EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/28/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• Reuters: MVP pipeline foes say Congress can’t ‘mandate victory’ for the project

• WDBJ: Pipeline opponents challenge motions to dismiss lawsuits

• Cardinal News: Environmental groups fight to keep cases against Mountain Valley Pipeline alive

• Press release: Environmental and Community Groups Challenge Effort to Throw Out Mountain Valley Pipeline Lawsuit

• Canadian Press: Ottawa urged to back U.S., not TC Energy, in $15B lawsuit over demise of Keystone XL

• KFYR: PSC considers making CO2 dispersion documents public

• KELO: Governor’s comments provoke pipeline opponents

• KTIV: Details of Navigator carbon pipeline discussed at Woodbury County Board of Supervisors meeting

• KCAU: Woodbury County Supervisors hear from Navigator Pipeline Company

• Bloomberg: Groups Challenge Pipeline Through Montana Federal Wilderness

• Colorado Politics: Colorado fails to enforce safety requirements for gas pipelines, audit finds

• Meadford Independent: Residents Express Concerns About Choice of Firm to Negotiate Community Benefits With TC Energy

• Law360: FERC’s Pipeline Rate Move Far From Routine, DC Circ. Told

• Bloomberg: Contractor Responsible for Delays From Texas Pipeline Explosion

• Associated Press: Uganda activists file new Paris case over TotalEnergies’ East Africa oil pipeline project

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• The Hill: EPA closes civil rights probe into Louisiana over ‘Cancer Alley’ pollution

• Press release: Reps. Pettersen, DeGette, and Crow Express Concern Over the Uinta Basin Railway Project in Letter To Secretary Buttigieg

• E&E News: Republicans introduce bill against climate emergency

STATE UPDATES

• Reuters: Denbury, Lapis Energy partner on carbon capture project

• NOLA.com: Texas firm expands Louisiana carbon capture reach with St. Charles, St. Helena projects

• Press release: Strategic Biofuels Selects SLB for Carbon Sequestration Services on Carbon-Negative Fuels Project in Louisiana

• KBMT: ‘Create opportunities’ : Southeast Texas leaders get their carbon capture concerns, questions answered

• WESA: State lawmakers consider legislation for local oversight of carbon capture wells

• Capital and Main: Oil and Gas Lobbying Threatens California’s Game-Changing Climate Bills

• Indiana Public Radio: Sulfur smell covering northwest Indiana believed to be caused by BP Whiting Refinery

• Colorado Newsline: In Grand Junction, oil train route would retrace Colorado railroad history

EXTRACTION

• E&E News: $77B Needed To Slash Oil And Gas Methane Emissions — Report

• Wall Street Journal: Oil, Gas Companies Urged to Pursue Relatively Cheap Fix on Emissions

• Globe and Mail: Canada needs to align fiscal policy to manage the decline of oil and gas

• Forbes: Forget Oil. New Wildcatters Are Drilling For Limitless ‘Geologic’ Hydrogen

• Construction: CarbonKerma launches Innovative Carbon Credit Marketplace

CLIMATE FINANCE

• S&P Global Platts: Calling for absolute halt to fossil fuel investment is recipe for disaster: Petronas CEO

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Enbridge: When ‘pain outweighs the ability to cope’: Crisis Centre of BC helps deliver care to youth in crisis ‘right now’

OPINION

• Virginia Mercury: Joe Manchin’s Pyrrhic MVP victory

• Bismarck Tribune: Letter: Bury CO2 pipeline below frost line

• Daily Montanan: New BLM Public Lands Rule A Win-Win For Montana 

• Dispatches From the Frontlines: Why I Fight for Environmental Justice and Democracy in Tennessee

PIPELINE NEWS

Reuters: MVP pipeline foes say Congress can’t ‘mandate victory’ for the project
Clark Mindock, 6/27/23

“A provision of the U.S. debt ceiling bill that streamlined the federal approval process for the $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline and limited court reviews of challenges to the project violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine, opponents of the pipeline have claimed,” Reuters reports. “The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and other conservation groups fighting the 303-mile pipeline urged the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, in two separate cases, to declare the mandate unconstitutional and keep their challenges alive. The environmental groups’ lawsuits are seeking to invalidate key federal permits that are needed to finish construction of the pipeline, including on a stretch of land running through a federal forest in Virginia. They said the separation of powers doctrine allows Congress to write the law, but not to directly determine the outcome of court cases. “Congress cannot pick winners and losers in pending litigation by compelling findings or results,” the Wilderness Society wrote in its filing… “The current lawsuits target the Forest Service’s approval of a right-of-way that would allow the pipeline to pass through the Jefferson National Forest, and a Fish and Wildlife Service approval that determined the construction wouldn’t likely jeopardize endangered animals. The challengers have claimed the approvals inadequately considered the environmental impacts of the pipeline to wildlife and the lands it would cross. Congress included a rider in this month’s debt ceiling bill mandating that federal agencies issue approvals for the pipeline, and restricting judicial review of would-be and existing challenges.”

WDBJ: Pipeline opponents challenge motions to dismiss lawsuits
Joe Dashiell, 6/27/23

“As the company behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline moves closer to resuming construction, groups that oppose the project are fighting efforts to dismiss their lawsuits in federal court,” WDBJ reports. “The language that Congress included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act limits judicial review of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. And the company has asked a federal appeals court to dismiss lawsuits challenging the project. But in two new filings, groups that oppose the 300-mile natural gas pipeline are challenging those motions. They argue that Congress overstepped its authority. “I don’t think there’s any question in my mind and many others that it does violate the separation of powers part of the Constitution,” David Sligh, Conservation Director of the group Wild Virginia, told WDBJ. “Courts must jealously guard the line between legislative and judicial power,” the response states. “To that end, courts have long recognized that, “once Congress has established lower federal courts and provided jurisdiction over a given case, Congress may not interfere with such courts by dictating the result in a particular case.” “We and other parties did have several cases that were already under way in the court and for Congress and frankly the President to step in and just countermand what the courts are doing or what they’re supposed to do is certainly improper,” Sligh told WDBJ.

