EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/23/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• AgWeek: Summit says Iowa permit could come by year’s end; opponents decry new ‘fast track’ schedule

• Radio Iowa: Some state lawmakers to ask Utilities Board to slow Summit Carbon pipeline process

• KELO: Iowa farmers voice complaint with Carbon Pipeline

• KGAN: Angry landowners call on IUB to delay final hearing for Summit CO2 pipeline after date gets set for August

• Press release: BEK TV Produces Series of Reports Regarding CO2 Pipeline

• E&E News: Mountain Valley Pipeline Will Run Far Below Capacity – Analysis 

• Law360: Enviro Groups Challenge Louisiana Permit For Gas Pipeline

• Urban Milwaukee: New Oil Pipeline Planned Through Milwaukee’s South Side

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Reuters: Energy Dept. refuses Energy Transfer’s rehearing request for LNG project

• Natural Gas Intelligence: Lake Charles LNG Appeal Denied, Setting Stage for Legal Battle Over Export Extensions

• The Hill: Proposed rule requires railroads to notify first responders in 10-mile radius of derailments 

• TIME: Why the Sierra Club’s Ben Jealous is Targeting Red States

STATE UPDATES

• The Energy Mix: Fossil Companies Face $50B Lawsuit Over 2021 Heat Dome Deaths

• ExxonMobil: Scaling up carbon capture and community investments in Louisiana

• Washington Post: Three states just barred utilities from charging customers for lobbying

• KUSA: State takes first step to hold Commerce City refinery accountable for pollution

• Mlive.com: Consumers Energy opens state-of-the-art natural gas training facility in Flint

EXTRACTION

• Guardian: Climate campaigner takes Surrey oil drilling case to supreme court

• InsideClimate News: Carbon Credit Market Seizes On a New Opportunity: Plugging Oil and Gas Wells

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Press release: Church of England Pensions Board disinvests from Shell and remaining oil and gas holdings

• Associated Press: Paris summit aims to shake up the financial system. It will test leaders’ resolve on climate

• Associated Press: Climate activist Nakate urges rich countries to cancel debt, grant climate finance at Paris summit

OPINION

• The Hill: Fighting for their lives: Why children are taking the battle over climate change to court
  

PIPELINE NEWS

AgWeek: Summit says Iowa permit could come by year’s end; opponents decry new ‘fast track’ schedule
Jeff Beach, 6/21/23

“A decision on a permit for the Iowa section of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline could come before the end of the year, the company says, while opponents criticized what they call a “fast track” schedule,” AgWeek reports. “…The Iowa Utilities Board schedule set a hearing to begin Aug. 22 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The board had previously set a timeline for hearings to begin in October… “Opponents say there are more than 1,000 parcels of land that have not been signed over as voluntary easements and each parcel will have to be considered individually by the IUB. They say the schedule does not allow the IUB enough time to properly do that. In a news conference on Tuesday, June 20, Jess Mazour of the Iowa Sierra Club said that the three-member board, with two members recently appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, needs more time to work through a complicated issue.” “…This fast track schedule and their unwillingness to listen to the motions of the intervening parties, including Sierra Club and landowners and counties, shows it has a strong appearance that Gov. Reynolds hand picked these two for a very specific reason, to fast track the schedule,” Mazour said.

Radio Iowa: Some state lawmakers to ask Utilities Board to slow Summit Carbon pipeline process
DAR DANIELSON, 6/20/23

