responding to The Bismarck Tribune’s questions, Summit spokesman Jesse Harris pointed to an FBI report that warned of heightened risks of attacks to pipelines. “We don’t want to provide a roadmap where someone could intentionally damage the system and impact the safety of landowners, communities and more,” Harris told the Tribune… “Summit requested that the security system plan, as protected information, be made available only to the commissioners, the administrative law judge overseeing the case, as well as commission attorneys and siting analysts… “Warford’s attorney argues that if the dispersion study were more widely available, local political and safety authorities would be better equipped to plan for a leak.”

Bismarck Tribune: South Dakota’s Minnehaha County passes rules for CO2 pipelines
JOHN HULT, 6/9/23

“Officials in South Dakota’s largest county dealt a blow to opponents of two carbon pipeline companies with a vote to set shorter-than-requested spaces between homes and pipelines in their first-ever set of rules for such projects,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “Minnehaha County commissioners convened Tuesday to take up the issue of setbacks in a long-debated pipeline ordinance. It arose from the controversy surrounding efforts by Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures to ship pressurized carbon dioxide from Midwestern ethanol plants to underground sequestration sites… “Company representatives opposed those setbacks. The 750-foot distance, they said, would make it all but impossible to place their pipelines in Minnehaha County in the face of what’s become intense opposition to the projects, South Dakota Searchlight reported. The commission never got to a final vote on its first set of pipeline siting rules at its May 23 meeting. Instead, it deadlocked on an amendment from Commissioner Joe Kippley that would have shortened that distance from property lines to 330 feet… “Opponents had argued that 750 feet was a “minimum” for safety and the promotion of continued economic development in the rapidly growing county… “Opponents of the projects cite safety concerns, pointing frequently to a carbon pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi, that sickened dozens of people. On Tuesday, some pointed to a recent two-day meeting of the federal Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, at which experts talked about the safety and potential regulatory adjustments that might be necessary in the face of a rush to build carbon pipelines for sequestration purposes.”

Radio Iowa: GOP presidential candidate Burgum says energy production key to U.S. economy
O. KAY HENDERSON, 6/8/23

“Governor Doug Burgum is campaigning in Iowa today after kicking off his long shot campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in his home state of North Dakota,” Radio Iowa reports. “The state produced a million barrels of oil a day in 2022 and Burgum, in the middle of his second term as North Dakota’s governor, has said energy policy will be a focus of his campaign. “If we can start selling energy to our friends and allies instead of buying it from our adversaries, that 180 degree switch is the thing that’s going to help kick start and drive the American economy,” Burgum said this morning during an interview with Radio Iowa. Burgum argues the U.S. needs to pursue an “all-of-the-above: energy strategy and he’s criticizing the Biden Administration’s quick shift to promoting electric vehicles… “The proposed route Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline that would run through Iowa ends in North Dakota, where the carbon would be permanently stored underground. The federal government is offering an $85 tax credit for every metric ton of carbon that’s captured. Burgum told Radio Iowa the subsidy makes sense. “Internal combustion machine liquid fuels has to be part of this energy transition for decades and decades and the best way to do that if you care about CO2 is to decarbonize the CO2,” Burgum told Radio Iowa, “and if you’re going to subsidize wind and solar, then the incentives for CO2 storage make a ton of sense for us to have a strong, truly independent energy in the United States.” “…We need pipelines,” Burgum told Radio Iowa. “It’s the safest and easiest way to transport any fuel and any liquids in this country. We don’t need them moving on trains. We don’t need those liquids moving down the highways. We need them moving through pipelines and America needs to figure out how to build essential infrastructure or we can just cede our leadership in the world and, again, just get all our batteries from China and get all our oil from the Middle East.”

