David Baratz, USA TODAY
A general view taken on March 4, 2021 from Giarre, north of Catania, Sicily, shows the Mount Etna volcano spewing smoke.
17 SLIDES © Giovanni Isolino, AFP via Getty Images
THE REST ARE HERE
Thursday, March 04, 2021
Alert level raised after explosion at remote Alaska volcano
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A small explosion was recorded Thursday at a remote volcano on the Alaska Peninsula, prompting officials to raise the alert level.
Satellite and webcam views indicated low-level ash emissions from Mount Veniaminof volcano. The ash plume did not rise above 10,000 feet (3048 metres), the Alaska Volcano Observatory said. Minor ash deposits are visible at the volcano, located 480 miles (772 kilometres) southwest of Anchorage.
Officials said eruptive activity typically includes minor ash, lava fountaining and lava flows from the small cone in the ice-filled summit caldera. Ashfall is usually confined to the summit crater but larger explosions can send ash to nearby communities, as happened in a 2018 eruption.
Veniaminof is one of the most active volcanos in the Aleutians, erupting at least 14 times in the last 200 years.
The stratovolcano located in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge is usually shrouded in fog and clouds, and the entire volcano is usually only visible once or twice a year, the park service said.
Mount Veniaminof, with an elevation of 8,225 feet (2,507 metres), has an ice field of 25 square miles (64.75 square kilometres). The park service says it’s the only known glacier on the North American continent with an active volcanic vent in the centre.
The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A small explosion was recorded Thursday at a remote volcano on the Alaska Peninsula, prompting officials to raise the alert level.
Satellite and webcam views indicated low-level ash emissions from Mount Veniaminof volcano. The ash plume did not rise above 10,000 feet (3048 metres), the Alaska Volcano Observatory said. Minor ash deposits are visible at the volcano, located 480 miles (772 kilometres) southwest of Anchorage.
Officials said eruptive activity typically includes minor ash, lava fountaining and lava flows from the small cone in the ice-filled summit caldera. Ashfall is usually confined to the summit crater but larger explosions can send ash to nearby communities, as happened in a 2018 eruption.
Veniaminof is one of the most active volcanos in the Aleutians, erupting at least 14 times in the last 200 years.
The stratovolcano located in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge is usually shrouded in fog and clouds, and the entire volcano is usually only visible once or twice a year, the park service said.
Mount Veniaminof, with an elevation of 8,225 feet (2,507 metres), has an ice field of 25 square miles (64.75 square kilometres). The park service says it’s the only known glacier on the North American continent with an active volcanic vent in the centre.
The Associated Press
Saudi Arabia's shadowy power struggles playing out on Canadian soil
Tyler Dawson POSTMEDIA
The disappearance of a Saudi activist after a visit to the Ottawa embassy and the widening of a legal battle between the Kingdom and a former Saudi spymaster from U.S. to Canadian courts, mark a shadowy Saudi power struggle playing out within Canada’s borders, even as the international community looks more closely at Saudi actions
.
© Provided by National Post Omar Abdulaziz, one of the Saudi dissidents who has been pressured by the Kingdom since moving to Canada.
Saudi Arabia has long sought out and pressured dissidents abroad, culminating in the assassination and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Canadians are now learning that Saudi’s power struggles and suppression are also playing out here.
Michael Chong, the Conservative foreign affairs critic, said in a statement they want to see the Liberals create a “robust plan to counter foreign influence operations on Canadian soil.”
“The government’s response to Canadians facing intimidation and harassment by foreign agents is wholly inadequate,” the statement said.
Chong’s office declined an interview request from the National Post . Bill Blair, the public safety minister, has previously said: “We are aware of incidents in which foreign actors have attempted to monitor, intimidate or threaten Canadians and those living in Canada.”
“It is completely unacceptable and we will never tolerate foreign actors threatening Canada’s national security or the safety of our citizens and residents,” Blair said.
Saudi Arabia has long sought out and pressured dissidents abroad, culminating in the assassination and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Canadians are now learning that Saudi’s power struggles and suppression are also playing out here.
Michael Chong, the Conservative foreign affairs critic, said in a statement they want to see the Liberals create a “robust plan to counter foreign influence operations on Canadian soil.”
“The government’s response to Canadians facing intimidation and harassment by foreign agents is wholly inadequate,” the statement said.
Chong’s office declined an interview request from the National Post . Bill Blair, the public safety minister, has previously said: “We are aware of incidents in which foreign actors have attempted to monitor, intimidate or threaten Canadians and those living in Canada.”
“It is completely unacceptable and we will never tolerate foreign actors threatening Canada’s national security or the safety of our citizens and residents,” Blair said.
Spymaster hiding in Canada alleged to have stolen $4.5B from Kingdom of Saudia Arabia in new lawsuit
Saudis put pressure on another dissident living in Canada as RCMP warns about threats made by regime
Since 2017, Saudi Arabia has been experiencing internal drama, including a palace coup that saw the line of succession reorganized, the mass arrest of senior Saudis, the repression of dissidents, and the disappearance of family and friends linked to dissidents who’ve sheltered abroad.
Last Friday, the United States released its classified report on the death of Khashoggi, linking it to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, next in line for the throne. In the days since, there has been an escalation in the drama playing out between Saudi Arabia and Western nations.
On Monday, the Post reported the Saudi government was launching a new investigation against blogger Raif Badawi and his Canadian wife Ensaf Haidar.
Thomas Juneau, a professor in the faculty of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said while there has been a notable change in tone — frostier under the Biden administration than the Trump administration — it’s also clear there will not be a major change in the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia.
