EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 6/7/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• The Hill: Climate activists crash event featuring Manchin, chanting ‘dirty deal’

• South Dakota Searchlight: Minnehaha County passes rules for carbon pipelines despite opposition from both sides

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Pipeline company wants permit decision in Iowa by year’s end

• CBS2Iowa: IA Utilities Board looks to ease burden for Iowans going through carbon pipeline process

• KFYR: PSC considering carbon dioxide pipeline

• KMA: Page County board hears feedback from PHMSA meeting

• Bloomberg: Equitrans CEO Sees Pipeline Quantum Leap With More Permit Reform

• KBJR: Enbridge holds Line 5 open house, picketers oppose project

• KQDS: Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline Faces Protests Again

• Reuters: Canada’s TC Energy laying off staff

• Press release: Pipeline Plan and Petersburg Compressor Station Raise Pollution, Environmental Justice Concerns

• Law360: Judge Says NGA Doesn’t Block State Pipeline Permit Review

• Bloomberg: Pipeline Protesters Lose First Amendment Challenge to State Law

• Canadian Press: Cenovus fined after wastewater release from former Husky-owned pipeline

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Washington Post: Sens. Coons, Cramer unveil bill to lay the groundwork for a carbon border tax

• E&E News: 3 takeaways from hearing on EPA power plant rule

• E&E News: DOE finalizes national hydrogen road map

• E&E News: A Republican who likes ESG and capturing carbon joined the presidential race

• Associated Press: US House panel investigates ties between US Interior secretary, environmentalists

STATE UPDATES

• WMNF: Carbon set to be stored underground in Florida through new ‘carbon capture’ technology

• KFOR: Officials say Garfield Co. oil spill is double original estimate

EXTRACTION

• Guardian: Carbon capture and storage is ‘no free lunch’, warns climate chief

• Guardian: ‘Game changing’: spate of US lawsuits calls big oil to account for climate crisis

• InsideClimate News: Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Emit Carcinogens and Other Harmful Pollutants, Groundbreaking Study Shows

• Washington Post: Why ditching plastic is harder than it seems

CLIMATE FINANCE

• E&E News: ‘Colossal waste of time’: Dems hit back against anti-ESG push

• Bloomberg: US Backs Poland Gas Hedging, Drawing Climate Activists’ Ire

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Climate Change News: Fake social media profiles wage “organised” propaganda campaign on Cop28

OPINION

• CleanTechnica: Alberta’s Oil Sands Product Isn’t Getting Cheaper To Ship

• National Observer: Federal minister open to sacrificing part of marine refuge for oil discovery

• The Hill: Create a Congressional Climate Tribunal to investigate corporate deniers

• Denver Post: Editorial: BLM Rule Puts Conservation On Equal Footing With Oil And Gas On Public Lands 

• New York Times: The Climate Solution That’s Horrible for the Climate
  

PIPELINE NEWS

The Hill: Climate activists crash event featuring Manchin, chanting ‘dirty deal’
SARAH FORTINSKY, 6/6/23

“Climate activists interrupted an event with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday, shouting “dirty deal,” as he began discussing the Mountain Valley pipeline deal he secured in the recent debt-ceiling agreement,” The Hill reports. “Dirty deal! MVP! Manchin, you are killing me! Dirty deal!” protestors chanted at the Semafor event, before storming the stage, according to multiple reports.  The West Virginia Democrat reportedly retreated to a back room for several minutes as about 20 protestors occupied the stage and sang the John Denver classic, “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Manchin said he had tried to start a dialogue with the protestors with no success, Semafor reported… “The protestors, however, claim that the pipeline’s completion would increase carbon emissions and could cause long-term damage that would be catastrophic to the environment.  Following the interruption, Manchin reportedly returned to the stage and, as Bloomberg reported, said he was not bothered by the interruption. “What these people did today helps me tremendously in my state,” he added.

South Dakota Searchlight: Minnehaha County passes rules for carbon pipelines despite opposition from both sides
JOHN HULT, 6/6/23

“Officials in South Dakota’s largest county dealt a blow to opponents of two carbon pipeline companies with a vote to set shorter-than-requested spaces between homes and pipelines in their first-ever set of rules for such projects,” South Dakota Searchlight reports. “Minnehaha County commissioners convened Tuesday to take up the issue of setbacks in a long-debated pipeline ordinance. It arose from the controversy surrounding efforts by Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures to ship pressurized carbon dioxide from Midwestern ethanol plants to underground sequestration sites… “Company representatives opposed those setbacks. The 750-foot distance, they said, would make it all but impossible to place their pipelines in Minnehaha County in the face of what’s become intense opposition to the projects… “Opponents had argued that 750 feet was a “minimum” for safety and the promotion of continued economic development in the rapidly growing county. Bender didn’t buy those arguments. She told the packed commission room that her goal was never to shut down pipelines, and that the original ordinance would have done that… “The amendment to shorten the distance passed 3-2. Shortly thereafter, the entirety of the ordinance passed 4-1, with Beninga providing the dissenting vote… “Pipeline opponent Betty Strom, meanwhile, was unimpressed by the commission’s final call. Strom is a Lake County landowner facing an eminent domain lawsuit from Summit. Strom, who also fought construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline that now runs beneath her property, has been engaged with the push for pipeline ordinances in multiple counties. Strom spoke of her disappointment with her own county commissioners for their decision to avoid any kind of pipeline ordinance, then decried Minnehaha County’s officials for passing what she sees as a watered-down ruleset… “The 330-foot setback, she said, isn’t far enough to protect the families who live within a mile of her land or the volunteer firefighters who might respond to an incident.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Pipeline company wants permit decision in Iowa by year’s end
JARED STRONG, 6/6/23

