EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/30/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• WTTW: What Is Carbon Capture? A New State Law Puts Much-Anticipated and Controversial Plans on Hold — For Now

• Vox: Oil companies sold the public on a fake climate solution — and swindled taxpayers out of billions

• KTVZ: Central Oregon foes of TC Energy natural gas pipeline expansion press their case; company says work has begun

• Reuters: TC Energy to sell pipeline stake to certain indigenous communities for $722 million

• Press release: TC Energy announces Canada’s largest Indigenous equity ownership agreement

• Bloomberg: Texas Crude Oil Pipelines Full to the Brim, Getting Worse

• RBN Energy: Could More NGL Pipeline Capacity Help Break The Bakken’s Production-Growth Logjam?

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Press release: Letter Opposing Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024

• E&E News: Drilling, Climate Clash In Dueling House Hearings 

• E&E News: Legal battle looms as FERC is urged to reexamine LNG approval

• Floodlight: A Company Wanted To Store Carbon Under US Forests. It May Get Its Wish. 

• Grist: What Project 2025 would do to climate policy in the US

• WVTF: Some environmental advocates not sold on methane emissions capture 

• E&E News: EPA to crack down on landfill methane 

• E&E News: 3 ways Biden reshaped oil drilling on public lands

STATE UPDATES

• Guardian: Costly climate ‘solutions’ look like more pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’

• World Oil: ExxonMobil and CF Industries ink carbon capture deal in Mississippi

• Los Angeles Times: How Campaign Funds And Charitable Donations Help Big Oil Wield Power In Sacramento 

• E&E News: West Texas Earthquakes Linked To Oil And Gas Activities 

• Inside Climate News: California Still Has No Plan to Phase Out Oil Refineries

• Colorado Sun: Neighbors’ last shot at stopping oil and gas drilling near Aurora Reservoir is to be declared “affected persons”

• NOLA.com: Bayou Lafourche oil spill is contained, but taking toll on local wildlife as questions remain

• WWL: 20 dead animals found after oil spill in Bayou Lafourche, cleanup continues

EXTRACTION

• Axios: On Our Radar: Big Oil Earnings 

• Reuters: World’s forests failed to curb 2023 climate emissions, study finds

• Heatmap: The Scientist Warning Against ‘Science-Based’ Targets

OPINION

• Pagosa Daily Post: Project 2025 Has Something (Bad) For Everyone 

• The Conversation: For decades, governments have subsidised fossil fuels. But why?

• The Hill: Extreme Republicans won’t stop after Chevron 
  

PIPELINE NEWS

WTTW: What Is Carbon Capture? A New State Law Puts Much-Anticipated and Controversial Plans on Hold — For Now
Nick Blumberg, 7/30/24

“With the stroke of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pen, carbon capture and sequestration projects in Illinois are under a potential two-year moratorium,” WTTW reports. “…And it’s a technology that landowners and environmentalists view with concern at best and fear at worst. “Pipelines have been built in this country for years,” Steven Kelly, CEO of One Earth Energy, told WTTW. “There’s over 5,200 miles of CCS pipeline in the United States. We’ve had one or two instances that everybody wants to bring up.” “…But One Earth’s proposal to transport CO2 and bury it underground has left some neighbors queasy… “I feel that it’s quite unsafe,” Sally Lasser, who lives just outside Gibson City on a farm originally purchased by her dad in the late 1990s, told WTTW. “All of the science that they’re providing is on speculation, and I don’t feel they can make the promises that they’re making. … I think there’s too many unknown things that can happen.” “…But for environmental advocates, CCS has potential perils at each step of the process. Cassel told WTTW those include the energy and water used in the capture process. There are also fears about pipeline safety and possible ruptures, especially for pipes running through populated areas… “Given that pipelines would be traveling through rural areas, some neighbors worry how they’d be notified in the event of a leak while they’re out working the land… “In addition to the dangers of a rupture, the One Earth proposal has gotten pushback because of the sequestration wells’ proximity to the Mahomet Aquifer, the main source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of central Illinoisans. Advocates and neighbors fear carbon eventually seeping out of the wells, especially in the case of a seismic event… “But One Earth’s Kelly is confident that with the new state law in place and with the expected final rule from PHMSA, his company’s project can move forward eventually… “Despite the safety measures in place and the temporary pause in the approval process, CCS technology is still likely to spark concern for some central Illinoisans. “This is what the companies always say — they’re gonna protect you, right?” Prandi told WTTW. “You can monitor it all you want, but once it leaks, there’s really nothing you can do.”

