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Extracted

EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/31/23

Mark Hefflinger, Bold Alliance (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/Des Moines Register

By Mark Hefflinger

August 31, 2023

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PIPELINE NEWS

  • Canadian Press: Trans Mountain facing intense pressure to finish pipeline on time, documents show

  • Reuters: Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion may face new delays – filing

  • KMA: IUB pipeline hearing witness questions Summit’s practices

  • Algona Reminder: Public alleges Iowa Utilities Board Summit CO2 Pipeline Hearing is “Kangaroo Court”

  • WHO: The Pipeline And The Threat Of Eminent Domain

  • RTO Insider: DOE Announces $500M in IIJA Funds for CO2 Pipeline Buildout

  • Bloomberg: Energy Company Fails to Get Pipeline Property Damage Case Tossed

WASHINGTON UPDATES

  • Law360: Chevron, API Want Whale Shelter Out Of Sept. Gulf Lease Sale 

  • Bloomberg: Shell Pushes Back Against Changes to Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale

  • Law360: FERC Tells DC Circ. Texas LNG Project Extension Justified

  • Oil & Gas Journal: Court Rejects Appeal On Regulations Used To Value Oil And Gas For Royalties 

STATE UPDATES

  • New Orleans Public Radio: Shuttered EPA investigation could’ve brought ‘meaningful reform’ in Cancer Alley, documents reveal

  • Resources Radio: How Leaky is the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry?

  • Capital and Main: California Utility Wants Customers to Pay for Carbon Capture and Hydrogen

EXTRACTION

  • Associated Press: Pope says a revised environmental encyclical will be released Oct. 4, feast of St. Francis of Assisi

  • NM Political Report: Researchers warn that changes in the Permian Basin surface due to oil and gas industry activities are leading to increasing number of geohazards

  • New York Times: America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow 

  • American Chemical Society:  A new way to capture and recycle carbon dioxide from industrial emissions

  • Boulder Daily Camera: CU Boulder develops new method to produce clean fuel

CLIMATE FINANCE

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

  • Associated Press: Greenpeace releases animated video in campaign against fossil fuel sponsorship of Rugby World Cup

  • Guardian: ‘Brought to you by big oil’: US billboards call out companies for record heatwaves

OPINION

PIPELINE NEWS

Canadian Press: Trans Mountain facing intense pressure to finish pipeline on time, documents show
AMANDA STEPHENSON, 8/29/23

“New documents suggest the Crown corporation behind the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is facing an uphill battle to finish the project on schedule in spite of mounting internal and external pressure to do so,” the Canadian Press reports. “…But last week, the corporation filed for regulatory approval to modify the route of one of the remaining stretches of pipe yet to be completed, saying it has run into a construction-related hurdle that could delay the project’s progress. Now, new regulatory filings by a First Nation in B.C. reveal the extent of the deadline pressure facing the pipeline company… “According to the First Nation’s filing, Trans Mountain CEO Dawn Farrell said engineering difficulties related to the drilling of a tunnel in B.C. mean the corporation can no longer complete the pipeline section in question using a trenchless construction method as promised… “We are constrained to options that are economic and feasible within the remaining time frame.” “…The Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc’s letter also says Trans Mountain never said its originally proposed construction method was impossible, only that it couldn’t be done in time to meet a Jan. 1, 2024, in-service date for the pipeline… “Trans Mountain has made it clear that financial considerations … and Trans Mountain’s preference for a Jan. 1, 2024 in-service date are the rationale for submitting the Deviation Application.” “…This most recent construction hurdle does not bode well for the corporation’s schedule or budget, Richard Masson, executive fellow with the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, told CP.  “It sounds to me quite bad,” Masson told CP in an interview on Tuesday… “He added that while Trans Mountain waits for the regulator to make a decision on its request to move the pipeline route, its labour costs will continue to rise… “And of course the federal government will need to put in more loan guarantees to keep this thing afloat until the tolls start coming. It all adds up to bad news for everybody.”

Reuters: Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion may face new delays – filing
Rod Nickel, 8/29/23

“Trans Mountain Corp fears that the expansion of its Canadian oil pipeline may be delayed further unless a regulator allows it to change its route in British Columbia, according to a First Nation that opposes the route adjustment,” Reuters reports. “…Costs of construction have more than quadrupled to C$30.9 billion ($22.80 billion). Further delay would limit options to move Canadian oil to refineries in the United States or Asia. The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) is weighing whether to allow Trans Mountain to deviate from its approved route on a 1.3-kilometre (0.8 mile) section just south of Kamloops, B.C. Trans Mountain has requested to use a conventional open trench because it says it has encountered “significant technical challenges” micro-tunnelling through hard rock formations… “The route change would harm an area that holds spiritual and cultural significance, SSN said. SSN said it supports the pipeline expansion, but not the route deviation, which it said Trans Mountain has not shown is necessary. It said Trans Mountain has instead indicated that it is seeking the change because of cost factors and its goal to put the pipeline into service on Jan. 1, 2024.”