“The Iowa Utilities Board should determine whether or not to grant Summit Carbon Solutions a permit for its multistate carbon dioxide pipeline by the end of the year, an attorney for the company argued Tuesday,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Iowa was the first state in which an application was filed,” said Bret Dublinske, a Des Moines attorney who represents the company. “Even with an end-of-the-year schedule, Iowa will still likely be the last state to issue an order.” “…Her successor as chairperson, Erik Helland, indicated during a Tuesday board meeting that this year’s harvest would not impede the permit process. Pipeline opponents and others — including the influential Iowa Farm Bureau Federation — have said holding the permit hearing during October would limit farmers’ availability to attend the hearing because they are busy working in their fields… “It is not lost on me that harvest is a brutal time, but it’s also not lost on me that there is no good time,” he said. The Office of Consumer Advocate, several counties, the Sierra Club of Iowa and landowners who oppose Summit’s pipeline said Tuesday the permit hearing should be held next year, perhaps after spring planting concludes. Christina Gruenhagen, a Farm Bureau attorney who specializes in government relations, asked the board to “avoid May and October, because those are the very busiest months for the people that are going to be impacted by this pipeline.” Dublinske said that having a decision on the permit by the end of the year would help farmers plan for pipeline construction activities that might disrupt their land during growing season. He said requests for delays are merely meant to kill the project. Opponents said the board needs more time to gather information before making a decision… “But to offer the help of mediators to landowners has led to a “perception that somehow the board is saying that they have to or at least should engage in mediation,” said Wally Taylor, of the Sierra Club… “Whether the IUB will offer mediators to landowners remained unclear on Tuesday. It is expected to issue an order that addresses the proposal soon. Several landowners in the path of the proposed pipeline told the board Tuesday they have no interest in mediation. “Why would you add to the harassment that we are already suffering?” said Cynthia Hansen, a Shelby County landowner and prominent opponent of the project. “When is ‘no’ accepted as ‘no’? How many times do we have to say no? My answer in 2021 for an easement was ‘no.’ My answer today is ‘no.’ My answer tomorrow and any days forward will be a resounding ‘no.’ Our land is not for sale.”

CBS2Iowa: IA Utilities Board looks to ease burden for Iowans going through carbon pipeline process
Skylar Tallal, 6/6/23

“The Iowa Utilities Board held a status conference Tuesday as it considers putting a carbon capture pipeline through Iowa,” CBS2Iowa reports. “…However, concerns were raised when it came to splitting up the workload between the board and other workers who would be receiving landowners’ testimony and evidence. “It is the farm bureaus position that all three board members hear the testimony for the integrity of this process,” Christina Gruenhagen, the lawyer for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, said. “I think it’s very important that the landowners feel like they’re being heard by the decision makers.” “…Opponents want to see this process end sometime in 2024, worrying that anything happening around this October would fall during harvest season. “The farmers that are, that would even remotely participate, either in-person or by remote means, are going to be faced with the choice of, ‘Do we farm that day or do we show up in person?'” said Christian Williams, a lawyer representing landowners. It’s still up in the air on when the Iowa Utilities Board will release the final schedule, but they have another meeting coming up in July. Some Iowans spoke against Summit’s pipelines during the Iowa Utilities Board public meeting Tuesday, before the status conference meeting. One landowner from Hardin County said she isn’t okay with anyone from the company even setting foot on her property… “I got another letter saying if you don’t give us permission, than we are going to sue you,” Teresa Thoms said. “Well, I’m never giving them permission, okay. It’s my land [and] I don’t want them on there, so I’m never giving them permission, so now they’re gonna sue. They’re gonna sue me. We have a court date set for August.”

KFYR: PSC considering carbon dioxide pipeline
Joel Crane, 6/2/23

“The Public Service Commission held the fifth of five public hearings today at the Heritage Center in Bismarck, discussing a project that would carry carbon dioxide from five states to North Dakota to be transported underground,” KFYR repots. “There were harsh words leveled at Summit Carbon Solutions. “Routing this pipeline as you all have defiantly done east and north of Bismarck demonstrates how none of you Summit stakeholders could give two ounces of care for any of our citizens’ lives being affected,” said Michelle Jundt, from Bismarck… “Others are concerned about safety if there’s a leak. “Health and safety of humans and livestock, animals, any breathing creature,” said Curtis Jundt, Bismarck… “The PSC didn’t take action today. There has been a lot of movement on the carbon dioxide project recently. Just this week, Summit Carbon Solutions determined a southern route around Bismarck wasn’t feasible, and the Northwest Landowners Association sued the state over amalgamation laws.”

KMA: Page County board hears feedback from PHMSA meeting
Ethan Hewett, 6/5/23

“Page County officials heard feedback from a recent conference in Des Moines regarding carbon dioxide pipelines,” KMA reports. “During its regular meeting Thursday morning, the Page County Board of Supervisors heard from Imogene landowner Marty Maher, who recapped the first of a two-day conference last week put on by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the federal agency regulating carbon dioxide pipelines, to take public input and discuss issues surrounding the pipelines… “There was nothing determined of course, but nevertheless, they’ve acknowledged that there is deterioration, and deterioration of the pipeline is cause for concern with the CO2… Maher emphasized there currently needs to be more clarity about whether federal, state, or local authorities have the jurisdiction to handle the siting of the line… “Maher also questioned the importance of the pipeline to the ethanol industry, citing the multiple ethanol plants in and around Shelby County that have not signed on to the project. “Now, if this is the savior of ethanol, what is the reason that they’re not interested,” Maher questioned. “The short answer is that they’ve found ways to use their CO2 and they use it for a variety of things. So, the need is questionable to accomplish the goal of a green energy initiative because there’s a variety of ways to go about it.”

