EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/31/24

PIPELINE NEWS

• E&E News: Court axes FERC pipeline approval that threatened New Jersey climate goals

• Press release: Environmental Groups, Rate Advocates Win Challenge to FERC’s Flawed Pipeline Approval

• Pipeline Fighters Hub: Summit’s Risky CO2 Pipeline Puts Thousands of Nebraskans in Danger

• Western Iowa Today: Snyder and Associates Representative Provides Update on Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline

• FarmWeek: IFB monitoring CCS law implementation

• KSNB: Tallgrass plans ethanol project to boost Nebraska agriculture and economy

• Times of San Diego: Appeals Court Rules in City’s Favor in SDG&E Dispute Over Pipeline

• E&E News: Feds record an ESA win with plant that once faced a pipeline

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Press release: Environmental Justice Leaders Speak Out in Opposition to Manchin-Barrasso Dirty “Permitting” Deal

• Heatmap: The Climate Cost of the Permitting Deal

• E&E News: Biden Embraces Term Limits, Ethics Code For Supreme Court 

• E&E News: Post-Chevron era tests courts’ readiness to tackle science

• Law.com: EPA’s Carbon Capture Rule Hits Justices’ Emergency Docket

• Inside Climate News: ‘Vance Profits, We Pay The Price’: Sunrise Movement Protests J.D. Vance Over Billionaire Influence and Calls on Kamala Harris to Take Climate Action

• E&E News: How the landmark climate law hobbled Joe Manchin

• InsideEPA: Draft Senate Permit Streamlining Bill Sparks Debate Over Its CO2 Effects 

• E&E News: Wanted: Climate Engagement Director For Harris Campaign 

• E&E News: Biden Dropped Out Of The Race. What Does That Mean For His Conservation Push? 

• E&E News: Greens look to counter lawmaker push on hydrogen credits

• Grist: As US bets big on hydrogen for clean energy, local communities worry about secrecy and public health

STATE UPDATES

• KBMT: Western Jefferson County residents raise concerns about proposed carbon capture project

• American Public Power Association: Carbon Capture Pilot Construction Project in Springfield, Illinois Nears Completion

• Midland Reporter-Telegram: The Railroad Commission shuts in 2 disposal wells after earthquakes

• North Dakota Monitor: Industrial Commission delays decision on hiring next North Dakota oil regulator

• CBS News: Louisiana oil spill leaves more than 34,000 gallons in bayou, animals dead and “smell like diesel” in the air [VIDEO]

EXTRACTION

• Carbon Capture Journal: CCS-EOR could lower global emissions more than CCS-Storage

• Wood Mackenzie: Increasing subsidies for anthropogenic carbon capture destined for CCS-EOR to levels for CCS-Storage would lower global emissions

OPINION

• Tone Madison: It’s still a good time to shut down Line 5

• Inforum: Port: Anti-carbon pipeline rally in Bismarck bombs

• Wall Street Journal: Kamala Harris Does A Fracking Flip-Flop 

• Washington Examiner: From Banning Fracking To Private Health Insurance, Kamala Harris Is No Centrist
  

PIPELINE NEWS

E&E News: Court axes FERC pipeline approval that threatened New Jersey climate goals
Niina H. Farah, 7/31/24

“A federal appeals court on Tuesday tossed out an approval for a Northeastern gas project, a major victory for New Jersey’s climate ambitions and advocates who want federal regulators to rethink how they weigh the need for new fossil fuel infrastructure,” E&E News reports. “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had failed to consider significant environmental consequences and a lack of market demand for additional gas capacity when it granted a certificate for the contested project in 2023. The court also found that FERC had not accounted for New Jersey state laws requiring reductions in gas consumption. The record before FERC showed that the Transcontinental Pipe Line Co. Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project would result in “enormous” emissions for the next half century, said Judge J. Michelle Childs, writing the opinion for the D.C. Circuit. “But it then walked away from the issues with a fatalistic shrug,” she said. Nowhere in FERC’s certificate approving construction of the Transco project did the commission explain whether or how it had considered emissions, or how it found that those emissions were outweighed by the project’s benefits, Childs continued. Instead, she said, FERC stated that it agreed with the conclusion of its National Environmental Policy Act analysis that this was an acceptable project, and summarized other impacts. “These broad-brush statements do not provide assurance that the Commission balanced the climate-related emissions to which the Commission refused to assign a significance label,” she said. Judges Cornelia Pillard, an Obama pick, and Brad Garcia, a Biden appointee, also joined Childs’ opinion. The three-judge panel ordered FERC to start over on the certificate, noting that it was not “sufficiently likely” that the commission would be able to explain its decision-making if the court simply remanded the approval.

Press release: Environmental Groups, Rate Advocates Win Challenge to FERC’s Flawed Pipeline Approval
7/30/24

“Today, a coalition of environmental organizations and an impacted landowner backed by eight state Attorneys General and the New Jersey Ratepayer Advocate won their challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project, which would allow a massive and unneeded expansion of gas capacity into New Jersey. In a victory for the petitioners, the court vacated FERC’s orders and remanded the case to the Commission for a more careful review. The court unanimously agreed with the petitioners that FERC’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis was inadequate for failing to meaningfully evaluate the project’s enormous contributions to climate change. The court also agreed that FERC failed to comply with the Natural Gas Act when it concluded that there was a public need for the REAE project over New Jersey’s assertion that its ratepayers do not need additional gas capacity and that FERC failed to weigh the project’s climate harms in approving the expansion. “It has taken decades of litigation and advocacy by frontline community members, environmental organizations, and state agencies seeking to educate the courts about the inequities of the FERC pipeline review and approval process. Today, all that work has finally paid off.  With this ruling, not only have we defeated the forward progress of the Transco REAE pipeline, but we have secured a decision that gives high priority to state climate change laws and the obligation on FERC to take responsibility for how its actions and decisions advance, or help ameliorate, the growing climate emergency,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, among the lead environmental petitioners in the case… “The ink has gone dry on FERC’s rubber stamp for gas projects,” said Moneen Nasmith, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice… “The court found REAE’s potential effects on New Jersey’s energy landscape were not fully weighed against the project’s purported benefits. While New Jersey has binding requirements to dramatically reduce its GHG emissions and have its gas utilities cut their consumption, FERC ignored that the REAE project would undermine New Jersey’s goal of reducing greenhouse gasses 50% by 2030 and actually lead to a 16% increase in the state’s total greenhouse gas output annually.”

