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 …
Millions of abandoned oil wells are leaking methane
Special Report: Millions of abandoned oil wells are leaking methane, a climate menace by Nichola Groom, Reuters, 16 June 2020 SALYERSVILLE, Kentucky (Reuters) – In May 2012, Hanson and Michael Rowe noticed an overpowering smell, like rotten eggs, seeping from an abandoned gas well on their land in Kentucky. The fumes made the retired couple feel nauseous, dizzy, and short …
The level of methane in the atmosphere has risen dramatically in the last decade. It heats the planet 86x more intensely than CO2 over a 20 year period. The fingerprints are on fracking and gas power.
According to new research by Cornell natural gas production is responsible for two-thirds of the sizeable rise in global methane emissions between 2008 and 2014 – with shale gas produced by fracking accounting for more than half of this increase. Multiple stages of the fracking process, in which shale rock is fractured to release trapped oil or gas, result in …
Indoor Air Pollution: the Link between Climate and Health: The combustion emissions from the building sector now contributes to the largest share (37 percent) of premature deaths associated with air pollution
The combustion emissions from the building sector now contributes to the largest share (37 percent) of premature deaths associated with air pollution, compared to other sectors like transport, industry, and power generation. May 5, 2020 | By Brady Seals, RMI As a global pandemic shines a new light on health, air pollution, and the disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations, it exposes the …
America’s energy independence was an illusion created by cheap debt. All that’s left to tally is the damage
Coronavirus May Kill Our Fracking Fever Dream, NYT, April 10, 2020 In the five years ending in April, there were 215 bankruptcies for oil and gas companies, involving $130 billion in debt, according to the law firm Haynes and Boone. Moody’s, the rating agency, said that in the third quarter of 2019, 91 percent of defaulted U.S. corporate debt was due …
O&G leaving a mess behind, Warren and Bruenig’s conditions for stimulus
Excerpt from NYTimes, March 2020. The $700 billion bank bailout elicited a voter backlash, which means any aid this time is likely to have large strings attached. Those could include limits on executive compensation, prohibitions on stock buybacks and, most prominent, measures to force bailed out companies to keep workers on their payrolls. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, released an …
In Colorado, outdoor recreation is a $28 billion industry that directly generates 229,000 jobs and has become an intrinsic value among Coloradans, with over 70% of residents participating in outdoor recreation each year. Fossil fuel extraction threatens this.
In Colorado, outdoor recreation is a $28 billion industry that directly generates 229,000 jobs and has become an intrinsic value among Coloradans, with over 70% of residents participating in outdoor recreation each year. However, this booming economic sector, which generates $887 billion in national consumer spending annually, is threatened by the Trump administration’s public lands agenda, which has exacerbated speculative oil and gas …
Benzene Emissions on the Perimeters of Ten Refineries Exceed EPA Limits
The refineries, six of which are in Texas, are required under an EPA rule to find and fix leaks of the known carcinogen to protect nearby communities. Neela Banerjee. Inside Climate News, FEB 6, 2020 An analysis of newly-available federal data measuring benzene emissions at the perimeter of oil refineries found that ten facilities far exceeded limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency …
Why some cities are targeting gas stoves to fight climate change
Why building electrification, and removing gas from new and retrofitted homes, has become a movement By Patrick Sisson Feb 4, 2020 Ever since the Green New Deal became a key talking point and policy goal of progressive politicians last year, there’s been a renewed push to make American homes and buildings better for the environment. For a growing number of municipalities and local leaders, …