EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/21/24 | Pipeline Fighters Hub (2024)

PIPELINE NEWS

• Petroleum Economist: Red tape stifles US carbon pipeline ambitions

• KTIV: Woodbury County among 7 Iowa counties appealing Summit Carbon Solutions’ pipeline permit to district court

• KCAU: Woodbury County Board of Supervisors discusses proposed CO2 pipeline

• KSOM: Vocal Opposition Continues of Pipeline in Guthrie County

• KDLS: Guthrie County Supervisors Continue to Hear Concerns on Proposed CO2 Pipeline

• KSOM: Opponents to Summit Solutions Pipeline Appear in Front of Montgomery County Supervisors on Tuesday

• New York Times: Greenpeace Tries a Novel Tactic in Lawsuit Over Dakota Access Pipeline

• Hydrogen Insight: ‘Mostly unusable’ | Existing gas pipes would need massive retrofit or crippling de-rating to carry hydrogen: study

• Bloomberg: Enbridge Sees Strong Oil Demand in 2050, With US Supply Growing

• Reuters: US West Coast Refiners still waiting for TMZ margin boost

• Prairie Public Broadcasting: Two natural gas pipeline projects in the works for ND

• Reuters: Pipeline operator Enterprise Products to buy Pinon Midstream for $950 mln

• Natural Gas Intelligence: TC Sanctions Natural Gas System to Supply Cedar LNG, Mulls CGL Expansion

• Natural Gas Intelligence: Canada Pension Fund Buys into Tallgrass for Stakes in Natural Gas Pipes, Low-Carbon Initiatives

• Bloomberg: Oil Spill from Venezuela Pipeline Spreads across 28 Miles of Coastline

• Evansville Courier & Press: CenterPoint Energy fined nearly $2 million for federal, Indiana pipeline violations

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Schumer vows climate action if Dems sweep in November

• The Hill: 2024 Democratic platform emphasizes economic case for climate action

• E&E News: The Walz way: Why climate hawks see Minnesota as a model

• E&E News: Oil and gas industry to press Trump to change Biden’s methane rules

• Law360: Gulf Spill Review ‘Underestimated’ Enviro Risks, Court Says

• E&E News: Judge orders feds to protect endangered whale from oil drilling

  See Also

  August 18-19,2024 Flash FloodingTropical Storm Ernesto could bring dangerous rip currents to East Coast, forecasters warn[UPDATED - AUGUST 15] NOAA Winter 2024-25 Early Forecast: La Niña Returns and What That Means For the Ski Season - SnowBrainsLista de huracanes de Nueva Inglaterra _ AcademiaLab

• Earth Island Institute: Groups Petition EPA to Ban Use of Oil Dispersants Discontinued by the Manufacturer

• Law360: 5th Circ. Won’t Upend BP Win In Deepwater Cleanup Suit

STATE UPDATES

• Louisiana Illuminator: Louisiana advocate leading fight against ammonia plant: ‘I already feel ignored’

• Law360: ND Tribe Says State Has No Right To Riverbed Mineral Rights

• Times of San Diego: California just got its ‘own damn satellite’ to track methane pollution

• Daily Montanan: Montana poll finds support for new BLM oil and gas rules

EXTRACTION

• DeSmog: NextDecade Scraps Carbon Capture Plans for Its Rio Grande LNG Terminal

• Scientific American: Can Pulling Carbon from Thin Air Slow Climate Change?

• OilPrice.com: Why U.S. Refiners Are Worried About Canada’s New Oil Policy

OPINION

• The Conversation: Canada must continue cutting emissions regardless of the actions of other polluters

PIPELINE NEWS

Petroleum Economist: Red tape stifles US carbon pipeline ambitions
Tim Crawford, 8/20/24

“Federal and state funding for CO₂ pipeline projects to spur the development of CCUS is meaningless if obstructive regulation prevents projects from getting off the ground,” according to Petroleum Economist. “The US may already host by far the largest system of CO₂ pipelines in the world, but developers face an uphill struggle to get new projects off the ground. The uncertain and obstructive regulatory landscape that led to the demise ten months ago of Heartland Greenway, which had been one of the country’s largest planned CO₂ pipeline networks, has seen little improvement since. On top of the excess red tape, developers are contending with opposition to CCUS from both sides of the political aisle, the thorny issue of private land rights and safety fears among the public.”