Bloomberg: Equitrans CEO Sees Pipeline Quantum Leap With More Permit Reform
Daniel Moore, 6/6/23

“Three days after President Joe Biden signed legislation approving the contested Mountain Valley pipeline, the project’s developer pressed Congress to set deadlines and limit legal challenges to attract investment in more natural gas projects,” Bloomberg reports. “Legislation that would streamline environmental permitting would bring a “quantum leap forward to attract the capital to invest” in natural gas pipelines in an area of the country where other projects have been successfully defeated by states, landowners and environmental groups, Tom Karam, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Equitrans Midstream Corp., said in an interview Tuesday with Bloomberg Law.”

KBJR: Enbridge holds Line 5 open house, picketers oppose project
Larissa Milles, 6/6/23

“On Tuesday, Enbridge held an open house in Superior highlighting a proposed relocation of the line, while picketers made their voices heard,” KBJR reports. “The Wisconsin Jobs & Energy Coalition (WJE) put on “The Safest Way” state-wide tour. WJE is a group of business, labor and agricultural leaders who are advocating for the continued use of Enbridge’s Line 5… “They held the open house and presentation to highlight the proposed relocation of a portion of Line 5 from off the Bad River Band Reservation, through other places like Wisconsin counties Ashland, Bayfield and Iron… “Not everyone is happy about the project. “People need to educate themselves on what that entails and how much risk that entails for the Bad River Watershed and for the Bad River Reservation and all of the critical, cultural resources that are there,” Carl Sack, an organizer and ally of the Bad River Band, told KBJR. Sack says it’s not enough to just reroute the pipeline. “Right now we’re asking people to contact President Biden, contact the White House and ask President Biden to order an emergency shutdown of the pipeline,” Sack tol KBJR. He said recent spring snow melt caused the Bad River to flood and erode its banks within 10 feet of the pipeline, posing a great environmental risk. In May, the Bad River Band filed an emergency motion to shut the pipeline down following the spring flooding.”

KQDS: Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline Faces Protests Again
Pat Brink, 6/6/23

 “We can all feel very confident that is the safest way. That’s why we’ve got a 99.99 safety record,” said Mark Graul of the Wisconsin Jobs & Energy Coalition. The group consists of labor, business, and agricultural groups, made a stop at the Enbridge facility in Superior,” KQDS reports. “The group was formed last year and is visiting cities to explain why its’ members support pipelines and in particular Line 5… “Approximately 12 miles of the pipeline’s 645-mile route is situated on Bad River Tribal land. Enbridge has proposed a 41-mile reroute of the pipeline around the Bad River Reservation. The Tribe says No. Joe Bates, a Bad River Tribal Elder,  tol KQDS, ”We don’t want it. We want it out of the ground. Period.” Enbridge says it is ready to begin work on the new section, but tribal officials have not approved any of the company’s requests. Instead, the tribe wants the entire pipeline shut down and has refused to allow the company to take any steps to reinforce the pipe. “We’re not there to protect the pipeline,” Bates told KQDS. “We have always existed with the river for centuries that we’ve lived here. We never tried to change it. Now, they’re demanding we change the river for a foreign company transporting Canadian oil from Canada.” “…Recently, spring flooding on the Bad River caused large sections of the riverbank to wash away and opponents say, the pipe is now just over 10 feet from the river and is in danger of failing.”

Reuters: Canada’s TC Energy laying off staff
Nia Williams, 6/6/23

“Canada’s TC Energy (TRP.TO) is cutting some jobs to “optimize value” a company spokesperson said on Tuesday, without giving details of how many positions have been impacted,” Reuters reports. “News of the job cuts at TC Energy comes a week after Suncor Energy (SU.TO) told employees it would eliminate 1,500 jobs. Earlier this year, Imperial Oil IMO.TO cut the number of contractors working at its Kearl oil sands project. A Calgary-based industry source told Reuters the number of layoffs at TC Energy was believed to be much smaller than the job cuts at Suncor, where new CEO Rich Kruger has vowed to reduce costs, improve efficiency and simplify operations.”

Press release: Pipeline Plan and Petersburg Compressor Station Raise Pollution, Environmental Justice Concerns
6/6/23

“This week the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) submitted comments on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco)’s proposed Commonwealth Energy Connector Project and Columbia Gas Transmission’s Virginia Reliability Project (VRP). The comments were submitted on behalf of the Sierra Club in partnership with Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and Chesapeake Climate Action Network. The current draft EIS does not adequately address environmental justice impacts, alternatives that would avoid the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, alternative methods for the projects’ waterbody crossings, and the alternatives to building the Southside Reliability Enhancement Project’s Compressor Station 168.  The majority of the communities in the projects’ paths are defined as environmental justice communities, which face disproportionate health risks from pollution. That includes many living in the vicinity of the proposed expansion of the gas-fired Petersburg Compressor Station.   “The communities that will be impacted by the construction and operation of this project deserve more scrutiny of this project and its potential impacts,” said Taylor Lilley, Environmental Justice Staff Attorney for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The proposed expansion of the Petersburg Compressor Station would increase emissions of many pollutants that threaten public health, including increasing nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide to unhealthy levels higher than air quality standards. People in environmental justice communities live as close as 1,200 feet from the compressor station site.

Law360: Judge Says NGA Doesn’t Block State Pipeline Permit Review
Madeline Lyskawa, 6/6/23

“Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. can’t stop environmental groups’ attempt to unravel several runoff and water-pollution permits needed for pipeline upgrades via appeal to a Pennsylvania state board, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, saying the Natural Gas Act does not preclude a state’s authority to review the permits,” Law360 reports.

