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 $5.2-billion
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New analysis proves Kalama methanol project is a climate disaster, Sightline Institute
Project backers are still spinning fairytales that deserve a debunking. Author: Eric de Place • (@Eric_deP) • September 3, 2020 at 11:09 am This article is part of the series Fracked Fuel & Petrochemical Projects in the Pacific Northwest With the release yesterday of a detailed climate review of the Kalama methanol proposal, Northwest policymakers have all
MORE »FERC environmental report on PennEast gas pipe project under attack, S&P Global Platts ($)
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 »Washington Ecology finds new climate impacts from Kalama methanol plant, OPB
New analysis projects more emissions from natural gas and methanol fuel markets By Cassandra Profita (OPB) • Sept. 2, 2020 6:07 p.m.PORTLAND, ORE An environmental analysis released Wednesday by the Washington Department of Ecology found additional sources of greenhouse gas emissions from the $2 billion methanol project proposed on the lower Columbia River. Ecology found the project would
MORE »FEATURE: Dakota Access Pipeline fight will heat up again in two federal courts, S&P Global ($)
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 ($)
Author Maya Weber • 04 Aug 2020 | 18:41 UTC • Washington Washington — In a step forward for the stalled PennEast Pipeline project, staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has found the developers’ new plan to divide the project into two phases would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the environment. The roughly
MORE »20 states sue over Trump rule limiting states from blocking pipeline projects, The Hill
By Rebecca Beitsch • 07/21/20 03:31 PM EDT A coalition of 20 states is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a rule that weakens states’ ability to block pipelines and other controversial projects that cross their waterways. The Clean Water Act previously allowed states to halt projects that risk hurting their water quality, but that
MORE »How PG&E Is Racing to Improve Safety as Fire Season Approaches, New York Times ($)
The utility, which recently emerged from bankruptcy, is upgrading power lines, trimming trees and making other changes to prevent another big fire. By Ivan Penn • Photographs by Jim Wilson NAPA, Calif. — Atop an electrical pole overlooking grapevines, Pacific Gas & Electric recently installed a piece of equipment that will allow it to quickly turn off power to
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 »Supreme Court Reinstates Permit 12 but Excludes Keystone XL, Pipeline & Gas Journal
By Jeff Awalt, Executive Editor HOUSTON (P&GJ) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the Army Corps of Engineers’ use of Nationwide Permit 12 but refused to let TC Energy resume construction of its Keystone XL pipeline under the fast-track permit. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Montana ruled in April that the Corps violated federal law
MORE »4 Things PG&E Must Do to Survive and Thrive as It Exits Bankruptcy, Greentech Media
California’s largest utility has escaped from bankruptcy after 18 months. Its next challenges are the same ones that put it there in the first place. Jeff St. John • July 02, 2020 Pacific Gas & Electric has officially ended its 18-month bankruptcy. Now it must undertake a years-long effort to prevent a repeat of the disasters that pushed
MORE »PG&E, Troubled California Utility, Emerges From Bankruptcy, New York Times ($)
The company, which has a new board and chief executive, said it had put $5.4 billion and its stock in a trust for victims of wildfires started by its equipment. By Ivan Penn • Published July 1, 2020 | Updated July 28, 2020 Pacific Gas & Electric, California’s largest utility, emerged from bankruptcy on Wednesday and put $5.4
MORE »High Court Wants White House View on PennEast Pipeline Case, Bloomberg Law ($)
Ellen M. Gilmer • June 29, 2020, 9:45 AM | Updated: June 29, 2020, 11:46 AM PennEast, New Jersey disagree over state land seizure Industry alleges broad disruptions from lower court ruling The U.S. Supreme Court wants the Trump administration’s views on a major energy case that could decide the fate of the proposed PennEast pipeline.