KTIV: Woodbury County among 7 Iowa counties appealing Summit Carbon Solutions’ pipeline permit to district court
Connor Trett, 8/20/24

“Woodbury County is joining 6 other counties in appealing the Iowa Utilities Commission’s decision to grant a permit to Summit Carbon Solutions for a Carbon Dioxide pipeline through the state,” KTIV reports. “Board of Supervisors Chairman Mathew Ung told KTIV that Woodbury County is against the pipeline for different safety and legal reasons, including the potential use of eminent domain for a private project. The coalition of seven counties, which includes Woodbury, Dickinson, Emmet, Shelby, Kossuth, Floyd and Wright, have decided to seek judicial review at the state level… “The board hopes to see the district court overturn this decision or hamper it in any way that protects our landowners,” Chairman Ung told KTIV. “We simply want to make sure that the route respects our state, our county, and also our citizens in regards to their fears that eminent domain being used on a private project doesn’t present a public good.” Chairman Ung went on to tell KTIV that if their appeal to the district court was to fail, that this case is a candidate for review by the Iowa Supreme Court.”

KCAU: Woodbury County Board of Supervisors discusses proposed CO2 pipeline
Reilly Mahon, 8/20/24

“The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors spoke out about Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline,” KCAU reports. “The supervisors told the public that the county, along with seven other counties, are in a coalition that has sought to argue with the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC)… “So this is essentially saying we want a judge to look at the work that the IUC’s done, and say we presented a brief that argued there were several factual deficiencies and different problems with the permit and we wanted a legal determination, as opposed to some opinions in a room where IUC members meet,” board chairman Matthew Ung said.

KSOM: Vocal Opposition Continues of Pipeline in Guthrie County
Chris Varney, 8/20/24

“The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors had a packed house on Tuesday morning and residents of Guthrie County at times got emotional against the Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline,” KSOM reports. “The supervisors continued to say that they can do very little to prevent the pipeline from being built… “One of the worries from the Board of Supervisors is being sued — Story and Shelby Counties both attempted to restrict the pipeline and had to go to court where Summit won in federal court. Supervisor Brian Johnson doesn’t want to happen in Guthrie County so he doesn’t expect even passing an ordinance against it… “Riley Gibson from Summit Carbon Solutions was at the meeting and answered many questions although did not provide answers to the issue of eminent domain or provide a map of the pipeline.”

KDLS: Guthrie County Supervisors Continue to Hear Concerns on Proposed CO2 Pipeline
Marcus Mackey, 8/21/24

“The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday,” KDLS reports. “The meeting began with comments regarding a proposed underground carbon dioxide pipeline from Summit Carbon Solutions. County Attorney Dana Minteer said there wasn’t much the County could do in regards to the proposed pipeline, mentioning that Story and Shelby Counties did pass ordinances to fight the first phase of the project, and were then sued by Summit Carbon Solutions, with Summit winning the suits… “The Board then heard comments and answered questions from County residents on the pipeline in the public comment period of the meeting, then heard concerns on the pipeline from Alfred and Sharon Wessling… “The Board reviewed a resolution that objects to the Iowa Utilities Commission’s authority to enact eminent domain authority within Guthrie County for privately owned and operated carbon dioxide pipelines, and tabled a decision to send the resolution to Minteer for legal review until it could be revised. The original motion to pass the resolution pending legal review failed in a 2-3 vote, with Supervisor Chair JD Kuster and Supervisor Mike Dickson voting yes, and Supervisors Brian Johnson, Steve Smith and Maggie Armstrong voting no.”

KSOM: Opponents to Summit Solutions Pipeline Appear in Front of Montgomery County Supervisors on Tuesday
Tom Robinson, 8/20/24

“Opponents to the Summit Solutions Hazardous pipeline appeared before the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors this morning,” KSOM reports. “Jan Norris says as expected the IUC declined to reconsider its’ approval of Summit’s Phase One route… “Norris mentioned there is a FreeSoil Foundation Co2 Pipeline rally this evening at the Viking Center in Stanton. The doors open at 6:00, the program starts at 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, state regulators have approved a public meeting schedule starting on August 26 at the Corning Opera House Cultural Center where Summit Carbon Solutions will present its significant proposed expansion for its carbon dioxide pipeline system. There is also a meeting on August 27 at noon at the Red Coach Inn in Red Oak, and on August 27 at 6:00 p.m. at the Guthrie County Activity Center at 209 State Street in Guthrie Center… “The public meetings for the expansions are set for 23 counties, after which Summit can negotiate for land easem*nts, and petition of pipeline permits.”