Vox: Oil companies sold the public on a fake climate solution — and swindled taxpayers out of billions
Amy Westervelt, 7/29/24

“…But there was at least one notable exception in the form of a report detailing the company’s projections for the future of carbon capture technology,” Vox reports. “If you’ve read the New York Times recently, or seen this ad on Politico’s website or heard it on one of its podcasts, or listened to the Planet Money podcast, you may have noticed the industry’s relentlessly positive marketing of carbon capture, which aims to collect and store CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial and fossil fuel extraction facilities, so they don’t add to global warming… “That hasn’t stopped major oil companies from claiming that carbon capture and storage “will be essential for helping society achieve net-zero emissions,” that they are delivering “carbon capture for American industry,” working on reducing emissions in their own businesses (also referred to as “carbon intensity”), and delivering “heavy industry with low emissions.” But internal documents obtained during the federal investigation, as well as information that industry whistleblowers shared with Drilled and Vox, reveal an industry that is decidedly more realistic about the emissions-reduction potential of carbon capture and storage technology, or CCS, than it presents publicly. Stanford University researcher Mark Jacobson told Vox that because it also requires energy and materials to function, CCS attached to a fossil-fueled power plant is still worse for the climate than replacing fossil energy with renewables… “There is no cap on 45Q and stored emissions are entirely self-reported,” Carolyn Raffensperger, executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, told Vox. The credit nominally requires companies to verify their claims, but aside from some specific requirements to ensure condensed CO2 doesn’t wind up in groundwater, the EPA is not verifying how much carbon is actually sequestered by these projects… “What the IPCC actually said in its mitigation report was that carbon capture might be necessary for hard-to-abate industries, but that it’s one of the most expensive options and it only equates to small emissions reductions,” Paul Blackburn, an environmental lawyer and advisor to the Bold Alliance, a nonprofit network of frontline communities focused on protecting land and water, told Vox. “So we’re doing the most expensive, least applicable thing first rather than cheapest, easiest things first, at great expense to taxpayers and with no analysis of net climate benefit.” “…Raffensperger notes that the pipelines built to transport condensed carbon from oil fields to storage facilities, or to other oil fields for EOR, are surrounded by “kill zones.” “These are not your grandmother’s pipelines,” Raffensperger told Vox. “They could be lethal. We talk about the kill zone or a fatality zone around a CO2 pipeline. We don’t talk about that with oil and gas pipelines. These are uniquely dangerous and underregulated.”

KTVZ: Central Oregon foes of TC Energy natural gas pipeline expansion press their case; company says work has begun
Kelsey McGee, 7/29/24

“A group opposed to TC Energy’s long-debated, now-approved natural gas pipeline expansion through Central Oregon continued to press their case Monday, joined by a Bend city councilor,” KTVZ reports. “But the company says the project got underway earlier this month. “The greatest impact that we can have is spreading awareness about this pipeline and the health and safety issues that it poses to our communities,” 350Deschutes Campaign and Education Coordinator Nora Harren said. Harren, Bend City Councilor Ariel Mendez and others met reporters Monday, at High Desert Middle School which the group claims is a potential blast site, should the pipeline explode. Mendez told KTVZ, “This (federal approval) was done in opposition to our two state senators, Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley. It was done in opposition from the top officials in Washington, Oregon and California. I don’t see what the case is for it, from a business perspective.” “…Last month, the industry website Gas Outlook said the expansion of the major pipeline “is in doubt after its owner said it is ‘financially not viable’ unless it can obtain permission to spread costs onto other utilities not associated with the project.” But the company told KTVZ Monday that the capacity-boosting GTNXP pipeline project has already begun, with a start-work order given on July 11.”

Reuters: TC Energy to sell pipeline stake to certain indigenous communities for $722 million
7/30/24

“ TC Energy on Tuesday announced the sale of a minority stake in its Nova Gas Transmission System for C$1 billion ($722.13 million) to certain indigenous Canadian communities as part of a plan to reduce its debt and fund investments,” Reuters reports.

Press release: TC Energy announces Canada’s largest Indigenous equity ownership agreement
7/30/24

“TC Energy Corporation is pleased to announce an equity interest purchase agreement with an Indigenous-owned investment partnership for a minority equity interest of 5.34 per cent in the NGTL System and the Foothills Pipeline assets for a gross purchase price of $1 billion. The Agreement is backed by the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) and was negotiated by a consortium committee (Consortium) representing specific Indigenous Communities (Communities) across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. This results in an implied enterprise value of approximately $1.65 billion, inclusive of the proportionate share of the Partnership Assets’ collective debt. This historic partnership will enable up to 72 Indigenous Communities closest to the Partnership Assets to become equity owners in the 25,000-kilometre highly integrated network of natural gas infrastructure assets spanning western Canada… “Indigenous ownership is the path to a more prosperous nation. As owners, Indigenous Communities will have resources to invest for the future and greater economic sovereignty,” said François Poirier, TC Energy’s President and Chief Executive Officer… “Loan guarantees, such as the one presented by the AIOC, are instrumental in supporting inclusive participation in Canada’s critical energy assets. The AIOC will provide the Communities with a $1 billion equity loan guarantee to support the newly-formed Indigenous-owned investment partnership. Once finalized, the Communities will enter into definitive agreements as co-investors in the Partnership Assets through the Indigenous-owned investment partnership… “The Consortium Committee, tasked with negotiating this transaction, deserves notable credit for significantly improving the terms of this deal,” said Chief Isaac Twinn Consortium Committee Chairman and Chief of Sawridge FN, Treaty 8… “To further reinforce the significance of this relationship and the importance of ongoing dialogue, a member of the participating Communities will be invited to join TC Energy’s Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC).”