KMA: IUB pipeline hearing witness questions Summit’s practices
Mike Peterson, 8/30/23

“Summit Carbon Solution’s approach to securing easements for a major carbon pipeline project was scrutinized by a witness Wednesday morning,” KMA reports. “Daniel Fehr was one of eight individuals testifying in the Iowa Utilities Board’s continuing evidentiary hearing concerning Summit’s application for a proposed Midwest Express CO2 pipeline. Fehr, who owns property in West Bend, presented a video produced by his grandson allaying concerns about the project’s possible impact on his family farm and its employees. Fehr–who refused to sign an easement for the project–says Summit officials informed him of their plans in their first meeting two years ago. He says his response to the company remains the same as then: he’s not interested. “They are very arrogant people,” said Fehr. “They come out and have surveyed–which we’ve been informed they have the right to do that. We’ve asked them to let us know when they’re coming. They don’t communicate. They don’t let us know–they just come out and come onto our property.” “…At least five more witnesses are expected to testify Thursday. Summit is expected to present its own witnesses in the hearing, which is expected to continue through the end of September.”

Algona Reminder: Public alleges Iowa Utilities Board Summit CO2 Pipeline Hearing is “Kangaroo Court”
Jess Mazour, 8/30/23

“The first days of the Iowa Utilities Board’s (IUB) hearing on Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline permit application have been awash in discriminatory, unjustifiable decisions,” the Algona Reminder reports.

WHO: The Pipeline And The Threat Of Eminent Domain
Jeff Angelo, 8/30/23

“One of the most emotional ongoing news stories in Iowa is the debate over creating a carbon capture pipeline that would run through private farmland in Iowa,” WHO reports. “…The proposal has spurred an eminent domain debate in Iowa – one the legislature has ducked so far as the Iowa Utilities Board considers approving the pipeline through Iowa… “To kick off the week, Iowa Capitol Dispatch reports, a debate arose over whether agents for Summit Carbon Solutions threatened landowners with eminent domain while negotiating with them for easements. Landowner Richard Davis said he was threatened: He said a Summit land agent attempted to persuade him to sign voluntary easements by noting that if the company sought forced easements through eminent domain, it was likely his compensation would only be “a fraction” of what the company had offered. He said the agent also told him the company was certain to succeed with its eminent domain requests… “The company says agents aren’t supposed to use the possibility of eminent domain as a threat: “Any Summit team member who is found to have pressured landowners around the possibility of eminent domain being used will be disciplined and, if such behavior continues, terminated by the company,” said Sabrina Zenor, a spokesperson for the company.

RTO Insider: DOE Announces $500M in IIJA Funds for CO2 Pipeline Buildout
K Kaufmann, 8/30/23

“DOE grants will be used to help developers make up the difference in cost between building CO2 pipelines for current demand versus projected future demand,” RTO Insider reports.

Bloomberg: Energy Company Fails to Get Pipeline Property Damage Case Tossed
Shayna Greene, 8/30/23

“A unit of TC Energy Corp. lost its bid to get a breach of contract case tossed where a landowner claimed the company didn’t properly restore property after installing a natural gas pipeline,” Bloomberg reports. “Judge Robert C. Chambers for the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia said Tuesday that the property owner had “sufficiently alleged a plausible claim” that Columbia Gas Transmission LLC violated the easement and right-of-way agreement. The company’s failure to correctly restore the property in Putnam County, W.Va., lead to drainage and water retention problems, the landowner said.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

Law360: Chevron, API Want Whale Shelter Out Of Sept. Gulf Lease Sale 
Peter McGuire, 8/29/23

“Fossil fuel interests including Chevron on Tuesday pressed a Pelican State federal judge to strip new endangered whale protection stipulations from a massive federal oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico before bidding starts in less than a month,” Law360 reports. “The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management flouted federal law and procedure when it cut 6 million acres from the proposed lease area and curbed oil industry vessel speeds at the last minute, said Louisiana and the American Petroleum Institute, which joined Chevron USA Inc. in the preliminary injunction motion. Keeping unlawful limits in the 67-million-acre Lease Sale 261 would irrevocably affect the bids in the coming sale, permanently affect the outcome and reduce the potential revenue Louisiana stands to gain from the transaction, according to the motion. “These actions place U.S. energy security in a more vulnerable position, put American jobs at risk, and jeopardize the strength of the Gulf Coast economy,” API spokesperson Ryan Meyers said in a press release on Tuesday.”

Bloomberg: Shell Pushes Back Against Changes to Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale
Shayna Greene, 8/29/23

“A Shell Plc unit is challenging changes to the newest Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale expected to take place at the end of September,” Bloomberg reports. “The petroleum company told the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on Monday that the modifications violate the Inflation Reduction Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.”

Law360: FERC Tells DC Circ. Texas LNG Project Extension Justified
Peter McGuire, 8/30/23

“Federal energy regulators have urged a D.C. Circuit panel to reject the Sierra Club’s challenge to a second extension for a gas export terminal in Texas, arguing the developer showed its commitment to the project despite disruptions and delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” Law360 reports. 

