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ACC PM Clips Report 11/22/17
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(ACC Mentioned) Sen. Dean Heller Advertisements
Nov 22, 2017 | Las Vegas Now
By Steve Sebelius
The race for the Senate is a year away, but already outside groups are starting to buy advertising in the contest. The American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical manufacturers in the United States, is airing an ad now in support of incumbent Republican Dean Heller. -
(ACC Mentioned) Most Commodity Resin Prices Rise in October
Nov 22, 2017 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American selling prices for most commodity resins increased again in October, but market watchers agreed that these hikes could have been worse in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. -
4th Circuit Defers to 9th Circuit on Venue for TSCA Suits
Nov 22, 2017 | Inside EPA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is deferring to the 9th Circuit to decide on which court should hear environmentalists' lawsuits challenging two Trump administration rules for how EPA will prioritize and evaluate existing chemicals under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). -
Kids Still at Risk From Rocket Fuel Chemical in Food and Water
Nov 22, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Sonya Lunder
In 2006, I sent samples of my breast milk and my infant son’s urine to researchers investigating a rocket fuel chemical that can permanently harm the developing brains of fetuses and young children. The results shocked me, and more than a decade later, it remains alarming that the federal government has done little to control Americans’ exposures to the chemical. -
Niceatm Invites Scientists to Build Oral Toxicity Models
Nov 22, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (Niceatm) has invited researchers to take part in a global project to develop in silico models to predict acute oral systemic toxicity, using available rodent data. -
Alaska, China Release Terms of $43B Gas Export Project
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Margaret Kriz Hobson
The state of Alaska yesterday released the final language of a joint development agreement to work with three major Chinese companies to commercialize 35 trillion cubic feet of stranded natural gas reserves. -
Ineos Inks Agreement to Ship U.S. Ethane to China Cracker
Nov 22, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
Petrochemical giant Ineos Group, which now ships U.S. natural gas to European ports, said Monday it has clinched a long-term supply agreement to ship domestic ethane from domestic shale fields to China’s SP Chemicals. -
Exxon, Shell, BP Join Forces to Cut Emissions From Natural Gas
Nov 22, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
By Sarah Kent and Bradley Olson
Exxon Mobil Corp. has joined with seven other big energy companies to reduce pollution from natural gas production, an effort by the industry to present itself as part of the solution as governments and consumers demand more environmentally friendly energy. -
Democrats Urge Mnuchin to Save Oil, Mining Transparency Rule
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Dylan Brown
Senate Democrats yesterday called on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to drop his push to scrap the remaining global transparency requirements for oil, gas and mining companies. -
Voters in 8 Republican Districts Oppose ANWR Drilling — Poll
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Kellie Lunney
A new poll shows an average of 62 percent of respondents surveyed in eight Republican-held congressional districts oppose oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. -
Court Weighs Dispute Over Longtime Fracking Ban in Watershed
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
A group of Pennsylvania landowners and an interstate commission blocking hydraulic fracturing in part of the Marcellus Shale squared off in federal court this week. -
Wastewater Plant Spilled 100M Gallons in Storm, Records Show
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
A wastewater plant operated by BASF Total Petrochemicals LLC in Port Arthur, Texas, was responsible for the largest single wastewater spill during Hurricane Harvey, with more than 100 million gallons released. But the spill did not hurt the environment, according to the company. -
Trump Admin is Silent on Montreal Climate Pact
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
The State Department declined to take a position yesterday on a global agreement ratified days ago to cap chemicals that warm the Earth, raising questions about the measure's impact on U.S. companies. -
Censoring Climate Change
Nov 22, 2017 | The New York Times
By Toly Rinberg and Andrew Bergman
The Trump administration is making it harder to find government information about climate change on the web. If you searched Google for the words “climate change” a little over six months ago, one of the first hits would have been the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. -
Ewire: Group Says EPA 'Hardest Hit' on Climate Website Changes
Nov 22, 2017 | Inside EPA
Let's talk about censorship. A pair of officials with the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) are sounding the alarm in a New York Times op-ed about the Trump administration “making it harder to find government information about climate change on the web.”
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(ACC Mentioned) Sen. Dean Heller Advertisements
Nov 22, 2017 | Las Vegas Now
By Steve Sebelius
The race for the Senate is a year away, but already outside groups are starting to buy advertising in the contest. The American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical manufacturers in the United States, is airing an ad now in support of incumbent Republican Dean Heller.
During the race for Senate, Governor and Congress there will be hundreds of ads. The American Chemistry Council aims to boost Heller in two important ways with its newest advertisement up on the air now.
The group gave Heller $6,000 in the current cycle and has spent $320,000 to air the spot on local stations, including 8 News Now.
First, the ad starts off by stating Heller is fighting for conservative values, which helps him in his primary race with Republican businessman, Danny Tarkanian. Of the two candidates, Tarkanian is considered the more conservative of the two.
Unlike Heller, who has never lost a political race in his career, Tarkanian has won some Republican primaries but never won a general election contest.
The advertisement helps Heller by tying him to President Donald Trump. It highlights Heller's support for the Republican tax reform effort currently pending in Congress. The ad also features Heller's support for Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Sen. Dean Heller broke with Trump during the health care debate, earning much criticism from fellow Republicans including Tarkanian. According to Heller, he later admitted he was late to the Trump party. Right now he's trying to find areas where he can agree with Trump and fend off Tarkanian's primary challenge.
