General
News
Trump Attacks Harris On Fracking: Can It Swing Pa. And Ohio?
According to E&E News, “Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s vice
presidential choice of Sen. Kamala Harris — who has vowed to take the fossil fuel industry to court over climate change and grounded her own run for the presidency on environmental justice — put energy squarely at the center of the presidential election yesterday.
Harris, one of the first senators to back the sweeping Green New Deal, quickly found her energy record under assault from President Trump, who criticized the California Democrat from the lectern at the White House. ‘She is against fracking; she is against
petroleum products,’ said Trump, who last week warned a crowd in Ohio that the ‘radical left-wing movement’ wants to ‘ban fracking, which will demolish your state.’ ‘I mean, how do you do that and go into Pennsylvania or Ohio or Oklahoma or the great state
of Texas?’ Trump said at the White House. ‘She’s against fracking. Fracking is a big deal.’ Harris, who as California’s attorney general sued oil companies for environmental violations, has been critical of hydraulic fracturing and has gone further than Biden
when it comes to support for ending the practice. Harris told a CNN town hall in September 2019 that there was ‘no question’ that she favored banning fracking, ‘starting with what we can do on day one around public lands.’ She added, ‘We have to just acknowledge
that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the health and safety of communities.’ Harris’ climate change plan released that month, however, did not call for a ban.” [E&E News,
8/12/20
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Methane Rollback May Complicate Agency Reauthorization.
According to E&E News, “Following a breakthrough last week that enabled a long-stalled
pipeline safety reauthorization to pass the Senate, Republicans and industry advocates have stepped up the pressure for the House to follow suit. But the Trump administration’s expected move this week to scuttle Obama-era EPA methane regulations may push House
Democrats to double down on their version of the bill, which heavily focuses on improving climate oversight of pipeline infrastructure. Should Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio
(D-Ore.) opt to hold out for their bill, the reauthorization debate for the Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) could continue into next Congress. Both DeFazio and Pallone took to Twitter over the past
two days to voice their opposition to the rumored rollback by EPA of methane regulations for new oil and gas operations (Greenwire, Aug. 11). ‘Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and one of the primary drivers of climate change,’ Pallone said. ‘EPA’s expected
proposal rolling back methane pollution rules is another shameful example of this Administration prioritizing polluters’ interests over Americans.’ The duo included a provision within its pipeline safety bill, H.R. 3432, to prevent EPA from implementing changes
to the Obama-era methane standards. And that was just one of several provisions focused on climate. DeFazio’s committee has highlighted the methane language as ‘a priority to prevent and address methane leaks in pipelines that stretch across our country.’”
[E&E News, 8/12/20
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Trump Administration Abandons Obama-Era Curbs On Methane Leaks.
According to Bloomberg, “The Trump administration is abandoning Obama administration
curbs on methane leaks from oil and gas wells, a move that even some drillers oppose and that could become a campaign issue in the swing state of Pennsylvania. The effort, which an administration official said would be finalized Thursday, represents the final
Trump administration blow to former President Barack Obama’s three-part plan for stifling planet-warming emissions, following eased limits on power plants and automobiles. Methane is the chief component of natural gas, making it a valuable energy source and
commodity. Yet it is also a climate menace -- a powerful heat-trapping pollutant estimated to be roughly 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere over a 20-year period. Methane makes up roughly a 10th of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions,
with much of that coming from the energy industry. The latest initiative comes as President Donald Trump courts oil industry voters in gas-rich Pennsylvania and other states where the regulations have added costs. Yet the measure’s timing makes it vulnerable
to being reversed if Joe Biden wins the election in November. And analysts say states might move to fill the gap left by the federal government -- perhaps going even further. ‘Trump’s rollback increases pressure on both states to act individually and any future
president to take more drastic national measures,’ said Lauren Pagel, policy director of the environmental group Earthworks. Biden, the Democratic nominee, has promised ‘aggressive methane pollution limits for new and existing oil and gas operations.’” [Bloomberg,
8/12/20
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EPA Expected To Allow More Methane Emissions From Oil And Gas Industry.
