EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 7/7/23

PIPELINE NEWS

• Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota landowners call on Noem, lawmakers to pick a side in pipeline battle

• South Dakota Searchlight: Hundreds rally in Pierre against eminent domain for carbon pipelines

• Harvest Public Media: Tax credits jump start Midwest carbon capture projects — but the cost will be in the billions

• Iowa Capital Dispatch: Judge acquits pipeline surveyor of trespassing charge

• S&P Global Platts: Environmentalists seek to hold off Mountain Valley Pipeline work in national forest

• Roanoke Times: Law that fast-tracks Mountain Valley Pipeline challenged

• NC Newsline: MVP Southgate natural gas project could revive previous eminent domain claims on private land

• In These Times: How A Utility Giant Tried (and Failed) to Build a Pipeline Under Brooklyn

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: U.S. carbon emissions fall for first time in Biden era

• E&E News: Debate Rages Over BLM Public Lands Rule  

• Forbes: Biden’s War On Oil And Gas Shifts To A Permian Basin Lizard 

STATE UPDATES

• InsideClimate News: Carbon Capture Faces a Major Test in North Dakota

• KFYR: North Dakota Industrial Commission approves pair of enhanced oil recovery projects

• Associated Press: California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s climate agenda highlights tensions with environmental groups

• WPLN: ‘Further pollution is unacceptable’: Nashville leaders decry TVA Kingston project

• Law360: Colo. Energy Biz Sues BLM Over Delayed Drilling Permits 

EXTRACTION

• Associated Press: Climate talks chief urges oil producing states to slash emissions

• Carbon Herald: Exxon Reaches 5 Million Tons Milestone Following New Carbon Capture Agreement With Nucor

• Globe and Mail: LNG Canada CEO bullish on expansion of export terminal

• Guardian: Do Shell chief’s claims about cutting oil output being dangerous stack up?

OPINION

• Spencer Daily Reporter: Letter to the Editor: Due process in question at the Iowa Utilities Board

• GoErie: Pennsylvania can curb pollution, protect public health by reducing methane emissions now
  

PIPELINE NEWS

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota landowners call on Noem, lawmakers to pick a side in pipeline battle
Dominik Dausch, 7/6/23

“Landowners from across South Dakota and abroad converged Thursday on the state Capitol during a landmark rally against carbon dioxide pipelines,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports. “The major show of support comes after state legislators ― about a dozen of whom were in attendance― called on Gov. Kristi Noem to convene a special legislative session concerning the threat of eminent domain, CO2 pipelines and property rights. That same message was echoed in the Capitol rotunda, where hundreds of farmers, ranchers and landowners opposed to the pipelines filled the stairs behind and lined the balconies above the main speakers at the rally. “As farmers and ranchers, we’re often too busy to show up to things like this,” Collin Duprel, a Libertarian who ran against Rep. Dusty Johnson in the U.S. House, said in his speech. “We shouldn’t have to be here in the Capitol, begging the governor to call a special session.” Surpassing the significant physical presence in Pierre, rally organizers also announced they would submit more than 2,000 signed petitions to Noem’s office, asking the governor to call for a special session. Jared Bossly, a Brown County landowner whom Summit Carbon accused of making violent threats against surveyors in May ― a claim he addressed and dismissed ― promptly delivered the stack of petitions to the governor’s office after the rally ended. Mark Lapka, a farmer from Leola and one of the main voices speaking out against the pipeline company, told the Argus Leader the Thursday rally is a significant sign of progress in the anti-pipeline movement. Lapka told the Argus Leader t landowners had a difficult time organizing last year due to the demands of the South Dakota harvest and other farm duties. “There wasn’t near as many of us showing up in here last session because it was a hard winter. Harder for folks because most farmers have cattle,” Lapka told the Argus Leader. “I think [pipeline companies] really viewed us as a vocal minority, when, in actuality, that is not the case.”