Heller's "No budget, no pay" act has been circling for years on Capitol Hill. No one has jumped on the idea, but it may sound good to voters who may not get paid if they fail to do their jobs.
For Tarkanian, who has taken to calling Heller "D.C. Dean" to emphasize his connection to Washington, the advertisement will produce chuckles.
However, it's also an attempt by an outside group to identify Heller as the conservative, pro-Trump candidate in the race before Tarkanian gets a chance to do it.
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/sen-dean-heller-advertisements/862161709
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(ACC Mentioned) Most Commodity Resin Prices Rise in October
Nov 22, 2017 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American selling prices for most commodity resins increased again in October, but market watchers agreed that these hikes could have been worse in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Prices for polyethylene, suspension PVC and solid polystyrene resins all moved up 3 cents per pound during the month, with regional prices for polypropylene ticking up by 1 cent as well.
These hikes were caused by higher raw material prices and by some lingering supply and shipping disruptions from Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Texas coast in late August. Most resin production has recovered, although some lingering issues with truck and rail transport still remain.
The PE increase came after prices jumped a total of 7 cents in September and October. Because of varied implementation dates, some buyers may not see the additional 3 cents until Nov. 15, market sources said.
Tight PE supplies in the post-hurricane PE market have helped price increases take hold. Chevron Phillips Chemical's Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, remained out of production for most of the month but has since restarted.
U.S./Canadian PE sales were mixed in the first nine months of 2017, according to the American Chemistry Council. Sales of high density PE were down 5 percent, as a domestic sales gain of more than 1 percent was wiped out by a drop of almost 27 percent in exports.
Low density PE sales ticked up almost 2 percent in those nine months, with a domestic sales drop of 1.5 percent negated by an export sales gain of 12 percent. In linear low density PE, regional sales were flat, as domestic growth of almost 3 percent was lowered by an 8 percent drop in exports.
The 3-cent PS hike for October marked the second consecutive month that prices had climbed by that amount. Some production of benzene, which is used to make styrene monomer, had been affected by Harvey.
North American PS sales fell more than 1 percent in the first nine months of 2017. A domestic sales loss of almost 2 percent was softened a bit by a boost of almost 8 percent in exports.
After being flat for six consecutive months, PVC prices moved up 3 cents in October, as suppliers were able to get most of a 5-cent hike they'd been seeking. Market sources said lower export prices prevented the full 5 cents from taking hold. The regional PVC market continues to work through some post-storm supply issues.
U.S./Canadian PVC sales managed growth of almost 2 percent in the first nine months of 2017. Domestic sales growth of almost 4 percent was weakened by an export sales loss of 3 percent.
In PP, the 1-cent hike was tied to higher prices for polymer-grade propylene (PGP) feedstock, but it was less than some market watchers had expected in the wake of the storm. Regional PP prices had jumped 7 cents in September, as PGP was in very short supply because of storm-related production issues.
North American PP sales essentially were flat in the first nine months of 2017. Domestic sales grew more than 1 percent, while exports slipped almost 30 percent.
Regional PET bottle resin prices were flat in October after moving up an average of 4 cents per pound in September, as markets worked to recover from the storm. That calm could be disrupted in November, however, as the market tightens after financial troubles led M&G USA to stop production at plants in West Virginia and Mexico.
Price increases ranging from 2.5 cents to 6.5 cents were reported for October. Prices for PET also moved up 2.5 cents in August and now have increased for four consecutive months.
Both M&G and its corporate parent, Mossi Ghisolfi Group of Italy, have filed for bankruptcy, due in part to cost overruns on its Project Jumbo PET site in Corpus Christi, Texas. That plant, which is less than 85 percent complete, was expected to add more than 2 billion pounds of capacity to the market later this year.
In broader feedstocks, West Texas Intermediate crude oil began October around $51 per barrel but ended near $54.50 for an increase of almost 7 percent. Regional natural gas prices were around $3.10 at the start of the month, but they had fallen to near $2.90 by the end of October for a decline of more than 6 percent.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20171122/NEWS/171129959/most-commodity-resin-prices-rise-in-october
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4th Circuit Defers to 9th Circuit on Venue for TSCA Suits
Nov 22, 2017 | Inside EPA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is deferring to the 9th Circuit to decide on which court should hear environmentalists' lawsuits challenging two Trump administration rules for how EPA will prioritize and evaluate existing chemicals under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
In an Oct. 21 order in environmentalists' lawsuit challenging one of three so-called framework rules for assessing risks of existing chemicals under the revised TSCA, the 4th Circuit defers on advocates request to move the case to the 9th Circuit where groups have also filed suit over the rules.
“Upon consideration of the motions, response, and reply, we defer ruling on the motions until the Ninth Circuit rules on the Respondents’ motion to transfer pending in Safer Chems. Healthy Families v. U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency.”
The case is one of a slew of lawsuits, groups including Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, the Environment Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed this summer challenging three Trump EPA rules that establish a framework for prioritizing, evaluating, and updating the TSCA inventory of existing chemicals.
Existing chemicals are those that have been in commerce for decades and were largely grandfathered under the old law. The need to address risks from existing chemicals was a major driver of TSCA reform.
Advocates' Sept. 5 lawsuit challenging EPA's third framework rule for updating the inventory of existing chemicals that were on the market prior to the original TSCA's enactment in 1976, or those chemicals that have been added since, is proceeding on a separate track in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
In September, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated environmentalist challenges to the prioritization rule in the 9th Circuit and to the risk evaluation rule in the 4th Circuit.
