EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/16/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• Press release: National Farmers Union Statement in Support of Landowner Rights and Community Input 

• AgWeek: Carbon capture advocacy group recruits prominent ag leaders

• Charlotte News & Observer: With new hope from Congress, gas pipeline project in NC may be revived. What we know. 

• Financial Times: Pipeline boss says US green energy shift will need more natural gas

• Charlotte Observer: Colonial Pipeline Co. will send treated water from massive gasoline spill into NC creek

• Saanich News: Fifth Trans Mountain pipeline-related sinkhole since April concerns B.C. farmer

• Bloomberg: Pipeline Filed Tax Suit in Wrong Court, Mississippi Justices Say

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Press release: Capito, Sinema, Murkowski, Whitehouse Introduce Bipartisan Carbon Capture Legislation

• E&E News: Supreme Court water ruling could transform NEPA, ESA

• Reuters: US House Judiciary leader subpoenas documents from climate groups

• E&E News: House approves bill to end Chevron deference

• The Hill: Democrats call Biden methane proposal ‘insufficient’

• E&E News: Democrats Float Bill Pushing EPA On Methane Reduction

• Washington Post: Green hydrogen subsidies spark fierce debate among advocates

STATE UPDATES

• WBUR: To end its reliance on planet-warming oil, Maine pushes for heat pumps and weatherization

• Billings Gazette: Federal oil and gas sales withdrawn in Montana

EXTRACTION

• New York Times: The World’s Demand for Oil Is Set to Slow

• Reuters: UN chief to fossil fuel firms: stop trying to ‘knee-cap’ climate progress

• Reuters: Shell makes risky pitch for the middle ground

• Petroleum Economist: ConocoPhillips in transition

• Press release: Indigenous Nations and Ecojustice urge federal government to strengthen the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act

• Press release: Gibson Energy expands liquids infrastructure platform with acquisition of Texas Gulf Coast crude oil export facility for US$1.1 billion, announces concurrent $350 million subscription receipt bought deal offering

CLIMATE FINANCE

• E&E News: ESG ‘hurts the poor,’ conservatives say. Experts don’t buy it.

• DemocracyNow: South African Activists Take Aim at Standard Bank in Fight to Stop East African Pipeline

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Bloomberg: A Glendale woman’s greenwashing lawsuit against Delta Air Lines aims to set a precedent

• Enbridge: Celebrating Juneteenth

OPINION

• The Hill: Carbon capture: The road less traveled, the path to economic and climate success

• Wall Street Journal: Red States Have Slowed the ESG Juggernaut

• The Hill: On climate change adaptation, consult the original experts: Indigenous people 
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Press release: National Farmers Union Statement in Support of Landowner Rights and Community Input 
6/14/23

“Today, the National Farmers Union (NFU) Board issued the following statement in support of landowner rights, expressing the need for community input throughout the process of infrastructure and development projects: “The rights of landowners and their communities to make decisions for themselves are a core principle for our organization. Local control is a core concept that keeps family farms and rural communities vibrant. NFU strongly supports the rights of landowners and opposes the use of eminent domain as a means of transferring control of land from one private interest to another. We stand by the rights of landowners and local communities to make decisions for themselves. Family farmers and their communities should not be taken for granted.” National Farmers Union advocates on behalf of more than 220,000 American farm families and their communities. We envision a world in which farm families and their communities are respected, valued, and enjoy economic prosperity and social justice.” 

AgWeek: Carbon capture advocacy group recruits prominent ag leaders
Jeff Beach, 6/16/23

“Some prominent names in agriculture are associated with a new group advocating for carbon capture pipeline projects,” AgWeek reports. “Tom Buis, former leader of the National Farmers Union and CEO of Growth Energy, is now the CEO of the American Carbon Alliance. He told AgWeek the group has formed to tell the story of carbon capture “and what that means not just to the ethanol industry, to farmers, to rural communities — everyone has a stake in the rural economy.” “…The projects have been met with some resistance from environmentalists and some landowners who don’t want a hazardous materials pipeline on their property. “Debates are often around more emotional issues, and not about that economic opportunity that exists out there,” Buis told AgWeek in an interview from Omaha, Nebraska, where he was attending the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, three days of meetings and panel discussions on ethanol June 12-14… “Peterson told AgWeek he and Buis were recruited to head up the alliance, “try to educate the public, and farmers and agriculture about the profitability and potential of carbon as another revenue source in agriculture.” The Inflation Reduction Act included tax credits, known as 45Q and 45Z tax credits, to stimulate investment in carbon capture and storage, providing potentially millions of dollars for companies that develop such projects. “All of a sudden, carbon is profitable,” Peterson said in an interview at the Midwest Agricultural Summit in West Fargo, North Dakota, on June 6… “Peterson told AgWeek the group is open to other solutions for reducing the carbon score for the ethanol industry. A study commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association pointed to renewable energy at ethanol plants and carbon capture as the top ways to lower that score. Peterson told AgWeek other technologies may be there someday, but “right now, it looks like the best solution is the pipeline.”

