05 Monday Jun 2023
Posted in Citizenship, Climate Change, Economics, Insanity, Local Reporting, Politics, Saving the Earth
Remember all the fanfare about Governor Tim Walz’ Climate Subcabinet? Apply today!
I applied. Thought I could bring perspective. But did they really want perspective?
I guess it was an easy job?
That Annual Report certainly looks to be running late… by a couple years now.
Yep. First and last.
Another nothing burger financed by taxpayer funds?
A boondoggle for friends to gather and pretend they were working?
No wonder we’re seeing things go downhill fast?
Who is really doing anything?
24 Monday Apr 2023
Tags
CELDF, climate change, Covid, COVID-19, Enbridge, Guantanamo, Keystone, Lies, Line 3, Line 93, Miscarriage, mRNA, Propaganda, Stillbirth, Vaccine, Walker Brook
It’s hard to say what has been most frustrating about my life as an activist but perhaps it’s the freaking absurdity of what continues to sell like hotcakes? Against all logic. Even though the deception can be discovered with the least bit of scrutiny? 🧐
Natalie sings of our situation…
Regardless of whether it is Big Pharma, our government, or Big Oil, my concerns about the players are finding themselves on solid ground. The proof continues to emerge on Enbridge’s Line 93 construction failures (while state agencies continue to remain silent on these as-yet-unreported concerns) and data keeps coming to light on the adverse impacts of the mRNA vaccines.
While it can be difficult to face the blowback from those who are not yet discerning the bullshit, I’ll continue to speak truth as I discover it. And I’ll be ever grateful for those who are willing to discuss life matters openly… to find truth together.
This past week shows recent concerns being wrangled:
1. The news on vaccines continues to come. None of it good, sadly, for those who’ve been inoculated with mRNA.
2. Even the Aspen Institute is now a Propaganda Program!! For crying out loud. Next thing you know Fox News will be telling more truth than MPR? 🧐 Lots of shake ups in MSM this week, eh? Feels collapse is nearer every day and we’ll only know about it if we’re watching alternative media. Perhaps you can check out these tidbits to learn more?
3. Industry failures that result in Environmental damages:
4. How capitalism works…
Why the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep dying. Poor die at a rate of 500/day… Just because they are poor. Being poor is REALLY EXPENSIVE. SO MANY RULES that create strive for the poor while giving more help to the rich. Guess the rich got better bootstraps? 
And that’s to not even mention Guantanamo, the Canadian Kids, or Earth Day celebrations.
I’ll see you Monday! {Unless, like Tucker, my producer kills my show!!} 😬
17 Monday Apr 2023
Posted in Citizenship, Climate Change, Community, Coronavirus, Death, Economics, Family, Health, Human Extinction, Musings
Tags
By the time we realized the truth, it was too late to do anything.
Humans never were good at understanding our limits.
Our hubris was our demise.
20 Monday Mar 2023
Tags
We watch our banks… collapsing?
Or being made to appear as if they are anyway.
I wonder how much longer…
before all the systems ~ every one of which is showing signs of strain… to keep up with growing needs, improve upon services, or even maintain its basic foundations ~
are simply GONE.
We joke about the internet disappearing.
Yet, how much is already unavailable… under the thumb that ensures no “misinformation”?
(Or… maybe just moved… to a new platform… where one can still speak freely?)
But is the day soon? When we simply won’t have these magic computers in our pockets to tell us…
Who to be.
Which place has the best doohickey for the least output.
How to get where we’re going.
Some joke about humans who cannot get from point A to B without a GPS machine directing them.
The latest fad is using paper maps.
(Who knew, Mom!?! You’ve always been ahead of the curve.)
So how are we navigating now?
Are we still following the signs of a colonized culture, hell bent on using military might to ensure its GDP?
Are we still mindlessly seeking the next job, clothes, partner, car, house… that will fulfill us?
Are we sensing the fruitlessness, nay cruelty, of the American Way of Life?
Many more each day, by choice or circumstance, are choosing a new way.
A holistic, universal, mutual aid network way of engaging with their fellow crew members.
A way that is more direct, local, sustainable, and… FUN!!!
I am calling it the BEconomy.
This is a place where each of us can BE who we are… doing the work we love ~ be it cooking, researching, fishing, sewing, cleaning, growing, organizing, teaching, entertaining ~ each and every one of us… loving our neighbors as we find our way forward together… in love, for the good of all.
Some may call me a Dreamer.
Nevertheless.
This feels like a big new year opening before me…
And I feel it just may be…
My best yet.
😍
26 Thursday Jan 2023
Posted in Citizenship, Community, Economics, Human Extinction, Local Reporting, Saving the Earth
We’ve heard orchids are fragile and take long years to bloom, yet here in Minnesota’s harsh winter climate we revered their beauty so, we made the Showy Lady Slipper our state flower. And we have many scenic byways where everyone can enjoy their beauty as they often thrive in the wet ditches along our roadways. If you haven’t seen them, make plans to do so. And act quick because the state road projects are ignoring them… Leading to their destruction… at quite the pace now.
So why doesn’t the state of Minnesota care for and protect this flower we profess to hold in such high regard?
Instead, MN Department of Transportation seems hell bent on spending our tax dollars in destroying the beauty of our state, giving away the Tree Nation relatives to the best bidding logger for his troubles, and assuring the vacationers stop coming because…
Why bother? Nothing special to see here anymore.
It seems the Department of Transportation has figured out a way to prevent fatalities along Highway 34! …a problem most of us didn’t even realize was a problem we face. Because we don’t.
Their solution involves the culling of thousands of trees along a 7-mile stretch of Scenic Byway through the Smokey Hills State Forest. (Forest, you know, as in TREES.) As part of this tree clear cutting, they will remove stumps and regrade the ditch. This is the part that eliminates the Ladyslippers.
I didn’t know much about these flowers before moving to Minnesota but definitely recall my first sighting. I was with my mom at the edge of Lake Itasca in our gem of a state park, which hosts the Headwaters of the Mississippi. She’s the one who found them and when I saw the beauty I was stunned. What soft pink color, flowing curves, and a little spot where sometimes you might find a spider or some other being enjoying in a closer view. If I was small enough I’d sure want to climb inside and see what’s happening in there! What more lovely cavern of beauty could a spider wish?
As a resident along County 2 in Clearwater County, I watched a few years ago as the County widened our road and extended their easement far to each side, clear-cutting the beauty along this scenic drive info Itasca State Park from U.S. Highway 2. Only two of us fought the easement request, saving many trees. It’s one of my proudest accomplishments since moving to Minnesota.
As my neighbor put it, “if I wanted to live on the plains of North Dakota I would have bought a house in North Dakota.”
As the project was state-funded, it required the deep cuts to the sides of the road, clearing the beauty of the trees, reportedly to allow people to avoid crashes, by being better able to see deer. Also, it process, destroying the fragile habitat of the Ladyslippers.