MORE »Supreme Court asks US solicitor to weigh in on PennEast pipeline case, Oil & Gas Journal
The Supreme Court, unready to decide whether it will review the legal fight between PennEast Pipeline and New Jersey, asked US Solicitor General Noel Francisco to file a brief offering the Justice Department’s views on the pipeline right-of-way case. Alan Kovski • Jun 29th, 2020 The Supreme Court, unready to decide whether it will review
MORE »Coal company says its freshly bulldozed road in roadless area near Paonia is legal, Colorado Sun
Colorado mining regulators this week ordered Mountain Coal to stop building roads after a federal court ruling blocked the West Elk Mine from expanding into the Sunset Roadless Area. Jason Blevins • 4:20 AM MDT on Jun 20, 2020 Mountain Coal Co. says the road it blazed into the Sunset Roadless Area below Kebler Pass is legal
MORE »The Supreme Court should remind New Jersey why the U.S. discarded the Articles of Confederation, Washington Post ($)
Opinion by George F. Will • June 19, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT The Supreme Court justices might be bemused, or depressed, by this question they implicitly will consider in Thursday’s conference: Should they review — the answer is yes — a decision by a lower court that evidently skipped history class the day the teacher explained that a huge defect
MORE »Trump Weakens Major Conservation Law to Speed Construction Permits, New York Times ($)
By Lisa Friedman • Published July 15, 2020 | Updated Aug. 4, 2020 WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday unilaterally weakened one of the nation’s bedrock conservation laws, the National Environmental Policy Act, limiting public review of federal infrastructure projects to speed up the permitting of freeways, power plants and pipelines. In doing so, the Trump administration claimed it would save
MORE »What you need to know about Trans Mountain expansion, Globe and Mail ($)
Darryl Dyck • The Canadian Press The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has been cast as the saviour of Alberta’s energy sector – the single project that can lift the province’s economy out of a persistent slump and send oil prices rebounding. For Ottawa, it is a key test of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s long-standing promise
MORE »NJ tells high court not to bite on ‘overstated’ impacts in pitch from PennEast, S&P Global Platts ($)
Author Maya Weber • 03 Jun 2020 | 19:06 UTC • Washington Washington — The State of New Jersey has told the US Supreme Court that PennEast Pipeline exaggerated the industrywide harms likely to result from a federal appeals court decision blocking condemnation of property in which the state holds an interest. The June 2 brief from
MORE »Meet the judge at the heart of the West’s top energy battles, E&E News
Meet the judge at the heart of the West’s top energy battles Niina H. Farah, E&E News reporter • Published: Friday, May 29, 2020 Brian Morris has had a very busy few weeks. The chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, one of three active jurists on the bench, has
MORE »Alberta gears up for another legal battle over Keystone XL after Biden vows to pull permissions, Financial Post ($)
Next U.S. president has the power to force TC Energy to dig up the pipeline, says one legal scholar By Geoffrey Morgan Published May 19, 2020 CALGARY — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he is prepared to go to court anf file a free-trade lawsuit alongside TC Energy Corp. if Joe Biden becomes president and
MORE »NJ, NY reject Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement project, Oil & Gas Journal
OGJ editors The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) have rejected Williams’ 400-MMcfd Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) have rejected Williams’ 400-MMcfd Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project. The
MORE »Joe Biden vows to cancel Keystone XL if he wins presidency, National Post ($)
Alberta’s Jason Kenney has already committed to $1.1 billion on the project The Canadian Press WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s campaign says the former vice-president will rip up President Donald Trump’s approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline if he takes over the White House next year. Campaign officials made Biden’s first policy pronouncements on the controversial
MORE »Biden says he’d cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit if elected, CBC
Alexander Panetta, Katie Simpson • CBC News • May 18, 2020 2:17 PM ET | Last Updated: May 18 Joe Biden will cancel the Keystone XL pipeline if he’s elected president of the United States, his campaign said Monday in a potential death blow for the delay-plagued Canada-U.S. oil project. His staff said he would withdraw the permit
MORE »Governor Cuomo Rejects The Williams Pipeline — #CleanEnergyWillWin, CleanTechnica