Oil & Gas Journal: Court Rejects Appeal On Regulations Used To Value Oil And Gas For Royalties 
Alan Kovski, 8/20/23

“A federal appeals court has ruled against an industry challenge to 2016 regulations on how to establish the value of oil or natural gas for the calculation of royalties owed to the federal government,” Oil & Gas Journal reports. “The decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit means increased royalty payments in a couple of different ways. Higher royalties will be paid because of fewer cost deductions from the ‘gross proceeds’ of oil and gas transactions. Or, if a company uses a market price index specifically for gas sales, higher payments will occur because the highest reported price in a given month will be treated as the market price for royalty calculations. The regulations, from the Interior Department’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), were written by the Obama administration, went into effect at the start of 2017, and were stalled by attempted changes during the Trump administration. After courts overruled the Trump ONRR, the 2016 final rule went into effect in 2019, followed by industry litigation led by the American Petroleum Institute (API).” 

STATE UPDATES

New Orleans Public Radio: Shuttered EPA investigation could’ve brought ‘meaningful reform’ in Cancer Alley, documents reveal
Halle Parker, 8/29/23

“As industrial plants have overtaken historic Black communities and burdened neighborhoods with toxic air pollution, environmental advocates and residents of Louisiana’s chemical corridor have spent decades calling for change,” New Orleans Public Radio reports. “So when the country’s top environmental regulator opened a high-profile civil rights investigation into Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality last year, it felt like a watershed moment… “After pledging to clean up Cancer Alley — the nickname for the heavily industrialized, 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — the EPA issued a letter in October 2022 detailing preliminary evidence of racial discrimination and noncompliance by the state. Advocates like Lisa Jordan, who leads the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, and the clients she represents were cautiously optimistic… “But, in late June, it all came to a grinding halt. The EPA abruptly closed the case and ended discussions with the LDEQ, stopping its investigation without coming to a resolution or releasing its findings. The decision blindsided the River Parish residents who took part in the complaints. “We’d been out here fighting so hard for so long, it felt good to have someone shouldering the burden with us, and it felt good to not be gaslit,” Joy Banner, a St. John the Baptist Parish resident and cofounder of the Descendants Project, told NOPR in the weeks after. “After all of that fighting, they just abandoned us.” WWNO/WRKF’s reporting reveals for the first time the fullest details of the draft agreement and offers a window into how negotiations between the two agencies unraveled. With Louisiana’s attorney general now suing the EPA, environmental justice experts and advocates fear that the breakdown could mark the beginning of a major attack on a core aspect of the Civil Rights Act.”

Resources Radio: How Leaky is the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry?
DANIEL RAIMI, 8/29/23

“In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Eric Kort, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, about methane emissions from the US oil and gas industry,” Resources Radio reports. “Kort discusses the emissions that occur during the extraction of oil and gas at onshore and offshore facilities, aerial methods of measuring these emissions and identifying methane leaks, and the increasing concentration of methane in the atmosphere… “Production can account for large proportions of total emissions from offshore natural gas: “Rather than the intensity of production being 10 percent of the end-use consumption, we’re talking about it being 50 percent of the total climate impact, which is a huge, huge difference and really could guide how we decide to produce these things moving forward and shows variance in climate impact that can be very large, depending on how we produce these fuels—not just if we use them.”

Capital and Main: California Utility Wants Customers to Pay for Carbon Capture and Hydrogen
Aaron Cantú, 8/30/23

“In the final days of California’s 2023 legislative session, a major utility is seeking industry-friendly legislation through a tactic sometimes used to avoid public scrutiny on contentious proposals,” Capital and Main reports. “Lobbyists for Sempra, and its subsidiary, SoCalGas, are asking lawmakers to introduce a bill that would allow gas companies to charge ratepayers for company investments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and methane gas infrastructure. Other proposed legislation would speed up the approval process for hydrogen production and transportation. Although hydrogen can be produced with renewable sources such as wind and solar, the vast majority is made with fossil gas. The proposal uses a definition of clean hydrogen that leaves the door open for blends with fossil gas.  The late-hour proposals, which compress months of analysis and scrutiny into just a few weeks, have sent climate and environmental justice groups scrambling. They have opposed CCS as a technology that enables continued oil, gas and coal production, and advocate strict guidelines on hydrogen — in contrast with the industry’s promotion of fossil fuel-generated hydrogen.  “If we are going to invest in stuff, it needs to be stuff that gets us out of the fossil fuel world, not the stuff that perpetuates it,” Ari Eisenstadt, the energy equity manager at the California Environmental Justice Alliance, told Capital and Main. “There’s only so much money we can give as a state to things like the energy and electricity sector, and if we consider that amount to be finite, we can’t spend it on this stuff; we have to spend it on real renewable energy.” “…Sempra’s political influence is far-reaching. Several of its lobbyists were once political staffers in Sacramento, and the company holds court with top-ranking legislators and agencies…”Sempra and its subsidiaries have donated more than $1.04 million to lawmakers since 2021.”