Pipeline Fighters Hub: Summit’s Risky CO2 Pipeline Puts Thousands of Nebraskans in Danger
Emma Schmit, 7/30/24

”Summit Carbon Solutions is a privately held company proposing to build an $8 billion, 2,500-mile pipeline that would carry supercritical carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The CO2 would then be injected underground in North Dakota. If constructed, the project would increase the United States’ carbon pipeline network by 50%. It’s worth nothing that Summit has never constructed, operated, or maintained a pipeline of any kind before,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “CO2 pipelines are risky and proven to fail. In the event of a carbon pipeline rupture, a plume of CO2 can emerge, odorless and colorless. Carbon dioxide is a toxicant and  asphyxiant capable of suffocating all living beings. The same displacement of oxygen that causes asphyxiation also keeps combustion engines from running, constraining both escape and emergency response options. Little research has been done on the distance a lethal plume of CO2 can spread. This is largely due to the limited existence of carbon pipelines, as well as the many variables that affect the dispersion, such as weather, land formations, and the specifications of the pipeline. However, based on the information that is available, we know that dangerous levels of CO2 have the ability to spread at least a mile following a pipeline rupture. In order to provide Nebraska communities with critical safety information, a GIS expert created maps detailing the population of the potential risk zone along the Summit pipeline route. The distances used in the maps are based off of figures from plume modeling released by Navigator CO2 Ventures, which was not worst case scenario modeling meaning these figures may be somewhat conservative. You can view the maps below. Summit’s carbon pipeline poses a lethal threat to the nearly 5,000 Nebraskans that live within the potential risk zone.”

Western Iowa Today: Snyder and Associates Representative Provides Update on Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline
Tom Robinson, 7/30/24

“During the June 23 Board meeting, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution objecting to the Iowa Utilities Board’s (now known as the Iowa Utilities Commission) authority to enact eminent domain within Montgomery County for privately owned and operated carbon dioxide pipelines,” Western Iowa Today reports. “On Tuesday, Kristina Paradise from Snyder and Associates provided the board and the public attending the meeting with a background on the project… “Paradise says permits must be secured in South and North Dakota before Summit starts construction in Iowa. Summit also needs to reapply for a license in South Dakota, which it has not done yet. Paradise says some counties have some ordinances in place, and others are sitting on them, waiting to see what will happen… “Additionally, Snyder and Associates, Inc. and Summit Carbon Solutions have begun meeting every three months to review Summit’s schedule and construction plan. Public records show that the IUC granted Summit’s request to hold an informational meeting in Montgomery County in Red Oak on August 27.”

FarmWeek: IFB monitoring CCS law implementation
TAMMIE SLOUP, 7/30/24

“Illinois Farm Bureau will monitor and get involved where necessary with implementation of the state’s newly-signed carbon capture and sequestration legislation,” FarmWeek reports. “…IFB has concerns with the new law, specifically that it allows for project developers to manipulate the amount of compensation paid to integrated landowners forced to participate in these projects. Those landowners could receive little or no compensation for the use of their property… “Although the bill requires “just compensation” for landowners representing 25% of the storage area who reject participation in a CCS project, IFB believes the payments will be less than those received by complying landowners because they will not include financial offers made to landowners prior to injection. IFB, which has policy supporting the concept of carbon capture and storage, also has concerns about how members and landowners will be impacted by carbon capture and storage projects. While IFB believes the legislation includes some positive protections for landowners, the benefits of those protections do not outweigh the negative impacts the legislation has on private property rights of farmers and landowners. “We don’t anticipate approvals of projects in the near-term, but IFB will continue to educate landowners and members about the potential negative impacts of the legislation,” Bill Bodine, IFB director of business and regulatory affairs, told FarmWeek. Prior to the bill’s approval by the General Assembly, IFB staff testified against the legislation during a House Energy & Environment Committee hearing and to the Senate Executive Committee.”

KSNB: Tallgrass plans ethanol project to boost Nebraska agriculture and economy
Andrew Collins, 7/29/24

“Tallgrass, an energy solutions company, is planning a project to use locally grown corn to meet the increasing demand for cleaner ethanol fuel,” KSNB reports. “The project, detailed during Friday’s Community Builder event in Hastings, involves repurposing the Trailblazer Pipeline to store and export CO2, a byproduct of ethanol production, to create low-carbon ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel. The pipeline will transport CO2 for multiple industries, including breweries, meat-processing plants, and concrete and industrial manufacturing. John Hladik, Tallgrass’ Manager of State and Local Affairs, said the production of low-carbon ethanol presents an opportunity to advance rural communities and local farmers… ”This is going to increase the demand for Nebraska corn,” Hladik said. “By increasing Nebraska corn across the state, I think farmers win, communities win and it’s a real positive across the board.” While there is no set timeline for the project’s start, Tallgrass is collaborating with ethanol plants, communities, and landowners statewide to discuss reducing emissions and initiating the project.”

