This security firm may be illegally protecting pipelines

Message From the Editor

This week we shine a light on a private security firm that’s being accused of working illegally to protect oil and gas pipelines in five different states. As the story explains, why pipeline protesters continue to face an increasing number of new, harsh penalties in various states, the security companies being hired to police these fossil fuel projects are operating with little oversight. Karen Savage has the scoop.

Meanwhile, a new study out this week pours some healthy scepticism on fossil fuel companies’ net-zero pledges. Not only is the oil industry unlikely to be a leader on carbon reductions, the study’s authors argue, but the sudden flurry of net-zero pledges is instead a cynical effort to bolster corporate images in a calculated attempt to buy time to extract more oil and gas. Read more from Nick Cunningham.

Finally, we take a look at how oil and gas companies are struggling to make a clean break from aging fossil fuel projects with high environmental clean-up costs. It appears the days of walking away from the responsibility of managing a site’s environmental liabilities and decommissioning costs once the asset is sold-off are a thing of the past, at least for offshore oil wells, explains Justin Mikulka.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmogblog.com.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you make it possible for DeSmog to hold accountable powerful people in industry and government. Even a $10 or $20 donation helps support DeSmog’s investigative journalism.

Private Security Firm Accused of Working Illegally to Protect Oil and Gas Pipelines in Five States

— By Karen Savage (9 min. read) —

Leighton Security Services, a private security company accused of working without a license during construction of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, is facing similar allegations in Virginia.

The complaint against Leighton is one of two recently filed against private companies providing security for the Mountain Valley pipeline, a planned 300-mile pipeline that would carry fracked gas from northwestern West Virginia, through pristine mountain streams and Appalachian forests, to the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company’s (Transco) compressor station in southern Virginia.

Oil Industry ‘Net-Zero’ Pledges are an Attempt to Delay Climate Action, New Paper Warns

— By Nick Cunningham (5 min. read) —

A growing number of oil companies in the past year have announced targets to achieve “net-zero emissions” by mid-century, seemingly signaling a monumental shift in the history of the oil business towards low-carbon solutions. But a new report argues that not only is the oil industry unlikely to be a leader on carbon reductions, but the sudden flurry of net-zero pledges is instead a cynical effort to bolster corporate images in a calculated attempt to buy time to extract more oil and gas.

The oil industry is structured to prevent real climate action, with business models and oil executives’ compensation packages dependent on amassing oil reserves and growing production. There is little evidence to suggest that fossil fuel companies can be trusted to change their ways, says the new peer-reviewed paper published on April 15 in Energy Research and Social Science.

Fossil Fuel Companies’ Tough Sell: Oil and Gas Sites With Costly Environmental Clean-up

— By Justin Mikulka (7 min. read) —

Last year was rough for major oil companies. BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Total suffered a combined $77 billion in losses for 2020. And now, as Reuters reports, many are trying to sell-off “dozens of oil and gas fields and refineries worth more than $110 billion to curb both their ballooning debt and their carbon footprints.”

Typically, when major oil companies decide to sell off assets, they like to make a “clean-break”. Meaning the new buyers are the ones to not only take on the management of these assets but also all associated decommissioning costs and environmental liabilities when the assets reach the end of their economic life.

Shell’s Sponsorship of Science Museum Climate Exhibition Sparks Outrage

— By Caitlin Tilley (4 min. read) —

The Science Museum is facing a major backlash after naming Shell as the sponsor of its flagship climate exhibition.

‘Our Future Planet’ will focus on ways of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through controversial Carbon, Capture and Storage (CCS) technology and nature-based solutions, as part of a programme of events leading up to the COP26 UN climate summit in November.

Environmentalists Decry Campaign of ‘Intimidation’ By Irish Politicians And Agri-Industry Over New Cheese Factory

— By John Gibbons (5 min. read) —

A number of senior Irish politicians and agri-industry interests are trying to block a legal challenge to a new cheese factory brought by environmentalists over concerns relating to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Politicians and industry figures are applying sustained public and political pressure to have the appeal dropped, despite the High Court having approved the legal challenge.

Environmental Racism is at the Heart of Europe’s Continued Coal Use

— By Anne Harris (4 min. read) —

The overlap between racial inequalities and environmental issues is all too often ignored. A recent government report may claim that “we no longer see a Britain where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities”, but many UK companies still turn a profit by relying on abusive activities overseas.

Environmental racism is widespread, deadly and entirely avoidable, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world through the development of destructive projects concentrated around already-marginalised communities.

European Court Opens Itself up to Climate-Related Human Rights Challenges

— By Isabella Kaminski (4 min. read) —

The European Court of Human Rights has begun considering whether states have violated their citizens’ human rights by failing to do enough to cut emissions.

The court, which is responsible for interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights, recently accepted two climate lawsuits with similar human rights arguments but brought by very different groups of people. Both cases argue that inaction by governments when it comes to limiting dangerous global warming risks basic rights such as health and life.

Methane Emissions Spiked in 2020. Scientists Fear Feedback Loops

— By Nick Cunningham (4 min. read) —

Preliminary data shows that methane emissions jumped in 2020 by the largest amount since systematic record-keeping began decades ago. And despite a dip in polluting activities due to the pandemic, concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to its highest level in 3.6 million years.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that global methane concentrations shot up by 14.67 parts per billion (ppb) in 2020, the largest annual increase ever recorded, and a sharp increase from the 9.74 ppb rise in 2019. The data is an ominous sign that the world is badly off track in terms of reaching its climate goals.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Bjørn Lomborg

Bjørn Lomborg is a political scientist, economist and the founder and president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center (CCC). Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center (CCC) was founded in 2006 in Denmark and registered as a non-profit organization in the United States in 2008. Lomborg is best known as the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It, two books that downplay the risks of global warming. Lomborg does not have a background in climate science and has published no peer-reviewed articles in journals devoted to climate change research. He has, however, authored policy studies arguing against climate change prevention measures.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.