Cardinal News: Environmental groups fight to keep cases against Mountain Valley Pipeline alive
Matt Busse, 6/27/23

“A slew of environmental groups said this week that Mountain Valley Pipeline’s recent efforts to have federal court cases against it dismissed are based on an unconstitutional exercise of power by Congress,” Cardinal News reports. “Mountain Valley Pipeline officials say that a project-specific provision in the recently passed national debt-ceiling legislation removes the ability of courts to review government approvals needed to complete the 303-mile natural gas pipeline through Virginia and West Virginia, and therefore multiple cases challenging those approvals should be dismissed. In responses filed late Monday, pipeline opponents argue that by removing the courts from the equation, Congress is picking a winner — Mountain Valley Pipeline — in those cases and therefore violating the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches… “Mountain Valley Pipeline spokesperson Natalie Cox declined to comment on the latest filings… “But the most recent filings specifically involve a challenge to a federal opinion that the pipeline would not hurt endangered species such as the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter, and two related challenges to federal approval for the pipeline to cross through the Jefferson National Forest on the border of Virginia and West Virginia… “However, those groups argue that the court, in the words of one of the responses filed, “should reject Congress’ attempt to interfere unconstitutionally with the judicial function,” adding later that “[c]ourts must jealously guard the line between legislative and judicial power.” Pipeline opponents also say that the 4th Circuit has jurisdiction to decide whether the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s pipeline provision itself is unconstitutional.”

Press release: Environmental and Community Groups Challenge Effort to Throw Out Mountain Valley Pipeline Lawsuit
6/27/23

“Late Monday, environmental and community organizations filed a response opposing efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice and Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, to dismiss the environmental groups’ pending challenge to the latest biological opinion and incidental take statement under the Endangered Species Act for the ill-advised Mountain Valley Pipeline. Also on Monday, the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of The Wilderness Society filed a response in another MVP case opposing motions to dismiss a challenge to authorizations for the project to cross the Jefferson National Forest. The motions to dismiss the groups’ challenges follow the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), which seeks to expedite the nonessential Mountain Valley Pipeline, enshrining congressional overreach over the courts and setting a dangerous precedent which could encourage future congressional action to force through other controversial fossil fuel projects. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has already twice rejected the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s prior authorizations for the pipeline project, finding that the agency failed to adequately analyze the project’s environmental context when assessing the detrimental impacts to the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter, a species on the brink of extinction… “David Sligh, Wild Virginia’s Conservation Director stated: “In essence, Congress and the President have attempted to nullify the Endangered Species Act and the rights of Americans to be involved in their own government decisions – all to give a special deal to profit-making corporations. This does violence to the Constitution and we cannot accept it without challenge.”

Canadian Press: Ottawa urged to back U.S., not TC Energy, in $15B lawsuit over demise of Keystone XL
James McCarten, 6/28/23

“A progressive public policy think tank is urging the federal government to side against oil and gas transmission giant TC Energy in its ongoing dispute with the United States over the ill-fated Keystone XL project,” the Canadian Press reports. “The Calgary-based company is seeking to recoup US$15 billion in lost revenue from the on-again, off-again cross-border pipeline expansion, which President Joe Biden killed off for good in 2021 on his first day as commander-in-chief. The lawsuit is based on the investor-state dispute rules in the now-expired NAFTA, as well as that deal’s successor, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which included a three-year extension of those rules for so-called “legacy” investors. A new report to be released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recommends Ottawa back the U.S. defence: that TC Energy has no legal recourse under North American trade rules, past or present. “Though the TC Energy dispute pits a Canadian company against the U.S. state, it does not follow that it is in Canada’s interest for TC Energy to prevail,” the report reads.  Rather, it argues, the case represents an important chance for both governments to defend their ability to pursue climate-friendly public policy without being forced to “unjustly” enrich impacted investors.  “The Keystone XL case is a clear example of a company wanting to be compensated for making a risky bet,” wrote senior researcher Stuart Trew and Queen’s University professor Kyla Tienhaara, the report’s co-authors.  The gamble, they say, was on the 2020 re-election of former president Donald Trump, who championed and resurrected the project in 2017 after it had been rejected by the Obama administration two years earlier. “This bet didn’t play out.”

KFYR: PSC considers making CO2 dispersion documents public
Joel Crane, 6/27/23

“Your News Leader has been telling you for months about the Summit Carbon Solutions project that would carry carbon dioxide from five states and store it underground in North Dakota. Tuesday, the Public Service Commission considered declassifying certain documents related to that case,” KFYR reports. “If a carbon dioxide pipeline were to burst, do you know how the CO2 inside would disperse? Would it engulf a mile radius on the ground? Five miles? How long would it take for it to clear up? Most people don’t know. That’s because that information is private, but it soon could be public knowledge. For those who have fought the carbon dioxide pipeline near Bismarck, it can basically be boiled down to one thing. ”I’m most concerned about the safety and the concern of the pipeline running through, as it’s been discussed many times before, the high concentration areas where Bismarck is growing,” Karl Rakow, who lives north of Bismarck, told KFYR. Those opposed to the pipeline say publishing the plume study is a matter of risk avoidance, risk management and emergency response. ”In order to determine risk, you have to know the probability of the event, versus the consequence to the public. And at this point, as members of the landowner interveners, we don’t really know either of these variables, except very generally,” said Steven Leibel, intervenor for landowners… “Landowners are asking for the project to be delayed until new federal pipeline regulations are released from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). ”If PHMSA has exclusive jurisdiction, shouldn’t this commission wait until PHMSA weighs in on the new regulations that are planned are in the works for 2024 before it addresses their application overall?” said Randall Bakke, intervenor for the landowners… “The commissioners didn’t make a decision on whether to make the documents public Tuesday.”