South Dakota Searchlight: Hundreds rally in Pierre against eminent domain for carbon pipelines
JOSHUA HAIAR, 7/6/23

“About 250 people descended on the state Capitol on Thursday, demanding a prohibition against carbon capture pipeline companies gaining access to land against a landowner’s will,” South Dakota Searchlight reports. “Lawmakers, landowners and concerned citizens from across the political spectrum called on Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to call a special legislative session to address the issue. She did not attend the rally. “Governor Noem, you say you stand with us,” said rally speaker Ed Fischbach, an Aberdeen-area farmer whose land is near a proposed pipeline route. “We need your actions to speak louder than your words.” The rally comes amid a heated public debate over the expansion of carbon capture pipeline infrastructure… “However, critics argue that the use of a court process called “eminent domain” – which one of the pipeline companies is already pursuing, to gain land access from dozens of unwilling landowners – is a violation of property rights. “This is going to set precedents,” said Rep. Oren Lesmeister, D-Parade, in a speech to the crowd. “And if we don’t stop this now, what’s that going to mean for eminent domain for private gain in the future?” Some attendees wore T-shirts that read “No eminent domain” and held signs asking “Gov. Noem, what if this was your land?” Some argued the use of eminent domain by carbon capture pipelines is improper, because carbon pipelines do not deliver a product for the public as some other eminent domain projects do, such as crude oil pipelines, water pipelines and electrical power lines… “At the end of the rally, affected landowner Jared Bossly and state Rep. Karla Lems, R-Canton, delivered about 2,000 petition signatures calling for a special session to the governor’s office… “House Majority Leader Will Mortenson, R-Pierre, did not attend the rally. He told Searchlight in a statement that while he “led the charge for farmers and ranchers during this year’s session,” unless “we get agreement with the Senate on some proposals, we shouldn’t call a special session and neither should the governor. It would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and legislator time.” 

Harvest Public Media: Tax credits jump start Midwest carbon capture projects — but the cost will be in the billions
Erin Jordan, The Gazette, and Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Harvest Public Media, 7/6/23

“On any given day about 175,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide — equivalent to the emissions from 38,000 vehicles — stream out from Adkins Energy facility,” Harvest Public Media reports. “This northwest Illinois plant turns corn into ethanol, long touted as a renewable energy source. Now the plant is thinking of ways to go greener. If a pilot project is successful, the Adkins Energy plant will capture all that CO2 and turn it into green methanol — an in-demand renewable fuel… “What makes this pilot and other carbon capture projects — including controversial CO2 pipelines — possible are federal tax credits worth up to $100 billion over 10 years… “Carbon tax credits are a “challenge to industry that says ‘if you can do this thing that makes sense for the climate, the U.S. government will pay you potentially tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars in funding for solutions,’” Adkins’ Deich told HPM… “In our modeling, we came up with a number closer to $100 billion over a decade because the tax credit is generous enough that many existing sources of CO2 may find it economical to pursue carbon capture and sequestration,” Neil Mehrotra, assistant vice president and policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and a co-author of the Brookings paper, told HPM… “All three projects face vocal opposition from landowners and environmental groups because of concerns about safety, forced easements and whether CO2 pipelines are the right approach to head off climate change. Steve Ellis, the president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, told HPM the 45Q tax credit has become so generous and the amount of CO2 required to be sequestered has dropped so much that the U.S. government may not be making a big enough dent in greenhouse gas emissions to be worth the cost of the program… “Another tax credit targeting CO2 emissions is 45Z, which provides up to $1 per gallon for production of clean transportation fuels. This program is brand-new and the Internal Revenue Service still is clarifying how facilities would get the money. But it’s causing some developers — even pipeline companies primarily interested in 45Q — to do a double take. After all, 45Z allows them to make money from the CO2 they’ve collected rather than just bury it in the ground.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Judge acquits pipeline surveyor of trespassing charge
JARED STRONG, 7/6/23

“A district court judge dismissed a trespassing charge against a carbon dioxide pipeline company’s land surveyor because there was no evidence he was told to avoid the property, according to court records,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “…State law allows the surveys after pipeline companies hold informational meetings about their proposals and send notices to landowners and tenants via certified mail. Judges have differed in recent months about whether the law is constitutional, and one of the rulings has been appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. District Associate Judge Shawna Ditsworth did not address the constitutionality of the law in her recent ruling that acquitted Larsen of the trespassing charge. “The State failed to bring forward any evidence that Mr. Larsen was told to previously leave the property or not to enter the property,” Ditsworth wrote. Instead, it was another group of presumed Summit surveyors who were told to leave in March 2022 by a tenant of the Dickinson County land, court records show. A prosecutor argued that Larsen “had to have had notice” that he was not to go onto the land because of the previous encounter involving other people, but Ditsworth was unconvinced. “Accordingly, the court concludes that a judgment of acquittal must be entered,” she wrote.