Charlotte News & Observer: With new hope from Congress, gas pipeline project in NC may be revived. What we know. 
ADAM WAGNER, 6/15/23

“The MVP Southgate project may have been revived,” the Charlotte News & Observer reports. “The developers of the proposed MVP Southgate gas pipeline have asked federal regulators for more time to complete the project. Thursday, a lawyer for the company that owns the Mountain Valley Pipeline project sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking it to extend the mandatory completion date of the project three years, to June 18, 2026… “That approval also appears to have revived the MVP Southgate project, a proposed 75-mile stretch of pipeline running southwest from Chatham before entering North Carolina just northeast of Eden… “Mountain Valley is targeting to complete construction and commence service on the Mainline System by the end of 2023. After resolving Mainline System permitting, Mountain Valley can resume its permitting efforts for the Southgate Project,” Matthew Eggerding, a lawyer for Equitrans Midstream, wrote in the letter, which was first reported by NC Newsline… “Under the proposed law, DEQ would have 30 days to deem an application complete and another 30 to approve or deny it. In an email to members of the Senate Rules Committee, Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton said the proposed changes were intended to aid the pipeline and would sharply curtail the involvement of both local governments and the public. “These permit processes are put in place to protect not only our environmental resources, but our communities who depend on them. This bill is meant to serve only the investors of the MVP Southgate project,” Sutton wrote. 

Financial Times: Pipeline boss says US green energy shift will need more natural gas
Derek Brower, 6/15/23

“Soaring demand for electricity generated by wind and solar will create more need for natural gas infrastructure to prevent blackouts, according to the boss of pipeline giant Williams Companies,” the Financial Times reports. “The comments from Alan Armstrong, Williams’s chief executive, run counter to climate policies that aim to squeeze fossil fuels such as natural gas out of US power grids. Clean energy sources such as wind and solar, backed by storage batteries, have plummeted in cost and gained electricity market share. But as policies meant to increase the use of electricity in cars and heavy industry also increase the load on the grid, more pipelines will be needed to feed fuel to gas-fired generators that can back up intermittent renewable systems, argued Armstrong. “Nobody’s ever going to be comfortable saying: ‘Oh, we’re willing to risk that for five days, we don’t have wind or solar and we’re not going to have a back-up’,” he told the Financial Times. Williams, with a market value of $37bn, is paid to transport gas but does not sell the fuel itself… “It’s great to have renewables, and we’ll be able to continue to reduce emissions and the amount of gas that we burn, the fossil fuels that we burn . . . but it doesn’t change the need for incremental [gas] capacity as we electrify,” Armstrong said… “Armstrong also expressed sympathy for climate activists who are opposed to two technologies that feature prominently in many clean energy scenarios: hydrogen as well as carbon capture and storage. Environmentalists were fighting hydrogen and carbon capture “for good reasons”, he said, because plants to make hydrogen and capture the CO₂ would themselves consume significant amounts of electricity. “If you throw [electricity demand] from hydrogen and carbon capture into that, you’re going to be way outpacing your ability to build renewables. And so you’re actually going to be burning more and more fossil fuels to provide hydrogen.” Williams is involved in five so-called hydrogen hubs and has said pipeline companies could benefit from new demand for shipping carbon dioxide and hydrogen around the country. “We would benefit as much as anybody, frankly, if [hydrogen] were to become a big market,” Armstrong said. “But it just doesn’t make economic sense and it doesn’t make any sense from the emissions perspective.”

Charlotte Observer: Colonial Pipeline Co. will send treated water from massive gasoline spill into NC creek
JOE MARUSAK, 6/15/23

“North Carolina environmental regulators this week approved Colonial Pipeline Co.’s plan to remove contaminants in recovered groundwater from a massive gasoline spill near Huntersville and discharge the treated water into a creek,” the Charlotte Observe reports. “Two million gallons of gasoline seeped from a crack in the wall of an underground pipeline in Mecklenburg County’s Oehler Nature Preserve in 2020, Colonial Pipeline Co. officials revealed in an updated estimate last summer… “The new amount exceeded the company’s previous estimate of the leak by 800,000 gallons and followed a Mecklenburg County judge approving a $5 million settlement of a state lawsuit over the spill. The order required Colonial Pipeline to release an updated spill estimate… “On Wednesday, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality officials said Colonial received a state permit that lets the company build an on-site treatment plant and discharge the treated groundwater into North Prong Clark Creek, in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River basin… ‘The permit includes stricter treatment limits of harmful chemicals in the recovered gasoline and increased monitoring of what’s released into the creek, according to an NCDEQ news release.’

Saanich News: Fifth Trans Mountain pipeline-related sinkhole since April concerns B.C. farmer
MATTHEW CLAXTON, 6/15/23

“The fifth sinkhole to appear on or near Langley Township Councillor Rob Rindt’s property has him worried about the safety of his family and staff,” Saanich News reports. “The sinkhole appeared Saturday, June 10 near the site where contractors for Trans Mountain are drilling underground as part of the extension of the oil pipeline that runs from Alberta to a refinery in Burnaby. “It just seems to be getting deeper, and the whole road is sinking into the ground,” Rindt, who owns a turf farm on several properties on either side of 240th Street, as well as the Roots and Wings Distillery, told the News. The first four sinkholes appeared on his property or nearby in April and May, and damaged 240th Street to such an extent that traffic had to be restricted to one lane on 240th Street between 80th Avenue and 72nd Avenue for several days in May while repairs were made. The new sinkhole is on the edge of Rindt’ s property near the road, and he estimates it was up to 30 feet deep. Several truckloads of gravel have been dumped into it, but Rindt believes it’s still sinking somewhat… “He told the News he was planning to talk to his lawyer about the situation. “My main concern at this location is, what’s going to happen in the future, and are they going to fix it up properly?” Rindt told the News. His staff work in the fields there, and his children play on that land, Rindt said. He’s concerned about future sinkholes creating a hazard for them… “Meanwhile, the project has already missed its expected completion date of 2022, and is now projected to be up and running in early 2024. That delay has impacted the landowners whose properties are on the pipeline routes. In Langley, for example, the Redwoods Golf Course is closed a year longer than planned, although Hawley said it is now looking like things are on schedule and the course will open for late spring next year.”