KELO: Governor’s comments provoke pipeline opponents
Tom Rooney, 6/27/23

“She isn’t running for President, and she supports landowners in the dispute over Carbon Capture Pipelines. Those are the words of Governor Kristi Noem while appearing on KWAT-radio in Watertown,” KELO reports. “.. The Governor’s comments on the pipeline generated immediate response from pipeline opponents. They tell KELO her administration lobbied against a bill that would have given landowners some protection against eminent domain on the CO-2 pipelines. Pipeline Opponent Ed Fischbach told KELO if she’s serious about supporting landowners she should call a special session of the legislature to resurrect that bill. Fischbach told KELO that would put the governor is a tough position of having to oppose a project initiated by companies and individuals who have supported her.”

KTIV: Details of Navigator carbon pipeline discussed at Woodbury County Board of Supervisors meeting
Clayton Anderson, 6/27/23

“A representative for the Navigator CO2 pipeline spoke tonight at the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors meeting to provide details about the project,” KTIV reports. “Navigator Public Affairs Manager Tracie Gibler said the project is aimed to capture carbon through a pipeline that will run through five states to include Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska… “Woodbury County Board Chairman Matthew Ung said it was good to hear from a company representative. He said the board has expressed concerns to state lawmakers in hopes of reaching Governor Kim Reynolds. ”We don’t really receive anything from the state that would indicate any change in the direction of the project overall. What the county can do is to minimize the damage to landowner rights to landowner values, to prioritize safety,” Ung said. Ung said the board has signaled its opposition several times to the use of eminent domain.”

KCAU: Woodbury County Supervisors hear from Navigator Pipeline Company
Laigha Anderson, Johnathan Mack, 6/27/23

“One of the two companies is proposing to have a carbon dioxide pipeline run through northwest Iowa, including in Woodbury County,” KCAU reports. “A representative of Navigator spoke to the board of directors to provide information on the safety protocols for their proposed CO2 pipeline… “Board chair Matthew Ung told KCAU it’s important to see how those plans are going. “It’s helpful for the public to see what the plans are and how they’re progressing. And obviously, the board has signaled its desire to protect private property rights, especially during this process. And also, just to make sure that the public’s aware of what these companies are doing and so that’s really what this was about. You know, we had questions for them, as far as safety and the route and so you know they come and present when they can,” Ung told KCAU.

Bloomberg: Groups Challenge Pipeline Through Montana Federal Wilderness
Samantha Hawkins, 6/27/23

“The US Fish and Wildlife Service unlawfully approved a permanent water-diversion pipeline in the Red Rock Lakes Wilderness, environmental groups alleged in a federal complaint filed in Montana,” Bloomberg reports. “The project—which would involve digging a six-foot deep, mile-long trench to install a 14-inch pipeline—is a blatant violation of the Wilderness Act, which prohibits FWS from intentionally modifying wilderness habitat, Wilderness Watch and other groups said in their complaint. The project intends to pipe water into Upper Red Rock Lake to boost oxygen levels during the winter to preserve the diminishing Arctic grayling population…”

Colorado Politics: Colorado fails to enforce safety requirements for gas pipelines, audit finds
Hannah Metzger, 6/27/23

“In September 2020, Patricia Ruiz Roe was killed when her home in Gypsum exploded because of a gas leak. Roe, 49, left behind two young children.  The leak was caused by Black Hills Energy incorrectly marking a gas pipeline, resulting in the pipeline being ruptured during a drilling operation, according to the Colorado Gas Pipeline Safety Program,” Colorado Politics reports. “Black Hills Energy then failed to advise residents to evacuate, the program found. In response to Black Hills Energy’s deadly actions, the program issued the company a verbal warning. Though the Gas Pipeline Safety Program is supposed to inspect operators and enforce compliance of safety requirements, this kind of nonaction toward safety violations is commonplace, according to a recently released audit.  From 2017 to 2022, 94% of the 5,643 safety noncompliances identified by the program received no enforcement actions, the audit found. This included accidents that caused at least two deaths, over a dozen injuries and millions of dollars in property damage. When verbal warnings were given, the program did not always follow up to ensure the safety issues were fixed.  Nearly 2,500 instances of safety noncompliance during the five-year period were repeat instances from 14 operators, but the program didn’t issue the operators any compliance actions. The top offenders were Xcel Energy (1,078 instances), Colorado Natural Gas (566) and Black Hills Energy (197).  “When operators are noncompliant and the program doesn’t enforce safety requirements, the noncompliance can continue,” said Legislative Audit Manager Jenny Page during a presentation. “When enforcement is lacking, there’s also a risk of these safety accidents.” Penalties for safety violations are even more rare than written enforcement actions. The program assessed only 23 penalties for the 5,643 safety noncompliance incidents from 2017 to 2022. The 23 penalties should have totaled over $10.9 million based on the assessments, but the program collected only four, totaling $208,530, the audit found.” 

Meadford Independent: Residents Express Concerns About Choice of Firm to Negotiate Community Benefits With TC Energy
Stephen Vance, 6/27/23

“In February of this year, Meaford’s council gave direction to staff to retain a community benefits negotiator, as well as a project coordinator to help guide council and the municipality through the various processes that are on the horizon related to the proposed pumped storage facility to be located at the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre, including the review of reports through the Environmental Impact Assessment process,” the Meadford Independent reports. “…Staff recommended retaining StrategyCorp Inc. to fulfill both the role of negotiator and project coordinator. A number of residents were not pleased with the recommendations, and six of those residents made deputations to council during the public participation portion of the meeting agenda, prior to council’s discussion of the issue… “Much of the concern focused on a former chairman of StrategyCorp, who now sits on the board of directors for TC Energy, suggesting the potential for a conflict of interest… “Armstrong also commented on concerns raised about the purchasing process, as well as suggestions that TC Energy was guiding staff’s choices of candidates for the project… “During council’s discussions about the agenda item, Councillor Tony Bell suggested hiring two different firms, one for negotiating services, and another to act as project coordinator, a suggestion that ultimately found the support of council. Council opted to hire StrategyCorp to act as community benefits negotiator with TC Energy, and to hire local consulting firm Collingwood-based Ainley Group to act as project coordinator. The costs to retain the services of the Community Benefits Negotiator and the Project Manager are to be reimbursed to the municipality by TC Energy.”

