EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/18/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• E&E News: Supreme Courts Sets Reply Deadline In Pipeline Battle 

• WV Public Broadcasting: As Mountain Valley Pipeline Debate Continues, Who Really Wants It?

• E&E News: Federal court rules Iowa county can’t regulate CO2 pipeline

• Globe Gazette: Public meetings scheduled to advance carbon pipelines

• Daily Democrat: Community meets to discuss Navigator CO2 pipeline

• NPR Illinois: Forum on CO2 pipeline set for Monday night

• World Pipelines: PHMSA moves to improve safety along gas pipelines

• Yellow Scene: Colorado-Based Water Protector Faces Trial, Shares Wisdom

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Washington Post: House GOP launches Endangered Species Act working group

• E&E News: Committee Sets Vote To Scrap Chaco Canyon Protections 

• Washington Post: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s charged mission of healing

STATE UPDATES

• E&E News: Oil companies ask court to sideline Hoboken climate lawsuit

• Texas Tribune: Company confirms it has found new funding to build a massive gas terminal at the Port of Brownsville

• Bloomberg: California Shows Off New $25 Million Carbon Capture Technology Project

• Houston Chronicle: Zombie Wells, Part 1: Texas oil wells are leaking toxic waste, and no one wants to pay to clean it

• Kiowa County Press: BLM Plan For Public Lands Along Arkansas River Heads To Governor Polis 

• Los Angeles Times: Lake Tahoe has higher concentration of microplastics than ocean trash heap

EXTRACTION

• Houston Chronicle: How Exxon’s $4.9B deal to buy Denbury may reshape the emerging carbon capture landscape

• Bloomberg: There’s a New Science Platform to Vet Carbon Removal Companies

• CNBC: World Needs More Than 75 Billion Dollars To Reduce 75% Of Energy Related Methane Emissions: IEA

• Yale Climate Connections: Activist Bill McKibben rallies adults over age 60 to fight for climate action

CLIMATE FINANCE

• E&E News: House Republicans look ahead to another ‘ESG Week’

• Wall Street Journal: Insurers Are in the Hot Seat on Climate Change

OPINION

• Roanoke Times: Mountain Valley Pipeline must stop spreading false promises

• Christian Century: A preventable oil spill in Kansas

• Fortune: Climate change is the next frontier of America’s culture wars. Corporations are still doing the right thing–and hoping no one notices

• Forbes: How Geopolitics Have Reshaped Natural Gas Markets
  

PIPELINE NEWS

E&E News: Supreme Courts Sets Reply Deadline In Pipeline Battle 
NIINA H. FARAH, 7/17/23

“The Supreme Court is asking environmental groups to respond by early next week to an emergency request that would allow construction of the controversial Mountain Valley pipeline to move forward,” E&E News reports. “Developers of the natural gas pipeline asked the court Friday to reverse a pair of stays from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that temporarily froze federal permits for the project designed to carry natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. Responses are due by 5 p.m. on July 25, according to the Supreme Court. That means Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency requests from 4th Circuit cases, would not act on Mountain Valley’s emergency application until after environmental groups suing to block the project have their say. The reply is due just two days before the 4th Circuit is set to hear oral argument on requests from the pipeline developer and the Biden administration to dismiss legal challenges to the project led by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Voices.”

WV Public Broadcasting: As Mountain Valley Pipeline Debate Continues, Who Really Wants It?
7/17/23

“Congress tried to have the last word on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, requiring all federal permits to be issued for the 300-mile natural gas pipeline in a deal lawmakers approved last month. However, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in to block new construction on the project. Ultimately, the pipeline may get built,” WV Public Broadcasting reports. “…But some energy analysts question whether the pipeline is even needed. Curtis Tate spoke with Suzanne Mattei of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis for her perspective… “We’ve said from the start, that this was not a good idea. This was a very expensive pipeline, going through very sensitive terrain. And that there was not a compelling need. There was not a big line of people saying we need this gas, bring this gas to us; the pipeline was driven by gas producers… “This pipeline was not driven by utility need, it was driven by supplier need… “Mattei: This project should have been much more thoroughly examined from the get go at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is supposed to actually evaluate need and alternatives. Tate: What’s changed in public perception since construction began on this pipeline? Mattei: I think one thing that’s changing nationwide is that landowners are becoming a lot less tolerant of pipelines coming through their property. Tate: If there isn’t going to be demand for this gas domestically, what about overseas?.. “So what we projected ultimately was, first of all, Europe doesn’t really want to be so heavily dependent on energy imports, and they’re getting a lot smarter about energy efficiency, and wind and solar, and even geothermal. And so the demand isn’t going to be exactly what people expected. And number two, there’s already been so many terminals built and so many contracts and things going on that there’s going to be a glut. We’re looking at a really significant glut that will probably be surfacing between 2025 and 2027. When all these things that are being built right now, they all come online, and then they all start pumping gas into the system, they’re gonna have financial problems.”

