EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/6/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• WV Gazette Mail: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers defend not remediating pipe offsite in response to questioning of pipe integrity

• Augusta Free Press: Virginia lawmakers call Mountain Valley Pipeline provision ‘plainly contrary to the public interest’

• Blue Virginia: Reps. McClellan, Beyer, Connolly, Scott, & Wexton Submit Amicus Brief to Support Legal Challenge to Mountain Valley Pipeline

• Law360: Enviros Open 4th Circ. Challenge To Mountain Valley Pipeline

• State Journal-Register: CO2 pipelines, utility rate requests await new Illinois Commerce Commission chair

• Bismarck Tribune: Burleigh County moves to protect pipeline ordinances, but won’t hire outside attorney yet

• KXLG: Property Rights Round-Up Event set in Pierre to defend private property rights

• DRG News: Carbon pipeline opponents and landowners’ rights supporters holding protest rally tomorrow in Capitol Rotunda in Pierre

• DRG News: Summit Carbon Solutions reaches 70% voluntary easement mark in SD and project wide; Schoenbeck says there is state precedent for use of eminent domain

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Permit process advances for Summit’s second Iowa pipeline

• Casper Star Tribune: UW, carbon capture company begin statewide CO2 pipeline study

• Capital and Main: California’s Decoy Carbon Capture Bill Shut Down Following Capital & Main Report

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• Center for Western Priorities: Analysis: Public comments overwhelmingly support BLM Public Lands Rule

STATE UPDATES

• Colorado Sun: A leaky oil well poisoned a Colorado rancher’s herd, killing 6 cows. He still hasn’t been paid back.

• KUNM: A special jet is monitoring New Mexico’s oil and gas emissions

EXTRACTION

• CNN: Just Stop Oil protesters disrupt two matches at Wimbledon

• EuroNews: Greta Thunberg charged for disobeying police order after blocking oil tankers in Sweden

• Energy Intelligence Group: Does CCS Offer Fossil Fuels a Real Lifeline?

• DW.com: The best way to capture carbon and store it

• Canadian Press: UNESCO report on Wood Buffalo park shows urgency of threats, First Nation says

CLIMATE FINANCE

• Bloomberg: California Quietly Shelves $15 Billion Pension Divestment Bill

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

• Enbridge: Prioritizing Preparation, the First Step in Disaster Recovery

OPINION

• Sioux Falls Argus Leader: A voice for protecting property rights

• Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Stand your ground? Not when it comes to CO2 pipelines

• Common Dreams: Biden’s Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Titan Submarine Disaster
  

PIPELINE NEWS

WV Gazette Mail: Mountain Valley Pipeline developers defend not remediating pipe offsite in response to questioning of pipe integrity
Mike Tony, 7/5/23

“Mountain Valley Pipeline developers defended their project’s pipe integrity in a filing with federal regulators amid withering scrutiny from opponents who say the pipe’s coating presents safety and health liabilities,” the WV Gazette Mail reports. “Mountain Valley Pipeline developers have told federal regulators they don’t intend to remediate the pipeline offsite, resisting calls from pipeline safety advocates and project opponents to do so… “Pipeline safety proponents asked the FERC and other federal regulators to require any deteriorated coating to be remediated indoors in a plant to ensure “the highest-quality reapplication” and protect waterways. It’s been five years since a Mountain Valley Pipeline executive said in federal court the company’s pipeline needed to be installed within a year to guard against the sun breaking down the pipe’s coating designed to prevent corrosion… “Some of the pipe slated for use in constructing the Mountain Valley Pipeline has been lying uninstalled along the route for years since Cooper’s testimony. The long wait to put the pipe in the ground has prompted concerns that sunlight has compromised the 42-inch-diameter pipe’s coating… “Pipeline Safety Trust, a Bellingham, Washington-based pipeline safety nonprofit, disagrees that coating reapplication offsite in a factory-controlled setting isn’t practical. “It is a superior method to ensure that the pipe’s first line of defense against corrosion is re-applied correctly and safely,” Pipeline Safety Trust Executive Director Bill Caram told the Mail. “How many segments of pipe do they expect to find with damaged coating that they are worried about the practicality of using the safest method?” “…Mountain Valley acknowledged “lingering public questions regarding the coating of the pipe and overall pipe integrity” in its FERC filing. Mountain Valley said it will “employ standard processes” to evaluate pipe coating and remediate as needed, with all field remediation occurring outside stream and wetland buffer areas.”

