Appendix: Methodological Notes
UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN GREENHOUSE GAS POLLUTION
United States = 5.83 billion metric tons CO2e in 2019
Canada = 727.43 million metric tons CO2e in 2019
————————————————————–
Total = 6.56 billion metric tons CO2e in 201922
TOTAL GREENHOUSE GAS POLLUTION IMPACT OF FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Our objective is to calculate the scale of the greenhouse gas pollution represented by fossil fuel infrastructure that is facing or has faced Indigenous resistance. Our first assumption is that each project is additional to all other projects where a calculation is being made, similar to the assumption made for gas pipelines in Oil Change International’s Gas Pipeline Climate Methodology.23
Our second assumption is that all calculations made in past years are still accurate. This is likely true for canceled projects, assuming the calculation was relatively near cancellation. This may be less accurate for projects still being fought, if any circumstances of the project — especially project capacity — have changed significantly, although we are not aware of any such major Our third assumption is that the calculation methodology employed for projects that were not directly evaluated by Oil Change International is relatively similar to Oil Change’s methodology; not all outside parties made their methodology available for review.
We do not calculate the impact of fossil fuel storage projects such as Alton Gas — which would have operating emissions in addition to stored fuel — nor extraction basins that are covered by multiple infrastructure projects subject to a mix of wins and losses, and that have speculative future emissions depending on how they are or are not exploited. We confine calculations to pipelines, mines, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, since the Refuge is not connected to any pipelines under consideration and has not been affected by previous fossil fuel infrastructure development.
The designations of Won / Fight / Operating are subjective in some cases, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Dakota Access Pipeline, due to the difficulty of determining when a project is truly defeated and ongoing resistance to operating projects. These designations were made in consultation between the Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, and the frontline resisters involved in directly opposing the fossil fuel projects.
Where a greenhouse gas pollution calculation was not available, we conducted additional calculations. For gas pipelines, emissions were calculated using Oil Change International’s Gas Pipeline Climate Methodology.24 For oil pipelines, we used emissions factors developed from data provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.25 Greenhouse gas pollution from compressor stations and the extraction, processing, and exploration of fossil fuels were not calculated due to a lack of comprehensive information on compression and their likely small contribution to the total.
Projects and areas included in calculation
Project |
Status | Million Metric Tons Annual CO2e Pollution |
Source |
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge |
Won |
61 | Author calculation from americanprogress.org/issues/green/ news/2019/11/20/477495/trumps-energy-policies-put-alaska- climate-crosshairs |
| Atlantic Coast Gas Pipeline | Won | 67 | priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2019/03/ACP-Risk-Upon-Risk.pdf |
Energy East Oil Pipeline |
Won |
236 | priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2017/01/climate_on_the_line_ FINAL-OCI.pdf |
| Jordan Cove LNG Export Terminal & Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline |
Won |
37 |
priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2018/01/JCEP_GHG_Final- Screen.pdf |
Contested projects and areas not included in calculation
Alton Gas Pipeline & Storage Facility
Canadian Tar Sands
Chaco Canyon and San Juan Basin
Permian Basin
Comparison to Coal Plants and Passenger Vehicles
These values were determined using the Environmental Protection Agency calculator.26
SOURCES
Unless otherwise noted, all websites were accessed on May 1, 2021.
- Linda Mapes, “Tribes prevail, kill proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point,” The Seattle Times, May 9, 2016, https://www.seattletimes. com/seattle-news/environment/tribes-prevail-kill-proposed-coal- terminal-at-cherry-point.
- Somaya Jimenez, “Standing Up for The Sacred Black Hills and Native Sovereignty,” Cultural Survival, July 9, 2020, https://www. org/news/standing-sacred-black-hills-and-native- sovereignty.
- Mary C. Hurley, “ABORIGINAL TITLE: THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA DECISION IN DELGAMUUKW BRITISH COLUMBIA,” Parliamentary Research Branch, Publication BP-459E, February 2000, http://www.publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/ bp459-e.htm.
- Mark Trahant, “A judge’s ruling on Standing Rock reinforces treaty rights,” High Country News, June 16, 2017, https://www.hcn.org/ articles/tribal-affairs-standing-rock-treaty-dakota-access-judge- ruling.