Times of San Diego: Appeals Court Rules in City’s Favor in SDG&E Dispute Over Pipeline
7/30/24

“A state appeals court panel has ruled in favor of the city of San Diego in its litigation against San Diego Gas & Electric, in which the city argued the utility should pay to relocate gas pipelines and other infrastructure to accommodate a pair of city water projects,” the Times of San Diego reports. “…Amid the dispute over who should pay the relocation costs, the city agreed in 2018 to pay to move SDG&E’s facilities in order to avoid delaying the projects, but argued in its lawsuits that the utility should reimburse the city. While a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled in SDG&E’s favor in late 2022, the city appealed and a three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed with the city on Monday. “We are disappointed by the appellate court’s decision,” SDG&E said in a statement. “Nonetheless, we remain dedicated to working collaboratively with the city of San Diego on existing and future infrastructure projects to improve our community.”

E&E News: Feds record an ESA win with plant that once faced a pipeline
Michael Doyle, 7/30/24

“The endangered northeastern bulrush once complicated plans for a $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline. Now, that proposed pipeline project is defunct while the plant appears to thrive as an Endangered Species Act success story,” E&E News reports. “In a notable environmental turnaround, the Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday proposed taking the northeastern bulrush off of the list of endangered species. At the time of its initial ESA listing in 1991, only 13 populations of the species were known to exist. Now, the FWS has identified at least 148 populations across eight states spanning parts of both New England and Appalachia. “At this time, oil and gas development in Pennsylvania is perhaps the most likely development threat,” the FWS stated, “however, we are not aware of any information, such as project proposals, that indicates any populations are under threat from oil and gas development.” The agency added that the threat of the destruction or modification of the northeastern bulrush’s wetlands habitat from development is “less than previously thought, and not a significant factor” in the continued viability of the species. About 60 percent of the populations are protected by virtue of being on publicly owned lands including national wildlife refuges, national park units and state game lands.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Press release: Environmental Justice Leaders Speak Out in Opposition to Manchin-Barrasso Dirty “Permitting” Deal
7/30/24

“On Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is set to vote on the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, introduced by Sen. Manchin (I-WV) and Sen. Barrasso (R-WY). This bill is a blatant effort to cater to the fossil fuel industry’s demands, as outlined in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, while masquerading as a measure to advance renewable energy and transmission infrastructure development. Dr. Bob Bullard, Director of the Bullard Center for Environmental Justice at Texas Southern University: “It would be a colossal mistake for the US Senate to pass this so-called permitting reform bill. While it contains some important provisions to accelerate the deployment of needed clean energy and transmission infrastructure, at the same time, it contains a giant giveaway to the fossil fuel industry to keep doing what got us into this environmental and climate crisis. Rolling back environmental and legal protections will hurt our most vulnerable populations and communities and is a step backward in our quest for communities to achieve environmental, climate, energy, and health justice.” Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder & Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, New Orleans, Louisiana: “Louisiana communities pay the price for this kind of legislation that puts oil and gas polluters over people, as called for in Project 2025. Justice delayed is justice denied and this bill by Senators Manchin and Barrasso is designed to do both. It would delay our transition to an equitable and renewable energy economy and deny our rights to restore communities and build sustainable livelihoods. We urge President Biden to dump this bill which threatens the progress made toward advancing environmental and climate justice.” Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director at WE ACT for Environmental Justice: “We need a permitting process that protects public health, especially of communities of color and of low-income who bear the brunt of pollution and the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis. This legislation fails to do that. It aims to make it easier for the fossil fuel industry to continue polluting our communities. And transmission buildout is critical for the clean energy transition, but must never be done at the expense of communities. A better pathway is possible, one that secures a just transition and safeguards the most vulnerable communities.”

Heatmap: The Climate Cost of the Permitting Deal
JAEL HOLZMAN, 7/30/24

“Senator Joe Manchin’s new permitting deal is the best shot Congress will get this year to boost transmission and renewables. It may also lock in generations of future fossil fuel production and exports. To many climate activists, that’s not a trade worth making,” Heatmap reports. “Tomorrow, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote on a deal Manchin struck with the panel’s top Republican, John Barrasso, that couples faster transmission and renewable energy approvals and restrictions on litigation with much stronger requirements for regular oil, gas, and coal lease sales on federal lands… “The environmentalist reaction to the bill has been swift and loud, with a broad swath of organizations coming out fiercely against its passage. Even some groups seen as more business-friendly, such as the Environmental Defense Fund, praised the transmission bits while calling out “permitting proposals drafted without meaningful consultation of frontline communities” and proclaiming the fossil fuel language objectionable. In a development that has quietly befuddled activists, a growing number of climate-friendly Democrats are coming out in favor of the legislation… “Honestly, the amount of fossil fuels that can be deployed out of this far outweighs to me the gains we would get in transmission,” Johanna Bozuwa, executive director of the Climate and Community Project, told Heatmap… “It is a really good bipartisan deal,” Xan Fishman of the Bipartisan Policy Center told Heatmap. “Not everyone is going to be happy.” That argument isn’t convincing Rep. Jared Huffman, a top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the Senate legislation. Huffman told Heatmap he wants to see transmission boosted “without massive giveaways to the fossil fuel industry.” When asked if he’s comfortable with accusations he’s holding up a bipartisan compromise, he simply said, “Whatever.” “This is a bad deal. It just goes way too far in the direction of oil, gas and coal,” he told Heatmap. “We’ve got to stop dignifying this notion that to take one step forward on clean energy, we’ve got to take two steps backward on fossil fuel production.”