The result is that while we may still be living on a Scenic Byway, we no longer live in a scenic landscape. This is in part because in addition to culling most of the trees, the state also allowed Enbridge Incorporated to build a tar sands pipeline adjacent to the “Scenic drive“. This video depicts what we hope will not be the fate of those living along Highway 34, as Joeb assured me there would be no burn piles with this project. It depicts the destruction of clear-cutting we witnessed along County 2. (Now in addition to fewer trees you see more erosion barrier, still present almost a year and a half post-Enbridge Line 93-construction. I just found out last week the damages aren’t seen as “permanent” until 5 years. I’m sure all the erosion barrier will have grown into the habitat by then so the visual damages will be gone? Yet the damage remains. And continues.)
When I spoke with MNDoT on this Highway 34 clearcut I was told the Scenic Byway designation would remain. Yet I asked Joeb Oyster, project manager for the Highway 34 resurfacing:
“My guess is that the reason this was named a Scenic Byway is because of the trees. … Will it really be a scenic byway, for which to designate?”
When the County 2 project was being revealed, several of us met with the County Engineer Dan Sauve at the public meeting asking him what would be done to save the Ladyslippers. He expressed no concern for the flowers saying only, if we wanted to remove them, we were welcome to do so. So we did!
Dozens of us, in the summers before construction, were out there taking hundreds of these beauties to new homes in hopes we can restore the ditches by returning them post-construction. It seems these days if there’s anything you’d like done in your community you best do it yourself.
And if there’s anything you want protected you best do that yourself too because the state isn’t working for protection on our behalf. I’m not sure who they’re listening to exactly, but it’s not the people who have lived here, whether for generations or millennia, or just a few years like me.
A simple solution, perfect for a scenic tree-lined drive – a few informative speed limit signs – could do the trick. Yet did the state consider this? Apparently this idea was beaten out by an idea that culling trees on the south side of the road – at a cost of millions of dollars to taxpayers – will save money in chemical costs because with the trees gone, they won’t need so much salt in winter.
If you’ve passed 3rd grade, you likely see the folly in their plan. You know about the low angle of the sun in winter… and how it would mean hundreds of feet of trees would need cut. Even if this idea was one that made sense, it would be destructive beyond belief virtually eliminating any Scenic on the Byway.
If you’ve passed high school economics, you likely realize it’s gonna take an awful lot of salt savings to make up for, what is it now, almost $16M in logging costs?!? That’s a WHOLE LOT OF SALT!
And what of those vacationers? The ones who used to come here to see the Ladyslippers? Their dollars will be spent elsewhere as we create a dull and lifeless Minnesota.
How’s that helping out children, Tim Walz? Clear-cutting their landscape. Ever hear of Easter Island? The more I watch, the less I can judge those Easter Islanders. Our “leaders” and “managers”, charged with protecting our natural resources, are giving them away as they clearcut more each year. And to what end?
I don’t know if you’ve driven many of the roads in Minnesota, but I’m sure I’ve seen stretches of wide open road – not a tree in sight – and still… A snow and ice encrusted reality!
I have to say their solution is likely to create even more of the problem they were trying to avoid in the first place. The only thing I’ve noticed on County 2 since they widened the road and stripped the easement from trees is that people drive as if they are now on an open runway: faster than ever.
At a meeting with the public last night in Detroit Lakes, we learned of all the ways not only MNDoT but also the Federal Highway Administration have FAILED to follow proper protocols that include working with Scenic Byway folks to adhere to their rules regarding Scenic Byways, which this stretch of Highway 34 in the Smokey Hills is currently designated.
Why is it -with this much public opposition, including Tribal Nation voices – that the agencies, state and federal, refused to meet with the public? They were all invited to the public hearing last night, but refused to attend and hear the near 150 voices that quickly mustered on a Tuesday evening to hear what is happening to our world.
Trees = Pipelines?
I heard yesterday of training given at the Minnesota DNR for their employees. It seems they tell their people that, if they are approached by citizens who ask about pipelines, the Department of Natural Resource policy is to NOT ENGAGE.
Maybe Minnesota Department of Transportation has a similar policy for citizens who ask about the Trees?
21 Monday Nov 2022
Posted in Citizenship, Community, Economics, Local Reporting, Preventing Line 3, Uncategorized
Tags
Deep Water Breach, Enbridge, Line 3, MN DNR, MPCA, PHMSA, Pipeline, Sinkhole, unrelenting water, USACE, USEPA, Walker Brook
A while back, my friend Nookomis Deb Topping, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of R.I.S.E. Coalition, invited me to take a road trip to Mackinac to testify against the Proposed Line 5 Tunnel Project in the Straits of Mackinac. [Another Dumb Enbridge Idea…] Here’s what we told the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on what Enbridge promises… vs. what they will deliver.
Nookomis Deb Topping had the brilliant idea that we could print poster sized prints of the devastation we’re now facing here in Minnesota. So we did.
The people in Michigan were very interested to see the Enbridge post-construction landscape in hopes it might open the eyes of the USACE to help them say, “No,” to Enbridge’s next dumb idea. Anyone can see these are grave concerns – and this one, as yet unreported to the public – indicates when Enbridge asks, we must say, “NEVER AGAIN!!”
This past week, Waadookawaad Amikwag revealed two sites of upwelling water concerns, of dozens we’ve uncovered, along Enbridge’s Line 3/93 corridor. These ongoing concerns mean continued infiltration of our wetlands and bogs, doing unknown levels of harm.
We saw 198 members of the public engaged to hear our Presentation of Findings and 100 attended the Q&A discussion with the public later that evening. Eighty of them stayed for an extra twenty minutes of Q&A after the Action at the top of the hour! They were very interested in our work and so many questions remain unanswered.
We hope to get fact sheets and more updates out to the public soon.
Keep up to date by subscribing to the Waadookawaad Amikwag YouTube channel.
And Waadookawaad Amikwag has a website pending release.
Meanwhile, we hope YOU will TAKE ACTION asking the US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Environmental Protection Agency to Support the Waadookawaad Amikwag call for a complete Federal Investigation.
Now, as winter closes in, we see more and more Enbridge presence at Walker Brook. Why do they need to have lights on at night? What are the risks? What is the state allowing them to do now? Without our knowledge.
More importantly, without Tribal Consultation.
Walker Brook damages are even visible on Google Maps now from photos taken earlier this year. You can see here the entire valley full of destruction. Closer in, the degraded hillside is evident. Closer still, you can even see the sinkhole that’s opened in the ground above the Enbridge tar sands pipeline.
Of course, it’s worse today. Enbridge has 24/7 monitoring now.
Only God and the MPCA know what they’re doing to the land and water now.