“A group of landowners, lawmakers and environmentalists are speaking out after the Iowa Utilities Board announced it would move the hearing on the proposed Summit Carbon pipeline from October to August,” Radio Iowa reports. “Anna Ryon, a former attorney with the Iowa Office of Consumer Advocate, says the landowner testimony was moved to first in the hearing along with the change in the date. “So normally, that landowner participation comes at the end of hearing, when the company has already had to make its case, by putting it first. It really limits the amount of time that landowners have to prepare,” Ryon says. Ryon spoke during a conference call hosted by the Sierra Club, and says the new schedule puts the issue on the fast track, and will make it tough for landowners to find the help they need. “If they want to have an attorney, they now have two months to find any attorney and finding an attorney in Iowa, who can take on this nature of the case in two months who isn’t already representing a party in this case, is nearly impossible,” she says. Ryon says landowners are forced to sort of defend their land against eminent domain before actually hearing the pipeline company’s case. “So there are going to be a lot of facts missing. Landowners won’t have the full facts from the hearing in order to really understand what the impact of the pipeline could be on their land when they’re expected to go up and describe to the board what that impact will be,” Ryon says… “We’re going to ask [the IUB] to slow down the process and give particular attention to the due process and hearing out landowners in a fair open and deliberate manner. So we will be drafting that and putting that on the docket as soon as it is ready,” said State Representative Helena Hayes… “The Sierra Club’s Jessica Mazour says they are calling for the hearing to be delayed. She says they are concerned that with two new member on the Utilities Board, the new members are unaware of past processes and the detailed work that goes into this decision making process.”

KELO: Iowa farmers voice complaint with Carbon Pipeline
Krista Burns, 6/22/23

“Some Iowa landowners are upset that a final hearing for the Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline has been bumped up to August, instead of waiting till after the harvest season,” KELO reports. “People that don’t want the project to happen were trying to push it back until next year — especially since farmers would be tied up with harvests during October. now they say the Iowa Utilities Board is trying to fast-track things — and landowners want the board to delay the hearing. “They think August is the downtime for farmers, it’s not. I’m mad and I’m turning that into a voice and I’m speaking out,” Dan Wahl, an impacted landowner, said… “Ryon says there are almost a thousand easements to evaluate — she worries the board won’t have enough time to do their due diligence on everything.”

KGAN: Angry landowners call on IUB to delay final hearing for Summit CO2 pipeline after date gets set for August
Valeree Dunn, 6/20/23

“Some Iowa landowners are pretty upset that a final hearing for one of those carbon capture pipeline projects in Iowa has been bumped up to August, instead of waiting till after the harvest season,” KGAN reports. “Opponents were hoping to stave things off until next year, since farmers would be busy during the October date that was originally proposed. Now, they’re accusing the Iowa Utilities Board of fast-tracking the project and silencing the opposition, after the IUB set the final hearing for August 22nd in Fort Dodge. Landowners called on the IUB to delay the hearing during a press conference Tuesday. “They think August is the down time for farmers, it’s not,” said Dan Wahl, an impacted Iowan who owns land on the proposed summit route. “I’m mad and I’m turning that into a voice and I’m speaking out.” A legal expert at landowners’ presser Tuesday said there was no warning the final hearing could be moved up, except for a request by Summit at a status hearing earlier this month, asking that they get this wrapped up by the end of the year… “Ryon said she’s concerned moving the meeting up so soon shortcuts the process, puts all the burden on land owners, and deprives them of their due process rights. She also argues with nearly 1,000 easements to evaluate, the IUB won’t have enough time to do things the right way anyway.”

Press release: BEK TV Produces Series of Reports Regarding CO2 Pipeline
6/22/23

“BEK TV has begun broadcasting a new series called Capturing America’s Heartland: CO2 Pipeline. The reports explore the concerns and benefits of a proposed high-pressure carbon dioxide pipeline that would be built in close proximity to residential North Dakota.  New reports will be released every Wednesday and Friday and will re-run at various times throughout the week.  All episodes can be viewed live online at bek.news/capturingamericasheartland, or in the archives. The CO2 pipeline has been the topic of controversy among residents and rural landowners across the midwest, and particularly in North Dakota. It would transport carbon dioxide captured from ethanol plants in five Midwest states to an endpoint north and west of the Bismarck-Mandan area, in Oliver and Mercer counties. “Earlier this year, I attended a meeting where legislators were present, and a young woman boldly walked up to the microphone and started asking questions about the CO2 pipeline,” says Lori Hinz, BEK TV Host of Capturing America’s Heartland: CO2 Pipeline and No Apologies. “That moment sparked something in me. This is an issue with a lot of questions surrounding it, and I felt incredibly compelled to learn more about it and share what I learned.”

