PennEast becomes the latest to scuttle a natural gas pipeline project, Globe and Mail ($)

SCOTT DISAVINO , REUTERS, PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 PennEast Pipeline said on Monday it would stop developing a proposed pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, the latest in a series of natural gas lines to run aground due to legal and regulatory challenges. The project was one of several proposed in recent years to draw gas

MORE »

PennEast has stopped pursuing gas pipeline project due to N.J. regulatory hurdles, Lehighvalleylive.com

Updated: 2:54 p.m. | Published: 11:50 a.m., September 27, 2021, by Pamela Sroka-Holzmann | For lehighvalleylive.com and Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com Despite a U.S. Supreme Court victory allowing PennEast Pipeline to condemn land in New Jersey over the objections of state government, a consortium of energy companies behind the project announced Monday it would cease the project

MORE »

Dakota Access Pipeline gains win-win with court ruling and Biden inaction, S&P Global ($)

24 May 2021 | 19:02 UTC The future of the 570,000 b/d Dakota Access Pipeline is still at risk, but the primary crude artery out of the Bakken Shale is in a much stronger position after a federal court ruling kept the oil flowing and the Biden administration opted against intervening on an existing pipeline

MORE »

Dakota Access Still Faces Existential Threats Despite Court Win, Bloomberg Law ($)

Ellen M. Gilmer • May 24, 2021, 5:31 AM It’s familiar territory for the embattled Energy Transfer LP project that seems perpetually unable to shake off legal and political hazards. A federal district court last week refused to halt the oil pipeline—an important win for Dakota Access—but an appeal or agency action could change its fate. “I

MORE »

Supreme Court Feud Set To Shake Up Eminent Domain, Gas, E&E News

Niina H. Farah, E&E News reporter • Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2021 The Supreme Court today will wade into a battle over construction of the PennEast natural gas pipeline that has escalated into a clash over federal energy law and states’ rights. The justices will hear oral arguments this morning on whether PennEast Pipeline Co.

MORE »

New Jersey’s Gas Pipeline Veto, Wall Street Journal (Editorial Board) ($)

The Supreme Court hears Trenton’s claim to regulatory supremacy. By The Editorial Board • April 26, 2021 6:37 pm ET The Biden Administration is no fan of fossil fuels. But even it disagrees with New Jersey’s slick argument in a case the Supreme Court will hear Wednesday that the Constitution gives states a veto over interstate

MORE »

In the climate change fight, the Interior Department becomes a battlefield, Washington Post ($)

Administration’s review of the federal oil and gas program, personnel decisions have sparked pushback. By Juliet Eilperin and Joshua Partlow • April 16 2021 at 5:35 p.m. EDT In the weeks after President Biden’s inauguration, as the oil industry was facing a far less welcoming White House, a ConocoPhillips executive went pheasant hunting with the

MORE »

US federal appeals court denies DAPL rehearing request, S&P Global ($)

23 Apr 2021 | 15:39 UTC Houston — A federal appeals court quickly denied a rehearing request for the vacating of necessary permitting for the Dakota Access Pipeline, still leaving the fate of a potential shutdown of the Bakken Shale crude oil artery up to the federal judge who previously ordered the pipeline shuttered. MORE

MORE »

Future of ‘Broken’ Oil Program Under Review, Interior Head Says, BNN Bloomberg

Jennifer A. Dlouhy • Bloomberg News • Apr 2, 2021 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. government program for selling drilling rights on federal land is so “fundamentally broken” that changes could be needed to address climate change and ensure taxpayers get a greater value from extracted oil and gas, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said Friday. “The

MORE »

Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will cost Canadians billions, SFU study shows, Globe and Mail ($)

Emma Graney • Energy Reporter • Published April 1, 2021 EDMONTON The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion stands to lose Canada between $3.2-​billion and $18.5-billion, according to a new benefit-cost analysis study from a group of British Columbia researchers. Researchers from Simon Fraser University examined close to 20 business scenarios for the pipeline expansion, but didn’t find any in which it generates a net