22 Monday Aug 2022
Posted in Being Yourself, Citizenship, Coronavirus, Death, Economics, Health, Human Extinction, Insanity
Tags
“My sources are more scientific than your sources” seems where America lives these days.
And the truth is becoming harder to find every day. As the scripted MSM focuses us where they want us to look… and think tanks explain it all to us.
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
~ unattributable
… and we find ourselves unfriending long-term associates after too many frustrated communications. 😶 Perhaps we can no longer Agree to Disagree?
Can’t argue though… with the HUGE AMOUNT of excess deaths we’ve seen since Covid was released upon us. About a quarter of our dead each day are attributed to Covid it seems, so there’s SOMETHING that we might want to address, eh?
Here’s the latest (and pretty scary) link from Dr. Pierre Kory – of Deleted Senate Subcommittee Hearing fame. He and his group of Frontline Doctors – those responsible for ERs in major metro areas links during Covid days – have struggled to secure almost any public debate on facts with state authorities (and by state I mean both state and federal). Yet these Physicians – trying from the beginning to tell us what was happening – have been largely censored from easily accessible public domains… accused of providing “disinformation”.
What claim of “disinformation” can be credible without providing the details discrediting said information? Especially when this proposed “disinformation’ is notably dissenting from the mainstream narrative? Especially when the approved national narrative is based on deviating from established norms and protocols of scientific review? Even Fauci’s failed AZT vaccine for Aids was pulled after a few dozen deaths. But not these Covid vaccines, for which they continue to eschew any review for adverse events, no matter how numerous. [See above review on Pfizer’s pregnancy safety data – just released.] What reason can the Feds give for removing the video of Kory’s Senate hearing – a public forum? Unless it’s about controlling the narrative to promote a (designed) Vaccines Only Solution?
Throughout the Covid-19 debacle, I’ve based my information on discernment from a variety of credible sources (Dr. Hong, Dr. Martenson [still so true 2 years later…], Dr. Campbell, among others) I’ve been watching for a couple years now, and correlating that information to the data in the landscape. I’ve read sooo many medical papers, analyzed so much genetic information, and listened to hours upon hours of medical explanations while perusing thousands of data records in my attempts to understand our situation.
I’ve watched as my sources have been confirmed and wondered often at the censored response to successful campaigns. And, perhaps most telling of all: No mention by CDC of Vitamin D as a critical element for our immune systems, something for years the powers that be encouraged with a Does a Body Good campaign? [Yeah, that wasn’t based on science either, eh? Just sales. And, Jesus, do we have to sexualize fkn everything? FFS. I wonder how much these old commercials drove my development.]
There remain so many unanswered questions.
How can one demonize a group of Frontline physicians (who have saved thousands of lives throughout Covid) as we concurrently watch the CDC continue to change paths, making little to no progress but lots of profits for Big Pharma, in the absurdity they call their National Covid Response?
How are humans so convinced of vaccine safety and efficacy as we watch continuous Covid infections (what the fuck is the definition of a vaccine if not to prevent spread of the disease you’ve supposedly been inoculated for???), and why on earth would you expose a developing child to this formula, without knowing the long-term implications? Especially as children have been so minimally impacted by Covid-19 with regard to hospitalizations and death?
I guess it’s the same crowd who has been convinced to work the best hours and days of their life, sacrificing their children’s plays, games, and TIME – their children’s literal milestones – to give themselves to The Man… for some ready cash. These who are largely unaware of the wage slavery to which they are beholden. Who trust their government enough to inject their children with a concoction that may very well be increasing rates of infertility and spontaneous abortion in pregnant women (thus, doing God knows what to our developing generations… our grandchildren… our grand nieces and nephews).
Meanwhile…. air pollution…. kills 7M each year… and we’re hearing fuck all on that (let alone doing anything about it).
We’ve had three known nuclear meltdowns at power plants… so can we now admit humans might not be as smart as we try to storytell we are… in this concocted reality we call life?
We only know what we know because of those who have been willing to sacrifice themselves to their causes. Watch Meltdown: Three Mile Island and then think about your pandemic response teams?
I also found this interesting item this week… Tulsi on a Bill for Snowden & Assange.
Here’s to the Whistle Blowers.
The real truth tellers. Risking all to keep us informed. I’d say we owe them a listen.
Don’t forget to shine.
Remember your soul is the one thing you can’t compromise.”
David Gray Shine
15 Monday Aug 2022
Posted in Climate Change, Economics, Insanity
Tags
Corporate Rule, fossil fuel industry, oligarch, oligarchs, Pigs at the Trough, Regulatory Capture, Taxpayer, Taxpayer Liability
Originally published on Pipeline Fighters Hub. Note some highlights are mine.
This blog explains how the Inflation Reduction Act is a HUGE WINDFALL whose design may well serve to reinvigorate the coal industry… forcing taxpayers to give more big profits to players in an already bloated industry… as we literally pay them to pollute our world.
Here’s his close, which is just as good as an opener (in case you’re short on time or lack will to read deeper):
The 45Q program is a means for CO2 emitters and their oligarch investors to claim to be reducing greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously supporting the next wave of oil development and paying no taxes. By indiscriminately ramping up the 45Q program’s carbon credits by 70% across the board, the IRA threatens to hand out tens of billions of dollars in windfall tax credits to oligarchs and provide decades of public subsidies to all fossil fuel industries, while running roughshod over the local communities across America that would be subject to eminent domain for pipeline development. The IRA’s 45Q amendments are a remarkable example of Congressional corruption and inequity that supports the global rich at the cost of harming everyday Americans.
Now, on to Paul’s analysis…
The Inflation Reduction Act May Save the Fossil Fuel Industry
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, HR 5376, (IRA) is moving through Congress, and there is not much time to understand the importance of its amendments to the 45Q tax credits and their implications for the fossil fuel industries.
If you are not familiar with tax credits, as a starting point, I suggest reading my blog posts on how the existing 45Q tax credit program works.
Why the IRA’s Amendments to the 45Q Tax Credit Program Is Inequitable, Corrupt, and Wasteful
The federal 45Q tax credit program allows participants to reduce their federal taxes based on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) they are able to extract from the air pollution that comes from smoke stacks. Under existing law, for each metric ton (2,204.6 pounds) of carbon captured, the existing program provides $50/metric ton if the carbon is simply pumped underground (sequestered) and $35/metric ton if the carbon is used in enhanced oil recovery operations (EOR). The use of carbon dioxide in EOR is based on the fact that liquid carbon dioxide is a very good solvent, so it can be used to dissolve oil that is trapped in rock deep underground.
The IRA would increase the 45Q program tax credits to $85/metric ton for sequestration and $60/metric ton for EOR, a 70% increase. For most people, these are just abstract numbers. But, they are very important to the U.S. Congress and their oligarch supporters, so it’s important for us to understand how this increase in tax benefits will affect our country and environment. This blog post explains the significance of the IRA’s proposed increase in 45Q tax credits.