That constrains Canada’s margin of manoeuvre, said Juneau. “Now that the U.S. has clearly signalled that it will not fundamentally change the relationship with Saudi Arabia, it becomes much more difficult and costly for American allies in the west to change their relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
In early February, a Ahmed Alharby, a Saudi who’d sought asylum in Canada and had been living in Montreal, went dark, blocking fellow activists on social media and vanishing from group messages, the Washington Post reported.
Saudi dissidents in Canada wrote on social media that Alharby told them he had visited the Saudi embassy in Ottawa, and told reporters at the Toronto Star and Washington Post that he’d been interrogated.
By mid-February, a new Twitter account allegedly belonging to Alharby popped up: It featured the face of Mohammed bin Salman, as the banner image. Alharby had returned to the Kingdom, said one of the new account’s tweets.
Since 2017, Saudi Arabia has been experiencing internal drama, including a palace coup that saw the line of succession reorganized, the mass arrest of senior Saudis, the repression of dissidents, and the disappearance of family and friends linked to dissidents who’ve sheltered abroad.
Last Friday, the United States released its classified report on the death of Khashoggi, linking it to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, next in line for the throne. In the days since, there has been an escalation in the drama playing out between Saudi Arabia and Western nations.
On Monday, the Post reported the Saudi government was launching a new investigation against blogger Raif Badawi and his Canadian wife Ensaf Haidar.
Thomas Juneau, a professor in the faculty of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said while there has been a notable change in tone — frostier under the Biden administration than the Trump administration — it’s also clear there will not be a major change in the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia.
That constrains Canada’s margin of manoeuvre, said Juneau. “Now that the U.S. has clearly signalled that it will not fundamentally change the relationship with Saudi Arabia, it becomes much more difficult and costly for American allies in the west to change their relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
In early February, a Ahmed Alharby, a Saudi who’d sought asylum in Canada and had been living in Montreal, went dark, blocking fellow activists on social media and vanishing from group messages, the Washington Post reported.
Saudi dissidents in Canada wrote on social media that Alharby told them he had visited the Saudi embassy in Ottawa, and told reporters at the Toronto Star and Washington Post that he’d been interrogated.
By mid-February, a new Twitter account allegedly belonging to Alharby popped up: It featured the face of Mohammed bin Salman, as the banner image. Alharby had returned to the Kingdom, said one of the new account’s tweets.
© Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images Friends of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi attend an event marking the second-year anniversary of his assassination, October 02, 2020.
That’s not the only instance of dissidents being pressured in Canada.
The high-profile YouTuber Omar Abdulaziz, who lives in Montreal, has been pressured to return to the Kingdom, and has been warned of such plots by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
And, former spymaster Saad Aljabri is waging a two-front legal battle, fighting off corruption allegations in an Ontario lawsuit while suing bin Salman and others for allegedly sending a hit squad to Canada to kill him. The alleged Tiger squad was turned back by Canadian border officials.
There have been, in recent days, a number of other international incidents related to Saudi actions abroad.
Australian media reported Monday that Osama al-Hasani, an Australian-Saudi citizen who had flown to Morocco to be with his wife, was detained in Tangier on a Saudi extradition request.
“Four hours after his arrival, the Moroccan police raided … our house and arrested him in front of me and our four-month-old baby,” Hana al-Hasani told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
As well, Reporters without Borders filed legal documents in Germany seeking an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated by bin Salman, mainly in the repression of journalists.
“The official opening of a criminal investigation in Germany into the crimes against humanity in Saudi Arabia would be a world first,” Christian Mihr, the Germany director, said, according to media reports.
• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson
That’s not the only instance of dissidents being pressured in Canada.
The high-profile YouTuber Omar Abdulaziz, who lives in Montreal, has been pressured to return to the Kingdom, and has been warned of such plots by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
And, former spymaster Saad Aljabri is waging a two-front legal battle, fighting off corruption allegations in an Ontario lawsuit while suing bin Salman and others for allegedly sending a hit squad to Canada to kill him. The alleged Tiger squad was turned back by Canadian border officials.
There have been, in recent days, a number of other international incidents related to Saudi actions abroad.
Australian media reported Monday that Osama al-Hasani, an Australian-Saudi citizen who had flown to Morocco to be with his wife, was detained in Tangier on a Saudi extradition request.
“Four hours after his arrival, the Moroccan police raided … our house and arrested him in front of me and our four-month-old baby,” Hana al-Hasani told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
As well, Reporters without Borders filed legal documents in Germany seeking an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated by bin Salman, mainly in the repression of journalists.
“The official opening of a criminal investigation in Germany into the crimes against humanity in Saudi Arabia would be a world first,” Christian Mihr, the Germany director, said, according to media reports.
• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson
Beavers roaming free in England could help fight flooding
By Ed Scott-Clarke, CNN
Among the quiet bends of the River Otter in Devon, England, something remarkable is taking place. After a 400-year absence, beavers are once again roaming wild.
© Mike Symes/Devon Wildlife Trust A female beaver in Devon, with her two kits.
Several hundred years ago, beaver populations suffered because of hunting. Beaver fur hats were the height of men's fashion in Europe and the demand was such that the animal's numbers were decimated, becoming extinct in Britain.
Their return to this part of southwest England is thanks to the Devon Wildlife Trust. It began a trial a decade ago, releasing a pair of captive beavers into a three-hectare enclosed site in west Devon. They radically altered the landscape.
"We wanted to see whether the beavers would help tip the balance back in favor of the open habitats, which is so important for lots of butterflies and wildflowers and a whole range of species," says Mark Elliott, one of the Trust's ecologists.
