TC Energy, Indigenous partners fall out after end of Keystone XL

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News

An Indigenous-backed energy company is seeking $50 million (US$38.2 million) from pipeline operator TC Energy Corp. after a falling out between partners on the now-abandoned Keystone XL project. 

Natural Law Energy Inc., a group representing a number of Indigenous communities in Western Canada, is asking for “financial compensation for all the losses of income and the lost opportunities for future income” associated with an investment agreement signed in November 2020, according to a letter signed by Natural Law Chief Executive Officer Travis Meguinis and seen by Bloomberg News. 

Natural Law agreed that year to invest as much as $1 billion in Keystone XL. US President Joe Biden pulled a key permit after taking office in January 2021, squelching plans to complete the 830,000-barrel-a-day pipeline. 

Natural Law’s memorandum of understanding with TC Energy included possible equity stakes in other projects, according to Meguinis’s letter. But no deals came to fruition and TC Energy informed Natural Law that it intends to end the investment agreement, the company said in an email.  

“Following the termination of the Keystone XL Pipeline project, TC Energy sought but was unsuccessful in identifying other commercial opportunities for investment with Natural Law Energy that met our shared goals and interests,” Calgary-based TC Energy said in a statement emailed to Bloomberg. “We have a long-standing relationship with the signatory Nations and remain committed to working directly with each Nation to understand their priorities and seek future opportunities to work together.”

 

'BAD FAITH'

Companies including TC Energy and Suncor Energy Inc. have turned to alliances and equity partnerships with Indigenous groups in try to overcome overcome opposition to building new projects. Energy infrastructure is seen by some people as a threat to Indigenous land and their traditional resources, though others back their involvement in pipelines as a way of alleviating poverty in those communities.

After Keystone XL’s cancellation, TC Energy and the Alberta government sought US$15 billion in compensation from the US government in a request for arbitration filed in November. 

Natural Law was excluded from participating in the case and wasn’t told that such action would be brought, according to Meguinis’s letter. “This bad faith activity had damaged financial and economic opportunities for Natural Law” and its participating Indigenous groups, he wrote. 

Meguinis declined to comment on his letter. “I don’t want to put any of our nations in jeopardy,” he said by phone. A phone call to Chief Alvin Francis, president and co-founder of Natural Law, through the offices of his Nekaneet First Nation wasn’t returned. An email to Chief Leonard Standing On The Road, director and co-founder of Natural Law, wasn’t returned. 

After Keystone XL was canceled, Natural Law shifted focus to acquiring an equity stake in the Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has said it plans to sell the pipeline, which it bought from Kinder Morgan Inc. to save an expansion project running from Alberta to the Vancouver area. 

Natural Law is seeking a 100 per cent stake in Trans Mountain and is competing with four other groups including Project Reconciliation, Nesika Services and Western Indigenous Pipeline Group, which has partnered with Pembina Pipeline Corp. 

Canada is developing a clean electricity standard. Does Hawaii have lessons for us?

As Canada develops a nationwide law to green the grid, loopholes have experts concerned


Zoë Yunker · CBC Radio · Posted: Sep 04, 2022 

Isaac Moriwake, managing attorney for Earthjustice's Mid-Pacific Office, beside a rooftop solar panel in Hawai'i. Rooftop solar makes up a third of the U.S. state's renewable energy. (Matt Mallams/Earthjustice)

Canada has just 13 years to achieve a formidable task: practically erase its electrical emissions while growing the grid to displace fossil fuels powering its cars, homes and factories.

It's a double-bind that calls for unprecedented action. And Canada is developing a regulatory tool to get there — a clean electricity standard, a major step in the government's goal of reaching a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.

"If this policy is effective, it can send a very clear signal to industry, as well as to investors, so that we actually see an increase in clean energy investments in Canada's grid," said Binnu Jeyakumar, program director of electricity at the Pembina Institute.

The forthcoming regulation will act like a game of limbo for electrical emissions, setting a bar for how much each utility can produce for every unit of energy generated, and ideally, said Jeyakumar, lowering it over time.

If a utility's emissions are too high when the regulation takes effect, they'll be forced to buy offsets or shut down — and those consequences could push non-emitting renewables like wind and solar to the top.

'Nation-building' investments in electricity grid needed to reach net-zero: expertsScorecard in works to help show utilities' progress to clean energy

Canada isn't the first jurisdiction to develop such a regulation. In various forms, electricity regulations have helped spur renewable development in the U.S. since the late '90s, and now extend throughout 30 states. Leading the pack is Hawaii, whose target of reaching 100 per cent renewables by 2045 helped fasttrack their transition from imported fossil fuels. The state now produces about six times more renewable energy than Canada.

Hawaii's standard was "instrumental" in that shift, said Isaac Moriwake, managing attorney at Earthjustice's Mid-Pacific Office in Honolulu.

"It creates an acceleration effect where in pointing to that direction, and gearing up, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy," he said.

Canada's plan under scrutiny

Unlike the state-based standards in the U.S, Canada's incoming national standard could provide a unifying role in a country where electricity is controlled provincially.

Jeyakumar thinks that policy signal is particularly important to support building interprovincial transmission to harmonize regions' renewable energy capacity. "The investments needed in doing something like this requires a national-level effort," she said.

