EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/13/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• Politico: Manchin’s favorite pipeline may not be a done deal

• Politico: Congress thought it cleared the path for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. But the fight’s not over yet.

• Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis: Federal mandate to build Mountain Valley Pipeline doesn’t change poor market potential

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Judge rules against rural Iowa county trying to restrict carbon capture pipeline location

• WCBU: City of Peoria files as intervenor in pipeline construction application

• Reuters: TC Energy urges Canada to speed permits for energy transition projects

• Capital and Main: Industry wants new pipeline on Navajo land scarred by decades of fossil fuel extraction

• WAVY: A farmer’s fight: Surry County farmer opposes Virginia Reliability Project

• WPBN: NCMC to investigate president after incident with anti-Enbridge protestors

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Oil companies want to remove carbon from the air — using taxpayer dollars

• E&E News: Fossil fuel booster speaks to Senate Republicans

STATE UPDATES

• The Hill: Chemical irritant polluted air after Ohio train derailment: study

• Reuters: California new oil well approvals have nearly ground to a halt

• CNBC: With oil production in freefall, Alaska, America’s worst state for business, chases a new carbon boom

• Casper Star-Tribune: First Oil & Gas Lease Sale Nets Over $14M In State 

EXTRACTION 

• New York Times: After a Year of Climate Protests, the Toll Rises for Museums and Activists

• Associated Press: A Greenpeace activist is fined for crash-landing a parachute in stadium before Germany-France match

• Agence France Presse: In Canada, deserted oil wells are environmental time bombs

• Forbes: A Stealthy L.A. Carbon Capture Startup Snags $80 Million From Big Oil And JetBlue

• Energy Intelligence Group: Aker Carbon Capture Enters US CCS Market

• Wall Street Journal: How a Houston Oilman Confounded Climate Activists and Made Billions

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Bloomberg: US Politicians Seek Middle Ground in Ongoing Debate Over ESG

• CNBC: Lawmakers tussle over GOP efforts to thwart ESG investing

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Washington Post: Welcome to ‘greenhushing,’ in which companies quietly hide their climate pledges

OPINION

• Marshall Independent: If I had a pipeline

• Financial Post: Critical gaps in carbon capture and storage policy must be addressed

• Al Jazeera: No room for fossil fuel executives at climate negotiation tables

• New Yorker: Is It Hot Enough Yet for Politicians to Take Real Action?

• Common Dreams: Putin is Vulnerable—Stop Buying Russian Fossil Fuels and He’ll Be Powerless
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Politico: Manchin’s favorite pipeline may not be a done deal
ALEX GUILLÉN, 7/12/23

“For an embattled natural gas pipeline that has struggled for years to get the federal permits it needs, last month’s debt ceiling deal was like landing a golden ticket from Willy Wonka,” Politico reports. “A provision effectively approving the Mountain Valley pipeline was tucked into that must-pass bill, thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). But instead of an everlasting gobstopper, Mountain Valley may be chewing on the gum that tastes like a three-course meal and then turns you into a blueberry… “On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit halted construction for portions of the pipeline crossing Jefferson National Forest in Virginia as it considers whether the Forest Service adequately considered environmental impacts. And on Tuesday, the court stayed a biological opinion on the project from the Fish and Wildlife Service, pending a legal challenge from the Wilderness Society. The opinion — in which the agency determined that the work won’t harm endangered species — is required for key approvals from other agencies. The pipeline’s supporters are apoplectic. Manchin called the order halting construction “unlawful,” with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) following suit… “But environmentalists argue that Congress overreached with the Mountain Valley provisions in the debt ceiling deal. Specifically, they tell Politico a provision dismissing legal challenges to the pipeline is unconstitutional. Still, their legal actions may not delay the pipeline for long. The Justice Department this week pushed back on environmentalists’ argument in court. Observers have also speculated that the court’s stay on construction may just be a stopgap until it can be fully briefed on the issue — and that it could clear the pipeline to resume work in the coming days or weeks.”

Politico: Congress thought it cleared the path for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. But the fight’s not over yet.
Catherine Morehouse, 7/11/23

“A swipe of the pen from Congress aimed to clear nearly all legal and regulatory hurdles for the embattled Mountain Valley Pipeline, but it still faces a myriad of court challenges as it seeks to further expand into the Appalachian region,” Politico reports. “Under the congressional deal to raise the debt ceiling, lawmakers such as West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin attempted to free the natural gas pipeline from its remaining regulatory barriers by directing federal agencies to approve its outstanding permits. The effort was designed to guarantee the pipeline’s completion and there were early signs of its success. In June, FERC issued a sweeping order greenlighting all remaining construction on the main stem of the project because of the language in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the debt ceiling law. But a federal appeals court that previously dealt multiple blows to the project by rejecting state and federal permits on Monday ordered a pause on construction of a section of the pipeline expected to go through Jefferson National Forest. The stay will remain in place while the court considers a request from environmental groups to review the Biden administration’s decision allowing pipeline construction in the national forest to begin. But the appeals court’s actions could bring the fight over the project back to the Supreme Court.”

Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis: Federal mandate to build Mountain Valley Pipeline doesn’t change poor market potential
Suzanne Mattei, 7/12/23

“The future of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) remains in jeopardy, despite passage of a federal legislative mandate requiring permit approvals for the controversial project and barring appeals,” according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “An appeals court panel on July 10 granted a motion to stay construction of the MVP in the Jefferson National Forest while it considers a legal challenge to Section 324 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (the negotiated debt ceiling package) and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review of the pipeline’s impacts. Section 324 ratifies pre-existing federal approvals of the MVP—regardless of whether they violate the underlying laws—and simultaneously strips court jurisdiction to hear challenges to the approvals. It applies even for litigation already pending at the time the legislation was enacted. The MVP provision in the debt ceiling package poses a dangerous precedent. Overriding a pipeline permit process can force energy consumers to pay for a costly, unnecessary project. It would also allow pipeline developers to launch eminent domain actions against private landowners where the actual necessity of the taking has not even been analyzed, let alone proven in a public forum. Landowners who resist would have to take legal action. A friend-of-the-court brief filed by four legal scholars amplified the environmental petitioners’ argument, stating Congress violated the separation of powers doctrine of the U.S. Constitution when it directed the result in pending MVP litigation without amending substantive law. They argued the debt ceiling bill unfairly picked a winner in ongoing litigation… “The main driver of the pipeline remains gas supply businesses seeking a larger market for fracked gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale fields. Market forces are moving in a direction that will not favor the MVP… “Questions also have arisen about how much gas the MVP would actually carry… “The challenged Section 324 mandate does not change the fact that federal agencies never independently examined the pipeline’s need, or that the various court rulings that held up MVP construction before passage of the debt ceiling legislation were based on well-reasoned findings that agencies had given short shrift to serious factual environmental disputes. One cannot simply declare away the fundamental issues that have made the pipeline so controversial. Regardless of how this legal battle is resolved, market forces are likely to continue to erode the financial viability of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Judge rules against rural Iowa county trying to restrict carbon capture pipeline location
Jared Strong, 7/12/23

“An ordinance adopted by Shelby County that would severely restrict the placement of a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline conflicts with state and federal regulations and should not be enforced, a federal judge ruled this week,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “It’s extremely disappointing,” Steve Kenkel, chairperson of the Shelby County Board of Supervisors that approved the ordinance, told the Dispatch. “We have a duty as a supervisor to protect our county. How do we do this when other levels of government won’t support counties?” He did not know whether the county will appeal the decision. The judge granted Summit Carbon Solution’s request for a temporary injunction that prevents that ordinance’s enforcement. The company, along with a Story County farmer who is a founder of an ethanol plant, has sued three counties for ordinances that restrict how closely hazardous liquid pipelines can be located to cities, schools, livestock facilities, electric transmission lines, homes and other facilities. The lawsuits seek declarations that the ordinances are preempted by federal and state regulations, permanent injunctions that prevent their enforcement and attorney fees… “The ruling by Chief Judge Stephanie Rose, filed Monday in the federal Southern District of Iowa, said state law does not explicitly prohibit the Shelby County ordinance but that such a prohibition is implied. Rose noted the statutory role county supervisors have in land restoration after a pipeline is built but not in pipeline placement. “This omission is evidence that the Legislature did not envision a role for counties in regulating the location of pipelines,” Rose wrote. She added, “Common sense suggests these restrictions would eliminate all or almost all land in Shelby County on which an (Iowa Utilities Board) approved pipeline could be built. This creates a serious possibility the IUB would approve the construction of the pipeline but Summit would be unable to build because it could not comply with the requirements of the ordinance.” Rose also said the ordinance’s requirements for pipeline companies to submit safety plans to the county and to notify the county when use of a pipeline is discontinued conflict with federal rules. “State and local agencies cannot regulate safety matters,” Rose wrote… “Kenkel told the Dispatch counties need early access to dispersion models of the Summit project that show what places are most likely to be affected by a pipeline breach. He told the Dispatch the ordinance was further meant to protect economic and housing development in the county’s cities by keeping pipelines two miles away from them. The project is also unpopular in Shelby County, Kenkel told the Dispatch, because the pipeline is not connecting to ethanol plants there. Affected landowners might be forced to give land easements through eminent domain “while serving no benefits to them,” he told the Dispatch. It’s unclear when the suit will conclude. Judges have not made decisions about temporary injunctions in the two other lawsuits against Emmet and Story counties.”

WCBU: City of Peoria files as intervenor in pipeline construction application
Tim Shelley, 7/12/23

“The city of Peoria has filed a petition to intervene in the construction application for a carbon capture pipeline,” WCBU reports. “The new proposed route for the Wolf Carbon Solutions Mount Simon Hub pipeline no longer runs through the city’s south side. That route proved controversial among residents and environmental advocates who said a pipeline rupture in the city could prove disastrous. High concentrations of carbon dioxide can cause asphyxiation, though pipeline advocates say stringent safety protocols would be in place. City deputy corporation counsel Chrissie Kapustka said in a filing that though the pipeline route has changed, the Peoria Fire Department would still likely be called to assist to any pipeline incidents in the county. The fire department’s hazardous material and technical rescue teams would also likely be called upon to assist in other counties along the pipeline route in the case of an emergency, she said… “Other groups like the Illinois Agricultural Association have also claimed an interest in the case and filed motions to intervene.”

Reuters: TC Energy urges Canada to speed permits for energy transition projects
Nia Williams, 7/12/23

“Canada’s TC Energy on Wednesday urged policymakers to streamline permitting for repurposing oil and gas infrastructure to advance energy transition projects and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Reuters reports. “TC Energy has more than 20,000 kilometers (14,300 miles) of pipeline in western Canada that could be repurposed to carry carbon dioxide for sequestration underground or transport low-emissions hydrogen, Chief Executive Francois Poirier said. “Does there need to be same timeline and level of regulatory scrutiny as for a greenfield project on a new right of way? These are the conversations we are having with governments,” Poirier said at the LNG 2023 conference in Vancouver. “Policymakers are driving us towards significant emissions reduction by the end of this decade and we will not achieve those goals if it takes seven years to permit and put an asset into service,” he added… “Its oil and gas industry, the country’s highest-polluting sector, is counting on deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) and cleaner fuels like hydrogen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But those nascent energy transition industries will require a significant build-out of new infrastructure. Paul Marsden, head of Bechtel Corp.’s energy business unit, said forcing new technologies that repurpose existing assets to go back to the beginning of the permitting process risked choking innovation. “We are not asking for corner cutting,” Bechtel said, speaking on the same panel, noting the cost of building new infrastructure was getting more expensive.