Beavers build dams to protect themselves. By raising the water level, the amphibious rodent creates a waterlogged area that allows it to escape from predators, originally animals like bears, wolves and lynx. The bark of the trees they fell is their primary source of food.
Several hundred years ago, beaver populations suffered because of hunting. Beaver fur hats were the height of men's fashion in Europe and the demand was such that the animal's numbers were decimated, becoming extinct in Britain.
Their return to this part of southwest England is thanks to the Devon Wildlife Trust. It began a trial a decade ago, releasing a pair of captive beavers into a three-hectare enclosed site in west Devon. They radically altered the landscape.
"We wanted to see whether the beavers would help tip the balance back in favor of the open habitats, which is so important for lots of butterflies and wildflowers and a whole range of species," says Mark Elliott, one of the Trust's ecologists.
Beavers build dams to protect themselves. By raising the water level, the amphibious rodent creates a waterlogged area that allows it to escape from predators, originally animals like bears, wolves and lynx. The bark of the trees they fell is their primary source of food.
© Mike Symes/Devon Wildlife Trust
"When we put them in here in 2010 and started to see what they did to the watercourse, it was really, really profound," says Elliott. "We all suddenly became much more conscious of just how powerful this animal was."
The wetted landscape is great for biodiversity and fish stocks, and even drives down pollution by filtering water contaminated by manure and fertilizer.
The dams also regulate water flow, preventing floods downstream in times of heavy rainfall and droughts in dry periods. This could make beavers an unlikely tool to help combat the effects of the climate crisis, which is predicted to bring drier summers and wetter winters in the UK.
Find out more about Call to Earth and the extraordinary people working for a more sustainable future
A recent study on beavers in England showed that their dams can reduce average flood waters by up to 60%.
Back in the wild
In 2014, a breeding pair of wild beavers of unknown origin was discovered on the River Otter. A year later the government granted the Trust a license to run the River Otter Beaver Trial -- the first legally sanctioned reintroduction of an extinct native mammal to England.
The River Otter Beaver Trial came to an end in 2020. It was viewed as such a success that the government allowed the beavers, now up to 15 family groups spread across 15 territories, to remain in the wild.
A University of Exeter study on the trial found 37% more fish in the pools created by beaver dams than in other parts of the river, and concluded that amphibians, wildfowl and water voles benefited from the beavers' presence.
It also noted that dams had reduced the flooding risk for a vulnerable local community, and removed pollutants from rivers and streams.
Some are less positive about the animal's return. Britain's National Farmers Union has expressed concerns that beaver activity could undermine riverbanks and leave farmland waterlogged.
The River Otter study found that beavers created problems for some local farmers and property owners, noting that "the reduction of flood risk in communities downstream may come at a cost of water being stored on farmland upstream." But it added that these issues could be "straightforwardly managed with the right support and intervention."
There are several other beaver trials underway in England and Wales, and the animal was reintroduced to the wild in Scotland in 2009. But England lags behind many other European countries in beaver conservation. At the turn of the 20th century the species numbered just over 1,000 across Europe. That number is well over 1 million today.
"None of us ... quite realize the significance of the animal that we were talking about," Elliott says. "The opportunity to bring them back is an amazing one."
"When we put them in here in 2010 and started to see what they did to the watercourse, it was really, really profound," says Elliott. "We all suddenly became much more conscious of just how powerful this animal was."
The wetted landscape is great for biodiversity and fish stocks, and even drives down pollution by filtering water contaminated by manure and fertilizer.
The dams also regulate water flow, preventing floods downstream in times of heavy rainfall and droughts in dry periods. This could make beavers an unlikely tool to help combat the effects of the climate crisis, which is predicted to bring drier summers and wetter winters in the UK.
Find out more about Call to Earth and the extraordinary people working for a more sustainable future
A recent study on beavers in England showed that their dams can reduce average flood waters by up to 60%.
Back in the wild
In 2014, a breeding pair of wild beavers of unknown origin was discovered on the River Otter. A year later the government granted the Trust a license to run the River Otter Beaver Trial -- the first legally sanctioned reintroduction of an extinct native mammal to England.
The River Otter Beaver Trial came to an end in 2020. It was viewed as such a success that the government allowed the beavers, now up to 15 family groups spread across 15 territories, to remain in the wild.
A University of Exeter study on the trial found 37% more fish in the pools created by beaver dams than in other parts of the river, and concluded that amphibians, wildfowl and water voles benefited from the beavers' presence.
It also noted that dams had reduced the flooding risk for a vulnerable local community, and removed pollutants from rivers and streams.
Some are less positive about the animal's return. Britain's National Farmers Union has expressed concerns that beaver activity could undermine riverbanks and leave farmland waterlogged.
The River Otter study found that beavers created problems for some local farmers and property owners, noting that "the reduction of flood risk in communities downstream may come at a cost of water being stored on farmland upstream." But it added that these issues could be "straightforwardly managed with the right support and intervention."
There are several other beaver trials underway in England and Wales, and the animal was reintroduced to the wild in Scotland in 2009. But England lags behind many other European countries in beaver conservation. At the turn of the 20th century the species numbered just over 1,000 across Europe. That number is well over 1 million today.
"None of us ... quite realize the significance of the animal that we were talking about," Elliott says. "The opportunity to bring them back is an amazing one."
Wisconsin hunters kill 216 wolves in less than 60 hours, sparking uproar
“This season trampled over the tribes’ treaty rights, the Wisconsin public, and professional wildlife stewardship,”
“This season trampled over the tribes’ treaty rights, the Wisconsin public, and professional wildlife stewardship,”
Hunters and trappers in Wisconsin killed 216 gray wolves last week during the state’s 2021 wolf hunting season – more than 82% above the authorities’ stated quota, sparking uproar among animal-lovers and conservationists, according to reports.