New York Times: Greenpeace Tries a Novel Tactic in Lawsuit Over Dakota Access Pipeline
Karen Zraick, 8/20/24

“Greenpeace recently unveiled a new strategy for fighting a costly lawsuit by an energy company that the group contends is designed to silence critics of the oil industry,” the New York Times reports. “The suit, first filed in federal court in 2017, alleged that Greenpeace had incited the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017, and it sought $300 million in damages. Greenpeace disputes the claims. It says the lawsuit is designed to essentially force the environmental group to go out of business with an expensive legal fight. Its new tactic, led by Greenpeace International in Amsterdam, would use the European legal system to try to minimize the financial consequences of a potential loss in United States courts. In a letter to the company last month, lawyers for the group cited a new European Union directive aimed at curbing SLAPP suits, or Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation. Those are defined as meritless suits that seek to shut down civil society groups. The letter called on the company suing it, Dallas-based Energy Transfer, to drop its suit against Greenpeace International, and to pay damages for its legal costs, or risk a countersuit under the new European rules… “Deepa Padmanabha, acting co-executive director of Greenpeace USA, told the Times she saw the case as particularly concerning given a rise in anti-protest laws in many states since 2017. “How this case is fought is going to impact the future of advocacy and peaceful protest,” she told the Times. “Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are what this case is about.”

Hydrogen Insight: ‘Mostly unusable’ | Existing gas pipes would need massive retrofit or crippling de-rating to carry hydrogen: study
Rachel Parkes, 8/21/24

“Existing fossil gas infrastructure such as pipelines and appliances are “mostly unusable” with hydrogen, without either major investment, or changes in operation that would significantly reduce the amount of energy delivered to customers, a new peer-reviewed study has revealed,” according to Hydrogen Insight. “The study, “A review of challenges with using the natural gas system for hydrogen”, published yesterday (Monday) in the Energy Science and Engineering journal, examined the risks and potential solutions for the use of hydrogen in existing long-distance and distribution pipelines, storage and end-use appliances — as well as re-iterating the risks of explosions, fires and asphyxiation caused by hydrogen leaking from poorly adapted infrastructure.”

Bloomberg: Enbridge Sees Strong Oil Demand in 2050, With US Supply Growing
Kevin Orland, 8/21/24

“Enbridge Inc. Chief Executive Officer Greg Ebel said oil demand may continue to grow in the decades ahead, putting his company’s internal assumptions among the more bullish forecasters of long-term crude usage,” Bloomberg reports. “Oil demand by 2050 will be “well north” of 100 million barrels a day and possibly exceed 110 million daily barrels, Ebel told Bloomberg. That contrasts with an International Energy Agency projection that demand will decline to 97 million barrels a day by mid-century. “You continue to see economic demands, and particularly in the developing world, people continue to say lighter, faster, denser, cheaper energy works for our people,” Ebel told Bloomberg. “And that’s leading to more oil usage.” Enbridge’s forecast is roughly in line with a projection of 116 million barrels a day by 2045 from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Both forecasts exceed the dramatic reductions in oil usage that modelers have said will be necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming. Still, Ebel told Bloomberg he “just can’t see a situation where” oil demand slips to 80 million barrels a day or less. The world currently uses about 102.9 million barrels a day, according to US government figures. The future of oil demand is a critical question for Enbridge, a pipeline behemoth that transports 30% of the crude produced in North America. Even after billions of dollars of acquisitions that diversified Enbridge’s business over the past decade — including the $28 billion takeover of natural gas transporter Spectra Energy Corp. in 2017 that brought Ebel into Enbridge — the company still generates about half its earnings from its liquids pipelines business. Enbridge continues to invest in that division, adding storage and loading capacity at its Ingleside crude export terminal in Texas. That’s a bet that production from the Permian Basin in Texas will grow by 1 million to 2 million barrels a day through the end of the decade.”

Reuters: US West Coast Refiners still waiting for TMZ margin boost
Nicole Jao, 8/20/24

“Canada’s expanded Trans Mountain (TMX) oil pipeline, which commenced commercial operations in May, so far has had little impact on crude costs at refineries on the U.S. West Coast, according to companies operating there,” Reuters reports. “The expansion, which tripled pipeline capacity from Alberta to Canada’s Pacific Coast to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd), increased the access to Canadian heavy crude oil to West Coast refiners and opened up a new route to Asia. U.S. West Coast refiners, which mainly import crude by ship, were expected to be among the main outlets for the Canadian barrels. In the first three months since TMX began operations, however, most of the TMX barrels have been exported to markets in Asia, Brian Mandell, executive vice president of marketing and commercial for Phillips 66, told Reuters. “About two-thirds of the incremental TMX barrels have been going to Asia, which has been a bit of a surprise for us,” Mandell said during a call with investors last month… “Given that shipping barrels to Asia is logistically more complicated and costly compared with the readily available U.S. market, many investors believed the majority of TMX crude would head to West Coast first, Scotiabank analyst Paul Cheng told Reuters… “Many analysts had forecast the differential on Western Canada Select (WCS) versus U.S. crude would gradually narrow due to the additional export capacity offered by TMX. But the spare pipeline capacity failed to boost Canadian crude prices in first three months.”