Capital and Main: Industry wants new pipeline on Navajo land scarred by decades of fossil fuel extraction
Jerry Redfern, 7/13/23

“For the last several months, one of the nation’s largest pipeline operators has gone from one local government meeting on the Navajo Nation to another, outlining plans for what could end up being the country’s longest hydrogen pipeline,” Capital and Main reports. “At those meetings, representatives from Tallgrass Energy have shown a map indicating the pipeline would run from Shiprock, New Mexico, in an arc across the northern reaches of the reservation to a spot north of Flagstaff, Arizona. And according to reports from others who attended the meetings, the final destination may actually be Mexico. Tallgrass Energy, working through a new subsidiary called GreenView, wants to build the hydrogen pipeline because the Navajo Nation is “blessed with a wealth of natural resources” and “We believe they have the right and responsibility to develop and manage these resources, including projects like hydrogen,” Tallgrass Vice President of Government Affairs Steven Davidson told Capital and Main. He told Capital and Main that his company has been talking with the leaders of the Nation for the past two years, well before the local meetings began. On the other side, Jessica Keetso (Diné) has traveled across the Nation herself for the past two years, explaining how the production of hydrogen from natural gas is yet another fossil fuel development in a land that has suffered from decades of climate, environmental and health problems brought about by energy extraction industries, including oil, coal, gas and uranium. She and her group, Tó Nizhóní Ání (“Sacred Water Speaks” in Navajo), bridle at the notion of the Nation once again becoming a resource development zone for the benefit of companies off the reservation. This pipeline is a symbol of the ongoing controversies that already divide the Navajo Nation — and New Mexico — over fossil fuel development. The most recent example happened a month ago when a ceremony to mark a new, historic 10-mile buffer banning new oil and gas leasing for 20 years around Chaco Culture National Historical Park was thwarted and diverted after protesters blocked roads into the park, demanding that fossil fuel development continue.”

WAVY: A farmer’s fight: Surry County farmer opposes Virginia Reliability Project
Kiahnna Patterson, 7/12/23

“A Surry County farmer is concerned the Virginia Reliability Project will destroy his land and livelihood,” WAVY reports. “Michael Drewry owns Drewry Farms in Wakefield and his family has been farming here for generations. “This is where my father was raised, and I didn’t want to see it get out of the family,” Drewry told WAVY. “…Remarkably since I’ve purchased it in 1990, I’ve had to fight a road realignment potentially coming through here, a railroad potentially coming through here,” Drewry told WAVY. “A coal plant being built about three or four miles away. This methane digester is being proposed. Now the pipeline is coming through here, it is exhausting. We don’t have many quiet and peaceful places in southeast Virginia and I’m fighting for some right here.” The project plans to replace two sections of the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline. Nearly 50-miles of pipe dating back to the 1950s will also be expanded from 12-inches to 24-inches… “The pipeline project will go through Drewry’s’ Farm. “I would have to shut my agritourism business down when they come in here and start this construction,” Drewry told WAVY. “I don’t know when that is. The timing of it or how much income it’s going to lose me.” His farm is protected by an open-space easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which protects the stream, timber and forest through which the project is planned.  “To protect this place, we gave up hundreds of thousands of dollars in development potential,” Drewry told WAVY. “Then you find that they can just come through and double-widen the pipeline and cut access through it. The thing that is discouraging to me is that they don’t come and ask. It may sound minor to some people, but we enjoy the wildlife out here.” “…Drewry told WAVY there has been little communication on the project. He hopes the project is abandoned or more people continue to push back on the project. “The thing that is discouraging to me is that they don’t come and ask,” Drewry told WAVY. “If they don’t abandon the project, I want them to listen and make some reasonable accommodations here. Use different methods so it’s not so destructive. I would like them to listen and be accommodating. For me and other people.”

WPBN: NCMC to investigate president after incident with anti-Enbridge protestors
7/12/23

“Faculty at North Central Michigan College are looking into an incident allegedly involving the college’s president and a group of protestors,” WPBN reports. “The incident happened during a lecture by an Enbridge representative two weeks ago. A video given to UpNorthLive News by protestors shows them being rebuffed at a lecture given by an Enbridge community engagement manager on June 22. A representative for the activists told WPBN they are pursuing criminal charges. “People didn’t like what we were saying in this public space, and they decided to put their hands on us,” Jonathan Woodward told WPBN. “I felt threatened and I did fear for my safety, and I know that the others that were with me felt the same,” Woodward told WPBN. “One of our members was hurt enough to receive a laceration on their forehead.” The faculty association told WPBN a person seen tearing a banner in the video is NCMC President David Finley. Now the NCMC faculty is alleging serious misconduct against Finley. “We felt we should contact the Board of Trustees through the human resources department and let them forward that to the board of trustees for an independent investigation,” Chet Jessick, a business and marketing professor at NCMC, told WPBN.  “It’s a sad moment for those of us who take great pride in the work that we do – to tighten the social fabric of our community, to build trust among the various stakeholders – and this alleged behavior is really a mar on that brand,” Jessick told WPBN.