Bloomberg: Texas Crude Oil Pipelines Full to the Brim, Getting Worse
Christopher Charleston, 7/29/24

“Crude oil pipelines connecting the busiest Texas oil fields to a critical export hub across the state are nearly out of space, threatening to cap US oil exports at a time when the world needs more,” Bloomberg reports. “Key pipelines that transport barrels produced in the Permian Basin to the Port of Corpus Christi are more than 90% full, and companies that operate some of these lines say the congestion is likely to get worse. By the second half of 2025, the pipes could be 94% or 95% full, estimates researcher East Daley Analytics.”

RBN Energy: Could More NGL Pipeline Capacity Help Break The Bakken’s Production-Growth Logjam?
Morgan Overman, 7/30/24

“Crude-oil-focused production in the Bakken still hasn’t fully recovered from its pre-COVID high, partly because the western North Dakota shale play continues to face takeaway constraints, especially for natural gas and NGLs,” RBN Energy reports. “A couple of NGL pipeline projects in the works will certainly help, but will they be enough to enable the Bakken’s increasingly consolidated E&P sector to ramp up its crude oil production? And one more thing: How will the incremental NGLs flowing south on Kinder Morgan’s soon-to-be-repurposed Double H Pipeline find their way to fractionation centers in Conway and Mont Belvieu? In today’s RBN blog, we’ll look at the Bakken’s complicated production-vs.-takeaway conundrum and the ongoing efforts to address it… “A major reason for the flat-line crude output is that old stumbling block — pipeline takeaway capacity — not so much for crude oil (though that is a lingering concern) but for natural gas and NGLs because, as it turns out, the most prolific oil-focused wells in the Bakken also produce large volumes of liquids-rich associated gas. As we discussed in Take It To The Limit, the gas-to-oil ratio (GOR) in the Bakken is now well over double what it was a decade ago… “All of which brings us to the Bakken’s pipeline-takeaway specifics, the plans by ONEOK and now Kinder Morgan to add new NGL pipeline capacity, and what they mean for the basin, its producers and its production.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Press release: Letter Opposing Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024
7/29/24

“On behalf of over 340 organizations, representing millions of members and supporters, we write to express our opposition to the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 (S. 4753). This legislation guts bedrock environmental protections, endangers public health, opens up tens of millions of acres of public lands and hundreds of millions of acres of offshore waters to further oil and gas leasing, gives public lands to mining companies, and would defacto rubberstamp gas export projects that harm frontline communities and perpetuate the climate crisis. The provisions fast tracking Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports alone could lock in new annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 165 coal-fired power plants and the potential to lock in additional hundreds of millions of tons of climate pollution each year for decades to come. This legislation would force the Department of Energy (DOE) to use outdated climate science and economic analysis and a total lack of assessment of environmental justice impacts and decide whether to approve pending applications whose terminals have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), including the massive CP2 project, within 90 days of the bill’s enactment or they are automatically approved. The bill undermines the Biden-Harris pause on LNG exports and permanently restricts DOE’s review authority by limiting the time DOE has to review exports and requiring automatic approval after 90 day periods. Without enough time to assess the full scope of the environmental, community, and economic harms of exports, DOE could be forced to approve export applications. The legislation’s automatic approval provision also effectively removes the requirement that exports that are contrary to the public interest be rejected and does so in a manner that insulates all such approvals from judicial review. This legislation will also lead to more leasing, more drilling without federal oversight and community input, more industry interest in lands adjacent to federal lands, more irresponsible speculation, less mitigation, and more orphaned and abandoned wells. These provisions will gut protections for millions of acres of public lands and greatly elevate oil and gas extraction as the highest use of public lands — and will hamstring renewable energy deployment on public lands and on the outer continental shelf by further tying it to oil and gas leasing… “While the bill includes provisions that may possibly accelerate the deployment of the critical clean energy and the transmission infrastructure we have been championing, they should not be paired with massive giveaways to the fossil fuel and mining industry… “We urge Congress to reject this proposal and instead, put forward real solutions to build a clean energy economy, and not pair those reforms with giveaways to the fossil fuel industry.”

E&E News: Drilling, Climate Clash In Dueling House Hearings 
GARRETT DOWNS, HEATHER RICHARDS, 7/29/24

“House Natural Resources Democrats on Monday will hold a meeting on climate issues, just days after a session on offshore wind,” E&E News reports. “Meanwhile, the committee’s Republicans on Friday will hold a Louisiana field hearing about drilling and restoration in the Gulf Coast. The dueling events reflect divergent priorities on one of Congress’ most divided committees, with Democrats focusing on renewable energy and Republicans on fossil fuels… “The Republican event — titled ‘Rigs to Restoration: Examining Gulf Coast Restoration through Energy Production and Permitting’ — will be led by Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Louisiana Republican Rep. Garret Graves… “In particular, Republicans will highlight how the Louisiana “Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) have developed successful strategies and solutions to restore the State’s coast and protect its communities.”

