By Arianna Skibell

Presented by ExxonMobil

Claudine Hellmuth/POLITICO (illustration); Illinois General Assembly (documents); PxFuel (pipes); Joe Raedle/Getty Images (ethanol pipeline)

The push for Carbon dioxide pipelines is scrambling political fault lines, making allies out of enemies and friends into foes.

The divide is playing out in the Midwest, where companies have proposed large projects that would transport CO2 thousands of miles to disposal sites, writes Mike Soraghan. Some well-known Republicans have endorsed the planned pipelines as a way to preserve the ethanol industry, a staple of the Midwestern farm economy. But to the party’s far-right flank, the pipelines are part of the “the Green New Deal, radical Climate change agenda.”

And while the Biden administration says the pipelines are key to meeting U.S. climate goals, not all environmentalists are on board. Green groups have laid much of the groundwork for local opposition to the Midwest pipeline projects. The Green New Deal as proposed by the progressive Sunrise Movement also does not include carbon capture, which many climate activists see as a way for fossil fuel companies to keep producing.

Well, that’s awkward: National Democratic figures are promoting the pipelines, which benefit from the $370 billion in energy incentives in President Joe Biden’s climate law.

Major oil and gas companies are also fans, looking to capitalize on generous tax benefits for carbon storage projects.

That’s making it awkward for some high-profile Republican governors, such as Kim Reynolds of Iowa and Kristi Noem in South Dakota. Both have largely avoided weighing in, instead saying the pipelines’ fate is not in their hands.

“Republicans don’t want to touch this,” David Peterson, a political science professor at Iowa State University, told Mike. “It’s a split between big corporate agriculture and landowners.”

The conservative push against the pipelines is also making it sticky for some environmental groups, which support local landowner opposition but don’t want to align themselves with the projects’ more radical hard-right opponents. Those figures include Steve King, a former member of Congress who was sidelined by his own party for making racist comments and was defeated in a primary in 2020.

“There are some lines that we do draw,” said Jess Mazour, a program coordinator with the Sierra Club’s Iowa Chapter who is organizing opposition to the pipelines. “We try to keep our message pretty tight. We keep it focused on the pipeline.”

It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy.

Send your tips, comments, questions to [email protected]. And folks, let’s keep it classy.

A message from ExxonMobil:

The world needs ways to reduce carbon emissions. At ExxonMobil, we’re working on solutions in our own operations – like carbon capture and clean energy from hydrogen – that could also help in other industries like manufacturing, commercial transportation and power generation, too. Helping deliver heavy industry with low emissions.

Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Gloria Gonzalez breaks down why an effort to erase billions of dollars of debt owed by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority is facing pushback.

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Empty blood vials sit on a table at a Vitalant blood donation center on Jan. 11, 2022. One of the company's centers in Texas closed for months after severe flooding in May damaged the building. | Getty Images / Justin Sullivan

Climate change boosts a bloody problem
The nation’s donated blood supply is at “critically low levels,” and climate change is partly to blame, writes Ariel Wittenberg.

That’s according to the American Red Cross and other blood donation organizations, which say the floods, hurricanes and wildfires seen across the country this summer have prevented blood collection and contributed to a nationwide shortage.

Where is EPA?
Biden’s new crusade to recruit thousands of young people for clean energy and conservation jobs doesn’t yet include his top climate change-fighting agency, write Kevin Bogardus and Emma Dumain.

The White House announced Wednesday the creation of the American Climate Corps, which will place 20,000 young people in careers centering on addressing global warming in the program’s first year. Six agencies will sign a memorandum of understanding to implement the new initiative. But EPA is not one of them.

Britain divided
Less than 24 hours after United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the paring back of Britain's climate goals, King Charles III delivered a historic speech to the French Senate calling for dramatic action to curb climate change, write Andrew McDonald and Clea Caulcutt.

The monarch said France and the U.K. must work together in order to "answer more efficiently" the challenges posed by climate change, as he talked up the "existential" importance of the issue.

Insurance: Climate change is coming for America’s property market.

No comment: UN chief warned of "gates of hell" at this week's climate summit, but carbon-polluting nations stayed silent.

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Trader Gregory Rowe works the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. | Richard Drew/AP Photo

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a rule Wednesday designed to ensure investment firms that use labels like "green" and "sustainable" aren't misleading investors.

Biden has expanded the federal government’s use of a metric that assigns dollar values to climate pollution, a target of states seeking to hobble the administration’s climate agenda.

The American Petroleum Institute is urging EPA to delay implementation for parts of its proposed methane rule because of equipment supply constraints.

That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.

A message from ExxonMobil:

Heavy industry accounts for nearly 30% of global carbon emissions. For these businesses, setting and achieving meaningful carbon-reduction goals can be complex. At ExxonMobil, we’ve been working on reducing our own carbon emissions. At our Baytown plant, one of the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical operations, we’re working to deploy hydrogen power and carbon capture to reduce emissions by up to 30%. Now, we’re taking solutions like these to others in heavy industry. Using our technologies, we can help these businesses create a plan to make similar reductions. And together, we can deliver a lower-emissions future. Let's deliver.

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