EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/11/26

PIPELINE NEWS

• Press release: Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan and HF Sinclair Announce Final Investment Decision for Western Gateway Pipeline

• Reuters: Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, HF Sinclair approve $5 billion Western Gateway project

• Wall Street Journal: An Oil Refiner That Fled California Is Back—With a Giant Pipeline From Texas

• Canadian Press: Washington state congressman wants spill response review for Alberta pipeline to B.C.

• News Channel Nebraska: Colorado family files suit against pipeline company

• Quantum Commodity Intelligence: Enbridge to start new Cushing crude transport service from September

• Heatmap: Trump’s USDA Using Farmland Rule to Go After Energy Companies, Democrats Say

• WXOW: Rare frogs and fish face risk from La Crosse County pipeline fix along the Mississippi River

• Pipeline & Gas Journal: BLM approves two ROWs and a lay flat pipeline in Utah

• Calgary Herald: Former TC Energy manager agrees to pay more than $3 million in damages over lawsuit alleging misappropriation of funds

WASHINGTON UPDATES

• E&E News: Senate releases ‘reconciliation 3.0’ outline with energy section

• E&E News: Appeals court rejects youth-led challenge of Trump energy orders

• Newsbreak: Interior Department staffers furious with ‘terrified’ Doug Burgum before Pirro meeting

• Raw Story: Trump insider hated by staffers who quit in droves: ‘Disdain for the rank and file’

• Carbon Herald: GAO Report Reveals Delays And Oversight Gaps In 45Q Carbon Capture Tax Credit

STATE UPDATES

• E&E News: Trump calls Texas’ data center crackdown a ‘mistake’

• Guardian: Meet the army of amateur archivists racing to save US history in national parks

EXTRACTION

• Yale Climate Connections: The U.S. just had its hottest month in recorded history, surpassing Dust Bowl record

• Consumer Watchdog: As Carbon Capture & Storage Gathers Steam, New Consumer Watchdog Report Questions Its Threat To The Public And Lifeline For Fossil Fuels

• ExxonMobil: The Carbon Superhighway: Rethinking how CO2 moves at scale [VIDEO]

• Carbon Herald: ExxonMobil Challenges EU Carbon Storage Mandates In International Dispute

• Financial Post: Why oilsands majors are holding back on expansion [VIDEO]

• Guardian: Greenland issues ‘strong warning’ as Trump-linked oil firm prepares to drill

OPINION

• Wisconsin State Journal: Boom, bust and repeat is Enbridge’s playbook in Wisconsin

• CleanTechnica: Supercritical CO₂ Is Useful. The System Claims Are The Problem.

• Dickinson Press: What’s the why of Burgum’s boot licking?

• InFourm: If Doug Burgum had any integrity left, he’d resign

• Toronto Star: Canada’s oil giants are cashing in on conflict. Consumers are paying the price

PIPELINE NEWS

Press release: Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan and HF Sinclair Announce Final Investment Decision for Western Gateway Pipeline
8/11/26

“Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, Inc. and HF Sinclair Corporation today announced they have finalized a joint venture agreement and made a final investment decision to move forward with the proposed Western Gateway Pipeline system (Western Gateway). Under the joint venture, Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan and HF Sinclair will own 49.9%, 35.1% and 15% of the system, respectively… “Western Gateway is a proposed 1,300-mile refined products pipeline system that would create a new fuel supply path from St. Louis, Missouri, and expanded Gulf Coast origin points to Arizona and California. With a design capacity of 230,000 barrels per day, the project is also being developed to allow for future expansion with limited capital and no new pipe necessary as future demand requires. The project will include: Approximately 900-mile new-build 20-inch and 24-inch pipeline from Borger, Texas, to Phoenix, Arizona. Phillips 66 will construct and operate the new-build pipeline; Kinder Morgan’s contribution of its existing SFPP East Line pipeline from El Paso, Texas to Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, and its SFPP West Line pipeline from Colton, California, to Phoenix, which would be reversed to move product east to west into California. Kinder Morgan will continue to operate those pipelines. Supply to Western Gateway would also be supported by Phillips 66’s Gold Pipeline, which will connect to the Explorer Pipeline. The Gold Pipeline would be reversed to allow refined products to flow toward Borger. The project’s enterprise value is approximately $5.0 billion… “Based on the approximately $5.0 billion enterprise value, Kinder Morgan will also make cash contributions of approximately $250 million. Phillips 66 would make cash contributions of approximately $2.5 billion, and HF Sinclair would make cash contributions of approximately $750 million to the project… “The Western Gateway project is targeting completion in 2029, subject to the receipt of all permits and regulatory approvals.”