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Oil companies want to remove carbon from the air — using taxpayer dollars
Corbin Hiar, 7/13/23

“Oil companies have made billions of dollars drilling for carbon-rich fuels that are dangerously overheating the planet. Now some of those same firms are seeking to profit from a new taxpayer-subsidized line of business: pulling carbon pollution from the atmosphere and pumping it back underground,” E&E News reports. “At least seven oil and gas producers — including more than half of the world’s oil majors — are working on direct air capture projects or have financially supported DAC companies, which can collect up to $180 for each ton of carbon dioxide they sequester. And four oil companies are known to have sought additional funding from the Energy Department’s $3.5 billion DAC hub competition. Big Oil’s little-known involvement in the emerging sector is raising concerns for some supporters of DAC and other carbon dioxide removal technologies, which climate scientists believe will be necessary to avert the worst impacts of global warming. “The role of carbon removal in addressing climate change is to remove legacy emissions. It’s not to offset continued fossil fuel use,” Erin Burns, the executive director of the climate advocacy group Carbon180, told E&E. But some oil executives seem to have other plans for the technology, which received a big financial boost from the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act. DAC plants use fans, filters, power and piping to suck carbon dioxide from the air and permanently store it deep in the earth. Occidental Petroleum Corp. leader Vicki Hollub has described DAC not as a climate solution but a way to continue producing petroleum. “We believe that our direct capture technology is going to be the technology that helps to preserve our industry over time,” she said at an oil and gas conference earlier this year. “This gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years that I think it’s going to be very much needed.” “…Exxon Mobil Corp. head Darren Woods has pitched scaling up DAC deployments — rather than slashing oil and gas production — as the easiest way to reach net-zero emissions. “That, to my mind, is the holy grail,” he said last year in an interview with CNBC. “If you can overcome some of those technology hurdles, get your costs down, you’ve got technology then that can address this in a very cost-efficient way.” “…The oil industry’s involvement in the sector — both speculative and serious — is likely to make DAC projects even more politically toxic for disadvantaged communities. But Burns told E&E that’s no reason for greens to give up on a potentially vital climate technology.”

E&E News: Fossil fuel booster speaks to Senate Republicans
Timothy Cama, 7/12/23

“Republican senators heard from pro-fossil fuel advocate Alex Epstein at a closed-door Wednesday lunch,” E&E News reports. “Epstein, who leads the Center for Industrial Progress and has written books including “Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas — Not Less,” spoke with senators at a regularly scheduled lunch hosted by the Senate GOP’s Steering Committee, a conservative body led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) that includes most of the conference. Epstein told E&E News after the event, “I speak at basically any major political office from any party that will invite me,” adding that he covered the same topics he typically does in his writing and at other venues where he’s invited. “I basically advocate what I call energy freedom policies, and then I try to explain why I think those are the policies and then how to message them effectively. So it’s basically an introduction to my approach to messaging,” he told E&E. He would not say who invited him or what any senators said, but told E&E he wasn’t paid for the visit. “Hopefully it’ll lead to better messaging and policies,” Epstein told E&E. He also gave senators signed copies of “Fossil Future.” Several senators could be seen toting his book coming out of the lunch, including John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told E&E the speech was “phenomenal … he’s brilliant.” “He made the case that fossil fuels contributed more to people getting out of poverty than the other way around,” Cramer told E&E. Republicans have recently been trying to make the case that fossil fuels have been a net-benefit to humanity as a way to counter Democrats on environmental justice.”

STATE UPDATES

The Hill: Chemical irritant polluted air after Ohio train derailment: study
ZACK BUDRYK, 7/12/23

“The air in East Palestine, Ohio, had high levels of a chemical irritant in the weeks following the February derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters,” The Hill reports. “Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Texas A&M universities drove through the town in a research van following the derailment, monitoring the air for unusual concentrations of compounds that were not present before the incident. Attention on potential hazards from the crash largely focused on vinyl chloride, a hazardous substance used in the production of plastics, which spilled in the derailment. But the team only detected vinyl chloride levels below what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers an unsafe long-term level. However, the researchers found atmospheric concentrations of acrolein were up to six times the normal level near the crash site on Feb. 20 and 21, nearly two weeks after officials cleared evacuees to safely return home. Acrolein, which was not among the chemicals spilled in the derailment, is an irritant to the eyes, skin and nose that has been linked to increased cancer risk… “The study’s authors wrote that the results indicate the need for ongoing mobile air quality monitoring at the site of disasters like the East Palestine crash, particularly during the ongoing cleanup process, which may unearth contaminants in the soil.”

Reuters: California new oil well approvals have nearly ground to a halt
Nichola Groom, 7/13/23

“California, the seventh-biggest U.S. crude oil producer, has put a near halt on issuing permits for new drilling this year, according to state data,” Reuters reports. “The state’s Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM, has approved seven new active well permits in 2023. That compares with the more than 200 it had issued by this time last year. The stalled approvals represent the latest tension between California’s bold environmental ambitions and its role as a major oil and gas producer and consumer. New drilling permits have steadily declined since Gavin Newsom became governor in 2019, but the current rate of approval represents a sudden and dramatic drop. “It’s just fallen off the cliff,” Rock Zierman, chief executive of the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA), told Reuters. The industry has more than 1,400 permit applications for new wells awaiting CalGEM approval, half of which are more than a year old, he told Reuters. In an email, CalGEM attributed the smaller number of approvals to both the broader decline in California oil production and litigation that has paused permitting by Kern County, the center of the state’s oil industry. CalGEM is processing far more approvals to permanently close wells than for any other activity, the agency said. “We expect this permitting trend to continue as California transitions away from fossil fuels,” CalGEM told Reuters.