E&E News: Mountain Valley Pipeline Will Run Far Below Capacity – Analysis 
Carlos Anchondo, 6/21/23

“The contentious Mountain Valley pipeline will likely operate at an average of only 35 percent capacity once built, resulting in a ‘limited impact’ on Appalachian gas production, according to an energy analytics firm,” E&E News reports. “East Daley Analytics, a company that monitors operational risk across the oil and gas industry, predicted the pipeline would carry far below its capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day, citing the limits of the Transco gas pipeline system. The Transco system — owned by Williams Cos. Inc. — is ‘effectively’ the only pipeline that can deliver gas from the Mountain Valley pipeline to end-users, the analysis said. ‘The problem is Transco is fully contracted and often runs at or near capacity, leaving little room for the influx of gas from MVP,’ East Daley Analytics wrote. In short, the Mountain Valley pipeline ‘will not be able to run full,’ the post said. Natalie Cox, a spokesperson for the Mountain Valley project, told E&E that the pipeline ‘has been, and remains, fully subscribed under long-term contracts with a diverse group of shippers.”

Law360: Enviro Groups Challenge Louisiana Permit For Gas Pipeline
Tom Lotshaw, 6/22/23

“Two environmental groups are asking a Louisiana state judge to scrap the Pelican State’s approval of the Evangeline Pass natural gas pipeline project that the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. is pursuing in St. Bernard Parish, arguing it runs afoul of the state’s coastal regulations,” Law360 reports. 

Urban Milwaukee: New Oil Pipeline Planned Through Milwaukee’s South Side
Jeramey Jannene, 6/22/23

“A new, six-mile pipeline through Milwaukee and two suburban communities is part of a $45 million plan to eliminate 25,000 truck trips annually and lower the price of gas in northeast Wisconsin,” Urban Milwaukee reports. “U.S. Energy, formerly U.S. Oil, is pursuing construction of the pipeline as part of a larger plan to transport “refined fuel” by barge from Milwaukee to Green Bay, replacing a 120-mile pipeline that was shuttered in 2016. “It currently takes 92 tanker truck trips daily to meet consumer demand, which not only negatively impacts regional traffic and infrastructure, but also impacts fuel costs,” Mercedes Bereza, vice president of marketing for U.S. Energy parent U.S. Venture., told UM… “The company, which is pursuing state and federal grants for the project, says each barge trip would replace 500 tanker truck trips and save 13,500 gallons of fuel used in transportation… “In 2016, West Shore permanently shut down the pipeline, first constructed in 1961, after removing it from service for testing. West Shore said it closed the pipeline after inspectors found “unique conditions that require additional inspections and analysis.” It said no fuel was leaking at the time, but the pipeline was the source of a 54,600-gallon gasoline leak in 2013 that occurred in the Town of Jackson. Since the closure of the pipeline, Green Bay’s waterfront terminals have taken delivery of fuel by barge, but commonly receive fuel by truck.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Reuters: Energy Dept. refuses Energy Transfer’s rehearing request for LNG project
Curtis Williams, 6/22/23

“The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will not rehear pipeline operator Energy Transfer’s request for a second extension of its Lake Charles liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project,” Reuters reports. “The decision could spell an end to the project, according to the company’s own filings with the DOE. Energy Transfer said it has spent $350 million on the project… “In an order published on Wednesday, the DOE said it was not convinced by the arguments put forward by Energy Transfer for the second extension. The company sought the extension in part due to a variation in the design of the project to include a major carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) component. Adding CCS to the liquefaction process would necessitate amendments to Lake Charles LNG’s DOE authorizations and even a new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization, the DOE pointed out in its order… “The DOE in May denied Energy Transfer’s request for a three-year extension of its multibillion-dollar Lake Charles LNG project, saying it did not meet its criteria for granting second extensions. The decision prompted one potential customer to suspend contract talks, the company told Reuters. The DOE did give Energy Transfer some hope in its latest ruling, saying it would be open to considering another application if the company is unable to meet its export deadline in 2025.”