Prairie Public Broadcasting: Two natural gas pipeline projects in the works for ND
Dave Thompson, 8/20/24

“Two natural gas pipeline projects could mean more use of Bakken natural gas,” Prairie Public Broadcasting reports. “A pipeline company is planning to convert a crude oil pipeline that brings Bakken oil to Guernsey, Wyoming to a natural gas liquids pipeline. Kinder Morgan plans to have the “Double H” pipeline converted by 2026… “Meanwhile, work is continuing on a new natural gas line that will serve Wahpeton and Kindred. The Wahpeton Extension runs from the WBI compressor station near Mapleton to Wahpeton.”

Reuters: Pipeline operator Enterprise Products to buy Pinon Midstream for $950 mln
8/21/24

“Pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners said on Wednesday it will buy smaller peer Pinon Midstream for $950 million in cash to expand its natural gas infrastructure,” Reuters reports. “The oil and gas pipeline industry has seen increased consolidation since last year as U.S. production grows and as problems with permits for new pipelines have made existing operators more valuable. Pinon, a portfolio company of Black Bay Energy Capital, operates in the Delaware Basin in New Mexico and Texas. It provides natural gas gathering and treating services in the eastern flank of the basin. Pinon’s assets include gathering and redelivery pipelines, treating facilities for hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, as well as two acid gas injection wells.”

Natural Gas Intelligence: TC Sanctions Natural Gas System to Supply Cedar LNG, Mulls CGL Expansion
Chris Newman, 8/20/24

“TC Energy Corp. is moving forward with the Cedar Link lateral from the Coastal GasLink (CGL) natural gas pipeline to supply the Cedar LNG Partners LP export project on Canada’s west coast,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “The decision comes two months after the Pembina Pipeline Corp. and the Haisla Nation sanctioned the Cedar liquefied natural gas export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia (BC). The C$1.2 billion ($734 million), 0.4 Bcf/d Cedar Link project would add a 0.4-kilometer (0.25-mile) Cedar Link Connector pipeline from Shell plc-led LNG Canada terminal to the Cedar floating LNG (FLNG) project.”

Natural Gas Intelligence: Canada Pension Fund Buys into Tallgrass for Stakes in Natural Gas Pipes, Low-Carbon Initiatives
Carolyn Davis, 8/20/24

“Energy midstream giant Tallgrass Energy, which operates 10,000-plus miles of natural gas and oil pipelines and storage systems across the Lower 48, has clinched a new partner that is bringing in a bundle of funding,” Natural Gas Intelligence reports. “The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) said it reached an agreement to invest $843 million in Tallgrass, now majority sponsored by private equity giant Blackstone. “With a business strategy that combines traditional energy and decarbonization solutions, Tallgrass is an attractive investment opportunity because of its dual role in delivering against growing energy needs and increasing decarbonization opportunities,” CPP Investments’ Bill Rogers, global head of sustainable energies, told NGI.”

Bloomberg: Oil Spill from Venezuela Pipeline Spreads across 28 Miles of Coastline
8/21/24

“Efforts are underway to contain a leak from a broken oil pipeline from the El Palito refinery that spilled into Venezuela’s Caribbean Sea, affecting 28 miles of coastline,” Bloomberg reports. “The spill from Venezuela Petróleos de Venezuela SA refinery took place Aug. 13, biologist Eduardo Klein told Bloomberg. The spill occurred after a pipeline feeding into a power station broke, leaking into a stream that leads to the sea, two people familiar with the situation in PDVSA told Bloomberg.”

Evansville Courier & Press: CenterPoint Energy fined nearly $2 million for federal, Indiana pipeline violations
Sarah Loesch, 8/21/24

“CenterPoint Energy Indiana has agreed to pay a penalty of nearly $2 million to the state of Indiana for violations of federal pipeline law,” the Evansville Courier & Press reports. “The utility will pay $1,997,500 to the state’s general fund, none of which can be recovered through customer rates, according to an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission report issued last week… “This trend must stop. If CEI wants to instill confidence and collaboration with all interested stakeholders, they will takea more proactive and aggressive approach to pipeline safety,” IURC Commissioner Wesley Bennett wrote. “The results will be evident by thecurrent and future actions taken by CEI to improve their outcomes.” In a statement from spokesperson Noah Stubbs, CenterPoint acknowledged the settlement and consent decree from the IURC, and noted it would not impact customer bills. “It is important to note that the instances identified in the settlement and consent decree did not result in any injuries or any infrastructure damage,” Stubbs told the Courier & Press… “According to the IURC order, this breaks down to payment for 23 of the violations from eight different inspections.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Schumer vows climate action if Dems sweep in November
Emma Dumain, 8/20/24