MORE »

Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will lead to $11.9B in losses for Canada, study says, CBC

SFU team says several factors mean project should be shelved but industry expert disagrees Bethany Lindsay · CBC News · Posted: Mar 31, 2021 1:00 AM PT | Last Updated: April 1 A new study from researchers in B.C. estimates that Canada will lose $11.9 billion because of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, but some industry experts question

MORE »

Alaska files to defend Tongass exemption from Roadless Rule, Seattle Times ($)

By The Associated Press • March 27, 2021 at 8:35 am | Updated March 27, 2021 at 8:36 am JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state of Alaska and several other groups have filed to defend the Tongass National Forest’s exemption from a rule that limits development on federal land. The filing fights back against a group of

MORE »

Deb Haaland Becomes First Native American Cabinet Secretary, New York Times ($)

The Senate confirmed Ms. Haaland to lead the Interior Department. She’ll be charged with essentially reversing the agency’s course over the past four years. By Coral Davenport • March 15, 2021 WASHINGTON — Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico made history on Monday when the Senate confirmed her as President Biden’s secretary of the Interior, making her the

MORE »

The Biden era of climate-aware forest policy, The Hill

By Mike Dombeck And Jim Furnish, Opinion Contributors • 03/04/21 04:30 PM ESTThe Views Expressed By Contributors Are Their Own And Not The View Of The Hill One of the most egregious acts of the previous administration’s public lands agenda was the October decision to revoke protections for 9 million acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, one

MORE »

Port of Kalama, NWIW appeal Ecology’s methanol permit denial, The Columbian ($)

By Katie Fairbanks • The Daily News • Published: February 9, 2021, 7:28pm LONGVIEW — The Port of Kalama and Northwest Innovation Works Tuesday appealed the state Department of Ecology’s denial of a key permit for the proposed $2.3 billion Kalama methanol plant, stating the agency unlawfully applied the shoreline criteria. MORE>> 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄: https://www.columbian.com/news/2021/feb/09/port-of-kalama-nwiw-appeal-ecologys-methanol-permit-denial/

MORE »

Biden, Emphasizing Job Creation, Signs Sweeping Climate Actions, New York Times ($)

The array of directives — touching on international relations, drilling policy, employment and national security, among other things — elevate climate change across every level of the federal government. By Lisa Friedman, Coral Davenport and Christopher Flavelle • Published Jan. 27, 2021 | Updated Feb. 2, 2021 WASHINGTON — President Biden on Wednesday signed a sweeping series of executive actions —

MORE »

Biden Cancels Keystone XL Pipeline and Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement, New York Times ($)

In a burst of climate orders, the president also ordered federal agencies to begin the process of reinstating environmental regulations reversed under the Trump administration. By Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman • Published Jan. 20, 2021 Updated Feb. 19, 2021 WASHINGTON — President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday recommitted the United States to the Paris climate agreement, the international accord

MORE »

Biden to Cancel Keystone XL Pipeline in Inauguration Day Executive Order, New York Times ($)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit on his first day in office, quickly reversing his predecessor’s approval of a project to move oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico long opposed by environmentalists, according to a person familiar with Mr. Biden’s plans. Opponents of the nearly

MORE »

Trans Mountain project remains on safety stand down, Kamloops This Week

In addition to an Oct. 27 death in Edmonton and a Dec. 15 serious injury in Burnaby, there have been 91 confirmed cases of COVID-19 along the construction route, with 12 of those cases being active as of Dec. 28. Christopher Foulds / Kamloops This Week When the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project shut down earlier than

MORE »

B.C. restricts pipeline, dam restarts due to COVID-19 risk, Northern Sentinel

Tom Fletcher • Coastal GasLink, Trans Mountain, Rio Tinto, Site C slowed for holidays B.C. public health officials are extending a holiday season slowdown on major northern B.C. construction projects to break the cycle of COVID-19 infections at large work camps. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has posted a new order setting out a