According to Eco Watch, “In the coming days, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is expected to use its power to roll back yet another Obama-era environmental protection meant to curb air pollution and slow the climate crisis. This new rollback concerns methane, a potent greenhouse gas destructive to the earth’s atmosphere. The EPA
is expected to make the announcement on Friday that it is ending a stricture put in place by the previous administration that curbed the amount of methane that could be released in oil and gas exploration, as The Wall Street Journal reported. Since the rule
is not official yet, anonymous officials at the agency told The Wall Street Journal that the rollback will scrap the new rules that required oil and gas producers to have systems, checks and processes in place to identify and address methane leaks on their
rigs. The rollbacks do not end there. The Wall Street Journal also reported that the EPA will also end its oversight of ozone pollutants and emissions from pipelines and storage sites. Additionally, the agency will reduce its requirement for monitoring and
reporting certain pollutants. The EPA’s decision to end its oversight and slacken regulation may result in an additional 5 million metric tons of methane pollution released into the atmosphere each year. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that can be 25
times more impactful than carbon dioxide in equal quantities, as The Hill reported. In 2018, it accounted for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity, mostly from the oil and gas industry, although commercial agriculture
and the cattle industry are also large contributors to methane emissions.” [Eco Watch,
8/11/20
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BLM Mum On Lease Sale In Alaska Reserve. That's A First.
According to E&E News, “The Bureau of Land Management has yet to decide whether to hold
an oil and gas lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska this year. That’s not normal. The Interior Department’s annual auction on the Arctic coast generally kicks off by early to midsummer with a call for industry nominations. Since the current
NPR-A leasing program started in 1999, BLM has never reached mid-August without issuing that call, the agency confirmed to E&E News this week. The Trump administration has responded to the pandemic and oil price bust by offering royalty reductions to struggling
petroleum companies and by punting multiple oil and gas lease sales in the Lower 48, including large auctions in Wyoming and New Mexico. It’s not clear that BLM would follow suit by canceling the Alaska sale. Eric Tausch, deputy communications director for
BLM in Alaska, said in response to a question about whether the agency was on track for a sale that staffers were ‘preparing for the possibility of a 2020 lease sale, although no decision is made yet regarding timing.’ BLM Alaska spokeswoman Lesli Ellis-Wouters
added that ‘while BLM does follow a procedural timeline in preparing for lease sales, the time of year is a matter of agency discretion and has varied from year to year’ for NPR-A. Consistent timing is ‘one consideration among many,’ she said. ‘Past schedules
provide us guidelines in the process, but they are not binding on how BLM pursues NPR-A leasing in any given year.’” [E&E News,
8/12/20
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White House Sought To Further Weaken EPA Methane Rule.
According to E&E News, “The White House appears to have lost its bid to make an upcoming
rule for oil and gas emissions less protective than EPA proposed. The EPA rule proposed for monitoring and repairing natural gas leaks, which is set to be final tomorrow alongside another rule that replaces Obama-era regulations for petroleum methane, was
already weaker than the 2016 safeguards it replaces. Then the White House stepped in with its own request: Reduce the burden for oil and gas companies by requiring fewer inspections for leaks. But the White House’s determination to make it less stringent than
EPA’s proposal appears to have succeeded only in delaying the rule’s rollout. The two-part redo of Obama’s 2016 rule to restrict heat-trapping methane from oil and gas wells traveled to the Office of Management and Budget on May 29. EPA said that it had asked
OMB for an expedited, 30-day review of the rule, which was already months behind schedule and would roll back the last piece of the Obama administration’s Climate Action Plan. But OMB granted 28 meeting requests from interested parties to discuss the rulemaking.