Bloomberg: Pipeline Filed Tax Suit in Wrong Court, Mississippi Justices Say
Perry Cooper, 6/15/23

“A Mississippi county convinced the state high court Thursday that a pipeline company improperly challenged a $16 million property tax assessment in another county’s courts,” Bloomberg reports. “The Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County should have transferred the case against Rankin County to one of the latter’s courts under a state statute that controls the venue of suits against counties, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP subsidiary Gulf South Pipeline Company LLC owns an underground natural gas storage facility in Rankin County and other property elsewhere in the state.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Press release: Capito, Sinema, Murkowski, Whitehouse Introduce Bipartisan Carbon Capture Legislation
6/15/23

“Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, joined U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) to introduce bipartisan legislation to support the development of innovative technologies that ensure cleaner, healthier, and safer air and environment. The bipartisan Carbon Removal, Efficient Agencies, Technology Expertise (CREATE) Act boosts research and development of carbon removal technologies that advance global sustainability by removing harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the air. “This CREATE Act will provide a useful supplement to my many efforts to support industrial carbon reduction, in this case by encouraging collaborative efforts to advance carbon management technologies,” Senator Whitehouse said. “I’m pleased to be again working with colleagues from both sides of the aisle on evidence-based legislation to lead the planet to safety in the race against climate change.” Research shows that Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) can play a significant role addressing excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Since CDR is early in its development, robust use of CDR calls for a new comprehensive federal research, development, and demonstration program. The bipartisan CREATE Act would develop a comprehensive federal initiative for CDR by: Creating within the National Science and Technology Council, a new interagency group on Large-Scale Carbon Management that will be co-chaired by the Office of Science and Technology Policy and officials from the Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Establishing four working groups within the Large-Scale Carbon Management interagency group to pursue a technological and detailed CDR research and demonstration initiative across several federal agencies. The working groups will coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget to enhance existing research programs as well as establish new ones to deliver commercial-ready CDR innovations within a decade. Require that the working groups focus on carbon removal in the oceans, atmosphere, and land using both natural and technological approaches.”

E&E News: Supreme Court water ruling could transform NEPA, ESA
Pamela King, 6/15/23

“In its blockbuster Clean Water Act ruling last month, the Supreme Court did more than ratchet back EPA oversight of the nation’s wetlands — the justices may have also removed key pathways to endangered species protections and climate reviews of major federal projects,” E&E News reports. “Sackett v. EPA, a case about whether an Idaho couple illegally filled in a wetland while building their dream home, set forth a massive cutback of federal safeguards for wetlands without a clear surface connection to traditionally navigable waters like lakes and streams — going further to restrict the Clean Water Act’s scope than even the Trump administration had proposed. Removing the need for many projects to obtain permits under Section 404 of the statute, which governs dredge-and-fill discharges, would also erase important triggers for National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act reviews, Robert Glicksman, a law professor at George Washington University, told E&E… “Both NEPA and the ESA require federal action to trigger a review, which in turn forces developers to consider their project’s effect on the environment and vulnerable species. Oftentimes, a Section 404 permit forms this federal connection. But without a Clean Water Act permit, that federal nexus — in some cases — evaporates… “While the Sackett ruling is still under review by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, the Supreme Court decision is expected to shift power over Section 404 activity from the federal to the state and local level. At present, only three states — Florida, Michigan, and New Jersey — run their own Section 404 programs, which require immense resources. Other states have sought to take over their own programs recently, sparking concerns from environmental groups who worry that push will translate to reduced protections and oversight. Projects like natural gas pipelines that require federal approvals or highways that pull federal funding might still trigger NEPA and ESA analyses, even under a reduced Section 404 permitting regime.”

Reuters: US House Judiciary leader subpoenas documents from climate groups
Ross Kerber, 6/15/23

“A U.S. congressional leader on Wednesday issued a subpoena seeking information from climate activists over antitrust issues, joining other Republicans who have criticized companies’ growing concern for environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters,” Reuters reports. “Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter to a lawyer for Boston-based sustainability nonprofit Ceres that it “appears to facilitate collusion” in potential violation of antitrust law through its work with the Climate Action 100+. Ceres is a sponsor of the latter, an investor coalition aiming to convince companies to address climate change by cutting emissions or disclosing transition details. The letter included a subpoena and states Ceres did not adequately respond to a previous information request. Various Republican state officials have also demanded documents from top asset managers and cited possible violations of antitrust laws through their work with the coalition, though they have not brought charges. Top asset managers have defended their involvement, saying they still prioritize their fiduciary duty to clients. Ceres General Counsel Mike Boudett told Reuters it intends to comply with the subpoena, and that redactions in previous material it turned over to Jordan’s committee were to comply with European privacy rules… “Nobody’s colluding with anybody. It’s like you and your friend deciding you want to get a burger so you go to a burger place,” he told Reuters.