Augusta Free Press: Virginia lawmakers call Mountain Valley Pipeline provision ‘plainly contrary to the public interest’
Rebecca Barnabi, 7/5/23

“An amicus brief was submitted today by five members of Congress in support of a lawsuit to prevent the automatic approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” the Augusta Free Press reports. “The pipeline, which would be built through Virginia and into northern North Carolina, is being sued by the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Wilderness Society. In The Wilderness Society v. United States Forest Services et. al. and Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, the constitutionality of Section 324, the Mountain Valley Pipeline provision is challenged, which is included in H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, legislation to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default. The brief is from U.S. Reps. Jennifer McClellan, Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott and Jennifer Wexton, all representing districts in the Commonwealth… “The lawmakers assert that the pipeline provision sidesteps National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) protections, silences the voices of impacted communities and represents a constitutional violation of the separation of powers between Congress and the judiciary. “[We] opposed inclusion of Section 324 in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 because it ran roughshod over access to Article III courts in pending cases for the most vulnerable of Virginia citizens — including low-income, elderly and Indigenous populations,” the lawmakers wrote. “[We]… request this Court deny the pending motions from Respondents’ and Intervenor and allow Petitioner’s claims to proceed until they can be afforded a substantive hearing on the merits. Our constituents deserve to have their day in court on the new claims they have raised in the underlying petitions.”

Blue Virginia: Reps. McClellan, Beyer, Connolly, Scott, & Wexton Submit Amicus Brief to Support Legal Challenge to Mountain Valley Pipeline
7/5/23

“Today, Reps. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Don Beyer (VA-08), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), and Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) submitted an amicus brief in support of the Southern Environmental Law Center and The Wilderness Society’s lawsuit to prevent the automatic approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” Blue Virginia reports. “The Wilderness Society v. United States Forest Services, et al. and Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC challenges the constitutionality of Section 324, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) provision, included in H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, legislation to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default. “The MVP has drawn community objections because it would extend roughly 300 miles through Appalachia, damage hundreds of streams, harm several acres of wetlands, and require a taking of private property from many Virginia families,” wrote the lawmakers. “At a minimum, this Court should retain jurisdiction until it has heard Petitioner’s claims on the merits. Short-circuiting ongoing litigation to greenlight the MVP—before a substantive hearing on Petitioner’s new claims has even been afforded—is plainly contrary to the public interest.” In their brief, the lawmakers assert the MVP provision sidesteps National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) protections, silences the voices of impacted communities, and represents a constitutional violation of the separation of powers between Congress and the judiciary.”

Law360: Enviros Open 4th Circ. Challenge To Mountain Valley Pipeline
Peter McGuire, 7/5/23

“Wilderness advocates want the Fourth Circuit to bar construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through a Virginia national forest, alleging the U.S. Forest Service illegally modified a forest management plan to permit the $6 billion gas line,” Law360 reports. 

State Journal-Register: CO2 pipelines, utility rate requests await new Illinois Commerce Commission chair
Patrick Keck, 7/6/23

“Utility rate increases, carbon dioxide pipelines and implementation of the state’s ambitious climate policy initiatives posit themselves on the desk of Illinois Commerce Commission members. The five-commissioner, quasi-judicial body’s new chair leading them in these efforts is a familiar face. ICC Chair Doug Scott presided over a public meeting in Springfield last Thursday, swiftly working through a four-page docket with a familiarity that comes from experience,” the State Journal-Register reports. “The reason for that familiarity was simple. This isn’t Scott’s first tour in post. He served in the same role under former Gov. Pat Quinn. Gov. JB Pritzker appointed Scott last month. Scott replaces Carrie Zalewski, who stepped down earlier this year, and is part of a broader commission shake-up with Pritzker making three other appointments in March… “With federal investment on the rise, Scott and the ICC will likely see more requests to build carbon dioxide pipelines in Illinois… “Providing testimony last month, ICC senior gas engineer Mark Maple recommended the commission to turn down Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC’s request. Maple’s reasons for his opposition were multi-fold for the $3.2 billion pipeline stretching 1,350 miles across five midwestern states. For starters, testimony finds the Nebraska-based company has not received sufficient amounts of easements, granting the use of land for the pipeline, nor does it have experience in building CO2-specific pipelines. Yet, perhaps most essential to the operation, is the need for a place to store the liquified CO2 which Navigator is currently lacking. Attempts to build sequestration sites in Christian and Montgomery counties are ongoing, where both counties have adopted moratoriums blocking the construction of CO2 pipelines. “Without a sequestration facility in place and the end point being uncertain, the entire route remains in flux, and consequently, in my opinion, it is not a benefit to the citizens of Illinois nor in the public interest,” Maple’s testimony reads. Navigator has only received 13.4% of the easement agreements needed to build which “is an extraordinarily low success rate given the time that has elapsed,” he added… “Responding to the testimony, Navigator told The State Journal-Register that it disagreed with the analysis… “The legislature clearly contemplated that carbon management would have a variety of industry applications, by including language in the law that identified necessary partner facilities as ‘any other source that will result in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from that source,” Navigator said in an emailed statement. The company also states the status of established sequestration facilities as indicated by the testimony was a “misrepresentation,” saying they have both the necessary land rights and multiple Class VI permit applications filed with and approved by the US EPA.”