CNBC: With oil production in freefall, Alaska, America’s worst state for business, chases a new carbon boom
Scott Cohn, 7/11/23

“Alaska isn’t giving up on growing crude, through new sources including the Willow Project, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to transform its economy by developing a new industry based on carbon emission offsets,” CNBC reports. “…Just like oil, just like gas, just like our timber, this is a commodity that can be monetized now,” he said. Under the new law, Alaska will be able to sell so-called “carbon offset credits,” capitalizing on the state’s vast public forest lands. Companies that emit carbon will be able to buy the credits, effectively paying the state to preserve and protect its forests, thereby canceling out, or offsetting, those emissions. What the state doesn’t spend on maintaining its forests, it can keep as revenue. Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle, who is working on the rules to implement the program, said in an interview with CNBC that the market for the new credits could be huge as companies discover the limits of carbon reduction technology. “Across America, and in the rest of the world, you see a number of companies that have set very aggressive net zero (emission) targets for themselves,” he told CNBC. “Ultimately, in order for a lot of these companies to be able to hit the targets that they’ve set for themselves, they’re going to need to look for other options for offsets.”

Casper Star-Tribune: First Oil & Gas Lease Sale Nets Over $14M In State 
Maya Shimizu Harris, 7/11/23

“The Bureau of Land Management’s first oil and gas lease sale in over a year netted roughly $14.7 million in Wyoming — about $1.8 million more than last year’s sale,” the Casper Star-Tribune reports. “Wyoming will receive 48% — roughly $7 million — of that revenue. While Gov. Mark Gordon applauded the lease sale in a prepared statement, he noted that it represents ‘not even a quarter of a loaf.’ ‘The fact that our producers participated to the degree they did is a credit to the Wyoming oil and gas industry,’ Gordon said in the statement. ‘Their efforts mean Wyoming will continue to provide energy for the nation, even though they do so with increasing pressure from Washington, D.C., to give up.’ Federal law requires the Bureau of Land Management to hold lease sales each year on a quarterly basis.” 

EXTRACTION 

New York Times: After a Year of Climate Protests, the Toll Rises for Museums and Activists
Zachary Small, 7/11/23

“Two climate activists made a beeline for a beautiful Monet painting exhibited at the National Museum in Sweden on a recent Wednesday morning. They wanted to convey the urgency of the environmental crisis — pollution, global warming and other man-made disasters — that could turn the artist’s gorgeous gardens at Giverny into a distant memory. So the young protesters followed what has become a familiar playbook: gluing a hand to the artwork’s protective glass and smearing it with red paint,” the New York Times reports. “…Similar scenes have unfolded at more than a dozen museums over the last year, leaving cultural workers on edge and at a loss for how to prevent climate activists from targeting delicate artworks… “Meanwhile, the costs for security, conservation and insurance are growing, according to cultural institutions that have experienced attacks. In some cases they are suing the activists for the damages. In February, Viennese prosecutors dropped their case against protesters who doused a 1915 Klimt painting at the Leopold Museum in black liquid after the demonstrators agreed to pay about $2,200 in damages for the cost of art handling, cleanup and repairing the gallery wall… “In what appears to be a tipping point in the United States, prosecutors have brought serious federal charges against protesters who threatened the safety of art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, which is a federal institution. Last month, Joanna Smith and Tim Martin, both 53, were charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S. and damaging a National Gallery exhibit after they smeared paint on the case surrounding the fragile beeswax sculpture of “Little Dancer” in April. Each charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. Climate activists have called the sentence “unjustly harsh.” “It was not a call for everyone to rampage museums,” Smith told the Times, adding that she thought the charges would suppress free speech. “It was a call for people to look deeply and think about what they cherish on Earth and what they can do to protect those things.”

Associated Press: A Greenpeace activist is fined for crash-landing a parachute in stadium before Germany-France match
7/11/23

“A German surgeon has been ordered to pay a fine of 7,200 euros ($7,900) for parachuting into the stadium before a European Championship match in Munich two years ago as part of a botched climate protest,” the Associated Press reports. “A Munich regional court convicted the 40-year-old Greenpeace activist Tuesday of endangering air traffic and negligent bodily harm for crash-landing his propeller-powered parachute inside the Allianz Arena just before Germany were due to play France in June 2021. Three people, including the defendant, were injured in the stunt, during which he first threw a large inflatable ball bearing the words “Kick out oil” onto the pitch before becoming entangled in a steel wire. Greenpeace said it regretted the incident and the defendant apologized for his actions during the trial. He was also ordered to pay 3,500 euros in damages to one of the people who were injured.”

Agence France Presse: In Canada, deserted oil wells are environmental time bombs
7/13/23

“With its flaking red paint, broken pressure gauge and cranks fallen to the ground, an oil well sits forsaken in western Canada, like tens of thousands of others that have been out of service for decades — but never plugged,” Agence France Presse reports. “Activists and experts say the existence of these inactive oil and gas installations — often dug hundreds of meters (yards) below the surface in Alberta province — is a ticking ecological time bomb for the vast country. “Every single one of them is simply steel and concrete. They erode and break down,” Regan Boychuk, the founder of Reclaim Alberta, a group advocating for the clean-up of such wells, told AFP.  “Every one of these holes needs to be managed, monitored for eternity because of the danger of leaks,” he told AFP… “More than 120,000 oil and gas wells are inactive but not sealed off in Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces, home to more than 90 percent of Canada’s wells, according to government data released in 2022… “Overall, according to that government data, these installations have emitted an average of 16,000 tonnes of methane per year over a century — the equivalent of 545,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, or what about 237,000 vehicles emit in one year.”