One of the most significant flaws in the 45Q program, made all the more glaring by the IRA, is that it provides fixed tax credits regardless of the cost of capturing carbon. The problem with this approach is that the costs of capturing carbon vary widely depending on industry. For example, the levelized break-even cost of carbon capture at ethanal plants is reported as $25-$35/metric ton. It may cost even less at natural gas processing plants. In contrast, the levelized break-even costs at coal power plants is reported to be in the range of $37-$55/metric ton, and at natural gas power plants $49-$114/metric ton. Yet, the 45Q program provides the exact same tax credit regardless of the actual costs of capture. The tables below show the range of estimated break-even costs needed to pay for carbon capture facilities at coal and natural gas power plants. Tax credits in excess of break-even costs can be turned into profit.
| COAL POWER PLANTBreak Even Costs | Average/ Representative ($/metric ton) | Low ($/metric ton) | High ($/metric ton) | ||||
| CO2 Capture at Coal Power Plants | 47 | 37 | 55 | ||||
| Pipeline Transportation (Onshore 10 Mt/year) | 3 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| Storage | 5 | 1 | 13 | ||||
| Total Capture, Transportation, and Storage | 55 | 40 | 72 |
| NATURAL GAS POWER PLANTBreak Even Costs | Average/ Representative ($/metric ton) | Low ($/metric ton) | High ($/metric ton) | ||||
| CO2 Capture at Natural Gas Power Plants | 76 | 49 | 114 | ||||
| Pipeline Transportation (Onshore 10 Mt/year) | 3 | 2.3 | 3.8 | ||||
| Storage | 5 | 1 | 13 | ||||
| Total Capture, Transportation, and Storage | 84 | 52.3 | 130.8 |
Even though the levelized cost of capture at an ethanol plant might be just $25/metric ton and transportation and sequestration costs might add $5/ton more, the owner of the capture equipment would still receive tax credits worth $85/metric ton. The 70% increase in this one-size-fits-all tax credit means that low-cost carbon capture projects will win the lottery.
By way of example, the following table shows the annual maximum possible 45Q tax credits generated by the three carbon pipelines currently under development in the Midwest, both before and after the IRA’s boost of the 45Q credits by 70%, based on their claimed annual maximum pipeline capacities. It is important to understand that the developers of these pipelines considered these projects to be economically viable and profitable without the IRA’s proposed 70% increase.
| Project | Maximum Pipeline Capacities (metric tons per year) | Existing Annual Maximum Tax Credits at $50/MT | HR5376 Annual Maximum Tax Credits at $85/MT | Net Annual Maximum Tax Credit Increase Due to the IRA (Windfall) | |||||
| Summit | 12,000,000 | 600,000,000 | 1,020,000,000 | + 420,000,000 | |||||
| Navigator | 15,000,000 | 750,000,000 | 1,275,000,000 | +525,000,000 | |||||
| ADM/Wolf | 12,000,000 | 600,000,000 | 1,020,000,000 | +420,000,000 | |||||
| Total | 39,000,000 | 1,950,000,000 | 3,315,000,000 | +1,365,000,000 |
The IRA would provide, just for these three CCS projects, up to $1.365 billion dollars per year in windfall tax credits that are pure pork. How is this not tremendously wasteful and inequitable? While these pipelines are unlikely to operate at full capacity at startup, such that the actual amounts of tax credits claimed at first might be, say, 2/3 of the rated capacity, the point here is that by providing a one-size-fits-all tax credit, the IRA amendments to the 45Q program would provide grossly excessive tax credits for low-cost CCS projects. Even if these CCS projects operate at 2/3 capacity, the IRA, at a minimum, would provide these CCS projects hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits per year above the levels necessary for construction and operation.
In contrast, the Canadian government is considering tax credits to cover 50% of CCS costs. This approach is similar to the IRA’s proposed Investment Tax Credit for solar that would cover just 30% of the costs of building solar plants… Taking all tax and depreciation benefits for solar projects into account, the federal government subsidizes about 44% of the capital costs of solar projects. The remainder of the cost of solar is ultimately paid for by sale of the electricity generated. A percentage approach at least avoids granting grossly excessive tax credits to lower-cost projects.
In contrast, the $85/metric ton sequestration credit appears to provide tax credits in excess of 200% of the capital costs of CCS at ethanol plants, and possibly in excess of 150% of the costs of CCS at coal power plants. Since simply sequestering carbon does not generate cash, the 45Q tax credits must be high enough to pay for the entire cost of capture and sequestration projects. This being said, CCS projects may also receive cash from California’s low carbon fuel program or from selling CO2 to EOR projects, meaning that CCS projects might make earn money in addition to the tax credits.
So, who would receive these windfall tax credits? Only very large corporations and the super-rich have enough income to need huge amounts of tax credits. For example, investors in the Summit Carbon Solutions project include, but are not limited to, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia; SK holdings, a South Korean company fined over 70 million dollars for defrauding the US Army, and Harold Hamm of fracked oil fame. This list indicates that the three Midwestern CCS projects will primarily benefit major corporations and the global oligarchs, such as Senator Joe Manchin, because nobody but them needs such massive amounts of tax credits.
Why the IRA Could Revitalize the Coal Industry
Now, let’s consider how the IRA would impact the coal industry. To create example of potential tax credits available to the coal industry, I prepared a spreadsheet (attached) calculating examples of the maximum potential annual 45Q tax credits that could be claimed by 26 large Midwestern coal power plants (each with emissions of greater than 1 million metric tons of CO2 per year), if they installed carbon capture equipment and captured 100% of their 2020 emissions (emissions data from USEPA FLIGHT database). Again, it is unlikely that these coal power plants would capture 100% of emissions, and it would take years to develop CCS projects, but the estimates are intended to provide a sense of the scale of the financial benefits that could be provided to coal power plants and the potential for grossly excessive one-size-fits-all tax credit awards due to variations in carbon capture costs at different plants.
The estimates show that the maximum annual tax credits would range from $85 million to $1 billion, per year, per plant, depending on the size of the plant. Given the variable costs of carbon capture, the 45Q program could provide tax credits 18% to 113% above breakeven costs, or, depending on the size of the plant, roughly $13 million to $500 million per year, per plant, above the cost of the break-even CCS projects. This analysis indicates that the IRA would make CCS economically viable at a large proportion of coal plants in the US and potentially provide tax benefits far in excess of CCS project costs, meaning the 45Q tax credit could directly subsidize the coal industry.