Bloomberg: Pipeline Protesters Lose First Amendment Challenge to State Law
Emily Garcia, 6/6/23

“Three protesters of a 162.5 mile pipeline cutting through Louisiana lost their challenge to the constitutionality of the critical infrastructure law used to arrest them,” Bloomberg reports. “The Bayou Bridge Pipeline cuts through many bodies of water, including sources of drinking water for the surrounding communities, the court said. Anne White Hat, Ramon Mejía, and Karen Savage were arrested during a 2018 protest against the pipeline for being too close to it. They were never prosecuted, the court said. White Hat and the others sued the Louisiana Attorney General in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, alleging that …

Canadian Press: Cenovus fined after wastewater release from former Husky-owned pipeline
6/6/23

“Cenovus Energy is facing a fine over a release of wastewater into a wetland,” the Canadian Press reports. “In 2020, a pipeline then belonging to Husky Oil released about 206 cubic metres of produced water through a break in the line and into the surrounding wetland. Cenovus, which merged with Husky in 2021, has been assessed a $140,000 fine by the Alberta Energy Regulator after pleading guilty in provincial court… “The release occurred when Husky stopped flow in a pipeline near Derwent, Alta., after monitoring equipment detected a problem. The water escaped when Husky restarted the pipeline in order to discover the source of that problem.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Washington Post: Sens. Coons, Cramer unveil bill to lay the groundwork for a carbon border tax
Maxine Joselow, 6/7/23

“In a rare example of a bipartisan climate policy, momentum is growing on Capitol Hill for a plan to tax imports from China and other countries with looser environmental standards,” the Washington Post reports. “Today, Sens. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) will introduce a bill that would lay the groundwork for America’s first carbon border tax, according to legislative text shared first with The Washington Post. The senators’ goal is to impose fees on iron, steel and other imports from China and other countries that are not significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The bipartisan bill, dubbed the Prove It Act, would take a first step toward this goal. It would require the Energy Department to study the emissions intensity of certain products — including aluminum, cement, crude oil, fertilizer, iron, steel and plastic — produced in the United States as well as its allies and adversaries… “Cramer told the Post Republicans are increasingly interested in a carbon border tax as a way to counter China and protect U.S. businesses… “Co-sponsors of the new bill include two other Republicans — Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — as well as Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Angus King (I-Maine)… “While Republicans have warmed to the idea of carbon border tariffs, they remain resistant to a domestic carbon tax, saying it would harm the U.S. fossil fuel industry.”

E&E News: 3 takeaways from hearing on EPA power plant rule
Emma Dumain, 6/7/23

“Republicans and Democrats clashed at a hearing Tuesday that examined EPA’s planned actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at power plants around the country. It served as yet another example of the political challenges inherent in addressing the climate crisis,” E&E News reports. “GOP lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals maligned the Biden administration for pandering to the extreme left. “Catching slogans and angry teenagers from Sweden are not a good excuse to upend our way of life and threaten the reliability of the power grid,” said Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), referring to 20-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Democratic members of the panel, meanwhile, accused Republicans of placing their loyalty to fossil fuel interests over the urgency to combat global warming. “They have no problem letting dangerous pollution go unchecked,” said full House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). “Frankly, I think the Republican policy of ‘Just say no’ to any climate action is just getting old.” “…GOP members, with the help of witnesses representing utilities, hammered home their argument Tuesday that technological upgrades will simply not be able to meet the moment. “Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, echoed Johnson’s statement: “Some who dismiss concerns about the loss of dispatchable generation cite advancements in long-duration battery storage and carbon capture and sequestration … technologies. As of June 2023, no commercial power plants in the United States use CCS technology.” “…Democrats also hit back on Republicans’ disdain for carbon capture technology… “Jay Duffy, the litigation director for the Clean Air Task Force — and the witness invited by Democrats to testify Tuesday — also insisted advances would continue apace.”

E&E News: DOE finalizes national hydrogen road map
DAVID IACONANGELO, 6/6/23

“The Department of Energy outlined Monday how hydrogen could become a major source of clean energy in the United States, even as the prospective industry awaits important decisions from other Biden administration agencies,” E&E News reports. “The U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap lists dozens of actions to be taken through 2035 by policymakers, industry, regulators and others to promote the production, transport, storage and consumption of low-carbon hydrogen. Overall, the fuel could slash the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent through 2050, relative to 2005 levels, DOE said. To do so, the United States should aim to make about 10 million metric tons of low-carbon hydrogen per year by 2030 — about the same volume that is created today using a high-emissions process, according to the strategy document. Annual low-carbon production should then double by 2040 before reaching 50 million metric tons by 2050, it said… “Federal agencies will prioritize hard-to-decarbonize sectors — such as heavy industry, aviation, steelmaking, chemical production, ships, and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles — as consumers of low-carbon hydrogen, according to the document. Those priorities may be different from the priorities of many natural gas utilities that say hydrogen should become a widespread substitute for fossil fuels in buildings, where it could serve as a fuel for space and water heating. DOE’s national strategy endorses that as an option only when there are “limited alternatives” such as electrification. Another fossil fuel industry priority — hydrogen co-firing, or mixing the fuel into natural gas at power plants — also received clearer and more prominent backing in DOE’s national strategy than in a draft version released last year. That change follows EPA’s release last month of proposed emissions standards that would let gas plant operators mix hydrogen into natural gas as a way to comply. Yet co-firing remains an unpopular idea with some environmentalists who suspect it could raise emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and serve as a pretext to keep expanding natural gas capacity on the grid.”

E&E News: A Republican who likes ESG and capturing carbon joined the presidential race
Scott Waldman, 6/7/23

“Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will launch his long-shot presidential bid Wednesday in one of the nation’s top energy-producing states,” E&E News reports. “Lacking national name recognition, Burgum is expected to make oil production a key theme of his campaign as he enters an expanding primary race that features better-known candidates who are trying to compete against former President Donald Trump. North Dakota is one of the nation’s leading oil producers, behind only Texas and New Mexico. In his announcement video, Burgum said he believed in “innovation over regulation” when it comes to climate policy. “Instead of shutting down American oil and gas, we should unleash energy production and start selling energy to our allies instead of buying it from our enemies,” he said. The two-term governor, who will be touring Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming days, hopes his small-town roots and success at building a North Dakota-based software company into a billion-dollar business will appeal to voters in the first primary states. He will be one of the wealthiest Republicans running in the primary, alongside another long-shot self-funded candidate, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.”

