EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/29/23

(Note to Readers: The next edition of “Extracted” will be published on Wednesday, July 5.)

PIPELINE NEWS

• E&E News: FERC approves all construction on Mountain Valley

• Common Dreams: FERC OKs Completion of ‘Reckless’ Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Law360: TC Energy Can’t Cite NAFTA In $15B Trade Claim, US Says

• Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Pipeline to ‘nowhere’: Navigator CO2 routes in flux as Illinois resists project

• KELO: Hansen calls for special session as CO2 pipeline surveying continues

• Dakota Free Press: Noem Says She Supports Landowners But Can’t Help, Blames Legislature and China for CO2 Pipeliners’ Invasion

• KELO: Summit responds to Noem’s radio comments on CO2 pipelines

• KELO: Survey stirs more controversy on proposed pipelines

• Dakota Free Press: Novstrup: Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Will Have “Negligible” Effect on Climate Change, Pose Danger to Neighbors

• KSCJ: NAVIGATOR CO2 REMAINS HOPEFUL TO BUILD PIPELINE IN WOODBURY COUNTY

• Pipeline Fighters Hub: North Dakota Public Service Commission Hearing on Pipeline Plume Leak Confidentiality (6/27/23)

• Interlochen Public Radio: Protesters scuffle with organizers of Line 5 lecture in Petoskey

• Bloomberg: Transco’s Suit Over Pipeline Permits Must Be Tossed, Groups Urge

• Greeley Tribune: Natural gas pipeline leak spurs Weld landowners to assail state’s ‘subterranean toxic spaghetti’

• Dickson Post: TDEC plans public hearing on proposed gas pipeline

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Politico: BOEM To Propose Changes To Offshore Rig Decommissioning Rules

• KJZZ: Proposed Bureau of Land Management rule draws critics, supporters during comment phase

• Politico: Biden’s new permitting fixer Eric Beightel

STATE UPDATES

• Grand Forks Herald: Office of Sen. Cramer announces Project Tundra’s final development stage

• Press release: Project Tundra moves into final development stage

• The Hill: Wyoming, Colorado to partner on developing carbon capture technologies

• Common Dreams: Montana Train Derailment Raises Fears of Similar Disasters on Proposed Uinta Basin Railway

• KTUU: Alaska senator urges state to investigate possible Hilcorp violations around Cook Inlet leases

EXTRACTION

• Wall Street Journal: Big Oil Mulls a Slippery Future

• IHeartRadio: CLIMATE ACTIVISTS PROTEST IN THE SAULT AND ACROSS CANADA

• Reuters: LNG exporters Texas, Louisiana had nearly half US natgas demand growth in last decade -EIA

• Grist: How a small island nation is taking climate change to the world’s highest court

CLIMATE FINANCE

• NPR: Republican attacks on ESG aren’t stopping companies in red states from going green

• OilPrice.com: Divesting From Fossil Fuels Would Have Saved U.S. Pension Funds $21 Billion

• Bloomberg: To Sidestep ‘Weaponized’ ESG, Do-Good Funds Embrace a New Label

• E&E News: Global accounting group outlines plan for more climate disclosure

• Politico: Treasury urges insurers, states to act on climate risks

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Bloomberg: Nestle Puts KitKat Carbon Neutrality in Greenwashing Graveyard

• Bloomberg: Defining Greenwashing [VIDEO]

OPINION

• Capital Journal: Ethanol investors share concerns about CO2 project

• South Dakota Searchlight: Noem’s actions speak louder than words on eminent domain

• Marshall Independent: Carbon capture projects critical for Minnesota’s climate goals and agriculture

• TVO: Hydrogen and carbon capture aren’t innovative solutions. They’re more nails in our coffin

• Bend Bulletin: Federal government should block the GTN Xpress pipeline expansion

• NewsOne: Climate Crisis: Black America Can’t Wait For Biden Administration To Deliver Environmental Justice

• Guardian: So what if fossil fuel lobbyists have to declare themselves at Cop28? That won’t curb their power

• Inforum: LaDuke: Can’t see the forest for the smoke

PIPELINE NEWS

E&E News: FERC approves all construction on Mountain Valley
Miranda Willson, 6/29/23

“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has authorized the resumption of construction activities for the Mountain Valley pipeline, clearing the way for the natural gas project to move toward completion weeks after Congress ordered federal agencies to approve it,” E&E News reports. “In a unanimous order issued Wednesday, the commission said that all work on the 303-mile pipeline could proceed. That includes portions of the project that will run through the Jefferson National Forest and cross hundreds of waterways and wetlands in West Virginia and Virginia. The commission also authorized FERC’s Office of Energy Projects to approve any future modifications to the Mountain Valley project as proposed by its sponsors — as long as the director of the office finds them “to be needed to complete construction.” FERC’s order cites the debt ceiling bill that President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this month. It included provisions backed by West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin (D) and Shelley Moore Capito (R) mandating completion of the pipeline… “Natalie Cox, spokesperson for lead developer Equitrans Midstream Corp, told E&E that Mountain Valley developers expect construction crews to begin work on the project’s right of way “shortly.” “…Russell Chisholm, managing director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights coalition that has fought against the pipeline, said in a statement that he was “devastated” by Wednesday’s decision and vowed to continue the fight. “The gas from the pipeline is unnecessary, the permanent local jobs provided are minimal, the endangerment to precious species is irreversible, water sources will be polluted, and earthquake and landslide prone areas stand in its wake,” Chisholm said… “Opponents of the project and pipeline safety advocates have also raised concerns about whether the pipes that have been laid for the project in the last several years can still be safely used for the flow of gas.”

Common Dreams: FERC OKs Completion of ‘Reckless’ Mountain Valley Pipeline
JESSICA CORBETT, 6/28/23

“Despite opposition from climate and Indigenous groups, U.S. regulators on Wednesday gave the Mountain Valley Pipeline developer a green light to move forward with construction of the partially completed fracked gas project spanning over 300 miles across Virginia and West Virginia,” Common Dreams reports.  The developer “has all necessary authorizations” for the project—also known as MVP—and “is therefore authorized to proceed with all remaining construction,” says the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order. “…While U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)—a longtime proponent of the pipeline and major recipient of fossil fuel campaign cash—celebrated FERC’s move, it outraged local campaigners who have spent years fighting against the project. Russell Chisholm, an impacted community member and managing director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) Coalition, called out President Joe Biden, who campaigned on bold climate pledges and is seeking reelection. “The Biden administration just greenlit a reckless, unnecessary fossil fuel project during a deadly heatwave caused by climate change,” said Chisholm. “The destruction wrought by this pipeline on our planet and communities is President Biden’s climate legacy.” “…MVP opponents argue that provision of the debt limit deal is unconstitutional. The Southern Environmental Law Center on Monday filed a brief on behalf of the Wilderness Society declaring that “Congress cannot pick winners and losers in pending litigation by compelling findings or results without supplying new substantive law for the courts to apply.” Pointing to the ongoing legal challenges Wednesday, Appalachian Voices Virginia policy director Peter Anderson charged that “it is foolhardy of FERC to take this step while serious questions about the legality of some of Mountain Valley’s permits are still unresolved.”

Law360: TC Energy Can’t Cite NAFTA In $15B Trade Claim, US Says
Caleb Symons, 6/28/23

“U.S. officials said the company behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline can’t contest the decision to quash the development project, telling arbitrators in a newly disclosed filing that pipeline operator TC Energy Corp. has no claim under a defunct regional trade deal,” Law360 reports. 