Reuters: Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, HF Sinclair approve $5 billion Western Gateway project
Pooja Menon, 8/11/26

“Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan and HF Sinclair said on Tuesday they have decided ​to proceed with the proposed $5 billion Western Gateway Pipeline ‌system and finalized a joint venture agreement for the same,” Reuters reports. “...Companies ​have been racing to build a major new fuel ​pipeline to the U.S. West Coast ahead of planned ⁠refinery closures in California, a relatively isolated fuel market with ​limited links to major refining hubs that leave it vulnerable to ​supply disruptions and price spikes. Western Gateway is a proposed 1,300-mile refined products pipeline system with a design capacity of 230,000 barrels per day that would ​establish a new fuel supply route from St. Louis, Missouri ​and Gulf Coast origin points to Arizona and California… ”The new system would be underpinned by primarily 10-year, take-or-pay contracts, ​they added.”

Wall Street Journal: An Oil Refiner That Fled California Is Back—With a Giant Pipeline From Texas
Collin Eaton, 8/11/26

“California lost two big oil refineries in the past year, as well as much of the Asian fuel supplies that landed on its coast. Now, a pipeline from Texas is planned to help fill the gap—one that Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced as the state faces the highest pump prices in the country,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “On Tuesday, Phillips 66 PSX 5.69%increase; up pointing triangle and two partners officially sanctioned a $5 billion project, called the Western Gateway Pipeline system, to build a 900-mile pipeline to ferry 230,000 barrels a day of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel from the Texas Panhandle to Arizona and California. In Phoenix, the new pipe will connect with an existing 500-mile pipeline that ends in Colton, Calif., about an hour east of Los Angeles.”

Canadian Press: Washington state congressman wants spill response review for Alberta pipeline to B.C.
8/10/26

“A congressman from Washington State says the U.S. Coast Guard should review and update oil spill response plans as news of a planned pipeline from Alberta to B.C. would increase oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea,” the Canadian Press reports. “Rep. Rick Larsen told CP he sent a letter to a top U.S. Coast Guard official recently seeking details about co-ordination efforts around a Canada-U.S. pollution contingency plan. Larsen told CP the contingency plan is important after the announcement of a new oil pipeline from Alberta to B.C.’s Roberts Bank terminal, just a few kilometres by water from the Canada-U.S. border. He told CP the pipeline will bring more oil tanker traffic to the waters off his state, and “with it the risk of catastrophic oil spills.” “...The congressman, who’s the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told CP he wants answers from the U.S. Coast Guard on the plan, and will tell his Canadian counterparts why people he represents “oppose this pipeline.”

News Channel Nebraska: Colorado family files suit against pipeline company
Forrest Hershberger, 8/7/26