E&E News: FERC pipeline battle erupts over social cost of carbon
Miranda Willson, 6/9/23

“A natural gas pipeline could face legal hurdles because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission declined to respond to critiques about its greenhouse gas analysis, Republican members of the panel said Thursday,” E&E News reports. “In a pair of sharply worded statements, Commissioner James Danly and Commissioner Mark Christie criticized FERC for not responding to an environmental group’s claims that the agency should have used the social cost of carbon before approving a pipeline in Indiana and Kentucky. The metric aims to quantify the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and has been a contentious issue at FERC for years. Last November, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana sought a rehearing of FERC’s unanimous decision to approve the pipeline, known as the Henderson County Expansion Project. The group argued that the agency’s environmental review was inadequate because it did not use the social cost of carbon metric to determine the significance of the pipeline’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

Tribal Business News: North Dakota tribe acquires Enbridge pipeline in $5M deal
BRIAN EDWARDS, 6/11/23

“The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota announced on Friday that it purchased the Plaza/Wabek Pipeline from Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. for $5 million,” Tribal Business News reports. “The acquisition by the MHA Nation’s Thunder Butte Petroleum Inc. subsidiary will help it deliver oil from wells on its reservation to new markets. The 31-mile pipeline, which is not currently in use, can transport up to 15,000 barrels per day. The reservation has more than 2,600 active oil and gas wells that produced an average of 144,190 barrels of oil per day in February, according to an Associated Press report citing the state’s Department of Mineral Resources. The agreement opens the door for MHA Nation to become the first tribal shipper on the Enbridge system, according to a statement from the tribe.   “It’s another major step and positive investment that will further support development of our energy trust assets for the MHA Nation and its membership,” MHA Nation Chairman Mark N. Fox said in a statement. “This will also be a significant catalyst for enhancing economic development in our region of influence.” “…The announcement came almost 10 years to the day a decade ago when the MHA Nation broke ground on the $450 million Thunder Butte Petroleum Services Refinery project… “Royalties from oil and gas development on the Fort Berthold Reservation are managed and dispersed for the benefit of MHA Nation citizens under the direction of its Tribal Business Council.”

Mlive.com: From turtle rescues to trenches: How Consumers Energy is constructing a $550M pipeline in Michigan
Lucas Smolcic Larson, 6/11/223

“A parade of backhoes and earthmovers clank over M-52 north of Chelsea in Washtenaw County…Soon, a drilling rig controlled by a joystick will pull a new segment of pipeline below the roadway and into the trench,” Mlive.com reports. “…But to Consumers Energy engineers, the $550-million pipeline project is an efficient machine — one made possible by years of planning and careful attention to the little details, down to the tadpoles who live in its path… “Many hurdles had to be cleared to get to the point where some 500 people are out in the field six days a week along the pipeline’s construction path between Chelsea and Williamston. Snakes and bats had to be counted. Property easements arranged. A slew of permits applied for… “So far, they’ve removed more than 2,000 animals from the right-of-way, and have incubated almost 200 turtle eggs, Lindsey Johnson told Mlive. In the area north of Stockbridge where Wigington and Zach Johnson were working, crews marked and protected a fox den, where a mother and three young cubs lived. Still, the pipeline work can be destructive. Trees must be cleared for 30 feet on either side of the new pipeline, and the route traverses wetlands, streams and four state parks… “At 17 points along the construction this year, crews are using horizontal directional drilling, where a machine bores into the ground and then pulls the pipe with it, reducing above-ground disturbance… “Finally, trenches are dug, the pipeline placed and the soil replaced. When crossing streams or wetlands, crews have to keep them flowing with pumps and often work shifts exceeding 12 hours to complete the work in one sitting, Matko told Mlive. Consumers has developed several seed mixes for restoring the pipeline area, including some based on native plants that serve pollinators, Lindsey Johnson told Mlive.