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Pipeline to ‘nowhere’: Navigator CO2 routes in flux as Illinois resists project
Dominik Dausch, 6/2923

“If Navigator Heartland Greenway wants to build its sprawling, multi-billion dollar carbon dioxide pipeline system across the Midwest, more than anything, the company needs a site to store the hazardous gas. As it stands, Navigator doesn’t have one,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports. “Public documents filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission, a state public utility regulator, show the carbon capture company has made little progress in securing its proposed sequestration sites… “The company plans to build two carbon dioxide sequestration facilities in Illinois’ Christian and Montgomery counties… “But according to a June 15 testimonial from Mark Maple, ICC’s senior gas engineer, Navigator has only acquired a few of the permits or approvals necessary to construct the sites. Just as well, the unpopularity of the project among Illinois landowners is unprecedented among pipeline projects. According to a June progress report from Navigator, the company has only secured a mere 13.4% of the necessary easements it needs across its 291-mile route in Illinois after nearly a year of negotiating with landowners. “They’ve been having a hell of a time here,” Pam Richart, co-founder of Illinois-based Eco-Justice Collaborative and anti-pipeline advocate, told the Argus Leader. “They’ve been at it for a year. So I think that’s a testimony to the opposition that they are facing here in Illinois. Land owners don’t want it, plain and simple.” The slow progress on courting landowners is emblematic of the project’s lack of popularity in the Prairie State, but the developments in Illinois have implications for South Dakota and other states where the pipeline is routed. If Navigator’s sequestration sites are not permitted and alternative sites are not identified, the entire pipeline project could be scrapped… “However, the company has so far only acquired two of the 14 necessary federal, state and local permits or approvals to build the sequestration sites… “If Navigator is unable to obtain the EPA permits for each of its sequestration sites, the company won’t be able to sequester carbon dioxide in the first place. Navigator would then have to look to other counties for sequestration. Maple told the Argus Leader the company could relocate its sequestration sites to the Mount Simon Formation, an expansive region between Illinois and Indiana with a large underground reservoir… “But this would also require the company to reroute the project, “perhaps only a few miles or perhaps entirely out of Illinois,” Maple told the Argus Leader. In that case, a new group of landowners would be pulled into the pipeline debate on short notice, considering they not have a chance to participate in the original certification process last July. “Without a sequestration facility in place and the end point being uncertain, the entire route remains in flux, and consequently, in my opinion, it is not a benefit to the citizens of Illinois nor in the public interest,” Maple said in his testimony.

KELO: Hansen calls for special session as CO2 pipeline surveying continues
Dan Santella, 6/28/23

“Property rights are at the heart of a South Dakota lawmaker’s call for a special legislative session in the wake of surveying done for proposed carbon dioxide pipeline in South Dakota,” KELO reports. “Republican Rep. Jon Hansen is calling for a special session to defend landowner rights. A representative from Summit Carbon Solutions, which is seeking to build a pipeline, tells KELOLAND News that surveying continues in South Dakota. “I have literally heard from landowners all across the eastern side of this state deeply concerned about the loss of their private property rights,” Hansen told KELO. Democratic Rep. Oren Lesmeister, who represents northwestern South Dakota in the House, also believes a special session is needed. “We’ve got people that have been there for centuries, I mean literally, and this is their livelihood, and they take personal pride in their property, personal property rights,” Lesmeister told KELO. “And they’re being trampled on right now … and it is by law. That is one thing; they do have the right to survey. We’re not saying they don’t.” “The call for a special session is really coming from farmers and landowners primarily who are really concerned about the lack of private property rights or the attack on private property rights,” Hansen told KELO. Republican Rep. Will Mortenson, who served as House majority leader in the legislative session earlier this year, shared support for property owners but told KELO a special session isn’t the best path right now… “Presiding officers of both the House and Senate need the support of two-thirds of each chamber to have a special session. Lesmeister told KELO that this proposed legislative session doesn’t have this support. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted on Wednesday from her personal account that “If the legislature wants to call themselves into special session to change the law, I look forward to reviewing what they send to my desk.”

Dakota Free Press: Noem Says She Supports Landowners But Can’t Help, Blames Legislature and China for CO2 Pipeliners’ Invasion
CORY ALLEN HEIDELBERGER, 6/27/23

“KWAT’s Mike Tanner got Governor Kristi Noem to talk to him for 20 minutes yesterday. Tanner smartly brought up Summit Carbon Solutions’ invasion of private property to survey and move dirt for its still not permitted carbon dioxide pipeline and complaints from many, including members of her own party, that she’s been AWOL in defending landowner rights,” Dakota Free Press reports. “Governor Noem replied that she’s with the landowners and said they should blame the Legislature and China: Well, I’m with the landowners and always have been. I’m a very pro-property rights governor and always have been with all the actions I have taken. I’m shocked at some of those images and things that I’m seeing that’s happening to these farmers and landowners that these pipelines going on. That’s not how the process is supposed to work. And I know people are asking me to take action, and we’re continuing with our legal team to look at if we have any avenues… “I know people at times want to just, you know, call on the Governor to come in and do that, but you’ll remember for years and years and years, I told people all along I know specifically what my role is defined as by the constitution and I’m going to continue to follow our laws and statutes and the constitution and we’ll continue to look for ways to help these landowners. What bothers me, Mike, is that a lot of the investment that’s going into this pipeline is influenced by China. They have a $100-million partnership here with a Chinese-owned ethanol company… “Noem is at least saying she’s working with her lawyers to see if she could take some action to prevent her Republican friends from Iowa from seizing farmers’ land”

KELO: Summit responds to Noem’s radio comments on CO2 pipelines
Rae Yost, 6/28/23

“Gov. Kristi Noem has been nearly silent as discussion and debate on two proposed carbon dioxide projects have happened over more than a year in the state,” KELO reports. “…Noem claimed in a June 26 interview with KWAT, a Watertown radio station, that Summit has received a loan from a Chinese ethanol company and investment from a Chinese central bank. Summit Carbon says that isn’t so. “The company has not received, nor has it solicited, contributions from China,” Summit Carbon Solutions said in an email response to questions from KELOLAND News. But Summit did secure a $300 million investment from TPG Rise Climate, according to TPG Rise Climate and Summit. China-based Silk Road Fund is one of the anchor investors in TPG Rise… “Noem said in her radio interview that “state law needs to change if they want to stop this, and that’s something legislators haven’t been on board with yet.” “…A group of organized landowners have opposed the proposed pipelines for several reasons and say the companies should not be able to survey without landowners’ permission. Also that the two companies should not be able to use eminent domain to obtain land for the pipeline if the landowner does not agree. A CO2 pipeline is not a commodity, opponents said… “Noem cited a $100 million partnership with a Chinese-owned ethanol company and a $300 million from the Chinese central bank in her June 20 KWAT interview. Noem did not name the ethanol company or provide specifics on the Chinese central bank loan… “A Korean-based business is involved in the Summit project. SK E&S Co., the natural gas business unit of South Korea’s SK Group, is investing $110 million for a 10% stake in Summit Carbon Solutions LLC. The China-based Silk Road Fund is an anchor investor in TPG Rise Climate which will invest $300 million… “In her KWAT interview, Noem said, “Well, I’m with the landowners and always have been. I’m a very pro-property rights governor and always have been with all the actions I have taken. I’m shocked at some of those images and things that I’m seeing that’s happening to these farmers and landowners that these pipelines going on. That’s not how the process is supposed to work.”