EXTRACTION

Associated Press: Pope says a revised environmental encyclical will be released Oct. 4, feast of St. Francis of Assisi
NICOLE WINFIELD, 8/30/23

“Pope Francis said Wednesday he will be releasing an update to his landmark 2015 environmental encyclical on Oct. 4, the feast of his nature-loving namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, as he called for an end to the “senseless war against our common home,” the Associated Press reports. “Francis recently revealed he was writing a “second part” to the document “to address current problems.” The Vatican spokesman said the update would take into account in particular recent climate crises. On Wednesday, Francis told his weekly general audience that he intended to publish the update on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis and also the start of Francis’ big Vatican meeting on the future of the Catholic Church. The 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,” or “Praised Be,” is perhaps Francis’ most well-known and important document. In it, Francis cast care for the environment in stark moral terms, calling for a bold cultural revolution to correct what he said was a “structurally perverse” economic system in which the rich exploited the poor, turning Earth into a pile of “filth” in the process… “Let us unite with our Christian brothers and sisters in the commitment to care for creation as a sacred gift of the creator,” Francis said Wednesday. “We must side with the victims of environmental and climate injustice, working to put an end to the senseless war against our common home.”

NM Political Report: Researchers warn that changes in the Permian Basin surface due to oil and gas industry activities are leading to increasing number of geohazards
Hannah Grover, 8/30/23

“A new study published this month examines how the petrochemical industry in the Permian Basin has deformed the landscape by causing some areas to sink while other areas rise,” according to NM Political Report. “While the changes may not be easily noticeable, especially in sparsely populated areas like the Permian Basin, researchers say they can damage infrastructure.  The study by researchers from Southern Methodist University was published in the August edition of the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. In their investigation, the researchers from Southern Methodist University sought to map the surface deformation across the Permian Basin and to quantify the relationship between oil and gas operations and the changes to the surface. They found, on average, the ground in the Permian Basin is subsiding at a rate of three to four centimeters annually, though there are several pockets with larger rates of subsidence. The researchers write in the study that, over the past few decades, the increase in oil and gas extraction has “contributed to the alarming increase in geohazards, sometimes permanently altering the local ecosystem, and is a growing concern for communities and policymakers worldwide.” “…The study’s first author Vamshi Karanam, a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University, gave a few examples of how these changes in the land’s form can impact humans. Uneven changes in the surface can damage pipelines or even disrupt flow within those pipelines, he told the Report.

New York Times: America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow 
Mira Rojanasakul, Christopher Flavelle, Blacki Migliozzi and Eli Murray, 8/28/23

“Global warming has focused concern on land and sky as soaring temperatures intensify hurricanes, droughts and wildfires. But another climate crisis is unfolding, underfoot and out of view,” the New York Times reports. “Many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s water systems, and which have transformed vast stretches of America into some of the world’s most bountiful farmland, are being severely depleted. These declines are threatening irreversible harm to the American economy and society as a whole. The New York Times conducted a months-long examination of groundwater depletion, interviewing more than 100 experts, traveling the country and creating a comprehensive database using millions of readings from monitoring sites. The investigation reveals how America’s life-giving resource is being exhausted in much of the country, and in many cases it won’t come back. Huge industrial farms and sprawling cities are draining aquifers that could take centuries or millenniums to replenish themselves if they recover at all.” 

American Chemical Society:  A new way to capture and recycle carbon dioxide from industrial emissions
8/30/23

“Carbon capture is a promising method to help slow climate change,” according to the American Chemical Society. “…Now, researchers have designed a capture system using an electrochemical cell that can easily grab and release CO2. The device operates at room temperature and requires less energy than conventional, amine-based carbon-capture systems… “The researchers optimized the ion-swinging process with a combination of potassium and zinc ions. In a prototype cell, they used these two ions as the basis for the cell’s cathode and anode. This cell required less energy than other, heat-based cells and was competitive with other electrochemical cells in initial experiments. Additionally, they tested the device’s long-term stability and found that nearly 95% of its original capacity was maintained after several cycles of charging and discharging, demonstrating that the system was feasible. The researchers say that this work shows that an electrochemical alternative is possible and could help make continuous CO2 capture-release technologies more practical for industrial applications.”

Boulder Daily Camera: CU Boulder develops new method to produce clean fuel
OLIVIA DOAK, 8/28/23

“University of Colorado Boulder researchers have created a new method to produce clean fuel that could someday give consumers a more environmentally friendly option at the gas pump,” the Boulder Daily Camera reports. “This work is, thus far, the most significant accomplishment of my professional career,” Research Associate Kent Warren said in a news release. In addition to transportation, the new method could open doors to clean and sustainable energy sources for industries including steelmaking and ammonia production. The method is efficient and economical, using solar energy to derive either hydrogen gas from water or carbon-neutral fuels from water and carbon dioxide… “In the new method, researchers used heat instead of electricity to split water. Warren said the thermochemical process has the potential to be more economically viable, eliminates the need for scarce, rare earth materials and can be easily scaled… “The researchers found that elevating pressure can more than double hydrogen production. The yields are nearly 1,000% greater than what the existing benchmark thermochemical approach can achieve… “The research was supported by Shell Oil and the National Science Foundation.”