“...Brady and Kari Hume enjoy their acreage away from the city lights, the farm life where they can raise their children and a family business. But their evenings on the deck or in the house with the windows open are fewer with the smell of sulfur since the expansion of a facility across the county road,” News Channel Nebraska reports. “...She said they learned that Trailblazer Pipeline, one of the two pipelines in their pasture which is around 800 feet from their home, has been repurposed from transporting natural gas to carbon dioxide. She said at first it didn’t sound any more than peculiar. “Upon research, it is not that simple. It can be very dangerous, especially in the event of a rupture due to it being an asphyxiant. And that pipeline is over four decades old,” she told NCN. The Humes are willing to move but don’t believe they should have to absorb the cost of relocating a homestead, farm, and business. They told NCN they’ve been in contact for almost two years with Tallgrass Energy, the owner of the compressor station and pipelines in question… “The family says they were met with no resolution and no attempt to help them transition off a property that has become, in their words, unlivable. It wasn’t until those efforts went nowhere that the family turned to the courts. Central to their case, the Humes told NCN, is the original right-of-way agreement itself. They contend their specific agreement doesn’t grant Trailblazer the right to transport CO2 based on analysis — and that the original homesteader who signed it added language stating he expected the pipeline to be removed once it was no longer used for the original purposes of [natural] gas… “The Humes say they contacted local and county emergency management about the issues and concern over the uniqueness of living near a CO2 pipeline once they found out Trailblazer was already transporting CO2 last year. According to the Humes, at that time the first responders were not aware that Trailblazer Pipeline was now carrying carbon dioxide nor have they been trained on it to date.”

Quantum Commodity Intelligence: Enbridge to start new Cushing crude transport service from September
8/10/26

“Enbridge plans to offer crude transport service using capacity from a combination of its existing Platte and Spearhead…,” Quantum Commodity Intelligence reports.

Heatmap: Trump’s USDA Using Farmland Rule to Go After Energy Companies, Democrats Say
Jael Holzman, 8/10/26

“Democrats in Congress claim that a new Trump administration proposal will have a chilling effect on the energy sector by subjecting renewables and fossil fuel pipelines alike to an obscure, rarely cited Cold War-era law requiring detailed information on foreign farmland ownership be submitted to the Agriculture Department,” Heatmap reports. “...If finalized, the new rule would expand the definition of “agricultural land” in regulation to include all renewable energy facilities and pipeline corridors by explicitly tying the term to those industries’ formal codes under the North American Industry Classification System. Top Senate Democrats on Monday argued that taken together with expanded investor reporting thresholds and land boundary mapping requirements, this rule change “may exceed what is necessary” to deal with national security issues around farmland ownership… “The Trump change goes after pipelines as well as renewable energy, although logic suggests that solar development could be more vulnerable due to the sheer acreage often required for utility-scale project construction and property setbacks.”

WXOW: Rare frogs and fish face risk from La Crosse County pipeline fix along the Mississippi River
Terry Bell, 8/19/26

“The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is proposing to issue a permit that would allow the unintentional loss of some endangered frogs and fish during a pipeline remediation project on the Mississippi River in La Crosse County,” WXOW reports. “Northern Natural Gas is planning to fix a shallow cover condition on its Tomah Branch Line where it crosses the Mississippi River… “The DNR confirmed that state endangered Blanchard’s cricket frogs, endangered goldeye, endangered pallid shiners and threatened shoal chubs live near the project site. DNR staff determined the project may result in what’s called incidental taking of some frogs and fish. Incidental take refers to the unintentional loss of individual endangered or threatened animals or plants that does not put the species’ overall population at risk… “The public can submit written comments about project-related impacts to the species by Aug. 21.”

Pipeline & Gas Journal: BLM approves two ROWs and a lay flat pipeline in Utah
8/7/26

“The Bureau of Land Management has issued final decisions on three separate right-of-way projects across Utah, spanning Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Vernal Field Office,” Pipeline & Gas Journal reports. “...Lay-flat pipeline to support drilling near vernal… “The decision authorizes a right-of-way for Greylock Production, LLC to install a temporary lay-flat pipeline supporting drilling operations at the company’s MCW well pad. Because lay-flat pipelines sit on the surface rather than requiring trenching or excavation, the BLM noted the project will result in no surface disturbance.”

Calgary Herald: Former TC Energy manager agrees to pay more than $3 million in damages over lawsuit alleging misappropriation of funds
Kevin Martin, 8/10/26

“A former TC Energy Corp. manager has agreed to pay more than $3 million in damages to settle a lawsuit alleging misappropriation of company rebates,” the Calgary Herald reports. “A consent judgment, a copy of which was supplied to Postmedia, shows Rick Urbanczyk or companies he controlled, have agreed to turn over property valued at $3,040.371.87 as well as costs of $100,000 to the Calgary-based company. More than half of that amount will come from TC Energy getting a constructive trust over a home in Tower Ridge Estates in Calgary and its contents… “TC Energy filed a multi-million lawsuit against Urbanczyk, or companies he controlled, alleging he diverted at least $2,566,200 owed to the company or its subsidiaries… “It alleged Urbanczyk, almost immediately after being hired “embarked on a calculated path to obtain personal benefit.”