Last month, Environment and Climate Change Canada provided an early window into the future regulations, with a draft expected to be released by the end of the year.

Binnu Jeyakumar is the program director of electricity at the Pembina Institute. (Pembina Institute)Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault called it "a key part of our government's plan for a healthy environment and healthy economy" in a press release.

But Jeyakumar's Pembina Institute and other environmental organizations are raising concerns.

"A lot needs to change," said Stephen Thomas, a climate solutions policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation. "These proposed regulations are not likely to actually achieve the core goal of a net-zero electricity system across Canada by 2035."

 
'Extensions, exemptions and loopholes' for gas

Natural gas poses a substantial threat to Canada's net-zero goals, suggests Jeyakumar.

Although the majority of Canada's electricity comes from non-emitting hydro power, future demand could change that balance. Without a regulatory standard in place, Jeyakumar said that the country could see a 70 per cent increase in gas use by 2035.

And while the standard makes some efforts to minimize emissions from gas-fired power, Jeyakumar points to the gaps that remain.

First, the regulations are slated to go into effect in 2035, leaving over a decade with no regulations in place. "Waiting that long, and given all the political uncertainties in the next 13 years, really weakens the signal to investors," Jeyakumar told What On Earth host Laura Lynch.

And it's unclear how many power facilities will be regulated by the new standard. As currently proposed, any existing gas-fired facility — and any facility built in the next three years — would not be subject to the standard in 2035, and instead would be allowed to operate above the emissions cap until the facility's "end of prescribed life." Government has not indicated how long that life cycle would last.

Some critics say Canada's plan for a clean electricity standard leaves too many back doors for natural gas to remain as a backup source.

 (Robert Jones/CBC)

The proposed standard also leaves room for some natural gas as a "backup" for renewables — an attempt to make up for times when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine.

The framework also suggests unlimited gas can also remain on the grid in "emergency circumstances."

"The extensions, exemptions and loopholes in these proposed regulations leave the door wide open to a huge increase in natural gas emissions in many provinces," said Thomas.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change did not respond to the CBC's request for comment by press time.

Hawaii's energy transition

Hawaii may be a small island state, but its own electricity transformation has important takeaways for Canada.

Just 15 years ago, nearly all the state's electricity came from fossil fuels. When oil prices skyrocketed after the 2008 financial crisis, the region got serious about making the switch to renewables. "The real driver in Hawaii was the cost of fossil fuels," said Moriwake.

That's when the state set an ambitious electricity standard, aiming for 40 per cent renewables by 2030. Seven years later in 2015 it set its 100 per cent renewable target. Unlike Canada's standard, which is based on emissions intensity, Hawaii's regulation focuses on the percentage of renewables like wind, solar and geothermal running through the grid..

The regulatory consequences are clear: if utilities fail to meet their renewable targets, they're forced to pay penalties which must be covered by companies shareholders, rather than ratepayers. And unlike Canada's proposed standard, all power plants in Hawaii, no matter when they're built, will need to meet the bar.

With nearly 40 per cent renewable energy statewide, Hawaii is well on track to meet its 2030 target. (Matt Mallams/Earthjustice)

So far, the standard has worked.

"We haven't gotten close to failing on any of the targets we've set so far," said Moriwake. "Once you set the target you get the utility running, and we've been blowing past these goals very quickly."

With nearly 40 per cent renewable energy statewide, Hawaii will soon meet its 2030 target. One of its islands, Kauai, has nearly passed its 2040 target of 70 per cent renewables.

But to reach their 100 per cent goal, challenges remain. As one of the world's most remote regions with a limited land mass, decisions on where to put solar panels and wind farms will be critical in the years to come.

In 2019, 55 people were arrested for protesting a wind farm built adjacent to the village of Kahuku.

Moriwake thinks large, utility-scale projects developed without community's consent may become a relic in what he describes as the "community-based decade" ahead.

Another major tool in building community support? Distributed renewables, like rooftop solar, which now make up nearly half of Hawaii's renewable grid.
The polar bear became an 'accidental icon' of climate change. Is it time to rethink that?Why retired scientists may have already discovered today's green energy solutions

Moriwake suggests that the uptake of rooftop solar was "a prime driver in getting people to actually make the leap to go green, but also building a mentality that there was an alternative."

In Hawaii, distributed solar acts like a giant battery, allowing users to store extra power, but also sell it to the grid at peak times, helping balance out the draw on energy. That helps ease the reliance on other backups like gas.

"When people say, 'you can't balance a grid [or] you can't have a reliable grid with solar'— we're there. We already do," said Scott Glenn, chief energy officer for Hawaii State Energy Office.

When asked to offer advice for Canada's attempt to build its own standard, Moriwake is straightforward.

"Just do it," he said. "It drives itself once you set the goal or the mandate. And Hawaii is perfect proof for that."

Ontario school workers to keep fighting for ‘decent wages,’ as government pushes for assurance school won’t be interrupted

CUPE workers, who, on average, earn $39,000, will be in schools next week and the union is committed to reaching an agreement, said union head.

By Isabel Teotonio

Education Reporter
Fri., Sept. 2, 2022

As students prepare to return to class, the union representing Ontario’s school support staff says it will keep fighting for “decent wages,” while the province is calling on it to assure parents that the year won’t be disrupted by job action.