KELO: Survey stirs more controversy on proposed pipelines
Rae Yost, 6/28/23

“Survey work in Brown County for a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline has appeared to start a flurry of social media posts, comments from Governor Kristi Noem and demands from some legislators for a special session,” KELO reports. “…A 2016 law allows companies that have projects under review by the PUC to enter property without landowner permission to do surveys. A judge also reaffirmed that law’s application to CO2 pipelines in a ruling in May. But several people question how a piece of equipment that drilled or bored into land farmed by Jared Bossly in Brown County, south of Aberdeen, is part of a survey… “It didn’t look like a normal survey,” Ed Fischbach of Spink County told KELO. Fischbach was at Bossly’s farm on June 20. “(Company) was out in the soybean field drilling holes, bringing up slurry and tearing up the soybean field.” In relation to the proposed CO2 pipelines, groups of landowners in South Dakota have challenged the 2016 law in court and lost. One of the arguments is that surveys should not be done until the entity has secured a permit. And that landowners should have the right to deny access for surveys… “Landowner Mark Lapka was also at Bossly’s farm on the day of the survey… “He saw deep holes being drilled and questions why, when the pipeline is to be installed four to five feet under the ground. “These steps are crucial for our work, giving us information about soil layers and helping us plan the directional drilling process to reduce risk. The data we collect will guide our decisions on the drill depth and other key aspects,” John Satterfield, director of regulatory affairs said in an email to KELOLAND News… “Lapka and Fischbach also described seeing several vehicles they said were part of the survey crew at different points on the land and on a nearby road. “It was almost surreal. There were pickups in every direction,” Fischbach told KELO. It was as if they were watching Bossly’s farm, he told KELO. Armed security for Summit, Summit staff and staff from the Brown County Sheriff’s office were also at the farm, Satterfield said in the email… “The survey process was “pretty invasive,” Fischbach told KELO. He believes the survey work may have permanently damaged some parts of Bossly’s fields.”

Dakota Free Press: Novstrup: Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Will Have “Negligible” Effect on Climate Change, Pose Danger to Neighbors
CORY ALLEN HEIDELBERGER, 6/29/23

“Senator Al Novstrup (R-3/Aberdeen) showed up at a rally on the steps of the McPherson County Courthouse in Leola on May 15 to speak against carbon dioxide pipelines and the use of eminent domain,” Dakota Free Press reports. “…In an apparent response to preceding speakers’ criticism of Governor Kristi Noem’s failure to intervene in the Republican-run Summit Carbon Solutions’ resort to eminent domain to seize property rights, Senator Novstrup gave Governor Noem an “atta-girl” for vetoing HB 1193. Finally turning to the topic that drew the crowd to Leola, Senator Novstrup said that he asked a representative of Summit Carbon Solutions how much effect the pipeline’s carbon dioxide sequestration will have on global temperatures (and Novstrup incorrectly says we haven’t had a talk to determine whether changes in temperatures are good or bad). Novstrup says the SCS rep told him the effect would be “negligible”. Thus, Novstrup concludes the we should spend that money on Social Security or roads or something else. Senator Novstrup said the pipeliners haven’t done enough science to tell us how far the dangers of compressed CO2 might extend around a pipeline rupture. “Is it a block, is it a half a mile, or ten miles? What is it? And the answer is, ‘Depends.’ It depends on the wind, it depends on the humidity, it depends on the geography, and so do you really want your life based upon, ‘It depends’?” Senator Novstrup blipped that “the property rights is a problem”, but he did not develop an argument on that core issue of eminent domain around which activists of all stripes can rally and for which we have only Novstrup’s fellow Republican corporate profiteers to blame.”

KSCJ: NAVIGATOR CO2 REMAINS HOPEFUL TO BUILD PIPELINE IN WOODBURY COUNTY
Woody Gottburg, 6/28/23

“Woodbury County Supervisors received an update from a company wishing to build a carbon capture pipeline through part of the county on Tuesday,” KSCJ reports. “Tracie Gibler is with Navigator CO2. Gibler says there’s just a small segment of the pipeline that would run through Woodbury County… “She emphasized that Navigator is exceeding safety standards in their proposal in many different ways… “Some landowners along the proposed route remain opposed to the pipeline. Navigator recently lost a court challenge against property owners who did not want them surveying their land for the project.”

Pipeline Fighters Hub: North Dakota Public Service Commission Hearing on Pipeline Plume Leak Confidentiality (6/27/23)
6/28/23

“On Tuesday, June 27, the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) held a formal hearing beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Pioneer Room of the Judicial Wing, ND State Capitol, Bismarck. Intervenors have requested Summit’s modeling information be made public. The PSC held this hearing to assist in their decision about maintaining the current “confidentiality” status of Summit Carbon Solution’s CO2 pipeline rupture plume dispersion modeling that would inform the public about risks and dangers to the public in a leak event. Bold Alliance captured video of the hearing for the Pipeline Fighters Hub.”

Interlochen Public Radio: Protesters scuffle with organizers of Line 5 lecture in Petoskey
Michael Livingston, 6/29/23

“A melee broke out as an Enbridge official tried to speak about the Line 5 pipeline at North Central Michigan College last week,” Interlochen Public Radio reports. “Protesters said in a statement this week that they were physically assaulted while trying to nonviolently disrupt the event. Organizers say protesters barged in without proper clearance. A press release posted Wednesday on Twitter by the Anishinaabek Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party describes a group, which included NCMC president David Finley, forcing the protesters out of the room resulting in minor injuries. A video provided to IPR News and the Record-Eagle by John Woodward, one of the protesters, shows the two groups scuffling with a banner that reads “Enbridge Out! No Line 5.” “We showed up to practice our First Amendment rights. And people didn’t like what we were saying,” Woodward told IPR. “They decided to put their hands on us. We felt threatened — it was scary.” The event was part of NCMC’s Luncheon Lecture Series which regularly brings in professionals from different fields to discuss their work. This time, the series featured Enbridge Community Engagement Manager Paul Meneghini to present on the planned Great Lakes Tunnel Project beneath the Straits of Mackinac… “Charlie MacInnis organizes the series for NCMC, which is a community college. He told IPR protesters entered the room without purchasing tickets, which were $15 each. “There was no opportunity to ask them to leave, they burst in and started yelling, they were not civil, they were not appropriate,” MacInnis told IPR. “They did not act in a way that would suggest that civil discourse was their goal.” In the video, MacInnis is shown pushing protesters through the door before whistling to someone off camera.” 

Bloomberg: Transco’s Suit Over Pipeline Permits Must Be Tossed, Groups Urge
Shayna Greene, 6/28/23

“A Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC lawsuit seeking a declaration against state agency review of permits for its natural gas expansion project in Pennsylvania lacks legal basis, environmental groups argued pushing for dismissal,” Bloomberg reports. “The complaint should be dismissed because the Natural Gas Act doesn’t preempt state administrative review of interstate pipeline permits, the environmental groups said on Tuesday to the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The argument is the latest development in a case brought by Transco in March. The company sued the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, its judges, and two environmental groups…”

Greeley Tribune: Natural gas pipeline leak spurs Weld landowners to assail state’s ‘subterranean toxic spaghetti’
JUDITH KOHLER, 6/29/23