PBS: Facing Down the Fossils [VIDEO]
6/9/23

“The gas industry’s quest for profit is running into resistance from people in the path of new fossil fuel projects,” PBS reports. “Proposals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals that send U.S. methane to other countries are igniting activism across the country. One former oil-and-gas worker is fighting the industry’s plans from his backyard on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Facing Down the Fossils is a series about the people who are dealing with generational consequences of the pollution and economic damage caused by the fossil fuel industry and who now face the prospect of even more fossil fuel projects in the United States. In response, these communities are not only standing up to wrongdoing but also leading the effort to advance clean energy production. The project takes viewers to these communities to hear from the people who have dedicated themselves to fighting injustice in opposition to governments and multinational organizations. In the process, it reveals what has been lost, what can be saved, and what might be gained in these vibrant neighborhoods, communities, and ecosystems.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Committee To Spotlight Bill Against Contested BLM Rule 
Scott Streater, 6/9/23

“House Republicans are putting the Bureau of Land Management’s hotly contested draft public lands rule back in the spotlight this week,” E&E News reports. “The Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a legislative hearing Thursday to consider a single bill, sponsored by Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis, that would force BLM to withdraw a draft rule unveiled in March. The rule would elevate conservation as a public lands use on par with livestock grazing, energy development and recreation. Republican Govs. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Mark Gordon of Wyoming are scheduled to testify in support of H.R. 3397, which Curtis introduced last month. Curtis’ bill — which has 16 Republican co-sponsors, including Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), who served as Interior secretary under then-President Donald Trump, but not Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), who chairs the full committee — would require BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning to withdraw the rule and ‘not take any action to finalize, implement, or enforce the proposed rule.’ It is a companion bill to S. 1435, also introduced last month, by Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso.”

STATE UPDATES

Washington Post: Young people challenging Montana’s energy policies will get their day in court
Maxine Joselow, 6/12/23

“Today marks the beginning of an unprecedented two-week climate trial in Montana,” the reports. “In the first youth-led climate case to go to trial in the United States, 16 young people are accusing the government of Montana of violating their right to a “clean and healthful environment,” which is enshrined in the state constitution, by promoting fossil fuel development. If the young people prevail, the effects of the ruling could ripple far beyond Montana’s borders. “A strong decision could have ripple effects and inspire more climate litigation around the world,” Michael Gerrard, faculty director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, told the Post.

Los Angeles Times: The revolving door at public utilities commissions? It’s alive and well
SAMMY ROTH, 6/8/23

“These are the government agencies that regulate utilities — companies that supply us with electricity, gas, water and more. All 50 states have them — and as boring as they sound, their work affects our daily lives. Utilities commissions have a key role to play in keeping energy bills from getting too high, ensuring the lights stay on and policing bad behavior by monopoly utilities,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “They’re also crucial to combating the climate crisis… “A new study offers a fascinating portrait of America’s utility commissioners — and their industry ties. Published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Energy Research & Social Science, the study from Brown University postdoctoral researcher Jared Heern examines the professional backgrounds of the 818 utility commissioners who served across all 50 states between 2000 and 2020. Heern found 25% of those commissioners — whose decisions could make or break the planet’s climate — had previously worked in the utility or fossil fuel industry, compared to 19% with an environmental background. Also striking: Of the 473 commissioners for whom Heern could find information on what they did after they left utility regulation, 50% of them went to work for one of the industries they regulated, or in an industry-adjacent role such as consulting. “That revolving door is definitely alive and well,” Heern told the Times. Alive and well and extremely relevant to the clean energy transition. Although Heern noted that having previously worked for a utility can give a regulator useful expertise, he also pointed to studies showing that former utility and fossil fuel industry employees who become commissioners “tend to make more decisions that benefit the industry.” 