When Congress first created the 45Q program, it limited tax credits to just the first 75 million tons of carbon captured, and this cap limited the financial impact of the program. In 2018, Congress removed this cap, meaning that the 45Q program has no legal dollar limit. As a result of the elimination of this cap and the IRA’s 70% increase in tax credit amount, the majority of coal power plants nationwide might now be financially able to install CCS and collect tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits per year, per plant. Yes, it would take years to install all of the necessary carbon capture equipment, but once projects are announced and operational and billions have been invested in capture facilities and pipelines, it would be very difficult if not impossible to shut them down – or shut down the coal plants that produce the captured carbon dioxide.
How Does the 45Q Program’s Size Compare to the Tax Credits That Would Be Provided to Wind and Solar?
Let’s compare the 45Q program’s potential financial benefits to those provided by the current wind energy production tax credit, based on a study by the Congressional Research Service entitled, The Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit: In Brief, Updated April 29, 2020. Table 3 of this report on page 7 (pdf page 10) provides estimates of total nationwide federal renewable energy production tax credit expenditures, meaning the taxes lost due to PTC tax credit claims. Congress has estimated that the highest annual amount for total national PTC tax credit claims was $5.1 billion in 2019. Even considering that the IRA would provide enhanced PTC benefits, if the three Midwestern CCS projects start operations, they alone could be awarded tax credits worth up to $3.3 billion per year. If the 26 example coal plants captured 100% of their emissions, they would receive about $9.5 billion in tax credits. However, many more CCS projects are being planned.
The entire size of the “tax equity market,” meaning the total amount of tax credits claimed for renewable energy, affordable housing, etc., was estimated for 2020 to be between $17 and $18 billion dollars. Since Congress failed to impose a limit on the size of the 45Q program and all large CO2 emitters including coal power plants, natural gas power plants, oil refineries, natural gas processing plants, fertilizer plants, etc., may capture and claim 45Q credits, it seems likely that the IRA would result in the 45Q tax credit program growing in size to far exceed the renewable energy tax credit program.
Therefore, it would appear that IRA could provide potential tax benefits to facilities that emit carbon dioxide that could dwarf the benefits provided to renewable energy. Moreover, given the potential for windfall tax credits, there may be a risk that tax credit investors would prefer to invest in CCS projects over wind and solar projects, because the return on investment at CCS projects could be much higher.
Isn’t CCS Necessary to Stop Climate Change?
One of the primary arguments made by CCS advocates is that CCS is necessary to achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, particularly from industries for which there are not good clean energy alternatives, such as steel production. The IRA’s supporters claim that it sets the carbon credit amount at $85/metric ton specifically to make CCS economic at such hard-nut-to-crack industries, but the IRA makes this high tax credit amount available to all CO2 emitting industries, regardless of the availability of clean energy alternatives or the carbon capture costs.
CCS advocates also claim that the IPCC states that CCS will be a “key” component of global CO2 emission reductions, but these advocates completely fail to consider that the order in time in which we fund carbon mitigation options and the relative costs of options are both critically important factors. We should fund the less expensive, higher bang-for-the-buck options first, before pouring cash into expensive CCS at “hard nut” industries. The following table excerpts data from Figure SMP7 (attached) from the April 2022 IPCC report. The data shows that CCS for energy and industry are among the most expensive mitigation options and that at most they would reduce global CO2 emissions by a relatively small amount, as compared to much lower cost clean energy, efficiency, conservation, and other options.
Select Climate Change Mitigation Option Amounts and Costs from IPCC 2022 Figure SPM.7
The IPCC data indicates that global climate change mitigation efforts should first spend money on renewable energy, energy efficiency, conservation, and a variety of other lower-cost options before seeking to crack the expensive “hard nut” industries via CCS. The justification for the 45Q program focuses on “hard nut” mitigation needs, which are the most expensive, least bang-for-the-buck mitigation options and should be lower priority. Even worse, the vast majority of the 45Q tax credits would almost certainly not be used to crack the “hard nuts,” but rather would be spent to continue operation of CO2 emitting industries that could be displaced by clean energy options. If the IRA is enacted, the oligarchs would likely first invest in CCS projects that provide windfall tax benefits, such as at ethanol and natural gas processing plants, before investing in expensive low-profit CCS projects at steel plants and other “hard nut” industries. The IPCC data indicates that CCS is not a key near-term climate mitigation solution, but rather should be funded after better mitigation options are fully exploited. The 45Q program is an example of spending a massive amount of money on the exact wrong thing.
Does the 45Q Tax Credit Program Deprioritize Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)?
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a process whereby fluid CO2 is pumped underground to dissolve oil out of rock. It turns out the fluid CO2 is good at dissolving oil out of the rock pores in legacy oilfields, but huge amounts of it are needed for the EOR process to work. CO2 EOR can increase the amount of oil pumped from suitable legacy oilfields by 50% or more, which could result in a huge amount of additional crude oil being pumped and burned, both in the US and globally. Typically, the emissions from burning the oil exceed the amount of CO2 left in the ground after EOR operations end, often by a ratio of at least 2 tons of oil-based carbon to 1 ton of stored carbon.
Given that the 45Q tax credit program provides a tax credit worth $85/metric ton if the CO2 is simply sequestered underground, and just $60/metric ton if the CO2 is used in EOR, some might think that this means CCS projects would prioritize sending the CO2 to sequestration sites. However, the 45Q program actually creates an incentive to use the CO2 in EOR, because EOR operators are expected to pay a fee for the CO2 of approximately $25 to $40/metric ton that would be in addition to the tax credit. Thus, if a coal plant captured carbon and sold it to an EOR operation, it would receive $60/metric ton in federal tax credits plus $25 to $40/metric ton from the EOR operator. To beat out sequestration, EOR operators would just need to pay at least $25/ton or more for the CO2.
In the alternative, an oil company could simply own some or all of the carbon capture equipment at a coal plant, oil refinery, etc., and therefore own the right to decide where to ship its share of the CO2. Moreover, the oil company could snarf up any windfall tax credits generated by the CCS project and in effect subsidize the cost of the CO2, thereby increasing the profitability of its EOR operation.
The oil industry sees CO2 EOR as its next major development wave that will grow as fracking declines. The primary obstacle to increased development of CO2 EOR is not economics or technical challenges – it is a lack of access to huge amounts of liquid CO2. CO2 has been used in EOR for decades, but the EOR industry has primarily used natural underground CO2 deposits that are now pretty much fully exploited. The only way to make huge amounts of CO2 available to the EOR industry is to capture CO2 at industrial facilities and ship it to oilfields. The oil industry needs federally subsidized carbon capture projects to keep the oil flowing. This is why the CEO of Exxon recently described carbon capture the “holy grail” and called for the 45Q program tax credit to be increased to $100/metric ton. Carbon capture certainly is the holy grail for converting federal tax credits into future oil industry profits.