“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer thinks it’s possible Democrats regain their governing trifecta in the November elections — and at the top of his agenda would be another stab at federal climate legislation,” E&E News reports. “We would go back to the environment,” the New York Democrat on Tuesday morning told a small group of reporters gathered in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. Schumer said Democrats would return to the budget reconciliation process if their party swept control of the House, Senate and White House — a maneuver that allows a majority to bypass the Senate filibuster to advance party-line legislation and that was used in 2022 to pass the Inflation Reduction Act… “But climate hawks have also openly lamented that it fell short of their most grand ambitions at the start of the IRA negotiations, back when it was called “Build Back Better.” Schumer didn’t get specific about what he wanted a climate-focused reconciliation bill to include a second time around but said he would like to see policies to zero out carbon emissions in the next 25 years… “Unmentioned during Schumer’s pen and pad Tuesday was whether he would put muscle behind a permitting overhaul effort being spearheaded by Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and ranking member John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Their bill represents what many advocates consider the best chance at a compromise between oil and gas interests and the renewable energy sector, though progressive environmentalists are chafing at any framework that doesn’t outright exclude a streamlined permitting process for fossil fuel projects. That the American Petroleum Institute is lobbying heavily for the measure’s success has only further rattled left-leaning climate activists.”

The Hill: 2024 Democratic platform emphasizes economic case for climate action
ZACK BUDRYK, 8/20/24

“The 2024 Democratic Party platform makes a case for action against climate change as economic populism, a sharp contrast to Republican arguments that it would hurt the middle class,” The Hill reports. “The platform’s fourth chapter, which covers energy and environmental issues, calls the climate crisis “an existential threat to future generations who deserve better” caused by “delay and destruction by people like Donald Trump and his friends in big oil.” This section of the platform frontloads the economic argument, noting that the renewable energy industry has created hundreds of thousands of jobs already and citing Energy Department projections that Biden administration policies will cut electricity rates up to 9 percent by 2030. It also cites the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits for the purchase of new and used electric vehicles (EVs) and the expected savings from stricter fuel economy and tailpipe standards. It strikes a similar note on polluters, tying future efforts to Vice President Harris’s pledge to take action against price gouging, stating “when we hear of potential collusion or price-gouging, we’ll hold oil and gas executives accountable.”

E&E News: The Walz way: Why climate hawks see Minnesota as a model
Adam Aton, 8/21/24

“In the heat of this summer’s political jockeying, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz beat out better-known governors from bigger states to claim a major prize,” E&E News reports. “It wasn’t a spot on the Democratic presidential ticket — that was still two weeks away — but instead one of the biggest climate grants EPA ever has directed to a single state: $200 million to cut agricultural emissions… “Winning that Inflation Reduction Act money, a competition that pitted Minnesota against 44 other states, required the kind of bureaucratic sophistication that’s become Walz’s trademark as governor, experts and observers told E&E, especially when it comes to climate policy. Now, as Walz formally accepts the Democratic vice presidential nomination, the governor is stepping into a new role that will draw on many of those same skills — both on the campaign trail and, potentially, in the White House. Federal climate programs are getting “turbocharged” in Minnesota “thanks to the raft of state policies that the governor and the legislature have passed,” Justin Balik, state program director for Evergreen Action, told E&E… “It’s not just wonks who are impressed. While climate hawks have swooned over Walz’s marquee climate policies, what’s convinced more skeptical constituencies has been the governor’s attention to details they care about. Unions and rural moderates have formed key blocs of Walz’s political coalition because of his climate agenda, observers told E&E, not in spite of it. “I don’t think there’s anywhere in the country with better alignment between labor and climate-solutions folks,” Kevin Pranis, marketing manager for the Laborers’ International Union of North America in Minnesota and North Dakota, told E&E.”

E&E News: Oil and gas industry to press Trump to change Biden’s methane rules
Alex Guillén, 8/21/24

“Despite Donald Trump’s disdain for President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, the former president won’t be able to overturn one of Biden’s most significant actions — his crackdown on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry — if the GOP nominee wins a second term,” E&E News reports. “And the oil and gas industry is fine with that — as long as Trump makes changes to Biden’s new limits on the powerful greenhouse gas… “Trump has a history of reversing climate rules. When he first took office in 2017, he quickly moved to repeal the Obama administration’s first-time limits on methane from the oil and gas industry. But a repeat won’t happen if Trump wins this time around because congressional action and growing industry acceptance of direct regulation since then mean EPA’s authority to regulate methane is now essentially unquestioned.”

Law360: Gulf Spill Review ‘Underestimated’ Enviro Risks, Court Says
Lauren Berg, 8/20/24

“A National Marine Fisheries Service review of the effects of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico violates federal law, a Maryland federal judge ruled, agreeing with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups that the agency underestimated the risks to endangered and threatened marine species,” Law360 reports. “U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman, in a lengthy order Monday, granted summary judgment in favor of the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and Turtle Island Restoration Network, saying the NMFS’ biological opinion concerning offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico ‘underestimated the risk and harms of oil spills to protected species,’ in violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. For one thing, the NMFS unlawfully deferred to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s conclusion that ‘an oil spill larger than one million barrels was unlikely to occur,’ instead of making its own determination, the order states. What’s more, the NMFS’ past findings held that such an oil spill could be expected, according to the order. The agency also didn’t explain its decision to defer to the BOEM’s conclusion, the judge said.”