E&E News: House approves bill to end Chevron deference
Mia McCarthy, 6/15/23

“The House approved legislation Thursday to end so-called Chevron deference,” E&E News reports. “…The “Separation of Powers Restoration Act,” H.R. 288, would end a legal doctrine giving agencies leeway to interpret vague statutes. The bill passed 220-211. “An unchecked administrative state is dangerous to the American people,” said sponsor Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.). “This is why it is imperative that Congress regain its legislative power by passing H.R. 288.” The Supreme Court case Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council birthed Chevron deference in 1984. Fitzgerald said this precedent “has paved the way for unelected bureaucrats to issue sweeping rules with no consequences.” “…The House passed another regulatory reform bill, the “REINS Act,” H.R. 277, on Wednesday. The “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act” would require congressional approval for major rules. President Joe Biden has promised to veto both bills if they reach his desk. The Senate is unlikely to take up either.”

The Hill: Democrats call Biden methane proposal ‘insufficient’
RACHEL FRAZIN, 6/15/23

“A group of Democratic senators is calling on the Biden administration to go further to address methane emissions from oil and gas production, saying the current proposed rule is “insufficient,” The Hill reports. “Specifically, the lawmakers say it does not adequately address flaring — a process by which excess gas is burned off, releasing planet-warming methane into the atmosphere.  “With respect to flaring … we believe that the approach proposed in the supplemental notice is insufficient to meet the requirements of section 111,” the senators wrote in a Thursday letter, referring to a section of the Clean Air Act. “It would also allow continued massive volumes of methane and carbon dioxide emissions from wasteful flaring of saleable gas resources,” they added… “The letter was addressed to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan. It was signed by 14 Democrats and one independent senator who caucuses with them… “State oil and gas regulations typically already prohibit ‘waste’ of gas without reason, but have, in most states, manifestly failed to prevent widespread routine flaring,” they argued in the letter. “Thus, EPA’s proposal would merely enshrine the status quo in federal regulation, allowing the massive greenhouse gas emissions from flaring to continue unabated.” The group called on the EPA to instead prohibit flaring with some narrow exemptions. The lawmakers also asked the agency to propose new regulations “as soon as possible” that deal with an Inflation Reduction Act program that provides companies with financial assistance to reduce their methane emissions and also fines those that emit large quantities of the gas.”

E&E News: Democrats Float Bill Pushing EPA On Methane Reduction
Kelsey Brugger, 6/15/23

“Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday to get EPA to better study methane emissions,” E&E News reports. “It is part of their broader push to get the administration to speed up implement of the Inflation Reduction Act. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced the “Methane Emissions Research Act,” which would require EPA to launch a pilot study to use “direct measurements” to quantify methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure. The lawmakers asserted EPA has long been known to undercount emissions, and the Democrats’ big climate law included provisions to tackle the problem.”

Washington Post: Green hydrogen subsidies spark fierce debate among advocates
Vanessa Montalbano, 6/16/23

“As the Biden administration drafts its plan for doling out one of the most lucrative tax breaks in the Inflation Reduction Act, tensions are flaring among clean-energy advocates over the direction it should take,” the Washington Post reports. “The fight is over green hydrogen, pitched as a super fuel that can power factories and ships and airplanes with zero carbon footprint. It takes an immense amount of energy to make. A lobbying effort spearheaded by industry group American Clean Power Association urges the administration to take a flexible approach that would not initially require hourly tracking of the electrons flowing from the grid to the production of such green hydrogen, which several scholars say is crucial to making sure the fuel is not made with dirty fossil energy. “If government requirements are too burdensome at the outset, we will never build a green hydrogen industry,” Jason Grumet, the association’s chief executive, told the Post. “The stakes are high to get this right.” The group’s proposal, released Thursday, drew a sharp rebuke from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as well as the senior climate officer at Google, who warned the blueprint could result in this nascent industry actually worsening the climate crisis.   “ACP’s recommendations concede far too much to a few companies hungry for billions in tax credits and careless toward emissions or an actual clean hydrogen market,” Rachel Fakhry, director of emerging technologies at NRDC, told the Post. “Study after study has shown that even if new [renewable energy] supply is required, ignoring hourly matching would drive substantial emissions increases, be a monster gamble on our electric grid, and undermine the industry’s credibility.”

STATE UPDATES

WBUR: To end its reliance on planet-warming oil, Maine pushes for heat pumps and weatherization
Annie Ropeik, 6/16/23

“New Englanders are already making their heating fuel plans for next season after an expensive winter. In Massachusetts, a quarter of that heat comes from pricey, carbon-intensive oil,” WBUR reports. “But Massachusetts’ northern neighbor Maine relies more heavily on oil. And there, transitioning to new kinds of heat is proving challenging — even as it’s critical for the state’s climate goals. While the rest of Maine’s economy has cut its greenhouse gas emissions, the residential sector’s footprint is flat or growing… “Weatherization specialist BJ Estey did what’s called a “blower door test” — depressurizing the house to see where it was letting cold air in and warm air out. It identified leaks around window frames and through hidden cracks in the drywall, which all add up. “He has about roughly a one by two-foot square hole that’s wide open in the home,” Estey told WBUR. “It’s the equivalent of having a window open year-round.” “…So it’s really important to make sure that the houses are energy efficient so they’re not burning as much oil, so they’re not spending as much money on oil and fuel,” Melissa Runshe, who leads energy programs for the county and also happens to be Moody’s next door neighbor, told WBUR… “Maine’s reliance on the fuel is partly because of the state’s geography. Its population is spread across huge rural areas, with little access to natural gas pipelines. Other states that use a lot of oil — like Massachusetts — have been better able to switch their heat to relatively lower-carbon gas.”