Bottom Line
The IRA is being rushed through Congress, yet it has the potential to provide truly massive subsidies and eyewatering windfall tax benefits to CO2 emitting industries. It’s not clear that those who are advocating for the IRA have adequately assessed the amount of potential tax credit benefits that an unlimited 45Q program could provide to CO2 emitters, especially when one considers that the coal, oil, and natural gas industries could all develop CCS projects and receive substantial financial benefits. Further, if tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars are spent to construct capture equipment and carbon pipelines, CO2 emitting industries would likely use these investments as arguments for why their CCS projects – and the facilities that emit the captured CO2 – should be kept in operation indefinitely. And, this would keep the federal gravy train rolling indefinitely.
The 45Q program is a means for CO2 emitters and their oligarch investors to claim to be reducing greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously supporting the next wave of oil development and paying no taxes. By indiscriminately ramping up the 45Q program’s carbon credits by 70% across the board, the IRA threatens to hand out tens of billions of dollars in windfall tax credits to oligarchs and provide decades of public subsidies to all fossil fuel industries, while running roughshod over the local communities across America that would be subject to eminent domain for pipeline development. The IRA’s 45Q amendments are a remarkable example of Congressional corruption and inequity that supports the global rich at the cost of harming everyday Americans.
21 Monday Mar 2022
Posted in Coronavirus, Death, Economics, Human Extinction, Local Reporting, Politics
As we watch information come leaking out from various places, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore that we may have been sold a bill of goods with these mRNA vaccines. It’s a deep and complex topic and today I’m simply going to pose questions for consideration.
As we find so little available data that shares the needed details to understand much of what we’d like to understand, it’s hard to know the truth. Though I keep working to discover it.
So today we look to excess deaths as an indicator of how well we’re faring. And things don’t look too good overall. Here’s what we see globally:
Here’s what we have on US mortality.
Based on this info, hard to say vaccines are doing much? In fact, could it be argued that, with deaths at least 10% above expectations since last summer, we’re continuing to see higher death rates in spite of vaccination… or might it perhaps be because of vaccination?
What this graphic depicts is that, early on in the pandemic, we were actually seeing LESS DEATHS than normal! You can see the excess deaths were less than zero (so, lower than expected rates) right up until about when the WHO declared the pandemic on 3/10/2020. We crossed the zero-line around March 1st and there followed a MASSIVE SPIKE in excess deaths to almost 40% by Spring 2020.
Starting in mid-April, we saw a drop over two months in excess deaths to about 10% excess deaths. Was this a result of restrictions that prevented travel and encouraged social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand washing? [It certainly was not about vaccines as those had not yet been developed.]
2020 continued with a summer uptick (as we re-opened and tried to go back to normal, largely failing to protect with our Covid countermeasures and plans). This uptick bumped excess death rates to over 20% by early August and then fell again to bounce around 10-15% as “flu season” began again, when we saw a corresponding bump in excess deaths – back up to over 40% this time.
This next big spike seemed a result of returns to school and family holiday gatherings as many tired of being cooped up. By Thanksgiving 2020 we were halfway to this next bump over 40% excess deaths which, by the end of the year was starting to drop again. Was it people returning to more mindful practices after some scary stories of the Covid experienced by others? School holidays? We’ll likely never know. Still, three and a half months later, by mid-March 2021, we were back down under 5% excess deaths.
One might argue that the drop in excess deaths we saw in early 2021 was a result of the vaccines. Since excess deaths fell starting in late 2020 (when some had been vaccinated – though mostly only the elderly at that point in the game) and fell steadily through the first quarter of 2021 from over 40% to under 5% by early April, it seems logical to say it was vaccines. Though was it? Or could it have been mask mandates, lockdowns, people taking precautions, or all of the above?
Through the spring and summer of 2021, excess deaths remained between 5-10% over expectations. But by August-2021 we see another surge to almost 40% excess deaths again. So, if it WAS Vaccines that brought the drop in early 2021, it seemed they were no longer effectively keeping death in check as excess deaths shot up from under 10% in mid-July 2021 to almost 40% again by the end of August-2021.
Again, due to causes we may likely never truly understand, excess deaths began to fall to about 20% by the end of October-2021. While in the beginning and end of summer-2020 we saw drops to only 10% excess dead, our drop in 2021 never took us below 15% (actually, about 16.8%) excess dead.
In November-2021, as the Omicron wave hit on the other side of the world, we watched our excess dead hover from 17-20% and then, as 2022 came to be, we watched the rate continue to rise – this time to over 25% excess dead.
Some called Omicron a “vaccine variant” – as it created natural immunity without severe disease, bringing herd immunity to Nations of Africa and others which had been denied access to man-manufactured vaccines by more affluent (hoarding/uncaring/profit-driven/pick-your-adjective) nations. [Lucky them? As we see vaccine adverse events data continue to pile up and data concerns on vaccine trials continue to look skeptical as whistle blowers speak to the details?]
As of the latest available data, the US Excess Mortality remains at about 25% of expected death rates.
Even with vaccines in place.
Even with Coronavirus mandates dropping like rocks from the hands of politicians fearing re-election chances?
There are a couple dozen first-term Governors facing the voters this fall – and we’re suspecting many will find it rough going. [Walz in MN, Evers in WI, Whitmer in MI. Dunleavy in AK, Newsom in CA, Polis in CO, Lamont in CT, Desantis in FL, Kemp in GA, Little in ID, Pritzker in IL, Kelly in KS, Beshear in KY, Mills in ME, Sisolak in NV, Sununu in NH, Grisham in NM, Hochul in NY (already a victim there), DeWine in OH, Stitt in OK, McKee in RI, Noem in SD, Lee in TN, Gordon in WY.] I’m guessing Desantis might hang on, maybe Newsom? I figure Dems who locked down too long and hurt their economies (does that maybe include everyone?) and Republicans who didn’t use mandates and saw high deaths (also several?), may both face angry constituencies? Though… Who knows?!?!
Meanwhile… I’ve pulled data for the deaths and will be investigating it more closely.
A quick look at the figures for Minnesota are frightening. Alzheimer deaths were 240 in 2020… and 810 in 2021. And the cardiac categories continue this troubling trend. Hypertensive disease accounted for 60 dead in 2020… and 254 in 2021. Other diseases of the circulatory system almost quadrupled year-over-year (jumping from 124 to 482). That kind of growth seems to say there’s something abnormal causing this surge in deaths.
Here’s the data from the CDC itself on America’s excess deaths.
We can see that their figures show our children – and even our younger working age folks – have not been at much risk during the pandemic. Folks arguing for an end to vaccine mandates – especially for children – based on the adverse affects and apparent concerns about how mRNA works in the body long-term… might have a point it seems.
And what do the CDC say is on the rise? What is causing this uptick in deaths above normal expectations?
Diseases of the circulatory system. Heart concerns. Aneurysms, Blood clots, Cardiac Ischemia, Heart attacks, Strokes, that kind of thing.