Associated Press: Protest Derails Planned Celebration Of 20-Year Ban On Oil Drilling Near Chaco National Park 
6/9/23

“It was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, after her agency spent many months hosting public meetings and talking with Native American leaders about curbing the pace of oil and gas development in the San Juan Basin and protecting culturally significant sites,” the Associated Press reports. “But her return to Chaco Culture National Historical Park on Sunday was derailed when a group of Navajo landowners blocked the road, upset with the Biden administration’s recent decision to enshrine for the next 20 years what previously had been an informal 10-mile (16-kilometer) buffer around the World Heritage site. Social media posts showed protesters yelling ‘Go Home!’ as some held signs that read no trespassing on allottee land. The landowners and Navajo leaders have said Haaland and the Biden administration ignored efforts to reach a compromise that would have established a smaller buffer to protect cultural sites while keeping intact the viability of tribal land and private Navajo-owned parcels for future development.”

Indiana Business News: West Terre Haute carbon-capture project viewed as a forerunner
Peter Blanchard, 6/9/23

“By the time it’s expected to come online in 2026, a West Terre Haute-based fertilizer plant will have the capacity to capture and store as much as 1.65 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, making it one of the largest carbon-sequestration projects in the country,” Indiana Business News reports. “Wabash Valley Resources, which was formed in 2016 to acquire a shuttered Duke Energy coal plant in Vigo County, is moving forward with the project after state lawmakers passed legislation requiring the company to compensate landowners for the porous, underground rock formations underneath their property that will hold carbon dioxide. The plant currently produces hydrogen-rich syngas, but the company plans to retrofit the facility to also produce anhydrous ammonia fertilizer and separate CO2 for sequestration. “This is a billion-dollar asset that we’re repurposing to make fertilizer and, maybe down the road, hydrogen,” Sen. Jon Ford, a Republican from Terre Haute who supports the development, told IBN. “I think there’s a lot of possibilities with a project like this.” The $900 million endeavor, which has received funding from Arizona-based battery manufacturer Nikola Corp. as well as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Storage Program, will address a high demand for a reliable supply of agricultural ammonia used for crops such as corn and wheat without harming air quality, company officials say… “While carbon-capture technology has the support of the Biden administration and EPA officials, some environmental advocates and consumer protection groups caution that the process does not come without risk, pointing to an incident in Mississippi in February 2020 when a CO2 pipeline burst, resulting in 45 people being hospitalized. It also carries the risk of contaminating drinking water and stimulating earthquakes, according to the National Resources Defense Council. “It’s a completely unproven technology that we are pushing forward based on extreme and extraordinary lobbying done by the fossil-fuel industry,” Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Citizens Action Coalition, told IBN… “This year, the parties were able to reach a deal on a bill that allows Wabash Valley Resources to exercise eminent domain over property owners who refuse to sell their land but requires that the company compensate landowners in the form of a yearly payment of 40% of the average estimated rent per acre, based on Purdue University’s annual Farmland Values & Cash Rents Survey Results.”

Iron Range Today: Walz: Minnesota can ‘absolutely’ reform energy permitting process
6/9/23

“Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz saw the indicators at a recent governors’ meeting: Permitting energy projects was materializing as a top-of-mind and increasingly bipartisan issue among state leaders,” Iron Range Today reports. “…The state has stood as a locally-sourced hotbed for permitting reform in recent years, but it wasn’t until the intersection of clean energy mandates and stalled mining projects that the conversation started to move to St. Paul in earnest.  Minnesota lawmakers this year approved an ambitious clean energy policy that seeks carbon-free emissions by 2040, with a cluster of transmission lines and precious metals mines in the hopper at different stages that could help propel Minnesota industries toward those lofty goals. But permitting and environmental review processes have left some of those projects in the lurch, due in part to bureaucratic delays or the political clashes from both sides of the aisle and opposing interest groups. During a recent interview with Iron Range Today, Walz said he believed changes to the permitting process will have a place in the legislative session next year and that Minnesota has a path to streamline projects toward the state’s clean energy goals. “We need to make an honest effort to move these things faster,” he told IRT. “We need to be clear, less burdensome, without jeopardizing the environment and safety. I do think we can do that.” “…Walz told IRT Minnesota can “absolutely” build off the work of Congress at the state level, with growing support from Democrats on an issue that has primarily been a Republican talking point in recent years. “It doesn’t give us the excuse to be slow on things,” the governor told IRT. “We should have regulatory humility and shouldn’t assume everyone seeking a permit is a bad actor. Our job is to verify. It’s valid to be looking at outcomes in other states, and if they’re seeing the same results on the environment and safety, and doing it in less time and less cost, I think we can do it better.”