Billings Gazette: Federal oil and gas sales withdrawn in Montana
Tom Lutey, 6/14/23

“A slate of Montana parcels proposed for a federal oil and gas lease sale in September has been shelved following public concern that new lease laws were being ignored,” the Billings Gazette reports. “The Bureau of Land Management at May’s end pulled the parcels after environmental groups pointed out that leasing laws rewritten in 2022 weren’t being followed in many cases. The bureau prescribed sales terms in internal memos last November but didn’t follow through. “I think there were seven internal memorandums that BLM issued, BLM national, in the weeks following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, basically saying ‘here is how the BLM is going to work with the provisions in IRA until we get rulemaking. Here are the policies and procedures that we’re going to have (district offices) follow,’” Aubrey Bertram, attorney for Wild Montana, which was among several groups weighing in on the sale, told the Gazette… “For example, 10 of the 26 parcels in Montana were anonymously nominated for sale, a practice that was supposed to end as Congress passed laws to reform a system that had run aground… “Over the years, there had been too many parcels leased to bidders without first determining whether the bidders were credible. In many cases leases were issued in the absence of competitive bidding, sometimes at rates as low as $2. Parcels that drew no takers were repeatedly nominated. Cleanup bonds weren’t adjusted upward to cover the costs of remediating abandoned wells. There are no oil drilling rigs in operation in Montana today.”

EXTRACTION

New York Times: The World’s Demand for Oil Is Set to Slow
Stanley Reed, 6/14/23

“World demand for oil is likely to drop off sharply over the next five years, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday, as a shift to electric vehicles and other cleaner technologies brings growth in global oil use almost to a complete halt,” the New York Times reports. “The shift to a clean energy economy is picking up pace, with a peak in global oil demand in sight before the end of this decade,” said Fatih Birol, the agency’s executive director, in a news release. The assessment, which foresees global gasoline use declining after 2026, will make gloomy reading for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other petroleum producers. It raises the long-debated prospect of “peak oil” — the point at which oil production peaks and starts to decline — but in this case the leveling off would be due to weakening demand rather than shrinking petroleum supplies… “Unease about prospects for global oil demand may account for this market malaise, analysts say. The agency’s report is likely to add to fears among oil traders that China, for decades the key driver of global oil demand growth, no longer performs this role… “The International Energy Agency, which monitors energy trends on behalf of industrialized nations, predicts that by the end of 2028, more than 155 million electric vehicles will have been sold globally, half of them in China. These vehicles will mean that three million barrels a day of oil a day that might have been consumed will instead remain in the ground… “The agency is more positive for oil’s short-term outlook than some other forecasters. The report predicts that world demand will jump by a strong 2.4 million barrels a day in 2023, a modest increase from a report published last month and a view that some analysts consider overly optimistic. In later years, though, the agency sees growth trailing off, especially in road transportation, thanks to increasing numbers of electric vehicles, the growth of so-called biofuels (which generate energy from sources like agricultural waste and used cooking oil) and greater efficiency. Gasoline consumption, which accounts for about a quarter of world demand for oil products, will decline after 2026, the agency forecasts. The growing aviation industry, for which substituting for oil is difficult, and demand for petrochemicals (used to make a wide variety of materials including plastic bags, patio furniture and auto parts) will be the mainstays of any future growth, the agency says.”

Reuters: UN chief to fossil fuel firms: stop trying to ‘knee-cap’ climate progress
Michelle Nichols, 6/15/23

“U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that countries must start phasing out oil, coal and gas – not just emissions – and demanded fossil fuel companies “cease and desist” measures that aim to “knee-cap” climate progress,” Reuters reports. “The problem is not simply fossil fuel emissions. It’s fossil fuels – period,” Guterres told reporters. “The solution is clear: The world must phase out fossil fuels in a just and equitable way – moving to leave oil, coal and gas in the ground.” His remarks come after the United Arab Emirates, which will host U.N. climate change negotiations (COP28) later this year, said that talks should focus on phasing out emissions, not fossil fuels. Negotiators are struggling to agree to an agenda for COP28, due to start Nov. 30, which could put talks at risk. Some wealthy Western states and climate-afflicted island nations have been pushing for a phase out of fossil fuels, while resource-rich countries have campaigned to keep drilling. “Fossil fuel companies must also cease and desist influence peddling and legal threats designed to knee-cap progress. I am thinking particularly of recent attempts to subvert net-zero alliances, invoking anti-trust legislation,” Guterres said. Republican politicians in some U.S. states pushing back against sustainability efforts have charged that companies in such climate alliances and using environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards could be breaking anti-trust laws by aligning their policies. “Governments are pivotal in setting the record straight. They must help by providing clear reassurance: Collective climate action does not violate anti-trust – it upholds the public trust,” Guterres said after meeting with a group of civil society climate leaders from around the world.