E&E News: Biden Embraces Term Limits, Ethics Code For Supreme Court 
Lesley Clark, 7/29/24

“Following calls from progressives to rein in the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden is embracing sweeping changes to the high court, including term limits and a binding ethics code for the justices,” E&E News reports. “The call comes as critics have urged Biden to put the brakes on the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, which has taken aim at major climate and environmental provisions. It follows a controversial term in which the court’s conservative justices struck down the Chevron doctrine, which for 40 years had helped federal regulators defend their rules in court. The court also reached out through its emergency docket to halt EPA controls on smog-forming pollution that wafts across state lines… “The League of Conservation Voters told E&E it was thrilled with the proposal, arguing that the conservative majority — which includes three justices appointed by Trump — has “repeatedly twisted the law to undermine critical climate, clean air, and clean water safeguards, as well as voting rights and other pillars of our democracy.” Doug Lindner, the group’s senior director of judiciary and democracy, called the announcement “a major milestone in the fight for a Supreme Court that works for the people, not just Big Polluters, Big Business, and MAGA extremists.” The Alliance for Justice, which represents about 130 progressive organizations, applauded the move, with interim co-President Keith Thirion accusing the justices of ‘acting with impunity’ by accepting gifts from wealthy benefactors and refusing to recuse themselves from cases in which they have a conflict of interest.” 

E&E News: Post-Chevron era tests courts’ readiness to tackle science
Sean Reilly, Pamela King, 7/30/24

“One day before the Supreme Court last month erased a long-standing precedent requiring deference to federal agencies’ technical expertise, a separate high court ruling showed that neither top jurists nor a team of elite law clerks necessarily get basic facts right. The timing was awkward,” E&E News reports. “In the court’s 5-4 opinion that stayed an EPA smog control rule, Justice Neil Gorsuch repeatedly confused nitrous oxide, often known as laughing gas, with nitrogen oxides, the class of compounds that help form smog. A corrected opinion was soon issued. A Supreme Court spokesperson did not respond to a query asking how the error found its way into Gorsuch’s majority opinion. But Renée Landers, a law professor at Suffolk University in Boston, described the episode as “a cautionary tale about judges biting off more than they can chew.” On deciding complex technical and scientific matters, Landers added, “Maybe courts aren’t the right place to be doing this because most judges aren’t technical experts.” That prospect is now looming, however, with the high court’s decision in June to end the Chevron doctrine, which said judges should defer to expert agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal laws… “While legal scholars are still parsing the potential impact of Loper Bright, Roberts’ majority opinion has been viewed as an attempt to wrest decisionmaking power from scientists and technical experts at agencies like EPA and hand it to generalist judges… “Recent rulings from the lower courts demonstrate the power that individual judges already wield — and how they could become even more muscular in a post-Chevron world. In one recent case, Judge James Cain of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana appeared unaware of research showing that people of color are disproportionately more likely to be exposed to harmful air pollution. “My last check, pollution doesn’t really discriminate based on race,” Cain said during oral arguments in January as the Louisiana attorney general’s office sought to definitively block an EPA civil rights probe into the state’s Clean Air Act permitting practices… “Even though EPA had already closed its investigation with no finding of discrimination, Cain soon after issued a preliminary injunction blocking the agency from considering the racially “disparate impact” of permitting decisions in Louisiana… “Landers said there is danger in placing the fate of public health and climate protections in the hands of individual judges — especially when they may not have the scientific chops to second-guess expert agencies.”

Law.com: EPA’s Carbon Capture Rule Hits Justices’ Emergency Docket
Jimmy Hoover, 7/30/24

“States and industry groups have flooded the U.S. Supreme Court’s emergency docket in recent days in an effort to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest rule requiring coal power plants to install carbon-capture technology,” Law.com reports. “Led by the coal-mining state of West Virginia, a group of Republican attorneys general say the EPA is trying to circumvent recent court decisions blocking earlier versions of its anti-coal agenda, including the Supreme Court’s own 2022 decision in West Virginia v. EPA… “In the last week, the Supreme Court has received six emergency applications seeking a stay of the EPA’s rule, which was published in the Federal Register in May. The applicants include 25 Republican attorneys general, the National Mining Association of America and other associations representing the energy industry… “The Supreme Court has requested a response from the EPA, giving the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office until Aug. 19 at 4 p.m. to explain why the court should not immediately block the new standards from taking effect.”

Inside Climate News: ‘Vance Profits, We Pay The Price’: Sunrise Movement Protests J.D. Vance Over Billionaire Influence and Calls on Kamala Harris to Take Climate Action
Keerti Gopal, 7/29/24

“Activists from the youth-led Sunrise Movement descended on Sen. J.D. Vance’s Washington office on Monday, occupying the hallway and chanting “Vance is a liar, our planet is on fire,” while holding signs that read “Billionaires Own Vance,” Inside Climate News reports. “The group wants to bring public attention to the Republican vice presidential candidate’s wealthy donors and close financial ties to the oil and gas industry, and argues that Vance’s inconsistent policy positions are evidence that he answers to money, not voters. “Trump is just another billionaire that he’s listening to,” Denae Avila-Dickson, who helped organize Monday’s actions, told ICN. “Our futures are not for sale.” According to the group, the protest drew more than 100 Sunrise activists and lasted less than five minutes: Almost immediately, they were told to leave, and eight activists were arrested. The group then marched to the Democratic National Committee’s office, where they held a second rally urging Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, to prioritize a platform of climate and economic justice. The group’s climate demands for Harris include investment in clean energy infrastructure for public schools and affordable housing; ending fossil fuel subsidies and investigating oil and gas companies; expanding wind, solar and retrofit programs; and expanding green jobs through the American Climate Corps… “Monday’s two actions highlight Sunrise’s current strategy for the presidential election.  “We need to make it really clear that Trump is dangerous, and if he’s elected president, he’s going to do catastrophic and irreversible damage on our planet,” Avila-Dickson told ICN. “But we also need Democrats to make it clear that they’re willing to invest in our futures and will take the action that we need to confront the climate crisis.”