Forbes: A Stealthy L.A. Carbon Capture Startup Snags $80 Million From Big Oil And JetBlue
Alan Ohnsman, 7/13/23

“Avnos says that it’s building technology that’s a “twofer” when it comes to environmental crises: it sucks carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere and produces water as a byproduct of the process. On Thursday, the company emerged from stealth and announced that it has financial commitments from big oil companies ConocoPhillips and Shell and airline JetBlue worth at least $80 million,” Forbes reports. “Based in Los Angeles, Avnos expects to begin commercial operations by 2025, using a proprietary system it calls hybrid direct air capture (HDAC). The system is built around modules about the size of a 20-foot shipping container that pull in ambient air and run it through a series of filters. Water condensation, similar to what occurs in a dehumidifier, is collected, pumped out and stored, and the CO2 flows into tanks, CEO Will Kain told Forbes. He told Forbes there’s a 5-to-1 ratio of water produced for every ton of captured CO2. A pilot version of the system will open later this year in Bakersfield, California… “The water it expects to produce may generate additional revenue, while the captured CO2 could be used to make synthetic fuels by ConocoPhillips and Shell.”

Energy Intelligence Group: Aker Carbon Capture Enters US CCS Market
Luke Johnson, 7/12/23

“Oslo-listed Aker Carbon Capture says it has taken a key step into the US carbon capture and storage (CCS) market, a strategic focus for the Norwegian technology provider since last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),” Energy Intelligence Group reports. 

Wall Street Journal: How a Houston Oilman Confounded Climate Activists and Made Billions
Benoît Morenne, 7/11/23

“Climate activists and Wall Street are making it tougher for Big Oil to stay in the oil business. They’ve also helped make Jeffery Hildebrand a multibillionaire,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Hildebrand, who is little known outside his hometown of Houston, has become one of America’s largest independent drillers by buying assets on the cheap, cutting costs and then squeezing out both oil and profit from wells that others left for dead… “A knack for well-timed deals and a Rolodex filled with oil-industry CEOs have lofted Hildebrand, once a competitive pole vaulter, into the billionaire’s club. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index pegs his net worth at $8.98 billion, which would make him the second-richest man in Houston, behind Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta ($10 billion) and before pipeline mogul Richard Kinder ($8.78 billion). Hildebrand’s company, Hilcorp Energy, aims to increase production nearly 40% to 500,000 barrels of oil and equivalent hydrocarbons a day by the end of 2026, according to Chief Executive Greg Lalicker.  That would likely turn Hilcorp into one of the 15 largest oil companies in the U.S. If the company hits the mark, Hildebrand will award his 3,000 employees hefty bonuses that have become a trademark, in this case, $75,000 toward a new car, and $25,000 to a charity of employees’ choice, company executives said. It’s a business model that is growing from a niche into a juggernaut as the industry’s giants, facing mounting calls to cut their carbon emissions, dial back on drilling and shed assets. Hilcorp is privately held so it doesn’t face ESG demands—short for environmental, social and governance issues—from investors. That means the pressure on big oil companies isn’t necessarily leading to less pumping, but rather pumping by less-accountable players.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Bloomberg: US Politicians Seek Middle Ground in Ongoing Debate Over ESG
Saijel Kishan, 7/11/23

“In the span of just a year, the acronym ESG has been catapulted from the fringes of Wall Street to the center of US political discord,” Bloomberg reports. “Utah Governor Spencer Cox was among the first Republican politicians to attack the investing strategy. He’s backed efforts by GOP officials, including his Florida counterpart Ron DeSantis, who has lambasted ESG as he vies for the White House. Cox also picked a state treasurer who recently referred to ESG as part of “Satan’s plan.” But in an interview Saturday after an event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that focused on ways to depolarize US politics, Cox struck a more conciliatory tone. While he remains opposed to environmental, social and governance financing principles, Cox told Bloomberg he’s spoken with groups in Utah interested in ESG topics such as solar energy and encouraged them to take their issues to the legislature where they can be debated and worked on outside of the finance industry. “We can either get a change of heart from politicians who are exploiting ESG or citizens can insist on finding better politicians who are willing to listen to each other and strive to work together,” Cox said after his speech at the Gettysburg event organized by a group called Braver Angels and attended by supporters of Donald Trump and backers of the Black Lives Matters movement. ESG investing has been swept into the nation’s culture wars by GOP officials, and congressional Republicans are planning a series of hearings this month that focus on the investing strategy. Cox’s comments come as a few others, mainly on the left, try to defuse the rhetoric over ESG.”

CNBC: Lawmakers tussle over GOP efforts to thwart ESG investing
Chelsey Cox, 7/12/23

“House lawmakers clashed Wednesday over federally mandated environmental, social and governance disclosure requirements for companies rolled out amid concerns over growing climate disasters,” CNBC reports. “The Republican-held House Financial Services Committee met to consider a list of proposals that aim to strengthen public markets, among them a bill to require the U.S. Comptroller General to study the drawbacks of corporate sustainability reporting for public American companies. The measure would consider the long-term effects of the directives on social equity, the economy and environmental protection. The GOP majority committee members decried the disclosure rules as part of a broader push to discourage ESG investing nationwide. Democrats defended them as necessary to promote responsible investing to reduce inequities and curb climate change. Committee Chair Rep. Patrick McHenry said the Biden administration’s focus on climate-related policy through the Securities and Exchange Commission will discourage private companies from going public. He panned the agency’s March 2022 rule proposal to require such disclosures in registration statements and periodic reports. “Rather than focusing on sound financial regulation, the SEC has turned its attention towards non-material, environmental, social and political issues,” McHenry, R-N.C., said. “These politically motivated regulations not only discouraged private companies from going public but also hinder the competitiveness of American public companies.” Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, meanwhile, criticized Republicans’ attempts to undermine what she called the federal government’s responsibility to hold public companies accountable for ESG. “Today is the first of six hearings this month where Republicans will partner with a network of dark-money climate deniers and conspiracy theorists to wage their latest culture war against responsible investing and divert attention away from what really matters in people’s lives,” Waters, D-Calif., said in opening remarks. “The Republican effort to dismantle ESG is integral to their agenda to gut diversity and inclusion across the board.”