Associated Press: US House panel investigates ties between US Interior secretary, environmentalists
Susan Montoya Bryan, 6/5/23

“Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources are raising concerns about ties between Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and an Indigenous group from her home state that advocates for halting oil and gas production on public lands,” the Associated Press reports. “The members on Monday sent a letter to Haaland requesting documents related to her interactions with Pueblo Action Alliance as well as those of her daughter, Somah, who has worked with the group and has rallied against fossil fuel development. The request comes just days after Haaland decided to withdraw hundreds of square miles in New Mexico from oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park — an area considered sacred by some Native American communities. U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, the Arkansas Republican who chairs the committee, said Congress has a duty to oversee federal agencies and the cabinet secretaries who lead them and that what he called Haaland’s “alliances” present potential conflicts of interest. “The committee is calling on Secretary Haaland to shed light on these ties between her family and this extremist group so we can determine the potentially unethical way these types of decisions are being made throughout the federal bureaucracy,” Westerman said in a statement… “Haaland — who is from the Laguna Pueblo and is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency — has said the work to protect land around Chaco has been ongoing for decades and that numerous public meetings and consultations with tribal leaders were a part of the process… “The Western Energy Alliance says that Haaland and her senior officials have granted special access to Pueblo Action Alliance and its allies and have helped the group lobby members of Congress and the Interior Department on issues before the agency, including oil and gas leasing. “Secretary Haaland has conflicts of interest that simply wouldn’t be tolerated if they were on behalf of oil and natural gas companies and should not be tolerated when they’re on behalf of environmental special interests,” Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma told AP.”

STATE UPDATES

WMNF: Carbon set to be stored underground in Florida through new ‘carbon capture’ technology
Chris Young, 6/6/23

“Carbon may soon be stored underground in Florida,” WMNF reports. “A South Korean company will store carbon underground in space and aerospace industrial complexes in Florida. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the CEO of LowCarbon during the governor’s trip to South Korea in April. The CEO, Cheol Lee, was in Mulberry, Florida on Tuesday, and I interviewed him through a translator… “Cheol Lee is in Florida to break ground on a plant that will create hydrogen fuel… “After the capturing, we make sequestration in the concrete.” “…In 2021, over 500 international, US, and Canadian organizations sent an open letter to policymakers calling on them to “reject carbon capture and storage.” They said it does little to reduce pollution and creates more risks than benefits. However, the Biden administration supported the efforts and announced over 250 million in funding for carbon capture in early May.”

KFOR: Officials say Garfield Co. oil spill is double original estimate
Ashley Moss, 6/6/23

“An oil spill north of Enid continues, after hundreds of barrels of oils are estimated to have contaminated about three miles of Ninemile Creek in Garfield County, between Hillsdale and Kremlin,” KFOR reports. “While officials originally estimated the spill to be about 500 barrels with about 70 recovered by late Friday evening, in an interview Monday with KFOR, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission said the spill is twice as large as originally thought. “The estimate on the size of the spill is now 1000 barrels or close to 1000 barrels,” Matt Skinner, OCC, Public Information Officer, told KFOR. “There are vacuum trucks in several places along the three mile stretch of NineMile creek that has been hit with this spill,” he added, saying it’s too early to tell how long cleanup will take… “(Nemaha) storage became flooded with rain water and the oil dike around it was either compromised or simply overfowed. We’re still unsure at this point,” Skinner said, adding that vegetation is being removed from the area and bagged for disposal to a landfill that’s licensed to take anything that’s been contaminated. However, farmers told the station the oil mixture could also be a problem for the environmental, livestock and wildlife contained in the area… “It has happened before, but not of this magnitude,” said Newt Roberts in an interview Friday with KFOR. Roberts said the contamination appears to run about four feet up, along the creek banks. “The wildlife department’s been here. They’ve gathered up fish that’s killed in the in the creek,” he added.

EXTRACTION

Guardian: Carbon capture and storage is ‘no free lunch’, warns climate chief
Fiona Harvey, 6/6/23

“Over-reliance on carbon capture and storage technology could lead the world to surpass climate tipping points, the head of the world’s climate science authority has warned,” the Guardian reports. “Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said using technologies that capture carbon dioxide or remove it from the atmosphere was “no free lunch” and that countries should be wary. Lee noted that the IPCC had found it was likely that global temperatures could rise by more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels but could then be made to return to below 1.5C by the end of the century. “The jargon for that is the overshoot,” he said. “Carbon dioxide removal methods will be much in demand if that overshoot indeed occurs.” “But there will be a cost to doing that. There’s no free lunch. And that cost includes that the longer the period of overshoot, there will be additional global warming, and there will be consequences of increased warming. There is also the possibility of positive feedback from that additional warming, creating more losses and damages during the overshoot period,” he warned. “So one wishes to avoid such an overshoot scenario.” “…Some representatives of fossil fuel interests have been arguing that the latest IPCC report justifies their continued production of oil and gas, citing a finding that a small amount of oil and gas production in 2050 was compatible with the need to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by that date. But one IPCC author told the Guardian that while the IPCC had found some oil and gas could still be produced in 2050, while sticking to the 1.5C limit, fossil fuel producers should not conclude from this that they could keep operating. “We need to reduce fossil fuels drastically,” the author told the Guardian.