E&E News: Legal battle looms as FERC is urged to reexamine LNG approval
Carlos Anchondo, 7/30/24

“Environmental groups are appealing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s June approval of a major gas export project planned for southwestern Louisiana, likely foreshadowing a court fight,” E&E News reports. “Longtime opponents of the proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 project submitted a rehearing request Monday over the authorization of Venture Global’s liquefied natural gas export facility — and blasted FERC’s decision to sanction the terminal. In their filing, critics also requested a “stay” of the FERC authorization to prevent construction or operation of the project, commonly known as CP2. FERC did not respond to a request for comment Monday. The request — submitted by 10 environmental groups and six individuals — marks the latest clash over the LNG project, which is intended to ship 20 million metric tons of gas overseas a year. The commission’s 2-1 vote to approve the CP2 project last month came nearly a year after FERC issued a final environmental review for the project, prompting criticism of the agency by Venture Global.”

Floodlight: A Company Wanted To Store Carbon Under US Forests. It May Get Its Wish. 
Pam Radtke, 7/26/24

“After it was twice denied permission to store carbon dioxide under U.S. Forest Service lands, a company looking to store millions of tons of the greenhouse gas in the Southeast made a strategic decision: Keep pushing,” Floodlight reports. “The company, CapturePoint Solutions, leased property adjacent to forest service land in Mississippi for a project there. It started a program teaching carbon management at a school system near Forest Service land in Louisiana. And then, more than a year after it received its first denial, CapturePoint invited federal officials on an informational tour to discuss storing carbon under forest service land. USFS officials are now considering a draft rule to allow carbon capture under U.S-owned land. The agency insists the company’s requests did not influence its decision to draft the rule — and that no one from the Forest Service attended the informational tour. “We always felt and believed that the Forest Service was not following (Federal Land Policy and Management Act), and therefore continued our efforts,” a CapturePoint spokesperson who asked not to be named told Floodlight.” 

Grist: What Project 2025 would do to climate policy in the US
ZOYA TEIRSTEIN, 7/29/24

“As delegates arrived at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in mid-July to officially nominate former president Donald Trump as their 2024 candidate, a right-wing policy think tank held an all-day event nearby. The Heritage Foundation, a key sponsor of the convention and a group that has been influencing Republican presidential policy since the 1980s, gathered its supporters to tout Project 2025, a 900-plus-page policy blueprint that seeks to fundamentally restructure the federal government,” Grist reports. “Dozens of conservative groups contributed to Project 2025, which recommends changes that would touch every aspect of American life and transform federal agencies — from the Department of Defense to the Department of Interior to the Federal Reserve. Although it has largely garnered attention for its proposed crackdowns on human rights and individual liberties, the blueprint would also undermine the country’s extensive network of environmental and climate policies and alter the future of American fossil fuel production, climate action, and environmental justice. Under President Joe Biden’s direction, the majority of the federal government’s vast system of departments, agencies, and commissions have undertaken the arduous task of incorporating climate change into their operations and procedures… “Project 2025 seeks to undo much of that progress by slashing funding for government programs across the board, weakening federal oversight and policymaking capabilities, rolling back legislation passed during Biden’s first term, and eliminating career personnel. The policy changes it suggests — which include executive orders that Trump could implement single-handedly, regulatory changes by federal agencies, and legislation that would require congressional approval — would make it extremely difficult for the United States to fulfill the climate goals it has committed to under the 2015 Paris Agreement. “It’s real bad,” David Willett, senior vice president of communications for the environmental advocacy group the League of Conservation Voters, told Grist. “This is a real plan, by people who have been in the government, for how to systematically take over, take away rights and freedoms, and dismantle the government in service of private industry.”  

WVTF: Some environmental advocates not sold on methane emissions capture 
Michael Pope, 7/29/24

“The idea that methane emissions at coal mines and landfills across Virginia could be captured and converted to electricity is a controversial approach in the environmental community,” WVTF reports. “Quentin Scott at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network told WVTF it’s not a great idea. “To capture it, you then have to transport it somewhere for processing, which is going to take pipelines,” Scott told WVTF. “And we need to really avoid building out additional pipelines that entrench us into fossil-fuel infrastructure.” He told WVTF he supports the climate pollution reduction grant program. But, he told WVTF, producing energy from methane is probably not the best way to combat climate change.”