The kills all took place in less than 60 hours, quickly exceeding Wisconsin’s statewide stated limit of 119 animals.
As a result, Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources ended the season, which was scheduled to span one week, four days early.
While department officials were reportedly surprised by the number of gray wolves killed, they described the population as “robust, resilient” and expressed confidence in managing the numbers “properly going forward”.
Most of the animals were killed by hunters who used “trailing hounds”, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The state’s overkill was exacerbated by Wisconsin law that mandates 24-hour notice of season closure, rather than immediate notification.
Natural resources department officials also sold 1,547 permits this season, about 13 hunters or trappers per wolf under the quota’s target number. This equated to twice as many permits as normal – and marked the highest ratio of any season so far.
State authorities had a total culling goal of 200 wolves, in an attempt to stabilize their population. As Native American tribes claimed a quota of 81 wolves, this left 119 for the state-licensed trappers and hunters. Because the tribes consider wolves sacred, they typically use their allotment to protect, not kill, them.
“Should we, would we, could we have (closed the season) sooner? Yes.” Eric Lobner, DNR wildlife director, said, according to the Journal Sentinel.
“Did we go over? We did. Was that something we wanted to have happen? Absolutely not.”
The overshoot, which has never exceeded 10 wolves in prior seasons, spurred criticism.
Megan Nicholson, who directs Wisconsin’s chapter of the Humane Society of the United States, commented in a statement: “This is a deeply sad and shameful week for Wisconsin.”
She added: “This week’s hunt proves that now, more than ever, gray wolves need federal protections restored to protect them from short-sighted and lethal state management,” Nicholson also said.
This hunt comes in the wake of federal policy, and local litigation, that stripped gray wolves of protection.
In the 1950s gray wolves, which are native to Wisconsin, were extirpated from the state due to years of unregulated hunting. Heightened protections, such as the federal 1973 Endangered Species Act, helped the population rebound.
Following the implementation of these protections, gray wolves emerged and spread from a northern Minnesota “stronghold”, the Journal Sentinel said.
The implications of these protections were sweeping: while the gray wolf population had dropped to about 1,000 by the 1970s, the number now totals about 6,000 in the lower 48 states.
The gray wolf was delisted for protection in 2012, however. Wisconsin officials subsequently provided three hunting and trapping seasons. In 2012, 117 wolves were killed; in 2013, 257; and in 2014, 154.
A federal judge, in response to a lawsuit from wildlife advocates, decided in December 2014 that the gray wolf must be put back on the Endangered Species List. In October 2020, the Trump administration removed the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List.
A Kansas-based hunting advocacy group filed suit against Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources in January over its decision not to provide a gray wolf hunting or trapping season this winter. This legal action reportedly “forced” the department to hold a season before February ended.
The season was also the first to take place in February, the gray wolf’s breeding season. Advocates have worried that killing pregnant wolves could impact their population even more, possibly disrupting packs.
Because officials rushed to open the season, there was dramatically limited opportunity for legally-mandated consultation with Native American tribes, the newspaper also notes.
“This season trampled over the tribes’ treaty rights, the Wisconsin public, and professional wildlife stewardship,” a representative for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission reportedly said
A JUST TRANSITION
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm pledges to leave "no worker behind" in push for clean energy
By Matt Egan, CNN Business
3/3/2021
Fossil fuel workers will not be left behind in the Biden administration's push to embrace clean energy. That's the promise from new Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, addressing workers worried their livelihoods will be disrupted
Last week, Granholm and a team of Biden officials held a meeting focused on how the federal government can invest in local coal, oil and gas communities. The group discussed how to deploy grants, federal loans and other programs to "support and revitalize" these communities, according to the White House.
During an appearance Wednesday on ABC's "The View," Granholm was pressed about workers becoming collateral damage.
"Retraining programs have a poor record," View co-host Meghan McCain, said to Granholm. "What do you say to people worried it'll be hard to put food on the table and people who'll lose jobs?"
Granholm emphasized there will be many jobs created in the clean energy space, including for miners as the United States attempts to extract critical minerals needed for batteries at home instead of importing them.
"We should be able to put people to work doing things that are similar to the skills that they had before," Granholm said.
Fossil fuel workers will not be left behind in the Biden administration's push to embrace clean energy. That's the promise from new Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, addressing workers worried their livelihoods will be disrupted
.
Nominee for Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm testifies at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Capitol Hill January 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. Granholm was Governor of Michigan from 2003-2011. (Photo by Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images)
"This is our opportunity to build the energy economy back better, in a way that lifts up communities that have felt unseen or abandoned or left behind for too long," Granholm said Wednesday during her first major speech since being sworn in last week.
The comments highlight a central challenge facing the Biden administration: how to wean America off fossil fuels while preventing widespread job losses in regions that rely on coal, oil and natural gas for employment and tax revenue.
Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, said the Energy Department created a jobs office that will work "hand in glove" with the agency's fossil fuels officials to make sure "we leave no worker behind."
"It won't be easy, but it's a battle worth waging and I for one am reporting for duty," Granholm said at the energy conference CERAWeek by IHS Markit.
Echoing comments made by President Joe Biden, Granholm argued the energy transition will create countless new jobs — and she promised to help fossil fuels workers translate their skills to these new positions.
"You need millions of jobs. Union jobs. Good paying jobs. Good jobs with benefits," said Granholm, a former CNN contributor.
For instance, Granholm said there will be a hiring boom in various areas from building zero-emission buses and upgrading the electric grid to manufacturing carbon capture pipelines and reinforcing existing pipelines to minimize emissions.