MORE »

The Trans Mountain project faces a year of challenges and opportunity, CBC News

Safety concerns, Keystone XL uncertainties and unresolved Indigenous ownership questions linger over pipeline David Thurton • CBC News After a hiatus of about two weeks, construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is expected to resume today, but with a restricted workforce. The return to work marks the beginning of a critical year for the federal government-owned pipeline. In 2021,

MORE »

Ottawa defers $844M in Muskrat Falls payments, almost all due by end of year, CBC

Federal government again said it will help make hydroelectric project stable, but offered few details Stephanie Tobin · CBC News · Posted: Dec 17, 2020 11:32 AM NT | Last Updated: December 17, 2020 The federal government is again saying it will take steps to make Newfoundland and Labrador’s Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project financially stable — including waiving immediate payments

MORE »

U.S. nets $46,000 on Trump’s California oil, gas drilling auction, Reuters

By Nichola Groom (Reuters) -U.S. taxpayers netted less than $50,000 on Thursday in bids for oil and gas leases in California as the Trump administration held the first federal drilling auction since 2012 in the Democratic and environmentally minded state. The auction for drilling rights on seven parcels covering 4,100 acres (16.6 square kilometers) generated $46,148.64,

MORE »

Trump administration rushes sale of California oil leases despite certain legal battle, LA Times ($)

By Anna M. Phillips Staff Writer • Dec. 9, 2020 6 AM PTWASHINGTON The Trump administration on Thursday plans to hold the first oil lease sale in California in eight years, part of a last-minute rush to auction off as much federal land as possible before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. The Bureau of

MORE »

Researcher raises Muskrat methylmercury alarm, but Nalcor contractor says levels safe, CBC

1 year after Muskrat reservoir filled to capacity, biologist says no surprises being found Terry Roberts · CBC News · Posted: Nov 24, 2020 7:00 AM NT | Last Updated: November 24, 2020 There’s mixed messaging emerging from the debate over methylmercury contamination in Labrador, with a U.S. researcher again raising the alarm about the toxic organic compound, while a contractor monitoring the

MORE »

Federal judge knocks down two permits needed for proposed $2 billion Kalama methanol plant, Seattle Times ($)

By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter • Nov. 24, 2020 at 9:49 am | Updated Nov. 24, 2020 at 9:49 am A U.S. District Court judge in Tacoma struck down Army Corps of Engineers permits for a proposed $2 billion methanol plant in Kalama, Cowlitz County, because they were not the result of a full review of

MORE »

Canada Energy Regulator projects there may be no need for Trans Mountain expansion or Keystone XL, Financial Post ($)

Report says if more climate policies put in place, oil output will grow until 2039, but only enough to need Line 3 Mia Rabson • The Canadian Press • Nov 24, 2020  •  3 minute read OTTAWA — A new report from the Canada Energy Regulator projects that if Canada strengthens its climate policies to cut more

MORE »

Canada Energy Regulator projects there may be no need for Trans Mountain expansion or Keystone XL, Financial Post ($)

Report says if more climate policies put in place, oil output will grow until 2039, but only enough to need Line 3 Mia Rabson • Nov 24, 2020   OTTAWA — A new report from the Canada Energy Regulator projects that if Canada strengthens its climate policies to cut more greenhouse-gas emissions, neither the Trans Mountain

MORE »

Trump Administration Lifts Protections For Largest National Forest In US, NPR

Emily Kwong, Madeline K. Sofia, and Rebecca Ramirez • November 17, 2020, 4:00 AM ET The Trump administration has eliminated federal protections for the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. In late October, the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, cleared the way for

MORE »

PennEast Cert Petition Challenging Third Circuit Opinion Remains Pending, Law.com, The Legal Intelligencer