And in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dated July 15, Department of Justice lawyers representing EPA stated that OMB’s comments on the final rule could delay it from being finalized. ‘In light of the OMB review process, and
assuming there are no additional interagency comments, EPA anticipates that it will finalize the rule by the end of July 2020,’ DOJ stated.” [E&E News,
8/12/20
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Drilling Is Stopped After Leaks Develop Along Mariner East Pipeline. One Is Affecting
Chester’s Marsh Creek Lake. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Drilling fluid
used in Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East project in Chester County leaked into Marsh Creek Lake in a state park of the same name on Monday — one of three incidents in recent days along the pipeline construction project route. Virginia Cain, a spokesperson
for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said the agency is investigating the three incidents, which occurred at two project sites, in West Whiteland and Upper Uwchlan Townships. The DEP said the first leak occurred on the 100 block of
Shoen Road in West Whiteland on Saturday. Both the DEP and the Fish and Boat Commission responded and tested water to see if it contained drilling fluids. Drilling was stopped to await an analysis of the liquid. If the liquid is found to be that used for drilling,
which typically contains bentonite clay and water, the site will be shut down until an application to restart is filed. Usually, the liquid is injected into a bore during the horizontal drilling process. The mixture is not normally hazardous, though environmental
groups say it could contain other chemicals. On Sunday, the same agencies were called after discharges related to the same site were reported ‘at multiple areas in the West Whiteland Apartment Complex.’ The DEP is reviewing permits and plans Sunoco filed pertaining
to the location to see if regulations were followed.” [Philadelphia Inquirer,
8/11/20
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The Fracking Fight Ahead.
According to Politico, “President Donald Trump wasted no time Tuesday issuing his first energy attack line on the nomination, knocking Harris’ opposition to fracking and petroleum products. ‘How do you do that and go into Pennsylvania or Ohio or Oklahoma or
the great state of Texas?’ Trump said at his coronavirus briefing Tuesday. The fracking line is of course one Trump has repeatedly gone after Biden for, though Biden has made clear on numerous occasions he has no plans to challenge fracking. Harris, on the
other hand, was critical of the fracking technology used to produce oil and gas back in 2016 when she was elected to the Senate, and last year said there was ‘no question’ she favors banning fracking. Happening today: Biden and Harris will deliver joint remarks
from Wilmington, Del. Let the games begin: POLITICO’s Carla Marinucci has the rundown on who could be selected to take Harris’ seat in the Senate should the Biden-Harris ticket reach the White House. Some of the names on the list will be recognizable to avid
ME readers, including California AG Xavier Becerra, who has been at the forefront of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s climate rollbacks.” [Politico,
8/12/20
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BLM To Cut Controversial Parcels From Utah Auction.
According to E&E News, “The Bureau of Land Management has removed thousands of acres
from a planned September oil and gas auction near Arches National Park and other Utah landmarks following pushback from locals and congressional leaders. BLM holds quarterly lease sales in oil states like Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. The agency had planned
to auction nearly 90,000 federal mineral acres this fall, but the sale brought widespread complaints from the recreation industry, environmentalists and local political leaders. Yesterday, House Democrats called for the Interior Department to cancel the sale,
arguing that low oil prices would depress the value of the resources and that Utah’s scenic landscapes were at risk, in a letter to Secretary David Bernhardt (Greenwire, Aug. 11). In a press release today, Utah’s new BLM state director, Greg Sheehan, said
public comments were a ‘priority.’ ‘Understanding the nature of the proposed parcels, as well as gathering input from local communities, partners and the public are a priority for me as the new State Director for BLM Utah,’ he said in a statement. ‘The BLM
supports the recreation and tourism industry as an important source of revenue in Utah, while also responsibly leasing and supporting our nation’s energy independence.’ The BLM sale in September will offer roughly 27,000 acres at auction, none in Grand and
San Juan counties, home to Arches National Park, Bears Ears National Monument and part of Canyonlands National Park.” [E&E News,
8/11/20
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EPA Poised To Release Greenhouse Gas Rollback.