“We are fighting for decent wages, increased services for students and a reinvestment in public education,” said Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, which represents 55,000 custodians, office staff, educational assistants and early childhood educators.

“Kids deserve the best professionals in their classrooms and in their schools,” she said during a virtual press conference on Friday. “But education workers cannot be at our best if we’re exhausted, if we are forced to work second or third jobs, just to make ends meet.”

All contracts for education unions expired Aug. 31, although CUPE is farther ahead in negotiations with the province and school board associations than the other unions.

With no new agreement in place, “students have no service security,” Walton says, and school boards “will still have problems keeping and finding employees due to low pay and poor working conditions.”

Still, she says, CUPE workers, who, on average, earn $39,000, will be in schools next week and the union is committed to reaching an agreement.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says, “As students head back to class next week, it is more important than ever for CUPE and all teacher unions to commit to staying in school with students until June.

“We remain committed to landing a deal that keeps kids in class. We have repeatedly asked CUPE to assure parents they won’t disrupt the school year and stay focused on helping kids catch up,” he said in an emailed statement to the Star.

“Instead, at every opportunity, CUPE continues their march toward a strike. We will do whatever it takes to ensure a normal, stable, and uninterrupted return to class for all students. Ontario students deserve nothing less.”

When asked about possible job action, CUPE’s Walton told reporters that the union recently filed for conciliation in the hope that it will force the parties back to the bargaining table for more dates. The union served notice to bargain on June 3, and since then Walton says there have been eight meetings. Talks resume Sept. 16 and then six more days are scheduled before the end of October. CUPE staff will take a strike vote between Sept. 23 and Oct. 2.

When asked later by the Star about assuring parents that there won’t be any disruptions this year, Walton said “education workers have a concrete proposal to settle, on the table, that’s reasonable, necessary, and affordable. Stephen Lecce has the power and resources to accept this proposal. He could and should do that today.”

The union wants a pay increase of $3.25 an hour in each year over three years, or about 11.7 per cent. Their workers typically earn the lowest salaries among school workers, but their average $39,000 annual wage includes part-timers. It recently launched a public campaign called “$39k is not enough.”

The province has frozen public-sector wage increases at one per cent a year for the past several years. It has offered CUPE workers earning less than $40,000 a two per cent raise each year over four years, and a 1.25 per cent annual increase for those earning more than $40,000.

—with files from Kristin Rushowy

Isabel Teotonio is a Toronto-based reporter covering education for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @Izzy74

New study questions carbon capture projects' ability to cut global CO2 emissions

A report found that many carbon capture projects either underperformed or failed. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

Cheryl Tan
PUBLISHED
SEP 5, 2022,

SINGAPORE - A new study calls into question the ability of carbon capture projects to cut global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and puts forth recommendations for upcoming projects if no alternative solutions to emission reduction can be found.

The report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis released last Thursday found that many carbon capture projects either underperformed or failed, and questioned whether the world could rely on such technology to meet its target of net-zero emissions.

The problem is that much of the CO2 captured is being used to extract more oil from oil fields, which contributes to more CO2 emissions, said the study.

It also found that CO2 that has been captured and stored may leak into the atmosphere. This means such storage facilities would require monitoring for centuries to ensure that trapped CO2 does not return to the atmosphere, said the study's author, Mr Bruce Robertson.

Hence, the report called on developers to take responsibility for the leakage of CO2 from their projects, and stressed that CO2 captured should not be used in oil extraction.

Carbon capture projects must also not be used by governments as a climate solution to justify the use of any type of fossil fuel, said the report.

Carbon capture and storage technology entails the capturing of CO2 and storing it underground. This prevents CO2 from accumulating in the atmosphere, where it traps heat and causes global warming.

The International Energy Agency said that annual carbon capture capacity needs to increase to 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2030 to meet the global target of net-zero emissions by 2050. This would help avert the catastrophic impact of climate change on countries and economies.

However, the new report said carbon capture projects in the natural gas, industrial and power sectors were not effective in meeting the goal.

The study looked at 13 flagship carbon capture and storage projects in these sectors, which accounted for around 55 per cent of the total current operational capacity worldwide.

Mr Robertson, an energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said that seven of the 13 projects underperformed, two failed, and one was mothballed.

"Carbon capture and storage technology has been going for 50 years and many projects have failed and continued to fail, with only a handful working," he added.

The reasons for underperformance are diverse, ranging from economic to engineering problems, said Mr Robertson.

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For example, the ExxonMobil Shute Creek carbon capture plant in the United States - the world's biggest and longest-running carbon capture project - failed to reach its carbon capture capacity after operating for 35 years.

Only half the targeted CO2 was captured, while the remaining was released back into the atmosphere.

The facility commenced operations before climate change was a widespread public concern. Its principal purpose was to sell captured CO2 for oil recovery, where CO2 is pumped into dwindling oil fields to extract more oil.

Some three-quarters of the CO2 captured annually by multibillion-dollar facilities globally - around 28 million tonnes out of 39 million tonnes - is reinjected into oil fields to push more oil out of the ground, Mr Robertson noted.

Asked if the newer carbon capture projects would likely be plagued by the same issues faced by the older ones, he said that the technology has not fundamentally changed and success rates continue to be mixed.