PennEast Pipeline Co. continues to await a decision on its petition for certiorari challenging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s opinion in In re PennEast Pipeline, 938 F.3d 96 (3d Cir. 2019). By Megan S. Haines and Emily Davis • November 12, 2020 at 01:03 PM PennEast Pipeline Co. continues to await a decision on

MORE »

The Trump Administration Is Reversing More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List, New York Times ($)

By Nadja Popovich, Livia Albeck-ripka and Kendra Pierre-louis • Updated Jan. 20, 2021 Over four years, the Trump administration dismantled major climate policies and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals. In all, a New York Times analysis, based on research from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School and other sources, counts

MORE »

Energy Transfer pushing ahead on Dakota Access expansion, bullish on litigation, S&P Global ($)

Author: Jordan Blum • 04 Nov 2020 | 23:47 UTC Houston Houston — Energy Transfer executives said Nov. 4 they still plan to expand the controversial Dakota Access crude pipeline in 2021 — the same day that plaintiffs argued in a federal appeals court for shuttering the 570,000 b/d pipeline entirely. The Dallas pipeline operator is

MORE »

Colorado Coal Mine Road Construction Blocked by Tenth Circuit, Bloomberg Law ($)

Mountain Coal Co. LLC can’t continue road work as part of a coal mine expansion in western Colorado, the Tenth Circuit ruled in a win for environmental groups who argued the Arch Resources Inc. subsidiary was violating the court’s mandate. The Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity, and others sought an injunction after

MORE »

In Colorado, Federal Judges Block Coal Mining Construction in Protected Roadless Forest, Earthjustice Press Release

Victory: The injunction prevents Mountain Coal from further destruction of the roadless forest in the West Elk Mountains until a challenge from conservation groups is resolved DENVER, CO The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today blocked further construction for a coal-mine expansion in the Sunset roadless area of Colorado’s Gunnison National Forest. The injunction prevents Mountain Coal,

MORE »

Federal Judge Denies Bid to Halt Work on Keystone XL, Pipeline & Gas Journal

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge has denied a request by Native American tribes to halt construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada over worries about potential spills and damage to cultural sites.  Work started this spring on the long-stalled pipeline that would carry oil sands crude from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska.

MORE »

Kamala Harris’s Fracking Record Scares Big Oil But Attracts the Left, Bloomberg ($)

Less than two hours after Kamala Harris was named Joe Biden’s running mate, President Donald Trump had cast the California Democrat as an oil industry and fracking foe. “She is against fracking. She’s against petroleum products,” Trump said at a White House news conference Tuesday. “I mean, how do you do that and go into

MORE »

Trans Mountain pipeline expansion could be at least two months late, National Observer ($)

By E. McIntosh | News, Energy, Politics, Ottawa Insider Last week, Trans Mountain said its pipeline expansion project is on schedule to be done by the end of 2022. But the environmental non-profit Wilderness Committee says it appears Trans Mountain has missed its window to start key construction work in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, meaning the project is at

MORE »

Trump Administration Releases Plan to Open Tongass Forest to Logging, New York Times ($)

The effort to open the Alaskan wilderness area, the nation’s largest national forest, has been in the works for about two years. By Coral Davenport • Published Sept. 24, 2020 | Updated Dec. 1, 2020 WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday finalized its plan to open about nine million acres of the pristine woodlands of Alaska’s Tongass National

MORE »

California Plans to Ban Sales of New Gas-Powered Cars in 15 Years, New York Times ($)

The proposal would speed up the state’s efforts to fight global warming at a time when California is being battered by wildfires, heat waves and other consequences of climate change. By Brad Plumer and Jill Cowan California plans to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars statewide by 2035, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday, in a sweeping move

MORE »

In a decarbonizing world, does it still make sense to spend taxpayer dollars on oil pipelines? Globe and Mail ($)

Thomas Gunton, Carolyn Fischer and David Wheeler • Published September 22, 2020 | Updated September 30, 2020 Thomas Gunton is professor and director of the Resource and Environmental Planning Program at Simon Fraser University. Carolyn Fischer holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Climate Economics, Innovation, and Policy at the University of Ottawa. David Wheeler