The Williams Pipeline was just rejected by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. It would have carried natural gas that had been fracked from Pennsylvania to parts of New York City. This pipeline would have also trapped New York into several decades of dependence on fracked gas. We need to ease off fossil fuels, in my opinion —
MORE »Cuomo administration cites new climate law in denying controversial New York, New Jersey pipeline, Politico
By Marie J. French • 05/15/2020 07:51 PM EDT Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration denied a permit for a pipeline to supply natural gas to Long Island and New York City in a landmark decision citing the state’s sweeping climate law. The Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, which also would need some permits in New Jersey,
MORE »E.P.A. Weakens Controls on Mercury, New York Times ($)
The agency is changing the way it calculates the benefits of mercury controls, a move that would effectively loosen the rules on other toxic pollutants. By Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport • Published April 16, 2020 | Updated Dec. 7, 2020 WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday weakened regulations on the release of mercury and other toxic metals from
MORE »Montana judge blocks Keystone XL permit for river crossings, Bloomberg Green ($)
By Tom Korosec and Kevin Orland • April 15, 2020, 6:02 PM EDT | Updated on April 16, 2020, 2:20 PM EDT Montana judge invalidates Army Corps river crossing permit TC Energy missed 2019 construction season due to legal issues TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL oil-sands pipeline was a dealt a setback with a judge’s ruling that the U.S. Army
MORE »New California Well Stimulation Permits Approved Following Reviews, Natural Gas Intelligence ($)
California on Monday issued its first permits for well stimulation following a third-party review mandated as part of an oil and gas permitting audit process. By Rich Nemec The California Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division has approved 24 permits including for Aera Energy LLC in Kern County near Bakersfield. “These are the first permits issued
MORE »Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Wins a Victory in Dakota Access Pipeline Case, New York Times ($)
By Lisa Friedman WASHINGTON — In a significant victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered a sweeping new environmental review of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline, which runs from North Dakota to Illinois, has been carrying oil for nearly three years and has been contested by environmental groups and Native
MORE »Final report from Muskrat Falls inquiry released to the public, Globe and Mail ($)
Holly Mckenzie-Sutter · The Canadian Press · Published: March 10, 2020 | Last Updated: March 11, 2020ST. JOHN’S, N.L. The commissioner leading an inquiry into the troubled Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project says past provincial governments failed to protect the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. In a scathing report made public Tuesday, provincial Supreme Court Justice Richard LeBlanc concluded the government
MORE »PG&E reports $3.41 billion spend with diverse suppliers, WBEC Pacific
San Francisco, California (March 2, 2020) — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) announced on Monday its annual diverse supplier spend of $3.41 billion last year or 41 percent of total procurement. This is the eighth straight year the company’s diverse spend reached greater than $2 billion and the seventh straight year it exceeded 40
MORE »Ottawa to renegotiate terms of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Muskrat Falls deal, Globe and Mail ($)
Bill Curry & David Parkinson · Published February 10, 2020OTTAWA AND TORONTO The federal government will restructure the terms of its support for Newfoundland and Labrador’s controversial Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, as the province scrambles to protect ratepayers from a crippling spike in electricity rates stemming from the project’s cost overruns. Ottawa and the province announced Monday
MORE »To stop Trump fracking plans, California is going to court, LA Times ($)
By Phil Willon • Jan. 17 2020SACRAMENTO California took legal action Friday to block the Trump administration’s plans to open federal lands in California to oil and gas drilling, including the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing. The federal lawsuit announced by state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra comes after President Trump’s administration announced details of its
MORE »Washington state deals setback to massive methanol plant, Seattle Times ($)
By Gene Johnson • The Associated Press • Nov. 22, 2019 at 10:28 am | Updated Nov. 24, 2019 at 2:20 pm SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state dealt a setback Friday to efforts to build one of the world’s biggest methanol plants on the Columbia River, saying that five years in, its backers had failed to
MORE »Liberals won’t scrap environmental assessment bill, but seek ‘constructive suggestions’ on implementation, CBC