"What are we here for if not to give people opportunity and to help save our planet?" Granholm said.
Paris vs. Pittsburgh
But that's a tough sell for the Biden administration, especially given the devastation of coal country as the power grid has pivoted from coal to natural gas, solar and wind power.
The oil industry and Republicans quickly condemned Biden's decision in January to rescind the permit for the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. The move, among Biden's first executive actions, resulted in the layoff of "thousands of union workers," according to TC Energy, the Canadian company behind the Keystone pipeline.
Republicans also warned Biden's Day One decision to reenter the Paris climate accord will result in the loss of jobs at home.
"By rejoining the Paris climate agreement, President Biden indicates he's more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh," Texas Senator Ted Cruz tweeted on Inauguration Day.
The mining jobs of the future
"This is our opportunity to build the energy economy back better, in a way that lifts up communities that have felt unseen or abandoned or left behind for too long," Granholm said Wednesday during her first major speech since being sworn in last week.
The comments highlight a central challenge facing the Biden administration: how to wean America off fossil fuels while preventing widespread job losses in regions that rely on coal, oil and natural gas for employment and tax revenue.
Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, said the Energy Department created a jobs office that will work "hand in glove" with the agency's fossil fuels officials to make sure "we leave no worker behind."
"It won't be easy, but it's a battle worth waging and I for one am reporting for duty," Granholm said at the energy conference CERAWeek by IHS Markit.
Echoing comments made by President Joe Biden, Granholm argued the energy transition will create countless new jobs — and she promised to help fossil fuels workers translate their skills to these new positions.
"You need millions of jobs. Union jobs. Good paying jobs. Good jobs with benefits," said Granholm, a former CNN contributor.
For instance, Granholm said there will be a hiring boom in various areas from building zero-emission buses and upgrading the electric grid to manufacturing carbon capture pipelines and reinforcing existing pipelines to minimize emissions.
"What are we here for if not to give people opportunity and to help save our planet?" Granholm said.
Paris vs. Pittsburgh
But that's a tough sell for the Biden administration, especially given the devastation of coal country as the power grid has pivoted from coal to natural gas, solar and wind power.
The oil industry and Republicans quickly condemned Biden's decision in January to rescind the permit for the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. The move, among Biden's first executive actions, resulted in the layoff of "thousands of union workers," according to TC Energy, the Canadian company behind the Keystone pipeline.
Republicans also warned Biden's Day One decision to reenter the Paris climate accord will result in the loss of jobs at home.
"By rejoining the Paris climate agreement, President Biden indicates he's more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh," Texas Senator Ted Cruz tweeted on Inauguration Day.
The mining jobs of the future
Last week, Granholm and a team of Biden officials held a meeting focused on how the federal government can invest in local coal, oil and gas communities. The group discussed how to deploy grants, federal loans and other programs to "support and revitalize" these communities, according to the White House.
During an appearance Wednesday on ABC's "The View," Granholm was pressed about workers becoming collateral damage.
"Retraining programs have a poor record," View co-host Meghan McCain, said to Granholm. "What do you say to people worried it'll be hard to put food on the table and people who'll lose jobs?"
Granholm emphasized there will be many jobs created in the clean energy space, including for miners as the United States attempts to extract critical minerals needed for batteries at home instead of importing them.
"We should be able to put people to work doing things that are similar to the skills that they had before," Granholm said.
UPDATE 1-Clean Energy, Total sign JV for renewable natural gas production
March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. alternative fuels supplier Clean Energy Fuels Corp and its largest shareholder, European oil and gas producer Total SE, announced terms of a new joint venture on Thursday focused on renewable natural gas (RNG) production.
Clean Energy's shares rose 7.5% to $13.15 in pre-market trading.
The joint venture, owned equally by both firms, will have an initial firm commitment of $100 million to build renewable gas production facilities. That amount could be increased to $400 million later as "development opportunities progress", Clean Energy said in a statement.
Clean Energy said Total will also provide credit support to the joint venture for building so-called 'downstream' infrastructure, which includes refineries and fuel stations.
Carbon-negative RNG is produced when carbon emissions are captured from dairies and turned into a transportation fuel, reducing the harmful effects of long-term climate change.
Major energy firms have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or are exploring investments in renewable energy and green technology amid rising pressure from investors and activists.
Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in January his company will keep up its renewable energy investments this year, as it tries to reduce its dependence on oil and shift towards electricity and renewable energy.
U.S. oil major Exxon and Chevron are also investing in carbon-removal technology, as traditional global oil and gas firms attempt to invest more in green energy and tackle climate change.
(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
The juggling act for oil majors: pleasing investors, environmentalists, and customers, while innovating too
Kyle Bakx CBC
© Kyle Bakx/CBC A pumpjack pulls oil out of the ground in central Alberta. Oil prices across North America have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
As vaccination rates rise everyday around the world and economic lockdown measures are gradually eased, leaders in the oil and gas industry aren't shy about their optimism for the rest of the year.
They are expecting a bounce back after a brutal 2020. Oil prices hit record lows last year, but are now back above where they were before the pandemic struck.
The industry can feel the recovery underway and are excited see demand pick up as economic activity rebounds. Some expect the world's demand for oil to surpass pre-COVID levels by the end of 2021.
Yet, that hopefulness is clouded by competing priorities for the sector as it picks itself off the ground and tries to position itself for a world increasingly focused on mitigating the impacts of climate change.
It's an ongoing theme at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference, one of the world's largest energy conferences, as industry leaders discuss the juggling act of appeasing investors, environmentalists, and customers, while trying to come up with the critical technologies they believe the world will need to have abundant energy without the heavy emissions.