[Coincidentally, exactly where we’re hearing most of the impacts of mRNA happen in the body? Blood clots that appear to form after vaccination may be the source? Perhaps it’s not all conspiracy theory and conjecture… as the CDC tells us nothing on what they’re doing to study the apparent increases in blood disease deaths?]
Unfortunately, the US data is limited or difficult to access (as well as being suspect as the influence of financial incentives have impacted how data was recorded and reported… affecting many of the medical decisions made for our citizenry, sadly).
I’d ask: If vaccines have been so effective, why are we still seeing excess dead at the rate of 25%? Why did the fully vaccinated breakthrough cases in Minnesota account for 52% of our dead in the latest reported week – and today we will see new data on those figures. Thus far, about 30% of all Minnesota dead were fully vaccinated per Minnesota Department of Health.
Anyone?
Update, after looking at MDH Covid Breakthrough Case figures for fully vaccinated residents.
14 Monday Mar 2022
Posted in Citizenship, Economics, Politics, Preventing Line 3
Tags
Big Oil, Enbridge, Fossil Fuel, Landowner, Landowner Choice, Line 3, Line 5, MN PUC
Watch out landowners along the Line 3 corridor… New or Old.
Enbridge may have given Old Line 3 landowners $10/foot to leave their abandoned pipeline in the ground… but might these folks later be stuck with a bill from the EPA because they took that deal? And might it be a bill that charges $500-1000/foot of pipeline then? [Enbridge estimated their own cost for removal at $800/foot – in the documentation for their New Line 3 permitting process. So are those landowners who took deals getting screwed to the tune of about $790/foot of pipeline? Hmmm….]
Don’t let them screw you.
As part of the agreements for permitting the Line 3 Expansion and Relocation Project, one of the last minute sweeteners Enbridge offered was to create a Decommissioning Plan for their new project… in hopes it would push the PUC over the line to approve the deal. Enbridge knows how to do these kind of decommissioning agreements… as they already have them in place in Canada… which may be why Enbridge wanted to build here in the U.S.? Where we don’t have those pesky decommissioning requirements? Hmmm.
This would be the first decommissioning agreement of its kind in the US. And Minnesota’s Public Utility Commission failed to assure it was put in place PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION. The goal is to assure future landowners don’t get screwed on pipeline removal…. you know, like Enbridge was allowed to screw Old Line 3 landowners, by giving them pennies on the dollar to “keep it in the ground” – the old pipeline that is, not the tar sands oil that SHOULD be kept in the ground.
Yet how many landowners are even aware of the required program?
The PUC opened Docket PL9/CN-21-823 to take comments about how much funding Enbridge should set aside for abandonment of the new Line 3 Pipeline. If we want the process to include the voices of Minnesota landowners, we might want to request that the PUC initiate a contested case hearing that requires Enbridge notify all New Line 3 easement holders about this docket. [Perhaps Enbridge was banking on Minnesotans to forget about their new project… after they quickly rushed it into the ground on a 10-month (not 2-year) build. What Could Go Wrong?]
So… what brings this topic to my attention? A recent piece on some landowners being fucked over in Buffalo by Big Oil and their close associate, the US Government. Here’s what the article on that situation said:
The federal agency asked the Newhouses in 2012 for access to their 61 acres of swampy woodlands along Route 219 in Cattaraugus County so crews could inspect abandoned, decades-old oil wells and plug any leaking ones.
Sure, the Newhouses replied, because years earlier the state’s environmental agency told them a previous owner was liable for the dozen or so wells on their Carrollton property. The couple bought the property for $8,400 in 2000, mainly as a place where her father could hunt, and the deal did not include rights or royalties to the abandoned wells, they said.
The next letter came three years later – with a bill attached for $768,529. …The federal government billed the Newhouses for inspecting and plugging 13 wells. And the charges kept piling on for the Newhouses.
Four years later, in 2019, another letter arrived from the National Pollution Funds Center, with the bill then put at $1 million.
Five months after that, the U.S. Treasury sent a notice of debt, and it put the past due bill at $1.3 million. Wage garnishment letters soon followed. …When they purchased the land, they did not even know how many wells were on the land, had no right to extract oil, had no interest in assuming control over the wells and had not talked to those who owned the mineral rights, the couple said in their affidavits. …
“If we had any inclination that we would be responsible for the cost to close and plug the wells, we never would have bought the property,” he said in his affidavit.
They contested the debt and appealed the wage garnishment, sending materials through their lawyer to a federal government hearing officer. The Treasury Department held the hearing in November 2020, according to the Newhouses. The hearing officer denied their appeal after reviewing documents but without hearing from them personally. The Newhouses were not allowed to appear at the hearing in person or by video conference call.
“In other words, no participation by me or by my attorney was allowed – either in person or remotely, and there was no oral argument,” James Newhouse said in his affidavit. …The 2012 letter to the Newhouses from the EPA said the federal agency was initiating the project to permanently plug the abandoned crude oil production wells on their property under the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
Landowners sue after ‘federally funded’ EPA program sends them million-dollar cleanup bill by Patrick Lakamp Mar 7, 2022
“This project is being funded with federal money from the Oil Spill Liability Trust,” according to the letter.
The last-known operator of the wells failed to plug them under a consent order he had entered into with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, according to the EPA’s letter.
Wells were leaking oil into Tunungwant Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River. In addition to plugging the wells, the four-month project included removing any oil pipelines and oil storage tanks and excavating and treating contaminated soil, according to the project description.
The 2015 letter from the National Pollution Funds Center said multiple wells were found to be leaking oil, but listed the Newhouses as owners of the wells and indicated they were responsible for the costs and damages.
We know we can count on Enbridge to mold the Decommissioning Plan to assure they get the BEST DEAL possible. Unless a contested case is called, landowners have only until May 19 to submit comments on the size and terms of this trust fund. [AG Ellison’s office, on January 24th, requested an extension from the original comment due date (issued 12/20/21 – just before Christmas when no one was looking?) of 2/18/22.]
If even the AG needed an extension to find the needed expertise to investigate, where is the typical landowner to get understanding of what might be reasonable? Besides the $800/foot estimate given by Enbridge in testimony, how likely is it the everyday Minnesota landowner will understand the costs of removing a behemoth like a tar sands pipeline from the landscape? Will those per foot costs likely be higher for an individual landowner to remove pipe from his brief stretch of land… than for a pipeline company contracting a much larger project?
Like most government decisions, might this one, without our voices, go solely to Enbridge and the PUC… neither of whom have thus far looked out for our well-being?
Comments to the PUC must include docket number (21-823) and can be submitted online, via email to publicadvisor.puc@state.mn.us, or by mail to:
Public Advisor
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
121 7th Place East, Suite 350
St. Paul, MN 55101
Don’t let Enbridge remain the ONLY ONES IN THE ROOM with our state officials – who seem so easily entranced by the Enbridge narrative that they’ve agreed to all their wants thus far.