E&E News: How the landmark climate law hobbled Joe Manchin
Kelsey Brugger, 7/31/24

“The capstone of Sen. Joe Manchin’s four-decade political career — a sweeping climate law worth hundreds of billions of dollars — might well have cost him his Senate seat,” E&E News reports. “For months, the West Virginia moderate worked behind the scenes to force the White House to tailor its biggest climate ambitions to meet his demands. He inserted oil and gas provisions and demanded Democrats trim down the $3.5 trillion plan known as “Build Back Better” and rechristened it the Inflation Reduction Act. It passed the Senate nearly two years ago. But it didn’t matter: Most West Virginians still hated the IRA anyway, even though it has benefited the state with new manufacturing and energy projects. “He knew when he supported the Inflation Reduction Act it would likely make his reelection very, very difficult, if not impossible,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), an ally, told E&E. “He accepted that.” While his staff fretted over his sinking poll numbers after the IRA passed in the summer of 2022 — his approval rating plunged by double digits — Manchin appeared unbothered, deciding, as one former aide granted anonymity to speak freely told E&E, “the political price was worth it.” For his part, Manchin dismissed the idea that the backlash back home drove him into retirement. “The politics are what the politics are,” he told POLITICO’s E&E News earlier this year.” 

InsideEPA: Draft Senate Permit Streamlining Bill Sparks Debate Over Its CO2 Effects 
7/29/24

“Draft permit-streamlining legislation the Senate energy committee is poised to consider is sparking dueling claims over the plan’s greenhouse gas impacts, a question that could determine whether such measures can win sufficient support from Democrats and environmentalists to win enactment,” InsideEPA reports. “Bipartisan Policy Center’s Xan Fishman in a July 22 social media post touted the measure as likely to result in net GHG cuts — even after considering several provisions in the draft that would speed authorizations for oil and gas projects. “The emissions benefits for permitting clean energy infrastructure clearly outweigh any increased emissions from the oil/gas provisions. It’s not even close,” Fishman told InsideEPA. “Big net win for reducing CO2.” But a July 26 analysis from Symons Public Affairs — which often works with environmental groups — argues that the bill’s language speeding liquified natural gas (LNG) exports would thwart emission benefits of other efforts to accelerate renewable energy and transmission projects.” 

E&E News: Wanted: Climate Engagement Director For Harris Campaign 
Robin Bravender, 7/29/24

“Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is seeking a climate engagement director. As the likely Democratic presidential nominee looks to rally young voters and climate advocates heading into the November showdown against former President Donald Trump, the Harris campaign is looking for an ‘ultimate utility player’ to build and manage the ‘Climate Voters for Harris program,’ according to a job listing on the campaign website,” E&E News reports. “The ad for a climate engagement director appears to predate Harris’ presidential campaign but has been retooled since President Joe Biden announced on July 21 that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing Harris to replace him on the ticket. With just 99 days to go until the election, Harris’ campaign is seeking an ‘organizer at heart’ who can ‘break through the noise about what’s at stake for the climate community this election, build relationships with trusted messengers to reach the community where they are, and mobilize a critical coalition of leaders to enthusiastically elect Vice President Harris,’ the ad says. The job is based in the campaign’s Wilmington, Delaware, headquarters, which has rapidly reconfigured over the past week from a Biden reelection operation to Harris’ campaign. The salary range for the job: $90,000 to $110,000 a year.” 

E&E News: Biden Dropped Out Of The Race. What Does That Mean For His Conservation Push? 
Jennifer Yachnin, 7/29/24

“Despite abandoning his campaign for a second term in the White House, President Joe Biden could still make progress on his pledge to dramatically expand conservation of public lands in his remaining time in office — potentially even creating new national monuments before Election Day,” E&E News reports. “Biden already has progressed toward this goal, deploying the Antiquities Act of 1906 more than any other first-term president since Jimmy Carter. Now, with the clock ticking down Biden’s final months in office, both environmentalists and opponents of more monuments predicted the president is unlikely to slow down his pace and instead could seek to secure his record alongside not just Carter but even the likes of President Theodore Roosevelt, the renowned conservationist. “You now have a White House with nothing to think about other than President Biden’s legacy, and they have six months to define that,” Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, told E&E.

E&E News: Greens look to counter lawmaker push on hydrogen credits
Nico Portuondo, 7/30/24

“More than 100 groups are trying to undercut a group of Senate Democrats lobbying the Treasury Department for more flexibility when implementing the Inflation Reduction Act’s hydrogen tax credits,” E&E News reports. “The administration has been working for months to finalize guidelines for the so-called 45V incentive, and lawmakers and advocates of different political stripes have been playing tug-of-war over the specifics. On Monday, 135 environmental and community groups sent a letter to a variety of administration officials and lawmakers arguing that exemptions championed by 13 Senate Democrats would jeopardize the credit’s carbon-reduction benefits. “We have serious concerns with recent calls to modify the proposed rules in ways that would ultimately prioritize the profits of a few companies at significant cost to the climate, clean air, environmental justice, electricity consumers, and the ability of the nascent clean hydrogen industry to actually meet the needs of the clean energy transition,” the groups said.