Guardian: ‘Game changing’: spate of US lawsuits calls big oil to account for climate crisis
Dharna Noor, 6/7/23

“Climate litigation in the US could be entering a “game changing” new phase, experts believe, with a spate of lawsuits around the country set to advance after a recent supreme court decision, and with legal teams preparing for a trailblazing trial in a youth-led court case beginning next week,” the Guardian reports. “The number of cases focused on the climate crisis around the world has doubled since 2015, bringing the total number to over 2,000, according to a report last year led by European researchers. The US has not always led the way, but experts say that could be changing as: The first constitutional climate lawsuit in the US goes to trial on Monday next week (12 June) in Helena, Montana, based on a legal challenge by 16 young plaintiffs, ranging in age from five to 22, against the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies. A federal judge ruled last week that a federal constitutional climate lawsuit, also brought by youth, can go to trial. More than two dozen US cities and states are suing big oil alleging the fossil fuel industry knew for decades about the dangers of burning coal, oil, and gas, and actively hid that information from consumers and investors. The supreme court cleared the way for these cases to advance with rulings in April and May that denied oil companies’ bids to move the venue of such lawsuits from state courts to federal courts. Hoboken, New Jersey, last month added racketeering charges against oil majors to its 2020 climate lawsuit, becoming the first case to employ the approach in a state court and following a federal lawsuit filed by Puerto Rico last November. “I don’t know of another time in history where so many courts in so many different levels all over the globe [have been] tasked with dealing with a similar overarching issue,” Karen Sokol, law professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, told the Guardian.”

InsideClimate News: Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Emit Carcinogens and Other Harmful Pollutants, Groundbreaking Study Shows
Liza Gross, 6/6/23

“On a cloudy late-winter morning in 2004, Charles and Dorothy Harper were babysitting their 17-month-old grandson, Baelee, when the furnace in their rural Western Pennsylvania home revved up. The newly retired pastor and his wife did not realize that flammable gas had infiltrated the basement of the house, which they had recently built. Around 9 a.m. that dreary March morning, a massive explosion leveled the house and left three lifeless bodies buried in the rubble along a country road about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh,” InsideClimate News reports. “There were 16 known gas wells within 3,000 feet of the Harpers’ home. Natural gas from a well that was being drilled had entered the basement through the couple’s well water, a marshal with a local fire department told The Pittsburgh Tribune Review at the time. Officials knew this, the marshal said, because they tested the victims’ blood and lung tissue after recovering their bodies and found methane—a potent climate-warming compound that is the main constituent of natural gas. Yet a new study suggests that residents of the nation’s fossil-fuel producing regions could be facing a different threat: carcinogens and other toxic air contaminants spewing from millions of wells that are no longer even operating. In a study in the journal ACS Omega, researchers have reported the discovery of harmful volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, leaking from 48 abandoned wells in Western Pennsylvania.  Scientists have long known from studies of active drill sites that oil and gas wells produce a wide range of hazardous air pollutants. Yet until now, no independent researchers had systematically measured toxic air contaminants from any of the more than 3 million abandoned oil and gas wells scattered across the nation.  In the study, researchers with the nonprofit research and policy institute PSE Healthy Energy measured both the emission rates and the concentrations of harmful VOCs coming from abandoned wells in the heart of the nation’s largest gas field, the Marcellus Shale. “Our study is the first to thoroughly identify that there is a benzene hazard associated with abandoned wells,” said the lead author, Seth Shonkoff, the executive editor of the research institute, PSE Healthy Energy. Many were releasing benzene, a well-established cause of cancer, along with compounds that damage the nervous, immune and respiratory systems, the researchers reported. They found air concentrations as high as 250 parts per million—250,000 times the California safety threshold of 0.001 parts per million, which public health experts use as a gold standard because it tends to protect the most vulnerable populations, such as children.”

Washington Post: Why ditching plastic is harder than it seems
Allyson Chiu, 6/7/23

“The list of plastic substitutes seems to be growing longer by the day as companies come up with novel products such as cling wrap made from potato waste, seaweed-based food wrappers, and cassava starch bags. That’s in addition to efforts to package more products in everyday alternative materials, such as glass, metal and paper. Yet, the world’s plastic pollution problem has continued to worsen,” the Washington Post reports. “Work is underway to create the first global treaty to reduce plastic pollution. But experts say achieving that goal will probably involve, in part, developing better substitutes — a challenge that has appeared to vex many environmentalists and sustainability researchers. That’s because it hasn’t been easy to replace plastic, a ubiquitous material that’s inexpensive, robust and versatile… “Much of the plastic that is produced does not get recycled. “That’s not because people aren’t putting the right thing in their bins,” Melissa Valliant, communications director for the Beyond Plastics advocacy organization, told the Post. “It’s because so much of our plastic products just cannot be recycled.” In the United States, recycling facilities typically can only effectively process No. 1 and 2 plastic. One peer-reviewed study of a recycling facility in the United Kingdom also found that 6 to 13 percent of the plastic processed there could end up being released into water or the air as microplastics. However, other packaging materials can also come with recycling challenges, and some have disadvantages when compared to plastic. “It’s not that any of those solutions is bad, but there’s not a panacea,” Shaver told the Post. “There’s not a single solution which works for everywhere.” “…Regardless of the material, the key, Shaver told the Post, is to think about what happens to packaging after people are done with it. “It does not matter if something is recyclable, if it’s not recycled,” he told the Post. “It does not matter if something is biodegradable, if it is not biodegraded. It does not matter if something is reusable, if it is not reused.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

E&E News: ‘Colossal waste of time’: Dems hit back against anti-ESG pushAvery Ellfeldt, 6/7/23

“House Democrats are fed up. That much was clear during a heated back-and-forth Tuesday over the now-commonplace practice of considering social and environmental risks when making financial decisions,” E&E News reports. “Republicans have mounted attacks against so-called ESG investing over the past year, arguing that money managers, pension funds and other financial groups are illegally sacrificing financial returns in favor of addressing issues including climate change. They repeated that argument Tuesday during a hearing on ESG — the second the GOP-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee has held in the last month. “Due to Democrats’ ESG push, asset managers are prioritizing ESG goals over profit and risking Americans’ hard-earned money,” said Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), who chairs the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs. The panel held the hearing jointly with the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services. “If you want to invest in mermaid freedom, knock yourself out. If you want to invest in carbon-free Cookie Monsters, knock yourself out. If you want to invest in a unicorn ranch, knock yourself out,” Fallon added. “It’s about not disclosing to the investor the criteria that you’re using.”

