News Articles

/
Ari Phillips
/
May 29, 2025

PA bill would penalize local governments that move fracking away from homes

A bill that passed out of a key Pennsylvania Senate committee on May 7 would withhold funds meant to offset the impacts of oil and gas drilling from municipalities that pass ordinances increases setbacks from homes. These “impact fees” are collected from the fracking industry and typically go towards improvements to roads and other infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and environmental protection programs.

/
Brendan Gibbons
/
May 21, 2025

States sue over Trump 'energy emergency' order that fast-tracks wetlands destruction

On May 9, states led by Washington and California sued the administration over the order issued on President Donald Trump’s first day in office. The administration has used the order to speed up hundreds of permit applications to fill streams and alter wetlands for energy, mining, and construction projects, among other environmental reviews. The order came despite record-high oil and gas production in the U.S. under the Biden Administration.

/
Brendan Gibbons
/
May 14, 2025

Company announces major shakeup of controversial Louisiana hydrogen plant

A controversial hydrogen production plant planned in Louisiana is on hold as the company considers divesting from plans to make ammonia and capture carbon from the facility and bury it under a wildlife refuge and fishing area. The project is part of a wave of proposed hydrogen production facilities planned across the U.S., most of which would use natural gas combined with carbon capture meant to keep the resulting carbon dioxide (CO2) from reaching the atmosphere.

/
Tom Pelton
/
May 8, 2025

In an ironic twist, drilling has declined under Trump’s “Drill, Baby, Drill”

Despite recent announcements that the Trump Administration will accelerate environmental reviews for energy projects, drilling in the U.S. is down slightly so far under Trump. The number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. is down about 4 percent in the first quarter of the year, compared to the first quarter of 2024 under former President Joe Biden. The number of wells drilled and wells completed—meaning oil and gas have begun flowing—are both down 2 percent.

/
Ari Phillips
/
April 30, 2025

California pipeline that burst in 2015 is now being rebuilt against state orders

The California Coastal Commission recently issued an $18.2 million fine against a Texas-based company for unpermitted construction on a pipeline network that has been dormant since a major spill in 2015. The network of pipelines connects to three offshore oil platforms called the Santa Ynez Unit and was the source of the Refugio Oil Spill, which released more than 100,000 gallons, caused significant environmental damage to about 150 miles of coastline, shut down beaches for two months, and killed over 550 seabirds.

/
Ari Phillips
/
April 24, 2025

America's largest gas plant grows out of artificial intelligence's hunger for power

After the smokestacks and cooling towers that served Pennsylvania’s largest coal plant were torn down last month, an enormous gas-fired power plant was announced at the site about an hour east of Pittsburgh. If completed, it will become America’s largest methane-powered electric generation facility – and a continuing source of greenhouse gas emissions. More than 200 proposed natural gas power plants have been announced recently across the U.S. to help power the AI data center market.

/
Brendan Gibbons
/
April 10, 2025

Industry lobbyists seek two-year break from limits on cancer-causing pollution from 218 facilities nationwide

Organizations representing heavily polluting industries are taking advantage of the Trump Administration’s offer to exempt them from hazardous air pollution control rules for two years. The rules apply to 218 facilities that make up some of the largest petrochemical complexes in the U.S. Exempting companies from these rules could expose the public to more than 12 million pounds per year of hazardous air pollutants – chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other serious health problems, based on an EPA estimate in April 2024. ‍

/
Brendan Gibbons
/
April 3, 2025

Hundreds of landowners in the path of gas pipeline projects planned across Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia

In Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama, the Houston-based Kinder Morgan is in the early stages of seeking authorization for a 279-mile pipeline called the South System Expansion 4 project, which would mostly run parallel to existing, decades-old pipelines owned by Southern Natural Gas, a Kinder Morgan subsidiary. In Mississippi and Alabama, Kinder Morgan has submitted initial plans for a new 206-mile long pipeline that would cross through some of the poorest counties in the state. The Mississippi Crossing project would stretch from Choctaw County in Alabama to Washington County in Mississippi, cutting east-to-west and including the construction of three compressor stations.

/
Ari Phillips
/
March 27, 2025

New York State ignites protests by clearing way for its first major fossil fuel project in nearly a decade

On Feb. 7, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Department of Environmental Conservation issued permits to expand the capacity of two compressor stations that force methane through the 33-year-old Iroquois Pipeline, which carries fuel from the Canadian border through upstate New York, Connecticut, and Long Island to New York City. The announcement drew immediate ire from the state’s environmental community, which has been advocating to move the Democratic-majority state away from fossil fuels as a strategy to combat climate change.

/
Brendan Gibbons
/
March 13, 2025

Congress repeals oil and gas methane pollution fee, costing taxpayers $7.2 billion

On Feb. 27, Congress passed legislation killing a charge on waste methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. At a time when the Trump Administration is firing thousands of federal workers, allegedly to save taxpayer money, eliminating the pollution control fee will cost taxpayers $7.2 billion in uncollected revenue from the oil & gas industry over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

/
Brendan Gibbons
/
March 6, 2025

Trump’s move to shortcut bedrock environmental law will lead to more delays, experts say

Over the past few weeks, the Trump Administration has taken aim at the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws. Trump and Republicans have said they want to cut bureaucratic red tape and speed up permitting for big projects, such as pipelines, fuel export terminals, and electricity transmission lines. But legal experts say the move will likely only sow confusion and slow the process down.

/
Tom Pelton
/
February 27, 2025

Greenland’s mineral and oil riches and their draw on President Trump

President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the U.S. should buy or seize Greenland – the largest island in the world, and part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally. The island contains vast reserves of oil, uranium, and rare earth minerals, used in electric cars, cell phones, batteries, and computers. A recent poll found that 85 percent of Greenlanders do not want to become part of the U.S., with only 6 percent indicating they were in favor of joining America, and 45 percent viewing Trump’s words as a threat.

/
Tom Pelton
/
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.

/
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.

/
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.