While EPA and environmentalists agree that the two lawsuits challenging the prioritization and the risk evaluation rules should be heard in the same venue, they are sparring over which circuit should take the cases.
For example, environmentalists have asked that the 9th circuit hear the risk evaluation rule case, noting advocates filed lawsuits there first. But EPA has requested that the 9th Circuit move the prioritization rule suit to the 4th Circuit, arguing it would limit taxpayer spending on attorneys' travel expenses, and that the 4th Circuit generally resolves cases faster than the 9th.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/4th-circuit-defers-9th-circuit-venue-tsca-suits
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Kids Still at Risk From Rocket Fuel Chemical in Food and Water
Nov 22, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Sonya Lunder
In 2006, I sent samples of my breast milk and my infant son’s urine to researchers investigating a rocket fuel chemical that can permanently harm the developing brains of fetuses and young children. The results shocked me, and more than a decade later, it remains alarming that the federal government has done little to control Americans’ exposures to the chemical.
The researchers found that I had among the highest levels of perchlorate and the lowest levels of iodine of women in the study. Iodine is essential to proper functioning of the thyroid system, which cues brain development, but perchlorate blocks the uptake of iodine by the thyroid.
Through breastfeeding, I was passing perchlorate to my son. His estimated perchlorate exposure was almost double the safe level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, and 75 percent of the children in the study exceeded the EPA’s value.
Perchlorate contaminates the drinking water of more than 16.6 million Americans. But several years before the study of mothers and infants began, EWG investigations found it in bagged salad greens and milk. Since there was no perchlorate measured in my drinking water, my exposure was exclusively from food.
The researchers told me to immediately switch to a multivitamin that included iodine. I was stunned to discover that my health care provider had prescribed me a prenatal vitamin without iodine. I also started to purchase iodine-supplemented salt.
In 2008, when the Food and Drug Administration published the first widespread evaluation of perchlorate concentrations in the food supply, we began to better understand the risks that perchlorate in food could pose to millions of American children.
The FDA detected perchlorate in three-quarters of the 27 types of food sampled. The greatest sources of perchlorate were dairy products, because cows, like breastfeeding mothers, accumulate perchlorate in their milk. The FDA tests also found perchlorate in many fruits and vegetables. At the time, it was believed that perchlorate came from contaminated irrigation water and agricultural fertilizer.
Thanks to good detective work by environmental health advocates, we now know there are other major sources of perchlorate contamination for food. Over the past decade, millions of dollars have been spent cleaning up contaminated sites and reducing perchlorate concentrations in drinking water. But the FDA and the EPA have not yet taken essential steps to reduce perchlorate in the food we eat.
An analysis by Tom Neltner of the Environmental Defense Fund and Maricel Maffini suggests that perchlorate detected in some packaged foods could be present because the FDA recently allowed food companies to use it as an anti-static agent in plastic packaging for dry foods. This use is the likely source of the high perchlorate measurements in some bologna, salami and infant rice cereal samples. The EDF analysis prompted a group of advocates, including EWG, to petition the FDA to revoke its approval of perchlorate as a food packaging additive.
Hypochlorite bleach, commonly used to clean food preparation surfaces and disinfect fruits and vegetables, is a second major and controllable source of perchlorate in food. Proper storage and dilution practices can limit or stop bleach from breaking down, which forms perchlorate. EDF and the Natural Resources Defense Council are urging the EPA to improve its label instructions for bleach used in food processing facilities.
To protect American children from perchlorate in food and water, it is essential for both the FDA and EPA to do their part in restricting perchlorate exposures.
Earlier this year, the EPA took an important step toward controlling perchlorate contamination of drinking water by publishing a draft model that links low doses of perchlorate during pregnancy to poorer neurodevelopment in infants and children. EWG recently submitted comments urging the EPA to finalize its work on perchlorate and establish a new safety level that will truly protect children from brain changes. The model will be used to set a new drinking water standard, and should prompt action to reduce perchlorate in the food supply.
Read EWG’s comments on EPA’s perchlorate model here.
https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2017/11/kids-still-risk-rocket-fuel-chemical-food-and-water#.WhWx9oanG-s
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Niceatm Invites Scientists to Build Oral Toxicity Models
Nov 22, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (Niceatm) has invited researchers to take part in a global project to develop in silico models to predict acute oral systemic toxicity, using available rodent data.
Acute oral toxicity is one of the US EPA "six-pack" tests, which result in high animal use worldwide. Tests are for acute oral, dermal and inhalation systemic toxicity, as well as eye and skin irritation and skin sensitisation.
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (Iccvam) is organising the international modelling project through its acute toxicity workgroup. One of Iccvam's "high-priority efforts" is to develop alternative test methods for the six-pack.
Niceatm and the EPA National Center for Computational Toxicology have collected a large body of rat acute oral lethality data. Researchers interested in joining the project should build and test models, using this. A 'training' data set is already available on the Niceatm website and prediction data will be released in December.
Models that meet certain criteria will be used to generate consensus predictions for acute oral toxicity endpoints of particular interest to regulatory agencies, according to Niceatm.
Toxicity predictions generated by the models will also be made publicly available on the EPA's chemistry dashboard.
