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Ari Phillips
/
October 1, 2026

Controversial West Virginia chemical plastics ‘recycling’ plant gets permit over local objections

In response to lobbying by the industry, 24 states, including West Virginia, have passed legislation reclassifying chemical plastics "recycling" not as waste incineration but as a kind of manufacturing, which requires less strict environmental standards. The Trump Administration is working to exempt these plants from being subjected to Clean Air Act limits for cancer-causing air pollution.

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October 1, 2026
Trump Administration weakens fuel efficiency standards for new cars and trucks

With the war with Iran continuing to drive up U.S. fuel prices, the Trump Administration softened vehicle efficiency rules for automakers this week.

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October 1, 2026
Company plans 300-mile pipeline in Louisiana to supply LNG terminal expansion

A subsidiary of liquified natural gas exporter Venture Global is planning a 294-mile pipeline to an LNG export terminal south of New Orleans.

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October 1, 2026
Meeting planned Oct. 6 on 140-mile natural gas pipeline in southern Arizona

A business group planning to import more U.S. natural gas to Mexico is planning a new pipeline across sensitive desert landscapes in southern Arizona.

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News Articles

Brendan Gibbons
/
September 24, 2026

In the wake of a petrochemical boom, companies now plan layoffs for thousands of workers

Chemical companies that are major U.S. plastics manufacturers – including Dow, Westlake, and Eastman – have said they are trimming their workforces by thousands of employees this year. All three of these petrochemical companies are laying off workers even as profits are up. Executies and stockholders are doing well while they terminate their workers, in part because technology allows companies to produce more chemicals with fewer employees.

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Brendan Gibbons
/
September 17, 2026

U.S. quadruples production of natural gas liquids, the main ingredient in plastic

Over the past two decades, the U.S. has also seen a dramatic growth in production of lesser known “wet” varieties of natural gas. “Wet” gas is methane mixed with hydrocarbon liquids such as ethane and propane that are collectively known as natural gas liquids. Natural gas liquid production has more than quadrupled in the U.S. from 1.7 million barrels in 2005 to 7.5 million barrels per day in 2025, a 338 percent increase, according to a fact sheet on natural gas liquids compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project

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Ari Phillips
/
September 10, 2026

The Trump Administration wants to give Alaska oil and gas developers a free pass

The Interior Department is preparing a new categorical exclusion that would allow certain Arctic oil and gas development activities in Alaska to proceed without the usual project-specific environmental review. This is the latest effort by the Trump Administration to expand oil and gas development across Alaska’s North Slope.

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Brendan Gibbons
/
September 3, 2026

Ironically, New England gets a larger share of its power from natural gas than Texas, America’s gas production capital

Rhode Island, Delaware, and Massachusetts are the three most natural gas-dependent states in the U.S., where the fossil fuel – a potent source of climate-warming pollution – makes up the highest percentage of their electricity generation portfolios, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The reason these states rank so high relates to the availability of cleaner solar and wind power in the Northeast, how states share electricity across state lines, and – more recently – opposition from the Trump Administration to offshore wind projects.

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In Depth Reports

The Lone Star State’s Gas Plant Boom

A wave of 130 natural gas power plant projects in the Lone Star State, proposed in part to feed the artificial intelligence boom, could release as much greenhouse gas pollution as 27 million cars and trucks driving for a year, according to a report from the Environmental Integrity Project.

Pollution from Oil Refineries with Outdated Boilers and Heaters

The Environmental Integrity Project examined publicly available data and records for the 20 petroleum refineries in the U.S. that reported emitting the most greenhouse gases in 2023. Out of the refinery boilers and heaters with age information, 87 percent of these units (739 of 845) are outdated.

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.

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