Bismarck Tribune: Burleigh County moves to protect pipeline ordinances, but won’t hire outside attorney yet
DAVID VELÁZQUEZ, 7/5/23

“The Burleigh County Commission on Wednesday considered but decided against hiring a law firm to help protect new county regulations for hazardous liquid pipelines,” the Bismarck Tribune reports. “State’s Attorney Julie Lawyer instead will urge state regulators to respect the county rules when deciding whether to approve the route of Summit Carbon Solutions’ planned regional carbon dioxide pipeline. Meanwhile, Emmons County, which approved similar rules, has already hired a lawyer as it seeks to protect its regulations… “Opponents believe the route could impede Bismarck’s northward progression, and present safety risks for some rural landowners. Summit touts the overall safety record of the thousands of miles of CO2 pipelines that have operated in the U.S. for decades. Burleigh County and Emmons County passed ordinances earlier this year to regulate such pipelines within their borders. Summit submitted paperwork in June asking the PSC to declare the Burleigh and Emmons ordinances “superceded and preempted” by state and federal law, calling them “unreasonably restrictive.” “…Emmons County is asking to intervene in the matter; it will be represented by attorney Derrick Braaten… “Braaten believes that the PSC does not have the jurisdiction to make any decisions on whether the ordinances conflict with state or federal law, and he maintains that the Emmons ordinances do not conflict. Intervenors Steven Leibel and Randall Bakke, Bismarck-based attorneys representing landowners who oppose the pipeline’s proposed route, responded to Summit’s request by asking the PSC to deny it… “The commission verbally decided to have Lawyer file her request with the PSC before making further decisions. Flanagan said protecting the regulations is important because if the PSC decides in Summit’s favor, “Everything we’ve done since over a year ago is going to be for nothing.” “…The commission on Wednesday voted to have Lawyer draft a letter to send to the PSC requesting that Summit’s plume models be released, citing their importance for emergency planning… “Bitner acknowledged that protecting some information is warranted but said the plume model data should be made available to the county, calling it “vital to the safety of Burleigh County residents.”

KXLG: Property Rights Round-Up Event set in Pierre to defend private property rights
Steve Jurrens, 7/5/23

“A group of property owners is asking other South Dakota property owners to join them in “calling on their government to defend their constitutional private property rights,” KXLG reports. “The “Property Rights Round-Up Event” is scheduled for Thursday, July 6, 2023, at Noon in the Capital Building Rotunda in Pierre, SD. One landowner included is Ed Fischbach from Spink County, who was interviewed on KXLG News last week in opposition to the potential carbon-capturing pipeline construction by Summit Carbon Solutions. In a press release, Fischbach says, “If the rights of a private for-profit company backed by foreign investors are more important than those of our own landowners in South Dakota, then we have lost our way!” It also says in the press release, “Large out-of-state companies are using the power of eminent domain to take land to build private pipelines to generate profits from US tax dollars, in some cases even to benefit foreign investors, all while violating the private property rights of South Dakota farmers and landowners.” The group is inviting everyone that is a South Dakota farmer and South Dakota property, farm, home, and business owner to “tell the Governor and Legislature to protect private property rights from this unprecedented attack on the landowner rights.” South Dakota Representative Fred Deutsch retweeted the event in support of the event commenting “Join us.” 

DRG News: Carbon pipeline opponents and landowners’ rights supporters holding protest rally tomorrow in Capitol Rotunda in Pierre
Jody Heemstra, 7/5/23

“Opponents of proposed carbon capture pipelines that would cut through South Dakota are holding a protest rally tomorrow (June 6, 2023) at noon CT at the state Capitol Rotunda in Pierre,” DRG News reports. “…Thursday’s rally agenda includes messages from landowners and legislators. They say private companies shouldn’t be able to use eminent domain to access land for their private financial gain. The South Dakota Freedom Caucus wants Governor Kristi Noem to declare a “man-made emergency” and convene a special legislative session to address what they call “the escalating property rights crisis in South Dakota, fueled by foreign interests.”

DRG News: Summit Carbon Solutions reaches 70% voluntary easement mark in SD and project wide; Schoenbeck says there is state precedent for use of eminent domain
Jody Heemstra, 7/5/23

“Summit Carbon Solutions has reached the 70% milestone in acquiring voluntary easements in South Dakota and project wide for its proposed carbon capture pipeline,” DRG News reports. “Some opponents in South Dakota say the state legislature had opportunities to protect landowner rights during this year’s legislative session (2023), but Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown says state laws have little to do with it. Opponents have said the use of eminent domain by a private company for its own financial benefit should not be allowed, but Schoenbeck says a precedent has been set in South Dakota regarding the use of eminent domain by private companies… “Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank says the company is “proud to work with so many landowners who see the priority we are putting on farmers and their unique needs throughout the lifecycle of the pipeline.” He says they are “dedicated to favorable easements for landowners across the project, underscoring our mutual goal—a robust agricultural and ethanol industry.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Permit process advances for Summit’s second Iowa pipeline
JARED STRONG, 7/5/23