Law360: FERC’s Pipeline Rate Move Far From Routine, DC Circ. Told
Madeline Lyskawa, 6/27/23

“Pipeline carriers fired back at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s defense of its decision to backtrack on a five-year oil pipeline index rate, asserting before the D.C. Circuit that the agency has no basis to argue that such a move is routine,” Law360 reports. 

Bloomberg: Contractor Responsible for Delays From Texas Pipeline Explosion
Daniel Seiden, 6/27/23

“The US Army Corps of Engineers is entitled to $585,550 in liquidated damages after the explosion of a submerged natural gas pipeline delayed the completion of a contract, an appeals board said in an opinion released Tuesday,” Bloomberg reports. “Missing the dredging project’s completion deadline was inexcusable because RLB Contracing Inc. assumed the risk of determining the pipeline’s location and depth, Administrative Judge James R. Sweet of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals said. The San Antonio Bay, Texas contract provided that it was RLB’s responsibility to investigate and verify the location of utility crossings, the board said.”

Associated Press: Uganda activists file new Paris case over TotalEnergies’ East Africa oil pipeline project
RODNEY MUHUMUZA, 6/27/23

“Ugandan activists brought another legal case Tuesday against French oil giant TotalEnergies, seeking damages over alleged food and land rights violations in the company’s East Africa operations,” the Associated Press reports. “The civil suit filed in Paris comes four months after the collapse of a similar case brought by activists who wanted to stop TotalEnergies’ pipeline project in Uganda and Tanzania, alleging environmental risks and an infringement of rights. Campaigners who oppose a project they insist violates the Paris climate accord were disappointed when the case was dismissed on procedural grounds before going to trial. The new litigation cites TotalEnergies’ alleged failure to comply with France’s “duty of vigilance” law and seeks compensation for the company’s alleged violations of land and food rights over six years… “Five French and and Ugandan civic groups, including the French branch of Friends of the Earth and the Uganda-based Africa Institute for Energy Governance, or AFIEGO, are plaintiffs in the case… “The pipeline would then pass through seven forest reserves and two game parks, running alongside Lake Victoria, a source of fresh water for 40 million people.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

The Hill: EPA closes civil rights probe into Louisiana over ‘Cancer Alley’ pollution
RACHEL FRAZIN, 6/27/23

“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Tuesday it did not find discrimination by the state of Louisiana against Black residents who face high levels of air pollution, closing a probe into actions by state departments,” The Hill reports. “The agency has previously been looking into complaints from environmental groups that alleged discrimination over air pollution faced by Black residents of Louisiana’s St. John the Baptist Parish. Environmental groups alleged that a company was allowed to release “excessive” levels of likely carcinogen chloroprene “that disproportionately affect St. John’s Black community.” It also raised concerns that residents were exposed to “various sources” of the carcinogen ethylene oxide. Overall, they claimed that the state’s “failures” caused residents to “face the highest cancer risk from air pollution in the nation.” But, the EPA said in a Tuesday court filing that it did not find any discrimination or civil rights violations by the state… “The decision to close the probe comes after the agency expressed concerns about the situation, sending a letter to the state last year saying it may have discriminated against Black residents… “However, in new letters attached to the court filing, the agency said that it was closing out the probe in light of the fact that it ordered the company behind the facility in question, called Denka, to lower its emissions and had also filed a civil rights complaint against the company… “Environmental advocates expressed disappointment in the agency’s decision.  ​​“We are deeply disappointed by EPA’s decision to close an investigation that could have brought justice to the community members of St. John the Baptist Parish, who have long borne the brunt of environmental injustice and discrimination,” said Patrice Simms, vice president of health communities at Earthjustice, in a written statement. “EPA’s decision to abandon its civil rights enforcement effort deprives these communities of an important avenue for securing justice and addressing longstanding and unconscionable toxic exposures,” Simms added. 

Press release: Reps. Pettersen, DeGette, and Crow Express Concern Over the Uinta Basin Railway Project in Letter To Secretary Buttigieg
6/27/23

“This week, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) joined Representatives Diana DeGette (CO-01) and Jason Crow (CO-06) in sending a letter to the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, expressing concern over the proposed Uinta Basin Railway Project’s (UBR) potential impact on Colorado’s citizens and natural resources. The UBR is intended to transport crude oil along the Colorado River, but the letter cites concerns over the already fragile nature of the river, as well as the lack of community input from Coloradans during the development of the project. “Were a train to derail, it would be frontline communities who bear the brunt of the damage, in the air they breathe and the water they drink. Additionally, following the East Palestine train derailment, our nation has been tragically reminded of the environmental and community devastation wrought in the absence of rail safety,” wrote the members. “Considering this recent disaster, we reaffirm our belief that we must incorporate the voices and opinions of the most vulnerable. Coloradans deserve an equitable seat at the table in any conversations regarding our health and safety, and our environment.” The railway’s construction was approved by the Surface Transportation Board in 2021 after holding five in person public comment meetings throughout Utah and only one in Colorado.”

E&E News: Republicans introduce bill against climate emergency
KEVIN BOGARDUS, 6/26/23

“House and Senate Republicans have introduced legislation to stop President Joe Biden from declaring a national emergency over climate change as his administration ramps up regulations targeting global warming,” E&E News reports. “Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, has sponsored S. 2118, the “Real Emergencies Act.” The bill would clarify that the president does not hold the authority to declare a climate emergency. In a statement, Capito said the Biden administration has governed “by executive overreach” on energy and the environment, making the United States less energy independent and spiking prices for consumers… “Co-sponsors of the bill include Republican Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, John Boozman of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven of North Dakota, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi… “If Biden were to declare an emergency to fight climate change, it would unlock new funding and authorities for his administration to use. The president has not done so yet, although he has signed off on a number of executive actions since coming to office… “Environmental groups and progressive Democrats, however, have pushed the president to go further. They have also become frustrated with his administration’s support of fossil fuel ventures, such as the Willow project in Alaska and the Mountain Valley pipeline. Last month, Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Ore. and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), offered a congressional resolution saying there is “a climate emergency” and a full-scale mobilization was required to halt it.”