E&E News: EPA to crack down on landfill methane 
Jean Chemnick, 7/20/24

“EPA has quietly teed up what could become the first important climate rule of a potential Kamala Harris administration: a crackdown on landfill gas,” E&E News reports. “The agency announced last week that it plans to review its 2016 standards for landfill emissions. The notice came as an item on a White House fact sheet for last Tuesday’s summit on heat-trapping super pollutants, and EPA told POLITICO’s E&E News that it expects to issue a draft rule in 2025 for new and existing landfills. Experts say the rule could be consequential both for the climate and the quality of life of those who live and work near municipal waste facilities. “We feel really strongly that very substantial reductions are possible at very low cost,” John Coequyt, U.S. government affairs director for the think tank RMI, told E&E.”

E&E News: 3 ways Biden reshaped oil drilling on public lands
Heather Richards, 7/30/24

“President Joe Biden won’t have a second term, but his approach to oil policy could echo for years,” E&E News reports. “Biden’s 2020 campaign promise to rein in drilling was replaced during his presidency by an uneasy embrace of the nation’s oil program. The White House issued rules that make it more expensive to drill on federal lands. And Biden reduced leasing on those lands — the selling of new drilling rights — by as much as 95 percent, to shrink future development. He also banned new oil speculation across millions of acres of public lands and waters. Biden came into office promising the greenest agenda in U.S. history, only to retreat to “fossil fuel pragmatism” following high pump prices of 2021 caused in part by Russia’s war in Ukraine, ClearView Energy Partners said in a client note this month. The firm said Biden’s Democratic successor in the race — likely Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden announced July 21 that he would no longer seek reelection — could display a similar approach if elected despite her more progressive political history. “We would suggest that reelection pressures could potentially constrain the green ambitions of Harris’ first term,” ClearView analysts wrote last week. “A second-term Biden might have been more willing to pinch the oil patch in pursuit of an environmental legacy.” “…Many environmental groups have praised Biden for climate actions such as the passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which boosted electric vehicles and renewables through tax credits — but they have been more critical of how Biden managed the federal oil program. Cassidy DiPaola, a spokesperson for Fossil Free Media’s Make Polluters Pay campaign, told E&E the next Democratic nominee needs to address “the unfinished business of truly standing up to fossil fuel interests.”

STATE UPDATES

Guardian: Costly climate ‘solutions’ look like more pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’
Nina Lakhani, 7/29/24

“It was a muggy morning in late April when a handful of local residents and grassroots organizers huddled in a church parking lot to strategize, before knocking on doors with information about the latest environmental threat facing St Rose, a predominantly Black community in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” the Guardian reports. “…But this marked the first time residents have grappled with a toxic chemical facility that its operators claim to be a clean energy innovator and that stands to benefit from taxpayer subsidies and unprecedented tax credits supposedly designed to tackle the climate emergency. Kyereh informed neighbors that international investors want to build a “blue” ammonia and “clean” hydrogen plant across the fence line – on the same site as a crude oil storage and export terminal which residents say spews noxious fumes that make it hard to breathe… “In theory, the waste CO2 will be compressed, transported in special pipelines and injected deep into underground rock formations for storage, ostensibly forever, for which the company would qualify for federal tax credits for each ton of carbon stored… “But industry claims about the climate credentials of “blue” hydrogen and ammonia have been debunked by scientists without fossil fuel ties… “‘Blue’ hydrogen is a marketing scam, pure and simple. The facts do not back up industry hype,” Robert Howarth, professor of ecology and environmental biology at Cornell University, and co-author of a seminal study discrediting industry claims about hydrogen, told the Guardian… “Experts warn that the CCS and the “clean” hydrogen boom amount to a costly climate gamble unleashed by unprecedented federal spending and tax breaks in the Biden administration’s landmark climate and infrastructure legislation – which will almost certainly prolong the use of fossil… “It’s a scam that will enrich the oil and gas and petrochemical industries further, prolonging their ability to destroy livelihoods and community health, poison fenceline communities and perpetuate climate change – while environmental justice communities are left to jump through loopholes for funding to minimize the harms,” Eloise Reid, coordinator of the Louisiana Against False Solutions Coalition, told the Guardian… “CCS is not going to mitigate the climate crisis; it will lead to further expansion of fossil fuels and more hazardous waste causing further harm to frontline communities and the planet,” Monique Harden, director of law and public policy at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, told the Guardian.”

World Oil: ExxonMobil and CF Industries ink carbon capture deal in Mississippi
7/26/24

“ExxonMobil has signed its fourth carbon capture and storage (CCS) agreement with CF Industries in Yazoo City, Mississippi,” World Oil reports. “The project aims to transport and store up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 annually from CF Industries’ nitrogen products complex, reducing the site’s CO2 emissions by approximately 50%. The startup is planned for 2028. This agreement brings the total CO2 ExxonMobil has committed to storing for customers to 5.5 million metric tons per year, equivalent to replacing about 2 million gasoline-powered cars with electric vehicles. “We’re serious about expanding carbon capture – a safe, proven solution for hard-to-decarbonize industries,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, told World Oil.” 

