Across the country, natural gas utilities and their lobby, the American Gas Association, are lobbying state legislatures to adopt laws preempting cities and municipalities from banning new natural gas infrastructure in order to combat climate change. Preemption laws are an anti-majoritarian tool increasingly used by business lobbying groups and conservative lawmakers to stem grassroots progressive momentum. Gas Industry Lobbies In …
Pneumatic controllers, second-largest source of oil and gas industry emissions in basin
Some in the industry estimate the policy could cut emissions of methane, ozone-causing chemicals and volatile organic compounds by as much as 33% at retrofitted well sites. Colorado has more than 52,000 active wells in oil and natural gas fields. Big, multiwell locations that produce high volumes of oil and gas can have 50 pneumatic controllers or more, while a …
Gov. Polis claims Colorado has already achieved a 40% GHG reduction ahead of milestones
And thus that analysis provided by third-party entities on Colorado’s lack of progress and need to phase out coal by 2025 or stop expanding fossil fuel production are irrelevant… Polis did say the roadmap calls on the Public Utilities Commission, for example, to make the target 80% reduction in electric power emissions by 2030 a “floor” rather than the ceiling, and Polis …
Zombie mines idle cleanup while workers suffer in limbo
https://publicintegrity.org/environment/while-zombie-mines-idle-cleanup-and-workers-suffer-in-limbo/, excerpt 2020 U.S. coal production has fallen by a third in the past decade, and temporary cessation has emerged as an escape route for cash-strapped owners. One in five non-abandoned coal mines now sits idle. Hoops’ companies have idled coal operations more often and for longer than nearly anyone, and the Blackjewel and Revelation bankruptcy proceedings offer a master …
No Debate, Most Oil Shale Is Doomed. Meanwhile, FF bankruptcy filings show funding of climate change denialism
Oct. 27, 2020 Seeking Alpha.com by Kirk Spano https://seekingalpha.com/article/4381730-no-debate-oil-shale-is-doomed Shale has huge competition to fill remaining oil demand. Zero cash takeovers for Permian producers is a very bad signal for the rest of the industry. Debt-laden shale companies simply cannot pay down debt at likely demand and prices – a last wave of bankruptcies and takeunders is coming. There might …
Methane is more dangerous than carbon dioxide — the gas index can help
Gas-burning stoves and ovens create indoor air pollution, with nitrogen dioxide — a toxic gas — rising to dangerous levels, three times what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved for outdoor air. And as Rocky Mountain Institute researchers documented, indoor air pollution from gas stoves is particularly detrimental to children, leading to learning deficits, increased risk of asthma, aggravated respiratory systems, increased susceptibility …
State ramps up detection of abandoned oil, gas wells
https://poststar.com/content/tncms/live/, Dec 2020 ALBANY — A partnered state effort announced earlier this month is leveraging new drone technology and magnetic surveillance to spot abandoned oil and gas wells statewide. To date, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has located more than 2,000 orphan wells that can continue to release methane into the atmosphere. Those well assessments have been based on …
Just recovery policies
Foundations for a Just Recovery Many of the policy solutions we advocate for a just recovery are cross-cutting by nature. They aim to shift mindsets, cultural norms, how people are treated, how our voices are heard, and how bedrock environmental laws are upheld, creating an overarching structure from which to fight for social, environmental, and economic justice. Honor those whose …
How The Fracking Revolution Is Killing the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry
December 2020, DeSmog – The U.S. oil and gas industry is still producing large amounts of oil and gas by fracking — and it continues to lose money doing it. The companies that are doing this have taken on large amounts of debt to make this happen. Paying off debt is also made more difficult when there are fewer and fewer strong producing sites. …
Denver has the 4th worst air quality of large urban aras in the US
January 28, 2020, CBS Local, Denver https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/01/28/denver-brown-cloud-air-pollution/ Denver is ranking in the top five in the U.S. when it comes to poor air quality. That’s according to a new report from an auto insurance company that analyzed data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The report from buyautoinsurance.com found that the Denver metro area had an average of 274 days of moderate or …