STATE UPDATES

Reuters: Denbury, Lapis Energy partner on carbon capture project
6/27/23

“Energy firm Denbury Inc (DEN.N) said on Tuesday it has formed a joint venture with Lapis Energy to develop a carbon capture project in Louisiana, amid growing push to reduce planet-warming emissions,” Reuters reports. “Each firm will have a 50% stake in the newly formed Libra CO2 Storage Solutions… “Lapis said it would take the lead through the project’s permitting process, pre-investment phase and initial construction, while Denbury would assume operatorship and later construction management. The companies estimate that the project site has the potential to hold at least 200 million metric tons of CO2 and, because of its close proximity to industrial hubs, can become a regional hub decarbonization site. Separately on Tuesday, Denbury announced a deal with Soterra, a unit of industrial packaging products maker Greif Inc (GEF.N) for the right to develop a dedicated CO2 sequestration site in Louisiana.”

NOLA.com: Texas firm expands Louisiana carbon capture reach with St. Charles, St. Helena projects
ROBERT STEWART, 6/27/23

“Denbury Inc., a Texas exploration, pipeline and carbon sequestration company, has announced two new projects in south Louisiana, marking at least its sixth carbon capture endeavor in the state,” NOLA.com reports. “The first of the two new projects is a joint venture with Lapis Energy, a Dallas firm that specializes in carbon sequestration. The joint venture, dubbed Libra CO 2 Storage Solutions LLC, calls for Denbury to design and build a carbon sequestration complex at Lapis Energy’s 14,000-acre site in St. Charles Parish, about 20 miles west of New Orleans. Denbury and Lapis Energy will each own a 50% interest in the joint venture, according to a news release… “Denbury also announced a deal with Soterra LLC, a subsidiary of Greif Inc., to develop a carbon sequestration site on roughly 8,500 acres in St. Helena Parish, about 50 miles northeast of Baton Rouge and less than five miles from Denbury’s NEJD CO2 pipeline. That site, nicknamed Virgo, could hold up to 100 million tons and could be ready for injection by 2026, Denbury officials said… “Denbury said the latest two deals will push its total carbon dioxide sequestration portfolio to roughly 2 billion tons across 10 sites in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Wyoming… “Last week the EPA held public hearings on the state’s bid to claim primacy, or direct regulatory control, over Class VI carbon dioxide injection wells from the federal government. State officials are hopeful the EPA will make a primacy decision by the end of the year. Gov. John Bel Edwards and industry advocates have championed carbon capture as an economic driver and a greenhouse gas restrictor. However, critics have questioned the technology’s effectiveness and safety. Pushback against a proposed well in Livingston Parish led to a slew of bills attempting to curb carbon capture, though most of those bills failed amid industry pushback.”

Press release: Strategic Biofuels Selects SLB for Carbon Sequestration Services on Carbon-Negative Fuels Project in Louisiana
6/27/23

“Strategic Biofuels, the leader in developing negative carbon footprint biofuels plants, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with SLB, a global technology company, to provide carbon sequestration services for Strategic Biofuel’s Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) Project, supporting the production of deeply carbon-negative fuels. In the past 20 years, SLB has been involved in over 100 carbon sequestration projects around the world in various industry sectors. Strategic Biofuels is developing a biofuel refinery that will be powered by an adjacent bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) power plant for its LGF project in Columbia, Louisiana. The project focuses on converting forestry wood waste from established and sustainable pine plantations into renewable fuels and electric power, then permanently storing the resulting CO 2 emissions from both the refinery and the power plant in porous rock formations thousands of feet below ground. Strategic Biofuels made an application to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency for a Class VI permit for CCS and has been notified by the agency that it is administratively complete and that technical review has begun. The unique combination of biomass as feedstock and green power for the refinery plus CCS for both will enable the project to produce liquid renewable fuels with an industry-leading carbon intensity of minus 294. When the biofuel refinery and BECCS plant come online, LGF will have the capacity to offset up to 1.36 million tons of CO 2 emissions annually, the equivalent impact of 274,000 cars per year… “The agreement includes provisions for future services, including injection operations and long-term CO 2 monitoring.”

KBMT: ‘Create opportunities’ : Southeast Texas leaders get their carbon capture concerns, questions answered
Lupita Villarreal, Ebonee Coleman, 6/26/23

“Southeast Texas leaders got a better grasp on carbon capture during a Monday meeting,” KBMT reports. “Experts say this area has the potential to store “a billion tons” of carbon dioxide. Scott Castleman with the Houston Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) Alliance organized the event. Southeast Texas leaders say they feel better equipped to take what they learned from the meeting back to residents, who may have questions of their own. “We have a fear of the unknown and the best way to over come that fear is to try to understand exactly what the process is all about,” Beaumont Ward 3 Councilman Audwin Samuel told KBMT… “Before the meeting, Port Neches Fire Chief Eloy Vega had concerns, but walked away feeling better. “The potential for the gas to leak into the the groundwater is very unlikely as well being that the repository gas are going to be miles apart from any underground viable water sources,” Vega told KBMT… “Castleman told KMBT they will continue having meetings in Southeast Texas to make sure everyone is informed about carbon capture.”

WESA: State lawmakers consider legislation for local oversight of carbon capture wells
Kevin Gavin, Marylee Williams, Laura Tsutsui, Addison Diehl, 6/27/23

“State lawmakers have proposed legislation to give the state oversight of carbon capture wells, taking enforcement out of the hands of federal regulators. Only two other states, Wyoming and North Dakota, have similar authority over injection wells. Spotlight PA government reporter Kate Huangpu joins us to explain why the wells matter, and the arguments for and against this legislation,” WESA reports. 