“State regulators have scheduled public meetings in two northern Iowa counties to discuss a proposed 31-mile addition to a carbon dioxide pipeline,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “Summit Carbon Solutions has been working for nearly two years on its original petition for a 680-mile pipeline through the northwestern part of the state. To avoid a likely delay of the project, the company has begun a new permit process for the extension instead of modifying its original proposal. The new branch would go 31 miles through Floyd and Mitchell counties to connect to an ethanol plant near the Minnesota border. The Sierra Club of Iowa, which opposes the pipeline, has asked the Iowa Utilities Board to consolidate the two processes… “The board has not ruled on the Sierra Club’s request, but it recently advanced the second permit process by scheduling meetings in the two affected counties on Aug. 8. The meetings represent the initial step of the process. One is set for noon at the Cedar River Complex in Osage for Mitchell County, and the other is set for 6 p.m. at the Gil & Donna White Youth Enrichment Center at the Floyd County Fairgrounds west of Charles City… “In a letter to the IUB this week submitted by Rep. Steven Holt, a total of 15 Republican state representatives and senators said expediting the permit process will harm the rights of hundreds of thousands of residents… “We need to err on the side of due process and fairness,” the letter said. “‘Due process’ means nothing if it does not include notice and an opportunity to be heard. Moving up hearings has the effect of reducing due process, as does eliminating the ability of landholders to reply to Summit.” That follows a similar letter submitted last month by Rep. Helena Hayes, a New Sharon Republican, on the behalf of a total of 11 Republican state legislators. Two of those also signed onto Holt’s letter. Sen. Rocky De Witt, R-Lawton, also filed an objection to the project because he opposes eminent domain for “a pipeline that does not benefit taxpayers.”

Casper Star Tribune: UW, carbon capture company begin statewide CO2 pipeline study
Aedan Hannon, 7/5/23

“The University of Wyoming’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute is partnering with a Michigan-based carbon capture company and energy industry groups to develop a significant expansion of Wyoming’s carbon capture and storage infrastructure,” the Casper Star Tribune reports. “The Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute and Carbon Solutions, a low-carbon energy research and development group, announced last month that they will co-lead the first step of the Wyoming Trails Carbon Hub project after receiving a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. With the Wyoming Trails Carbon Hub, Carbon Solutions, UW’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute and their partners aim to develop a statewide carbon capture and storage pipeline network that better connects carbon dioxide emitters with CO2 storage facilities, and which could eventually transport millions of metric tons of CO2 across Wyoming. “The big picture is a 10-year-plus vision for what it would look to capture all the CO2 in Wyoming,” Richard Middleton, the CEO and co-founder of Carbon Solutions, told the Tribune. Middleton and the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute’s Senior Reservoir Engineer Eric Robertson will lead the initial 18-month study of the commercial CO2 pipeline system. Alongside the Department of Energy, their work is backed by Casper-based Glenrock Energy, natural gas giant Williams and a handful of other energy and carbon capture and storage companies and groups, including the Wyoming Energy Authority. Wyoming’s current CO2 pipeline stretches in a diagonal line from ExxonMobil’s Shute Creek facility in the southwest corner of the state to the southeast corner of Montana. At various points offshoots link to ConocoPhillips’ Lost Cabin gas processing plant in Fremont County and enhanced oil recovery sites along the way. Oil and gas companies currently use the pipeline to boost production; they inject the CO2 into the Earth to push out more oil. While the pipeline stretches across Wyoming, it doesn’t connect with many of the CO2 emitters and potential carbon storage sites in the state. The Wyoming Trails Carbon Hub pipeline would change that, putting the state and companies in a better position to meet their carbon capture and storage goals… “Beginning this fall, Carbon Solutions and the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute will create the preliminary designs for a commercial statewide CO2 pipeline.” 

Capital and Main: California’s Decoy Carbon Capture Bill Shut Down Following Capital & Main Report
Aaron Cantú, 7/5/23

“A California state senate bill meant to clarify rules for carbon capture and storage was pulled from further consideration last week — in the wake of a Capital & Main report that the legislation was part of a possible ruse by the fossil fuel industry to roll back pipeline safety rules, according to an oil and gas lobbyist who described the scheme,” Capital and Main reports. “SB 438, carried by Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Merced), purports to shield companies from penalties if they produce oil while injecting carbon into the ground — which would run afoul of California’s law on carbon capture. A lobbyist had said that the bill would later be altered to allow the construction of carbon pipelines in California before federal safety rules are implemented… “In no way shape or form am I going to allow any lobbyist or industry to hijack my bill for their own use,” the senator told Capital and Main. “This is not how I conduct my business, and my time in the Legislature has shown that I engage in a transparent and collaborative manner.” “…In an interview, Theo Pahos, a lobbyist whose firm’s clients include gas power plant company Calpine and the California Independent Petroleum Association, told Capital & Main that he and unnamed others came up with an idea to deceive lawmakers and environmentalists through Caballero’s bill. He described how carbon capture advocates hatched a plan to push Caballero to alter the legislation before it was considered by the State Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee. The lobbyists’ real intention, Pahos explained, was to use the bill as a placeholder and later replace its language with a proposal to rescind a moratorium on intrastate pipelines. The moratorium is currently in place until a federal agency finalizes safety rules.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Center for Western Priorities: Analysis: Public comments overwhelmingly support BLM Public Lands Rule
7/5/23