He cited the Gorgon carbon capture project in Australia as an example.

The problem is that much of the CO2 captured is being injected into oil fields to push more oil out of the ground. 

Owned by Chevron, Shell and ExxonMobil, he noted that some of the best carbon capture and storage engineers in the world had worked on the project, and yet they could not get the facility to function properly.

Finding suitable CO2 storage sites and preventing CO2 from leaking back into the atmosphere are major challenges, the study said.

Mr Robertson gave the example of the In Salah carbon capture project in Algeria, which was suspended in 2011 after seven years of operations as there were concerns about the trapped CO2 escaping.

"Many international bodies and national governments are relying on carbon capture in the fossil fuel sector to get to net zero, and it simply won't work.

"Overall results show that these projects continue to overstate and underperform," said Mr Robertson.

Storegga is the lead developer of Britain's Acorn programme, which has a portfolio of projects including the capture and storage of CO2 in depleted oil and gas fields under the Central North Sea.

Its spokesman said that the CO2 stored some 2km below the seabed is not used for other commercial purposes.

"Enhanced oil recovery using CO2 is not a climate protection methodology," he said, adding that the Acorn CO2 storage licence precludes the use of CO2 for extracting oil.

 

Most major carbon capture and storage projects haven't met targets

By Adam Vaughan

New Scientist


The Gorgon gas project in South Australia CHEVRON

© Provided by New Scientist

Several of the world’s biggest projects capturing and storing carbon dioxide are significantly underperforming, according to an analysis showing some are capturing only half as much CO2 as promised.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen as a vital tool for tackling climate change by authorities such as the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The technology stands to receive generous support in the US government’s new climate bill, and other countries are incentivising take-up, including Norway and the UK.
Could a trillion dollars solve the world's problems? Rowan Hooper at New Scientist Live this October

A report published today analysed the performance of 13 flagship existing CCS schemes worldwide, which together represent 55 per cent of captured CO2, using figures published by the companies.

Most have captured much less CO2 than expected, the report found. Across its lifetime, the report says ExxonMobil’s LaBarge facility at Shute Creek in Wyoming has underperformed by around 36 per cent in terms of capacity. The world’s only large power station with CCS, Boundary Dam in Saskatchewan, Canada, has captured about 50 per cent less than planned, according to the report, and the capacity of Chevron’s Gorgon gas scheme in Western Australia has been about 50 per cent lower than planned in its first five years.

Two projects included in the report failed, including the Kemper coal CCS project in Mississippi, which was long delayed and construction was eventually abandoned in 2017.

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“Is CCS a solution to our climate woes? I would say no. More often than not, it doesn't actually work to its design capacity,” says Bruce Robertson at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), an Australian think tank, who is the author of the report.

The technology dates back to the 1970s, and in many cases is used to extract more oil from reservoirs rather than for curbing climate change by capturing CO2 for the long term. “They [the industry] say it’s an emerging sector. In actual fact it has been has been in operation for most of our lifetimes,” says Robertson. The underperformance of schemes isn't for want of financial or engineering resource, he adds. The Gorgon project alone cost AU$3.1 billion.

Read more: 10 finance firms effectively own half of all future carbon emissions

On a more positive note, the report finds the Sleipner and Snøhvit CCS projects in Norway have been a success, which it says is largely due to the country’s unique business and regulatory environment. Robertson says he concedes there may be a future role for CCS in heavy industries where emissions are hard to prevent, such as cement making.

Stuart Haszeldine at the University of Edinburgh in the UK says the IEEFA report is thorough, but that it is “too simple” to claim that CCS doesn't work. He says one reason CCS projects appear to be underperforming isn't the technology but a lack of market incentives for storing CO2, and an absence of good regulation. “CCS does and will work when the rules are correct,” says Haszeldine.

A spokesperson for Chevron says: “Innovation on this scale is not without its challenges, but the technology works.” An ExxonMobil spokesperson says: “The LaBarge facility has captured more CO2 than any other facility in the world to date.”

Saskpower disputed the suggestion the Boundary Dam project had a capture rate of around 50 per cent, giving a figure of 68 per cent. Robertson says this discrepancy is due to the IEEFA assessing the project’s original capture rate target, rather than a revised, lower target.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BOUNDARY DAM 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for CCS 

Sinquefield Cup: Niemann shocks Carlsen, crosses 2700
by Carlos Alberto Colodro

9/5/2022 – In a shocking development, Hans Niemann, the tournament underdog, defeated Magnus Carlsen with the black pieces to take the sole lead at the Sinquefield Cup. Niemann’s victory prompted him to cross the 2700-rating barrier. Alireza Firouzja and Wesley So also won in round 3, with Firouzja set to face the in-form Niemann in Monday’s fourth round

. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

Arjun, Gukesh, Abdusattorov and Niemann have joined this club recently, prompting pundits to acknowledge the imminent change of generation among the chess elite. Niemann, the latest addition to this group, could not have done it in a more spectacular fashion, as it was a win with black over Magnus Carlsen what allowed him to make it past the magic 2700 number.

Another remarkable feature of Niemann’s ascent is how quick and, perhaps, unexpected it has been — at least if we look at the last 3-year period. In fact, exactly two years ago, the youngster from San Francisco had a 2465 Elo rating. Going from under 2500 to over 2700 is a task that even accomplished and respected chess players have never achieved!