Capital and Main: Oil and Gas Lobbying Threatens California’s Game-Changing Climate Bills
Aaron Cantú, 6/26/23

“Two transparency bills in the California Legislature would require corporations to disclose more information about their emissions and their efforts to fight the climate crisis. The oil and gas industry is spending millions to kill them,” Capital and Main reports. “The bills would force big companies that do business in California to report all of their emissions and require firms that buy or sell carbon offsets — which are credits that represent a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions — to disclose more information in an effort to crack down on bogus climate claims. Both SB 253 and AB 1305 have momentum but could be blocked by moderate Democrats historically aligned with corporate interests… “The bills are opposed by the Western States Petroleum Association, which has already spent $2.38 million on lobbying and advocacy groups this year. While some oil and gas companies in California have expressed their support for rolling back climate change, industry opposition fits into an agenda of delaying action, Ryan Schleeter, communications director at the Climate Center, told Capital and Main. “Delay is the new denial,” Schleeter told Capital and Main. “Climate denial won’t fly in this state, and companies are smart enough to figure that out, so they delay as long as possible and squeeze out as much profit as they can.” “…In California, WSPA insists that it wants to be part of the “climate conversation,” Kevin Slagle, the association’s vice president of strategic communications, told Capital and Main.  WSPA’s opposition to the transparency bills “is based not so much on not wanting to progress, as it is how we get to those places,” he continued, noting areas where the oil and gas industry is promoting solutions like hydrogen and biofuels. “Is it that we are often pushing too far, too fast?” “…When pressed on the matter, Slagle deflected, offering his view that the oil and gas industry has been unfairly painted as “evil” due to its frequent opposition to climate accountability measures.”

Indiana Public Radio: Sulfur smell covering northwest Indiana believed to be caused by BP Whiting Refinery
Rebecca Thiele, 6/26/23

“Severe weather caused BP’s Whiting Refinery to send more pollution into the air Sunday night. Local emergency management officials believe that could be what’s causing a sulfur smell in several counties in northwest Indiana,” Indiana Public Radio reports. “Officials in La Porte County first thought it was a gas leak, but the utility didn’t find any. And later nearby Porter County also started getting overwhelmed with 911 calls about the smell. Lance Bella directs the Porter County Emergency Management Agency. “It smelled like sulfur, didn’t smell like natural gas and almost smelled like an oily smell. So I started checking with our local industry,” he told IPR. Power outages disrupted operations at the Whiting Refinery causing unplanned gas flaring. That’s where excess natural gas produced during oil refining is burned off into the atmosphere. Flares are supposed to reduce most of the pollutants in natural gas, but they can still release things like sulfur dioxide — which can harm your lungs and make breathing difficult, especially for people with lung conditions. Flaring can also release carbon dioxide and some methane — greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change… “BP has said the community is safe, but local health officials and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management haven’t confirmed that… “Last month, the refinery received the largest federal penalty ever imposed for industrial air pollution in U.S. history.”

Colorado Newsline: In Grand Junction, oil train route would retrace Colorado railroad history
CHASE WOODRUFF, 6/26/23

“Five miles due south of the point where Interstate 70 crosses the Colorado-Utah border, a maze of slickrock washes and desert bunchgrass descends into a broad canyon carved out of the sandstone by the Colorado River,” Colorado Newsline reports. “…These tracks have run through Ruby Canyon for well over a century, but traffic has lessened over time. These days, fewer than one train per day on average departs Colorado’s largest remaining coal mine, the West Elk Mine in Gunnison County, bound for points west… “Soon, however, freight traffic on this railroad could be more than quadrupled, federal regulators estimate, by the construction of a new railway extension in a remote area of eastern Utah, about 100 miles northwest of this spot along the border. Nearly all of the increase would be made up of what alarmed environmentalists have taken to calling “bomb trains” full of combustible fossil fuels. The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway would connect Utah’s largest oil field to the national rail network, allowing drillers there to dramatically ramp up production and transport up to 300,000 barrels of oil per day to refineries in Texas and Louisiana. Five hundred tankers full of heated waxy crude oil could depart the Uinta Basin daily… “The railway project, years in the planning and backed by a public-private partnership between Utah county governments and industry, needs billions of dollars in financing before it can become a reality. But it has already secured key permits from President Joe Biden’s administration and has signaled it will soon apply for special tax-exempt infrastructure bonds that must be approved by the Department of Transportation… “It threatens water supplies and the environment, should it spill,” Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado River Headwaters chapter of Trout Unlimited, an anglers’ conservation group, told Newsline. “We have more of an attitude of when it spills, not if it spills.”

EXTRACTION

E&E News: $77B Needed To Slash Oil And Gas Methane Emissions — Report.
Carlos Anchondo, 6/27/23

“An estimated $77 billion in spending will be needed to lower global oil and gas methane emissions 75 percent by 2030, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday,” E&E News reports. “The IEA said the oil and gas sector bears “primary responsibility” for cutting emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is more potent at warming than carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after being released. Record industry net income could be used to finance methane reduction efforts, the agency said, noting that the oil and gas industry’s profits soared to nearly $4 trillion in 2022.”

Wall Street Journal: Oil, Gas Companies Urged to Pursue Relatively Cheap Fix on Emissions
Will Horner, 6/27/23

“Oil and gas companies would need to spend just a small fraction of their earnings on minimizing methane releases to have an outsize impact on curbing climate-altering greenhouse-gas emissions, but action has been lacking, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “An investment of $75 billion from oil and gas companies—equivalent to 2% of the sector’s latest annual net income—between now and 2030 would cut the energy sector’s direct greenhouse-gas emissions by 15% by the same year, the Paris-based agency said in a report. That would lay the groundwork for the sector to be able to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the IEA said. Of that $75 billion, the agency estimates listed international producers would need to spend about $4 billion with the remainder of the investment roughly split between nationally owned companies and smaller independent producers, 60% of which are based in North America.” 