Natural Gas Intelligence: Lake Charles LNG Appeal Denied, Setting Stage for Legal Battle Over Export Extensions
JAMISON COCKLIN, 6/22/23

“The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will not reconsider its decision denying an Energy Transfer LP (ET) affiliate’s request to again extend the deadline to begin exports from the proposed Lake Charles LNG facility in Louisiana,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “…The proceeding has previewed the legal arguments both sides could make in a court challenge, which could have broader implications for other U.S. liquefied natural gas projects attempting to advance. It’s not certain, though, if ET will challenge DOE’s latest decision. Spokesperson Cassidy Lamb told NGI ET was disappointed with DOE’s order, but it plans to continue developing the project given “significant progress,” which may include the use of Lake Charles’ existing DOE export authorization… “DOE rejected the extension in April, noting the project failed to show good cause for the lack of progress. The agency also reaffirmed its expectations that LNG projects should start exporting the super-chilled fuel within seven years of receiving export authorization… “Lake Charles has argued that DOE has no statutory basis for imposing a seven-year deadline to begin exports… “DOE also said the seven-year deadline ensures authorization does not rely on “stale facts” and remains in the public interest to export gas worldwide… “Energy Transfer will likely challenge the decision in the federal courts, with odds of success that we think are slim at best,” Rapidan’s Alex Munton, director of the firm’s global gas service, told NGI. The case would be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Any ruling, Rapidan said, would set a precedent for challenges to future DOE export extension denials for other projects… “Around a dozen LNG projects planned in the United States and Mexico – permitted for roughly 20 Bcf/d of exports – are unlikely to move forward to construction as a result of DOE’s new position, according to a Rapidan analysis earlier this year.”

The Hill: Proposed rule requires railroads to notify first responders in 10-mile radius of derailments 
LAUREN SFORZA, 6/21/23

“The Transportation Department unveiled a new proposal Wednesday that would require railroads to notify first responders of the cargo a derailed train is carrying,” The Hill reports. “The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) proposal states when a train accident involves “the release or suspected release of hazardous material,” the railroad operating that train would need to immediately forward details of what that train is carrying to first responders in a 10-mile radius of the area. This would prepare first responders to help them understand what they are dealing with before they arrive at the accident and determine whether a more specialized response may be needed. “When railroads transport hazardous materials, they must do so safely and responsibly,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Our proposal would improve rail safety and help protect communities across the country by requiring railroads to maintain detailed, real-time information about trains carrying hazardous materials.” Large railroads already have an app, AskRail, so firefighters could look up what the cargo of each train carries — but the smaller railroads do not have an app like that. This new rule would apply to nearly 600 railroads across the country.”

TIME: Why the Sierra Club’s Ben Jealous is Targeting Red States
JUSTIN WORLAND, 6/21/23

“In the world of climate advocacy groups, the Sierra Club is perhaps best known as a grassroots, progressive heavyweight. For years, it has fought to close coal plants, one by one, and more recently the group has called on the Biden administration to do more to address climate change,” TIME reports. “So it may come as a surprise that Ben Jealous—the former NAACP head who was recently appointed as the Sierra Club’s executive director—says he wants to revamp the organization to expand its presence in red states. As part of his agenda, the organization is opening up shop in conservative parts of the country—even as it goes through a round of layoffs. And Jealous has spent many of his early days in the new job on the road in rural and conservative places. “I’m focused on building an uncomfortably large coalition,” he tells me. “If you’re comfortable in your coalition, your coalition is too small.” To understand the move, look no further than the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the landmark climate law enacted last year. The IRA has catalyzed billions of dollars in clean energy investment, much of which will go towards building clean energy infrastructure and manufacturing facilities in red states. To ensure that the money is well spent—and that the organization stays relevant—the Sierra Club needs to be on the ground everywhere. “Having a 50-state strategy is critical for us,” Jealous told TIME. “In this moment, when the power grid will be changed in all 50 states, when we are building green industry in all 50 states, the Sierra Club must be as effective and impactful as possible in all 50 states.” “…Jealous does not mince words about how the IRA is shaping his strategy at the Sierra Club. The organization has a state director in every blue state, he says, but only in a third of red states. Building up a network of local activists helps create grassroots pressure on state and local energy and climate decisions, he says. And local Sierra Club offices on the ground in states will help identify the most important cases for the organization’s legal team to pursue as they seek to ensure that states are spending IRA money effectively. “

