THE BUSINESS JOURNALS Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest power provider, told state regulators it’s not ready to electrify large numbers of big gas-fueled stationary engines that pressurize natural gas distribution pipelines and oil and gas wells in the state — at least not on the timeline proposed to Colorado air quality regulators by the National Parks Conservation Association. The engines in …
As natural gas bans go national, can cities fill the gap? Regulators need to examine how to wind down utilities’ gas businesses
Fossil fuels burned in residential and commercial buildings contributed to 28,200 premature deaths in the U.S. in 2018, according to a February study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that was published in the journal Nature (E&E News PM, Feb. 12) David Iaconangelo, E&E News reporterPublished: Monday, August 3, 2020 Building electrification strategies are gaining strength nationally to improve efficiency and cut …
Gas companies fighting back against cities and states preparing for gas phase-out in new construction, sometimes with money from cities and customers, paid into gas trade associations
In a nationwide blitz, gas companies and their allies fight climate efforts that they consider an existential threat to their business. By Emily Holden in Washington, in The Guardian, 20 Aug 2020 When progressive Seattle decided last year to wipe out its climate pollution within the decade, the city council vote in favor was unsurprisingly unanimous, and the easiest first step …
Oil and gas groups block briefing for officials on health impacts of drilling: Commission agrees to postpone presentation ahead of key health and safety rulemaking
By Chase Woodruff -August 19, 2020 Colorado’s five new oil and gas commissioners were set to hear a presentation from state officials on the health impacts of drilling this week — but oil and gas interest groups objected, and the commission agreed to cancel the briefing. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission chair Jeff Robbins noted the decision at the beginning of …
Study Links Fracking, Flaring to 50 percent More Preterm Births: Before 37 weeks of gestation, such incomplete development raises a baby’s chance of numerous disorders, even death
NYTimes, July 23, 2020, https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP6394 Pregnant women who lived near areas where flaring is common had 50 percent greater odds of giving birth prematurely than those who did not. These births occurred before 37 weeks of gestation, when incomplete development raises a baby’s chance of numerous disorders, even death. Expectant mothers who lived near flaring sites had higher odds of …
Methane mapping with satellite imaging spectrometers
Methane Mapping with Future Satellite Imaging Spectrometers, by Alana K. Ayasse et al. alanaayasse@ucsb.edu. Also Dar Robers, dar@geog.ucsb.edu, Philip Dennison, dennison@geog.utah.edu, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA: Andrew.K.Thorpe@jpl.nasa.gov (A.K.T.); robert.o.green@jpl.nasa.gov (R.O.G.); riley.m.duren@jpl.nasa.gov (R.M.D.); David.R.Thompson@jpl.nasa.gov (D.R.T.) and at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, Univ of Utah, SLC markus.foote@utah.edu (M.F.); sjoshi@sci.utah.edu (S.J.) https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/24/3054/pdf In the coming …
‘Resounding’ Win for Public Health and Climate as Judge Blocks Trump Attempt to Gut Methane Restrictions
The rule requiring oil and gas companies to prevent wasteful venting and leaking of methane on public lands will go back into effect in 90 days. Given that methane can cause over 80 times more warming than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, environmentalists celebrated the ruling as a significant victory for the climate. In Common Dreams, by Jake Johnson, Jul. 18, …
Extraction Oil & Gas lost control of its midstream subsidiary as it tumbled into Chapter 11 bankruptcy
By Greg Avery – Senior Reporter, Denver Business Journal Extraction Oil & Gas lost ownership of a midstream pipeline subsidiary worth hundreds of millions of dollars just before Extraction’s slide into bankruptcy. And the Denver-based oil company may have to pay its former business tens of millions of dollars for infrastructure north of the Denver metro area, company bankruptcy and U.S. Securities and Exchange …
Pennsylvania attorney general files 15 criminal charges against fracking company Cabot
Associated Press, June 22, 2020 A contractor for the Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. collects a water sample from a resident’s home in Dimock, Pa. on Feb. 13, 2012 (Photo: Associated Press) A court could finally determine if well water pollution in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania’s, fracking Ground Zero is naturally occurring or the result of bad practices by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. The …
New rules double the minimum length a well must be cased to 10% of its depth and also increases the amount of cement used, and require pressure testing annually
Jun 11, 2020 by Mark Jaffe, Colorado Sun, Every oil and gas well in Colorado must be pressure tested annually under new rules passed by regulators Colorado regulators Wednesday adopted new rules to guard the integrity of oil and gas wells and protect groundwater resources — rules industry and environmental groups both called the most comprehensive in the country. The …