Frustrated opponents of C-69 want federal government to amend law overhauling approvals process. Kathleen Harris • CBC News • Posted: Nov 21, 2019 11:15 AM ET | Last Updated: November 21, 2019 The Liberal government is open to “constructive suggestions” on implementing a contentious new law overhauling the environmental assessment process for major resource projects — but it has
MORE »Newsom Freezes New Fracking Permits in California, Courthouse News Service
Citing the need for enhanced studies on the environmental impacts caused by two popular oil and gas drilling techniques, California officials announced Tuesday the state is suspending new permits for fracking and high-pressure steam operations. Nick Cahill • November 19, 2019 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) – Citing the need for enhanced studies on the environmental impacts
MORE »California Governor Cracks Down On Fracking, Requires Audits And Scientific Review, NPR
November 19, 20199:08 PM ET RICHARD GONZALES California Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed new regulations Tuesday on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and curbed steam-injected oil drilling in his state, extractive methods long opposed by environmentalists. Under the new initiatives: New permits for fracking will be subject to independent scientific review by experts at the Lawrence
MORE »Millions of Gallons Of Oily Water Have Surfaced In A Kern County Oil Field, And More Keeps Coming, Valley Public Radio, NPR for Central California
By Kerry Klein • Nov 15, 2019 Juan Flores remembers sitting in a meeting in July when his phone started blowing up. He’s a community organizer with the non-profit advocacy group Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment. “A fellow colleague in environmental justice work, he literally called me three times,” he says. Not wanting
MORE »Trudeau offers to consult with detractors on implementation of new environmental-assessment law, Globe and Mail ($)
Marieke Walsh • Ottawa The federal government says it won’t make changes to its environmental-assessment legislation for major infrastructure projects, but it is open to suggestions on how to implement the new review process. Some of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most vocal critics have repeated calls for the government to repeal Bill C-69, which the
MORE »Conservationists Sue to Block Federal Oil and Gas Leases in California, Courthouse News Service
Nick Cahill • October 30, 2019 (CN) – California environmental groups sued the Trump administration Wednesday to thwart plans to auction over 700,000 acres to the fossil fuel industry, calling the potential of new fracking operations a threat to the San Francisco Bay Area’s wildlife and aquifers. Filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and
MORE »California fines Chevron over Kern County oil leaks, LA Times ($)
By Associated PressBAKERSFIELD California regulators have fined Chevron $2.7 million for violations at a facility in Kern County where there have been multiple oil leaks. The Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources said Wednesday that Chevron illegally allowed uncontrolled oil releases at Cymric oil field. The seep out of the ground
MORE »Federal appeals court strikes blow to PennEast pipeline project, StateImpact Pennsylvania (NPR)
The Third Circuit decision blocks PennEast from condemning state-owned land in New Jersey Susan Phillips • September 10, 2019 | 5:41 PM A federal appeals court has blocked PennEast pipeline company from condemning state-owned land for its proposed 116-mile long line that would ship Marcellus Shale gas from northeast Pennsylvania to New Jersey. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel
MORE »Federal government announces new Canada Energy Regulator appointments, JWN Energy
By JWN staff Cassie Doyle, a former deputy minister of Natural Resources Canada and a former Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) board member, will chair the board of directors of the new Canada Energy Regulator (CER). The vice-chair is George Vegh, head of McCarthy Tétrault’s national energy regulatory practice and leader of its Toronto energy regulation practice.
MORE »Canadian Energy Regulator officially replaces NEB, iPolitics
By Marco Vigliotti • Published on Aug 28, 2019 6:00am After some 60 years, the National Energy Board is officially no more. At 12:01 a.m. (Eastern time) today, the regulatory body that oversaw interprovincial and international energy infrastructure like oil and gas pipelines and power lines was officially replaced by the new Canadian Energy Regulator (CER),
MORE »Liberals get passing grade on restoring environment protections, National Observer ($)
By Fatima Syed • August 7th 2019 Environmental groups have given Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government a passing grade on its efforts to restore protections to Canada’s natural habitats, which the Liberals say are in jeopardy if the Conservatives return to power following this fall’s federal election. Nature Canada has created a report card — in
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