Prediction results should be submitted by 9 February 2018. The results will be presented at a workshop in April.
https://chemicalwatch.com/61919/niceatm-invites-scientists-to-build-oral-toxicity-models
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Alaska, China Release Terms of $43B Gas Export Project
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Margaret Kriz Hobson
The state of Alaska yesterday released the final language of a joint development agreement to work with three major Chinese companies to commercialize 35 trillion cubic feet of stranded natural gas reserves.
The nonbinding agreement opens the door for negotiations over design, financing, construction and operation of the proposed $43 billion Alaska LNG project. The venture would ship gas from the state's North Slope fields down an 800-mile pipeline to a liquefaction and export facility in Nikiski along the state's southern shore.
Officials from the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. have been looking for investors and customers for the state's LNG throughout Asia.
Then early this month, Alaska and Chinese officials reached an agreement to work together on the project. The pact was signed in an elaborate ceremony at China's Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping looking on.
The final eight-page document, written in English and Chinese, wasn't released until yesterday by Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) and Alaska Gasline Development Corp. President Keith Meyer. China and Alaska are aiming to complete the agreement by the end of 2018. In the meantime, either party can withdraw from the deal at any time.
Under the pact, the Bank of China Ltd. and CIC Capital Corp. would provide 75 percent of the funding — roughly $32 billion — to build the Alaska LNG project. The state would repay that loan by providing China Petrochemical Corp., known as Sinopec, with 75 percent of the LNG capacity of the Alaska pipeline for the length of the loan.
Alaska anticipates financing the remaining 25 percent of the pipeline costs — $11 billion — from financial investors, Alaska Native corporations, and state municipalities and residents. The state also could issue tax-exempt bonds or use general funds with legislative approval.
Alaska expects to sell most of the remaining 25 percent of the pipeline's capacity to other Asian markets, with the remaining to be sold to instate customers.
Although the Chinese firms will have access to 75 percent of the pipeline capacity, Meyer was quick to note that the state of Alaska will continue to own the project.
"They will have capacity, not the ownership," he explained. "We're also talking to the Chinese folks about being an investor in the project. But they would be a minority investor. Not a controlling investor."
Even as minority owners, the transaction is likely to be reviewed by the federal Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an administrative panel that oversees foreign mergers and acquisitions for potential threats to national security.
"No matter what level they're investing in, they would have to go through that [committee]," Meyer said. "But we don't expect that there would be any kind of issue."
The New York Times recently reported that Congress is considering legislation that would subject Chinese investments to greater scrutiny through a significant expansion of the committee's oversight authority.
According to the Alaska-China joint development agreement, Sinopec is also interested in playing a role in building the Alaska LNG project, including engineering and design work, equipment procurement, modular fabrication, construction and project management. "They have a lot of capabilities to do engineering and design work for large pipeline and modular fabrication," Meyer said.
But he added: "I don't see significant activity in the area of construction, in terms of boots on the ground here. We envision employing large capable firms that can handle construction oversight. But a lot of the labor is right here."
Alaska officials say that the Trump administration has been a strong supporter of the state's effort to work with the three Chinese companies. Speaking at an industry conference last week, Meyer remarked that the Chinese companies also sought Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski's blessing.
"Unbeknownst to us, [they] called Sen. Murkowski's office to say, 'Hey, is the U.S. Congress going to be OK with the Chinese buyer?'" he said. "And fortunately they were told yes."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/11/22/stories/1060067155
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Ineos Inks Agreement to Ship U.S. Ethane to China Cracker
Nov 22, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
Petrochemical giant Ineos Group, which now ships U.S. natural gas to European ports, said Monday it has clinched a long-term supply agreement to ship domestic ethane from domestic shale fields to China’s SP Chemicals.
The agreement includes constructing the biggest very large ethane carrier (VLEC) ever built, Ineos said.
“This is another world first for Ineos after importing shale gas to Europe in 2015,” said Ineos CEO David Thompson of the trading and shipping arm. “By bringing in U.S. ethane from shale gas to China for the first time, we are now leading the way in shipping ethane worldwide to meet the needs of an expanding chemicals sector.”
The VLEC to carry ethane for SP Chemicals is scheduled for delivery in 2019. The ethane would be shipped to a gas cracker facility now under construction in Taixing.
Like the Ineos Dragon ships, the carrier, to be built in China, would be operated by Evergas and be the first VLEC in its fleet of 23 gas ships.
“It has long been a dream for SP Chemicals to integrate upstream,” said CEO Chan Hian Siang.
SP Chemicals plans to commission the Taixing gas cracker plant in 2019 that could produce 650,000 tons/year of ethylene, the CEO said. “This first long-term supply agreement for ethane with Ineos will be an important milestone for SP Chemicals to achieve self-sufficiency for its ethylene requirements.”
As of last year Ineos said it had invested about $2 billion to carry ethane from U.S. onshore fields to Europe.
Ineos in 2016 carried Enterprise Products Partners LP’s first ethane cargo from the Morgan's Point terminal on the Texas coast. About 265,000 bbl of ethane in that shipment was sent to an Ineos facility at Rafnes in Norway. Also last year Ineos shipped ethane from the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex south of Philadelphia to a cracker in Norway.
From its 12 North American plants, Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA said it produces about 8.9 billion pounds/year of olefins, polymers and high density plastic pipe.
