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It’s been quite a week for pipelines. Though the Colonial pipeline has resumed operations after being shut down by hackers earlier this week, its shuttering prompted gas shortages across the South and East Coast. The incident also increased calls by green groups and clean energy advocates to step up distributed energy resources. Wind and solar […]
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by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Canadian energy company Enbridge will continue to operate a pipeline transporting oil from the U.S. to Canada–despite Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order to halt operations–– stating that the governor did not have the authority to cease the pipeline’s operations. The Line 5 pipeline transports millions of barrels of crude oil […]
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by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Colonial Pipeline Co., known as the “jugular” of America’s oil pipeline infrastructure, has become the latest victim of increasing cyberattacks. On Friday, the company’s systems were shut down by a ransomware attack, bringing the pipeline to a standstill for four days. Although the disruption has yet to impact oil prices, experts worry that […]
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Using a rare procedure that allows Congress to reverse rules made late in a President’s term, the Senate has approved a bill restoring methane rules that were previously rolled back by President Trump. The old rules targeted methane leaks from new wells and pipelines and reduced a huge percentage of methane emissions.
Why This Matters: The Trump administration’s rollbacks cost the U.S. much-needed time to cut its carbon emissions.
Continue Reading 526 wordsGas flaring was responsible for Texas’s recent increase in oil refinery pollution, but it’s hardly a new problem. We’re less than a decade away from the UN’s goal of Zero Routine Flaring by 2030, but refineries still flare 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year, releasing 400 million tons of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants into the atmosphere.
Why This Matters: Companies have historically practiced gas flaring as a convenient and inexpensive way to “dispose of ” gas that was extracted alongside oil, as opposed to storing paying to store it.
Continue Reading 578 wordsPipelines often raise environmental justice issues – a problem the incoming Biden administration will need to wrestle with given the President’s campaign promises. The nonprofit newsroom MLK50 recently reported on the construction of a pipeline in Memphis, in which the company offered resident Joseph Owens only $3,000 to buy an easement on his one acre of land.
Why this Matters: Eminent domain is meant to be a tool of last resort the government uses to ensure that infrastructure like roads and power lines can be built without one landowner stopping construction that benefits the community
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