Rating in September 2020 - 2465
Rating in September 2021 - 2609
Live rating today - 2702

Niemann shared a grateful message on Twitter.


The strongest junior in the world looking at his young colleague 

about to beat the world champion | Photo: Crystal Fuller

The interview

Niemann’s victory over the world champion was remarkable, and we will look at it in the next section, but first we will go over what turned out to be quite a memorable post-game interview. The youngster has shown in the past that he is not afraid to speak his mind, and this was no exception. Commentator Alejandro Ramirez described his personality as ‘candid’, while some people in the comments section referred to it as ‘arrogant’.

Whatever the adjective we use to characterize Niemann’s personality, as Peter Svidler noted, his honesty was certainly welcomed both in the studio and by the audience.

After analysing his game in detail, the man of the hour shared his opinion bluntly on a few topics that had Ramirez visibly astounded. Referring to his crossing the 2700-barrier, he said that this was just a small step forward, as his sole purpose is to become world champion. Talking about this, Niemann clearly rejected the approach of long-standing top-10 players (something that Svidler, who has been in this category, later picked up on):

This DVD provides everything you need to know to be able to play one of the most classical openings with Black, the Nimzo-Indian, arising after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4. Nearly every World Championship and top tournament features the Nimzo-Indian.

I’m aware that this chess thing is a very long marathon, that it’s going to take a very long time, so if I don’t win this tournament, OK, who cares? The goal is to improve my chess and become world champion. Because in my opinion, it’s sort of black and white for me.

I see a lot of players who have been top ten for very long in their career, you know. They’re very happy with cashing in, but for me, top ten doesn’t really mean much. I think in chess, the striving to be the greatest is for me the motivation. Of course, there’s a long way to go.


A deep thinker — Hans Niemann | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Referring to Carlsen’s demeanour during the game, Niemann confessed that he has, like many fans, followed closely the world champion’s career, including his interviews. Carlsen, for example, has said that if he spends more than ten minutes on a single move, it is probably because he cannot find an acceptable response — which is a very bad sign for him. Since the Norwegian spent more than ten minutes on move 15, Niemann felt confident about his chances, and also noted:

I think he was just so demoralized because he’s losing to an idiot like me, you know? It must be embarrassing for the world champion to lose to me. I feel bad for him.

Amid the much-talked-about rise of the new generation, Rustam Kasimdzhanov recently pointed out on chess24’s commentary webcast that he thinks a player like Arjun Erigaisi would probably score +2 in the Sinquefield Cup, while some of the usual players who get invitations to these events “still behave like they own the world, whereas in fact they soon will be forgotten champions of yesteryear”.

Niemann referred to this phenomenon, noting that he got extremely lucky to get such an invitation, which only came about after Richard Rapport could not make it to Saint Louis due to travel restrictions related to the pandemic. In a reflection that was shared by the commentators, he mentioned that the system should favour a quicker process for talented young players to rise to the top, since established elite grandmasters tend to find a way to keep their spots at the top of the ratings list and remain in this privileged circle — more Tata Steel-type tournaments might be a solution perhaps?

Plenty of food for thought! You can replay the full 17-minute interview below.

The game

Another gem from the interview with Niemann was his utter bewilderment regarding the fact that he had looked at the line that appeared on the board during his preparation before the game. The variation was rather rare, with Carlsen perhaps looking to outplay his opponent in a non-theoretical position — Niemann is the rating underdog in Saint Louis, by quite a margin.

Niemann, for instance, knew in advance that 13...Be6 was the correct way to proceed in the early middlegame.

Carlsen vs. Niemann

Here is where Carlsen noticed he needed to be precise to deal with this position, despite having the white pieces. A forced sequence, starting with 14.Rxd8 Bxc4, led to an endgame in which it was Black who was in the driver’s seat.

The youngster was proud of his 18...Rc8, which goes for the win instead of simplifying into a position more likely to end in a draw.

As Yasser Seirawan emphasized later on, what happened from this point on was a case of the nominally weaker player outplaying the pre-game favourite — instead of the more frequent occurrence in which the stronger player blunders the game away due to an unlikely oversight.

The US grandmaster found good-looking moves on his way to victory, like 32...e3

Black forces his opponent to create more weaknesses on his camp by threatening to checkmate with the rook on the back rank.

Carlsen did not resign until move 57, despite finding himself three pawns down in a bishop versus knight endgame not long after the time control.

Carlsen, Magnus2861 0–1 Niemann, Hans Moke2688 



In deep trouble — Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Cyrstal Fuller

Oldest human or just another ape? Row erupts over 7m-year-old fossil


Remains from Chad desert provoke rancorous dispute over whether species was earliest to walk upright

A cast of Toumaï’s cranium at the Centre for Anthropobiology and

 Genomics of Toulouse. 

Photograph: Didier Descouens


Robin McKie and Kim Willsher

Sat 3 Sep 2022 

It is a dispute that has taken a long time to reach boiling point. Seven million years after an apelike creature – since nicknamed Toumaï – traversed the landscape of modern Chad, its means of mobility has triggered a dispute among fossil experts. Some claim this was the oldest member of the human lineage. Others that it was just an old ape.