E&E News: Federal court rules Iowa county can’t regulate CO2 pipeline
Jeffrey Tomich, 7/14/23

“A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction this week against an Iowa county zoning ordinance that would restrict the development of a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline,” E&E News reports. “The order — from Judge Stephanie M. Rose of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa — is a win for Summit Carbon Solutions LLC, which aims to build a 2,000-mile pipeline across five Corn Belt states. Rose, an Obama appointee, wrote in a 37-page decision that the zoning regulations in Shelby County, Iowa, are likely preempted by state and federal law and cannot be put into effect. “Defendants may not pass unenforceable ordinances in a roundabout attempt to undermine valid federal and state laws,” Rose concluded. The lawsuit is among several Summit has filed against counties in Iowa and South Dakota that have sought to influence or restrict development of its pipeline. The project would transport liquefied carbon dioxide from almost three dozen ethanol plants to a site in North Dakota, where the CO2 would be permanently sequestered deep underground.”

Globe Gazette: Public meetings scheduled to advance carbon pipelines
Alexander Schmidt, 7/12/23

“State officials at the Iowa Utilities Board have scheduled two meetings to advance the permit process for a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline extension that would span 31 miles through Mitchell and Floyd counties,” the Globe Gazette reports. “The meetings are to be held August 8, 2023; the first scheduled for noon at the Cedar River Complex in Osage in Mitchell County, and the other is set for 6 p.m. at the Gil & Donna White Youth Enrichment Center at the Floyd County Fairgrounds west of Charles City. If weather prevents public participation that day, the meetings can be delayed to Aug. 16… “Eighty-eight percent of global CO2 use is for fossil fuel recovery, a practice many of the pipeline’s opponents oppose due to it prolonging the fossil fuel industry’s grip on energy production, along with environmental concerns with emissions and contaminated groundwater. Summit and similar companies have also faced backlash from communities in its proposed use of eminent domain to seize property for pipeline construction. Summit is likely to seek eminent domain to obtain easements for about 1,000 parcels of land in Iowa… “Eleven Republican state lawmakers wrote to the IUB last week with concerns about what they characterize as the “fast-track handling” Summit pipeline hearings: “We urge the IUB to proceed in this area with the greatest possible caution and to give particular attention to making sure the process is open, fair and deliberate,” the letter stated… “In a letter, the RRMR School District recently added its voice in opposition to the proposed pipeline, saying it would “be a deterrent for future growth in our already struggling small community. It will place tremendous stress on the budgets for city, county, HAZMAT, volunteer fire departments and school systems.”  Summit’s filing of a secondary request for the 31-mile stretch in Mitchell and Floyd counties is likely to avoid a delay in existing proceedings. There is nothing in state rules that prohibits Summit from seeking a second permit for an addition to a project that has not yet been approved, Don Tormey, an IUB spokesperson, told the Gazette.”

Daily Democrat: Community meets to discuss Navigator CO2 pipeline
Angie Holland, 7/18/23

“In an effort to continue to inform people about the Navigator Greenway CO2 pipeline that is set to venture into Lee County, a community gathering was held in West Point Thursday evening,” the Daily Democrat reports. “Local farmer and pipeline opponent Ray Menke led the meeting, along with comments from other like-minded people. Menke had petition papers he asked everyone to sign and send in to the Iowa Utilities Board, which is the body what will ultimately approve or deny a permit for Navigator to build the pipeline. Menke said there were a variety of ways a pipeline rupture could occur. One concern he shared was when he had a tile outlet installed in his field, a hillside slid. Earth can move and break pipelines. “If any one of these hillsides slip, this pipeline’s going to break. That’s what happened in Satartia, Mississippi,” he said. “If you want any kind of information about what happens to a small time when these break, Google ‘Gassing Satartia;’ you’ll learn what happens. Forty people went to the hospital. The town was only a population of 45. It was one mile from the pipeline.” “…What they’re telling us and what’s actually happened is two different things,” he said… “The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which regulates the pipelines, Menke said, wants to change rules and regulations. “But they won’t have any rules and regs changed before the end of 2024,” Menke said. “So these guys are trying to get these pipelines in. There are three, Summit, Wolf and Navigator and they’re trying to get these things in before the end of ‘24. If they can get a shovelful of dirt turned, they’ll get grandfathered in and they’ll be able to do this pipeline on poor regulations and poor engineering standards.”