S&P Global Platts: Environmentalists seek to hold off Mountain Valley Pipeline work in national forest
Maya Weber, 7/6/23

“Environmental groups have asked the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to stay the recent authorization for the 304-mile, 2 Bcf/d Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross the Jefferson National Forest,” S&P Global Platts reports. “…With work imminent, the Wilderness Society July 3 asked the 4th Circuit to stay approvals granted by the US Forest Service, pending its challenge of the agency’s decisions (Wilderness Society v. US Forest Service, US Bureau of Land Management, 23-1594). That motion adds to the pending request for a stay by a coalition of environmental groups in a case challenging the federal Endangered Species Act documents for the project (Appalachian Voices v. Department of Interior, 23-1384)… “The crux of their case, the motion said, is that Mountain Valley cannot be built across the forest “without violating at least eleven standards” in the management plan for the national forest “that are intended to protect soil, water, riparian, visual, old growth and recreational resources.” The groups argue they are likely to prevail on the merits of the underlying case because the Forest Service violated the Natiional Forest Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedure Act, “at times directly flouting this court’s decisions” in a two prior cases rejecting the Forest Service permissions… “Mountain Valley declined to comment on the pending litigation. In court filings, Mountain Valley and the US agencies have asked the court to dismiss the litigation because the debt bill stripped the court of jurisdiction and rendered moot the petitioners’ claims.”

Roanoke Times: Law that fast-tracks Mountain Valley Pipeline challenged
Laurence Hammack, 7/7/23

“Construction crews were back at work on Thursday along an unfinished Mountain Valley Pipeline section south of Boones Mill in Franklin County. Environmental groups have challenged the legality of federal legislation that allowed the project to resume,” the Roanoke Times reports. “In asserting its power over that of the courts, Congress violated the separation of powers doctrine when it parachuted in to save the Mountain Valley Pipeline. That is what environmental groups contend in written arguments filed with a federal appeals court. Proving it, however, may be another matter. “It’s a very tricky legal question,” Evan Zoldan, a professor at the University of Toledo’s law school who has read the legal briefs in a case that raises a fundamental question, told the Times: Did Congress breach the U.S. Constitution when it passed a law that fast-tracks completion of the controversial pipeline?… “A section of that law that had nothing to do with its primary purpose — raising the federal debt ceiling and averting a budget crisis — ordered federal agencies to issue all permits for the project while allowing it to sidestep any remaining legal challenges. Lawyers for Mountain Valley recently asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss two pending lawsuits, arguing that the law strips the court of its jurisdiction… “Zoldan, who teaches legislation and administrative law and is an expert on the separation of powers, told the Times the Fourth Circuit is being asked to clarify the limits on Congress’s ability to redefine a court’s jurisdiction… “Generally, a “rule of decision” means a directive from lawmakers on what a court must do. “But what it means precisely is the $64,000 question,” Zoldan told the Times — a question that is now being raised anew. “If the effect of the statute is to guarantee the outcome for a particular party in a pending case, it stops looking like Congressional action and starts looking a lot more like what courts are supposed to do, which is to resolve pending cases,” he told the Times.