Globe and Mail: Canada needs to align fiscal policy to manage the decline of oil and gas
EMMA GRANEY, 6/28/23

“The Canadian oil and gas sector is ill-prepared to weather a forecast drop in global demand, according to a new report that says governments must take a more active role in developing fiscal policies and bolstering economic diversification,” the Globe and Mail reports. “The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) analysis, released Tuesday, found that global economic trends in oil and gas are swiftly departing from business-as-usual, as the world scrambles to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Since the most influential factor affecting the viability of the Canadian oil and gas sector is global demand, it will be impossible to avoid disruption to the industry, the authors conclude. The enormity of that economic challenge is “one of the most important topics in climate policy” and “therefore, one of the most economically important topics Canada can be broaching,” co-author Aaron Cosbey told the Globe and Mail. The size of the oil and gas sectors’ economic contribution to Canada – and regionally to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador – means “the coming decline of those sectors is a huge issue economically for national unity and for those workers,” Mr. Cosbey told the Globe and Mail. The report encourages the federal government to continue strengthening climate policies, and explore tools within its jurisdiction to prepare for phasing down oil and gas production. It also said government fiscal policy should more closely align with the expected decline of fossil-fuel demand… “The authors further concluded that Canadian producers are vulnerable to low and volatile prices, and will not be able to preserve their share of remaining markets through price or through reputation as clean or ethical producers.”

Forbes: Forget Oil. New Wildcatters Are Drilling For Limitless ‘Geologic’ Hydrogen
Alan Ohnsman, 6/26/23

“Hydrogen formed deep underground by natural processes could be a major new source of untapped carbon-free power–and unlike oil or gas, the supply is virtually unlimited,” Forbes reports. “The push to wean the planet off carbon-free fuels and transition to renewable energy has focused mainly on wind and solar power. But mounting scientific evidence suggests there’s an untapped clean energy source deep underground that could provide vastly more power than we need: hydrogen created by natural geologic processes. And like the oil industry’s early days in the 19th century, it’s spawning a wave of drilling startups vying to be first to find big deposits. “View them like oil wildcatters right now,” Doug Wicks, director of the U.S. Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, told Forbes, equating hydrogen hunters to traditional drillers scouting for petroleum in new fields… “Potentially, “it’s 150 trillion metric tons,” Wicks told Forbes. “One billion tons would power the United States for a full year.” Big energy companies like Shell, BP and Chevron are joining a consortium created by the U.S. Geological Survey and Colorado School of Mines to study geologic hydrogen, but a handful of ambitious startups are already on the hunt.”

Construction: CarbonKerma launches Innovative Carbon Credit Marketplace
Michael Tabone, 6/27/23

“CarbonKerma has launched an innovative carbon credit trading platform–the world’s first and only carbon marketplace singularly focused on Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS)-derived carbon credits,” Construction reports. “The platform combines carbon capture and blockchain technology to offer CO2 emitting companies a high quality, trackable and measurable carbon credit trading platform. All the credits listed on CarbonKerma are precisely measured, highly regulated, and verified through stringent Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) processes… “Additionally, CarbonKerma’s use of blockchain technology brings liquidity to the marketplace and lends to our carbon offset credits a quality that is dearly needed in the voluntary carbon markets–transparency. Each metric tonne of CO2 sequestered is represented by a digital asset, CKT, which can be traded and retired. Once retired, it is permanently removed from circulation, never to be traded again. The immutability, public auditability, and transparency characteristics of blockchain technology means offsetting unabatable emissions can be a fully transparent endeavour for our partners. Companies can use CarbonKerma’s carbon credit platform to offset their emissions as part of their decarbonisation efforts, with 100% certainty that every CKT token they buy and retire represents a proven tonne of sequestered CO2… “CarbonKerma intends to permanently sink 50bn tonnes of CO2 by 2050, in line with the Paris Climate Accord goals.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

S&P Global Platts: Calling for absolute halt to fossil fuel investment is recipe for disaster: Petronas CEO
Eric Yep, 6/27/23

“Underinvestment in oil and gas has caused extreme market volatility and impacted energy security, and calling for an untimely and absolute halt to fossil fuel investment is a recipe for disaster, Tengku Muhammad Taufik, Petronas’ president and chief executive, said at the Energy Asia conference 2023,” S&P Global Platts reports. “Petronas, which has been fighting declining hydrocarbon production, is one of the largest national oil companies in Asia and is saddled with the responsibility of maintaining the Southeast Asian country’s energy supply amid calls for accelerated energy transition. “Our aspiration is to reach 2.7 million barrels of oil production per day,” Taufik said. Petronas recorded daily production average of 2.434 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day in financial year ended Dec. 31, 2022… “He said policy makers were being pushed to extremes on energy investment, and some called for a complete cessation of fossil fuels. “[But] the system that we are moving to is not ready yet,” he said. “So I think we need to stop these violent pendulum swings, particularly in Asia, where we need a runway to return to economic activity to at least pre-pandemic levels.”

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Enbridge: When ‘pain outweighs the ability to cope’: Crisis Centre of BC helps deliver care to youth in crisis ‘right now’
6/27/23

“Two teens are sitting outside their high school at lunch. One is having a tough time, feeling disconnected and hopeless. The friend recognizes they need help. But in their rural community, in-person mental health services are hard to come by. They might need to wait weeks to see a professional, and the teen needs help now. An idea comes to mind: they could call a crisis centre together,” according to Enbridge. “…The Crisis Centre of BC is funded partly by the provincial government; donations from the community and grants from businesses and organizations make up the rest of the funding… “Through our Fueling Futures program, Enbridge is committed to building safe, vibrant and sustainable communities in the regions where we live and work. A recent $5,000 Fueling Futures grant will support the Crisis Centre of BC’s important work with youth, and help the centre improve services to rural areas.”