STATE UPDATES

The Energy Mix: Fossil Companies Face $50B Lawsuit Over 2021 Heat Dome Deaths
Mitchell Beer, 6/22/23

“A county government in Oregon is suing more than a dozen fossil fuel companies for the costs it incurred in a 2021 heat emergency that killed at least 69 of its residents, in a move that could help prepare the ground for similar legal action in Canada,” The Energy Mix reports. “In a civil suit filed this afternoon in Oregon Circuit Court, Multnomah County seeks to hold colossal fossils ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, and a dozen other defendants responsible for a killer heat dome that hit the county on June 25, 2021 and drove temperatures as high as 116°F/46.7°C, up to 40°F above the daily average for the region. “The extreme heat caused the deaths of 69 people, property damage, and the significant expenditure of taxpayer monies and County resources,” the county says in a release. “This lawsuit is about accountability and fairness, and I believe the people of Multnomah County deserve both. These businesses knew their products were unsafe and harmful, and they lied about it,” County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in the release. “They have profited massively from their lies and left the rest of us to suffer the consequences and pay for the damages,” she added. “We say enough is enough.” The lawsuit claims US$50 million in actual damages from the heat dome, $1.5 billion in future damages, and $50 billion to fund an abatement model to “study, plan, and upgrade the public health care services and infrastructure that will be reasonably necessary to ‘weatherproof’ the County from future extreme heat events and to safeguard the public health.” “…On that basis, “the heat dome that cost so much life and loss was not a natural weather event,” the lawsuit states. “It did not just happen because life can be cruel, nor can it be rationalized as simply a mystery of God’s will. Rather, the heat dome was a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ decision to sell as many fossil fuel products over the last six decades as they could and to lie to the County, the public, and the scientific community about the catastrophic harm that pollution from those products into the Earth’s and the County’s atmosphere would cause.”

ExxonMobil: Scaling up carbon capture and community investments in Louisiana
6/23/23

“Our contributions to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette – a total $600,000 to fund scholarships for local high school students and outreach on key energy topics – are the latest examples of ExxonMobil’s efforts to support the progress of the communities in which we work. Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions (sixth from the left), presents a $600,000 check to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Dr. Joseph Savoie. The money will fund STEM scholarships for Vermilion Parish high school students and the university’s outreach on key energy topics. Louisiana’s Vermilion Parish will be home to a landmark CO2 transportation and storage project ExxonMobil is building to help the state’s industries reduce their emissions… “Carbon capture and storage – in which CO2 is captured and stored deep underground instead of being released into the atmosphere – is considered an essential solution for meeting net zero goals. It’s a proven technology, but will need to be deployed on a far broader scale than it is today. “Scaling up carbon capture and sequestration will require a new generation of young people skilled in math and science, technology and engineering,” said Joe Colletti, ExxonMobil Louisiana Asset Manager. “We’re excited about helping build those skills here in Louisiana.” ExxonMobil will transport and store up to 2 million metric tons a year (MTA) of CO2 from CF industries’ manufacturing site in Donaldsonville and up to 800,000 MTA from Nucor’s direct reduced iron facility in Convent. The combined total is equal to the emissions from more than 600,000 gasoline-powered cars.”

Washington Post: Three states just barred utilities from charging customers for lobbying
Maxine Joselow, 6/21/23

“Utilities across the country use money collected from customers’ monthly bills to fund their political activities, including lobbying, advertisements and trade association membership dues. That’s about to change in three states — Colorado, Connecticut and Maine — that recently passed laws to prohibit this practice,” the Washington Post reports. “Proponents of the measures, which garnered bipartisan support, say they will prevent customers from footing the bill for political activities they might oppose, including lobbying against climate policies. They acknowledge the measures probably won’t save individual consumers much money, but say they’re important transparency steps. “What we’ve seen in the last few months is a real turning point, where public officials have become aware and alarmed — appropriately — that utilities are forcing their customers to pay for their political operations,” David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog group, told the Post. While federal and state regulations already bar utilities from spending ratepayer funds on lobbying, they often use a very narrow definition of lobbying and are full of “loopholes,” Pomerantz told the Post… “The states have the power to do this themselves, but the good thing about FERC acting would be a uniform standard across all states,” Howard Crystal, legal director of the center’s Energy Justice Program, told the Post. 

