General
News
Cooper Rolls Out Climate Plan; Protesters Call It 'Sham'.
According to WRAL, “As students marched in locales around the world Friday to demand action to fight climate change, protesters disrupted a meeting in Raleigh to update state plans
to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2025. Gov. Roy Cooper set the ambitious goal a year ago and created a state Climate Change Interagency Council to help meet it. ‘This is an imperative for this administration,’ he said Friday. While the Southern
Environmental Law Center, the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental advocates praised the plan, some protesters called it a ‘greenwash’ that doesn’t go far enough. While Cooper spoke with members of the council at the beginning of Friday’s
meeting at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, protestors interrupted him, shouting ‘act, act, act’ and holding up signs accusing him of ‘climate hypocrisy.’ About a dozen people had to be escorted out of the museum by police. Amanda Robertson,
a climate activist who helped organize the protest, said the governor needs to revoke state permits for the planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which is on hold because of legal challenges but is eventually expected to move fracked natural gas from West Virginia
to southeastern North Carolina. Protestor Jim Warren with NC WARN said the methane released by the hydraulic fracturing process to free natural gas trapped in underground shale is even worse for global warming than carbon dioxide.” [WRAL,
9/27/19 (=)]
How U.S. Fossil Fuels Are Tied To Ukraine And Impeachment.
According to E&E News, “Ukraine, now at the center of a rapidly accelerating impeachment inquiry against President Trump, has been central to the president’s efforts to increase U.S.
exports of fossil fuels. The Eastern European nation sits at the crossroads of Europe and Russia. Today, roughly a third of Russian gas consumed in Europe passes through Ukraine. That has made the country uniquely susceptible to Russian meddling. Moscow has
twice cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in the past 15 years and stopped selling directly to the country after the onset of the civil war there in 2014. The prospect of a third shutoff looms at the end of the year, when the current transit agreement between
Russia and Ukraine is set to expire. The impeachment inquiry against Trump could strain the relationship between the United States and Ukraine. House Democrats are seeking information on how the president and his administration may have pressured Ukraine to
investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. The White House may have delayed military aid to Ukraine as part of a campaign to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open an investigation into an energy company that employed the former vice president’s
son.” [E&E News,
9/30/19 (=)]
Op-Ed: Regulating Methane Emissions Will Keep Canada’s Oil And Gas Sector Competitive, Not Hurt It.
According to an op-ed by Sarah Marie Jordan and Kate Konschnik in the Globe and Mail, “Canadian governments are making good on a 2016 pledge to cut oil-and-gas-sector methane emissions
by 40 to 45 per cent below 2012 levels by 2025. Since the pledge, both Alberta and the federal government have issued rules on reducing leaks of methane, which is many times as potent a heat trapper as carbon dioxide, and both are slated to go into effect
next year. In recent weeks, however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed relaxing regulation of oil-and-gas-sector methane emissions, sparking debate about whether new tougher emissions rules will make Canada uncompetitive in attracting oil
and gas investment. Nevertheless, for our energy to retain market share globally, Canadian production must achieve a greenhouse gas footprint that is competitive with other sources and regions, not just the United States. This means lowering the emission intensity
for Canadian oil and gas to best-in-class levels. Methane leaks remain the big unknown factor in greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. Current data show that methane already accounts for 8 per cent of Canada’s emissions. But the latest science
suggests these emissions are systematically undercounted, by as much as 60 per cent according to some estimates. And methane packs a big climate punch in the short term, with 28 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide over 100 years (and 84 times the impact
on a 20-year time scale).” [The Globe and Mail,
9/28/19 (+)]
Fossil Fuels Bracing For Crude Game Of Musical Chairs.
According to Axios, “Let’s hark back to the childhood game of musical chairs to talk about fossil fuels and climate change (yes really!). My thought bubble: The world’s oil, natural
gas and coal producers are, metaphorically speaking, encircling a bunch of chairs, and as the world tightens its grip on heat-trapping emissions, the use of these fuels drops — and so does the number of chairs. The big picture: These companies make products
we all demand — usually without noticing — when we flip on the light switch, fill up our car’s tank or open up a plastic-wrapped package. Wind and solar are growing rapidly, but oil, natural gas and coal still make up 81% of our world’s energy consumption.
That figure hasn’t changed in 30 years. Where it stands: The big question for fossil-fuel companies — and efforts to tackle climate change — is when and by how much will demand for these fuels decline? That’s where this existential game comes in, because the
possible futures are vastly different depending on the world’s appetite to curb emissions. This new interactive tool by Resources For the Future, an environmental think tank, compares various energy forecasts by governments, corporations and more. I am invoking
musical chairs the game because it provides an accessible illustration, but climate change and our energy use are, to be clear, not trivial games. OK, let’s start.” [Axios,
9/30/19 (=)]
Coal Is Piling Up In Europe As Utilities Prefer Natural Gas.
According to Bloomberg, “Stockpiles of coal are surging at some of Europe’s largest ports as utilities from Germany to Spain are increasingly favoring cleaner gas in power generation.
Reserves at ports in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Vlissingen last week rose to their highest levels since July. The uptake after the summer has slowed because of mild weather so far this autumn. Crashing natural gas prices have also made it more attractive for
utilities to burn the fuel, just as solar and wind continues to eat into the overall share of fossil fuels.” [Bloomberg,
9/27/19 (=)]
Leak Reported In Mass. City Rocked By Explosions Last Year.
According to E&E News, “About 100 people have been evacuated from their homes and two schools have been closed in response to a natural gas leak in a Massachusetts city affected a
year ago by a series of gas explosions and fires. Lawrence Fire Chief Brian Moriarty said the leak in a high-pressure line was discovered around 3:15 this morning and that the volume of gas released was in the ‘explosive range.’ No explosions or fires have
been reported. Gas and electricity have been shut off in the affected neighborhood. Mark Kempic, president of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts Inc., the company blamed for last year’s explosions, said no crews were working in the area and the line is new. The
source of the leak remains under investigation. Mayor Dan Rivera said the Wetherbee School and Lawrence Catholic Academy are closed.” [E&E News,
9/27/19 (=)]
Chad Ellwood
Research Associate
202.448.2877 ext. 119