WASHINGTON UPDATES

E&E News: Senate releases ‘reconciliation 3.0’ outline with energy section
Andres Picon, 8/10/26

“Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson released his blueprint Friday for the party-line spending bill Republicans want to pass before November, including instructions for up to $1 billion in new spending on energy priorities,” E&E News reports. “...The Energy and Natural Resources Committee would be authorized to find up to $1 billion in new spending over 10 years. It’s not yet clear what that spending will entail… “In addition to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee would each be tasked with spending up to $1 billion… “Some Republicans leaders say they want to pursue an additional reconciliation bill — ‘reconciliation 4.0’ — after the midterms. It could also contain some energy provisions.”

E&E News: Appeals court rejects youth-led challenge of Trump energy orders
Lesley Clark, 8/10/26

“A federal appeals court has turned away a group of young climate activists who had challenged President Donald Trump’s orders to boost oil, gas and coal production,” E&E News reports. “A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that rejected the case in June said Monday it had voted unanimously to deny a request for a rehearing before a full panel of active judges. Every judge on the court was advised of the request, and none of them opted for the full court to rehear the case, the panel noted. The appeals panel ruled in June that the 22 young challengers lacked the standing to sue over three executive orders Trump signed in 2025. The youth in Lighthiser v. Trump contend they will be harmed by federal agency action over the next several years. But the appeals court judges in June said the link between the executive orders and the alleged injuries was “too speculative” for a lawsuit.”

Newsbreak: Interior Department staffers furious with ‘terrified’ Doug Burgum before Pirro meeting
Jack Hobbs, 8/9/26

“Staffers within the Department of the Interior have reportedly been furious with Secretary Doug Burgum for months,” Newsbreak reports. “While staffers were once optimistic about Burgum’s leadership, that hope has given way to anger, confusion, and concern about his ability to run the agency responsible for the national parks system and public lands. Former staffers sounded the alarm after they were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements and are unhappy that the department has experienced high turnover since Burgum was confirmed in 2025. Other former employees have accused Burgum of surrounding himself with a toxic leadership team that has resulted in several members of the agency to depart… “According to reports from the New York Times, Pirro claimed that Burgum was an ‘incompetent liar’ and accused him of not being honest with the president about the source of the damage to the algae-infested pool after the administration invested $16 million into its restoration.”

Raw Story: Trump insider hated by staffers who quit in droves: ‘Disdain for the rank and file’
Travis Gettys, 8/7/26

“Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is driving away staff with a toxic leadership style that has left career employees feeling dismissed and undervalued, according to former officials interviewed for a new report,” Raw Story reports. “...Staffers also describe a culture of secrecy, including NDAs for some employees, shredded documents, and disappearing Signal messages used even for routine scheduling — practices former officials say are meant to dodge federal records requirements. ‘They’re terrified of written records,’ one former official told Politico… “Tony Irish, who spent more than 20 years at the department before leaving last year, told Politico it’s “abundantly clear” Burgum doesn’t care about career staff.”

Carbon Herald: GAO Report Reveals Delays And Oversight Gaps In 45Q Carbon Capture Tax Credit
Violet George, 8/11/26

“A new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlights significant administrative hurdles and oversight gaps in the Section 45Q Carbon Oxide Sequestration Credit, even as taxpayer claims more than tripled between 2019 and 2023,” the Carbon Herald reports. “...Despite expanded eligibility and policy tweaks intended to create credit parity, taxpayers seeking credits for carbon utilization face high rejection rates, lengthy approval delays, and compliance uncertainty… “To resolve these issues, the watchdog recommended clarifying acceptable baseline datasets for calculating displaced carbon and establishing clear operational timeframes required before taxpayers can begin claiming the credit. Beyond taxpayer compliance burdens, the GAO cautioned that Congress lacks the structured data needed to assess whether the 45Q credit is effectively meeting its intended environmental and economic goals… “However, the GAO maintained that its recommendations remain necessary to reduce taxpayer friction while preventing potential noncompliance across the expanding carbon capture sector.”