MORE »

Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on schedule, on budget: CEO, Global News

By Dan Healing • The Canadian Press A year after construction was allowed to restart on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, its chief executive says the project is on budget and on schedule for completion by the end of 2022. The project is advancing as expected despite challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, a global slump in demand for fuel, a $5.2-billion

MORE »

New analysis proves Kalama methanol project is a climate disaster, Sightline Institute

Project backers are still spinning fairytales that deserve a debunking. Author: Eric de Place • (@Eric_deP) • September 3, 2020 at 11:09 am This article is part of the series Fracked Fuel & Petrochemical Projects in the Pacific Northwest With the release yesterday of a detailed climate review of the Kalama methanol proposal, Northwest policymakers have all

MORE »

FERC environmental report on PennEast gas pipe project under attack, S&P Global Platts ($)

Author Maya Weber • 03 Sep 2020 | 21:56 UTC • Washington Washington — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s favorable environmental assessment for the phased-in PennEast Pipeline project generated hundreds of critical comments from environmental groups and residents opposed to one of the only large Northeast gas pipeline projects still pending at the commission. The roughly 118-mile,

MORE »

FEATURE: Dakota Access Pipeline fight will heat up again in two federal courts, S&P Global ($)

Author: Jordan Blum • 20 Aug 2020 | 18:07 UTC Houston Houston — The Dakota Access Pipeline will continue to flow crude oil for now, but the legal battle heats back up again soon as the fight to shutter the pipeline continues in two separate federal courts. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals

MORE »

PennEast Pipeline Receives Favorable Environmental Review from Regulators, Pipeline & Gas Journal

By Jason Cockerham (P&GJ) — The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released a favorable environmental statement for a revised construction proposal for Enbridge’s PennEast Pipeline.  Once completed, the final 118-mile natural gas pipeline project will transport up to 1.1 Bcf/d of gas from the Marcellus Shale play to markets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and

MORE »

US FERC releases favorable environmental review for PennEast Pipeline, S&P Global Platts ($)

Author Maya Weber • 04 Aug 2020 | 18:41 UTC • Washington Washington — In a step forward for the stalled PennEast Pipeline project, staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has found the developers’ new plan to divide the project into two phases would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the environment. The roughly

MORE »

Is This the End of New Pipelines? New York Times ($)

Defeats at three projects reflect increasingly sophisticated legal challenges, shifting economics and growing demands by states to fight climate change. By Hiroko Tabuchi and Brad Plumer • Published July 8, 2020 | Updated Jan. 18, 2021 They are among the nation’s most significant infrastructure projects: More than 9,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines in the United States are currently

MORE »

Supreme Court Won’t Block Ruling to Halt Work on Keystone XL Pipeline, New York Times ($)

But the justices stayed the rest of a federal trial judge’s ruling striking down a permit program, allowing construction of other pipelines around the nation. By Adam Liptak • July 6, 2020 WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration to allow construction of parts of the Keystone XL oil pipeline that

MORE »

Dakota Access Pipeline to Shut Down Pending Review, Federal Judge Rules, New York Times ($)

The ruling, a victory for the Native American and environmentalist groups who oppose the pipeline, said that it must be emptied of oil by Aug. 5. By Jacey Fortin and Lisa Friedman The Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil route from North Dakota to Illinois that has inspired intense protests and legal battles, must shut down pending an environmental

MORE »

Supreme Court Won’t Block Ruling to Halt Work on Keystone XL Pipeline, New York Times ($)

But the justices stayed the rest of a federal trial judge’s ruling striking down a permit program, allowing construction of other pipelines around the nation. By Adam Liptak • Published July 6, 2020 | Updated Jan. 18, 2021 WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from the Trump administration to allow construction of parts of the Keystone XL

MORE »