E&E News: Judge orders feds to protect endangered whale from oil drilling
Niina H. Farah, 8/21/24

“Marine species advocates scored a long-awaited legal victory this week, after a judge found the federal government had underestimated the risks of offshore oil and gas development to the critically endangered Rice’s whale and other wildlife,” E&E News reports. “On Monday, a federal district court in Maryland tossed out NOAA Fisheries’ Trump-era assessment — known as a biological opinion, or BiOp — effective Dec. 20, forcing the federal government to develop a new plan for protecting marine life like Gulf sturgeon and sea turtles. “The court’s ruling affirms that the government cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the widespread, persistent harms that offshore oil and gas development inflicts on wildlife,” Chris Eaton, a senior Earthjustice attorney representing environmental challengers in the case, told E&E. “This decision means the Fisheries Service must comply with the law to put in place meaningful safeguards for the Gulf’s rarest marine species.”

Earth Island Institute: Groups Petition EPA to Ban Use of Oil Dispersants Discontinued by the Manufacturer
8/19/24

“A petition filed by Earth Island Institute’s ALERT Project and the Government Accountability Project asks the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove the two chemical dispersants, Corexit 9527A and 9500A that were used after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, from the list of products authorized under the National Contingency Plan (NCP) for use during oil spill response—effective immediately. The human experience from dispersant exposure is now defined by post-BP disaster science. Key studies compiled in the petition show that these Corexit dispersants 9500A and 9527A are potent respiratory and skin sensitizers that cause chronic breathing difficulties and reoccurring skin rashes; potent carcinogens that trigger multiple cancer pathways; potent neurotoxins that cause brain damage such as central sensitization (hypersensitivities to smells, sounds, and light, often associated with migraines); and potent teratogens that disrupt development of fetuses. These dispersants also cause specific damage to the blood, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems, the peripheral nervous system, causing numbness and pain in the hands and/or feet, and the central nervous system, affecting memory, emotions, behavior, and loss of tolerance to chemicals, sound, and light. Oil dispersant mixtures are more harmful to people and animals than oil alone… “Removal of oil dispersants Corexit 9527A and 9500A from the NCP product schedule would ban their use for oil spill response in waters of the United States. This is the first test of the truth-in-reporting rule that was secured when a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the EPA to update its decades-old regulations on the use of toxic chemical dispersants in oil spill responses and to take into account current science.”

Law360: 5th Circ. Won’t Upend BP Win In Deepwater Cleanup Suit
Mike Curley, 8/19/24

“The Fifth Circuit won’t grant an extension on discovery deadlines to a worker who alleges he was harmed by exposure to toxins during the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, saying the discovery he seeks wouldn’t be enough to save his suit against BP,” Law360 reports.

STATE UPDATES

Louisiana Illuminator: Louisiana advocate leading fight against ammonia plant: ‘I already feel ignored’
Terry L. Jones, Floodlight, 8/20/24

“It wasn’t Kimbrelle Eugene Kyereh’s intention to become a community leader when she moved back to her hometown of St. Rose in 2017. But it’s the role she felt she had to take when she learned a petrochemical company had plans to build a $4.6 billion blue ammonia plant in her predominantly Black community,” the Louisiana Illuminator reports. “Kyereh, 54, already lives on the fenceline of International-Matex Tank Terminals’ 216-tank bulk liquid facility that serves as a storage site for products including ethanol, renewable diesel and petroleum products, chemicals that she fears are damaging her health. The plant was cited last month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for excessive emissions and unsafe conditions at its storage tanks. What is worrying Kyereh these days is St. Charles Clean Fuels’s plans to build a blue ammonia plant and store its liquefied ammonia on the IMTT site. The company says the massive facility will play a key role in the country’s transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy. Ammonia is conventionally produced from natural gas, coal or oil. In this case, the plant would generate hydrogen that would be used to fuel it, and it would employ carbon capture and sequestration to reduce the facility’s planet-warming emissions. The owners say the ammonia will be used to produce “clean fuel” and as feedstock to the fertilizer industry. Kyereh doesn’t believe that it will be cleaner — she fears the facility would only intensify the air pollution already harming the community. It’s why she said she couldn’t sit back and let another large industrial operation move into their historic community in St. Charles Parish. And that’s how her nonprofit, Refined Community Empowerment, was born in July 2023 — three months after the state’s economic development agency announced St. Charles Clean Fuels intended to lease more than 200 acres for the plant — practically in Kyereh’s backyard.”