Teen Vogue: Meet the Climate Activist Demanding Action Against Colorado’s Only Oil Refinery
CHRISTIAN ALLAIRE, 6/8/23

“Growing up in Commerce City, Colorado, 21-year-old climate activist Alessandra Chavira remembers always adhering to one specific rule: Don’t drink the tap water. “Nobody in Commerce City drinks it,” says Chavira, who identifies as Chicana. “For me, that was normal—and it’s still the case,” Teen Vogue reports. “Throughout her childhood, Chavira wasn’t aware of the exact reason why this was such a widely followed rule, though she got a better sense later on. Located in Commerce City is the Suncor Energy refinery—Colorado’s only oil refinery—which remains one of the state’s largest emitters of greenhouse gasses and toxic air pollutants. The refinery continues to have adverse effects on the air, soil, and water quality in its surrounding neighborhoods, all the way from Montbello to Reunion. “Growing up, I only knew Suncor because we would pass by it and it stank,” Chavira told Teen Vogue. “It smelled like rotten eggs—I would know to hold my breath. For a while, I didn’t even claim Commerce City because everybody would call it Commerce Shitty.” While the Commerce City refinery has been in operation since 1931, it was acquired by Suncor Energy—a Canadian oil and gas company—back in 2003. According to Suncor, the facility now houses three plants over two refineries. Plants 1 and 2 are major suppliers of gasoline and diesel fuel in Colorado, while Plant 3 is the state’s main asphalt producer. The refinery as a whole processes approximately 98,000 barrels of oil a day and claims to contribute more than $2.5 billion to the state’s economy annually. But it’s an output that comes with significant environmental caveats.”

Los Angeles Times: Bay Area refinery fallout does not pose significant health risk, authorities say
TONY BRISCOE, 6/9/23

“Bay Area public health authorities announced Thursday that heavy metals released by a refinery in November do not pose a significant risk to gardeners or residents in the city of Martinez, according to new laboratory testing,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “On Nov. 24 and 25, Martinez Refining Co., an 880-acre refinery on the northern edge of the city, released up to 24 tons of spent catalyst, powdery white dust filled with chemicals used to break crude oil into finished petroleum products. The substance blanketed cars and homes throughout the city’s downtown. Last month, Contra Costa County hired TRI Companies Inc., a Connecticut engineering firm, to collect soil samples at 14 sites across Contra Costa and Solano counties. Jenny Phillips, a TRI toxicologist, concluded none of the samples. Based on the soil analysis, Contra Costa health officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli lifted a public health advisory recommending that residents of Martinez not eat foods grown in soil that may have been contaminated by the release. “Now that we have these results, I personally would have no issue eating fruits and vegetables grown in ground soil from one of the affected areas,” Tzvieli said in a statement Thursday. For many residents, the soil testing — released six months after the incident — helped to ease some of the long-lasting concerns about health risks associated with the spent catalyst. Others, however, argued that the county’s plodding response to a hazardous materials release exposed glaring flaws in government procedures and warrants reforms.”