Grist: As US bets big on hydrogen for clean energy, local communities worry about secrecy and public health
Molly Peterson, 7/29/24

“Billions of dollars in public money are beginning to flow to seven “hydrogen hubs” around the country — regional nerve centers for a potentially clean fuel that could someday rival solar and wind and cut carbon from the atmosphere,” Grist reports. “…But researchers and community advocates warn that unless the federal government’s so-called hydrogen earthshot has adequate safeguards, it could worsen air pollution in vulnerable communities and aggravate a warming climate. They’re also concerned that specifics of the emerging efforts remain stubbornly secret from people who live near shovel-ready projects. That’s true even in California, a state that has declared a commitment not only to ambitious climate goals but also to environmental justice. “The people got left behind in this conversation,” Fatima Abdul-Khabir, the Energy Equity Program manager at Oakland-based Greenlining Institute, an advocacy group, told Grist. “It’s a massive step backwards.” “…But stripping hydrogen molecules from water or methane to use as fuel can be expensive and complicated, and if that process relies on fossil fuels, it could actually prolong climate pollution. That’s not the only health risk: When even cleanly-produced hydrogen is blended with methane and burned, it can still dirty the air with toxic byproducts that contribute to lung-irritating smog… “The nation’s hydrogen earthshot is a risky and ambitious bet. Congress created an $8 billion pot of money for the hub system. It also tucked nearly $18 billion in grants and incentives into the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure bill. An uncapped federal tax credit for companies that produce hydrogen energy could cost the public at least another $100 billion. “There’s so much hype right now for hydrogen because everybody wants a piece of the pie,” Dan Esposito, an electricity policy analyst at the nonprofit firm Energy Innovation, told Grist… “But California’s hub, a public-private partnership called ARCHES, is rejecting rules the federal government has proposed to help guard against the risk of rising pollution from incautious hydrogen projects. Along with the six other hubs, ARCHES signed a letter that warns of “far-reaching negative consequences” if the rules are made permanent… “Multiple analyses based on public data and modeling, including Esposito’s own, have concluded that hydrogen produced under the wrong circumstances could worsen air pollution instead of improving it.“

STATE UPDATES

KBMT: Western Jefferson County residents raise concerns about proposed carbon capture project
Gabby Gaspard, 7/30/24

“People in western Jefferson County are raising concerns about a proposed carbon capture project,” KBMT reports. “They came together this evening at a church in Cheek to learn more about the technology… “Earlier this year ExxonMobil announced the Rose CCS Project in western Jefferson County. ExxonMobil has already started drilling a test site, not far from the City of China. Some people who live in the area of Lawhon Road near Green Pond Gully wonder why it’s so close to their homes. ExxonMobil maintains the CCS technology is safe and says it’s been used for decades around the world. “I’m concerned about my home, about them putting CO2 into the ground, and the effect that it may have on the neighborhood, the community and our lives,” Cheek resident Nichole Davis told KBMT. In the coming days 12News will be looking into the technology and why ExxonMobil wants to use it in western Jefferson County.”

American Public Power Association: Carbon Capture Pilot Construction Project in Springfield, Illinois Nears Completion
7/30/24

“Springfield, Illinois public power utility City Water, Light & Power in June celebrated the near completion of construction for its 10-megawatt-electric slipstream carbon capture pilot project for the U.S. Department of Energy,” according to the American Public Power Association. “Led by the University of Illinois’ Prairie Research Institute, and its partners including the Linde Group, BASF Corporation, Affiliated Engineers, Inc., Affiliated Construction Services, Inc., and Visage Energy, this project will rank among the world’s largest carbon capture pilots… “The carbon capture system is based on a BASF proprietary solvent coupled with a Linde proprietary design that reduces regeneration energy, lowers solvent circulation rates, and enhances heat recovery… “The project, which initially started in 2018, has successfully transitioned from engineering design to construction. The construction phase of the project is due to be completed in November… “Yhe total cost of the project was approximately $85 million, with approximately $58 million from the US Department of Energy, $20 million from the state of Illinois, and $7 million from Linde.”

Midland Reporter-Telegram: The Railroad Commission shuts in 2 disposal wells after earthquakes
Trevor Hawes, 7/9/24

“Earthquakes keep rattling Scurry and Fisher counties, with another strong temblor shaking Texas over the weekend. The Railroad Commission is already taking action,” according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “In a statement to the Reporter-Telegram on Monday afternoon, an RRC spokesperson said the oil and gas regulator, which also regulates saltwater disposal wells, has “shut-in two deep disposal wells in the area following inspections.” “Staff will continue to monitor wells and seismicity data to mitigate earthquakes and protect the environment and residents in the region,” the statement said… “The RRC has investigated disposal wells as the cause of West Texas earthquakes after they became more frequent — and sometimes strong — over the past few years… “On Friday morning, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck on the Scurry-Fisher county line, strong enough that it prompted Scurry County Judge Dan Hicks to issue a disaster declaration. At the time of the declaration, Scurry County reported that it had seen 61 earthquakes in the past week. That number has increased in the days since… ”The U.S. Geological Survey earthquake map showed 104 earthquakes of all magnitudes had been recorded over the past seven days — 40 of which had occurred since the 5.1-magnitude earthquake.”

North Dakota Monitor: Industrial Commission delays decision on hiring next North Dakota oil regulator
MARY STEURER, 7/30/24

“The Industrial Commission held off on picking North Dakota’s next top oil regulator for another week to 10 days after public interviews of both finalists,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “I feel like we’ve got two strong candidates here that are very different, one who’s got a lot of experience on the regulation side, the other one’s got great experience on the private sector side,” Gov. Doug Burgum said at the Tuesday afternoon hearing. “I think what’s missing for me is not ‘Do we have strong candidates?’ It’s, ‘What are the exact needs of the agency right now?’” “…The Industrial Commission seeks a successor for Lynn Helms, who served as director of Mineral Resources for nearly 20 years… “After postponing the vote to pick a new director, Burgum noted he wished that the state would consider adding a new position to the Department of Mineral Resources so that the agency could hire both candidates… “The Industrial Commission is comprised of Burgum, Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring.”