STATE UPDATES

E&E News: Trump calls Texas’ data center crackdown a ‘mistake’
Shelby Webb, 8/10/26

“President Donald Trump called Texas’ de facto data center moratorium “a mistake” in an interview released Friday, delivering a rare rebuke of a state he won three times,” E&E News reports. “The comment was published days after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered the state’s power regulators to pause all new data center approvals until they audit projects looking to plug into the state’s grid. In the recent interview with Punchbowl News, Trump said he “saw Texas the other day sort of is against data centers,” though he didn’t mention Abbott by name. There’s “a lot of money” at stake, the president said, because other communities will want to attract data centers instead. “They are tremendously important for the economics,” Trump said. “For Texas to say no to data centers is a mistake in the sense that it could be bigger than oil.”

Guardian: Meet the army of amateur archivists racing to save US history in national parks
Amy Qin, 8/7/26

“Jenny McBurney was among hundreds of people around the world who sprang into action last year when the Trump administration started deleting government datasets and webpages because they included information about “gender ideology”, environmental justice or diversity, equity and inclusion,” the Guardian reports. “McBurney, a government publications librarian at the University of Minnesota, joined the Data Rescue Project, a group that mobilizes volunteers to archive critical government datasets that are at risk of deletion by the Trump administration. While McBurney was working to archive censored datasets last spring, the Trump administration launched a sweeping campaign to censor American history and science in the National Park Service. National Park Service (NPS) rangers were instructed to flag and remove signs about slavery, Indigenous history and the climate crisis at national parks and historic sites around the country if they ‘inappropriately disparage Americans past or living’ or advance a ‘corrosive ideology’... “Last July, McBurney and several colleagues at the University of Minnesota libraries launched Save Our Signs: a crowdsourced project that aims to document every sign in the more than 400 national parks and historic sites across the country before the Trump administration removes them.”

EXTRACTION

Yale Climate Connections: The U.S. just had its hottest month in recorded history, surpassing Dust Bowl record
Jeff Masters and Bob Henson, 8/10/26

“Those who deny or dismiss U.S. climate change have hit a Waterloo moment of sorts. The nation just experienced its hottest month in more than 130 years of analysis, which breaks a record that had stood since the infamous Dust Bowl of the 1930s,” Yale Climate Connections reports. “...This makes last month the hottest calendar month in national data going back to January 1895… “There’s no denying the scorching conditions of the 1930s Dust Bowl. An impressive 24 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states have yet to exceed the single hottest readings observed in each of those states during the 1930s. However, the Dust Bowl has been misused for years in climate-denial writing and speaking to argue that human activity isn’t warming the nation’s climate to any great degree. In fact, human influence played a vast part in the Dust Bowl itself. Decades of overplowing by European settlers in the Plains and Midwest – in the erroneous belief that “rain follows the plow” – left the landscape vulnerable when a sequence of multi-year droughts struck. Huge volumes of topsoil simply blew away, and the denuded land heated up far more quickly than better-managed land would have.”

Consumer Watchdog: As Carbon Capture & Storage Gathers Steam, New Consumer Watchdog Report Questions Its Threat To The Public And Lifeline For Fossil Fuels
8/10/26

