Oil and Gas Watch News
Brendan Gibbons
/
February 20, 2025

Wetlands and waterways at risk in Trump Administration’s ‘energy emergency’ permit reviews

Wetlands are critical for filtering drinking water, protecting people from flooding and storm surges, and serving as a breeding ground for valuable fish, shrimp, and crabs. President Trump undermined protections for wetlands earlier this month when – as part of his “energy emergency” executive order – his administration directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform fast-track “emergency” reviews of 688 applications for permits to destroy wetlands or impact waterways across the country. Some of the projects have nothing to do with energy.

News Briefs

February 19, 2025
Department of Energy moves to approve exports from Commonwealth LNG in Louisiana

The approval is the first for an liquified natural gas terminal based in the U.S. since the Biden Administration issued a pause in January 2024.

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February 19, 2025
Agency approves crude oil export terminal off Texas coast

On Feb. 14, the Maritime Administration issued a record of decision that allows the construction of the GulfLink Deepwater Port.

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February 19, 2025
Trump claims power over Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, other independent agencies

In an unprecedented order, the Trump Administration said FERC and other independent agencies must submit all regulations to review by White House officials.

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In Depth Reports

Plastic's Toxic River

The Environmental Integrity Project examined the records of 70 U.S. facilities that make plastics or the main chemical ingredients in plastics and found they discharged almost 12 million pounds in 2023 of total nitrogen and phosphorus.

The Long Shadow of Oil Refinery Waste

The use of an oil refinery waste product, petroleum coke, as an ingredient in metals and other products releases large amounts of health-damaging air pollutants, often in disadvantaged communities.

Flaws in EPA’s Monitoring and Verification of Carbon Capture Projects

The Environmental Integrity Project examined one central component of carbon capture and sequestration regulation in the U.S.: monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) plans required by the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.

News Articles

Brendan Gibbons
/
February 13, 2025

Trump’s proposal to expand offshore drilling is unpopular in key Republican states

President Donald Trump is pushing for an expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling across the U.S., a proposal with a history of opposition even among leaders of the Republican party. Among the 42 executive orders Trump signed on his first day was an attempt to repeal Biden’s Jan. 6 order to protect most U.S. offshore waters from leasing for oil and gas. Biden’s order applied to federal waters in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Alaska and the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico, though Biden allowed oil and gas production to continue in the western and central Gulf.

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Ari Phillips
/
February 6, 2025

Trump’s order to boost drilling called ‘a massive corporate grab of Alaskan resources'

In an executive order released on Day 1 of his presidency, Donald Trump pledged to re-open even more Alaskan lands to oil and gas extraction than during his first term. Alaska has long been a battleground between conservation and resource development, and Trump’s executive action to open the Alaska wilderness to more drilling and industrial development makes clear that those fighting to preserve Alaska’s unique landscape, wildlife, and heritage face a monumental task over the next four years.

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Brendan Gibbons
/
January 30, 2025

In rural Texas, residents speak out against pollution from Chevron Phillips’ plastic plant expansion

During a recent public hearing on the operating permit for an expanding petrochemical complex near this tiny town southwest of Houston, local residents exhorted state officials not to approve the permit for Chevron Phillips Chemical. Neighbors are concerned about the plant’s expansion because of its poor environmental track record. The State of Texas issued 93 environmental violations to the plant over the last six years, according to state records. A proposed permit would allow the company to continue operating while it replaces a furnace and produces more ethylene—a raw ingredient in plastics and other chemicals—increasing several types of air pollution, including sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.

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Tom Pelton
/
January 23, 2025

Trump order to fast-track LNG exports called 'political theater'

In a flurry of Inauguration Day actions to promote his “drill, baby, drill” agenda, President Trump issued an executive order declaring a “national energy emergency.” He also directed the Department of Energy to restart reviews of permits for the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) “as expeditiously as possible.” But experts say there is no factual basis for Trump’s “national energy emergency,” with the amount of oil and gas produced in the U.S. soaring to record-breaking volumes during the Biden Administration. And Presidential orders do not direct the actions of FERC, an independent federal agency that reviews LNG terminals.

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