NC Newsline: MVP Southgate natural gas project could revive previous eminent domain claims on private land
LISA SORG, 7/7/23

“Last October, the 155 or so landowners living in the route of the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate project were able to relax for the first time in more than four years. MVP, LLC, the primary owner of the Southgate and main gas pipeline project, dropped its eminent domain cases in federal court, the viability of the project then in doubt,” NC Newsline reports. “Federal court documents from the eminent domain cases show that MVP, LLC had tried to wrest 303 acres — some in the form of temporary easements, others permanent — for the Southgate pipeline, access roads, and rights-of-way. Perry Slade, who would have lost more than eight acres in Alamance County to the pipeline, had watched as those around her voluntarily agreed to sell easements on their land. Had everyone stuck together and forced MVP’s hand, she told Newsline, they could have at worst, delayed, and at best, thwarted the project… “But now the Southgate project is again in play, and with it, more legal entanglements, arguments for and against, and potentially a revival of the eminent domain cases… “It originally was scheduled to be finished and in service this month, but construction hasn’t started, nor has it received the necessary state permits, such as those covering water quality and sedimentation and erosion. The pipeline owners recently asked federal energy regulators to grant them a three-year extension to finish… “Landowners who reached settlements with MVP Southgate without eminent domain are also stuck. In recent written comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, landowner Melissa Hairston wrote that the settlements allowed MVP Southgate to use land for temporary construction easements, based on the original pipeline completion deadlines. With a three-year extension, these landowners are legally restricted from most uses of those easements through 2026. “This will place an unfair and unwarranted financial loss to affected property owners by tying up land for the extended time that MVP requires for temporary construction easements,” Hairston wrote. “MVP’s request for an extension of the completion date in effect constitutes a unilateral attempt by MVP to change the settlement terms without the agreement of Landowners.”

In These Times: How A Utility Giant Tried (and Failed) to Build a Pipeline Under Brooklyn
SARA VAN HORN, 7/6/23

“In February 2016, small advertisements appeared in the back pages of a Brooklyn newspaper notifying the public of a coming rate hike in energy bills — to the tune of $245 million over a year-long period. Crammed beneath movie listings and accompanied by a table of decimals, small print and legal jargon, the ads said nothing about how British utility giant National Grid would use these millions,” In These Times reports. “By November 2019, when Brooklyn residents learned the hike would pay for seven miles of a new fracked gas transmission pipeline beneath their neighborhoods, construction was two years along; large portions of the Metropolitan Reliability Infrastructure Project had been quietly laid under the streets from Brownsville to East Williamsburg. Activists dubbed it the North Brooklyn Pipeline because it would funnel Pennsylvanian fracked gas beneath five densely populated Brooklyn neighborhoods… “Despite a ​“delayed start to resistance efforts,” as another organizer puts it, the pipeline will go no further. For the past three years, a group of activists and community organizations — known as the No North Brooklyn Pipeline Alliance— have led a massive and vibrant campaign against National Grid. The group has used a wide range of tactics, from legal action to bike protests. At least 12 activists were arrested for blockades that delayed construction, and hundreds of community members joined a gas bill strike by refusing to pay their full bills.” “…For advocates like Meagan Burton, senior attorney at Earthjustice, which provided legal support to the No North Brooklyn Pipeline Alliance, this toxic legacy makes the victory more important. Burton puts it this way: ​“It’s an incredible win for folks on the ground that actually have to live next to this pipeline and suffer all of the environmental harms.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: U.S. carbon emissions fall for first time in Biden era
Benjamin Storrow, 7/7/23

“Global carbon dioxide emissions were roughly flat through the first five months of the year, with rising greenhouse gas production from China and India offsetting deep declines in emissions from the United States and Europe,” E&E News reports. “The findings from Carbon Monitor, an academic emissions tracker, are consistent with experts’ view that the world is entering a period of plateauing emissions. They think a rise in clean energy generation will be offset by growth in total global energy demand. Carbon Monitor estimates global CO2 emissions were 15.1 billion tons through the end of May, or 0.3 percent higher than the same time last year. Emissions were 1.6 percent higher than that same five month period in 2019, prior to the onset of Covid-19. A mild winter in the Northern Hemisphere and a sluggish economy played a big role. U.S. emissions fell by 5 percent, or 105 million tons, compared to the same time last year. If it holds, the decline would be the first of the Biden administration and would greatly exceed the average annual decline of 1.7 percent recorded by the United States between 2011 and 2020. But the drop had more to do with the weather than President Joe Biden’s carbon-cutting policies, Ben King, an analyst who tracks emissions at the Rhodium Group, told E&E… “U.S. emissions from power plants were down 27 million tons, or 4.5 percent, compared to 2022 levels, as the country continued its shift away from coal in favor of natural gas and renewables. Renewables generated more power than coal through the first five months of the year. Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act likely will spur further reductions, but those will take several years to materialize as new projects are built and brought online, King told E&E. China, by contrast, saw a mixed start to the year. Economic growth is up following an end to pandemic-era lockdowns. The International Energy Agency estimates China will account for 60 percent of global oil demand growth this year after setting a new monthly record for oil consumption in April.”