The row, kindled by a paper in Nature, last week led scientists to denounce opponents while others accused rivals of building theories on “less than five minutes’ observation” .

The core of the dispute is straightforward. Could Toumaï – which means “hope of life” in the local Daza language of Chad – walk on two feet, an ability that suggests it could indeed be the oldest member of the human family? The scientists who unearthed the fossil remains believe this is the case.

Others disagree, vehemently. They say Toumaï – a member of an extinct species known as Sahelanthropus tchadensis – was not bipedal but moved around on all fours like a chimpanzee. Claims of ancient human ancestry are false, they argue, accusing opponents of cherry-picking data.

The dispute is rancorous even for palaeontology, a field noted for the bitterness of its controversies over the interpretation of ancient skulls and bones. In this case, the dispute began with the 2001 discovery in the Djurab desert of a distorted skull and other bones by palaeontologists from France and Chad. They concluded the skull’s shape meant it must have belonged to a creature that walked upright.

“It’s a lot of emotion to have in my hand the beginning of the human lineage,” said one member of the team, Michel Brunet of the University of Poitiers, at the time. The finding made Brunet a scientific star in France, especially in Poitiers, where a street is named after him.

Professor Michel Brunet, of the University of Poitiers, holding Toumaï’s skull at N’Djamena University in Chad. 

Photograph: Patrick Robert/Corbis/Getty Images

However, the interpretation was based solely on examining the skull, critics said. The other bones had been put aside until they were examined in 2004 by Aude Bergeret-Medina, also of Poitiers University. She recognised a leg bone and concluded it came from a primate that walked on all fours – not two. Crucially, she was backed by her supervisor, Roberto Macchiarelli.

It took Macchiarelli and Bergeret more than a decade to get their conclusions published. Attempts to present their findings at the Anthropological Society of Paris were blocked, they say, while Macchiarelli was accused of scientific misconduct by his opponents.

A report of their work eventually concluded that it did indicate Toumaï was a four-legged creature and unlikely to be a founder of the human lineage. “The evidence to support bipedalism is very, very poor,” says Macchiarelli.

Last month the finders of the skull and bones published their response in Nature and said examination of the bones pointed to bipedalism, suggesting it had a closer relationship to humankind than apes. On Twitter one of the team, Franck Guy, accused Macchiarelli and his colleagues of basing their conclusions on 5 minutes’ observation and a few photos. “Our paper is a five-year study,” he added.

Other scientists, including Prof Bernard Wood, of George Washington University, have been vocal in dismissing Guy’s claims while backing the argument that Toumaï’s bones indicate it was chimpanzee-like.

Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, London, was more cautious. “It’s a shame that these disputes detract from what are really important finds,” he told the Observer. “Given the peculiar and largely unacknowledged circumstances of discovery - the bones looked like they had been collected by somebody and placed on the desert sand – we don’t even know if the cranium, leg and arm bones belong together as a single individual.

“I would say the jury is still out on whether Toumaï was fully adapted to walking on two legs.”

The Big Four oilsands companies’ influence threatens Alberta democracy, argues political scientist



BY ROBERT (BOB) L. ASCAH, RESEARCH FELLOW, THE PARKLAND INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

 ON AUGUST 22, 2022.


Over the past five years, ownership of oilsands production has become hyperconcentrated in four companies: Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), Imperial Oil Limited and Suncor Energy.

These four producers – known as the Big Four – account for about 84 per cent of Alberta’s daily production of 3.3 million barrels of bitumen, a type of crude oil found in oilsands deposits.

Not only that, but it is the oilsands that have driven Alberta’s economy and finances for the past two decades. According to Alberta’s 2022 budget, oilsands production will make up 87 per cent of the province’s total oil production, as conventional fields empty.

In the face of growing environmental concerns and regulatory requirements, some international companies have decided to exit the oilsands. Between 2016 and 2019, foreign oil companies Chevron, Shell, BP and Statoil sold their oilsands holdings.

But other major Canadian producers, like CNRL and Cenovus Energy, have doubled down. They see the emission-intensive extraction operation as a golden opportunity to dominate an increasingly single-industry province.

As a political scientist who has worked in a large Alberta-based financial institution and the provincial treasury department, I am familiar with the booms and busts of Alberta’s economy and its correlation to provincial finances. The financial dependence of the Alberta government on bitumen royalties has increased enormously over the past several years.

An industry flush with cash

By comparing the amount of bitumen royalties and corporate income taxes from the Big Four to Alberta’s total revenue, it is possible to estimate the province’s fiscal dependency on these companies.

The numbers show that no province, other than perhaps New Brunswick with its dominant Irving family, comes near Alberta’s level of corporate fiscal dependency.

The revenue expected from the Big Four oilsands producers in 2022, assuming an average per barrel price of $115, will be a staggering $116 billion – about 25 per cent of Alberta’s GDP.

During the first half of 2022, Imperial Oil, Cenovus Energy, CNRL and Suncor Energy have reported net income of $17.1 billion.

What is less understood is what this vast increase in revenue means for the Alberta treasury and, to a lesser extent, the federal government.

During the first six months of 2022, the Big Four paid an estimated $8 billion in royalties to the Alberta government. Most of their $6.8 billion in income tax expenses went to the federal government, with the remaining 30 per cent going to the Alberta government.