The competing priorities are evident in what Calgary-based oilsands producer Suncor calls its purpose: "To provide trusted energy that enhances people's lives while caring for each other and the earth."
That's easier said than done.
Chief executive Mark Little said a company can't slash its shareholder returns to invest in cutting emissions, since the industry needs the support of investors. Suncor is allocating about 10 per cent of its capital spending on reducing its emissions and providing cleaner energy.
Little said he is trying to figure out the timing of the energy transition and when the world will be ready to rely on low-carbon sources of energy.
"We can actually create quite a challenge to the globe in not providing enough energy, driving prices up and countering this economic drive," he said, during the CERAWeek event.
"But … we don't want to be the other way and have all these excess emissions and not do the transition."
Pre-COVID, many energy companies were spending a lot of money to grow production, but now they're pulling back on that strategy.
Little doesn't seem to have the answer on the perfect strategy. That's why the Suncor CEO said he, along with many others, will be watching how the industry balances the business amidst so many often competing forces on the sector.
The forecasts for this year are remarkably better compared to 2020, when companies like BP cut 10,000 jobs and the industry accumulated debt.
"Our economists at IHS Markit keep raising their forecast for economic activity in 2021, and certainly that will be reflected in demand in the second half of the year," said Dan Yergin, IHS Markit vice chairman, during the event.
Some even predict significant growth for the sector.
"We don't think peak oil is around the corner — we see oil demand growing for the next 10 years," said John Hess, the chief executive of Hess Corp., a New York-based oil company.
"We're not investing enough to grow oil and gas in the future."
The financial outlook will be welcomed by investors, who have put increased pressure on the oilpatch in recent years to produce profits and return that money to shareholders. Previously, investors were content with companies growing operations, but the focus is now on producing cash.
"That's what you've got to deliver as a business, first and foremost," said Ryan Lance, chief executive of ConocoPhillips.
"Then you have to do it sustainably."
Lance describes how investors are demanding more of the industry. Besides profits, companies need to have a credible plan to deal with greenhouse gas emissions, or else "you don't deserve investors interested in your business."
© Kyle Bakx/CBC Suncor is committing about 10% of its capital spending toward clean fuels and reducing emissions.
Of course, it's not just investors concerned about carbon emissions. There's mounting pressure from governments, regulators and environmentalists who want to address climate change.
ExxonMobil, for instance, has changed its position to support a carbon tax in the U.S. and also embraced carbon capture and storage as a way to reduce emissions.
This week, the company added two new board members amidst pressure from some of its largest investors to disclose more about its carbon emissions and to publicize a long-term energy transition plan.
Like many in the industry, chief executive Darren Woods said there is a "dual challenge" in providing more energy, with less emissions. At the same time, there's pressure to innovate. That includes finding ways to reduce the cost of carbon capture and storage, hydrogen production, biofuel production, and other low carbon technologies.
Exxon says it has spent about $10 billion US on emission reductions research and will invest a further $3 billion by 2025.
One area of focus is on reducing methane emissions from its operations.
Plenty of work is needed toward developing better technologies in surveillance and mitigation of fugitive methane, he said.
"I think the industry, with time, will close [those emission leaks] down and that will be much less of a concern, going forward."
Global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions were two per cent higher in December 2020 than in the same month a year earlier, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, pointing to the economic recovery and a lack of clean energy policies.
"Our numbers show we are returning to carbon-intensive business-as-usual. This year is pivotal for international climate action — and it began with high hopes — but these latest numbers are a sharp reminder of the immense challenge we face in rapidly transforming the global energy system," said IEA executive director Fatih Birol, in a statement.
Recent electricity outages in Texas and California are being held up as examples of the value of dependable energy and how much the world still relies on fossil fuels.
Some environmentalists may want the world to rapidly reduce the production of oil and gas, but those in the industry warn the energy transition can't happen too quickly.
"We need to be sure that we've got reliable grid management and reliable power supply to that grid and natural gas should play a very, very important role," said Chevron chief executive Michael Wirth.
Society's reliance on oil and gas has been evident during the pandemic. Even with government lockdown measures, travel restrictions and an increased level of people working from home, the global demand for oil and gas only dropped about nine per cent in the last year, Wirth said.
"I think it actually, in a way, demonstrates how important our industry is to the world economy," he said.
Chevron learned first hand that the sector can't move too quickly. About 15 years ago, the company built a series of hydrogen fuelling stations in California, but found little success, even with the support of the state's government.
It serves as a cautionary tale about moving at the right pace during the energy transition.
"As an industry, we can't give the market what it doesn't want," said Wirth.
As vaccination rates rise everyday around the world and economic lockdown measures are gradually eased, leaders in the oil and gas industry aren't shy about their optimism for the rest of the year.
They are expecting a bounce back after a brutal 2020. Oil prices hit record lows last year, but are now back above where they were before the pandemic struck.
The industry can feel the recovery underway and are excited see demand pick up as economic activity rebounds. Some expect the world's demand for oil to surpass pre-COVID levels by the end of 2021.
Yet, that hopefulness is clouded by competing priorities for the sector as it picks itself off the ground and tries to position itself for a world increasingly focused on mitigating the impacts of climate change.
It's an ongoing theme at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference, one of the world's largest energy conferences, as industry leaders discuss the juggling act of appeasing investors, environmentalists, and customers, while trying to come up with the critical technologies they believe the world will need to have abundant energy without the heavy emissions.
The competing priorities are evident in what Calgary-based oilsands producer Suncor calls its purpose: "To provide trusted energy that enhances people's lives while caring for each other and the earth."
That's easier said than done.