“California is setting the stage for oil producers, refiners, and other industries to decarbonize. Air regulators are circulating proposed rules for the state’s first industrial Carbon Capture and Storage program. They’ve doubled a pool of CO2 emissions allowances to $4 billion for manufacturers that make approved investments in decarbonization. The state Fire Marshal recently finalized safety rules for carbon dioxide pipelines to carry the dangerous asphyxiant. None of this makes sense for California, Consumer Watchdog finds in a new report. “...While CRC expands its well portfolio, its new gambit is building risky, multi-billion-dollar Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects that will siphon carbon dioxide emissions from smokestacks for pipeline transportation and burial in geological formations with the support of Governor Newsom and state regulators… “CRC and other oil producers’ forays into CCS are a multi-billion-dollar boondoggle turbocharged by financially lucrative federal tax credits while promoting continued use of fossil fuels. Without the tax credits, it is doubtful these projects could stay afloat even with private investment, according to analysts… “CCS overpromises and underdelivers. A global review by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) of 16 carbon dioxide capture projects in settings from natural gas processing to hydrogen production and gasification found that the projects captured as little as 10% of CO2 emissions and no more than 80%, though the industry claims a 95% capture rate… “CRC plans to take CO2 emissions from other California industries. Nothing compels these companies to pay CRC to take their CO2 emissions. But the project could drive new, polluting industrial development instead of cutting existing emissions to mitigate climate change.”

ExxonMobil: The Carbon Superhighway: Rethinking how CO2 moves at scale [VIDEO]
8/7/26

“Carbon capture is becoming an increasingly important part of industrial operations, but capture alone doesn’t solve the problem of high emissions,” according to ExxonMobil. “What matters next is how CO2 is transported, used, and stored. As captured volumes increase and customer needs vary, the limits of traditional carbon capture and storage (CCS) models become clearer. Most systems today are built as point-to-point connections: one facility, one destination. While that approach is straightforward, it doesn’t scale easily and it offers little flexibility as new projects and end-uses emerge. Along the Gulf Coast, we’re developing a different model. We’ve designed a carbon superhighway, an integrated network that connects multiple emitters to multiple storage sites and CO2 customers. This allows for greater flexibility as captured CO2 moves to different endpoints — permanent dedicated storage (Class VI wells), permanent storage via enhanced oil recovery (EOR), or industrial uses (utilization) — all while being checked, measured, and monitored 24/7. As new capture projects, storage sites, and connectors are added, the system can expand without being rebuilt.”

Carbon Herald: ExxonMobil Challenges EU Carbon Storage Mandates In International Dispute
Violet George, 8/11/26

“Oil giant ExxonMobil has filed an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) notice against the European Commission, challenging mandatory carbon storage obligations outlined in the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act,” the Carbon Herald reports. “...Despite Exxon’s longstanding public advocacy and lobbying for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, the company claims the EU’s goal to establish 50 million metric tons of annual CO2 storage capacity by 2030 is unachievable due to complex permitting timelines and market conditions. The European Commission confirmed receipt of the dispute, expressing confidence that its Net Zero Industry Act regulations comply fully with international law and energy treaty obligations. Climate advocacy groups and policy experts criticized the move, accusing Exxon of utilizing investor-state arbitration to shift carbon capture deployment costs away from fossil fuel producers and onto the public sector… “Exxon has argued that developing commercial CCS facilities typically requires seven to ten years, calling for policy adjustments rather than strict regulatory mandates… “However, environmental groups point out that Exxon previously lobbied heavily across European governments to secure billions in CCS subsidies, framing the arbitration as a tactic to stall mandatory decarbonization requirements.”

Financial Post: Why oilsands majors are holding back on expansion [VIDEO]
Daniel Trainer, 8/10/26

“Canadian oil producers earned more than $13 billion in the second quarter as crude prices climbed. Smaller companies are raising growth budgets, but oilsands majors remain cautious about expansions. We look at where the cash is going, why project timelines change the calculation and what Alberta’s incentives could unlock,” the Financial Post reports.