Los Angeles Times: How Campaign Funds And Charitable Donations Help Big Oil Wield Power In Sacramento 
Laura Fitzgerald and Max Harrison-Caldwell, 7/29/24

“In the weeks before California lawmakers left Sacramento for their summer recess, more than a dozen environmental bills died amid heavy industry opposition in a Legislature overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “One would have held oil companies liable for respiratory illness in children who live near their drilling sites. Another would have asked voters to declare a ‘right to clean water and air’ in California. Others would have divested public employee retirement funds from fossil fuels, or stopped state agencies from purchasing plastic bottles… “In the last two election cycles, Chevron spent nearly $10 million on California races, according to data from the secretary of State. Valero spent another $3.9 million, the data show, and Marathon Petroleum spent $3.3 million. A quarter of their donations to legislative candidates went to Democrats and millions more went to committees that support them. The companies also routinely make charitable donations at the behest of politicians, which can serve as another way to curry favor. Between 2021 and 2023, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Calpine, Phillips 66 and the Western States Petroleum Assn. combined gave more than $800,000 to nonprofit groups at the request of state lawmakers, according to data from California’s Fair Political Practices Commission. More than half of this money came from Chevron, which gave more than $440,000. “What big money in politics does is block legislation. It maintains the status quo. And I’m very willing to say that is not good for California,” Assemblymember Steve Bennett (D–Ventura), whose bill to limit plastic purchases was among those that died quietly in May when it didn’t come up for a vote by a critical midyear deadline, told the Times.”

E&E News: West Texas Earthquakes Linked To Oil And Gas Activities 
Carlos Anchondo, 7/29/24

“A flurry of earthquakes last week in West Texas — some of the region’s largest in recent years — appears tied to oil and gas operations,” E&E News reports. “Scurry County Judge Dan Hicks said Friday that his county was hit by 61 earthquakes over a seven-day period, including a 5.1-magnitude earthquake that morning. That marked the fifth ‘magnitude 5 or larger earthquake to have occurred in the Permian Basin (and all of Texas)’ since 2020, Justin Rubinstein, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told E&E… “In an email, Rubinstein told E&E it’s ‘highly likely’ that earthquakes this month are tied to oil and gas activity, such as the disposal of saltwater — a byproduct of oil and gas extraction — or enhanced oil recovery, where water and carbon dioxide are used to help extract oil. Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist with MyRadar, made a connection between Friday’s quake and oil and gas activity in a Facebook post, suggesting the event was ‘closely linked with wastewater injection.’”

Inside Climate News: California Still Has No Plan to Phase Out Oil Refineries
Liza Gross, 7/27/24

“Gov. Gavin Newsom often touts California’s role as a global climate leader. Yet it’s hard to defend that claim as long as California remains one of the nation’s top oil-refining states, experts argued at a recent webinar calling for a phaseout of refineries,” Inside Climate News reports. “…This is an egregious oversight, policy experts and community advocates on the panel said, because refineries are the largest source of industrial fossil fuel pollution and one of the biggest threats to both health and the climate. “There are significant acute and chronic public health and climate impacts from refiners,” said Woody Hastings, a policy expert at The Climate Center, a nonprofit that hosted the webinar and is working to rapidly reduce climate pollution. “There is no plan to phase them out.” California can embrace its role as a global leader by charting a path to phasing out refineries that others can follow, as it’s done before, he said… “All the other major fossil fuel sectors—electricity, transportation and oil drilling—have some form of phaseout requirements and plan to lower emissions, Alicia Rivera, an organizer with the nonprofit Communities for a Better Environment who works in Wilmington, a Los Angeles neighborhood dominated by oil wells and refineries, told ICN. “Refineries have none.” The costs of inaction are clear, she told ICN. Almost all the census tracts near refineries are communities of color forced to endure very high toxic releases and other health harms, Rivera told ICN. “People on the other side of the refinery cannot see the emissions because they are invisible,” she told ICN. “But they are large and they are always there, nonstop.”

Colorado Sun: Neighbors’ last shot at stopping oil and gas drilling near Aurora Reservoir is to be declared “affected persons”
Mark Jaffe, 7/29/24

“Residents around Aurora Reservoir who are fighting a large-scale oil and gas drilling operation are trying to use an untested maneuver — seeking to be declared “affected persons” — to get their voices heard by state regulators,” the Colorado Sun reports. “The affected-person designation is mainly for people living within 2,000 feet of a drilling operation or those demonstrating a unique impact from the oil and gas development. But members of the grassroots group Save the Aurora Reservoir, or STAR, in their petition to the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission argued that the health, wildlife and traffic impacts extend beyond 2,000 feet. STAR has 330 members… “If STAR’s petition is successful the group could get three hours to make a presentation, cross-examine Crestone witnesses and offer a rebuttal closing argument… “Mike Foote, STAR’s attorney, told the Sun that commission has more broadly drawn the circle for affected persons, noting that the commission said a hunter or a birder concerned about preserving deer or birds in an area slated for drilling could have standing.”