KUSA: State takes first step to hold Commerce City refinery accountable for pollution
Cole Sullivan, 6/20/23

“Colorado has taken the first step in a discipline process to hold Commerce City’s Suncor oil refinery accountable for violations of state pollution rules, in a move that has become an annual exercise by the regulator,” KUSA reports. “The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment called the June 1 “compliance advisory” the first step in its enforcement process to hold the company accountable. It details more than 100 alleged violations that occurred at the state’s only oil refinery from July 2021 to June 2022.  State regulators will meet with Suncor to discuss the issues and require fixes before determining if penalties should be levied against the company. A Suncor spokesperson told KUSA the company self-reported the violations and is working with CDPHE to resolve the compliance advisory… “The compliance actions have become an annual routine for the company, with records from the state indicating orders and advisories every year since 2013.  “It hasn’t proven to help,” Ean Thomas Tafoya, who directs the Colorado chapter of environmental justice group GreenLatinos, told KUSA. “They’ve had one of the largest [fines] in the state’s history and yet they continue to have violations and more issues at this facility.” A new monthly report of pollution issues from Suncor showed an additional 14 violations from April 15 to May 15, including a spill of hazardous waste because of flooding following heavy rain last month… “I think it’s always a good step for [the state] to hold them accountable with the tools with they have, but it’s long overdue to deny the permits and move on from this facility,” Tafoya told KUSA.” 

Mlive.com: Consumers Energy opens state-of-the-art natural gas training facility in Flint
Fuad Shalhout, 6/22/23

“Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider, has a new natural gas facility in Flint. The opening of Flint Gas City, an immersive training facility for hundreds of Consumers Energy employees who build and operate natural gas infrastructure in the state, was announced on Wednesday, June 21,” Mlive.com reports. “…Consumers Energy and Michigan State Utility Workers Council partnered to develop the $10.1 million facility… “The company provides natural gas to 1.8 million customers across Michigan and is carrying out a 10-year, $11 billion plan to ensure delivery is safer, more reliable, affordable and cleaner than ever before… “Allowing our workers to learn about and practice the work they will encounter on the job in a controlled but real environment ensures they are prepared for multiple scenarios at a job site before they’re out in the field. That kind of training is critical to ensure they can keep themselves, their coworkers and our customers safe,” Josh Sturgis, one of the instructors at Flint Gas City, told Mlive. 

EXTRACTION

Guardian: Climate campaigner takes Surrey oil drilling case to supreme court
Damien Gayle, 6/21/23

“Climate campaigners have begun a supreme court challenge to plans to drill for oil in Surrey, in a case they hope could set a precedent restricting plans for future fossil fuel projects in the UK,” the Guardian reports. “Sarah Finch is challenging Surrey county council’s decision to extend permission for a well at Horse Hill, near Gatwick airport in the Surrey countryside, which taps a subterranean reservoir developers believe may contain millions of barrels of oil. The case turns on the interpretation of rules surrounding planners’ drafting of environmental impact assessments. The campaigners argue that the planning committee that granted permission for the drilling erred because it only accounted for emissions arising from the drilling site itself, rather than those from the oils’ end use, when it is burned and most of the emissions produced. She has already lost in the high court and the court of appeal. On Wednesday morning, five supreme court justices, Lord Kitchin, Lord Sales, Lord Leggatt, Lady Rose, and Lord Richards, began hearing the case. A victory would have serious implications for future plans for oil and gas wells and coalmines in the UK, forcing planners to take into account the total emissions from any fossil fuels extracted, rather than merely the emissions from the extraction. Ahead of the case, Finch told the Guardian: “The biggest climate impact from fossil fuel projects occurs when the fuel they produce is eventually burned. “It’s unbelievable that these ‘downstream’ GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions are ignored when planning decisions are made. I hope that the supreme court will give a clear ruling and end the dangerous lack of clarity on this point.”