Bloomberg: US Backs Poland Gas Hedging, Drawing Climate Activists’ Ire
Jennifer A Dlouhy, 6/6/23

“The US International Development Finance Corp. pledged up to $500 million to help increase Poland’s natural gas imports — appearing to contravene a Biden administration commitment to halt public finance for foreign fossil-fuel projects,” Bloomberg reports. “The bank’s Board of Directors approved a plan to guarantee the payment obligations of state-controlled energy company PKN Orlen SA to Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE for liquefied natural gas hedging activities, according to a notice online. The goal is to “facilitate higher volumes of US LNG imports” by the Eastern European nation, according to a Development Finance Corp. summary of the project. “

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Climate Change News: Fake social media profiles wage “organised” propaganda campaign on Cop28
Matteo Civillini, 6/6/23

“Fake social media profiles have been spreading propaganda messages about Cop28 and attacking criticism of its host, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in what experts called an “organised” campaign,” Climate Change News reports. “Purporting to be genuine people based in the UAE, scores of individual Twitter accounts publish similar positive content and defend the UAE in replies to posts by campaigners or journalists. At least a hundred profiles engaged in such behaviour have been identified by Marc Owen Jones, a digital disinformation expert at the Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar. Twitter suspended a handful of those accounts after Jones publicly exposed them last week. But many others remain active having now transitioned to different personas overnight. Climate Home News has independently analysed the activities of some of the most active profiles. They were all created in February 2022, using fake profile pictures and unlikely biographies, and display a suspicious pattern of activities. When taken together, they appear to be engaged in an orchestrated attempt to promote the UAE… “Jones told CCN whoever was running these accounts were either copying the government’s language or “the same social media company manages the accounts of government officials and the fake accounts.”

OPINION

CleanTechnica: Alberta’s Oil Sands Product Isn’t Getting Cheaper To Ship
Michael Barnard, 6/7/23

“For the past few years, when I’ve talked to energy analysts globally, we’ve tended to agree that Alberta’s product will be first off the market as peak oil demand occurs,” Michael Barnard writes for CleanTechnica. “As a reminder, Equinor, McKinsey, and the IEA all have credible scenarios showing that it will occur prior to 2030. I think it will, thanks to the rapid growth of electrification of ground transportation, the rapid growth of biofuels, and the rapid growth of renewables to power it all. Others, mostly Canadian oil sands boosters, disagree… “Why is it expensive to deliver? Well, that’s because Alberta has a limited set of pipelines to the only foreign market for the product, the heavy oil refineries near Houston, Texas. The Keystone Pipeline is it, and its expansion through watersheds that would have been devastated if the diluted bitumen that it was to carry had spilled, as pipelines are wont to do, was sensibly cancelled… “Enter the Trans Mountain Pipeline. That’s the one that was proposed to be tripled in capacity over a decade ago. There were about six major barriers to its approval, not least from my perspective is that it was going to be a stranded asset. Certainly the firm which owned it, Kinder Morgan, wasn’t interested in spending the money. The idea was that this pipeline was going to cut into that US$7 per barrel transportation discount… “Combined with the expected rise in the quality discount, the combination means that as peak oil demand arrives and there’s a surplus of light, sweet oil near to water, global buyers will simply buy the cheap, easily transported, easily refined stuff. Alberta’s product will stay in the ground. The Trans Mountain will likely never see peak 890,000 barrels a day, and might peak at half of that. It’s likely going to see close to no oil by 2040 and go bankrupt… “The second kicker is that the pipeline isn’t complete, and none of the other projections of costs and schedules have been remotely correct. As the Crown corporation notes in its application for toll price approval, the costs and hence tolls could rise further. Yes, every additional cost will end up in the tolls. Canada’s pipeline to nowhere keeps getting worse and worse for Canadians. And it’s not like anyone in Alberta is thanking the federal Liberals for buying it and tripling it for them.”

National Observer: Federal minister open to sacrificing part of marine refuge for oil discovery
Cloe Logan, 6/6/23

“Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is open to removing conservation protections off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador if there is a major oil discovery in the area,” Cloe Logan writes for the National Observer. “Fossil fuel giant BP — which left the oilsands to dive into Canada’s offshore market last year — is planning to drill an exploratory well in a marine refuge off the coast of Newfoundland. Rules around marine refuges mean exploratory drilling is allowed but oil production is not. In marine protected areas, no oil activity is allowed. However, as reported by the CBC, Wilkinson said if BP finds oil while exploring the area, there is a possibility the marine refuge could be altered and “removed as a conservation area.” “I’m not going to prejudge what is going to come out of the exploration, but that will be a discussion for down the road. If there is a decision to proceed with production and it goes through the various environmental assessment processes, then we would remove it from the protected status that Canada has put in place,” he told the CBC… “Known as the Northeast Newfoundland Slope Closure, Fisheries and Oceans Canada notes it has “high concentrations” of corals and sponges that provide habitats for other marine species. All bottom-contact fishing is banned in the area to protect biodiversity, and while BP says it will study the site to reduce “potential adverse environmental effects on corals and sponges,” it said risk can’t be eliminated completely. Wilkinson’s comments fit into a larger picture of weak oversight and environmental protection in Newfoundland’s offshore oil industry, Ecojustice lawyer Josh Ginsberg told the Observer… “Canada can’t claim to be a climate leader while at the same time continuing to greenlight massive offshore oil and gas exploration and production,” Ginsberg told the Observer… “Exploration activity from oil and gas can harm marine life and ecosystems, especially during exploratory drilling.”