EXTRACTION

InsideClimate News: UN Considering Reforms to Limit Influence of Fossil Fuel Industry at Global Climate Talks
Bob Berwyn, 6/11/23

“Halfway through the annual cycle of global climate talks between COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is holding technical meetings in Bonn through June 15 under a swirl of intensifying climate and political storms,” InsideClimate News reports. “…Politically, a growing number of civic groups, as well as elected officials in several countries, say the growing influence of fossil fuel companies in the climate negotiations threatens the UNFCCC’s fundamental credibility, as well as its ability to help rein in the emissions from burning oil, gas and coal.  At Bonn, a coalition of climate policy watchdog groups under the Climate Action International umbrella are intensifying their push to reform the U.N.’s climate framework to eliminate, or at least reduce, the role of fossil fuel companies in the process. For the first time, the United Nations climate secretariat seems open to change… “It’s time to understand that, as long as big polluters are engaged at the level that they are in COP, that we will never be able to have a real reduction of emissions,” Thomas Joseph, part of the Indigenous Environmental Network climate team, told ICN. “They are here to stop that. Their sole purpose for engaging in these COP negotiations is to make sure that they can continue business as usual. By kicking big polluters out we show that we understand the science and understand that climate chaos is caused by the burning of fossil fuel.” “…The concerns over the fossil fuel industry’s level of influence spiked this year when the United Arab Emirate’s Sultan al Jaber, who is also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, was appointed to the presidency of COP28 in a process that lacks public transparency and accountability.  It’s not only civil society groups that have taken notice. Late last month, more than 130 elected officials with the U.S. Congress and the European Union Parliament asked United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to “withdraw” al Jaber’s appointment.” 

Reuters: EU plans strategy to scale up investment in capturing CO2 emissions
Kate Abnett, 6/9/23

“The European Commission is working on plans to speed up investment in capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions, it said on Friday, as the bloc prepares to slash its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050,” Reuters reports. “ In a public consultation on the plans, the Commission said infrastructure to capture and store CO2 underground or use it in industries was not developing fast enough, hampered by factors including high costs to develop storage sites. To try and boost the industry, the Commission said it will produce an EU strategy that could include 2040 and 2050 targets for CO2 storage infrastructure, or EU-wide standards on CO2 quality and access to carbon capture infrastructure. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects are in their infancy in the EU and have a history of controversy in countries including Germany, where states blocked past efforts to launch projects. Some campaign groups have also opposed the technology on the grounds that it could be used to extend the life of coal power plants and polluting industries… “Brussels proposed a target in March for the EU to be able to store 50 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030, and has said this may need to reach 550 million tonnes by 2050 to hit the bloc’s net zero emissions goal. For comparison, the EU’s total CO2 emissions from energy use were nearly 2.4 billion tonnes in 2022, according to Eurostat data.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

E&E News: Rich nations pledge climate action but invest in fossil fuels
Sara Schonhardt, 6/9/23

“Some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel producers are continuing to invest in its production and export — setting up major barriers to desperately needed emissions cuts,” E&E News reports. “And a few of the culprits are developed countries that say they’re taking the lead on climate ambition at home, according to a new report from Climate Action Tracker, a collaboration of two groups that monitor government climate policy. They include Australia, Canada, Norway and the United States, all countries that are continuing to invest in fossil fuel production and then sending those emissions elsewhere. “Most major oil and gas producers are still planning to increase production and governments are still investing in new oil and gas,” Mia Moisio, an analyst at the NewClimate Institute, which works with Climate Analytics to produce Climate Action Tracker, told E&E. The report describes what’s happening as a fossil fuel “goldrush.”

Common Dreams: 140+ Groups Demand Insurers End Support for ‘Toxic’ LNG Terminals
JULIA CONLEY, 6/8/23