InsideClimate News: Carbon Credit Market Seizes On a New Opportunity: Plugging Oil and Gas Wells
Keaton Peters, 6/23/23

“Tyler Crabtree was working in the oil and gas industry in North Dakota, trying to prevent methane leakage from well sites, when he started “soul searching” for a better way to address climate change. He knew it was becoming ever more severe and felt the industry should do more to address it,” InsideClimate News reports. “It really opened my eyes to how a lot of operators out there are not spending the appropriate amount of dollars on clean operations,” he told ICN. Crabtree went on to found CarbonPath, a Houston-based company offering a new class of carbon credits, or offsets, that come from plugging oil and gas wells. He realized that most of the wells in the United States produce relatively little oil and saw an opportunity to incentivize shutting them down early, locking fuel under the Earth’s surface to halt methane emissions that heat the atmosphere at 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide. CarbonPath is part of an emerging industry that pairs carbon market financing with oilfield service providers to plug wells and generate carbon credits, which it then sells to corporations trying to meet emissions reduction goals and individuals seeking to offset their own negative climate impacts. The new companies are promising to bring verified, high-quality credits into a carbon marketplace that has been fraught with calculation errors and unresolved ethical questions. “What we’re seeing particularly in the voluntary carbon market is a lot of questions about ‘how can we trust that these carbon credits are real,’” Martijn Dekker, chief executive of ZeroSix, another Houston-based company offering carbon credits for the “early retirement of oil and gas wells,” told ICN… “At an average price tag of $75,000, plugging oil wells is not cheap. Typically, as wells get older and produce less, they are sold to ever-smaller operators, and when the operators cannot afford to plug the wells, they often abandon them.  The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021 steered $4.7 billion to state agencies to help plug orphan wells. But Adam Peltz, the director of the EDF’s energy transition program, told ICN there was nonetheless “a huge shortage” of money to get the job done. “We’re only scratching the surface,” he told ICN. 

CLIMATE FINANCE

Press release: Church of England Pensions Board disinvests from Shell and remaining oil and gas holdings
6/22/23

“The Church of England Pensions Board is today announcing its intention to disinvest from Shell plc and other oil and gas companies which are failing to show sufficient ambition to decarbonise in line with the aims of the Paris Agreement. The new investment restriction announced today will apply to all oil and gas companies that do not have short, medium and long term emissions reduction targets aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, as assessed by the independent Transition Pathway Initiative. The exclusion will apply to equity and also debt investments. “Today we announce our intention to disinvest from all remaining oil and gas holdings across our equity and debt portfolio,” said John Ball, Chief Executive Officer of the Church of England Pensions Board. “There is a significant misalignment between the long term interests of our pension fund and continued investment in companies seeking short term profit maximisation at the expense of the ambition needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Recent reversals of previous commitments, most notably by BP and Shell, has undermined confidence in the sector’s ability to transition”. The Pensions Board has engaged the sector over the past ten years with a view to bolstering the level of ambition in company strategies to decarbonise in line with the Paris Agreement. While some companies have come close to achieving alignment as assessed by the TPI, none have met the threshold to remain investible. As a result, the Pensions Board will no longer prioritise engagement with the oil and gas sector on climate change and will instead refocus its efforts on reshaping the demand for oil and gas from key sectors such as the automotive industry. The Pensions Board will be seeking robust commitments related to the use of oil and gas from demand sectors such as aviation, utilities, automotives, and steel. It will continue to engage policy makers on the need for greater ambition in public policy – including a phase-down of oil and gas which take account of the different needs of emerging and developing countries.”