Sasol Ltd. and Ineos Europe AG under a final investment decision issued in 2014 also are building a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in the La Porte, TX petrochemical complex southeast of Houston. The facility is designed to produce 470 kilotons/year of bimodal HDPE.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/112516-ineos-inks-agreement-to-ship-us-ethane-to-china-cracker
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Exxon, Shell, BP Join Forces to Cut Emissions From Natural Gas
Nov 22, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
By Sarah Kent and Bradley Olson
Exxon Mobil Corp. has joined with seven other big energy companies to reduce pollution from natural gas production, an effort by the industry to present itself as part of the solution as governments and consumers demand more environmentally friendly energy.
Big oil companies like Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell RDS.B +1.25%PLC have increasingly touted natural gas as a core tool to combat climate change, since it is produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the fuel it often replaces in electricity production, coal.
The rare trans-Atlantic alignment was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, ahead of the companies’ announcement Wednesday. The collaboration by companies including Exxon, Shell, BP PLC and Total SA, shows the oil and gas sector is proactively trying to address burgeoning concerns about natural gas emissions to ensure that its big bet on the fossil fuel pays off.
Major energy companies have made big investments in gas in recent years and are steadily growing their production volumes. They argue that it will prove a vital source of energy stability even as renewables increase their market share, since gas can be burned when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
But methane, the main component in natural gas, is also a potent greenhouse gas and the issue of fugitive emissions that occur when it leaks into the atmosphere is starting to draw negative attention.
Exxon and its partners said Wednesday that they have signed up to a set of guiding principles, committing to drive down methane emissions from their assets, encourage better performance from their peers, improve transparency and data accuracy on the matter and advocate for better regulation.
“The commitment was made as part of wider efforts by the global energy industry to ensure that natural gas continues to play a critical role in helping meet future energy,” the companies said in a joint statement. “Its role in the transition to a low-carbon future will be influenced by the extent to which methane emissions are reduced.”
A recent International Energy Agency study found around 76 million tons of methane are emitted every year from global oil and gas operations. That is the equivalent to more than Australia’s entire natural gas production, the IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol told an industry gathering last month.
The companies set of principles was developed in collaboration with the IEA, the United Nations and other international organizations focused on energy and climate change.
Exxon’s decision to join the group leaves Chevron Corp. as the only major U.S. oil company that has yet to join the initiative. Both the U.S. oil companies have lagged behind their European peers on the issue of climate and Exxon hasn’t participated in previous similar efforts to build an industry voice on such subjects.
Over the years, activists have pointed to the lack of participation by Exxon and Chevron in the group climate effort as evidence of a divide between the biggest U.S. and European oil companies on the issue.
Still, under pressure from investors over the last year, they have both undergone an evolution in the way they address climate change publicly. Chevron has made strides in its own methane reduction efforts and provided more information about how it is looking at climate risks. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods has urged President Donald Trump not to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. The company has also initiated research efforts to test the viability of capturing emissions from natural gas power plant operations, as well as continued to study ways to convert algae into fuel.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-shell-bp-to-join-group-to-cut-emissions-from-natural-gas-1511360150
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Democrats Urge Mnuchin to Save Oil, Mining Transparency Rule
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Dylan Brown
Senate Democrats yesterday called on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to drop his push to scrap the remaining global transparency requirements for oil, gas and mining companies.
In a letter, Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and 14 colleagues implored Mnuchin to save a key provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
Section 1504, named after Cardin and former Foreign Relations Chairman Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), was designed to stem the flow of cash to dictators and hostile governments by mandating extraction companies trading on U.S. stock exchanges disclose to investors taxes, fees or other payments to governments.
"Ceding U.S. leadership on this important issue would encourage corrupt governments and their allies around the world," the Democrats wrote.
Earlier this year, Congress repealed the Securities and Exchange Commission rule enforcing the Cardin-Lugar standards, which mirror laws in the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union (Greenwire, Feb. 3).
Technically, the SEC must draft a new rule, but in an October report to President Trump, Mnuchin recommended repealing Cardin-Lugar altogether along with several other Dodd-Frank amendments.
Since then, the Trump administration also abandoned implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the voluntary international standards based in part on the SEC rule (Greenwire, Nov. 9).
Treasury argued government payments are "not material to the reasonable investor."
"Original support for such provisions was well-intentioned," Treasury said. "However, federal securities laws are ill-equipped to achieve such policy goals."
Echoing critics like the American Petroleum Institute and U.S.-based oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the report argues disclosures impose burdensome costs on companies, distract investors and give private companies an advantage over public ones.
Democrats yesterday countered that a common global standard actually simplifies compliance for major companies. Oil giants like BP PLC and Total SA and state-owned firms like Russia' Gazprom and China's CNOOC Ltd. are already fully reporting in other countries.
"As oil, gas, and mining projects enter increasingly dangerous and conflict-prone frontiers, investors need full disclosure to guide their decision-making and to protect themselves from social, political, sanctions, expropriation, reputational, regulatory, and other risks," wrote the senators.
The other signers were Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/11/22/stories/1060067179
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Voters in 8 Republican Districts Oppose ANWR Drilling — Poll
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Kellie Lunney
A new poll shows an average of 62 percent of respondents surveyed in eight Republican-held congressional districts oppose oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"Opposition to drilling crosses generational and educational lines and only the most conservative elements of the Republican Party support drilling," concluded a bipartisan survey conducted by Global Strategy Group and Bellwether Research & Consulting, and commissioned by the League of Conservation Voters.
Global Strategy is a Democratic firm, and Bellwether Research is a Republican firm. LCV has been a vocal opponent of oil and gas drilling in ANWR: The group is running a $750,000 digital and television advertising campaign in several congressional districts.