Guardian: Greenland issues ‘strong warning’ as Trump-linked oil firm prepares to drill
Tom Burgis, 8/8/26

“An American oil company connected to Donald Trump is preparing to sink wells in remote Greenland despite not having received permission from the local authorities,” the Guardian reports. “As the US president renews his threats to claim the vast Arctic territory, materials to prepare for drilling were brought ashore in recent days on Greenland’s eastern coast. That has prompted Greenland’s government to issue a “strong warning” that no approval had been granted to land the kit. “All future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority – before they are carried out,” the government said in a statement. Two days later, Trump made his latest menacing post on Truth Social, showing himself looming over a Greenlandic village… “Executives of Greenland Energy, a Texas company set up last year, have claimed that $1tn of crude may lie beneath the Jameson Land region. They announced plans to spend $60m drilling two wells to find out. Although Greenland stopped issuing new oil licences in 2021 on environmental grounds, a UK company called 80 Mile had secured exploration rights in Jameson Land… “Greenland Energy has retained Phil McGraw, better known as Dr Phil, a prominent rightwing former chatshow host who served on Trump’s religious freedom commission, to make a documentary series that will “capture the mission of these modern-day wildcatters”.

OPINION

Wisconsin State Journal: Boom, bust and repeat is Enbridge’s playbook in Wisconsin
Colleen Matula, who lives in Iron County, about 280 miles north of Madison, worked for natural resource agencies for 35 years, most recently the Ottawa National Forest and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in forestry, where she recently retired, 8/8/26

“I have spent more than three decades observing the seasons change from a tree stand by my pond in northern Wisconsin…But what I do hear is the mechanical, loud noises of construction from a foreign oil company that, in its effort to reroute an unneeded and dangerous pipeline, has driven away most of the wildlife at the pond,” Colleen Matula writes for the Wisconsin State Journal. “For those of us living in the path of the Enbridge Energy Line 5 reroute, this is a daily reality. Enbridge is building a 41-mile segment of the pipeline around the Bad River reservation, crossing 186 waterways and 101 acres of wetlands that drain into Lake Superior. I was happy to see that yet another Wisconsin judge has ruled the Enbridge Line 5 relocation project can move forward. The company says it’s creating 700 jobs and contributing to Wisconsin’s economy, but I know what “boom and bust” looks like. I saw it in North Dakota. The jobs are temporary. The ecological footprint lasts forever. Anyone approving of this reroute has shortsighted vision for temporary gain, and they’re falling prey to a company that prioritizes profit over people. I worry that regulators approved this project without fully understanding what they’re allowing. What I see as an ecologist with 22 years at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and 10 with the Forest Service is a system under siege. The 2010 oil boom in North Dakota taught us that an economic boost is fleeting, but the ecological damage -- the invasive species, fragmented habitat, damage from herbicide treatment needed to maintain the pipeline, and altered hydrology -- lasts forever. And this is all while living under the threat of a spill. The costs are not worth it… “No matter what empty promises Enbridge is giving us, I know the boom will be temporary. The residents -- from the people to the swans to the beavers -- will be left with the bust.”

CleanTechnica: Supercritical CO₂ Is Useful. The System Claims Are The Problem.
Michael Barnard is Chief Strategist at TFIE Strategy, 8/9/26

“Supercritical carbon dioxide is genuinely useful stuff,” Michael Barnard writes for CleanTechnica. “...It can extract caffeine from coffee, separate valuable compounds from plants, replace more problematic chemicals in some cleaning processes and serve as the working fluid in certain heat pumps and refrigeration systems. Those applications are compact and controlled. A comparatively small inventory of CO₂ circulates through equipment designed around a known pressure, temperature and maintenance envelope. The fluid does something valuable and stays inside the system. That is a very different proposition from gathering millions or billions of tonnes of CO₂ from distributed industrial facilities, compressing it, moving it across large pipeline networks and storing it underground. Getting CO₂ into the dense or supercritical range already requires real energy. A working assumption in my analysis is about 90 kWh per tonne starting from roughly room-temperature CO₂ at atmospheric pressure… “I ran a deliberately rough denominator check rather than pretending to design a national pipeline map. Even restricting the exercise to a fraction of fossil-fuel point sources, the assumptions produced about 1.3 million kilometers of CO₂ pipelines, roughly 500 times the existing US baseline. Applying similar unit construction costs gave a back-of-the-envelope capital number around $12 trillion… “Moving from a few thousand kilometers of mostly specialized industrial pipelines toward a much larger network running through densely populated areas increases the number of places where that failure mode has to be designed, regulated and prepared for.”