NPR Illinois: Forum on CO2 pipeline set for Monday night
Sean Crawford, 7/14/23

“A public forum is planned Monday night on Navigator Heartland Greenway’s proposed carbon dioxide pipeline. The project would transport CO2 from five states to Illinois, where it would be stored underground,” NPR Illinois reports. “…But critics worry about environmental contamination, including pipeline leaks. The project is still awaiting regulatory approval, but could get underway next year if that is received. Both sides will be represented at the hearing at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the BOS Center in downtown Springfield. Navigator Heartland Greenway will make a presentation. Also, members of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines will lay out objections and concerns. Members of the Sangamon County Board, local community members, and other event attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about the proposed project.”

World Pipelines: PHMSA moves to improve safety along gas pipelines
Sara Simper, 7/18/23

“Pennsylvania, USA, is home to over 93 500 miles of gas pipelines, and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is proposing new safety standards. The new standards will finally address climate-changing methane pollution from existing gathering, transmission and distribution pipelines. They also will reduce the risk of deadly explosions and other harmful air pollution,” World Pipelines reports. “PHMSA’s pipeline safety standards were finalised in the 1970s and were only written with the intention of preventing explosions. PHMSA is now proposing to increase pipeline air monitoring efforts using leak detection technologies like optical gas imaging (OGI) cameras that can find leaks before they are large enough to cause an explosion. Unfortunately, less sensitive gas metering technologies previously forced inspectors to wait for a leak to become hazardous before the leak was even detectable. Shockingly, the pipelines carrying the most dangerous air pollutants aren’t even required to be mapped or patrolled, and minimal leak detection requirements don’t specify what type of technology can be used to detect leaks. Thankfully, PHMSA is proposing to correct these oversights. PHMSA found that hazardous leaks occur at gathering pipelines at double the rate of hazardous leaks on transmission lines. This is because the same dangerous pollutants that pollute our air, and are more present in gathering pipelines, like carcinogens and volatile organic compounds, also corrode pipelines more aggressively than consumer-quality gas. This expansion of pipeline monitoring requirements will improve air quality, reduce the risk of explosions and expand the growing air monitoring industry, while conserving gas.”

Yellow Scene: Colorado-Based Water Protector Faces Trial, Shares Wisdom
Carolyn Elerding, 7/17/23

“When Mylene Vialard followed her 21-year-old daughter across the US to join the thousands of the resistance by Water Protectors led by Indigenous women at Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, her aim was clear: to help make change, not just for the Indigenous people whose treaty rights, lifeways, and bodies have been violated, but for everyone,” Yellow Scene reports. “…Today, up to 760,000 barrels of tar sands oil (bitumen), a particularly resource-intensive and harmful form of crude petroleum, gush from Alberta to Wisconsin through the completed pipeline, and the Boulder-based activist is one of several activists around the US who face felony charges in northern Minnesota’s Aitkin County. Vialard’s trial is the week of August 28. Asked why she refused to take a plea bargain, Vialard answered with a defiant smile. It’s because on the day she was arrested, she was not in the wrong: “I don’t feel guilty. I feel that Enbridge should feel guilty.” Vialard explained that had she taken a plea deal, the problem would have remained: “I know my charges are pretty high. But it’s admitting guilt.” Instead she focused on “recentering the conversation about the true nature of what’s wrong, the fact that Enbridge has been digging under 200 bodies of water. They have pipelines going under the headwaters of the Mississippi. We know that pipelines leak.” Just as Vialard’s daughter played a role in the decision to join the fight, she is also part of her mother’s inspiration for standing trial: “We all need to stand up against this. Because I have a child, you know? I want her future to be better than this. That’s simple.” “…Mylene Vialard is putting her body on the line once again, this time by possibly serving a prison sentence. For her, it’s on a continuum with all of her other activism: “Not taking the plea deal and going to trial is using my voice to point out where the problems are, what the issues are. And, you know, I don’t have that big of a voice, but it’s what I can do right now. The outcome of the trial is secondary to me. If we can raise the awareness and can plant seeds, it’s a victory for me.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Washington Post: House GOP launches Endangered Species Act working group
Maxine Joselow, 7/18/23

“House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Congressional Western Caucus Chair Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) are launching a working group on modernizing the Endangered Species Act, the 1973 law credited with saving the bald eagle and other imperiled species,” the Washington Post reports. “…Many conservative lawmakers and industry groups blame the Endangered Species Act for stymying development — including drilling, mining and logging — on public lands designated as critical habitat for imperiled species. At the urging of the timber industry, Republicans recently introduced a resolution to overturn protections for northern long-eared bats. In contrast, many Democrats and environmental groups strongly oppose any effort to weaken the Endangered Species Act amid an ongoing extinction crisis. They have cheered the Biden administration’s recent move to restore endangered species protections that were weakened by President Donald Trump.”