“A new statistical analysis of more than 150,000 public comments finds nearly universal support for the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, colloquially known as the Public Lands Rule,” according to the Center for Western Priorities. “The Center for Western Priorities performed a sentiment analysis on a random sample of 10,000 public comments submitted to regulations.gov as of the morning of July 5, 2023, in the closing hours of a 90-day public comment period. CWP’s analysis found 92 percent of the comments encouraged the Interior Department to adopt the Public Lands Rule as written or strengthen its conservation measures. 4.5 percent of comments encouraged the department to withdraw or significantly weaken the rule. Another 3.5 percent of comments did not express a clear opinion in support or opposition to the rule. The statistical analysis has a margin of error of ±0.5 percent. “This analysis shows overwhelming—though not surprising—levels of support for the Biden administration’s conservation agenda,” said Jennifer Rokala, executive director at the Center for Western Priorities. “Americans know that public lands are central to the Western way of life, and that they will play a pivotal role in the nation’s response to the climate crisis. The support expressed during the comment period shows that the BLM is on the right track to restoring balance across the West.” BLM’s proposed Public Lands Rule would clarify how land managers across the West implement the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, known as FLPMA. The text of FLPMA’s “multiple use” mandate has always placed conservation alongside other uses of public lands, including mining, oil and gas drilling, and grazing. But BLM’s implementation of the law has never explicitly treated conservation as one of those uses. The proposed rule would bring BLM’s implementation of the law in line with its text and congressional intent by providing guidance on the use of FLPMA’s leasing authority to restore or conserve land to help BLM reach its goals. The proposed rule also increases the use of BLM’s land health standards across all BLM lands, rather than just rangelands, and clarifies procedures for the identification and designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), another pillar in the text of FLPMA. Despite a coordinated industry effort to kill or weaken the proposed rule, CWP’s analysis found limited opposition in the public comments, with an estimated 7,000 out of 152,000 comments encouraging BLM to withdraw or weaken the rule. By contrast, an estimated 138,000 comments supported the rule and its goals.”

STATE UPDATES

Colorado Sun: A leaky oil well poisoned a Colorado rancher’s herd, killing 6 cows. He still hasn’t been paid back.
Mark Jaffe, 7/5/23

“On a spring morning, Kevin Davis set out across the prairie in his truck to find out why his cattle weren’t turning up at his ranch’s drinking water trough down by the corral. It would be the start of a harrowing journey,” the Colorado Sun reports. It had rained the night before and on that June day in 2021 Davis, who counts five generations of his family in southeastern Colorado, was out on his Kiowa County spread to see if his 160 cows and calves had scattered. As he drove up to one of the oil and gas wells that dot the ranch he saw a moat of oil — a large spill — surrounding the site. Part of the fence was down and cows and calves were wandering around the pad. One cow was dead, oil coming out of its nose, others were just lying around. The hiss of escaping gas filled the air. Five more cows would die and Davis feared the entire herd had been contaminated. While there have been repeated clashes between suburbs and oil and gas development on the Front Range, ranching and oil and gas have comfortably cohabited out on the Eastern Plains for decades. But Davis found that when things go wrong in these rural, sparsely settled stretches it can be difficult to set them straight. It has been a struggle, Davis told the Sun, to get things fixed by the operator, Denver-based Western Operating Co., or clear answers from the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission, or ECMC, the regulatory agency previously known as the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. “I am not against oil and gas,” Davis told the Sun. “I just want it done right.” “…In the weeks that followed the cattle contamination, five more cows died. The remaining animals in the herd of about 160 “just laid around,” Davis told the Sun. “It looked like they had pneumonia,” Davis told the Sun. “We went through a bottle of Draxxin.” A 250-milliliter bottle of the antibiotic costs $750. “The vet said it wouldn’t do any good,” Davis told the Sun. “He said the oil settles in the lungs, liver and stomach lining and makes it look like pneumonia.” Davis sent half a dozen manure samples to Colorado State University’s veterinary disease lab in Rocky Ford. “They all test positive for hydrocarbons,” Gene Niles, a CSU associate professor who directs the lab, told the Sun.  The dilemma facing Davis was that his veterinarian told him that if one of the animals was contaminated, he’d have to assume they were all contaminated. The ranch is a “cow and calf” operation, birthing and selling calves. “I gave up the profit from my calves for that year,” Davis told the Sun.

KUNM: A special jet is monitoring New Mexico’s oil and gas emissions
Bryce Dix, 6/29/23

“A nonprofit organization looking to map North American methane emissions has started flying a special jet over New Mexico’s San Juan Basin to gather data on sources of pollution from the state’s booming oil and gas industry,” KUNM reports. “MethaneSAT wants to eventually use satellites to grab a big picture of methane emissions. But, as it turns out, it’s much harder to get an accurate understanding of what emissions look like on a regional level. That’s why it’s turning to jets… “Jon Goldstein is senior director of regulatory and legislative affairs at MethaneSAT. He told KUNM the jet is equipped with sensitive imaging and will take around 50 high-altitude flights over the next four months. It marks the first time methane emissions can be calculated over broad areas. He said it’s crucial because methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas.. “MethaneSAT is a subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund, which will use the data to advocate for reducing global methane emissions. The nonprofit is using these flights as a precursor to its scheduled satellite launch next year.”