According to E&E News, “EPA is on the verge of releasing rules rolling back Obama-era
standards on a powerful greenhouse gas and replacing them with weaker alternatives. The White House Office of Management and Budget has completed its reviews of a pair of methane rules and returned them to EPA yesterday. Administrator Andrew Wheeler is expected
to sign and release them later this week. The timing might be related to a court order requiring EPA to file a response brief in U.S. District Court by Friday in a case involving states and environmentalists suing EPA to regulate methane for existing oil and
gas operations. The 2016 Obama rule is a prerequisite for an existing-source standard, and EPA has said it will no longer be obligated to regulate methane from operations that came online prior to 2016 once it rescinds the rule. So the agency is likely to
finalize the rule before it misses that court deadline — probably Thursday or Friday. Both rules relax different aspects of the same 2016 standard. EPA moved its fix for Obama-era requirements for monitoring and repairing leaks in a 2018 ‘technical rule’ that
proposed changes sought by industry to monitoring frequency and technologies that can be used. Separately in 2019, EPA proposed scrapping direct methane regulation in favor of a rule that focused only on volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. The ozone precursor
is abundant in oil and gas production and processing, and EPA argued that methane would be controlled as a byproduct of capturing VOCs, making a separate rule for methane unnecessary. But by focusing on VOCs instead of methane, EPA avoids regulating transmission
and storage — segments of the supply chain that are rich in methane and poor in VOCs.” [E&E News,
8/11/20
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Trump EPA Vs Big Oil On Methane. According to the Washington Examiner, “The EPA is set to
unveil a rescission of Obama-era methane limits later this week that pits the Trump administration against many of the world’s biggest oil companies, including BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil. In fact, those oil companies see the EPA’s plans, expected to eliminate
direct federal regulation of methane from the oil and gas sector, as a threat to their business, Abby reports in a story for this week’s Washington Examiner magazine. That’s because large multinational oil companies are worried about investor pressure and
climate activists’ scrutiny, both of which could make natural gas less politically acceptable as a cleaner fuel. ‘We need to control methane emissions now to maximize the advantages of gas and secure a role for decarbonized gas in the future energy system,’
BP wrote in November comments to the EPA, filed by Joe Ellis, the company’s head of U.S. government affairs. ‘Otherwise, we risk losing the confidence of investors, consumers, policymakers, and other shareholders.’ Methane, the main ingredient of natural gas,
is a greenhouse gas dozens of times more potent than carbon dioxide. EPA, though, appears more attuned to the concerns of smaller U.S. producers: ‘There are some of the large multinational oil and gas companies who prefer us to take one approach, but we’re
looking at what the impact would be on small- and medium-sized American companies,’ EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said of the pending rule in late July, during a virtual event hosted by the Heritage Foundation. Wheeler is expected to sign the new methane
rules in the Pittsburgh area, in the heart of the Marcellus Shale, one of the country’s largest natural gas reserves, the Wall Street Journal reports.” [Washington Examiner,
8/11/20 (=)]
Summertime Of Sadness For Us LNG Exports. According to the Washington Examiner, “U.S. exports
of liquefied natural gas fell from a record of 8 billion cubic feet per day in January, to an average of 3.1 Bcf/d in July 2020, a drop of about 60%, the EIA reported Tuesday. Things got so bad that during the week of July 12, only four vessels loaded U.S.
LNG, carrying about 2 Bcf/d, the same levels as the second week of December 2016, before the U.S. became a major exporter. This summer, EIA forecasts U.S. LNG facilities will have utilization rates of 35%, compared to the normal in recent years of more than
90% during summertime. EIA expects U.S. LNG exports to remain low for a few more months before returning to normal by November as global demand has dried up due to the pandemic and Europe and Asia have a buildup of inventories.” [Washington Examiner,
8/11/20 (=)]
A Bad Second Quarter For Permian Powerhouse. According to the Washington Examiner, “Occidental
Petroleum, the largest oil producer in the Permian Basin, reported a second quarter net loss of $8.4 billion Monday. The Houston-based company also announced a $6.6 billion write-down in the value of its assets, which is equivalent to more than 40% of its
market value, according to Bloomberg. It’s one of the largest of many writedowns that have occurred among oil companies during the price crash, relative to the company’s size. Occidental was already struggling with a large debt load after purchasing rival
and major shale player Anadarko Petroleum last year. It was one of the most vocal U.S. companies calling for the federal government to provide liquidity support to producers during the price crash. Occidental has slashed its capital budget for 2020 to between
$2.4 billion to $2.6 billion, down from previous estimates of between $5.2 billion to $5.4 billion. The company said it will only operate one rig in the Permian for the rest of the year.” [Washington Examiner,
8/11/20 (=)]
Chad Ellwood
Senior Research Associate
Climate Action Campaign
202.448.2877 ext. 119