"Members of Congress in these districts who vote for drilling risk raising the ire of their constituents with the bulk in each of them saying that they will be less favorable toward those who vote yes," the analysis found.
The poll surveyed constituents in eight of the country's competitive districts currently represented by Republicans: Ryan Costello in Pennsylvania's 6th District, John Faso in New York's 19th, Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's 8th, Darrell Issa in California's 49th, Brian Mast in Florida's 18th, Patrick Meehan in Pennsylvania's 7th, Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd and Elise Stefanik in New York's 21st.
The results showed an average of 58 percent of constituents would be less favorable toward their representative in Congress if he or she supported drilling in ANWR. The survey of Faso's district, for instance, found 68 percent of respondents would be less favorable to the New York Republican if he voted for drilling, the highest negative rating in that category.
Drilling supporters say it not only would boost the economy but also would strengthen national security because it would make the United States less reliant on foreign oil.
Opponents to ANWR drilling, including most congressional Democrats and members of the Gwich'in people who consider the area "the sacred place where life begins," have argued that even opening a portion of the refuge will do lasting damage to the ecosystem and the diverse array of wildlife that live in and migrate to the area.
"The combined results show that Democrats (-69 support) and independents (-36 support) come out strongly against drilling in the Arctic Refuge," the survey reported. "Support for drilling among Republicans is centered only among conservative Republicans (+30 support)."
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week advanced legislation to open the coastal plain of ANWR to energy development. That legislation now will be attached to the Republican tax plan as an offset estimated to raise $1 billion in revenue over the next decade (Greenwire, Nov. 15).
The Senate is expected to take up the bill when it returns from Thanksgiving recess.
The LCV poll also asked respondents about their support for the GOP tax plan and President Trump's personal popularity. Opposition outpaced support for the tax plan in each district surveyed.
The president had higher unfavorable than favorable ratings among respondents except in one district — Florida's 18th — where support outpaced opposition by 1 percentage point.
"Trump's tax plan faces solid opposition across the board with just 34 percent in favor of it passing and 48 percent opposed — it's most unpopular in NY-19, where opposition outpaces support by 27 points," the analysis found."
The House passed its tax bill 227-205 on Nov. 16, after the poll was conducted. Issa, Faso and Stefanik were among the 13 Republicans who voted against the legislation (E&E News PM, Nov. 16).
Conducted Nov. 9-14, the poll surveyed a total of 2,001 respondents in eight districts who identified as Democrat, Republican or independent. Pollsters also asked constituents to identify on a partisanship spectrum.
The total results have a 2.2-point margin of error on the total sample and 6.2 percentage points in each district.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/11/22/stories/1060067189
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Court Weighs Dispute Over Longtime Fracking Ban in Watershed
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
A group of Pennsylvania landowners and an interstate commission blocking hydraulic fracturing in part of the Marcellus Shale squared off in federal court this week.
In arguments before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, the Wayne Land and Mineral Group LLC argued that the Delaware River Basin Commission's longtime prohibition on fracking in its namesake watershed exceeds its authority.
The courtroom debate caps off years of conflict over the de facto fracking moratorium in the 13,539-square-mile Delaware River Basin. The commission, an interstate compact made up of federal agencies and the governors of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware, has blocked the oil and gas extraction process since 2009 while considering rules to safeguard water resources. The basin overlaps with part of the natural-gas-rich Marcellus Shale.
Draft regulations to formally ban the use of water for fracking are set for release later this month and will be open for public comment.
But Monday's court arguments centered on whether the DRBC has authority to block energy development. The Wayne Land and Mineral Group, a collection of landowners who own 180 acres in Wayne County, Pa., sued the commission in 2016, arguing that fracking does not fall under the agency's jurisdiction (Energywire, May 18, 2016).
DRBC lawyers have countered that the agency was created through a 1961 act of Congress that gave it broad powers to protect water resources in the region. Fracking, which blasts millions of gallons of water and chemicals into the earth to extract gas, has the potential to affect both the quality and quantity of water in the basin, the commission says.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the commission earlier this year, prompting the landowners' appeal to the 3rd Circuit (Energywire, March 28).
During Monday's arguments, landowner lawyer David Overstreet argued that the three-judge panel should set aside the question of whether the DRBC has authority over actual water management at fracking sites and should instead zero in on whether the DRBC has authority to prohibit well pads alone.
The panel pushed back. Judges Kent Jordan and Thomas Hardiman, George W. Bush appointees, asked how the court could separate the two issues when the whole point of a well pad is to produce oil and gas with a process that uses water.
"How can you ask us to split that that way?" Jordan asked. "In the real world, there's no such thing, is there, as a well pad without some facility to handle the wastewater associated with the fracking? How can it be the case that in looking at this question we could ignore what ... must be a piece of any well pad project. There's got to be some way to deal with the wastewater."
But the panel grilled the DRBC, too, questioning the commission's lawyer about the breadth of its jurisdiction. If the DRBC can regulate fracking because it uses high volumes of water, Jordan asked, can it also regulate skyscraper construction in Manhattan because the building will use a lot of water?
DRBC lawyer Kenneth Warren attempted to draw a distinction, noting that water used by a New York building would return to the system via standard wastewater management, whereas water used in a fracking operation cannot be processed by municipal wastewater treatment facilities.
Warren also pushed back on Overstreet's attempt to separate well pads from the fracking operations that would occur on them, noting that water use and disposal is "integral" to the use of a well pad.