E&E News: Committee Sets Vote To Scrap Chaco Canyon Protections 
Manuel Quinones, 7/17/23

“The House Natural Resources Committee will vote this week on legislation to undo the ban on new oil leasing and mining around a national park in New Mexico,” E&E News reports. “The panel will markup up the ‘Energy Opportunities for All Act,’ H.R. 4374, from Reps. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), which would would overturn the Interior Department’s 20-year mineral withdrawal within 10 miles of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Environmental advocates and many Democrats support the restrictions, but they have divided Indian Country, with Pueblo communities in favor and the Navajo Nation against. ‘I don’t like to see this corrupt — often corrupt — overreaching, overbearing, irresponsible government tell any of my constituents or any of the American people what they can and cannot do,’ Crane said during a hearing last week. Nada Culver, deputy Bureau of Land Management director for policy and programs, defended the mining and drilling restrictions.” 

Washington Post: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s charged mission of healing
Karen Heller, 7/17/23

“One after another, the survivors rose, shaking, often in tears, some singing or chanting to share their stories of childhood horror. “I will grieve with you. I will weep with you. I will feel your pain, as we mourn what was lost,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, sitting before them in the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe community gym last month,” the Washington Post reports. “An enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna, Haaland is the first Native person to serve as a Cabinet secretary, leading a department that oversees a fifth of U.S. land and was long charged with the systematic removal of Indigenous people from their tribal homelands. “You have done more for Indian Country than any secretary who came before you. Others before you have tried to whitewash the history of war crimes against our people,” Mille Lacs Band Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin told her, addressing an audience of about 150 before a Road to Healing event in June addressing the brutal legacy of Indian boarding schools… “Representation matters, not only representation mattering for Indigenous people, but also for people who are just everyday Americans,” she said over coffee before the Ojibwe meeting last month. “I’m feeling like I represent those people, too, right?” The 54th secretary of the interior and only the third woman to serve, Haaland possesses a biography familiar to many Americans. She has been a single mother who at times has been on food stamps, in forbearance and without housing, crashing on friends’ couches. “I know what it’s like to have $5 in your checking account,” she told the Post. “I know what it’s like to decide between paying the rent or, you know, buying groceries for my child.”

STATE UPDATES

E&E News: Oil companies ask court to sideline Hoboken climate lawsuit
Lesley Clark, 7/14/23

“The oil and gas industry is asking a court to dismiss a climate liability lawsuit from Hoboken, N.J., arguing that it’s been eclipsed by a similar challenge filed by the Garden State,” E&E News reports. “In a motion filed last week with the Superior Court of New Jersey, attorneys for a slew of oil companies wrote that two years after Hoboken filed its complaint, New Jersey submitted a lawsuit “involving nearly identical defendants, arguments, claims, and requested relief.” The companies argued that in the case of “overlapping lawsuits seeking near-identical relief,” New Jersey courts have traditionally deferred to the state. Hoboken in 2020 joined a growing string of climate lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry, charging Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell PLC, Chevron Corp., the American Petroleum Institute and others with violating New Jersey consumer protection and nuisance laws. The state filed its own lawsuit last October, arguing — like Hoboken — that oil companies had lied to consumers about the fossil fuel industry’s role in accelerating climate change.”

Texas Tribune: Company confirms it has found new funding to build a massive gas terminal at the Port of Brownsville
DYLAN BADDOUR, 7/13/23

“After years of delays, an industrial developer said this week that it has secured funding to proceed with construction of a massive new gas liquefaction plant and export terminal in the wild greenfields and wetlands of the Rio Grande delta,” the Texas Tribune reports. “Houston-based NextDecade says it has secured $5.9 billion in financing from international partners to begin work on the terminal’s first three compressors to liquify natural gas from Texas’ shale fields for export on global markets… “Its location in the Port of Brownsville — the last major deepwater port in Texas that remains without large fossil fuel projects — will complete the energy sector’s coastal sprawl from Louisiana to Mexico. Once constructed in several years, Rio Grande LNG will join the growing Gulf Coast energy export boom, which has pushed oil and gas production in Texas to record high levels… “One of the project funders, Abu Dabi-based Mubadala, called the deal “the largest greenfield energy project financing in U.S. history.” Seven such LNG export terminals have cropped up on U.S. coastlines in the last seven years, according to the Energy Information Agency. Another three are under construction and another 11 have been approved by federal regulators… “The oil and gas companies and the politicians can’t find it in their hearts to keep the industry in an industrial space,” Lela Burnell, the daughter of a shrimper in the Port of Brownsville and the plaintiff in multiple lawsuits against plans for Rio Grande LNG, told the Tribune. “Why do they feel like they need to just inundate and take over the whole coast? They don’t want to leave one spot where there is a sanctuary or a safe zone for nature.” In the last century, fossil fuel projects have cropped up on almost every major inlet of the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana — from “Cancer Alley,” where the Mississippi River meets the sea, to refinery sectors in Lake Charles, Port Arthur and Houston, where the nation’s largest petrochemical complex lines 44 miles of Galveston Bay.”