Dickinson Press: What’s the why of Burgum’s boot licking?
Rob Port, 8/8/26

“It’s not hard to understand why President Donald Trump is lying about the shoddy contractor work on the reflecting pool on the national mall in Washington D.C.,” Rob Port writes for the Dickinson Press. “...What’s harder to understand is why he commands the absolute loyalty of someone like Doug Burgum. Why would Burgum perpetuate Trump’s myths about vandals even after the president’s loyalist U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C., former Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro, said in a court of law — where lying has dramatic consequences — that the more plausible explanation than vandals was shoddy contractor work commissioned by the president?... “Why would he need to lick Donald Trump’s boots, and perpetuate his obvious lies? Does he really believe this will make him president one day?... “He’s a fantastically wealthy man from a tremendously successful family. He has lived and built and invested in North Dakota for decades. He earned North Dakota’s highest civilian honor — the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award — nearly 7 years before he was elected governor… “Was all of that worth throwing away for a chance at being president that doesn’t exist anywhere outside of Doug Burgum’s imagination?... “What I suspect is that Burgum has fallen into the trap many wealthy, powerful people find themselves stuck in, which is pursuing self-destructive behavior while not having anyone around him brave enough to give him a reality check… “But this bet he’s placed on Trumpism isn’t going to work out, and he’ll find out, as so many former Trump allies have, that the stink doesn’t wash off easily.”

InFourm: If Doug Burgum had any integrity left, he’d resign
Mike McFeely, 8/8/26

“If these were normal times, Doug Burgum would be out of a job,” Mike McFeely writes for InFourm. “...But this is Donald Trump’s America and nothing under this president is normal. It is Bizarro World, where U.S. citizens can be charged with crimes based on non-existent evidence — their lives turned upside down and inside out by false accusations — and the people doing the phony charging and accusing get to keep living their lives. Burgum, the U.S. Interior Department secretary and former North Dakota governor, and Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., are part and parcel to a terrible abuse of power. They accused and charged at least a half-dozen Americans of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying damage to the monument was the work of left-wing vandals. It was done for Trump, whose campaign contributor was given a no-bid contract by Burgum and fumbled the repair job. To save face, Trump said vandals with “box-cutters” slashed the bottom liner of the pool making an alleged 350-foot gash… “Which leads to the obvious question: If the evidence is clear and there is video of vandalism, why was Pirro’s office not in possession of it?... “Burgum has proven himself a talented sycophant to the president, staying in good graces no matter the cost to the American people or his integrity. Which, if he had any left, would lead him to resign after this ugly affair.”

Toronto Star: Canada’s oil giants are cashing in on conflict. Consumers are paying the price
Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work in Vancouver, is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star, 8/8/26

“There’s nothing like a good war to fill the coffers of the oil industry,” Jim Stanford writes for the Toronto Star. “...This is because oil is a uniquely concentrated commodity, in two complementary ways. Oil deposits are concentrated in certain regions of the world, many of which are vulnerable to conflict. And oil production is concentrated in the hands of some of the biggest corporations on the planet. These twin characteristics empower the petroleum industry to profit from chaos more lucratively than any other… “The combination of soaring prices and steady production costs is a recipe to make money, and Canada’s oil majors are doing so with gusto. The four biggest publicly traded oil producers (Cenovus, Suncor, Imperial and Canadian Natural) just reported blockbuster second-quarter earnings. Combined after-tax profits at the four surged to $13.3 billion, up 144 per cent from year-earlier levels. Extrapolated to the industry’s overall footprint, total Canadian petroleum profits could double this year, perhaps reaching $100 billion. That’s great for shareholders. But the money has to come from somewhere. It comes from consumers… “The spillover of high oil prices into broader inflation is perhaps the biggest danger to consumers… “It is neither inevitable nor reasonable that one industry should profit so obscenely from a war that is killing thousands, dislocating millions, and undermining the livings standards of billions.”