“Climate justice, consumer rights, and conservation groups were among more than 140 organizations that wrote to insurance agencies on Thursday to demand they stop underwriting LNG export terminals like nearly two dozen that have been proposed on the United States’ Gulf Coast, with frontline communities joining the call on the one-year anniversary of an explosion at a terminal on Quintana Island, Texas,” Common Dreams reporst. “A year after the blast at a terminal owned by Freeport LNG which sent toxic pollution into local communities and injured several people at a nearby beach, national groups including Public Citizen and Oil Change International joined local campaigners in signing the letter, warning that continued support for liquefied natural gas facilities poses “reputational risks” to insurers while contributing to the climate emergency. “This is a call for insurers to stop providing coverage to explosive methane gas export terminals,” the letter reads. “We urge insurers to meet with communities impacted by the liquefied natural gas industry as soon as possible… If there is no response, we will move forward with a public campaign. We will address these concerns with the international media, the supporters of nonprofits, and policymakers, and we will organize protests at your offices.” Melanie Oldham of Better Brazoria: Clean Air and Clean Water, a grassroots group in coastal Brazoria County, Texas, said Thursday that she and her neighbors “live in fear of further explosions, air pollution, and the impacts of these facilities on our health.” “Many insurers underwrite projects that ignore [the right to free, prior, and informed consent], greenlighting toxic projects without the consent of impacted communities—an issue a number of shareholders have raised this year.” “…The groups noted that numerous fracked gas pipelines and LNG facilities are close to sacred Indigenous sites and could violate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Texas LNG, for example, “has already violated [the Carrizo Comecrudo tribe’s] human rights by beginning construction” on an LNG project proposed at the archeological site Garcia Pasture without consulting the tribe.”

OPINION

Bismarck Tribune: Tribune editorial: Burleigh must use caution in pipeline fight
6/10/23

“Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline has prompted vigorous debate in several states. In North Dakota there has been especially strong opposition to the pipeline in Burleigh and Emmons counties,” the Bismarck Tribune Editorial Board writes. “At the core of the opposition are landowners who don’t want their property disturbed by a pipeline. A variety of reasons have been given for the opposition including safety concerns, fears about the availability of insurance, worries about the growth of Bismarck being hindered, and unease about a potential negative impact on property values. Burleigh and Emmons counties have passed ordinances regulating hazardous liquid pipelines within their borders in response to some of those concerns. The Tribune Editorial Board understands the passion of landowners and sympathizes with them. It also applauds county commissioners for trying to address the concerns brought to them, and for being proactive about safety. But there’s little doubt Burleigh’s ordinances are aimed at the Summit pipeline, and the commission needs to do a better job of publicly defending them so it doesn’t appear that just one industry is being targeted. Summit has asked the state Public Service Commission to declare the Burleigh and Emmons ordinances as null and void. The company argues the ordinances conflict with state and federal laws… “It’s possible Summit could sue Burleigh over the ordinances, and the company might have already begun laying the groundwork… “Despite the support from the Burleigh and Bismarck commissions the pipeline opponents face an uphill battle. Summit has responded to the arguments of the opposition. The best hope opponents have is that the PSC will delay a decision until PHMSA finishes updating its rules which is expected to be in October 2024. It’s possible the PSC will agree with Summit and wipe out the Burleigh and Emmons ordinances. If it doesn’t, it appears the ordinances might still be ripe for a challenge.”

Sioux City Journal: LETTER: Pipelines aren’t necessary to lower CO2 at plants
Rose Mather, Yankton, S.D., 6/11/23

“The C02 pipeline proposals affect all property owners. The 78% objections will grow as people see how these threats could deny their property rights and open doors for other greedy, private investors to take their property,” Rose Mather writes for the Sioux City Journal. “Currently, property owners are saying “NO” to having an area of their land taken, devalued, damaged, controlled, accessed, and later sold at a profit by private investors. Taxes and maintenance of the area remain the responsibility of the original landowner. Liability has not even been addressed. These pipeline investors are seeking some areas that are close to communities, homes, and water sources… “When they leak or burst, they have caused destruction, health issues, and death. These pipelines do not benefit the public. Government money would be used to build them and demands for things such as water, electricity, and emergency response would be ongoing costs to communities. Ethanol plants are private businesses. They need to look for ways to lower C02 in production. All this should be done on site. C02 can even be altered so it can be safely transported. Pipelines are not necessary. The Range Wars were settled by honoring property rights. Barbed wire and railroads helped make this possible. There is no constitutional basis for these projects to continue.”