Reuters: Shell makes risky pitch for the middle ground
Yawen Chen, 6/14/23

“Wael Sawan’s big debut is here. The new Chief Executive of $195 billion Shell on Wednesday crystallised a well-flagged strategy that will make it more like U.S. rivals like Chevron and Exxon Mobil, while attempting to retain its credibility with investors more focused on environmental, social and governance concerns. He risks getting stuck in the middle,” Reuters reports. “…One part of his fix is to up payouts to shareholders to 30% to 40% of cash flow from operations, against 20% to 30% now… “The red meat for fossil fuel-mad investors, however, is his production targets. Sawan refrained from setting new targets for oil production cuts, pledging to “stabilise” output through 2030, effectively retiring a goal set in 2021 to reduce output by 1% to 2% annually from a 2019 peak. While the latter target is seen internally as having been achieved through divestments, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, it’s still a shift. At the same time, Sawan wants to flag he hasn’t forgotten climate change. He will invest $10 billion to $15 billion in so-called low-carbon solutions like biofuels and hydrogen between 2023 and 2025. That suggests a quiet retreat from areas like wind and solar, where European rivals BP and TotalEnergies have set themselves 2030 capacity targets and which are seen as less profitable. The problem is Sawan’s red meat may still seem a bit undercooked for oil-mad investors. Chevron plans to grow oil and gas production by more than 3% annually through 2027, but Jefferies reckons Shell’s compound annual growth will only hit 2% to 2030, and only if discoveries in Namibia make progress… “Equally, Wednesday’s plan will disappoint climate-focused shareholders, who currently form roughly 15% of Shell’s investor register based on recent votes on emission cuts.”

Petroleum Economist: ConocoPhillips in transition
6/15/23

“Can you talk about what ConocoPhillips is doing on this front, in terms of scope one and scope two emissions?” Petroleum Economist reports. “Bij Agarwal, president of ConocoPhillips Canada: ConocoPhillips’ ‘triple mandate’ is focused on meeting the energy transition pathway demand, delivering competitive returns, and achieving our net-zero operational emissions ambition by 2050… “And at the Surmont oil sands field, we see a credible opportunity for material operational emissions reductions using the CCS pipeline and hub proposed by the Pathways Alliance… “The emissions reduction projects that have showed early success are using a collaborative model where governments co-invest alongside industry. In the Netherlands and Norway, for example, CCS projects are receiving public support for up to three-quarters of the cost of the carbon-capture investment… “How important are technologies such as CCS and hydrogen in the oil and gas industry of the future? Agarwal: Hydrogen has an important role to play in decarbonising the global economy… “In Canada, ConocoPhillips is proud to be a member of the Pathways Alliance—its six member companies are working together and with governments to capture CO₂ from oil sands production facilities and store it safely and securely deep underground… “Together, we are developing an actionable approach to address emissions, while also preserving the more than $3tn the oil sands are expected to contribute to Canada’s GDP over the next 30 years.”

Press release: Indigenous Nations and Ecojustice urge federal government to strengthen the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act
6/15/23

“The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN), and Ecojustice welcome the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act (Bill C-50), which was introduced in Parliament today. We are calling for amendments to it that will centre Indigenous Peoples as leaders in the transition to a sustainable, net-zero economy. By tabling this legislation, the federal government has taken an important step to introduce a governance framework for the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy… “However, improvements are necessary for this legislation to live up to its potential to provide Indigenous Peoples, and impacted workers and communities with the guidance and tools necessary to thrive in a low-carbon future. For example, the proposed legislation does not include mechanisms that ensure Indigenous Peoples have a central role in planning and implementing the transition. This overlooks the opportunity for the federal government to progress towards meaningful reconciliation that affirms Indigenous peoples’ right to self-governance, with Indigenous Nations treated as equitable partners in planning for the future of their lands and people. The transition to a net-zero economy must be inclusive and equitable, ensuring the workers and communities who will be directly affected shape the transition in the places where they live and work… “Brian Fung, Manager, Government Relations at ACFN said: “As northern, land-based communities, we have been seeing the impacts of the climate crisis for years. The recent forest fires in Fort Chipewyan, is just the latest example, and it’s high time the federal government takes action to coordinate the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy, in partnership with Indigenous Nations. This legislation is a first step, but it needs to consider those most impacted, and must go much further.”

Press release: Gibson Energy expands liquids infrastructure platform with acquisition of Texas Gulf Coast crude oil export facility for US$1.1 billion, announces concurrent $350 million subscription receipt bought deal offering
6/14/23