Bloomberg: California Shows Off New $25 Million Carbon Capture Technology Project
David R Baker, 7/14/23

“A $25 million project at a Calpine Corp. power plant near San Francisco will test a technology that could capture 95% of a plant’s carbon emissions, a process California officials say is critical to the state’s climate fight,” Bloomberg reports. “Carbon capture technology provokes fierce criticism from many environmentalists who consider it a license to keep burning fossil fuels rather than switch to cleaner energy sources. But at the unveiling of the Calpine project Friday, California’s top climate change regulator said some fossil fuel plants will still be needed to keep electricity service reliable as the state moves to eliminate its net carbon emissions by 2045.”

Houston Chronicle: Zombie Wells, Part 1: Texas oil wells are leaking toxic waste, and no one wants to pay to clean it
Amanda Drane, 7/17/23

“Mesquite waved in the breeze at Antina Ranch as well control specialist Hawk Dunlap dipped a stick into a hole in the ground and smelled it. “See?” he asked, extending the stick. It smelled like gasoline,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “Where there’s the odor of oil and gas there’s often noxious fumes such as benzene. His device measured 104 parts per million of volatile organic compounds outside one hole on the West Texas property southwest of Odessa. An invisible stream of chemicals was pouring up from below… “The site is just one of dozens of legacy oil wells on the 22,000-acre property in Crane County that have mysteriously reanimated, spewing a toxic mix of crude oil, salty water and methane from holes that in some cases were drilled more than 50 years ago. The crew assembled to address the issue at Antina calls them “zombie wells.” An unplugged well is a portal into a dimension where brine can flow like an underground river, at times carrying the detritus of oil and gas production. They include chemicals used in extraction, leftover hydrocarbons and radioactive elements freed by drill bits cutting through the sedimentary rock. Modern regulations mandate steel and cement caps to prevent what flows beneath from traveling up through a retired well. When those protections fail, as they have at Antina, climate-warming gasses and toxic waters can freely rise to the surface, poison groundwater aquifers and kill plants. There is no way to know how many among the millions of wells in the U.S. are leaking, though one estimate suggests there could be 500,000 plugged wells leaking nationwide. Failing plugs compound another daunting problem — the nation is already drowning in at least 120,000 orphaned wells with no corporate parent to claim responsibility for them, and even more undocumented wells yet to be discovered.” 

Kiowa County Press: BLM Plan For Public Lands Along Arkansas River Heads To Governor Polis 
7/17/23

“The Bureau of Land Management’s plan for managing 658,000 acres of public lands in central Colorado includes new protections called for by community members, sportspeople, conservationists and thousands more who submitted public comments,” the Kiowa County Press reports. “But it also leaves the majority of landscapes along the Arkansas River between Salida and Canon City open for oil and gas leasing. Jim Lockhart – president of the group Wild Connections – told the Press protecting these lands is critical for wildlife that call the area home, and for outdoor recreation. “And it’s very important for the communities which increasingly rely on activities – such as recreation, visitorship – that these lands be preserved,” Lockhart told the Press. “Because that’s what people come to Colorado for, to see Colorado in its natural state.”

Los Angeles Times: Lake Tahoe has higher concentration of microplastics than ocean trash heap
CARI SPENCER, 7/14/23

“Sparkling Lake Tahoe may appear pristine, but its blue surface waters contain microplastic concentrations higher than those observed in ocean gyres — systems of ocean currents notorious for accumulating plastic waste — according to new research,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The study, published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature, revealed that of the 38 lakes and reservoirs sampled across 23 countries, Lake Tahoe contained the third-highest concentration of microplastics. Researchers first reported microplastics in Lake Tahoe in 2019 — a disappointing discovery about the lake, which straddles California and Nevada. Decades of conservation efforts and legal protections have worked to preserve the lake and its 72 miles of shoreline… “Sudeep Chandra, the director of the Global Water Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, and co-author of the study, told the Times the research highlights just how pervasive microplastics have been in freshwater ecosystems. Every lake sampled — even the most remote lakes — contained microplastics… “He added that the team was expecting to find Tahoe toward the bottom of the list, not at the top, especially because wastewater has been barred from entering the lake since the 1970s. But there were a couple of characteristics that made Tahoe “strikingly different” from some of the others — namely, its large surface area paired with the amount of recreation it sees. Tahoe has more than 15 million visitors each year. Although the study did not cover the source of microplastics — that’s what the researchers will tackle next — Chandra told the Times he suspects the large surface area primes the lake to receive more microplastics from the atmosphere. He pointed to research from Janice Brahney, an associate professor at Utah State University’s watershed sciences department, whose research on “plastic rain” reaching national parks and wilderness areas made headlines in 2020… “Another possible source of Tahoe’s high microplastic concentrations is the pollution that follows its tourism industry.”