CLIMATE FINANCE

Oil Change International: Banking on Destruction: The Role of Major Banks in the Mountain Valley Pipeline
8/30/23

“People have been fighting to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) for nearly a decade,” Oil Change International reports. “From the environmental harms, Congress’ complicity, to shady financial entanglements– halting this 303-mile, fracked-gas project proposed to run from West Virginia through south central Virginia has been nothing short of an uphill battle. And yet, the resistance to the Mountain Valley Pipeline is stronger than ever… “US main street banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America have provided loans to this destructive project since the beginning. These banks have continued pouring money into the project over recent years, despite numerous warnings that the project has been financially unsustainable, a threat to the climate and environmental justice communities in Appalachia… “Eighteen banks were invested in EQM’s key financing sources. Six U.S. “main street” banks – banks that are leading providers of personal banking services in the United States – rank among the top eight financiers. These included Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, SunTrust, Bank of the West (through parent company BNP Paribas) and U.S. Bank… “Bank funding for fossil fuels brings dire threats to the lives and livelihoods of local communities around the world, including in Appalachia. We must stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline and end the era of fossil fuels.”

TODAY IN GREENWASHING

Associated Press: Greenpeace releases animated video in campaign against fossil fuel sponsorship of Rugby World Cup
SAMUEL PETREQUIN, 8/30/23

“Environmental group Greenpeace released an animated video Wednesday showing a massive amount of oil flooding the field for the upcoming opening game of the Rugby World Cup in a campaign against fossil fuel sponsorship of big sporting events,” the Associated Press reports. “The video takes aim at energy giant TotalEnergies, a sponsor of the event in France. The film shows the Stade de France seconds before the start of the first match of the tournament between France and New Zealand on Sept. 8. Oil spills out of TotalEnergies advertising boards hanging in the stadium. “The global fossil fuel industry extracts enough oil to fill a rugby stadium every 3 hours and 37 minutes,” Greenpeace said… “The environmental group told AP Rugby World Cup Limited tried to block the release of the video on Tuesday on the eve of its release. “But we won’t be silenced,” Edina Ifticene, a campaigner at Greenpeace France, told AP. “Fossil fuel companies like TotalEnergies sponsor events like the Rugby World Cup to distract everyone from their climate destruction.” TotalEnergies said in a statement to the The Associated Press that “it’s wrong to claim that TotalEnergies is greenwashing by sponsoring the Rugby World Cup 2023.” The company added that the World Cup is a chance for TotalEnergies, which employs nearly 35,000 people in France, to “raise awareness of the multi-energy dimension of our activities and our ambition to be a major player in the energy transition, committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, together with society.”

Guardian: ‘Brought to you by big oil’: US billboards call out companies for record heatwaves
Dharna Noor, 8/29/23

“Drive down the highways of Phoenix, Arizona; Austin, Texas; or Fresno, California, this week and you may see an unfamiliar advertisement, thanks to a group of climate activists,” the Guardian reports. “The non-profit media organization Fossil Free Media has unveiled a series of billboards calling out oil and gas companies for their role in fueling climate disasters. Installed in cities hit hard by recent heatwaves, the ads feature a map of temperature records broken across the country this summer, and read: “Brought to you by Big Oil.” “…I think the most important thing that we can do right now is to try and connect the dots between the extreme weather that people are seeing and the fossil fuel industry that’s driving it,” Jamie Henn of Fossil Free Media told the Guardian… “The feeling is that after this summer, where we were really seeing the climate crisis spin out of control, maybe we can pull together the type of political energy necessary to really pressure for what scientists say is necessary, which is to stop new fossil fuel projects.” On Sunday 17 September, thousands of climate activists will take up that message during the “March to End Fossil Fuels” in New York City. Information about the march is available on a website advertised on the billboards, ThankYouBigOil.com. The protest, convened by a coalition of groups including Fossil Free Media, will focus on pushing the Biden administration to take bold steps to phase out fossil fuels and will come days before the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit, which the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has described as a “no nonsense” conference.”

OPINION

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa landowners in pipeline’s path ask: ‘We’re supposed to take one for the team?’
Cheryl Tevis, 8/30/23