NOLA.com: Bayou Lafourche oil spill is contained, but taking toll on local wildlife as questions remain
STEPHANIE RIEGEL, 7/28/24

“Emergency officials continued cleanup efforts Sunday of a large oil spill in Bayou Lafourche that was first detected early Saturday and traced to a leaking fuel tank at the Crescent Midstream pumping station in Raceland,” NOLA.com reports. “But more than 24 hours after detecting the spill, officials were unable to say what caused the accident or how much inky black oil spilled into the bayou before they were able to bring it under control. Aerial photos taken by drone Sunday morning showed a giant slick stretching for miles along the bayou and contained by some 4,300 feet of boom… “Public water sourced from the bayou remains safe to drink, according to a statement from the multiagency Unified Command task force monitoring and cleaning up the spill, though the Lafourche Parish Water District No. 1 continued to advise residents to conserve water “out of an abundance of caution while the parish awaits any specific requirements from the Louisiana Department of Health.” “…So far, 17 aquatic salamanders, two turtles and one crawfish have been found dead as a result of the spill and recovered. Additionally, four ducks and three alligators covered with oil were observed but could not be captured. Officials are urging the public to report any oiled wildlife to (832) 514-9663, and are advising residents not to try to capture or treat any oiled wildlife themselves.”

WWL: 20 dead animals found after oil spill in Bayou Lafourche, cleanup continues
Lily Cummings, 7/28/24

“It’s been more than 24 hours since Lafourche Parish officials reported an oil spill started in Bayou Lafourche, and cleanup efforts are still underway,” WWL reports. “It was first reported Saturday morning after oil poured into a stormwater canal near the Mill Street bridge and then went into the bayou… “Some water intakes were shut off briefly on Sunday morning while boom activity took place, according to Parish President, Archie Chaisson… “It’s still unclear exactly how much oil seeped into the bayou from the nearby Crescent Midstream refinery. Chaisson told WWL the company is working with the parish to calculate and release that number on Monday… “Oiled ducks were picked up and taken to Houma for rehabilitation on Sunday, Chaisson told WWL.”. 

EXTRACTION

Axios: On Our Radar: Big Oil Earnings 
Ben Geman, Andrew Freedman, 7/29/24

“This week brings the heart of Big Oil’s earnings season — and there’s plenty to talk about,” Axios reports. “What’s next: BP reports Q2 numbers tomorrow, followed by Shell Thursday and Exxon and Chevron Friday.  The big picture: Weaker refining margins will hit profits. It’s an earnings drag some firms already warned about and was apparent when TotalEnergies reported last week. What we’re watching: A running story for European giants is how they’re winnowing low-carbon plans to focus on tech and regions where they’re most competitive… “For U.S.-based Exxon and Chevron, look for any hints about their dispute over Chevron’s bid for Hess. I’m also curious if they’ll get any questions about Vice President Kamala Harris — now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president — though analysts typically avoid politics on earnings calls.”

Reuters: World’s forests failed to curb 2023 climate emissions, study finds
Jake Spring, 7/29/24

“Forests and other land ecosystems failed to curb climate change in 2023 as intense drought in the Amazon rainforest and record wildfires in Canada hampered their natural ability to absorb carbon dioxide, according to a study presented on Monday,” Reuters reports. “That means a record amount of carbon dioxide entered Earth’s atmosphere last year, further feeding global warming, the researchers said… “But in 2023, that carbon sink collapsed, according to study co-author Philippe Ciais of the Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE), a French research organization. “The sink is a pump, and we are pumping less carbon from the atmosphere into the land,” Ciais told Reuters. “Suddenly the pump is choking, and it’s pumping less.” As a result, the growth rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere jumped 86% in 2023 compared to 2022, the researchers told Reuters.

Heatmap: The Scientist Warning Against ‘Science-Based’ Targets
EMILY PONTECORVO, 7/29/24

“Tackling climate change is a complex puzzle…It’s no surprise the catchphrase “net zero by 2050” has taken off,” Heatmap reports. “Various initiatives have sprung up to distill this complexity for businesses and governments who want to do (or say they are doing) what the “science says” is necessary. The nonprofit Science Based Targets initiative, for example, develops standard roadmaps for companies to follow to act “in line with climate science.” The groups also vets corporate plans and deems them to either be “science based” or not. Though entirely voluntary, SBTi’s approval has become a nearly mandatory mark of credibility. The group has validated the plans of more than 5,500 companies with more than $46 trillion in market capitalization — nearly half of the global economy. But in a commentary published in the journal Nature last week, a group of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change experts argue that SBTi and other supposedly “science based” target-setting efforts misconstrue the science and are laden with value judgments. By striving to create straightforward, universal rules, they flatten more nuanced considerations of which emissions must be reduced, by whom and by when. “We are arguing that those companies and countries that are best resourced, have the highest capacity to act, and have the highest responsibility for historical emissions, probably need to go a lot further than the global average,” Andy Reisinger, the lead author of the piece, told Heatmap.”