CBS News: Louisiana oil spill leaves more than 34,000 gallons in bayou, animals dead and “smell like diesel” in the air [VIDEO]
Li Cohen, 7/30/24

“An oil spill that leaked more than 34,000 gallons out in a southern Louisiana bayou over the weekend has already killed wildlife and prompted a water conservation order for people in the area,” CBS News reports. “…The source of the release was identified as the Crescent Midstream Crude Oil Facility, which government officials said was “following its approved incident response plan.” “The source is secured, the crude oil is contained, and all appropriate federal, state and local agencies have been notified,” the incident’s unified command said on Saturday. The energy company said on its website that it “provides safe, reliable crude oil services in the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana.” During a press conference on Saturday, the company’s public information officer Michael Smith said “no spill is acceptable to our company” and that an investigation is underway.”

EXTRACTION

Carbon Capture Journal: CCS-EOR could lower global emissions more than CCS-Storage
Wood Mackenzie, 7/29/24

“Analysis shows that CCS-EOR will often deliver lower emissions and better support the energy transition, according to a series of reports from Wood Mackenzie,” the Carbon Capture Journal reports. “Captured CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (CCS-EOR) has fallen out of favor in recent years and been supplanted by captured CO2 to dedicated sequestration (CCS-Storage). “…According to Wood Mackenzie, the world will need 30 million barrels per day of global oil supply by 2050 in its most aggressive Net Zero by 2050 scenario. In its three-part “Enhanced oil recovery with captured CO2“ report series, Wood Mackenzie analysis finds that CCS-EOR would displace nearly all volumes it produces from the global market and not have a material effect on global oil demand and concomitant emissions… “According to the reports, subsidising CCS-EOR on a per-ton basis at commercial scale less than CCS-Storage Storage, and even CCU (Carbon Capture and Utilisation), will ultimately result in less CO2 captured globally and less overall decarbonisation for the economic burden imposed… “According to the Wood Mackenzie analysis, CCS-EOR becomes an energy transition solution only when the CO2 used in EOR operations derives from anthropogenic sources extracted from industrial point sources or directly from the air, known as Direct Air Capture (DAC).CCS-EOR also allows producers to vary production between EOR and non-EOR (storage) wells depending on prevailing oil and carbon markets conditions (and subsidies)… “The report concludes that now, like many other decarbonisation initiatives, growing CCS-EOR to meaningful scale requires some level of certainty in either future subsidisation schemes or carbon price – a clear incentive to decarbonise.”

Wood Mackenzie: Increasing subsidies for anthropogenic carbon capture destined for CCS-EOR to levels for CCS-Storage would lower global emissions
7/26/24

“Captured CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (CCS-EOR) has fallen out of favor in recent years and been supplanted by captured CO2 to dedicated sequestration (CCS-Storage), however, a new analysis shows that CCS-EOR will often deliver lower emissions and better support the energy transition, according to a series of reports from Wood Mackenzie. “CCS-EOR has its detractors, most of whom centre their opposition to the practice around the notion that CCS-EOR continues incremental global hydrocarbon production, exacerbating climate change and keeping the world reliant on fossil fuels,” said Peter Findlay, Director, CCUS economics for Wood Mackenzie. “However, as new oil supply must be developed in decades to come in even the most aggressive decarbonisation scenarios, CCS-EOR is not necessarily more likely than any other competing supply sources – whether from producing, discovered, or to-be discovered fields – to increase global oil demand.” “…Yet, although we believe CCS-EOR can deliver lower net emissions in many global plays due to its relatively low incremental emissions and lighter oil production, we acknowledge that there are some cases where CCS-Storage will deliver a lower net impact to global emissions,” said Findlay. “It all depends on the project, the geology, and the oil and carbon markets.” “…Our findings show that subsidizing CCS-EOR less than CCS-Storage, and even CCU, will ultimately result in substantially less global carbon captured and less overall decarbonisation for the given economic burden placed on the economy — on taxpayers, consumers and businesses,” said Findlay. “Lower subsidisation for EOR exists currently in Canada and the US. What is worse, is that by subsidizing CCS-EOR less than CCS-Storage, governments are effectively, if indirectly, subsidising other sources of oil supply, many of which are higher emitting and outside of their jurisdiction. This can weaken a country’s energy security and diminish geostrategic advantages drawn from domestic production.” As firms look to maximize shareholder returns, decarbonize portfolios, and maintain supply amid geopolitical tensions (for OECD producers and national oil companies alike), leveraging CCS-EOR could offer a pragmatic solution for the energy transition that could yield a lower carbon footprint than traditional oil and gas operations, said Findlay… “Some CCS-EOR operators like Denbury and Occidental Petroleum have looked at pushing the capture benefit into the product value chain to create a net zero oil,” said Findlay. “Maximizing injection of this CO2 into depleted oil and gas reservoirs and storing more CO2 than the lifecycle emissions of the incremental oil and gas produced are the second and third steps to create an effective net zero oil…And assuming net zero oil is credible, it is in most cases not yet economically viable for producers to pursue without increased market demand.” 