Chief executive Mark Little said a company can't slash its shareholder returns to invest in cutting emissions, since the industry needs the support of investors. Suncor is allocating about 10 per cent of its capital spending on reducing its emissions and providing cleaner energy.
Little said he is trying to figure out the timing of the energy transition and when the world will be ready to rely on low-carbon sources of energy.
"We can actually create quite a challenge to the globe in not providing enough energy, driving prices up and countering this economic drive," he said, during the CERAWeek event.
"But … we don't want to be the other way and have all these excess emissions and not do the transition."
Pre-COVID, many energy companies were spending a lot of money to grow production, but now they're pulling back on that strategy.
Little doesn't seem to have the answer on the perfect strategy. That's why the Suncor CEO said he, along with many others, will be watching how the industry balances the business amidst so many often competing forces on the sector.
The forecasts for this year are remarkably better compared to 2020, when companies like BP cut 10,000 jobs and the industry accumulated debt.
"Our economists at IHS Markit keep raising their forecast for economic activity in 2021, and certainly that will be reflected in demand in the second half of the year," said Dan Yergin, IHS Markit vice chairman, during the event.
Some even predict significant growth for the sector.
"We don't think peak oil is around the corner — we see oil demand growing for the next 10 years," said John Hess, the chief executive of Hess Corp., a New York-based oil company.
"We're not investing enough to grow oil and gas in the future."
The financial outlook will be welcomed by investors, who have put increased pressure on the oilpatch in recent years to produce profits and return that money to shareholders. Previously, investors were content with companies growing operations, but the focus is now on producing cash.
"That's what you've got to deliver as a business, first and foremost," said Ryan Lance, chief executive of ConocoPhillips.
"Then you have to do it sustainably."
Lance describes how investors are demanding more of the industry. Besides profits, companies need to have a credible plan to deal with greenhouse gas emissions, or else "you don't deserve investors interested in your business."
© Kyle Bakx/CBC Suncor is committing about 10% of its capital spending toward clean fuels and reducing emissions.Of course, it's not just investors concerned about carbon emissions. There's mounting pressure from governments, regulators and environmentalists who want to address climate change.
ExxonMobil, for instance, has changed its position to support a carbon tax in the U.S. and also embraced carbon capture and storage as a way to reduce emissions.
This week, the company added two new board members amidst pressure from some of its largest investors to disclose more about its carbon emissions and to publicize a long-term energy transition plan.
Like many in the industry, chief executive Darren Woods said there is a "dual challenge" in providing more energy, with less emissions. At the same time, there's pressure to innovate. That includes finding ways to reduce the cost of carbon capture and storage, hydrogen production, biofuel production, and other low carbon technologies.
Exxon says it has spent about $10 billion US on emission reductions research and will invest a further $3 billion by 2025.
One area of focus is on reducing methane emissions from its operations.
Plenty of work is needed toward developing better technologies in surveillance and mitigation of fugitive methane, he said.
"I think the industry, with time, will close [those emission leaks] down and that will be much less of a concern, going forward."
Global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions were two per cent higher in December 2020 than in the same month a year earlier, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, pointing to the economic recovery and a lack of clean energy policies.
"Our numbers show we are returning to carbon-intensive business-as-usual. This year is pivotal for international climate action — and it began with high hopes — but these latest numbers are a sharp reminder of the immense challenge we face in rapidly transforming the global energy system," said IEA executive director Fatih Birol, in a statement.
Recent electricity outages in Texas and California are being held up as examples of the value of dependable energy and how much the world still relies on fossil fuels.
Some environmentalists may want the world to rapidly reduce the production of oil and gas, but those in the industry warn the energy transition can't happen too quickly.
"We need to be sure that we've got reliable grid management and reliable power supply to that grid and natural gas should play a very, very important role," said Chevron chief executive Michael Wirth.
Society's reliance on oil and gas has been evident during the pandemic. Even with government lockdown measures, travel restrictions and an increased level of people working from home, the global demand for oil and gas only dropped about nine per cent in the last year, Wirth said.
"I think it actually, in a way, demonstrates how important our industry is to the world economy," he said.
Chevron learned first hand that the sector can't move too quickly. About 15 years ago, the company built a series of hydrogen fuelling stations in California, but found little success, even with the support of the state's government.
It serves as a cautionary tale about moving at the right pace during the energy transition.
"As an industry, we can't give the market what it doesn't want," said Wirth.
Exxon Mobil to Cut Jobs
in Singapore as Big Oil
Retrenches
Andrew Janes and Sharon Cho
(Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. expects to cut about 300 jobs in the Asian oil-trading hub of Singapore by the end of 2021, part of a global retrenchment that was announced last year.
The planned lay-offs equate to about 7% of its 4,000-strong workforce in the city-state, the company said in a statement. It follow similar announcements in recent months from fellow oil majors Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp., which are also cutting positions in Singapore.
See also: Exxon to Cut 14,000 From Global Workforce Due to Oil Slump
Exxon said in October that it would slash its global workforce by 15%, or about 14,000 people, by the end of 2022. The oil industry was hit hard by the collapse in prices last year due to the coronavirus, while it also faces longer-term challenges as fossil fuels are gradually replaced by cleaner alternatives. Southeast Asian refiners, meanwhile, may also come under pressure from massive plants being opened in China.
Shell said in November that it would cut oil-processing capacity at the Pulau Bukom complex in Singapore by half, resulting in hundreds of job losses over the next three years. Chevron may cut 10% of its workforce in the city-state, the Business Times reported in November, citing an unidentified spokesman.
Big Oil is shedding thousands of jobs globally. BP Plc plans to slash 10,000 positions, Shell will cut as many as 9,000 roles, and Chevron has announced about 6,000 reductions.