EXTRACTION

CNN: Just Stop Oil protesters disrupt two matches at Wimbledon
Ben Church, 7/5/23

“Just Stop Oil activists disrupted two matches at Wimbledon on Wednesday after running onto Court 18 and sprinkling orange confetti and jigsaw puzzle pieces on the playing surface,” CNN reports. “In the first incident, security was able to quickly usher one activist away while another, wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt, sat crossed legged on the court before finally being taken off. Many in the crowd booed the activists as players Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro were forced to take their seats while ground staff cleared up the confetti. “Following an incident on Court 18, two individuals have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage and these individuals have now been removed from the Grounds,” Wimbledon tweeted after the incident… “In a statement after the first protest, Just Stop Oil said the two activists at Wimbledon were “demanding that the UK government halts all new licences and consents for oil, gas and coal.” In a statement published by Just Stop Oil, one of the protesters said: “Forget strawberries and cream, scientists are warning of impending food shortages, mass displacement and war.”

EuroNews: Greta Thunberg charged for disobeying police order after blocking oil tankers in Sweden
7/6/23

“Swedish prosecutors have charged Greta Thunberg with disobedience to law enforcement in connection with a climate protest in Malmö last month,” EuroNews reports. “The activist was detained with others after they stopped traffic in the oil terminal of the port in Malmö on 19 June, local newspaper Sydsvenskan reports. A short statement by Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday said a “young woman” was charged with disobedience because she “refused to comply with police orders to leave the scene” during the protest. The statement didn’t identify the woman, but Swedish Prosecution Authority spokeswoman Annika Collin confirmed that it was Greta. Sydsvenskan told EuroNews the 20-year-old Swedish activist will be called to trial at the end of July… “Led by youth group Ta tillbaka framtiden (Take Back the Future), protestors physically blocked oil tankers in the harbour. “The climate crisis is already a matter of life and death for countless people,” Greta tweeted during the protest. “We choose to not be bystanders, and instead physically stop the fossil fuel infrastructure. We are reclaiming the future.” When the protestors were ordered to move to allow vehicles to pass, Greta was among those who refused. She was then dragged away by police.”

Energy Intelligence Group: Does CCS Offer Fossil Fuels a Real Lifeline?
Philippe Roos, 7/5/23

“With COP28 nearing, many in the oil industry keep repeating that emissions are the problem, not fossil fuels, and that the most “pragmatic” approach to climate change is therefore to capture as much carbon as possible rather than to focus on cutting oil and gas demand,” Energy Intelligence Group reports. “…But their models clearly show that those only come as an addition to what should be the world’s priority — massively phasing down fossil fuels. Energy Intelligence’s review of the main climate models shows that those targeting 1.5°C without phasing out fossil fuels assume around 9 billion tons per year of carbon capture and removal by 2050. This would complement 26 billion tons/yr achieved by a 72% drop in fossil fuels supply between now and midcentury — or minus 86% for coal, minus 67% for oil and minus 56% for gas. COP28 President-Designate and Head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Sultan al-Jaber is much more ambitious for carbon capture and removal. He said in a recent speech that the world could remove “up to 25 billion tons” of carbon emissions annually. Assuming carbon neutrality remains the goal, that would allow fossil fuels to fall by only 25% between now and 2050 if coal’s market share was to remain constant, or for oil and gas to grow by 36% if coal was phased out, Energy Intelligence calculations show. The problem with a 25 billion ton/yr, or even a 9 billion ton/yr industry, is that it would be physically bigger than any existing industry and would need to be set up in just 25 years, which critics find unrealistic. The entire oil and gas sector, for example, yields around 7 billion tons/yr, coal 8 billion tons/yr and agriculture 9 billion tons/yr of produce. To address residual emissions and the likely temperature overshoot, models use a combination of plain CCS to prevent additional emissions and carbon removal to reduce existing carbon concentration in the atmosphere… “The IPCC’s 1.5°C scenarios equally predict the quasi-phaseout of coal and oil, but are less pessimistic for gas, which would still account for 10% of primary energy supply in 2100, down from a quarter today. This would involve more CCS, at 16 billion tons/yr, than the 11 billion tons/yr in Shell’s scenario. Negative emissions would be achieved between 2050 and 2060 and reach minus 10 billion tons/yr in 2100, in line with Shell’s 12 billion tons/yr.”