EXTRACTION

Houston Chronicle: How Exxon’s $4.9B deal to buy Denbury may reshape the emerging carbon capture landscape
Amanda Drane, 7/14/23

“Exxon, which moved its headquarters to the Houston area earlier this month, said Thursday it would acquire Denbury, an independent oil and gas company specializing in carbon dioxide transportation,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “…Denbury operates a network of carbon dioxide pipelines and storage facilities along the Gulf Coast, a business valued at $2.8 billion alone, according to Enverus, a Houston business consulting firm, making it the first big public deal in which carbon capture and storage assets comprise the bulk of the value… “If successful, the practice could reshape the energy landscape and drastically reduce emissions in industrial areas along the Gulf Coast. Denbury has around 935 miles of carbon dioxide pipelines connecting Texas with Louisiana and Mississippi, Andrew Dittmar, director at Enverus Intelligence Research, told the Chronicle. “That is the most promising region for (carbon capture and storage) development given a combination of emissions sources, infrastructure and storage potential,” he told the Chronicle, “and a key focus area for (Exxon).” The acquisition of the pipeline network positions Exxon to accelerate its carbon capture push in East Texas, where refineries and chemical plants would likely be interested in carbon capture partnerships, Fernando Valle, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said in a research note. “Denbury’s CO2 pipeline makes it a starting point for development of Exxon’s Gulf Coast hub that likely accelerates its plans by three to five years.” The acquisition “fills major gaps” in Exxon’s carbon capture portfolio and solidifies “its position as the global carbon-capture leader,” he wrote. He pointed to Denbury’s pipelines and oil fields already injecting carbon dioxide as a tool to extract additional oil — an oil recovery practice that gives carbon dioxide another outlet… “The Chevrons and Exxons of the world, they’re very much opportunistic buyers. It seems like they got a pretty good deal here,” Faisal Hersi, an energy analyst at Edward Jones, told the Chronicle. “For them to go out there and try to replicate this would take them a lot longer and this allows them to move much more quickly toward that goal.”

Bloomberg: There’s a New Science Platform to Vet Carbon Removal Companies
Michelle Ma, 7/17/23

“On Monday, climate tech startup Isometric launched a publicly accessible platform to vet the science behind the growing number of startups pulling carbon from the atmosphere,” Bloomberg reports. “Carbon removal will be key to staving off catastrophic global warming in the coming decades. It also has the potential to be a $1 trillion industry, according to BloombergNEF estimates.”

CNBC: World Needs More Than 75 Billion Dollars To Reduce 75% Of Energy Related Methane Emissions: IEA
7/17/23

“Over $75 billion in cumulative spending is needed till 2030 to reduce energy-related methane emissions by 75 percent, stated the IEA’s recent ‘Financing Reductions in Oil and Gas Methane Emissions’ report,” CNBC reports. “Ever since the Industrial Revolution, methane has been responsible for around 30 percent of the increase in global temperatures. Sustained and rapid reduction in methane emissions is key to limiting near-term global warming, the report stated. According to the IEA’s scenario of achieving net-zero emission (NZE) by 2050, energy-related methane emissions will have to drop by around 75 percent — two-thirds of it comes from the decreasing emissions from gas and oil operations. This makes up for over 15 percent of the total reduction of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions till 2030.”

Yale Climate Connections: Activist Bill McKibben rallies adults over age 60 to fight for climate action
7/14/23

“In recent years, youth activists have led the charge to demand action on climate change. But Bill McKibben believes young people should not have to face global warming alone,” Yale Climate Connections reports. “I’ve heard too many people say, ‘Oh, it’s up to the next generation to solve this problem.’ And that just seemed … impractical,” he told YCC. “We don’t have 30 years for them to grow up and take the reins of power.” McKibben is an environmental writer, activist, and the founder of Third Act, a group that organizes people over 60 to push for climate action. Third Act has chapters all over the country and organizes group actions ranging from letter-writing campaigns to a recent “rocking chair sit-in,” protesting fossil fuel investments by major banks. McKibben told YCC older people often have plenty of free time to volunteer, and they may not worry as much about participating in civil disobedience that could get them arrested. “One of the few unmixed blessings of growing older is, you know, past a certain point, what the hell are they going to do to you?” McKibben told YCC. And many older people feel a personal responsibility to fight for climate justice. “Legacy is something very real,” McKibben told YCC. “It’s the world you leave behind for the people you love the most. And we’re in some danger of being the first generations to leave the world a much shabbier place than we found it, and people do not want that.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

E&E News: House Republicans look ahead to another ‘ESG Week’
Emma Dumain, 7/17/23

“Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are set on Tuesday to continue their broadside against environment, social and governance (ESG) investing,” E&E News reports. “The planned hearings follow four from last week on the subject and could pave the way for the full panel to take up related legislation — a priority of many conservative members of the House Republican Conference who are eager to target the practice they malign as “woke capitalism.” At the same time, the continuation of “ESG Week” will keep pitting Republicans against Democrats, who held a splashy press conference last Wednesday as counterprogramming to the GOP-led attacks on the practice. One hearing — to be convened by the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy and titled “Climate-Risk: Are Financial Regulators Politically Independent?” — will give members the chance to question officials with the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the National Credit Union Administration.”