“Once again, we’re talking about putting pipelines across Iowa – and a private company is pursuing Iowa’s eminent domain power,” Cheryl Tevis writes for the Iowa Capital Dispatch. “ Here in Boone County in 2015, we went through this with an oil pipeline — the Dakota Access Pipeline; it runs only a quarter mile from our farm. Now Summit Carbon Solutions wants to build more than 2,000 miles of pipeline transporting carbon dioxide from 34 ethanol plants in five Midwestern states, with North Dakota as its end point for underground storage of 18 million tons of carbon annually… “This week I recognized many of the same issues raised by landowners regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline: Compaction of land by the heavy equipment used to dig the trenches for the pipe will reduce yields for up to 10 years; Removal of rich topsoil, and landowner skepticism regarding promises to restore it; Cutting of water tile lines creating havoc with field drainage; Gaining only a few jobs for mostly out-of-state workers, due to Iowa’s 3% unemployment rate. Jobs will last two years or less… “Landowners used words like “vague, evasive, lack of transparency, and confusing” to describe Summit’s behavior. All complained that the pipeline diameter kept increasing: from 6 inches to 12 inches and now a maximum of 24 inches. I listened to landowners from Woodbury, Shelby, Kossuth, Hancock, Floyd, and Clay; 29 Iowa counties would be impacted. A Sergeant Bluff woman told of how Summit surveyors had cut a fence, driven ATVs into their cornfield in June, and gathered soil samples on their 150-year-old family farm… “Although the Dakota Access Pipeline also poses threats of rupture, safety, and contamination of soil and water, the Summit carbon pipeline amplifies these threats. Carbon dioxide is odorless, colorless, and heavier than air. In the meantime, there’s time to reflect on the continuing testimony of real people, whose lives and livelihoods would be disrupted by a private company. Most remain unconvinced by the public good argument of taking one for the team. As landowner Mark Oehlerking told IUB, “The three of you get to decide this for the rest of us –hundreds of us. At night, when you go to sleep, maybe you’ll reflect on what you’ve heard here. Twenty to thirty years down the road, will you be proud to tell your grandkids that you cast your vote for the gain of a private company, taking away our rights forever? If there’s a failure of the pipeline, how will you live with it on your conscience?”

Cedar Rapids Gazette: The Summit carbon pipeline hearing rolls along in Iowa
Todd Dorman, 8/31/23

“During 30 years in journalism, I’ve covered countless public meetings, hearings and input sessions where Iowans have pleaded with the powers that be to change course and avoid making a decision they insist would harm them, Tood Dorman writes for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.  …“In many cases the meetings were window dressing with a side of lip service about the importance of public input. Now comes the public hearing before the Iowa Utilities Board regarding Summit Carbon Solution’s plan to dig 700 miles of pipeline across the Iowa landscape… “The hearings, which are being held in Fort Dodge, were supposed to begin in October. But not long after Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed former Republican lawmaker Erik Helland to chair the board, the start date was moved to August… “Another bad sign for opponents is the fact that the utilities board hired OverWatch Enterprises to provide security during the hearings. That’s the same Texas-based firm providing security for Summit’s survey crews… “This shows that OverWatch is Summit’s security and somehow IUB hired OverWatch,” said Jessica Mazour of the Sierra Club Iowa chapter, which opposes the pipelines. On Wednesday, landowners affected by the project delivered a petition with 1,000 signatures uring the IUB to conduct a fair hearing. According to the Des Moines Register, Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said Summit has easement agreements with 71 percent of landowners. He called it a “supermajority,” As if this is a popularity contest not a fight for individual property rights. So the hearings continue. But I’m getting that old window dressing feeling again.”

O’Brien County Bell Times Courier: Summit Pipeline Gets National Attention
Kevin Virgil, 8/30/23

“…However today Iowa is becoming a battleground between a “Who’s Who” of the state’s political insiders who want to build three carbon capture and storage (CC&S) pipelines, and a grassroots resistance of local farmers who are pulling out all the stops to prevent it from happening,” Kevin Virgil writes for the O’Brien County Bell Times Courier. “…Summit Carbon is a subsidiary of Summit Agricultural Group, whose founder Bruce Rastetter is best known for raising capital from Wall Street in the 1990s to consolidate the pork producing industry and subsequently driving thousands of independent farmers out of business… “Today Summit intends to raise $4.5 billion from, among other investors, Morgan Stanley and Continental Resources. The company will then be eligible to claim billions of dollars in tax credits from the US government in return for building the ‘Midwest Carbon Express’ pipeline, a green energy project that offers no discernible public benefit while carrying profound environmental risks for residents who live anywhere near its intended route… “The project’s risk-reward ratio is untenable for local landowners under whose property Summit intends to bury its pipeline – yet irresistibly high for Rastetter and his out-of-state financiers… “Iowa’s governor is serving her second term, and as of March 2022 has accepted over $174,000 in campaign donations from Rastetter. According to public records, Rastetter is her largest individual donor… “ It now becomes clear that Summit Carbon Solutions has an exit strategy – a multi-billion dollar acquisition by a major oil company. Rastetter and his team at Summit know that many local landowners will never cooperate with their plan. With all that money on the line, Summit has turned to an insidious yet entirely predictable strategy – they intend to use their political connections to force property owners into compliance… “When not threatening Midwestern farmers and landowners, Summit’s public relations campaign predicts economic disaster if they are not allowed to proceed with milking the American taxpayer for billions of dollars… “All signs indicate that the IUB’s unelected bureaucrats are in full support, and public opinion fully expects the outcome to be a ‘rubber stamp’ approval for Summit’s pipeline. There are many more obstacles to clear, though, and resistance is mounting in Iowa and in other states.”