Associated Press: Paris summit aims to shake up the financial system. It will test leaders’ resolve on climate
FATIMA HUSSEIN and PAUL WISEMAN, 6/21/23

“Heads of state, finance leaders and activists from around the world will converge in Paris this week to seek ways to overhaul the world’s development banks — like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank — and help them weather a warmer and stormier world,” the Associated Press reports. “While restructuring debt and reducing poverty will be part of the summit Thursday and Friday, climate will be the main driver, with representatives from developing nations in Africa, Asia and elsewhere having a prominent seat at the table. The World Bank and IMF have been criticized for not factoring climate change into lending decisions and being dominated by wealthy countries like the U.S., with the neediest nations most at risk of global warming left out of calling the shots… “Organizers say the summit will end with a summary of commitments, including a roadmap for what to expect from this year’s meeting of the Group of 20 major economies and U.N. climate conference. But climate advocates say they want to see more meaningful commitments — like new money to help climate-vulnerable nations build sustainable infrastructure or reallocating existing funds to new climate-related projects. Andrew Nazdin, director of the activist group Glasgow Actions Team, told AP the development banks “need to expand their lending — and fast — if we’re going to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”

Associated Press: Climate activist Nakate urges rich countries to cancel debt, grant climate finance at Paris summit
SAMUEL PETREQUIN and SYLVIE CORBET, 6/22/23

“Facing an audience packed with world leaders and finance officials in suits, Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate silenced the room, then made everyone listen to some uncomfortable facts,” the Associated Press reports. “…Speaking right after summit host French President Emmanuel Macron, Nakate then urged delegates to put people first instead of profits, to make polluters pay, to cancel debt and direct climate finance toward the most vulnerable countries that did not create the climate crisis, while making sure fossil fuels are not part of their development. “You must be thinking in trillions, not billions,” she said, punctuating her speech with depressing statistics about pollution and the world’s growing inequalities between the rich and the have nots… “Amid key topics to be discussed in Paris are changes needed in the way the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are lending and granting money to the most vulnerable countries. Both institutions have been criticized for not factoring climate change into lending decisions and being dominated by wealthy countries like the U.S… “The Paris summit comes in the wake of a plan championed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley to ease access to financing for climate-vulnerable countries. Mottley and other proponents have argued that developing countries are forced to pay such high interest rates that they struggle to finance adaptation projects, like sea walls, or green energy initiatives, like large solar farms, or simply make payments on outstanding loans when climate-infused disasters strike. “What is required of us now is absolute transformation — and not reform — of our institutions,” Mottley said.”

OPINION

The Hill: Fighting for their lives: Why children are taking the battle over climate change to court
William Becker is executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP), 6/20/23

“Children worldwide are the victims of a profoundly fundamental injustice. They and future generations are victims of a carbon cartel in which governments and the fossil fuel industry are ruining their hopes for the future,” William Becker writes for The Hill. “…Their best and only legal recourse is in the courts. Decades ago, Oregon environmental attorney Julia Olson took this personally after becoming a mother. She founded a nonprofit, Our Children’s Trust, to help children file lawsuits against government policies that promote fossil fuels. The result is litigation in 50 states and against the federal government, alleging that support for fossil fuel production violates youth’s constitutional right to life. The first of these suits began last week in Montana, a state with a third of America’s recoverable coal reserves and a constitution that guarantees a “clean and healthful environment” for its citizens. Olson is the youngsters’ lead attorney. In an even more consequential lawsuit, Olson and her team are helping 21 young Americans challenge the constitutionality of federal government policies that promote fossil fuel production and consumption… “Yet, a victory in Juliana could influence the outcome of 685 other lawsuits against climate-related government policies worldwide. The children’s goals in Montana are a declaration by the court that they are entitled to a future free of catastrophic climate change. In addition, they want the court to affirm that public officials have a fiduciary duty to protect vital natural resources like the atmosphere for current and future generations — a legal principle called the Public Trust Doctrine. Further, they want the judge to establish that climate stability requires dramatically reducing the atmosphere’s concentration of greenhouse gases… “These are only some of the threats to the lives of present and future generations. Climate change also compromises the pursuit of happiness, another unalienable right the Declaration of Independence calls self-evident. The carbon cartel is openly and profitably threatening it. While the Montana lawsuit is the first of its kind in U.S. history, it must not be the last. And because greenhouse gases don’t stop at state boundaries, litigation should not be limited to state energy policies. The U.S. government and governments worldwide need to fulfill their obligation to fundamental human rights by ending fossil fuel pollution. Our children deserve credit and all the support we can give them for trying to hold governments accountable.”