“For years, Julie and Mark Nygren have hosted school children on field trips to their farm near Johnstown. But recent visitors to their property saw what looked more like a strip mine than a farm,” the Greeley Tribune reprots. “On a recent day, bulldozers, backhoes and large trucks drove around big piles of dirt, down and out of a pit and through the spot where the Nygrens’ house once stood. Speaking over the roar of the engines, the couple talked about the upending of their lives, starting in 2016 with the dying off of trees in front of their home, worsening health problems and the discovery in April 2019 of green liquid in a ditch 130 feet from their house. The liquid was connected to a widespread underground leak from a natural gas pipeline running below the western Weld County farm. The Nygrens are suing the pipeline’s owner and a construction company that dug in the area to put in a culvert. And the Nygrens, their lawyers and others are calling for more oversight of the thousands of miles of oil and gas pipelines under Colorado homes, schools, roads and farm land. “I call it the subterranean toxic spaghetti,” Lance Astrella, one of the lawyers representing the Nygrens in their lawsuit against DCP Midstream Operating Co., told the Tribune. The “spaghetti,” or network of oil and gas pipelines, includes flowlines, gathering lines, longer transmission lines that run within the state and transmission lines that cross state lines. Flowlines, typically shorter and smaller in diameter, connect a well to surrounding equipment and are regulated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Gathering lines, the kind that spilled on the Nygrens’ farm, generally carry oil or natural gas to a collection point. Along with the larger transmission lines, they are regulated by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and the federal government in a manner that sometimes seems as much of a labyrinth as the physical structures… “The Nygrens’ lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensation for medical bills and damage to their property and business. The couple said DCP paid for a hotel when they had to be evacuated April 5, 2019, and is paying for a rental in Johnstown. Their insurance doesn’t cover the damage from the pipeline leak… “The Nygrens keep running their farm, although part of it has had to be idled during the cleanup. It takes planning to maneuver around the heavy equipment and the trucks that haul as many as 100 loads of contaminated soil to a landfill each day.” 

Dickson Post: TDEC plans public hearing on proposed gas pipeline
6/28/23

“The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will hold an informational session, followed by a public hearing, concerning Section 401 Water Quality Certification for stream and wetland alterations associated with the Cumberland Gas Pipeline Project that would span three rural Tennessee counties, crossing seven wetlands and 155 streams,” the Dickson Post reports. “This is a key opportunity for community members to express their concerns to TDEC, the state agency which plans to provide a permit that will allow Kinder Morgan to disturb more than 150 local streams and bedrock to build the pipeline,” said officials with the environmentalist group Appalachian Voices in a press release. The Tennessee Valley Authority recently made the decision to replace one of the coal-fired units at the Cumberland Fossil Plant with a methane gas-burning plant. TVA cannot have a gas plant without a pipeline and separate permits need to be obtained by gas giant Kinder Morgan… “Many of these waters serve as drinking water for people, wildlife, and livestock. They also provide natural filtration systems and are cultural resources for fishing and kayaking,” Appalachian Voices officials said.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Politico: BOEM To Propose Changes To Offshore Rig Decommissioning Rules 
Ben Lefebvre, 6/27/23

“The Interior Department plans to propose a new rule that would change how it assesses the oil and gas industry’s financial responsibility for decommissioning offshore oil rigs,” Politico reports. “The proposal aims to ensure that the federal government does not ultimately bear the costs of decommissioning activities when private sector companies go bankrupt. Details: The proposal comes from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the division of Interior responsible for issuing offshore oil and gas leases. The proposed rule, scheduled for release Thursday, would update BOEM’s regulations on rig decommissioning to bring in third-party credit rating firms to help assess a company’s financial health. BOEM would require companies without an investment-grade credit rating to provide additional financial assurances to help wind down a rig if the company goes bankrupt. Another change would be to start considering the current value of an offshore lease’s proven oil and gas resources when determining the overall financial risk of decommissioning, BOEM said. Leases with significant reserves would likely be acquired by another operator that would then be responsible for decommissioning a rig in the event of its own bankruptcy, BOEM said in its release on Tuesday.”

KJZZ: Proposed Bureau of Land Management rule draws critics, supporters during comment phase
Ron Dungan, 6/27/23

“The Bureau of Land Management recently proposed a rule change that would put recreation on par with other uses of public lands, and the proposal has received a lot of attention,” KJZZ reports. “The Bureau has received thousands of comments over the proposed rule, and recently extended the deadline for public input to July 5. The proposal has also drawn the attention of Republican congressmen who have introduced a bill to block it. The measure is co-sponsored by Arizona’s Paul Gosar. The lawmakers say the rule will harm rural communities located near BLM lands, but Michael Carroll, of the Wilderness Society, told KJZZ it’s likely to help them. “We think this is going to give local land managers a tool that will not only be durable and last beyond future administrations, but also give the ability to work with local communities,” Carroll told KJZZ.

Politico: Biden’s new permitting fixer Eric Beightel
Josh Siegel, 6/27/23

“President Joe Biden’s new appointee to lead the federal permitting council is aiming to use his job to help smooth the interaction between agencies and project developers, even as Congress looks to overhaul the rules that many blame for slowing construction of both fossil fuel and clean energy infrastructure,” Politico reports. “Eric Beightel, tapped last week to be the next executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, told POLITICO in an interview that he hopes to develop a template to help guide interstate transmission projects and enable them to move through the approval process faster. Beightel, who brings private and public sector experience navigating the federal permitting process to the job he will start on July 3, intends to work to minimize “avoidable delays” by enhancing communication between agencies. But even Beightel, a self-described National Environmental Policy Act “purist” who doesn’t view the landmark statute as an inherent barrier to building projects, sees room for Congress to continue “refining” the rules around permitting, following the debt ceiling legislation that contained a handful of smaller changes to NEP.”

STATE UPDATES

Grand Forks Herald: Office of Sen. Cramer announces Project Tundra’s final development stage
Joe Banish, 6/28/23

“One of the world’s largest planned carbon capture projects, slated for operation in western North Dakota, has entered its final stage of development,” the Grand Forks Herald reports. “The announcement was made with a news release from the office of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, who serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The initiative, called “Project Tundra,” is designed to capture up to 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, which will in turn be stored over a mile underground in geologic formations. It is a collaborative effort between energy partners Minnkota Power Cooperative, TC Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kiewit. “Today’s announcement from Minnkota on Project Tundra is another exciting step toward scaling up carbon capture in North Dakota,” Cramer said. “Congratulations to Minnkota, TC Energy, Mitsubishi, Kiewit, and its affiliate team on their partnership and moving to the final stage of development. I look forward to North Dakota’s historic and continued leadership in CCUS technology.” “…The project’s participants submitted applications in May for a $350 million grant through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program, along with a $150 million loan through the state of North Dakota’s Clean Sustainable Energy Authority. At present, the project has been approved for a $100 million loan from the CSEA. Closing financial details and a notice to proceed with construction are expected by early 2024.”

Press release: Project Tundra moves into final development stage
6/28/23

“Minnkota Power Cooperative today announced agreements with TC Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and Kiewit and its affiliates moving Project Tundra into its final stage of project development. The joint effort combines decades of energy industry expertise and strengthens the strategic vision to build one of the world’s largest carbon capture projects in North Dakota. Under the arrangements, Minnkota will continue to lead project development activities at the Milton R. Young Station power plant, as well as coordination with landowners and community members in the project area near Center, N.D… “TC Energy will lead commercialization activities, including qualifying for federal 45Q tax credits. Return on project construction and operation costs would be recouped through 45Q, which provides $85 per ton of CO2 permanently stored underground. In addition, the project participants submitted applications in May for a $350 million grant through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program and a $150 million loan through the state of North Dakota’s Clean Sustainable Energy Authority (CSEA). The project currently has approval for a $100 million CSEA loan.”