OPINION

Tone Madison: It’s still a good time to shut down Line 5
SARA GABLER, 7/31/24

“All our needs are met by this land, not by Enbridge.” That’s what Weni Pashtaade Gokee (Sandy Gokee), an Anishinaabe water protector, told the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at a June 4 public hearing in Ashland, Wisconsin about a proposal to reroute Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline,” Sara Gabler writes for Tone Madison. “…At the meeting, Tribal leaders and environmental advocates from across the region voiced concern about the proposed reroute. That’s because Line 5 poses an environmental risk within Tribal boundaries—and the reroute wouldn’t change this, because it would still be located within the larger Bad River watershed. In other words, an oil spill in that area would still drain into the Bad River, endangering wetlands and groundwater along the river’s course to Lake Superior.  “We said off the watershed. You said off the reservation,” Gokee told the USACE at the public hearing. The more than 70-year-old pipeline is 20 years past its expiration date. In some places, including the point where the pipeline intersects with a “meander” in the Bad River, it is in imminent danger of rupture. Folks aren’t counting on Enbridge to fix this, because the Canadian energy company has a terrible track record… “Not only does Line 5 violate Tribal sovereignty—Enbridge continues to profit off its trespass on the Band’s territory—but an oil spill in the wider Bad River watershed—and an oil spill is likely—would infringe on the Bad River Band’s treaty-reserved rights to fish and otherwise harvest resources within the ceded territory of Wisconsin… “Still, Enbridge supporters turned out in numbers at the June 4 hearing. They paraded the Canadian company’s “safety” and “integrity” and lauded the purported $135 million economic boost the project would bring, including 700 “family-sustaining” and union jobs… “Pitting labor against environmental concerns is a well-worn tactic. So is fomenting fear about resource scarcity, as when Line 5 supporters made wild claims that a Line 5 shutdown would leave homes and schools without heat in the winter… “The USACE is taking comments on the proposed reroute until August 4. Thankfully, Enbridge doesn’t have the final say in the matter. Testimony by Tribal leaders, local landowners, and environmental advocates has made clear time and again that Line 5 is not welcome and not necessary in their backyards. And the data backs this up. Advocates hope the Army Corps will listen.”

Inforum: Port: Anti-carbon pipeline rally in Bismarck bombs
Rob Port, 7/30/24

“The opposition to carbon capture, generally, and the controversial Summit Carbon Pipeline project, specifically, is proof of the “horseshoe theory” in politics,” Rob Port writes for Inforum. “…Yet, when it comes to the debate over carbon capture and storage, where the right-wing “climate change is a hoax” crowd has joined in an unholy alliance with a bunch of left-wing environmentalists, it works. The right-wingers think it’s a waste of time and money to try to control carbon emissions. The left-wingers, meanwhile, are so knee-jerk against any industry that emits carbon that they’re opposed to anything that could help those industries, even if the help in question lowers the very emissions they’re against. Out on the tips of the horseshoe, all the different flavors of dumb taste the same. This was on full display Saturday, July 27, as opponents of the Summit Carbon Pipeline held a rally in Bismarck. The event, sponsored by the left-wing Dakota Resource Council, was a failure. “More than 30” people attended, and the sparse turnout demonstrates something important about both the agitation against the Summit project and the concept of carbon capture and storage. These agitators, amplified as they are by professional activists and social media keyboard warriors, are probably getting more attention than they deserve… “The opponents of the Summit carbon pipeline are using the “property rights” argument as a cloak for their actual motivations. They have to, really. “Climate change is a hoax” or “end fossil fuels” isn’t going to get a lot of traction with the mainstream public. Instead, they have to lure people in with a lot of heavy breathing about property rights, which the public, correctly, is concerned about… “The opponents of carbon capture, in obfuscating their true motivations, would have you believe that the Summit project is some new affront to property rights. It is not. It’s business as usual.”

Wall Street Journal: Kamala Harris Does A Fracking Flip-Flop 
Editorial Board, 7/29/24

“Kamala Harris performed her first big political backflip of the presidential campaign on the weekend, reversing her support for a ban on fracking for oil and gas. Her election conversion is political damage control, but would she continue the Biden Administration’s regulatory siege against fossil fuels? Running for president in 2019, Ms. Harris averred ‘there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.’ While popular among progressives, a fracking ban doesn’t play well in working-class areas, especially Pennsylvania, which is the second largest natural gas producing state after Texas. A President can’t ban fracking on private and state land or limit existing production on federal land. But that hasn’t stopped the Biden Administration from using every regulatory tool to curtail oil and gas production. Days after taking office Mr. Biden imposed a moratorium on new lease sales on federal lands. After this was blocked in court, his Administration slow-walked drilling permits and auctions. The Environmental Protection Agency has tightened methane regulations, increasing production costs and making some wells uneconomic. The White House also directed federal agencies to incorporate climate in environmental reviews so they can block fossil-fuel projects solely because of CO2 emissions.”

Washington Examiner: From Banning Fracking To Private Health Insurance, Kamala Harris Is No Centrist
Tiana Lowe Doescher, 7/29/24

“Without earning a single vote in either the 2020 or 2024 presidential primary, Vice President Kamala Harris has been safely installed by the Democratic Party as this cycle’s presidential nominee, with the vice president replacing President Joe Biden, who plucked her from the political ignominy of dropping out of the 2020 primary months before the Iowa caucuses,” Tiana Lowe Doescher writes for the Washington Examiner. “The public can be excused, then, for not knowing much about Harris or her leftism extremism… “In 2019, Harris became one of the original Senate co-sponsors for the Green New Deal, which called for effectively nationalizing the entire energy industry (8% of the U.S. economy) and provisions for a federal jobs guarantee and ‘universal healthcare programs.’ On top of the GND’s ban of ‘all combustion-based power generation nuclear, biomass energy, large scale hydro, and waste-to-energy technologies,’ Harris has also independently endorsed a ban on fracking for natural gas.”