Since Alberta has the lowest corporate tax rate in the country, this creates an enormous incentive for these companies to create as much taxable income as possible. The taxes and royalties so far this year amount to about $10 billion, which would easily pay for Alberta’s K-12 education system.

Lining the government’s pockets

The concentration of economic and financial power in the Big Four means Alberta’s next premier must heed the needs of these massive oilsands players. As oil prices rise, the financial dependency of the provincial treasury on the Big Four will grow.

Alberta’s 2022 budget adopted a very conservative oil price estimate of US$70 per barrel, which deliberately understated the expected surplus. It estimated bitumen royalties would return $10.3 billion during the fiscal year.

For every dollar above this US$70 per barrel estimate, an additional $500 million in oil royalties will flow to the government. At US$100 a barrel, an additional $9 billion in bitumen royalties would be paid, but with oil prices averaging US$116 since April 1, an additional $23 billion in oil and gas royalties could roll in.

Using this conservative oil price forecast, Alberta’s budget estimated its total revenue will be $52 billion. In reality, its revenue will likely be much higher.

The Big Four contribute about 20 per cent of Alberta’s total revenue. At US$100 per barrel, the Big Four contribute about 30 per cent of the province’s revenue and, at US$116 per barrel, the contribution exceeds 30 per cent. This gives these companies an enormous amount of control over Alberta’s finances and, by extension, politics.

Pathways Alliance

The Big Four’s political influence has most recently manifested in its dominant position in the Pathways Alliance. This lobbying consortium – known as COSIA – consists of the Big Four, ConocoPhillips and MEG Energy.

According to their website, COSIA’s purpose is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from oilsands production and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions. The Pathways Alliance sees oilsands production carrying on for nearly three decades and beyond.

Central to this lobby effort has been successfully convincing Ottawa to give the firms a tax credit in the 2022 federal budget. This sets a dangerous precedent – if Ottawa itself is willing to grant the wishes of the Big Four, what chance will the Alberta premier have in refusing similar requests?

The fiscally dependent Alberta government will continue its battles against Ottawa on behalf of the Big Four. Whether or not this is good for Alberta’s democracy, its residents and the planet is another matter entirely.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available on the original site. Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/the-big-four-oilsands-companies-influence-threatens-alberta-democracy-argues-political-scientist-188567

Chilean voters overwhelmingly reject proposed progressive constitution in national referendum

Existing charter imposed during dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago

The Associated Press · Posted: Sep 04, 2022

A voter casts a ballot in Santiago, Chile, on Sunday.

 Chileans turned out en masse to vote on whether to

 adopt a progressive new constitution. 

(Jonnathan Oyarzun/Getty Images)

Chileans resoundingly rejected a new constitution to replace a charter imposed by the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago, dealing a stinging setback to President Gabriel Boric who argued the document would have ushered in a progressive era.

With 99 per cent of the votes counted in Sunday's plebiscite, the rejection camp had 61.9 per cent support compared to 38.1 per cent for approval amid what appeared to be a heavy turnout with long lines at polling states. Voting was mandatory.

The approval camp conceded defeat. "We recognize this result and we listen with humility to what the Chilean people have expressed," spokesperson Vlado Mirosevic said.

Boric, who had lobbied hard for the new document, said the results made it evident the Chilean people "were not satisfied with the constitutional proposal that the convention presented to Chile."

Most Chileans favour changing the dictatorship-era constitution and Boric made it clear the process to amend it would not end with Sunday's vote. He said it was necessary for leaders to "work with more determination, more dialogue, more respect" to reach a new proposed charter "that unites us as a country."

Chile President Gabriel Boric holds a news conference after casting his vote in Punta Arenas on Sunday. (Andres Poblete/The Associated Press)

The rejection of the document was broadly expected in this country of 19 million as months of pre-election polling had shown Chileans had grown wary of the document that was written up by a constituent assembly in which a majority of delegates were not affiliated with a political party.

Carlos Salinas, a spokesperson for the Citizens' House for Rejection, said the majority of Chileans saw rejection as "a path of hope."

Chileans across Canada vote on new constitution that would replace Pinochet-era document

"We want to tell the government of President Gabriel Boric ... that 'today you must be the president of all Chileans and together we must move forward,'" he said.

Despite these expectations, no analyst or pollster had predicted such a large margin for the rejection camp, showing how Chileans were not ready to support a charter that would have been one of the most progressive in the world and would have fundamentally change the South American nation.

Opponents of the proposed constitution celebrate in Santiago on Sunday.

 (Pablo Sanhueza/Reuters)

The proposed charter was the first in the world to be written by a convention split equally between male and female delegates, but critics said it was too long, lacked clarity and went too far in some of its measures, which included characterizing Chile as a plurinational state, establish autonomous Indigenous territories, and prioritize the environment.

"The constitution that was written now leans too far to one side and does not have the vision of all Chileans," Roberto Briones, 41, said after voting in Chile's capital of Santiago. "We all want a new constitution, but it needs to have a better structure."

But others had fervently hoped it would pass.

Supporters of the proposed constitution embrace in Santiago on Sunday. 