The Hill: Wyoming, Colorado to partner on developing carbon capture technologies
SHARON UDASIN, 6/28/23

“The governors of Wyoming and Colorado signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday for interstate collaboration on the development of carbon capture technologies,” The Hill reports. “The bipartisan partnership, signed by Govs. Mark Gordon (R-Wyo.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), will explore the potential of these emerging tools to complement existing and future industries while boosting economic growth and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in both states. The agreement focuses specifically on “direct air carbon dioxide capture” (DAC), a method of carbon dioxide removal in which the gas is captured — from power plant emissions, for example — and then either permanently stored in geological formations underground or reused in other industries… “Wyoming has suitable geology for permanent carbon sequestration, an established carbon management system and a workforce with the skills necessary for this emerging industry, the partners noted. Meanwhile, Colorado is on the forefront of DAC technology development — alongside an advanced clean energy ecosystem and policy that encourages emissions reductions. The complementary but “unique capabilities” of each state could help bolster a regional DAC industry, which in turn could “lay the groundwork to scale DAC solutions globally,” the text of the memorandum reads.

Common Dreams: Montana Train Derailment Raises Fears of Similar Disasters on Proposed Uinta Basin Railway
JULIA CONLEY, 6/25/23

“A freight train derailment and the collapse of a bridge over the Yellowstone River in Montana on Saturday raised alarm as several cars carrying asphalt and molten sulfur tumbled into the river, prompting officials to take emergency measures at nearby water plants. The incident also brought to mind for some critics the Biden administration’s plan to move forward with a railway project along the Colorado River—one that could place the drinking water of 40 million people at risk as trains transport crude oil from eastern Utah’s Uinta Basin to national rail lines,” Common Dreams reports. “…To Ted Zukoski, a senior attorney in the Center for Biological Diversity’s public lands program, the accident raised concerns about similar potential disasters along the Uinta Basin Railway, which could carry as many as five two-mile-long crude oil trains more than 100 miles each day alongside the Colorado River’s headwaters. “For about 100 miles of the railroad, it is close enough to the river that if you’re sitting in a raft in the middle of it, you could throw a rock and hit the railroad, Zukoski told Lever News last month… “In addition to worsening the climate crisis by supporting the increased production of 350,000 barrels of oil per day, the Utah Clean Infrastructure Coalition has said in a fact sheet on the project, “the heavy, long oil tanker trains used to transport crude oil pose greater risks of derailment and spills than other freight trains, and an increased risk of fire due to derailment and spilling of combustible oil.” In Montana on Saturday, the Stillwater County Sheriff’s office said it was a “great stroke of luck” that none of the train cars were carrying oil that would have polluted the Yellowstone.”

KTUU: Alaska senator urges state to investigate possible Hilcorp violations around Cook Inlet leases
Lex Yelverton, 6/27/23

“An Alaska lawmaker from Anchorage is asking for an investigation of one of the state’s largest energy companies,” KTUU reports. “Sen. Bill Wielechowski says he’s worried that Hilcorp Alaska, LLC, the dominant natural gas producer in Cook Inlet, will eventually fail to meet the natural gas needs for hundreds of thousands of Alaskans living along the Railbelt Corridor, stretching from the Kenai Peninsula north to Fairbanks. Wielechowski urged the state in a letter to investigate whether Hilcorp is violating its Cook Inlet leases and if so, asks for action from the state… “In a letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Railbelt Utilities pleaded to enforce the lease obligations by Hilcorp to ensure a continued flow of natural gas and energy costs. “There is no doubt, however, that the least expensive way to ease our impending energy shortfall would be to continue to ensure the production of gas from wells ‘capable of producing … gas’ under existing leases that Hilcorp has with the State of Alaska,” the letter said… “Wielechowski said he is worried that if Hilcorp does not follow the decree, it could put Alaskans in an energy and economic crisis with energy costs expected to skyrocket upwards of 30%. “The situation is growing pretty dire and there’s no other solution, really, that will not result in Alaskans paying extraordinarily higher natural gas prices to heat their homes, to pay for their electricity costs, for the business community,” Wielechowski said. “Every good and service in the state of Alaska will increase dramatically unless this situation is resolved.”

EXTRACTION

Wall Street Journal: Big Oil Mulls a Slippery Future
Carol Ryan, 6/29/23

“When is it game over for oil? Don’t expect a clear answer from the people with the most to lose from a shift to cleaner fuels,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Within energy circles, estimates of how much oil will be needed in 2050 range anywhere from 80% less than today to business as usual. Investors have the difficult job of betting which companies are on the wrong side of the most important trend for the sector in decades.  At an energy conference this week, Haitham al-Ghais, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, repeated the cartel’s view that global demand for oil will hit 110 million barrels a day by 2045—as far out as OPEC currently projects. This is roughly a 10% increase from current rates. Natural gas, renewable power and hydrogen will all play bigger roles, but oil will remain center stage. If OPEC is right, it is bad news for efforts to limit climate change… “Exxon Mobil said in a recent filing that the chances of the world getting to net zero are low because of the drop in living standards it would cause. The company expects global oil demand to still be roughly 100 million barrels a day by 2050 and is betting that technologies such as carbon capture and storage, as well as methane abatement, will allow the world to use fossil fuels for decades to come… “Both Shell and BP recently reversed plans to cut oil production aggressively this decade, indicating that they will reduce supply once demand from customers tails off. With demand for oil still growing, higher projections do look more realistic right now. The risk for executives hoping this won’t change is that they are wrong-footed by harsher regulations, wild-card technologies or a surge in destructive weather events that hammers home the need to cut emissions fast… “The overall impression is of an oil industry in limbo, waiting to see what happens next.”

IHeartRadio: CLIMATE ACTIVISTS PROTEST IN THE SAULT AND ACROSS CANADA
Cory Nordstrom, 6/28/23

“A small group of climate activists in the Sault took part in a day of action to protest Canada’s policies on fossil fuels amid record forest fires,” IHeartRadio reports. “The Queen Street event was one of 32 such gatherings across the nation. The activists gathered in front of Liberal MP Terry Sheehan’s constituency office. Sheehan spoke with the activists, who showed their frustration with the government’s progress on its emissions targets. It was organized by 350 Canada (https://350.org/canada/), a grassroots organization that says it wants the federal government to “end subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, create hard caps on oil and gas emissions, and enact a just transition to fully renewable energy.” “We do not need more fossil fuel development, and infrastructure,” Walter Chan, an organizer of the Sault rally, told IHeartRadio. “We need to close that down and start winding it down. The federal government is doing the opposite, which is still increasing. Increasing the production of the oil sands.”

Reuters: LNG exporters Texas, Louisiana had nearly half US natgas demand growth in last decade -EIA
6/27/23

“Texas and Louisiana, two states on the U.S. Gulf Coast that produce and export liquefied natural gas (LNG), accounted for nearly half the domestic demand growth for natural gas in the last decade, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday,” Reuters reports. “Overall demand for natural gas grew by 43%, or 34.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), from 2012 to 2022, with Texas and Louisiana responsible for 16 bcfd of that growth. Demand for feedgas for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in the two states has more than doubled since the inception of the first U.S. LNG export terminal in Sabine Pass, Louisiana in 2016. So far this year, North American export facilities have added LNG sales contracts of around 22 million tons per annum (mtpa), with four facilities accruing individual totals of more than 4 mtpa each, TPH analyst Colton Bean said in a note.”