Stand up for yourselves… as it doesn’t look like the Corporations or the Government will be there to help when the bill comes due.
#OnYourOwn #FuckedByBigOil as they roll in bigger profits all the time. FFS.
Be sure your voice is heard.
Update 3/24/22:
Looks like the Minnesota Legislature is pushing for… Pipeline Abandonment? Not 100% Removal? They require removal of fuel tanks at gas stations, right? What is it I’m missing? Is this just how they name it to get Republicans to vote on it… but it really asks owners to assure landowners can require pipeline companies to remove their “abandoned” pipelines? Will it be retroactive for already abandoned pipelines? So Many Questions.
Update: 5/19/22 Comments Submitted:
PUC Commissioners:
I am writing today to ask that all Landowners and Abutters to Enbridge’s Line 93 (formerly known as the Line 3 Replacement pipeline) be formally and factually notified of the decommissioning process discussion at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) so that they can participate and be kept abreast of the proceedings’ outcomes. I am also asking for a Contested Case Hearing to be held to gather the evidence needed to make a proper assessment of this fund and Enbridge’s plans for decommissioning.
As this case is setting a historic precedent in the US, the PUC must consider the ramifications of this process and use full due diligence to assure that Enbridge is forthright, transparent in disclosure, and complete in their assessments of costs as well as the engineering ramifications of “decommissioning”. As was noted with the Old Line 3 decommissioning, that might or might not include removal of the pipeline. It is clear the public needs to be informed of Enbridge’s intentions and the PUC must hold this foreign entity in our midst to account. We the citizens of Minnesota and the PUC as representatives on our behalf must be the ones determining what is acceptable. Yet Enbridge is responsible to truthfully advise on the issue for a full understanding that allows best decisions for Minnesotans and our future generations.
May, 2022 reporting in the Bemidji Pioneer, noted this from Enbridge:
However, according to Juli Kellner, Enbridge communications specialist, the company is in regular contact with landowners and has no intentions of leaving any decommissioning costs to landowners now or in the future.I have to call BS… because they already have!!
We watched with the Old Line 3 decommissioning how Enbridge enticed landowners to simply leave the old pipeline in the ground, rather than remove it. For that allowance, Enbridge offered as paltry a sum as $10/foot of pipeline. Meanwhile, their own assessments of removal costs were upwards of $800 or more per foot. So… already Enbridge has shown they will undercut their costs, pushing them onto Minnesotans, to the tune of a 99% savings to the Canadian Corporation.As was noted in a Minnesota Reformer piece in 2021:
Removing pipe is much more expensive than leaving it buried. Enbridge estimates the cost of removing the pipeline in Minnesota would be approximately $1.28 billion — or $855 per foot, according to the Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the state for the Line 3 replacement project.
To pay property owners to keep it in the ground would cost about $10 per foot, or $85 million, plus an additional $100,000 a year in Minnesota for monitoring.There was a case filed in May 2021 at the PUC complaining that Enbridge hadn’t fully informed landowners along the Old Line 3 pipeline properly. I’d speculate that, had landowners taken the time to determine their costs and liabilities, they might have pressed Enbridge for more than that measly 1% of the cost of removal, which would leave the landowner with the burden of later removal or mitigation, should pipeline removal become a requirement. As the fossil fuel industry faces its end, more requirements for infrastructure cleanup are a possibility, yet Enbridge seems to be buying its way out of responsibility for cleanup.
Again, from the Minnesota Reformer piece:
Carlson claimed that Enbridge didn’t properly inform his clients (who were not identified) that they were entitled to hire a third-party engineer at Enbridge’s expense to assess their land, to negotiate a price to leave the pipeline in the ground, and to engage in mediation at Enbridge’s expense if there is a dispute.
“Enbridge has effectively and intentionally hidden the existence of the third-party engineer for the purpose of keeping landowners uninformed,” Carlson wrote in the motion.If Enbridge and the PUC are the only ones in the room deciding the decommissioning plans, I’m concerned Landowners will be left hanging – as was noted in a piece by The Pilot-Independent:
If the fund is too small, private landowners including homeowners, farmers, and railroads, as well as state and local government landowners and highway departments could all be forced to pay if the abandoned pipeline causes harm to their properties.If already we observe Enbridge offering a pittance of actual costs to Minnesotans, what makes anyone think they will be making reasonable offerings to the State of Minnesota via the PUC’s Decommissioning Fund?
Enbridge showed their lack of care for Minnesota during their RUSHED construction.
And we continue to discover the ways Enbridge left our land in a mess of trouble, impacting water quality via frac-outs (promised to be ‘minimal’ during permitting but noted as ‘a normal part of the process’ during construction – the lies Enbridge tells are endless…) and breached aquifers (some still leaking…) across northern Minnesota. Each day we see the ongoing impacts of clearcutting and impacted water movement through our land.
Let’s assure that Enbridge not only cleans up the messes that REMAIN in our landscape, but also that we hold them FULLY ACCOUNTABLE for the costs of cleaning up their old infrastructure once they’re through using Minnesota as a highway for dirty oil. Assuring a Decommissioning Fund, as large as possible, and with as many assurances and guarantees as possible, will mean less heartache and loss for Minnesotans.
I think less troubles for Minnesota is something we can all agree is a good thing.
To be clear to the Minnesota PUC, I write today to request:
1) Require Enbridge to notify all landowners and abutters to the Line 93 project of the Decommissioning Trust Fund initiative and request their participation in the process.
2) Hold a Contested Case Hearing to determine relevant factors for consideration in the determination of the Decommissioning Fund parameters.
3) Assure follow-up communications are delivered to all Landowners and Abutters along the Line 93 corridor of the requirements agreed to once all investigation and decision-making is complete to assure these most affected citizens are informed of their protections.
Miigwech bizindawiyeg. Thank you for listening.
Submitted to Docket CN-21-823 5/19/22
Jami Gaither
Climate justice advocate and Line 93 Abutter
Dan’s Comments:
PUC Commissioners,
I ask simply that we all acknowledge the lies Enbridge has presented during the permitting process as we consider the details of their Decommissioning Trust Fund.
I request a Contested Case Hearing be held to assure that all necessary details of decommissioning are considered fully.
I request this include full disclosure to the public – including an invitation to landowners and abutters to the route – to assure a robust plan is put into place AFTER we have an understanding relevant to the situation.
As an abutter to the Line 93 project, and witness to the destruction that occurred and remains unaddressed along the corridor, we must assure we do all we can to hold Enbridge accountable for the impacts of their profit-making pipeline. Else we will be left with all the costs… as they walk away with all the proceeds.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sent 5/19/22 to PUC re: Docket CN-21-823
Dan Gaither
Clearwater County
Retired at 45 