The job losses in Singapore are due to a reorganization that was accelerated by the pandemic, and the changes will enhance long-term competitiveness, Exxon said in the statement. A spokesperson in Singapore confirmed the plan followed from last year’s announcement of global workforce reductions.
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
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©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Exxon is slashing workers and cutting costs, and employee morale has collapsed.
Here's everything we know.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods
Mark Schiefelbein/Getty; Skye Gould/Business Insider
Exxon slashed spending and is shrinking its workforce after a punishing 2020.
Here's everything we know about the cuts, from layoffs to reduced employee benefits.
Exxon Mobil suffered a historic blow in 2020, as the pandemic dried up demand for its products at a time when the company's stock was already in decline. For the first time ever, Exxon reported four straight quarters of loss amounting to more than $22 billion for the full year.
Exxon, the nation's largest oil company, devoted much of its attention last year to slashing costs so it could regain its footing. The company reduced its capital budget by almost $12 billion and lowered its operating expenses by $8 billion, partly by cutting workers and employee benefits.
Exxon's market value fell steeply in 2020, though it's up about 35% from the start of the year. Here's everything we know so far.
Here's everything we know about the cuts, from layoffs to reduced employee benefits.
Exxon Mobil suffered a historic blow in 2020, as the pandemic dried up demand for its products at a time when the company's stock was already in decline. For the first time ever, Exxon reported four straight quarters of loss amounting to more than $22 billion for the full year.
Exxon, the nation's largest oil company, devoted much of its attention last year to slashing costs so it could regain its footing. The company reduced its capital budget by almost $12 billion and lowered its operating expenses by $8 billion, partly by cutting workers and employee benefits.
Exxon's market value fell steeply in 2020, though it's up about 35% from the start of the year. Here's everything we know so far.
Exxon was restructuring before the pandemic hit
The firm reorganized its downstream division in 2018 and the upstream division in 2019. That year, Exxon also established a new business unit - Global Projects - focused on project development.
When the price of oil crashed, Exxon said those changes helped, but further cuts would be needed.
"I wish I could say we were finished, but we are not," Woods said in an email to employees in October. "We still have some significant headwinds, more work to do and, unfortunately, further reductions are necessary."
Today, Exxon is organized into nine business divisions. It's not clear to what extent the company's core structure changed in response to the spending and workforce cuts, though Exxon formed a new business this year focused on low-emissions technologies after investors pressured the company to do more to address climate change.
We mapped out those divisions, in addition to seven other core areas of the company, in an exclusive org chart. It includes 136 of Exxon's top employees.
Read more: We mapped out the power structure at Exxon and identified 136 of the oil giant's top employees. Here's our exclusive org chart.
Exxon is trimming its global workforce by 15%, which includes steep cuts in the US and Europe
As Business Insider first reported, Exxon is slashing its global workforce by 15%, or 14,000 people, through 2022, relative to the company's headcount in 2019. The cuts include both contractors and employees.
US: Up to 1,900 of the job cuts will be in the US, including at least 723 from the Houston area. Click here for a timeline of the reductions and insight into how Exxon will decide which workers to lay off, as revealed by leaked documents we obtained.
Europe: Another 1,600 jobs or so could be cut in Europe. We explain which roles are at risk here, and you can read the letter the firm's CEO, Darren Woods, sent employees following the cuts here.
Canada: Exxon also said it would lay off about 300 workers in Canada, starting in December, according to a public press release and an internal memo we obtained. The cuts are involuntary and most of them will take place by February of 2021, per the memo.
Singapore: The company said it will cut about 300 roles, or 7%, of its workforce in Singapore. (Previously, the government of Singapore was probing Exxon's labor practices related to cuts, as Insider reported.)
Australia: In addition, the company launched a voluntary redundancy program in Australia. It's not clear how many roles the program will impact.
Part of Exxon's approach to shrinking spending is sending jobs overseas to cheap centers of labor, we reported
.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
The firm used its employee-ranking process to cut workers in the weeks after oil markets crashed
Last April, Exxon quietly made a change to the way it ranks employees, forcing managers to dub a larger chunk of employees as poor performers, putting them at risk of being cut.
Leaked audio from an internal meeting suggests not all employees placed in that category were, in fact, poor performers. That's why workers we spoke to called the change to the ranking system a layoff in disguise.
Exxon's performance-based cuts, initiated last summer, put as much as 10% of the company's workforce at risk of losing their jobs. You can find all the details of the ranking system and the April change here.
Other changes to curb spending
Last year Exxon made a handful of other changes to cut costs.
Last year Exxon made a handful of other changes to cut costs.
Over the summer the company suspended a handful of employee benefits including its matching program for retirement savings, as Insider first reported.
The company slashed its capital spending budget for 2020 by almost $12 billion, down to $21.4 billion. This year Exxon plans to spend even less.
Exxon has lowered its annual operating expenses by $8 billion, the company said. $3 billion of that was from "structural reductions," indicating that it's likely tied to workforce cuts. The firm plans to cut an additional $3 billion in structural expenses by 2023.
Morale has taken a hit
Insiders say Exxon mishandled communication around job cuts, which has led to a drop in morale. That could slow the oil giant's recovery in 2021, as we reported.
Executives were not forthright with employees about the toll the downturn would take on its workforce and, at times, came across as insensitive when they did communicate about job cuts, current and former employees told Insider.
Experts who study worker sentiment said that unhappy workers produce lower quality work and could make it harder for the company to recruit top talent in the future.
This story was originally published on November 6. We updated it on March 3 to include new information about job cuts in Singapore.
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