Grist: How a small island nation is taking climate change to the world’s highest court
Naveena Sadasivam, 6/27/23

“More than 30 years ago, the tiny island nation of Vanuatu off the coast of Australia proposed a radical idea: Wealthy, high-emitting nations should compensate poorer, less energy-intensive nations suffering the disastrous consequences of climate change. For Vanuatu, those consequences continue to wreak havoc,” Grist reports. “The 320,000-person country is more vulnerable to natural disasters than any other nation, according to the United Nations… “Most recently, the country’s leadership in developing countries’ advocacy for climate reparations culminated in the creation of an international fund to pay for climate-driven loss and damage at the 27th United Nations climate change conference, or COP27, in Egypt last November. While the details are yet to be determined — which countries will pay into the fund, how much they’ll contribute, and who the recipients will be — the creation of the fund was a major win for low-income nations. Vanuatu also recently persuaded a majority of the countries in the United Nations to seek an advisory opinion on the responsibility of states to tackle climate change from the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, the world’s highest court. Vanuatu’s climate minister, Ralph Regenvanu, recently spoke to Grist about the three-year campaign that led to the United Nations resolution requesting an opinion from the ICJ in March, his frustrations with the infighting among developing countries at the Bonn climate conference earlier this month, and his hopes for COP28… “Well, an ICJ advisory opinion is not binding. It’s just persuasive. But it is persuasive universally at all levels. It’s persuasive in terms of all negotiations about international legal instruments. It will have a bearing on how we talk at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We hope it’ll help with negotiations. It’ll help make certain arguments untenable. And we hope that it will assist the litigation that is already ongoing everywhere. I hope it will also clarify issues of climate finance. There’s a current push right now to say it’s not states that should be financing this global problem, it should be private companies, banks, and so on. So maybe the ICJ finds states actually have an obligation to finance.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

NPR: Republican attacks on ESG aren’t stopping companies in red states from going green
Michael Copley, 6/27/23

“Back in the woods of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, at a factory spread across thousands of acres near the Cooper River, a company called Nucor is trying to solve one of the thornier challenges of climate change: making steel with the least greenhouse gas pollution possible,” NPR reports. “…But Nucor’s efforts to cut its planet-warming emissions put it at cross-purposes with some of South Carolina’s political leaders. Republican politicians, including in the Palmetto State, are deeply skeptical of the actions that companies like Nucor are taking to manage the risks and opportunities from climate change. They say investors who reward those sorts of corporate initiatives are focused on advancing “woke” policies instead of making money… “The attacks on ESG in South Carolina are part of a national campaign that’s being waged by conservative politicians and activists, who accuse companies of using their investments to push a liberal agenda. The backlash tends to be directed at big financial firms that consider ESG factors. So far, Republican politicians have left alone the companies those firms are investing in, such as Nucor, which are trying to operate more sustainably. As conservatives strive to make ESG a wedge issue in American politics, many industrial companies in the U.S. are working to protect their operations and profits in a hotter world. And the Republican-controlled states leading the anti-ESG charge, despite their rhetoric, have benefitted from those investments… “We see that strong ESG practices make for better businesses,” Lucas Moreno, a vice president at Argos USA, which has started making low-carbon cement in Alabama, West Virginia, South Carolina and Florida, told NPR. “It has nothing to do with politics.”

OilPrice.com: Divesting From Fossil Fuels Would Have Saved U.S. Pension Funds $21 Billion
Tsvetana Paraskova, 6/28/23

“Some of the biggest U.S. pension funds would be now $21 billion richer if they had divested from fossil fuels a decade ago, a new study by the University of Waterloo in partnership with environmental organization Stand.earth has shown,” OilPrice.com reports. “The study analyzed the 2013-2022 performance of eight U.S. pension funds, including California Public Employees’ Retirement System, California State Teachers’ Retirement System, and the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System. Researchers found that the cumulative value of the public company equity portfolio of pension funds would have been 13 percentage points higher on average if the funds had been divested from the energy sector ten years ago. For six of the funds analyzed using data obtained from the Bloomberg databases, the total value of the ex-energy portfolios would have been $424.6 billion, while the total value of the reference portfolios was $402.8 billion, the study has found. The difference in value is more than $20 billion, according to the research. “Overall, we could demonstrate that energy divestment makes sense from a financial, climate exposure, and climate impact perspective,” the authors of the study wrote. Amy Gray, senior climate finance strategist at Stand.earth, said in a statement, “If climate chaos like fires and floods weren’t enough, this latest report strengthens the case even further that public pension funds must divest from fossil fuels as part of meeting their fiduciary duties.”

Bloomberg: To Sidestep ‘Weaponized’ ESG, Do-Good Funds Embrace a New Label
Peyton Forte and Isabelle Lee, 6/28/23

“Fund managers have grown weary of the growing political scorn aimed at the environmental, social and governance label. So many have decided to call their funds something else,” Bloomberg reports. “Thematic exchange-traded funds – ones that focus on stocks around a particular subject – have taken over as the most common way to launch products in areas like clean energy or gender diversity. According to a report by RBC Capital Markets, 56% of sustainable fund debuts so far in 2023 have been labeled thematic rather than ESG. This follows a similar breakdown seen last year, writes RBC’s Sara Mahaffy.”

E&E News: Global accounting group outlines plan for more climate disclosure
Avery Ellfeldt, 6/27/23

“Thousands of companies around the world soon could face new requirements to disclose climate-related information under global standards unveiled Monday,” E&E News reports. “The rules come from a worldwide body, known as the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, that sets global accounting rules for public companies. Their standards have been adopted by dozens of countries around the world, though not the United States. The foundation has spent several years working on a standard for climate disclosure, and on Monday it released those guidelines along with a separate standard covering sustainability more generally. The disclosures would cover everything from the ways that global warming could affect a company’s business model and value chain, to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its operations, electricity use, customers and suppliers. An individual company can decide to follow the standards, but in general the most likely reason a company would be put under its rules is if government regulators in a jurisdiction it operates decide to adopt the standards. Because of this, multinational U.S. companies could be subject to the rules.”

Politico: Treasury urges insurers, states to act on climate risks
JASPER GOODMAN, 6/27/23

“The Treasury Department on Tuesday called on insurers and state regulators to ramp up their efforts to evaluate risks posed by climate change, writing in a report that global warming presents “new and increasingly significant challenges for the insurance industry,” Politico reports. “In a 73-page report, Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office wrote that state regulators should “develop and adopt climate-related risk monitoring guidance appropriate for their markets” and encourage insurers to collect “more granular, consistent, comparable, and reliable data” on climate risks. Treasury said in the report that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and state regulators “are increasingly focused on incorporating climate-related risks into supervision and regulation, but in most cases their efforts remain at a preliminary stage.” The bigger picture: The FIO report comes as part of the Biden administration’s wider effort to address climate-related financial risk. President Joe Biden signed a wide-ranging executive order in May 2021 that directed federal agencies to mitigate the financial risk posed by climate change. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has vowed to expand her agency’s efforts to combat the “existential threat” of climate change.”

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Bloomberg: Nestle Puts KitKat Carbon Neutrality in Greenwashing Graveyard
Dasha Afanasieva, 6/28/23

“Nestle SA has abandoned pledges to make major brands including KitKat and Perrier carbon neutral, joining a nascent corporate pushback against programs that let polluters compensate for their own greenhouse gas emissions by investing in efforts to reduce them elsewhere,” Bloomberg repots. “The world’s biggest food company joins airline EasyJet Plc and Gucci owner Kering in backing away from so-called carbon offsetting as a way to meet net zero emissions targets. Consumer groups say the practice is misleading for shoppers and doesn’t always mean emissions are falling.”

Bloomberg: Defining Greenwashing [VIDEO]
6/28/23

“Suzanne Barker, Strategy Partner at AMV BBDO; Sylvia Mauer, Director for Sustainability, Energy, Food, Health & Safety at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC); and Jonathan White, Lawyer, Climate Accountability at ClientEarth, discuss efforts to legally define greenwashing with Bloomberg’s Olivia Rudgard at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit in London,” Bloomberg repots. 