E&E News: Debate Rages Over BLM Public Lands Rule  
Scott Streater, 7/5/23

“The oil and gas industry, conservation leaders, sporting groups and various other stakeholders are making a last-minute push for and against the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed public lands rule as the public comment period concludes Wednesday,” E&E News reports. “BLM received nearly 175,000 public comments, with more expected before the close of business Wednesday, on the draft rule that proposes among other things to elevate conservation to equal footing with other authorized land uses such as livestock grazing, mining and energy development. BLM has argued that the proposed rule is designed to keep working lands usable in the face of unprecedented threats from climate warming, including drought conditions gripping much of the West, the spread of invasive species and wildfires that each year scorch tens of millions of acres. But critics like the oil and gas trade groups view the proposed rule as little more than a thinly veiled attempt by the Biden administration to remove livestock grazing, recreation, energy development and other authorized uses of BLM lands in the name of conservation.”

Forbes: Biden’s War On Oil And Gas Shifts To A Permian Basin Lizard 
David Blackmon, 7/5/23

“As part of a massive, pre-holiday weekend document dump by the Biden administration on June 30, the domestic oil and gas industry received an unwelcome gift from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), one that shifts Mr. Biden’s continuing war on oil and gas to the Permian Basin,” Forbes reports. “In a notice published in the Federal Register, USFWS said it has determined a need to list the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, long a topic of concern and controversy, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Though a day past deadline, the notice of proposed listing will presumably satisfy a court order requiring the agency to issue a decision no later than June 29. It also upends the conduct of a longstanding conservation plan related to the Lizard, agreed-to in the midst of the Barack Obama administration and most recently updated in 2020, the final year of the Trump presidency.” 

STATE UPDATES

InsideClimate News: Carbon Capture Faces a Major Test in North Dakota
Dan Gearino, 7/6/23

“Energy companies have talked for years about how carbon capture technology will preserve their ability to burn coal and natural gas in a world that needs to drastically cut carbon emissions,” InsideClimate News reports. “…So far, attempts to build power plants using this technology, often known by the acronyms CCS or CCUS, have cost billions of dollars and usually failed to work as advertised, as my colleague Nicholas Kusnetz has reported. Despite this track record, the Inflation Reduction Act includes an increase in carbon capture funding, inserted into the bill at the insistence of Sen. Joe Manchin, D- West Virginia. To better understand this announcement, I spoke with Emily Grubert, an energy systems expert and a professor at the University of Notre Dame. She has deep knowledge of this subject, including from the year, ending last summer, she spent helping to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Carbon Management. My main takeaway from our interview was that carbon capture makes sense in hard-to-decarbonize sectors like heavy industry, but it makes little sense as retrofitting for old power plants. One of the reasons is that carbon capture is an electricity-intensive process, so a plant operator is going to need a large supply of electricity to run the system, which adds to the overall costs and means that the plant will cost more to operate than widely available alternatives in the market… “The reason that a lot of states that are coal producers are excited about CCS is because it increases the amount of coal you need to produce. And I think that the point that I would like to make to people is basically this is inherently more expensive [compared to a plant without CCS]. Do you have an idea of what the back-of-the-envelope math is? Like, how might the cost of a megawatt-hour from this plant compare to the cost from this plant after a CCS retrofit?… “I’m not exactly sure what the efficiencies are, but ballpark, [the cost difference would be] maybe 50 to 100 percent more, so maybe up to doubling it. [Editor’s note: Inside Climate News asked Minnkota Power for an estimate on the cost of electricity from the plant. A spokesman said that federal tax credits, including a credit that pays $85 per ton of carbon that is captured, “will cover both the capital and operating costs of the facility” and allow the plant to sell electricity at a competitive price.]”