American Thinker: A Silly Scheme by Green Zealots to Appease the Global Warming Gods?
Janet Levy, 8/2923

“On the evening of Feb. 22, 2020, Satartia, a small town in Yazoo County, Mississippi, was enveloped in a fog of fetid gas following a loud boom. People collapsed, shaking and breathless, vehicles choked to a halt, and first responders were bewildered. It took four hours to bring the situation under control. Two hundred people were evacuated to safety; 49 had to be hospitalized. Three years later, respiratory problems still plague many residents,” Janet Levy writes for American Thinker. “Soon after, Satartia residents learned that the thundering sound and white cloud was caused by the rupture of a 24-inch-thick pipeline carrying compressed CO2, which caused an explosion of ice and CO2… “As the Biden administration moves toward vastly increasing carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems as a means of reaching the chimerical goal of Net Zero America, that is, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the Satartia disaster should serve as a warning… “As you can imagine, this would involve a huge grid: a Princeton study envisages 65,000 miles of pipelines carrying CO2 across America by 2050. The trunk lines will be four feet in diameter. Currently, there are 50 pipelines – about 5,000 miles – transporting 70 million tons of CO2 annually for enhanced oil extraction. Developers are now seeking permits for multi-state CCS projects that will ferry CO2 from ethanol plants in the Midwest through some 3,500 miles of pipeline… “So why is such an unproven, suspect technology being imposed on America? The answer is simple: the trillions of dollars to be made, not just by CCS providers but also by others in so-called ‘green premiums’ as America chases Net Zero… “Considering the many risks involved, CCS appears to be a perilous enterprise of quixotic proportions. Far from being essential for saving us from a climate emergency as many top scientists affirm, it appears to be little more than a lucrative government-incentivized land grab.”

Tribune Star: The truth about carbon capture
George Bakken, Terre Haute, 8/30/23

“…The cost of carbon capture is $600 to $1,000 per ton of CO2 (International Energy Agency). That adds at least $2,200 and perhaps as much as $3,666 to the cost of each ton of coal mined,” George Bakken writes for the Tribune Star. ”Each ton can generate 1,780 kwh of electricity (U.S. Energy Information Agency). The cost of CO2 recovery is thus $1.24 to $2.05 per kwh. To this, add the $0.10 per kwh you actually pay Duke Energy. Coal ain’t cheap energy if you pay the full cost. Now, we grownups are too crafty for that. We just pay the 10 cents, and force our children to pay the rest. Maybe the children will pay for CO2 capture, or maybe just pay — and pay — the escalating environmental costs we’re seeing already — heat exhaustion, wildfire, drought, crop failures, starvation, floods, storms, and heat stroke deaths from working outdoors… “Kids, you still have a chance to defend your future. A group of 15 children just won a court case, Held v. State of Montana. The Montana trial court ruled that the state Constitution’s guarantee of a healthy and clean environment prevails over Montana’s longstanding fossil-fuel-based state energy policies. There is still hope. Get out and fight before it’s too late.”

La Crosse Tribune: Al Gedicks: Benefits of Line 5 pipeline are overstated
Al Gedicks, La Crosse, 8/31/23

“A recent letter promoting the benefits of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline (“Enbridge pipeline project offers energy, jobs,” Aug. 26, Opinion) omits several important facts about this proposal,” Al Gedicks writes for the La Crosse Tribune. “While the authors suggest the benefits to Wisconsin’s tribal communities, the reality is that the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have been fighting a legal battle against Enbridge since 2019 to have the pipeline removed from its watershed. Enbridge has been found guilty of trespassing on Bad River Band territory since 2013. In May 2023, attorneys for the Bad River Tribe asked a federal judge for an immediate shutdown of Line 5 following heavy spring rains that eroded a riverbank protecting the pipe… “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the proposed reroute may have “substantial and unacceptable adverse impacts” to the Kakagon Bad River Sloughs wetland complex, which holds part of the largest and last remaining extensive coastal wild rice beds in the world. They are also a source of food and culture for the Chippewa people. Furthermore, none of the Line 5 tar sands oil is downloaded in Wisconsin for Wisconsin use. The pipeline runs from Canada through the Upper Great Lakes and back into Canada, where it is sold to foreign markets.”

World Pipelines: Comment: MVP Southgate; the next domino to fall
Elizabeth Corner, 8/31/23

“For collateral damage from Mountain Valley Pipeline, look no further than the MVP Southgate project, a proposed southward extension of the pipeline,” Elizabeth Corner writes for World Pipelines. “Originally intended to ship cheap Marcellus natural gas even further south, the 73.7 mile MVP Southgate project would connect customers in Southern Virginia and North Central Carolina before finally reaching Dominion Energy North Carolina customers… “We found that, controversially, customers in the region were paying a 33% premium on their natural gas costs without the project. This is the same story for MVP Southgate, which promises to pass along similar cost reductions to an even larger population in Virginia and North Carolina… “Only time will tell if MVP Southgate gains traction and gets built like its namesake, but as this region experiences coal to natural gas switching; Appalachian natural gas infrastructure will be of increasing importance.”