OPINION

Capital Journal: Ethanol investors share concerns about CO2 project
Jay Poindexter and Jennifer Poindexter-Runge, Ree Heights, 6/27/23

“Our family has been a long-standing investor of both Glacial Lakes and the Redfield Energy ethanol plants. We have also invested in many other projects promoting agricultural advancements. We are writing about concerns we have with Summit Carbon Solutions. We are absolutely against the use of eminent domain to construct a carbon dioxide pipeline,” Jay Poindexter and Jennifer Poindexter-Runge write for the Capital Journal. “When it comes right down to it, as an investor in ethanol, “WE ARE THE GROUP THAT IS USING EMINENT DOMAIN!” As an investor, we are not OK with this power! We do not feel like we have the rights to anyone else’s property for any reason. Unfortunately, the ethanol industry is the only thing that can stop this use and abuse, and have refused to step up to protect the rights of all landowners… “The answer we keep hearing is we can’t step in between landowners and Summit Carbon Solutions because of the potential to be sued. Our question to you is: is the money that important to you that you will ignore the rights of landowners?.. “We believe there is lost opportunity for our communities in letting someone else profit by dumping CO2 down a hole… “Allowing some multi-million-dollar company to claim our pastures and fields because they can now claim the profits of carbon sequestration and we don’t have the money to fight them? South Dakota is supposed to be a conservative state and yet many of our elected officials have turned a blind eye to this. Maybe the elected officials like the treasure trove that these carbon sequestration companies are shoving at them. We have refused to sign granting an easement for this project. According to the carbon companies, many have signed “voluntarily” granting an easement, but we know for a fact there would be far fewer signed easements if landowners hadn’t been threatened and bullied with “eminent domain” language. Who has the money to fight a large corporation?”

South Dakota Searchlight: Noem’s actions speak louder than words on eminent domain
Doug Sombke is a fourth-generation farmer and president of South Dakota Farmers Union, 6/2823

“South Dakota Farmers Union policy supports landowners’ rights. Because of this, during the 2023 legislative session, we supported House Bill 1133. In a nutshell, the bill would have excluded carbon dioxide as a common carrier commodity. Unlike electricity, water or natural gas transported via pipelines, transporting highly pressured CO2 only benefits two private investor groups in pursuit of federal tax incentives,” Doug Sombke writes for South Dakota Searchlight. “…If the bill had passed the Senate, CO2 would not qualify for “eminent domain,” which is a legal process to gain access to land from unwilling landowners. And Summit Carbon Solutions would not be drilling on farm ground owned by Brown County landowners like Jared Bossly. And farmers like Jared Bossly could focus on growing crops, not fighting in court with Summit Carbon Solutions. While Farmers Union and other agriculture and landowner rights group lobbied for HB 1133, Summit Carbon Solutions’ 12 lobbyists worked hard to influence senators against the bill. Summit Carbon Solutions also served as a platinum sponsor of the 2023 inauguration. I share all this background with you because during a recent interview with KWAT Radio, Gov. Kristi Noem said she had no legal control over the fact that Summit Carbon Solutions is exercising eminent domain… “The governor is the most powerful political position in our state, wielding extreme influence when it comes to lobbying for bills during legislative session. Yet, never did she or anyone from her office support HB 1133 or any other bill making property rights stronger for landowners… “The least this governor should have done is use her influence with her party leadership to make sure HB 1133 would get to the floor of the state Senate for debate and a vote… “She also has the power to call a special session to address eminent domain’s abuse of family farmers and county commissions, who are calling for specific pipeline setback limitations protecting the public. In South Dakota, actions speak louder than words. Gov. Noem has clearly spoken with her lack of action.”

Marshall Independent: Carbon capture projects critical for Minnesota’s climate goals and agriculture
Brad Gruhot is president of the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce, 6/29/23

“Summit Carbon Solutions is proposing a carbon capture and sequestration project set to run throughout the Midwest, including Minnesota,” Brad Gruhot writes for the Marshall Independent. “The carbon capture technology would capture CO2 emissions, primarily from ethanol plants, and via pipeline, route these emissions to North Dakota to be permanently stored underground, effectively lowering CO2 emissions from ethanol plants and helping Minnesota meet its carbon-neutral goals by 2030… “Surprisingly, agitators have begun spreading outlandish claims about this carbon capture project even though it will bolster the agriculture economy in our state and assist with climate goals. The fact of the matter is that carbon pipelines aren’t a new concept, and neither is wanting to decarbonize key industries, so they remain viable. CCS technology has been in use dating back to the 1990s and has a track record of being overwhelmingly safe with zero fatalities ever reported. It is time to reevaluate our opinions of the word “pipeline.” Critical infrastructure projects like these are critical to Minnesota’s climate goals, as well as maintaining the strength of the agricultural industry in the state. I am proud to support Summit Carbon’s project, and I hope others are too.”

TVO: Hydrogen and carbon capture aren’t innovative solutions. They’re more nails in our coffin
Taylor C. Noakes, 6/28/23

“Doug Ford’s plan to lower Ontario’s carbon emissions in a business-friendly fashion won’t get the province to net zero by any date, because the approach it relies on has a bad habit of creating more carbon emissions than it reduces,” Taylor C. Noakes writes for TVO. “Recent news that the government plans to open the door to underground carbon capture goes hand in hand with the government’s 2022 “low carbon” hydrogen strategy. Though advocates argue hydrogen production coupled with carbon capture can produce a new fuel source that will help lower emissions, experts counter that both systems actually do more damage to the environment than simply burning fossil fuels directly… “Though rebranded as carbon capture, the technology is still predominantly used by the fossil-fuel sector for the production of more oil and gas. A recent Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis study of 13 major CCUS projects found that 10 either underperformed or failed to reduce emissions according to their designed capacities, often by a considerable margin.  Another recent study, of Alberta’s Quest hydrogen plant (which uses carbon capture), discovered that the plant actually emits more carbon than it stores — more than the carbon footprint of 1.2 million cars. The fossil-fuel sector advocates for blue hydrogen and carbon capture primarily because both need natural gas… “A consequence of all these factors is that the oil and gas industry is looking for new uses for natural gas at a time when consumers and investors are wary of continued fossil-fuel use. Natural gas is used as a feeder fuel for the creation of hydrogen as much as an energy source to power both hydrogen and carbon-capture facilities. Hydrogen production and carbon capture are excellent ways to consume large quantities of natural gas and generate exceptional quantities of carbon emissions; because of that, they’re also terrible for the environment… “Hydrogen and carbon capture aren’t innovative solutions — they’re more nails in our coffin. Despite mountains of evidence demonstrating the lethal long-term consequences of greater investment in either hydrogen or carbon-capture schemes, gullible and ill-informed politicians at seemingly every level of government, representing every party, have collectively drunk the proverbial Kool-Aid. They have become the principle enablers of an industry facing terminal decline. Time and again, federal and provincial governments have proved all too happy to throw public money at extremely profitable fossil-fuel companies to help them “innovate” their way toward vague net-zero commitments. Hydrogen and carbon capture are neither innovative nor solutions to the decarbonization effort; they’re soaking up limited public resources that could otherwise be dedicated to far more efficient and effective solutions. Canada’s five biggest oil companies made more than $38 billion in profit last year, while also receiving $20 billion in subsidies and other forms of public financial support.” 