“Gibson Energy Inc. announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the membership interests of South Texas Gateway Terminal LLC for a total purchase price of US$1.1 billion in cash, subject to closing adjustments. Through the Transaction, Gibson acquires the South Texas Gateway Terminal which is positioned as one of the most competitive liquids terminal and export facilities globally with direct pipeline connections to low-cost, long reserve-life resource supply, and very large crude carrier (“VLCC”) capabilities. The Transaction implies a multiple of less than 9x the projected forward Adjusted EBITDA and is immediately accretive, with DCF per share accretion in the mid-teens… “STGT is a newly built, high-quality crude oil export facility, operating a deep-water, open access marine terminal in Ingleside, Texas at the mouth of the Corpus Christi Bay. The Terminal was officially placed in-service and loaded its first vessel in July 2020. In March 2021, STGT completed the final construction phase of incremental storage facilities bringing the total terminalling capacity to 8.6 million barrels of crude oil across 20 tanks. The Terminal is connected to the Permian and Eagle Ford basins through multiple, newly-built pipelines and is strategically positioned to connect these basins to global exports. With two deep-water docks that enable the simultaneous loading of two VLCCs and a permitted throughput capacity of 1 mmbbl/d, STGT is the second largest U.S. crude oil export terminal by capacity and accounted for approximately 12% of the United States’ total crude oil exports in 2023 year-to-date.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

E&E News: ESG ‘hurts the poor,’ conservatives say. Experts don’t buy it.
Avery Ellfeldt, 6/15/23

“Conservatives are leveraging a new argument against ESG: It’s hurting poor families,” E&E News reports. “Energy analysts tell E&E the criticism lacks any supporting evidence. But it builds on Republicans’ intensifying opposition to environmental, social and governance investing, which refers to the practice of considering risks like climate change when making financial decisions. Mandy Gunasekara, a former Trump EPA official, called ESG a “barrier to upward mobility” in a congressional hearing last week. That argument was echoed by Jason Isaac, director of a pro-fossil-fuels initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “This is just making energy more expensive, not only here in the United States but around the world,” said Isaac, director of the conservative group’s Life:Powered initiative. “That’s the number one thing we message,” he added in an interview this week with E&E. “Expensive energy hurts the poor.” ESG has not played a meaningful role in exacerbating oil and gas prices or energy burdens for low-income households, experts tell E&E. And Gunasekara and Isaac didn’t provide any evidence directly connecting ESG to high gas and electricity costs.”

DemocracyNow: South African Activists Take Aim at Standard Bank in Fight to Stop East African Pipeline
6/14/23

“Climate activists in Johannesburg, South Africa, protested at the offices of Standard Bank during its annual shareholder meeting Monday, demanding the company end its support for the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline,” DemocracyNow reports. “The 900-mile pipeline would carry crude oil from Uganda to Tanzania before being exported to refineries in Rotterdam. France’s TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation are behind EACOP, working with Ugandan and Tanzanian state-owned oil firms. Kumi Naidoo, the former head of Greenpeace International and Amnesty International, and Extinction Rebellion activist Malik Dasoo were forcibly removed from Standard Bank during their peaceful protest.”

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Bloomberg: A Glendale woman’s greenwashing lawsuit against Delta Air Lines aims to set a precedent
KENDRA PIERRE-LOUIS, 6/14/23

“As tranquil instrumental music plays over gauzy images of nature, a woman’s voice-over begins. “Isn’t it a paradox,” she wonders aloud, “that the love for this world that gets us out in it sometimes leaves behind the things that can harm it? Flight by flight, we broaden our views. We gain new perspectives. And now, flight by flight, we can make a difference,” Bloomberg reports. “The commercial, released by Delta Air Lines in 2021, goes on to tout the company’s commitment to “becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral airline on a global basis.” It’s a pledge Delta debuted in February 2020, alongside a plan to spend $1 billion over the next decade mitigating its greenhouse gas emissions. Now that pledge is the focal point of a class-action lawsuit arguing that Delta’s carbon neutrality claims amount to little more than greenwashing. “Delta’s representations of carbon neutrality are provably false and misleading,” reads the lawsuit filed May 30 on behalf of any California resident who has flown on Delta since March 2020. Plaintiff Mayanna Berrin, a writer at Nickelodeon, told the Associated Press last week that she had “felt comfortable paying more” for a Delta flight “because I was neutralizing [the carbon dioxide emissions] I needed to travel for work or to see my family.” “…At the center of the suit is the airline’s claim to carbon neutrality, which rests in part on its use of carbon offsets… “Delta is an apt defendant because “they’re suggesting that it’s OK to take this airplane flight in light of the global challenge of climate change, because we’re buying these offsets,” Shelley Welton, a professor of law and energy policy at the University of Pennsylvania, told Bloomberg. “It’s potentially creating a sense in its customers that it has dealt with its share of the problem, when in fact, I don’t think that is a claim that’s very well aligned with science.” Welton described the lawsuit as “one of the first of its kind that we’ve seen in the U.S.”

Enbridge: Celebrating Juneteenth
6/16/23

“Juneteenth, which is a shorthand for June nineteenth, has been observed throughout Texas and other pockets of the American South for over a century and became more widely celebrated in recent years. It is also known by other names, including Freedom Day and Emancipation Day,” according to Enbridge. “Sharing our stories helps us find connections and build understanding as we work toward a more inclusive workplace. Hear from two Houston-based Enbridge employees, Jessica and Tiffany, about the significance of Juneteenth in their communities…”

OPINION

The Hill: Carbon capture: The road less traveled, the path to economic and climate success
Mark Gordon, the 33rd governor of Wyoming, served as the state treasurer from 2012-2019 and is serving his second term as governor, 6/15/23