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Washington Post: Welcome to ‘greenhushing,’ in which companies quietly hide their climate pledges
Maxine Joselow, 7/13/23

“Last spring, visitors to BlackRock’s webpage on sustainable investing saw a striking image of a building covered in bright green moss. Beneath it, the world’s largest asset manager boasted: “We are committed to supporting the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner.” Not anymore,” the Washington Post reports. “Today, the webpage has been scrubbed of several references to the firm’s climate commitments. It’s an apparent example of what some are calling “greenhushing,” in which companies keep quiet about their environmental goals, sometimes for fear of public backlash. The trend comes as corporate America sees itself as enmeshed in a tug of war over climate change. Liberal activists have sued big businesses for doing too little to combat rising global temperatures, while conservative lawmakers have boycotted firms for making climate change part of their business calculations. In response, hundreds of businesses have seemingly gone silent. Among 1,200 large private companies that have set climate targets, 1 in 4 do not plan to publicize them, according to a report released last year by South Pole, a climate consultancy and carbon offset developer. Greenhushing is the opposite of a better-known practice called greenwashing, in which companies overstate their sustainability in an attempt to market to environmentally conscious consumers. The rise of hushing reflects the fear that many corporate executives face when weighing whether to speak out on climate change, Renat Heuberger, the co-founder and CEO of South Pole, told the Post. “If you’re a CEO who has all the right intentions, you might get sued from both sides — from the left and from the right,” Heuberger told the Post. “And that is not good news if you want to convince more CEOs to get active on climate.” The South Pole report did not identify companies by name, as the data was collected anonymously. But over the past two years, the beer company Anheuser-Busch InBev has quietly stopped running Facebook advertisements that tout its goals of net zero emissions by 2040 and 100 percent recycled packaging by 2025, according to a Washington Post review of the company’s ads.”

OPINION

Marshall Independent: If I had a pipeline
Ed Iverson, Lamberton, 7/13/23

“…I have been to multiple carbon pipeline meetings, both informational and against the project. When the audience has the opportunity to ask questions, the answer to important questions usually falls into one of two categories, “I don’t know” or “I’ll find out and get back to you” so far I’ve never received a call back. Have you?” Ed Iverson writes for the Marshall Independent. “Some of the questions are, “How much water will this take?” “How much carbon dioxide will be released if a rupture occurs?” (I would imagine it would be a sizable amount while it’s under pressure.) “What plans do you have to assure safety if a rupture does occur?” “How long will it take to offset the carbon emissions from just installing this pipeline?” It seems to me that these are very important questions, and to be blunt, rather basic. So basic that they should be able to be answered without thought. Don’t they know? Perhaps they just don’t want us to know. I’m having trouble seeing the benefit to putting this pipeline in. I can’t think of one good reason. I have another question. Is Summit going to be able to sell carbon credits to heavy polluters? I’ve always figured worthwhile projects don’t need to use trickery to be implemented. Safety Should always come first. A little more transparency would be beneficial to everyone.”

Financial Post: Critical gaps in carbon capture and storage policy must be addressed
James Millar is president and CEO of the International CCS Knowledge Centre, 7/13/23

“As companies wait for the federal government to set out a clear timeline for when the investment tax credit and other policy tools will be put in place to support Canadian heavy industries’ investment in multibillion-dollar carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, they are not simply idle on their emissions reduction plans,” James Millar writes for the Financial Post. “CCS projects must get started immediately if Canada is to achieve its ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions at least 40 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this, Canada’s current federal emissions reduction plan expects national CCS capacity to more than triple, to at least 15 million tonnes per year by 2030. In fact, that could be low: the Canadian Energy Regulator’s latest long-term outlook found that for Canada to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, national CCS capacity, including carbon utilization projects, needs to get to 60-80 million tonnes per year by 2050. It’s about seven million tonnes/year today… “Canada has been a leader in the first generation of global CCS development, with five of only 30 commercial CCS projects underway worldwide… “Building on this world-leading experience, dozens of projects to develop carbon capture, pipeline and storage technology are moving forward in a wide range of industries, including cement, steel, mining and fertilizer, petrochemical, oil and gas and hydrogen fuel production… “Our investment lead does not make us immune to competition, however, especially from the United States and other jurisdictions where the economics of building projects are clearer. Critical gaps in Canadian CCS policy need to be addressed so we can meet the challenge of creating a diversified, low-carbon economy on the aggressive timeline established by federal climate targets. Ottawa has acted swiftly when it comes to supporting electric vehicle production. CCS expansion should be at least as high a priority. At the moment, federal policy is in draft form. As officials sprint toward what is expected to be a fall finish line, we in the industry remain hopeful the stars will align so we can increase our build in 2024.”