Bend Bulletin: Federal government should block the GTN Xpress pipeline expansion
Riccardo Waites is executive director of the Central Oregon Black Leaders Assembly, 6/28/23

“The proposal to expand the GTN Pipeline, a 61-year-old pipeline that runs straight through my community in Central Oregon, makes me fear the impacts of ramping up the gas capacity of an old pipeline on my already overburdened community,” Riccardo Waites writes for the Bend Bulletin. “As the executive director of Central Oregon Black Leaders Assembly (COBLA), we represent many historically marginalized people. I believe that the GTN Xpress is a significant threat to all communities, but especially people of color. I oppose the GTN Xpress pipeline expansion project. It increases risks on many levels that we cannot afford to bear. Black people are three times more likely to die from air pollution than their white counterparts. In the U.S., this burden of asthma falls disproportionately on Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native people. These groups have the highest asthma rates, deaths and hospitalizations. Pipeline leaks create toxic smog and pollution, which contributes to heart, asthma and other respiratory diseases. All pipelines leak, but older, brittle infrastructure, like the GTN pipeline, is especially at risk for corrosion and rupture… “Compressor stations, which will be used to insert gas into this pipeline, are where the highest risk of explosion occurs, as well as the highest exposure of cancer causing pollutants. The GTN pipeline has many existing and proposed compressor stations located in close proximity to multiple tribal reservations; such as, the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation in Idaho, and the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla and Confederated Tribes of Warm Spring reservations in Oregon. As deadly wildfires seem to engulf more of the Northwest every year, a third of which can be traced back to fossil fuel use, is it smart to put more strain on this senior pipeline that is neighboring tribal lands and populated cities? Unfortunately for the residents of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, this decision will be made by FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, based on information given to them by a money hungry energy company with a terrible track record for safety and an insufficient environmental impact statement. I’ve seen little to indicate that we even need this gas, since we already have a steady supply that will continue. People are also on a pathway to electrification, which is cleaner and cheaper… “Will the agency rule to protect people? Or will it favor an industry that thus far, fails to clean up after itself, or make repairs and monitor the safety of its pipelines? We need to require more of the energy industry. It is already raking in billions while low income individuals suffer from high energy bills. FERC must rule against this pipeline expansion, and protect the health and well being of our communities.”

NewsOne: Climate Crisis: Black America Can’t Wait For Biden Administration To Deliver Environmental Justice
Tamara Toles O’Laughlin is a member of The Black Hive, the climate and environmental arm of the Movement for Black Lives, 6/27/23

“Environmental pollution, partisanship and political theater are killing Black Americans. Not since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has legislation been so poised to shift the landscape of human rights within a generation. Today, watered-down environmental legislation blunts demand for decisive policy and participation in the name of crass compromise of Black people, rural, urban, or poor, served up for the appearance of progress,” Tamara Toles O’Laughlin writes for NewsOne. “…The Biden-Harris administration touted the debt ceiling compromise among its legislative accomplishments, chief among them being the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. At this point, it’s a rhetorical success for economic opportunity and energy infrastructure, whose truth depends on your vantage point. Aged, immigrant, poor, underserved, under-employed and unhoused people don’t have that privilege. The positive spin is doubly or triply toxic for Black, Brown and Indigenous populations whose baseline is lifetimes of scarcity, precarity and life on the margins. For example, $100 million in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants for projects impacting environmental justice communities are meant to prioritize overburdened communities, yet the impact is questioned. Similarly, there have been plans for upwards of $12 million in federal funds for energy projects, which rely on technologies that communities made vulnerable have routinely rejected for failing to satisfy emissions, community health, safety, needs, or benefits. Well-meaning federal processes have yet to reach well-doing. The ways and means present predictable challenges, including short application periods, time-intensive applications, and little to no regional staff knowledge about engaging effectively with local needy groups. As a network of community groups, The Black Hive’s members see firsthand how bureaucracy is a priority where language, process, and staff are needed. Consequently, the smallest organizations serving communities are shut out of desperately needed opportunities… “The African diaspora will not benefit from equitable climate gains until the watchword of racial justice becomes standard, written explicitly into building codes, zoning regulations, and federal, state and municipal law… “Now is the time to show and prove. Black folk has always gifted proactive support to Democratic leadership. Future support must be tied to reciprocal assurances and an unequivocal fight against white supremacy, prejudice, and bias against our community, or else it’s just a game. Our human dignity is not a bargaining chip for the sake of deferred progress.”

Guardian: So what if fossil fuel lobbyists have to declare themselves at Cop28? That won’t curb their power
Amy Westervelt, 6/28/23

“Earlier this month, the UN announced it will require fossil fuel lobbyists to identify themselves as such when registering for the Cop28 climate summit. The move was applauded by campaigners and politicians alike, but it’s a shockingly small first step towards matching the boldness demanded by UN secretary general, António Guterres, when it comes to rooting out fossil fuel influence,” Amy Westervelt writes for the Guardian. “…The UN’s move to transparently label lobbyists at Cop28 looks a lot like damage control after recent embarrassing revelations, such as there having been more oil lobbyists than any one nation’s delegation at Cop26 in Glasgow. But to actually rid Cop of fossil fuel influence, the UN has to go far beyond finally unmasking industry lobbyists; it needs to hold up a mirror to its own enabling behaviour over the years, then reverse all of it. Exposing just a single node – in this case, the lobbyists – in the complex ecosystem of climate misinformation is not enough to defuse its impact, and in fact might only add to the fairytale that industry representatives are attending the summit in good faith. First, the UN should acknowledge that fossil fuel executives and lobbyists have been deeply embedded in its climate diplomacy since the 1992 Rio Earth summit, which birthed the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC)… “Since then, fossil fuel involvement in the annual Conference of the Parties, or Cop, has only grown, and the world has moved further and further away from an agreement that would actually halt warming at safe levels… “But it is actually the idea that fossil fuel executives are capable of leading a global transition away from their core product that is naive, and remarkably ahistorical. Fossil fuel companies have not only had a seat at the table for Cop’s entire history, they’ve run the table. Are we the better for it? Have they galvanised progress? Given that the big question in the lead-up to Cop28 is whether Al Jaber will allow a global treaty that specifically calls for the end of fossil fuel development and extraction, the answer is a painfully obvious no. To really root out fossil fuel influence, the myriad PR execs in and around the process should also have to label their affiliations, for a start… “To give the world’s leaders a chance at a global treaty that actually meets the moment, the UN cannot continue to allow Cop to be dominated by those who fight against the very change the summit is supposed to catalyse.”

Inforum: LaDuke: Can’t see the forest for the smoke
Winona LaDuke is an Ojibwe writer and economist on Minnesota’s White Earth Reservation, 6/28/23

“It’s looking pretty smoky out there, thank you. It seems that the 2,500-plus Canadian wildfires are changing our air quality, sunsets and indicate some of the problems we are creating,” Winona LaDuke writes for Inforum. “…At the rate we are going, it’s not going away. It looks like everyone who can make a profit mining, drilling or building pipelines to move dirty oil is banging ahead. Like the world really belongs to them. After all, there’s money to be made. Yup, although most of my Water Protector charges have been dropped, I am still mad at Enbridge. After all, the Canadian oil pipeline company stole 5 billion gallons of water in the deepest drought we can remember and has cracked aquifers across the state and destroyed ecosystems. And won’t leave even when ordered by federal courts and the governor of Michigan… “There are names for climate criminals, and one is Enbridge… “They don’t win everything, however. Enbridge’s largest contractor, Tim Michels lost a gubernatorial bid in Wisconsin last year. And, while the company did succeed in shoving Line 3 through, it failed in securing the lucrative Northern Gateway Pipeline, nor its previous pipeline project, the Sandpiper. People are going to keep challenging these corporations and transition away from dirty oil. In the meantime, Enbridge is greenwashing, putting more money and grants into communities and public relations promises. In June of last year, the company committed to “Achieve net zero emissions from our business by 2050.” That’s because they will probably be bankrupt. Frankly, we will all be toasting marshmallows on the charred remains of Itasca Park if they get their way. I’m going to stay around and fight it out, the water is worth more than the profits of the Canadian corporation, I would like my clear skies and rain back.”