DW.com: The best way to capture carbon and store it
Ajit Niranjan, 7/5/23

“Carbon capture technology is needed to clean up industries like cement and chemicals — but today it is mainly used to suck more oil out of the ground,” DW.com reports. “A key tool to stop climate change is costly and has for decades not worked as well as fossil fuel companies said it would… “There are cases where capturing carbon makes a lot of sense — but we also need to push all the options to avoid CO2 in the first place, Georg Kobiela, an expert in cleaning up industry at the environmental nonprofit Germanwatch, told DW.com. “Some applications can be just a fig leaf for keeping fossil fuel business models alive.” “…But when it comes to capturing carbon from dirtier gas streams, like those from factories and power plants, CCS projects have repeatedly overpromised and underdelivered… “Activists have called out energy companies for failing to capture much carbon while at the same time drilling for oil and lobbying against laws to cut fossil fuel production… “The danger is not just that the technology does not seem to work as advertised, Genevieve Gunther, founder of End Climate Silence, a campaign group pushing journalists to cover climate change with more urgency, told DW.com. CCS also gives companies fighting to burn fossil fuels access to policymakers and a “social license to operate,” she told DW.com, referring to public acceptance of their business model. “They’re not using carbon capture as a climate solution. They’re using it to actually enhance extraction.” “…A study in 2020 found more than 100 of the 149 CCS projects planned to be operational by 2020 have been scrapped or placed on indefinite hold. “There was a lot of bad faith acting,” Bataille told DW.com. “A very honest, underfunded effort went along with a whole lot of greenwashing on top.” 

Canadian Press: UNESCO report on Wood Buffalo park shows urgency of threats, First Nation says
BOB WEBER, 7/5/23

“A report from a United Nations body on environmental threats to Canada’s largest national park shows the urgency of the problems, says a spokesman for the First Nation that originally brought concerns about Wood Buffalo National Park to UNESCO,” the Canadian Press reports. “The document, released last week and the latest in series of examinations of the park on the Alberta-Northwest Territories boundary, reaffirms threats from dams, oil sands development and climate change… “The Mikisew Cree brought concerns about Wood Buffalo, a World Heritage site, before UNESCO almost a decade ago… “They also feared growing oil sands tailing ponds posed a risk to water quality… “Five of its 17 recommendations pertain to the oil sands, including a call for a risk assessment of tailings ponds, reform to environmental monitoring, plans to reclaim the ponds that don’t threaten the park and reviewing new projects in light of what’s already been developed. Although most of its recommendations have been made before, the new report suggests timelines. The risk assessment should be done by the end of next year; tailings reclamation plans should be complete before 2026; and land use plans should be “expedited.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Bloomberg: California Quietly Shelves $15 Billion Pension Divestment Bill
Eliyahu Kamisher, 7/3/23

“The California State Assembly has shelved legislation that would have forced the country’s two largest pension funds to divest an estimated $15 billion from oil and gas companies, a major blow to environmental advocates who hoped the funds could be a national model for the divestment movement,” Bloomberg reports. “…The legislation has been converted to a two-year bill, meaning lawmakers will have the opportunity to address the measure in the next session. “I’m committed to bringing this bill up again next year,” the bill’s lead author, Senator Lena Gonzalez of Los Angeles County, told Bloomberg. Under the proposal, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers Retirement System would have been required to remove assets of large oil and gas companies by 2031 and halt any new investments by 2024. Marcie Frost, CEO of Calpers, previously signaled her opposition, saying the bill would “do nothing to combat the dangers of climate change.” “We respect assembly member McKinnor’s decision to take more time to understand the impact of the bill to our pension funds and members and employers,” Calpers spokesperson Brad Pacheco told Bloomberg, referring to Tina McKinnor, head of the Assembly Committee on Public Employment and Retirement, where the legislation was held. The decision marks the second year in a row a pension fund divestment bill has passed the state Senate only to die in the lower house amid opposition from the funds, which manage a combined $822.3 billion in assets.”

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Enbridge: Prioritizing Preparation, the First Step in Disaster Recovery
7/5/23

“Houstonians have a giving nature,” according to Enbridge. “…At Enbridge, safety is not just a core value-it’s the very foundation of our business-and we see preparedness as an essential component of safety. That’s why we’re supporting today’s establishment of the Greater Houston Disaster Alliance by the United Way of Greater Houston and the Greater Houston Community Foundation. The alliance will work to strengthen year-round overall disaster preparedness, ensuring that the greater Houston region has the social service network and systems in place to respond rapidly, equitably and effectively in times of disaster. As part of our support, Enbridge is donating $250,000 per year for three years to the Disaster Alliance, as is fellow energy company Phillips 66-for a combined investment of $1.5 million. A news conference was held today by both non-profits, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, and representatives of Enbridge and Phillips 66 to make the announcement. “It’s only a matter of time before the Houston region will be impacted again and the Greater Houston Disaster Alliance gives us the opportunity to take a more proactive and effective approach to disaster recovery and resiliency,” says Stephen Maislin, the GHCF’s president and CEO. “Having the generous support of Enbridge and Phillips 66 is extremely meaningful and we are grateful to them for prioritizing the safety and well-being of our community.”