KFYR: North Dakota Industrial Commission approves pair of enhanced oil recovery projects
Michael Anthony, 7/5/23

“…A pair of projects focusing on “enhanced oil recovery” in Bottineau County were approved by the Industrial Commission last week,” KFYR reports. “Production company Resonance Exploration submitted permit applications focusing on two oil pools near Landa. Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms told KFYR the company plans on injecting water through a lateral, which will increase pressure and allow more oil to be captured. Helms told KFYR he’s hopeful the project will lead to increased production throughout north-central North Dakota… “Besides water, companies are also researching the use of natural gas and other materials for enhanced oil recovery. Helms has previously said enhanced oil recovery would be needed to hold production steady for the long term.”

Associated Press: California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s climate agenda highlights tensions with environmental groups
ADAM BEAM, 7/5/23

“In the rush to cut California’s pollution and rid the state of fossil fuels, the most intriguing confrontation hasn’t involved business leaders or the oil industry. Instead, it’s simmering tensions between the state’s robust environmental advocacy wing and California’s progressive governor who considers himself one of their own,” the Associated Press reports. “…Yet in the early days of Newsom’s second term in office, some of his loudest criticism has come from inside the proverbial house. Newsom and environmental groups mostly agree on the big things, like rules banning the sale of new gas-powered cars and the goal of making California carbon neutral. It’s how to get there that’s causing friction… “Newsom wanted major changes to the state’s permitting and building process, saying it was taking far too long to build the kind of projects needed to update the state’s aging water delivery system and boost clean energy to meet the state’s insatiable demand for electricity. But some Democrats in the Legislature and their environmental allies opposed the proposal, saying Newsom’s plan — developed over the past year without their input — did not include enough protections for the state’s fragile ecosystems, the threatened species that depend on them, and the low-income and tribal communities that live in them. The disagreement was so sharp that Newsom threatened to veto the entire budget, but both sides came to a compromise. That compromise cleared the Legislature on Wednesday, and Newsom is expected to sign it into law next week. But the battle lines have been drawn. Anthony York, Newsom’s senior adviser for communications, told AP the environmental movement has mostly been about saying “no” to things to stop dirty projects that cause harmful pollution. Newsom, York said, wants to change that mindset… “Wednesday, tribal and environmental leaders rallied at the state Capitol to urge Newsom to change the state’s water rights system and adopt rules to keep more water in the rivers to protect threatened species of fish.”

WPLN: ‘Further pollution is unacceptable’: Nashville leaders decry TVA Kingston project
CAROLINE EGGERS, 7/7/23

“The Tennessee Valley Authority is planning a gas plant and pipeline project in Kingston. Tennessee residents, over many years, will pay for it. But should they?,” WPLN reports. “The fossil fuel project is not a good investment, economically or morally, according to Nashville’s political leaders. Mayor John Cooper’s office formally opposed the Kingston project this week in written comments to TVA, citing long-term economic risks, climate change and the viability of clean alternatives.  “If we are to ask our city’s residents to pay for a major investment in replacing (Kingston), it should be in renewables and storage,” the office wrote. “TVA needs to serve as a leader in addressing the existential threat of climate change.” Under TVA’s Kingston proposal, Enbridge would construct a 122-mile pipeline that cut through eight counties… “The project will also include a 122-mile pipeline, which the mayor’s office said, as it did in comments on TVA’s 1.5-GW Cumberland gas project, would “stand as a stark symbol that TVA is doubling down on the fuels that have led to our climate crisis.” “…The lifespan of the proposed plants undermines any cost-based argument made by the TVA,” the mayor’s office comments read. “Leaving Nashvillians on the hook to pay for further pollution is unacceptable.” “…The Nashville Electric Service board has also publicly opposed the Kingston project. The board submitted comments last week asking TVA to focus on renewables to make Nashville more competitive with other big American cities.”