Wall Street Journal: Insurers Are in the Hot Seat on Climate Change
Jean Eaglesham, 7/13/23

“Insurers are caught in the crossfire of an escalating battle over climate change,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The biggest U.S. insurance firms are facing pressure from three sides. They are raising premiums and are cutting back coverage because of more damaging storms and wildfires, made worse by climate change. They insure the fossil-fuel producers whose products are blamed for causing climate change. And, as big investors, they fund these same companies. Most try to promote their climate bona fides. This is a recipe for making lots of powerful people unhappy. Texas lawmakers want to ensure that insurance companies “do not hinder” oil companies. Connecticut lawmakers want the opposite. Republican state attorneys general accuse insurers of going too far in the fight against climate change. Democratic senators are asking if the companies are going far enough. “We’re caught right in the middle between these very different agendas,” David Sampson, head of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, an industry group, told the Journal. “What we’re seeing is the weaponization of the business of insurance…to [try to] achieve certain public policy objectives.” Adding to their stress, many insurance companies are struggling with losses because of severe weather, inflation, supply-chain bottlenecks and other factors. They are pushing up rates significantly for some types of coverage. Public Citizen, a consumer group, called Farmers Insurance’s move this week to restrict sales of homeowners policies in California and Florida a “prime example of the insurance industry’s hypocrisy on climate change.” Activists say insurers are giving priority to short-term profits from fossil fuels over their concern for the planet. “The claims by the insurance industry that they are addressing climate change is like tobacco companies saying they care about peoples’ health,” Tom Swan, executive director of Connecticut Citizen Action Group, told the Journal.”

OPINION

Roanoke Times: Mountain Valley Pipeline must stop spreading false promises
Russell Chisholm is managing director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition, a grassroots environmental justice group that serves communities in Virginia and West Virginia, 7/17/23

“Promises made. Promises broken. Time and time again, that has been the pattern for the developers of the ill-conceived, unfinished Mountain Valley Pipeline,” Russell Chisholm writes for the Roanoke Times. “Now they’re making more promises. Thomas Karam, chairman and chief executive officer of Equitrans Midstream Corp., the lead partner in MVP, told financial analysts that the pipeline expects to have all the permits and federal authorizations it currently lacks by the end of this summer. “And while narrow, this would give us the opportunity to complete construction by late 2023,” he said. But Karam said that proposed timeline is “contingent on no additional court intervention.” In a May 2 Roanoke Times article, “MVP sees narrow path to completing pipeline by year’s end,” reporter Laurence Hammack characterizes past court challenges by environmental groups as “the main reason why completion of the $6.6 billion project has been delayed for more than four years.” Neither of those statements is exactly right, though. It’s the inability of MVP to secure permits that can withstand judicial scrutiny that has delayed the pipeline — the legal challenges are the inevitable outcome of MVP’s failure to meet environmental standards. And there has been no “court intervention.” Judges don’t make policy or write laws. They just ensure those laws and policies are followed. MVP and the federal and state regulators trying to authorize this pipeline have not been willing or able to satisfy environmental protections Congress has put in place to safeguard our land, air, water and public health. That inability or unwillingness to comply with the law is why the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has twice rejected the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s determination that the pipeline wouldn’t harm threatened or endangered species, and why the third attempt is also being challenged. It’s also why the court rejected the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management’s authorization for the pipeline to be built through the Jefferson National Forest. The reason the court doubts West Virginia regulators’ unsupported assurance that MVP will follow its permit if it is allowed to resume construction through waterways is also MVP’s doing — West Virginia regulators cited MVP for dozens of water quality violations during construction so far, and the court hasn’t seen any evidence that MVP can or will do better. The simple fact is that the pipeline keeps encountering delays because constructing a project of this magnitude through this landscape full of sensitive, valuable natural resources can’t be accomplished without sacrifices that the law will not and should not allow… “The best promise MVP could make now — and the one it should try hardest to keep — is to abandon this unnecessary, dangerous and destructive project and do everything it can to rectify the harm it has already caused.”