Law360: ND Tribe Says State Has No Right To Riverbed Mineral Rights
Crystal Owens, 8/19/24

“The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation says North Dakota has no claim to mineral rights beneath a portion of the Missouri River within the tribe’s reservation, arguing that despite a federal opinion that held the property belongs to the tribe, the state has allegedly issued oil and gas leases for the site,” Law360 reports. “North Dakota scheduled an Aug. 14 auction for oil and gas exploration rights on the land and has also demanded and collected royalty payments related to the mineral extraction despite its lack of ownership, according to the tribe… “The MHA Nation is asking a D.C. federal district court for a judgment declaring that the state has no rights to the riverbed or the minerals underneath and that the property is titled in favor of the federal government, which holds it in trust for the tribe. It’s also seeking a ruling that would void any state-issued leases to the Missouri riverbed within the MHA Nation boundaries, according to the cross-complaint.”

Times of San Diego: California just got its ‘own damn satellite’ to track methane pollution
8/19/24

“Planet Labs successfully launched California’s very own satellite Monday to help track dangerous pollutants in the state’s fight against the climate crisis,” the Times of San Diego reports. “This new state-of-the-art tool answers California’s own pledge last year for the state and governments around the world to commit to cutting global methane emissions, one of the worst pollutants. California has set its own goal to reduce 40% of its methane emissions by 2030 compared to 2013 levels. The idea was suggested by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018. At the time, Brown said: ‘We’re going to launch our own damn satellite to figure out where the pollution is and how we’re going to end it.’”

Daily Montanan: Montana poll finds support for new BLM oil and gas rules
BLAIR MILLER, 8/16/24

“A poll commissioned by the Montana Wildlife Federation in July and released this week found broad support for parts of a Bureau of Land Management oil and gas rule released earlier this year that Montana’s Republican federal delegation is seeking to block from taking effect,” the Daily Montanan reports. “The poll was conducted by Republican-leaning firm New Bridge Strategy July 15-21 and surveyed 500 registered Montana voters via landlines and cell phones and focused on questions about how oil and gas development interacts with public lands and conservation under the rule finalized this past April. The poll shows that despite opposition to the rule from U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, Rep. Ryan Zinke, and Rep. Matt Rosendale, a vast majority of the Montana public supports key facets of the rule, which is aimed at mitigating environmental degradation and keeping oil and gas companies honest when leasing federal public lands for development… “Montanans have made it clear that they value responsible energy development that also protects our public lands and wildlife habitats,” Montana Wildlife Federation Executive Director Frank Szollosi told the Montanan.

EXTRACTION

DeSmog: NextDecade Scraps Carbon Capture Plans for Its Rio Grande LNG Terminal
Sharon Kelly, 8/20/24

“The NextDecade Rio Grande LNG terminal won’t have a carbon capture component, the company told federal regulators in a filing Tuesday, walking back the company’s heavily marketed plans to make a “lower carbon intensive LNG project,” DeSmog reports. “[A]s demonstrated by Rio Grande’s inability to respond to the outstanding data requests, the Project is not sufficiently developed to allow Commission review to continue,” attorneys for Rio Grande LNG wrote in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) filed today. In 2021, the company tacked a carbon capture piece onto their Brownsville, Texas, LNG export project. That move came after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found FERC had failed to properly consider the project’s climate impact… “But NextDecade hit a major setback two weeks ago, when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out FERC’s approval for the Rio Grande LNG export project… “In tossing out FERC’s approval for Rio Grande, the D.C. Circuit found regulators failed to properly consider how that terminal and another proposed LNG project nearby would impact environmental justice communities in Cameron County, Texas. FERC also hadn’t properly reviewed the impacts of the carbon capture element of Rio Grande, the D.C. Circuit found… “In response to today’s announcement, environmental advocates called on FERC to act as more than a “rubber stamp for industry’s preferences” as it considers what to do with Rio Grande LNG in the wake of the D.C. Circuit ruling. “For three years, NextDecade has insisted to FERC and the public that it would implement a carbon capture and sequestration project that would reduce Rio Grande LNG’s egregious greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90 percent,” Nathan Matthews, a senior attorney with the Sierra Club, told DeSmog. “As the D.C. Circuit Court just held in its Aug. 6 decision, FERC now needs to take a hard look at carbon capture, whether or not NextDecade would prefer to move on.”