"If 15 million people are drinking water from this basin, and we simply sit back and allow very large quantity of water use that has the potential for pollution that will destroy the aquifers and the drinking water, people will look at us and say, 'You didn't do your job,'" he said.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an environmental group, joined the case in defense of the fracking moratorium. A group of Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania joined on the landowners' side, arguing that the prohibition treads on their turf.
Senior Judge Joseph Scirica, a Reagan appointee, also sat on the panel.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/11/22/stories/1060067163
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Wastewater Plant Spilled 100M Gallons in Storm, Records Show
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
A wastewater plant operated by BASF Total Petrochemicals LLC in Port Arthur, Texas, was responsible for the largest single wastewater spill during Hurricane Harvey, with more than 100 million gallons released. But the spill did not hurt the environment, according to the company.
"Our process water systems were not compromised — no process chemicals in the water," said spokesman Bob Nelson. "The release was mostly rainfall, and some floodwaters."
The company uses a number of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. Officials say heavy rains caused drainage ditches to overflow.
At a separate BASF plant that produces pesticides, floodwaters caused chemical-tainted water to be released as storage tanks overflowed. Nelson said that "trace amounts of nonhazardous process chemicals" were released.
According to state records, Harvey caused about 149 millions gallons of raw sewage and industrial waste to spill from more than 200 facilities in Port Arthur, Houston's refining hub.
Spills are self-reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the agency is still scrambling to get a full picture of the released pollutants and toxic chemicals resulting from the hurricane.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/11/22/stories/1060067203
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Trump Admin is Silent on Montreal Climate Pact
Nov 22, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
The State Department declined to take a position yesterday on a global agreement ratified days ago to cap chemicals that warm the Earth, raising questions about the measure's impact on U.S. companies.
The Kigali Amendment is a landmark arrangement years in the making to ramp down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — chemicals in air-conditioning units, sprays, cars and refrigerators thousands of times more potent at heating the planet than carbon dioxide. All told, the agreement is meant to avoid 0.5 degree Celsius of temperature rise by the end of the century.
The text of the deal, reached in Canada this weekend under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, could bar the United States from importing or exporting HFC products to and from nations that ratified Kigali, if America doesn't join.
An official at the State Department declined to say if the United States plans to ratify the Kigali Amendment.
International leaders are in Montreal this week to mark the 30th anniversary of the protocol, which the Reagan administration and other governments approved in 1987, and to discuss Kigali.
"Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Judy Garber will head the U.S. delegation and we decline to comment in further detail," the official said in an emailed statement.
Representatives for the White House and U.S. EPA, which keeps lists of chemicals, such as HFCs, that contribute to climate change, did not reply to requests for comment.
Many American companies have aggressively lobbied the Senate to approve the deal, because they stand to be locked out of lucrative foreign markets home to billions of customers. That includes India, whose growing economy is expected to support the purchase of millions of air conditioners in the coming years. New lower-emitting chemicals could course through those units.
In August, a federal appeals court struck down an EPA rule that forced companies to switch out HFCs with non-climate-warming substitutes.
Chemical giants Honeywell International and Chemours, which are leaders among manufacturers of those HFC replacement chemicals, sided with EPA in the case. The two companies have put more than $1 billion into the development of substitute chemicals, called hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), "as a safe alternative to HFCs because HFOs do not contribute to global warming," company attorneys said in their appeal.
U.S. firms are ahead of many of their competitors in developing HFC replacements. The two firms that sued EPA, leading to the August ruling, were Mexichem and Arkema.
David Doniger, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate & Clean Air program, said Mexichem and Arkema are "chemical producers" from Mexico and France, respectively, "who lag behind their American counterparts in offering climate-friendly alternatives to HFCs."
Honeywell and Chemours are not alone in backing an HFC phaseout.
After international negotiators reached consensus in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, last October, the trade group that represents heating, ventilation and air conditioning companies in Washington "applauded" the deal.
Dozens of chemical companies had already told the White House they supported a rigorous agreement.
"The agreement is just the first step in a multi-step process," Stephen Yurek, president and CEO of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, said at the time. "Our industry is hard at work doing the research on the HFC alternatives that will be used in the world's air conditioners, heat pumps, and refrigeration equipment, and getting that right is certainly as important as reaching agreement."
The Kigali Amendment will enter into force in 2019, and countries that don't accept the deal could be subject to trade sanctions.
President Trump campaigned for president on notions that he would help blue-collar workers. "The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer," he said in his inaugural speech.
Durwood Zaelke, founder and president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, said roughly a half-million U.S. jobs are at stake in the HFC business.
"If the U.S. doesn't ratify quickly," he told E&E News, "they will lose some jobs, and they will lose some market share".
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/11/22/stories/1060067175
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Nov 22, 2017 | The New York Times
By Toly Rinberg and Andrew Bergman
The Trump administration is making it harder to find government information about climate change on the web. If you searched Google for the words “climate change” a little over six months ago, one of the first hits would have been the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
But that was before April 28, when the agency began systematically dismantling its climate change website, which had survived Democratic and Republican administrations and was a leading source of information on a global problem that the president, as a candidate, labeled “a hoax.”