Law360: Colo. Energy Biz Sues BLM Over Delayed Drilling Permits 
Madeline Lyskawa, 7/5/23

 “A Colorado oil and natural gas company slapped the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with a complaint in federal court Monday claiming the agency has failed to process its drilling application in a timely manner, in violation of the federal Administrative Procedures Act,” Law360 reports. “Gunnison Energy LLP, an oil and gas producer with federal leasehold interests in Gunnison and Delta counties, is seeking to expedite the agency’s review of its two drilling permit applications filed in March and April 2022. ‘Because BLM’s failure to comply with non-discretionary statutory obligations continues to exacerbate the injury to Gunnison, this court should order BLM to immediately process Gunnison’s [applications for permit to drill] in a manner consistent with controlling statutory law,’ the company said.”

EXTRACTION

Associated Press: Climate talks chief urges oil producing states to slash emissions
SIBI ARASU, 7/6/23

“The president of this year’s United Nations’ climate talks urged the oil and gas industry Thursday to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by or before 2050 in a speech to oil producing states,” the Associated Press reports. “Speaking at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, Sultan al-Jaber urged members to invest heavily in renewables and work toward reducing planet-warming emissions from third parties, such as those released by suppliers or customers. He also encouraged nations to reach net zero methane emissions by 2030… “Meanwhile, the head of global energy giant Shell said it would be “irresponsible” to cut oil and gas production at a time when the world economy is still dependent on fossil fuels in an interview with the BBC released Thursday… “Al-Jaber’s appointment as head of the climate talks was widely criticized by climate activists. Lawmakers in United States and Europe have called for him to be replaced given his ties to the fossil fuel sector and for the industry’s influence at the upcoming talks to be sharply limited… “A report by the group Climate Action Tracker earlier this year showed that many major producers of oil and gas, including the UAE and the United States, are currently increasing production. “The sector is acting like there’s a gold rush, not a climate crisis,” the authors had warned in March.”

Carbon Herald: Exxon Reaches 5 Million Tons Milestone Following New Carbon Capture Agreement With Nucor
Dimana Doneva, 7/7/23

“ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions and steel producer Nucor Corporation have signed a carbon capture and storage agreement, Exxon announced on June 1,” the Carbon Herald reports. “With this newest carbon capture agreement, Exxon expanded its total carbon dioxide transportation and storage capacity for third-party customers to 5 million metric tons annually (MTA). This amount is equivalent to the potential impact of replacing around 2 million gasoline-powered cars – or approximately all cars in the U.S. – with electric vehicles. Earlier this year, Exxon also partnered with multinational chemical company Linder and CF Industries, which manufactures agricultural fertilizer. As part of the collaboration with Nucor, Exxon will capture, transport and store as much as 800,000 metric tons of carbon annually from the steelmaker’s manufacturing plant in Convent, Louisiana. Nucor Steel Lousiana produces direct reduced iron, a material used in the production of steel products such as cars, appliances, and heavy equipment.”

Globe and Mail: LNG Canada CEO bullish on expansion of export terminal
BRENT JANG, 7/7/23

“Canada’s first terminal for exporting liquefied natural gas is 85 per cent completed, with the B.C. megaproject seeing encouraging signs for potentially embarking on a major expansion, says the chief executive officer of LNG Canada,” the Globe and Mail reports. “Jason Klein told the Globe and Mail he is pleased that B.C. Premier David Eby and his Western counterparts recently released a joint communiqué that included support for LNG exports… “LNG Canada’s co-owners are considering whether to forge ahead with Phase 2 expansion plans that would double the project’s export capacity of natural gas in liquid form. “We really see an opportunity to build on the success of Phase 1 and the benefits it’s providing to British Columbians and Canadians. And that includes additional jobs in construction, more local contracts and new infrastructure,” Mr. Klein told the Globe and Mail… “The Kitimat terminal is located on the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation. “Premier Eby and his government have acknowledged the benefits that further LNG development can bring to B.C. and how it’s already helping advance reconciliation in B.C. with Indigenous communities,” Mr. Klein told the Globe and Mail… “Mr. Klein told the Globe and Mail internal decision-making processes still remain before the five co-owners of LNG Canada rule on Phase 2. Factors that will be considered include competitiveness, affordability and future emissions of greenhouse gases. The contentious Coastal GasLink pipeline, to be operated by TC Energy Corp., would transport natural gas from northeast B.C. to Kitimat.”