OPINION

Virginia Mercury: Joe Manchin’s Pyrrhic MVP victory
Ivy Main is a lawyer and a longtime volunteer with the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter, 6/28/23

“This spring’s passage of federal legislation raising the debt ceiling came with one provision that clean energy advocates had fought hard against: it sweeps away several legal challenges to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that have stalled completion for more than four years,” Ivy Main writes for the Virginia Mercury. “…Manchin surely believes he notched a victory with the inclusion of this provision in must-pass legislation. And in one respect, he’s right. Pipeline opponents aren’t conceding defeat, but stopping the MVP in court just got a heck of a lot harder. Whether the pipeline’s developers should be celebrating is another matter… “Today, with the U.S. transitioning away from fossil fuels, the folly of building new gas infrastructure should be obvious to anyone who hasn’t already committed billions of dollars to the project. Dominion Energy figured this out three years ago when it dropped plans to develop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline… “And really, if there ever was a jackpot for MVP, it is gone by now. In 2015, EQT saw an opportunity to undercut the price charged by existing pipelines to ship gas to an energy-hungry Southeast. Today, though, demand for methane gas has cooled in the face of cheap wind and solar, while MVP’s costs have ballooned to $6.6 billion from the initial projection of $3.25 billion. Analysts say MVP’s competitive advantage has evaporated, and its prospects for profitability look grim… “Even in 2015 there were not enough customers clamoring for MVP’s services, so the partners named themselves as the buyers for more than half of the pipeline’s capacity. FERC’s approach to permitting allows this self-dealing, though the commission has been heavily criticized for it… “It’s time to stop this travesty. Equitrans claims MVP is 94% complete, but opponents say the true figure is more like 56%, with many of the most difficult segments (like stream crossings) still to be tackled. Those are also the most environmentally sensitive parts of the line. Pulling the plug on MVP now would avoid not only the cost of completing the pipeline, but also the cost of fixing leaks, erosion damage and other problems critics believe are inevitable given the terrain and geology. That would be a much better result for everyone concerned than completing the pipeline to serve a market that doesn’t exist – a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one.”

Bismarck Tribune: Letter: Bury CO2 pipeline below frost line
Dennis Murphy, Bismarck, 6/27/23

“The CO2 pipeline article does not show or mention the line from Mandan Refinery to Minot Air Force Base for JP4 fuel been there for years. I am sticking with the CO2 pipeline be buried below frost line or more up here; things are way different with the freeze/thaw conditions,” Dennis Murphy writes for the Bismarck Tribune. “The line in Louisiana was probably at four feet and they can get away with it down there until things go to heck in a handbasket as we notice at times. There is also the problem of contractors with backhoes and not checking before the dig. I know I have sat waiting for things to get fixed!”

Daily Montanan: New BLM Public Lands Rule A Win-Win For Montana 
Derf Johnson is the Deputy Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, a nonprofit advocate for clean air, clean water, and climate action, 6/26/23

“Most of us know that Montana’s public lands are a valuable resource,” Derf Johnson writes for the Daily Montanan.  “The American public benefits immensely from Montana’s many acres of public lands. Montana would just not be Montana without our easily accessible, wide open spaces. What many people don’t know is that oil, gas, and mining companies have been filling their bank accounts and providing executive bonuses while abusing our public lands, all while refusing to adequately compensate the public. For too long, powerful special interests like oil, gas and mining companies have been committing highway robbery on the American public. They mine and drill on public lands that belong to all federal taxpayers, but pay far below what’s just, fair or reasonable. These companies extract valuable public resources at bargain basement prices, owing largely to the close relationship such corporations enjoy with politicians and a set of outdated land management policies. Once the public resources are extracted, the profit largely goes to benefit private mining companies and their shareholders. And, as we have seen over and over in Montana, many of these companies often turn tail, declare bankruptcy, and leave a mess for Montana and federal taxpayers to clean up. Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management is starting to turn this tide. Its new Public Lands Rule will allow all Americans to have a seat at the table when it comes to decisions about leasing BLM lands. It will give you and me, the American public, the same right to lease the lands for conservation that “Big Oil” currently enjoys to add to their record profits. Unfortunately, lobbyists for extractive industries are spreading misinformation about BLM’s Public Lands Rule.”

Dispatches From the Frontlines: Why I Fight for Environmental Justice and Democracy in Tennessee
Justin J. Pearson is a community organizer in Memphis, TN, a leader in environmental and social justice, a non-profit founder, and a community-centered visionary, 6/27/23

“On Thursday, April 6th this year, I was illegally expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives along with my colleague, Justin Jones. We are both Black men and the House’s two youngest legislators. Our “crime?” The previous week we had taken to the well in Tennessee’s State Capitol to join peaceful protestors calling for gun reform after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville that had left seven dead. Our fellow Democrat Gloria Johnson, a sixty-year-old white woman, was with us in the well; she was not expelled. It was a political lynching,” Justin J. Pearson writes for Dispatches From the Frontlines. “…Once more, I hope to represent District 86, my home district of Southwest Memphis, which I love. When I returned to Memphis after college, I became a community organizer and environmental justice activist. The catalyst for this was reading that the Byhalia Pipeline—funded by Valero Energy Corporation and Plains All American—had plotted its route to cut through the Black neighborhoods my family and I lived in and my grandmothers had raised us in. These corporations thought this would be, as one official put it, “a point of least resistance.”  If this pipeline had been built, it would have doubled the productivity of the Valero Oil Refinery, which already poisons the air of Southwest Memphis’ Black families to such a degree that the cancer rate in southwest Memphis is four times the national average. On top of this, Black landowners were being dispossessed of land they had bought after emancipation, forced to sell it for a pittance under threat of “eminent domain” expropriations. Our community fought back and proved we were not “the path of least resistance,” but rather the path of resilience. Southwest Memphis became the Ground Zero not just of environmental racism, but of a new environmental justice movement. I co-founded Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP): we stopped the pipeline and, in 2021, won legislation tightening environmental regulations. These people-powered victories, inspired by the spirit of the community, led me into politics when my mentor Dr. Barbara Cooper passed away last year, after representing District 86 for 27 years… “This is how we won the fight against Byhalia: we formed coalitions across the young and elderly, Black and white, rich and poor, north and south Memphis divide… “My friends who live along the MVP are not going to let our democracy be killed in the comfort of silence, and neither are the rest of us, in the environmental justice movement. This is why we gathered in Washington DC this month to rally against including the MVP in the debt ceiling bailout deal – just as we did, on September 8 last year, to protest Joe Manchin’s first “Dirty Deal.” Even if we lose this battle to the DC mobocrats, we will win. I am convinced that  environmental justice is the movement for our time, because of the way it brings together a multiplicity and diversity of people, opinions, ideas, cultures, ethnicities, and socioeconomic classes under one really large tent. This is the tent of climate justice, the tent of our very atmosphere itself. It is our shared home, this planet. It is the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is the future, and I am confident we will prevail.”