OPINION

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: A voice for protecting property rights
Carl Perry, House of Representatives, Aberdeen, 7/2/23

“PUC, Landowners and Constituents, I am respectively requesting that the SD PUC carefully reviews Summit Carbon’s application. Please do not allow this application to move forward in September if construction and operation of the pipeline will produce minimal adverse effects on the environment and/or the citizens. We are fortunate that the SD Public Utilities Commission is an outstanding group,” Carl Perry writes for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. “If built as Carbon Solutions intends its pipeline will come within 750’ or less of constituents. They do not want this pipeline which brings with it the potential for loss of life in the event it leaks or ruptures. CO2 pipelines differ from oil and gas, according to the Pipeline Safety Trust, they are more prone to rupture. We also do not want carbon sequestration, which is not well-regulated in South Dakota CO2 pipelines have never been constructed at the lengths proposed and raise grave concerns because they are under-regulated and pose numerous safety hazards and land use issues. Laying this pipe at 4’ when the frost line is 4’ to 6’ just seems to be problematic. I am for Property Rights, I join the request  ‘No Eminent Domain for Private Gain.’ Please protect Brown County and all South Dakota residents. Doing nothing is not an option!  We need to work together for Property Rights!”

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Stand your ground? Not when it comes to CO2 pipelines
Jeff Barth, Sioux Falls, 7/2/23

“How many times have you said the Pledge of Allegiance? If you are like me, it is hundreds if not thousands of times. Ever think about the ending? “With Liberty and Justice for All.” The CO2 pipeline being surveyed to cross South Dakota farmland threatens the very idea of “liberty and justice for all,” Jeff Barth writes for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. “Why? Because like it or not, South Dakota is letting CO2 pipeline surveyors show up on anyone’s farm, unannounced, move their heavy equipment across farmer’s fields tearing up crops as they go and then drill.  All this as a prelude to trenching across fields to install a liquid CO2 pipeline which will disrupt and freeze the soil around the pipe thereby reducing production all along the miles of pipeline – permanently. What about the Liberty of an American farmer to do with his/her own land, what he/she wants to do with it? Where is it that we lose that Liberty to multi-billion-dollar corporations so they can make a buck and farmers can foot a permanent reduction in their production and in the value of their farm? Where is the Justice that allows teams of lawyers and their hired guns to kick you off YOUR OWN property so they can profit? What happens to your Second Amendment that keeps these folks safe? Why can’t landowners defend their land? Stand your Ground? Not in South Dakota. Not even if you are standing on your own ground! These CO2 pipelines are a scheme to pump US taxpayer cash into the pockets of out of staters and foreign owners. There is no benefit to South Dakota, but the burden is shouldered by South Dakota farmers.  Meanwhile, there is not even a whisper from most Republicans, Democrats, or even our Governor.  Perhaps the hundred or so farms and farmers aren’t a big enough constituency for the Governor or elected officials to care about. Liberty and Justice for all?  Not for South Dakota farmers and their families or their future generations.”

Common Dreams: Biden’s Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Titan Submarine Disaster
Bill Kitchen is an activist based in upstate New York, 7/1/23

“When President Biden agreed to the debt deal in May, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) became his pipeline. Climate scientists tell us it’s exactly the wrong thing to be building in 2023 but the president fast-tracked it anyway. He may claim that his hands were tied by Manchin and the Republicans who were willing to hold the economy hostage if they didn’t get their way. But no one is tying the President’s hands when it comes to an important safety measure regarding MVP,” Bill Kitchen writes for Common Dreams. “For more than 50 years there’s been a federal law on the books that says all pipe must have an external coating that is “sufficiently ductile to resist cracking.” The purpose of the coating is to prevent corrosion over the many years and decades that the pipeline will be in service. The reason it has to be sufficiently ductile (flexible) to resist cracking is because 40-foot sections of pipe flex quite a bit when they are moved from the factory to the pipeyard to the right of way and finally into a ditch. The factory-applied coating is designed to flex but it loses its flexibility, as well as other qualities if it sits out in the sun for too long. The National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators (NAPCA) says that the coating shouldn’t be exposed to the sun for more than six months but the MVP pipe was coated 6 or 7 years ago and most of it has been exposed to the sun in pipeyards or along right of ways ever since. The January 2020 issue of Corrosion Management reported (starting on p. 16) that the coating on Keystone XL pipe was “no longer fit for purpose” after it had sat out in the sun for years just as MVP’s pipe has. Every piece of KXL pipe that was tested failed the flexibility test and had cracks in the coating. Cracked coating is obviously no longer corrosion-proof… “MVP wants to get the pipe buried as soon as possible and they will no doubt claim that either the coating is fine and doesn’t need to be recoated, or that they can somehow properly recoat it in the field. It would be absurd to believe what they say… “There are only two ways to properly address the coating problem. Either replace all the pipe with new, recently coated pipe or ship all the pipe in the field back to the plant for stripping, cleaning, and recoating, which is what a Keystone XL pipeline manager said was necessary, because the coating process is quite involved and can only properly occur in a factory setting… [President Biden] can enforce the safety rule and ensure that the coating is sufficiently ductile to resist cracking or he can ignore all the warnings like the captain of the Titan did…and then someday maybe send his thoughts and prayers.”