Guardian: Do Shell chief’s claims about cutting oil output being dangerous stack up?
Jillian Ambrose and Sandra Laville, 7/6/23

“The chief executive of Shell has provoked the ire of campaigners and climate scientists by claiming that cutting the world’s oil and gas production would be “dangerous and irresponsible,” the Guardian reports. “In an interview with the BBC, Wael Sawan said reducing production could worsen the cost of living crisis while disadvantaging poorer countries. His comments have been called cynical and described as “gaslighting” by critics of the oil company. But is there any truth to what Sawan is saying? Here we interrogate his main claims.The world still ‘desperately needs oil and gas’: This argument is central to Sawan’s argument in favour of oil and gas production continuing at the present level. He posits that “before we are able to let go” of fossil fuels, we need to develop the new energy systems of the future, and we are not yet moving at the pace required… “Energy economists say the solution is more clean energy, not oil and gas. Simon Virley, the UK head of energy and natural resources at KPMG, told the Guardian the EI report’s findings should act as “a clarion call for governments to inject more urgency” into transitioning to clean power. In stark contrast, a recent investigation by the NGO Global Witness found that Shell spent only 1.5% of its capital expenditure on renewable energy such as solar and wind. Cutting oil and gas would be ‘dangerous and irresponsible’: Environmental campaigners argue that the really risky thing would be to do the opposite… “While it was true that people in those countries were forced to get by without electricity because of the global squeeze on gas supplies, the answer is again not more fossil fuels but more renewables. By deploying green power sources alongside energy-efficiency measures, developing countries will reduce their dependence on fossil fuel imports and in the longer term reduce the harm they face from rising temperatures.”

OPINION

Spencer Daily Reporter: Letter to the Editor: Due process in question at the Iowa Utilities Board
Bonnie Ewoldt, 6/29/23

“Much to the dismay of Summit Carbon Solutions, easements for over 1,000 parcels on its hazardous CO2 pipeline route remain unsigned. The clock is ticking, and time is running out. Construction is behind schedule, and the project is over budget. The company needs speedy approval to use eminent domain to take this property, and recent events signal the IUB is willing to oblige,” Bonnie Ewoldt writes for the Spencer Daily Reporter. 

GoErie: Pennsylvania can curb pollution, protect public health by reducing methane emissions now
Alison L. Steele is executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Health Project, which works to defend public health in the face of oil and gas development, 7/6/23

“Is Pennsylvania’s air safe to breathe? That is the question a new peer-reviewed study led by the Boston University School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment asked, and the answers they found are not encouraging for our health,” Alison L. Steele writes for GoErie. “…The study indicates that, in 2016, the latest year for which study data was available, oil and gas pollution directly caused $77 billion in health damages across the U.S. and thousands of early deaths. The chief culprits are the methane and other pollutants released by oil and gas operations, which contribute to ground-level ozone or smog that can worsen respiratory diseases, such as asthma or emphysema, and increase the risk of heart disease and heart attacks. That same year, the study found that 605 early deaths were recorded in Pennsylvania as a direct result of oil and gas emissions, second to only Texas nationwide. Asthma cases are worsening in our children, with 36,700 exacerbation cases reported in 2016. The study comes on the heels of claims from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that Shell Chemical Appalachia polluted the air around its new ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania… “Nearly one in seven people, roughly 2 million Pennsylvania residents, lives within a mile of an active oil or gas wellsite. The state’s youngest residents are most impacted, with one out of every eight suffering from lifetime asthma. These are the direct impacts our neighbors are facing, but the increased costs in health and human services are borne by every Pennsylvania taxpayer… “We cannot wait any longer. It is essential for communities across the country to continue to make their voices heard and for agencies like the EPA to listen. The costs have already been too high for Pennsylvanians, and we are paying the price with our lives and the lives of our children. To protect our communities, improve our health, and breathe clean air across the state, the time is now for the EPA to finalize the strongest methane rule it can by the end of the summer.”