“…Pursuing net-zero carbon solutions, such as carbon sequestration utilization and storage (CCUS), requires innovative thinking and problem-solving,” Mark Gordon writes for The Hill. “…Overly prescriptive regulation thwarts innovation and slows progress toward net-zero carbon solutions by creating bureaucracy, reducing flexibility and disincentivizing creativity… “There is a clear penchant on one side of our national political divide for regulating fossil fuels out of existence. A corresponding avalanche of federal rules has targeted fossil fuels ostensibly to address climate issues. These include novel implementations of the ozone transport rule, duplicative power plant emission restrictions and tailpipe regulations. Rules like these can inhibit energy development, undermine U.S. energy independence and increase energy costs for everyday people without diminishing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere… “Any administration serious about solving climate issues would not limit its options by evincing a bias against specific energy sources but would allow for performance-based rules following objective scientific analysis… “While nuclear ranked the best, natural gas and coal combined with CCUS also checked nearly every box in the DOE’s seven criteria as effective in providing the clean, reliable and dispatchable base power America requires. The only criterion CCUS technologies did not meet was cost competitiveness today, which is where innovation kicks in… “Ignoring CCUS as a viable option to decarbonize the grid creates an energy gap. Coal-fired plants are slated for premature shuttering before alternative resources are fully developed. This has resulted in higher-priced electricity and higher fuel prices and predictions of power shortages, brownouts and blackouts. In their haste to radically transition away from fossil fuels to take only one road, regulators ignore the consumer, environmental degradation, community sustainability and national security… “Carbon capture faces criticism from naysayers on the popular road of “keep it in the ground.” However, this safe and proven technology is already being used. CCUS has been around for nearly 50 years… “We in Wyoming care deeply about our natural heritage because we live close to it and appreciate the delicacy of powering our nation without sacrificing our home. It would be my honor to show you what Wyoming is doing to be a leader on this front. “

Wall Street Journal: Red States Have Slowed the ESG Juggernaut
Andy Puzder, a former CEO of CKE Restaurants, is chairman of 2ndVote Value Investments and a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, 6/15/23

“States have seized the initiative in resisting environmental, social and governance investing,” Andy Puzder writes for the Wall Street Journal. “These legislative efforts have been so successful that the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance recently published an article titled “It’s Time to Call a Truce in the Red State/Blue State ESG Culture War.” ESG advocates are understandably concerned that what looked like a juggernaut is suddenly facing stiff opposition. But that’s no reason to slow the effort. ESG either protects the retirement assets of hard working Americans or, as states are increasingly concluding, it doesn’t. Last year the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Heritage Foundation jointly proposed model legislation to stem the rise in ESG investing. Their proposal has served as the basis for states to require that asset managers focus exclusively on maximizing returns. These 10 states combined—Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia—hold more than $500 billion in pension fund assets… “These laws have broader implications. They thrust into the spotlight the inconsistency that states differ in a basic understanding of fiduciary duties. Even in California and New York, the law requires that fiduciaries exercise their duties “solely in the interest” of the beneficiaries of their funds and for the “exclusive purpose” of providing benefits. Yet their employees may be unwittingly sacrificing financial gain to advance progressive causes favored by state officials and asset managers. ESG supporters lobbied hard against the anti-ESG bills, claiming they would end up lowering returns. Both sides can’t be right. Either advancing an ESG agenda complies with the duty to act solely in beneficiaries’ best interests, or it doesn’t… “With the momentum now seized by conservative lawmakers, there may be an opportunity to bring some common sense back to blue states. One unfavorable court decision could subject ESG-advocating trustees and investment managers to very substantial class-action lawsuits.”

The Hill: On climate change adaptation, consult the original experts: Indigenous people 
Marcos A. Moreno M.D. is a resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University, and an enrolled Member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe from the Pascua Yaqui Reservation in Southern Arizona, 6/15/23

“…As climate change advances, drought and extreme heat plague vast areas of the country. While the Biden administration has taken important steps to address climate change, a key group has been left out of the conversation: Indigenous people,” Marcos A. Moreno writes for The Hill. “The original Americans — particularly those of us from the desert southwest — have a millennium’s worth of knowledge to offer on heat and drought mitigation practices, as well as lessons on overall sustainability. The administration should seek to establish a formalized relationship between the National Climate Task Force and Indigenous Nations of America.  My people (Yaqui/Hiaki/Yoeme) historically roamed the area between northern California and the Mexican Yucatan. However, most of our population is concentrated in the Sonoran Desert regions of Arizona and Mexico. This is an ecosystem that we and other groups managed to sustainably cultivate for thousands of years, despite annual rainfall often not exceeding 12 inches… “Today, having lived away from my tribal community for more than a decade to train as a scientist and physician and studying environmental science, I have noted major knowledge gaps in the contemporary teaching of climate science. Indigenous knowledge could lend critical insight and perspectives on sustainability. In fact, the value brought to the table by the peoples who first cultivated and adapted to the Americas cannot be overstated… “These time-honored practices could inform climate adaptation today… “One step in the right direction would be to allow Haaland to broker formalized collaboration between the National Climate Task Force and tribal nations such as her own Laguna Pueblo peoples. Collaboration with the National Council of American Indians, which has a committee dedicated to climate change, would be another way to bring the perspectives and voices of Native people to the national stage. Failure to include Indigenous perspectives in climate action risks further silencing of Native American voices, a history we should not repeat. We should act now, while we still have the time, support and people in place to do so.”