Colorado Sun: The need for balance in the regulation of the oil and natural gas industry
Jennifer Miskimins, of Golden, is professor and head of the Petroleum Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines; Jim Crompton, of Colorado Springs, is a professor of practice of petroleum engineering at Colorado School of Mines, 8/29/23

“Colorado is a national leader in its commitment to safe and responsible stewardship of the state’s oil and gas resources,” Jennifer Miskimins and Jim Crompton write for the Colorado Sun. “Over the past several years, Colorado has implemented precedent-setting regulations, from baseline groundwater testing and monitoring, to air regulations targeting methane leak detection and repair… “Operators would prefer stability, predictability, and time to adjust to new regulations, yet if anything, the pace is picking up. We heard from one stakeholder that this is the 25th rule-making program that she has been a part of in the last five years. The state has been busy, but has it been effective? Colorado is facing a balancing act in addressing public concerns over greenhouse gas emissions, enacting regulations specified by legislative action and allowing the oil and gas industry to continue to supply the market.The new rule for methane emissions verification reporting is an important step toward a better understanding of industry sector methane emissions, but it is not the final destination… “Many are expecting the state to respond to community concern with direct, accurate, independent, site-specific, and real time measurement and reporting for local communities. This expectation is too ambitious for now and officials need to communicate clearly what can realistically be done. The implications of a “measurement-informed inventory” on regulatory agencies, the industry (even the best operators) and the current state of the measurement technology still involve many uncertainties and challenges… “Effective regulations are an art form, and we must shape our expectations accordingly.”

Nevada Current: Hired guns for sale thwarting climate progress
B Fulkerson, 8/30/23

“This will be remembered as the year the climate crisis came to life, with the deadliest wildfires in over a century, Florida seawater hitting 100-degree hot-tub levels, and the hottest summer ever recorded,” B Fulkerson writes for the Nevada Current. “…But thanks to armies of mercenary lobbyists, Nevada’s leading fossil fuel apologists such as NV Energy and Southwest Gas have killed any and all measures to reduce emissions, unless they can make money off of them. In the Nevada Legislature, many lobbyists are rife with conflicts, getting away with making money from the fossil fuel industry while lobbying for some of Nevada’s hardest-hit communities and governmental entities grappling with climate change. According to a new report by F Minus, lobbyists in the Nevada legislature may be putting fossil fuel interests ahead of their clients who have an express interest in addressing climate change… “Greenwashing is a way of life in Carson City and having an environmentally responsible client allows lobbyists pushing a radical fossil fuel agenda a veneer of respectability. They get to tell themselves and legislators, “We’re not so bad. We also work for charities, human services and all of these local governments.” We are in a climate emergency. Lobbying firms should join law firms, PR and ad agencies, universities, and other sectors in cutting ties with the fossil fuel industry.  And if they don’t, public entities like the Cities of Reno, Las Vegas, and Henderson that work with them should put their communities first by standing boldly and severing ties with those firms.”

Newsweek: Biden Should Stop Supporting the Oil and Gas Industry 
Sarah Brennan is associate director of the Rockefeller Family Fund; Larry Shapiro is a senior advisor to the Funder Collaborative on Oil and Gas, 8/30/23

“Sometimes our friends consider making bad decisions and need good advice. President Joe Biden is a friend of climate advocates. He’s done some very good things,” Sarah Brennan and Larry Shapiro write for Newsweek. “…But he and his administration have also made some bad decisions about oil and gas and are considering making more of them, despite the fact that July was the hottest month on record ever. That’s why supporters of President Biden should join a diverse and broad coalition of groups in supporting the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City on Sept. 17… “One flaw in the IRA is that it didn’t limit production, transport, or processing of either oil or gas… “We cannot possibly address climate change in an effective manner if we continue down this path… “It’s great that we are moving toward a domestic electricity sector that limits reliance on fossil fuels. But if the United States continues to outpace Saudi Arabia and Russia in oil and gas production, this achievement leaves a lot to be desired… “The Biden administration recently approved a massive new oil drilling project in Alaska… “We all have friends who do both constructive things and destructive things. If they are close friends, we have an obligation to suggest that they stop doing destructive things. That’s why so many climate advocates are coming to New York next month to ask President Biden to stop all federal approvals for fossil fuel projects, phase out drilling on public lands, and declare a climate emergency to halt oil exports and investments on fossil fuel projects throughout the world. We are also calling on President Biden to reject legislative suggestions in the guise of permitting reform, such as those made by Representatives Garret Graves (R-La.) and Scott Peters (D-Calif.) that would weaken existing environmental laws for fossil fuel projects. President Biden is in need of good advice from his friends. He will not have much credibility as a climate leader on the world stage if he continues to support large scale oil and gas development. We call on all those who support President Biden to join us in New York on Sept. 17 to offer him the advice that he needs in order to be a true climate champion.”

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