- Pelosi Adamson, “Indigenous RightsRisk Report,” First Peoples Worldwide Inc., 2014, https://mahb.stanford.edu/wp-content/ uploads/2014/12/Indigenous-Rights-Risk-Report.pdf.
- “International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” United Nations, December 16 1966, https://www.ohchr.org/en/ professionalinterest/pages/cescr.aspx.
- “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” United Nations, September 13 2007, https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/ documents/DRIPS_en.pdf.
- The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “Free, prior and informed consent: report,” United Nations. August 10 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/ipeoples/emrip/pages/studyfpic. aspx.
- Leigh Paterson, “Tribal Consultation At Heart Of Pipeline Fight,” Inside Energy, September 23, 2016, http://insideenergy. org/2016/09/23/tribal-consultation-at-heart-of-pipeline-fight/.
- Kelsey Landau, “On Indigenous Peoples Day, new ideas for American Indian land rights,” The Brookings Institution, October 14, 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2019/10/14/on-indigenous- peoples-day-new-ideas-for-american-indian-land-rights/.
- “What is Indigenous Sovereignty and Tribal Sovereignty,” Indigenous Environmental Network, https://www.ienearth.org/what-is- indigenous-sovereignty-and-tribal-sovereignty.
- “Free, Prior, and Informed Consent,” Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, http://www.fao.org/indigenous- peoples/our-pillars/fpic/en.
- Alleen Brown, Will Parrish, and Alice Speri, “Leaked Documents Reveal Counterterrorism Tactics Used at Standing Rock to ‘Defeat Pipeline Insurgencies’,” The Intercept, May 27, 2017, https:// theintercept.com/2017/05/27/leaked-documents-reveal-security-firms-counterterrorism-tactics-at-standing-rock-to-defeat-pipeline-insurgencies/.
- “UN human rights expert calls on US to halt construction of North Dakota oil pipeline,” United Nations, https://news.un.org/en/ story/2016/09/541342-un-human-rights-expert-calls-us-halt- construction-north-dakota-oil-pipeline.
- “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples,” United Nations Human Rights Council, A/HRC/37/19, August 10, 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/ IPeoples/SR/A.HRC.39.17.pdf.
- John H. Knox, “Environmental Human Rights Defenders — A Global Crisis,” Universal Rights Group, February 2017, https://www.universal- rights.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/EHRDs.pdf.
- Jonathan Watts and John Vidal, “Environmental defenders being killed in record numbers globally, new research reveals,”
- The Guardian, July 13, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/ environment/2017/jul/13/environmental-defenders-being-killed-in- record-numbers-globally-new-research-reveals.
- Renzo Anselmo, “COICA ante la ONU: ‘Cada dos días muere un defensor en la Amazonía’,” Servindi, April 21, 2021, https://www. servindi.org/actualidad-noticias/21/04/2021/coica-ante-la-onu-cada- dos-dias-muere-un-defensor-indigena.
- “Deadly Environment: the Dramatic rise in Killings of Environmental and land Defenders,” Global Witness, April 15, 2014, https://www. org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/deadly- environment/.
- Benjamin Wachenje, “Defending Tomorrow,” Global Witness, July 29, 2020, https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental- activists/defending-tomorrow/.
- Rhodium Group and Breakthrough Energy, “ClimateDeck,” 2021, https://climatedeck.rhg.com.
- Rhodium Group and Breakthrough Energy, “ClimateDeck.”
- Lorne Stockman, “GAS PIPELINE CLIMATE METHODOLOGY: CALCULATING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOR NATURAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE,” Oil Change International, Winter 2017, http:// priceofoil.org/2017/02/08/gas-pipeline-climate-methodology/
- Lorne Stockman, “GAS PIPELINE CLIMATE METHDOLOGY: CALCULATION GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONSFOR NATURAL GAS ”
- Simon Eggelston, Leandro Buendia, Kyoko Miwa, Todd Ngara, and Kiyoto Tanabe, Editors, “2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories,” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
- Change,” 2006, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/2006-ipcc-guidelines- for-national-greenhouse-gas-inventories/.
- “Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator,” Environmental Protection Agency, March 2021, https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas- equivalencies-calculator.
Indigenous Environmental Network
PO Box 485
Bemidji, MN 56619 www.ienearth.org
Oil Change International
714 G Street SE, Suite 202
Washington, DC 20003 www.priceofoil.org
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