(Matias Basualdo/The Associated Press)

Italo Hernandez, 50, said he backed the changes as he exited the polling station in the National Stadium in Chile's capital of Santiago. "We have to leave behind Pinochet's constitution that only favoured people with money."

Hernandez said it was "very symbolic and very emotional" to be voting at a stadium that had been used as a detention and torture site during the military dictatorship.

The result deals a major blow to Boric, who at 36 is Chile's youngest-ever president. He had tied his fortunes so closely to the new document that analysts said it was likely some voters saw the plebiscite as a referendum on his government at a time when his approval ratings have been plunging since he took office in March.

Unclear path forward

What happens now amounts to a big question mark. Chilean society at large, and political leadership of all stripes, have agreed the constitution that dates from the country's 1973-1990 dictatorship must change. The process that will be chosen to write up a new proposal still has to be determined and will likely be the subject of hard-fought negotiations between the country's political leadership.

Boric has called on the heads of all political parties for a meeting tomorrow to determine the path forward.

The vote marked the climax of a three-year process that began when the country once seen as a paragon of stability in the region exploded in student-led street protests in 2019. The unrest was sparked by a hike in public transportation prices, but it quickly expanded into broader demands for greater equality and more social protections.

Electoral workers count ballots at a polling station in 

Santiago on Sunday. (Ailen Diaz/Reuters)

The following year, just under 80 per cent of Chileans voted in favour of changing the country's constitution. Then in 2021, they elected delegates to a constitutional convention.

The 388-article proposed charter sought to put a focus on social issues and gender parity, enshrined rights for the country's Indigenous population and put the environment and climate change centre stage in a country that is the world's top copper producer. It also introduced rights to free education, health-care and housing.
NOTHING IS FOREIGNA radical vision for the future in Chile

The new constitution would have established autonomous Indigenous territories and recognized a parallel justice system in those areas, although lawmakers would decide how far-reaching that would be.

In contrast, the current constitution is a market-friendly document that favours the private sector over the state in aspects like education, pensions and health care. It also makes no reference to the country's Indigenous population, which makes up almost 13 per cent of the population.

Volkswagen boards to discuss Porsche listing on Monday

LA Auto Show in Los Angeles

Sat, September 3, 2022 
By Victoria Waldersee

BERLIN (Reuters) -Volkswagen's management and supervisory boards will meet on Monday to discuss whether the long-anticipated listing of sports car brand Porsche should go ahead in late September or early October, the carmaker said on Saturday.

A decision will also be made on whether Volkswagen approves of the sale of 25% plus one share of ordinary shares in Porsche AG to Porsche SE, as laid out in a framework agreement by the two parties in February.

That would give the Porsche and Piech families, which control Porsche SE, a blocking minority - a step that would bolster their push for greater control of the carmaker that was founded by their ancestor Ferdinand Porsche in 1931.



Porsche SE, which owns 31.4% of Volkswagen and holds 53.3% of voting rights, confirmed Monday's meeting in a separate statement, adding that the listing's launch was still subject to market developments and further board discussions.

Under the framework deal https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-top-shareholder-strike-framework-deal-porsche-ipo-2022-02-24/ reached in February, 25% of preference shares will be sold on the open market, equal to just 12.5% of Porsche's total capital.

Even that could raise up to 10.6 billion euros ($10.55 billion) if the brand's valuation reaches the higher end of investor estimates at about 85 billion euros, according to Reuters calculations.

That would make the listing among the largest in German history and the biggest in Europe since Enel SpA in 1999, according to Refinitiv data.

Ordinary shares, which would be solely owned by Volkswagen and Porsche SE under the plans, would not be publicly listed.

Some investors have questioned the timing of a stock market debut that would test the appeal of Europe's largest automaker at a time when the valuations of leading companies have shrunk amid the instability of war and record energy costs.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that the shareholder families are putting their interests first," said Henrik Schmidt, governance expert at Volkswagen investor DWS.

($1 = 1.0049 euros)

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Victoria WalderseeEditing by Helen Popper)

FTC wants more information on Amazon's One Medical purchase


Ken Martin
Sat, September 3, 2022 

The first Amazon deal made under new CEO Andy Jassy is getting Federal Trade Commission scrutiny.

In question is Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of the primary health organization One Medical.

The investigation could delay the completion of the deal.

A request for additional information was received by both One Medical and Amazon on Friday in connection with an FTC review of the merger, according to a filing made with securities regulators by One Medical's parent, San Francisco-based 1Life Healthcare Inc.

AMAZON TO ACQUIRE ONE MEDICAL FOR ABOUT $3.9B

In recent years, Amazon has been making a push into health care.

It purchased acquisition of the online pharmacy PillPack for $750 million in 2018.

Amazon announced plans in late July to buy One Medical, a concierge-type medical service with roughly 190 medical offices in 25 markets.

AMAZON SHUTTING DOWN ITS HYBRID VIRTUAL, IN-HOME CARE SERVICE

Last week, the e-commerce giant said it would shut down its own hybrid virtual in-home care service called Amazon Care, a One Medical competitor, because it wasn’t meeting customers' needs.

Groups calling for stricter antitrust regulations quickly urged the FTC to block the One Medical merger, arguing it would further expand the company’s massive market power.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

The FTC has already been investigating the sign-up and cancellation practices of Amazon Prime and has issued civil subpoenas in that case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.