Christian Century: A preventable oil spill in Kansas
7/18/23

“In December, a leak was detected in a section of the Keystone Pipeline located near the Kansas-Nebraska border. Eventually, 588,000 gallons of toxic tar sands oil—almost an Olympic swimming pool’s worth—spilled into Kansas’s Mill Creek and onto surrounding farmland. It was the largest oil spill in the pipeline’s 13-year history—larger than the previous 22 spills combined. And it could have been prevented,” the Christian Century Editorial Board writes. “According to a government-mandated investigation into the cause of the spill, TC Energy, the Canadian company that owns the Keystone Pipeline, knew this section of the pipeline was defective. In fact, in 2013 TC Energy dug it up because it was warped. Yet instead of making any repairs, the company reburied the pipeline and had inspectors retrofit their tools to work around the warping. In a report published in April, RSI Pipeline Solutions, the third-party consultant hired to carry out the investigation, attributed the root cause of the oil spill to “gaps in company standards, policies, and administrative controls,” as well as “lapses in construction oversight and quality control.” “…In recent years, fossil fuel companies—TC Energy among them—have tried to rebrand themselves as energy visionaries focused on sustainable new investments and practices. In reality, they have shown that they cannot even be trusted to take baseline safety measures with fossil fuels. Meanwhile, according to industry watchdogs, these same companies spend millions each year suppressing negative information about fracking and pressuring lawmakers to quickly green-light more pipeline projects… “But the fact remains that individual choices cannot take on the enormity of the climate crisis. There must be accountability at the industrial level. The corporations whose large-scale operations supply the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the energy that powers our homes and schools and churches—they have to do their part. And it’s clear that many of them are not.”

Fortune: Climate change is the next frontier of America’s culture wars. Corporations are still doing the right thing–and hoping no one notices
Bill Novelli is a professor emeritus at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, 7/14/23

“The American culture wars are stoking up ahead of the 2024 election season. In this country, where we manage to disagree about many things from guns to gender to parents’ rights, climate change, and the environment are now making their way to the top of our conflict agenda,” Bill Novelli writes for Fortune. “The political right is outraged that oil and gas enterprises–and the jobs they represent–are under threat. Meanwhile, the left sees a burning planet and wants the financial sector and public institutions to divest their fossil fuel portfolio and bar oil and gas executives from COP conferences and polite company… “Corporations are often stuck in the middle. Many are ducking for cover while they continue to do what responsible companies do: make money, serve their constituents, and do some social good. Can common sense and conciliation find their way into this scrum? I asked some of America’s top executives. Alex Gorsky, the chairman of Johnson & Johnson, was instrumental in the development of the landmark 2019 corporation statement by the Business Roundtable. It stated that companies should serve not only their shareholders, but also deliver value to their customers, invest in employees, deal fairly with suppliers, and support the communities in which they operate. At the time, Gorsky said it was “the way corporations can and should operate today…and affirms the essential role corporations can play in improving our society when CEOs are truly committed to meeting the needs of all stakeholders.” This was a departure from the previous, pervasive narrative by economist Milton Friedman that profit was the essential purpose of a company… “Can reason prevail in today’s climate? With nobody on either side of the culture wars taking prisoners, and the political campaigns heating up, it will be hard. But it’s worth a try.”

Forbes: How Geopolitics Have Reshaped Natural Gas Markets
Adila McHich, 7/13/23

“The LNG market is now almost as affected by international relations as it is by supply and demand. So, how have recent market events accelerated LNG playing a role in the tool kit of foreign policy and energy diplomacy?” Adila McHich writes for Forbes. “The Ukraine-Russian war has highlighted the inconvenient reality of Europe’s historical reliance on Russian gas. Prior to the war, Russian gas flows to Europe accounted for approximately 45% of EU gas imports. Natural gas is deeply embedded in the economies of the European Union as it accounts for 23% of energy consumption, according to the European Commission… “Russia has historically exercised a strong hand over the structuring and pricing of energy exports in support of its strategic plans. But after the war broke out, the situation escalated to a geo-economic standoff and energy leverage was pushed to an extreme level. Russia breached contractual agreements and cut gas exports to the EU by 75%. The EU perceived the halting of gas pipeline deliveries as a blackmail attempt intended to inflict significant economic harm… “Unexpectedly, the events ended up accelerating the decoupling of Europe’s reliance on Russian gas and strengthened the role of the U.S. as the de facto global energy leader. The conflict brought U.S. and European energy policy closer than ever before. U.S. LNG exports helped Europe through the winter of 2022 and strengthened its role in energy security for its western allies… “The current geopolitical tensions over Ukraine have also accelerated the Chinese-Russian rapprochement in energy, including in the arena of LNG. LNG trading is increasingly viewed through a geopolitical lens due to its strategic importance to energy security and international relations. While the U.S. appears to be on good footing considering its trade with Europe, the Russian-Chinese rapprochement and its impact on LNG trade will be interesting to watch in the near future.”