If you search those words today, a link to the E.P.A. site may not appear until the second or third search results page, and sometimes not even then, depending on your browser settings. The site has fallen in Google’s search results because its address, or URL, no longer directs you to the climate change site or a related page. If you click that link, you’ll be redirected to a notice page that says, “We are currently updating our website to reflect E.P.A.’s priorities under the leadership” of President Trump and Scott Pruitt, the agency’s administrator. That page, in turn, contains a link to an archived version of the E.P.A.’s website.
Well, you might think, at least the old site has been preserved. But the archive is far from complete. A significant number of pages and PDFs are not available, and entire portions of the site, like the Student’s Guide to Global Climate Change, have been left out. Some of these pages and PDFs can no longer be found anywhere within the government’s web presence. The E.P.A. climate-related web pages that are still live continue to provide valuable information, but many links from those pages to other pages have been removed. And now-broken links that previously led to the E.P.A. climate change pages are scattered across federal and nonfederal websites.
Since January, our organization, the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, has monitored changes to tens of thousands of web pages across federal agencies. While we haven’t found examples of altered data, it is clear that the administration is intent on making it difficult or impossible to find information on its web pages about climate change.
Of all the government websites we’ve been monitoring, the E.P.A.’s has been hit hardest. Terms like “greenhouse gases,” “carbon” and “climate change” have been replacedby vague descriptors like “sustainability” and “emissions.” In addition, web resources about specific regulations have disappeared.
One website that has vanished concerned the Clean Power Plan, President Barack Obama’s effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generation. It was replaced by a single web page containing only information about a presidential order calling for a review of the plan. Months later, the E.P.A. announced that it would seek to repeal the Obama plan. Removing information about the plan’s benefits has made it difficult for citizens to provide informed commentsduring the repeal process.
The agency also removed its website for “Climate and Energy Resources for State, Local and Tribal Governments” and replaced it with one called “Energy Resources for State, Local and Tribal Governments,” eliminating over 200 web pages, including almost all of those pertaining to climate change. In a recent letter to Mr. Pruitt about this overhaul, seven Democratic senators asked for an explanation and demanded that the site be revived, calling its removal “part of a sequence of disturbing E.P.A. actions that appear designed to censor dialogue about climate change.” In particular, the senators argued, the alterations removed information to help local communities protect themselves “from extreme weather events and sea level rise driven by climate change.”
Climate change websites at several other federal agencies have been altered, too. The State Department removed reports containing required emissions projections under international treaty. The Interior Department removed descriptions of its priorities for tackling climate change and its climate-related coordination efforts. And links to websites hosting climate data were removed from the main Department of Energy climate change web page. Fortunately, climate websites at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration appear to have escaped the administration’s meddling and removals. So far.
By altering and removing climate websites built over years and paid for by tax dollars, the Trump administration is actively working to muddy the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity drives climate change. These actions only generate confusion about the issue and delay progress toward reaching a policy solution supported by the public.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Pruitt have made it clear that they want an America that prioritizes unfettered exploitation of fossil fuels, ignores the negative effects of greenhouse gas emissions and undermines global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
A lot more is on the line if the Trump administration proceeds toward this vision and continues its assault on the government’s climate change information: access to scientific data, continuing data-collection efforts, the integrity of the digital infrastructure that stores important information and statistics about the climate and, ultimately, the scientific research programs that help us understand what’s coming next and contribute to the well-being of Americans and people everywhere.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/opinion/censoring-climate-change.html
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Ewire: Group Says EPA 'Hardest Hit' on Climate Website Changes
Nov 22, 2017 | Inside EPA
Happy Thanksgiving Eve!
Let's talk about censorship. A pair of officials with the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) are sounding the alarm in a New York Times op-ed about the Trump administration “making it harder to find government information about climate change on the web.”
The group has been monitoring changes to EPA and other agency websites since President Donald Trump took over, and it has also tried to preserve some information that was previously available, out of concern that it would be removed from the government sites.
“Of all the government websites we've been monitoring, the EPA's has been hit hardest,” say Toly Rinberg and Andrew Bergman, members of EDGI's Website Monitoring Committee. “Terms like 'greenhouse gases,' 'carbon' and 'climate change' have been replaced by vague descriptors like 'sustainability' and 'emissions.' In addition, web resources about specific regulations have disappeared.”
They charge that by removing key climate-related information, “the Trump administration is actively working to muddy the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity drives climate change.”
As you might remember, Inside EPA has been closely tracking this issue, including our article on an EDGI reportabout an overhaul of EPA's former site devoted to “Climate and Energy Resources” for state and local governments.
Under the Trump EPA, that site is simply known as “Energy Resources,” with nearly all climate-related information removed.
The website changes were first reported by Inside EPA in January, just as the Trump administration was poised to take office.
That article noted that the agency planned to remove non-regulatory climate data from the website, including references to President Barack Obama's June 2013 Climate Action Plan and strategies to cut the potent greenhouse gas methane, among other information.
In February, the agency posted a link to an archived version of its website from Jan. 19, the day before President Donald Trump took office. However, observers note that version includes a host of links that are now broken because of changes to the main website.
In other news, we know that you've got a turkey to fry, some stuffing to mix up, sweet potatoes to top with marshmallows and a cherry pie to whip up. But before you head to the kitchen, check out these other links:
Reuters: Pioneering climate fund for developing world gets boost at UN talks
Radio Canada: Arctic data shows no pause in global warming: study
PBS News Hour: Will US support for nuclear and coal encourage others to keep polluting?
Axios: California governor, oil exec huddle on offshore wind
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-group-says-epa-hardest-hit-climate-website-changes
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