Al Jazeera: No room for fossil fuel executives at climate negotiation tables
Tzeporah Berman is Chair and Founder of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, 7/12/23

“For decades, fossil fuel industry executives have managed to get a seat at the table when it comes to negotiating climate policies. Now, they are hosting the table with the appointment of oil executive Sultan al-Jaber as president-designate of the next United Nations global climate conference, COP28. Given the fossil fuel industry has repeatedly proven they have no intention of addressing the source of the climate crisis – oil, gas and coal – it’s time to stop inviting them to climate talks,” Tzeporah Berman writes for Al Jazeera. “These companies are not going to manage their own decline. At COP28 Sultan al-Jaber has the opportunity to show the world that governments understand the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels and that he will ensure his position as a CEO of a national oil company will not undermine the greater public good. We hope he does. I’ve worked on environmental and climate protection for more than three decades and I’ve been in many meetings and events with oil and gas executives. I used to buy into arguments that it was important to work with the fossil fuel industry given the scale of the climate crisis, that a transition to clean energy and other low-carbon solutions would not be possible without them. Yet each day, it becomes more evident that oil, gas and coal companies are only working to falsely entrench themselves as a necessary part of the economy and our lives moving forward, despite clear evidence that oil, gas and coal are harming people now and threatening our future. We have no choice but to move away from them. Directly negotiating climate policy with oil and gas executives in Canada is the biggest mistake I have ever made. For years, I sat at the table with many good people from the industry as well as from Indigenous communities, labour, government and civil society, trying to come to a consensus on the design of climate policy in the oil sands. We were successful in coming to an agreement on a set of collective recommendations for carbon pricing and a cap on emissions from oil and gas. Yet before the ink was dry, oil and gas associations launched campaigns against the recommendations, and oil companies donated to political candidates who promised to eliminate any climate policy once elected… “So no, we don’t need oil and gas representatives at the tables where climate conversations and negotiations are taking place. If there are good people in the industry who want to help craft solutions and work to meet climate targets then they need to have the courage to convince their executives to manage a wind-down of fossil fuel investments – and, if they fail, to leave the companies doing such harm to the world.”

New Yorker: Is It Hot Enough Yet for Politicians to Take Real Action?
Bill McKibben, 7/11/23

“We’ve crushed so many temperature records recently—the hottest day ever measured by average global temperature, the hottest week, the hottest June, the highest ocean temperatures, the lowest sea-ice levels—that it would be easy to overlook a couple of additional data points from this past weekend. But they’re important, because they help illuminate not just the size of our predicament but the political weaknesses that make it so hard to confront,” Bill McKibben writes for the New Yorker. “…So the crisis is everywhere—that’s why it’s called global warming. But the case of Canada is interesting, because it’s a liberal democracy with a strong environmental sentiment—polling earlier this year found that seventy-five per cent of Canadians were anxious about climate change; twenty-one per cent of the population was having fewer or no children as a result… “Yet none of this has been enough to really change the political dynamic, which remains dominated by the fossil-fuel industry. Justin Trudeau’s government had been making noises about a plan to dramatically cut emissions—perhaps by forty-five per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, in line with what climate scientists have set as the necessary targets. But the government quickly began to back down after a meeting in June with officials in the oil-rich province of Alberta, when the Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, explained that “we have committed to a cap on oil and gas emissions. But there are lots of different ways to do that. There are flexibilities and how you design it.” The targets may shrink, the timetables may fade, and, incredibly, Canada may decide to count increased exports of fossil gas as a method of cutting carbon. (The country is in the process of building its first liquefied-natural-gas, or L.N.G., export terminal, along the British Columbia coast.) The argument is that Canadian natural gas will displace coal being burnt somewhere else, but, in fact, natural gas is at least as likely to displace renewable energy, and the methane that leaks from the whole process makes it as much a climate threat as coal… “So public campaigns will need to continue, but at the moment they aren’t producing enough pressure to change the calculations that Presidents and C.E.O.s are making…”

Common Dreams: Putin is Vulnerable—Stop Buying Russian Fossil Fuels and He’ll Be Powerless
Svitlana Romanko is the founder and director of the Ukrainian organization Razom We Stand, 7/11/23

“Recently my son graduated from high school, but because Russia invaded our country last year, he and his classmates faced a graduation with no ceremony due to unrelenting military attacks,” Svitlana Romanko writes for Common Dreams. “…For over a year, we’ve angrily watched as the world continues to finance Vladimir Putin’s war by purchasing Russian fossil fuels, without considering the effect this has on Ukrainian lives. Over the last several days, we watched as cracks formed in Putin’s facade of control, but to bring an end to this war the world must stop purchasing Russian fossil fuels and help rebuild a self-sufficient, independent Ukraine—fully powered by renewable energy… “The global addiction to fossil fuels, namely oil, fossil and LNG gas, destroys democracy, threatens people’s future, and empowers fossil fuelled dictators to wage wars… “No amount of financial aid erases the fact that these countries are complicit in the war against our country, as they continue to empower Putin by purchasing Russian fossil fuels. The global addiction to fossil fuels, namely oil, fossil and LNG gas, destroys democracy, threatens people’s future, and empowers fossil fuelled dictators to wage wars… “Oil and gas companies are not only perpetuating the humanitarian crisis, but profiting from the war against our country. Total Energies, BP, Shell, and other oil and gas companies still own significant shares in Russian fossil fuel companies and are shamelessly profiteering from the war… “I want my son and his classmates to see a full and effective green rebuilding of Ukraine, but that means we must fully sanction Russia’s fossil fuel industry, leaving Putin powerless to wage his war. This would bring us closer to opening a clean energy market in a safe and peaceful country. So my message is simple. If you stand with Ukraine, tell world leaders to stop buying Russian fossil fuels. Instead of dooming the children of Ukraine to defend themselves daily from Russian military attacks and air raids, allow our children to have the freedom to live out their dreams in peace.”