OPINION

Pagosa Daily Post: Project 2025 Has Something (Bad) For Everyone 
David Lien from Colorado Springs, Colo., is a hunter, author, and former Air Force officer, 7/26/24

“Project 2025 is a 920-page manifesto for a potential second Trump administration that has something (bad) for everyone, but our great public lands estate is put in particular peril,” David Lien writes for the Pagosa Daily Post. “Like most elk (and other) hunters in western states, I depend on public lands for hunting and outdoor recreation. But more importantly, wildlife species like elk, deer, turkeys, and many others need that habitat for their survival. Recently I was interviewed by Marshall Zelinger from 9News about the potential impacts of Project 2025 on public lands in Colorado. ‘David Lien, a Colorado hunter-conservationist… is concerned about the elk herds in Colorado,’ Zelinger said. Former Trump administration Bureau of Land Management Acting Director William Perry Pendley was interviewed too. He wrote the Department of Interior section of Project 2025. A July 19, 2024, High Country News story (‘Project 2025’s extreme vision for the West’) noted that Pendley is ‘a vociferous opponent of protections for public lands and wildlife.’ In a July 9, 2024, Colorado Newsline op-ed (‘Project 2025 is coming for our public lands.’) I added, ‘Pendley is an anti-public lands zealot and a dire threat to our great public lands hunting and angling heritage.’”

The Conversation: For decades, governments have subsidised fossil fuels. But why?
Bernard Njindan Iyke, Lecturer in Finance, La Trobe University, 7/30/24

“Even now, decades after we first began trying to avert the worst of global warming, more than 80% of the world’s total energy comes from fossil fuels. You might think this would make fossil fuel production extremely profitable. But it’s not always the case,” Bernard Njindan Iyke writes for The Conversation. “Much of the most accessible oil has already been extracted and burned. Many countries want to shore up domestic sources of fossil fuels to boost energy security… “This is where fossil fuel subsidies come in. Australia gave A$14.5 billion in subsidies to major fossil fuel producers and consumers in 2023–24 alone… “Why would governments give fossil fuel companies money? Many reasons. But the most important is that wealthy countries have historically needed huge volumes of fossil fuels for manufacturing, transport and power. Many countries have some sources of fossil fuels inside their borders, but only a few are self-sufficient. This has enabled fossil fuel giants such as Saudi Arabia to become wealthy beyond belief. Many governments have used subsidies to boost their energy security and encourage local producers to seek out new sources of coal, gas and oil. These subsidies can make all the difference in making fossil fuel companies competitive internationally. For instance, Canada spent billions on subsidies to boost its oil sands and fracking projects. Subsidies were essential in the United States’ fracking revolution. Novel approaches to extracting fossil gas and oil – boosted by major tax incentives – turned the US from a major importer of oil and gas into a net exporter by 2019… “Once subsidies are in place, they become very hard to remove. Indonesia’s lavish fuel subsidies now account for 2% of the nation’s GDP. When the national government tried to walk these back, there were riots. And there’s another reason, too. Fossil fuels are still playing an important role in boosting the economy in most nations. Subsidising them has long been seen as a way to maintain economic growth and stability. Globally, these subsidies are estimated at a staggering $10.5 trillion each year… “It’s politically difficult to withdraw subsidies once given. This is why governments around the world have instead begun to give subsidies and tax incentives to green energy developers, including the enormous $500 billion Inflation Reduction Act in the US, the European Union’s Green Deal, and China’s massive subsidies of green technologies such as electric vehicles and solar panels.”

The Hill: Extreme Republicans won’t stop after Chevron 
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) is the ranking member of the United States House Committee on House Administration, which has jurisdiction over laws related to federal elections, 7/2924

“The extreme right-wing Supreme Court has dismantled a 40-year-old doctrine and, in a stunning blow to the American people, reversed longstanding legal precedent. The reversal of several landmark decisions, from Roe v. Wade to Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, has made Americans less safe,” Rep. Joe Morelle writes for The Hill. “…Chevron stood for the common-sense proposition that Congress and the executive branch should be the primary policymakers in government since they are accountable to the people through the ballot box… “Without a huge increase in resources for the legislative branch, it will be strictly left to the courts, who, while well versed in law and our constitution, are not experts in aerospace engineering, artificial intelligence or food science. To be crystal clear: this decision did not empower Congress, nor did it empower the American people. This decision was a gift to the special interests, mega corporations and billionaires. Large corporations will bend over backward to find cases to undo existing regulations that ensure the food and water we give our children are free of toxins and to protect the air we breathe from pollution. Now, instead of an environmental toxicologist or other professionals making these determinations, it will be the courts. The American people should ask themselves who they want crafting regulations on airplane manufacturing — aeronautical engineers or judges adjudicating cases brought by entities whose only purpose is to maximize profits… “Now, more than ever, Congress must thoughtfully and adequately invest in it itself and build institutional capacity. My Republican colleagues need to get serious about preparing us for a post-Chevron existence; we need to approve an adequate legislative branch appropriations bill… “This could very well be the beginning of the end of the institutions we rely on to keep us safe — and the American system of government as we know it.”