Scientific American: Can Pulling Carbon from Thin Air Slow Climate Change?
ALEC LUHN, 8/20/24

“One evening in late 1997, 11-year-old Claire Lackner walked into her dad’s study looking for an idea for an experiment for her sixth-grade science class,” Scientific American reports. “Her dad, Klaus Lackner, happened to be a physicist working on nuclear fusion at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He’d grown skeptical that fusion could replace dirty fuels and had started thinking about how to take greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere instead. So he suggested Claire try to capture carbon dioxide from air… “Claire won a prize at the county science fair, and her father later wrote a paper arguing that extracting CO2 from air “has a reasonable probability of success” at reducing global warming… “Several years later Lackner co-founded a company called Global Research Technologies, and in 2007 it staged the first demonstration of a technology to extract CO2 from the ambient air, an approach now called direct air capture (DAC)… “Although the chemistry may not be “all that hard,” DAC requires a lot of equipment and a lot of energy—and therefore a lot of money… “The U.S. plans to draw down and store more than a billion tons of CO2 annually by 2050, more than one fifth of what it currently emits. For that to be possible, carbon removal would have to become one of the world’s largest industries in just a few decades, ex­­pand­ing by more than 40 percent each year. That’s far faster than most technologies develop—although it is comparable to the pace of solar panels and electric vehicles. “It’d be one of the biggest things humans have ever done,” Gregory F. Nemet, a professor of public policy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who wrote a book called How Solar Energy Be­­came Cheap, told SA… “Residents in predominantly Black Lake Charles are concerned, however, about the possibility of a rupture in a pipeline transporting CO2 to the site. A leak in a multistate network of CO2 pipelines put 45 people in neighboring Mississippi in the hospital in 2020, and another one in a Lake Charles suburb forced officials to issue a shelter-in-place order this past April. More broadly, they’re worried that Project Cypress will help perpetuate a legacy of environmental racism… “There are also concerns that DAC poses a “moral hazard” for the steep reduction in fossil-fuel use that scientists say is necessary: Why stop burning carbon if you think you can just suck it out of the air later?… “But Emily Grubert, a University of Notre Dame sociologist who previously worked for the DOE on DAC hubs, told SA “paying the oil companies to stop doing oil” is fruitless.”

OilPrice.com: Why U.S. Refiners Are Worried About Canada’s New Oil Policy
Julianne Geiger, 8/20/24

“Canada’s proposed emissions cap could limit oil production and increase costs for Canadian producers. This could significantly impact U.S. refineries, many of which are specifically equipped to process heavy Canadian crude,” according to OilPrice.com. “A reduction in Canadian heavy crude supply could lead to higher prices, operational challenges, and potential fuel shortages in the U.S… “The U.S. is the world’s largest refiner, and Canadian crude oil accounted for 24% of all its refinery throughput in last year, and is essential for U.S. energy security. Canada plays a crucial role in supplying crude oil to the United States, especially for refineries in the Rocky Mountain and Midwest regions. In fact, many U.S. refineries are specifically tooled to process the heavy oil found in Canada’s oil sands… “A reduction in Canadian heavy crude supply could lead to increased competition for heavy crude from other sources, driving up prices and impacting refinery margins. This might lead to higher gasoline and diesel prices in the U.S. market.”

OPINION

The Conversation: Canada must continue cutting emissions regardless of the actions of other polluters
Richard Sandbrook, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto, 8/20/24

“I have, over the years, lost count of the number of times I have seen or heard people say that it doesn’t matter what Canada, or the more-developed world, does to reduce carbon emissions,” Richard Sandbrook writes for The Conversation. “It is argued that the main global problem is that major emitters such as China, India, Russia and Brazil continue full tilt for economic growth at any carbon-cost. Consequently, global emissions continue to grow, despite falling emissions in the West. While it is true that emerging economies have a large carbon footprint, any conclusion that Canada should therefore stop reducing its emissions in response is dead wrong. We in Canada and in other richer nations must do more, both to realize the intrinsic benefits of a greener environment and to expedite international co-operation in decarbonization. Without global co-operation, there is no hope… “If we switch our view from country emissions to per capita emissions — and to historical contributions to global warming — the balance of responsibility shifts. Per capita emissions in Canada, for example, are around double that of China. Yet even per person emissions within countries underestimates the western responsibility for climate change. This measure ignores emissions that are “imported” in the form of traded goods. For years, rich countries have relocated dirty and polluting industries to the Global South, and then imported the goods produced there. Emissions associated with the production of these imported goods should be attributed to the importing country. If you do this calculation and render emissions in terms of consumption rather than production, it reveals an even more skewed pattern. The United States, a net importer of emissions, registers an increase in per capita emissions from 14 kilotons (country emissions) to 15.5 kilotons (consumption emissions) in 2020, an increase of 10 per cent… “We need global co-operation and shared responsibility to survive the climate crisis. But global co-operation requires that the West leads the way both in more stringent decarbonization measures and in facilitating decarbonization in the Global South by means of investments via the neglected Green Climate Fund and transferring green technologies.”