Massachusetts may become just the third state, after California and New York, to begin planning for a managed decline of its conventional natural gas industry and gas in new buildings

According to the petition, the DPU should examine the investment needed to ensure a safe and reliable gas system over the next 30 years, while gas demand declines. The AG’s Office also urges the DPU to examine whether there are other cost-effective alternatives to traditional gas infrastructure investment that may be better aligned with the state’s climate goals. The AG’s …

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 …

Auto industry (except Tesla) spends an average $1,000 per vehicle in advertising

Posted July 15, 2016 by Charles Morris & filed under Newswire, The Vehicles. Elon Musk has said several times that he rarely thinks about marketing, and that if you build a truly revolutionary product, the marketing will take care of itself. Tesla has followed this philosophy since its founding. It participates in only the largest, most high-profile auto shows, gives access to only a few carefully selected …

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 …

25,000 breaths a day, more for children + Breakthrough Using Carbon-14 to Estimate National Emissions of Carbon Dioxide From Fossil Fuels

By NOAA JUNE 1, 2020 The study team used measurements of atmospheric CO2 and its radiocarbon content (Δ14C) to ‘unmask’ the contribution of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and cement production to the observed total. This map shows concentrations of CO2 across the US in the summer of 2010. Credit: Sourish Basu, CIRE Tracking Fossil Fuel Emissions With Carbon-14 Researchers from NOAA …

Gas-Friendly States Are Passing Laws Barring Bans or Restrictions on Natural Gas

Gas-Friendly States Are Passing Laws Barring Bans or Restrictions on Natural Gas (Bloomberg) States friendly to oil and gas development are trying to stop more local governments from banning natural gas connections in favor of electric hookups, which are seen as more climate-friendly, Bloomberg Law reports. Lawmakers in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arizona have all recently passed, or signed into …

Around 30 cities in California have passed building codes that reduce their reliance on gas. Report looks at stranded assets.

Utility Dive, 11 June 2020 Around 30 cities in California have passed building codes that reduce their reliance on gas, according to the Sierra Club, the most recent being Santa Cruz, which in March passed an ordinance to “eliminate natural gas infrastructure and associated greenhouse gas emissions in new buildings where all-electric infrastructure can be most practicably integrated.” But while it’s “fantastic” that …