The Hill: Create a Congressional Climate Tribunal to investigate corporate deniers
Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org, 6/6/23

“What did Exxon know, and when did they know it? As disruption from the human-caused climate crisis worsens, there will be a great debate over who is responsible for failing to respond in a timely way,” Chuck Collins writes for The Hill. “The fossil fuel industry will promote the notion that we are all responsible for climate change, and that they are simply meeting a consumer need. But this ignores the industry’s role in manipulating public opinion, its regulatory capture of government agencies and the advanced knowledge it had of the harms caused by extracting and burning carbon and methane.   Congress should form a tribunal with subpoena powers to investigate the role of big oil, gas and coal corporations in funding and fomenting climate denial, lobbying to block energy alternatives, and thrusting humanity onto a path toward an uninhabitable earth. Several dozen corporations have reaped windfall profits for decades while running out the clock for effective action… “In recent years, we have learned that major fossil fuel energy companies, including Exxon and Shell, have known about the dangers of burning fossil fuels for decades. For more than 30 years, they knew what scientists are now telling us — that we must halt construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure and rapidly transition to a renewable energy future. In other words, a few dozen corporations bear disproportionate responsibility for the impossible choices that humanity is now facing. We need a national tribunal to determine their level of culpability and corruption.  Such a commission could subpoena the internal studies these companies did on carbon and methane emissions. It could investigate how they deployed lobbyists and funded think tanks to promote climate denial and sham science. It could delve into the nature of the political capture of regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It could explore what alternative energy measures — such as fuel efficiency standards and investments in wind, solar and other renewables — the industry actively lobbied against, and who were the primary decision-makers in this process?.. “We owe ourselves and the world a deeper understanding of these irresponsible actions perpetrated by a couple dozen global corporations. That’s why we need a special tribunal to investigate their actions.”

Denver Post: Editorial: BLM Rule Puts Conservation On Equal Footing With Oil And Gas On Public Lands 
6/5/23

“The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for more public lands than any other agency in America, and yet, the bureaucracy has few tools to protect and conserve the land for future generations,” the Denver Post Editorial Board writes. “In many ways, it makes sense that BLM’s mission for generations has been to make sure public lands are utilized for ‘multiple uses’ especially public recreation. But the time has come to put conservation on equal footing with the private enterprises that have benefitted enormously from using and sometimes abusing our lands. BLM’s proposed Conservation and Landscape Health rule won’t dramatically change how our public lands are managed, but the new programs spelled out in the rule will open a door to conservation, especially of lands deemed important for wildlife habitat, corridors or other ecosystem needs. Public comment on the rule is open until June 20 on BLM’s website. Already the rule has met opposition from groups opposed to the idea of conservation getting equal footing with other potential uses of BLM land such as oil and gas drilling, ranch land grazing, and recreation. Just as oil and gas developers can lease public lands for exploration, often leaving the landscape permanently altered and adversely affecting wildlife, the BLM is proposing a new leasing process for conservation and rehabilitation so that public lands can be leased and set aside temporarily for the purpose of protecting our public landscapes so the future generations can enjoy them. Just as oil and gas leases have expiration dates, so too will the conservation leases, only instead of leaving the land permanently scarred with roads and well pads – often that are left  unremediated by negligent companies abandoning their responsibilities – the land will be left better, renewed by the type of restoration we are already seeing on BLM lands… “We’ve long supported the development of America’s natural resources on public lands, but have been disappointed by the return to taxpayers in terms of lease prices, royalty fees and protection of our lands… “We hope Coloradans will come out in support of the new rule and help America preserve public lands for future generations.”

New York Times: The Climate Solution That’s Horrible for the Climate
Michael Grunwald, 6/6/23

“As America rushes to generate more renewable electricity, it has become fashionable to fret that solar and wind farms use too much land. But America is also racing to produce more renewable fuels, and they use much, much more land to displace much, much less fossil fuel,” Michael Grunwald writes for the New York Times. “It’s fairly well-known that farm-grown fuels like corn ethanol and soy biodiesel accelerate food inflation and global hunger, but they’re also a disaster for the climate and the environment. And that’s mainly because they’re inefficient land hogs… “Government support for blending biofuels into U.S. gasoline is often rationalized on the wink-wink-nudge-nudge grounds of reducing reliance on foreign oil or saving the climate, but it’s mainly a way to suck up to farmers and enrich agribusinesses… “What makes corn-based ethanol distinct from most of our other wasteful agricultural giveaways is that it diverts crops from bellies to fuel tanks and uses almost as much fossil fuel — from fertilizers made of natural gas to diesel tractors, industrial refineries and other sources — as the ethanol replaces… “But the more damaging effect of biofuels, first revealed in a 2008 paper in the journal Science, is that they increase greenhouse gas emissions through the conversion of carbon-rich forests, wetlands and grasslands into farmland, expanding our agricultural footprint while shrinking nature’s. That was tragic back when biofuels seemed like the only plausible alternative to planet-broiling gasoline, but it’s inexcusable now that electric vehicles have become better, cleaner and more economical. Biofuels are like a return to the horse-and-buggy era, when farmers had to grow millions of acres of oats and hay for transportation fuel, except now the crops are processed through ethanol plants instead of animals… “But President Biden, like Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump before him, pledged fealty to ethanol before competing in the Iowa caucus, because ethanol mandates jack up the price of corn and win voters… “But internal combustion engines don’t need government support, and neither do biofuels. They’re climate nightmares masquerading as climate solutions, and they’re making life harder for some of the poorest people on earth. They’re practically in the Oxford English Dictionary under “counterproductive.”