News Articles
Ten long-delayed LNG export terminals could lose approvals under new policy
In a policy statement published April 21, the Department of Energy said that it will no longer consider applications for extensions to the current deadline of seven years between when a company receives government permits to export LNG and when exports must actually begin, or risk losing their permit approvals.
Ten years after West Texas explosion, booming fertilizer industry poses risks to environment and public safety
At a time when the nitrogen fertilizer industry is growing rapidly across the U.S., federal records show little has been done over the last decade to prevent disasters like the 2013 explosion at a fertilizer storage facility in West, Texas, that killed 15 people. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board and others have urged the EPA to add ammonium nitrate to the list of highly hazardous chemicals that would require better disaster planning, but EPA has refused. In the 10 years since the Texas explosion, ammonium nitrate has been involved in at least 106 spills or accidental releases across the U.S., seven fires, five evacuations, and two deaths.
Texas lawmakers aim to exempt oil & gas projects from school property taxes, but not clean energy
Texas legislators are considering a bill that would give fossil fuel companies – but not clean energy – huge breaks on the property taxes they pay to local school districts, narrowing a previous tax incentive program for energy projects that expired last year. Under the old program, called Chapter 313, almost three quarters of the $12.3 billion in tax benefits went to manufacturing projects, including for the oil and gas and petrochemical industry, while 26 percent went to clean energy projects.
Permitting reform could still rise from the ashes of 'dead on arrival' House GOP energy package
With Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, most of the provisions in the energy package passed by the Republican-controlled U.S. House won’t make it into law anytime soon. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats have signaled that they could be open to a narrower discussion on “permitting reform” to streamline the process of approving major energy projects such as pipelines, fuel export terminals, and electrical transmission lines.
American households could be left in the cold as gas exports skyrocket
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry is growing faster than ever. Three new projects to build or expand liquefaction capacity were announced during the first three months of 2023 alone, along with major financial milestones reached in March on another two projects. That’s on top of the 27 new or expanding LNG terminals already in the pipeline. If all these projects materialize, they would triple the sector’s liquefaction capacity to more than four times the amount that Americans used in 2022 to run gas stoves, heat and cool their homes, warm their water, and run other gas-fueled appliances.
West Texas home to most repeat violators detailed in illegal pollution report
An Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) report issued March 23 reveals that 17 out of the 20 worst repeat offenders in the state for air pollution released during industrial accidents or “upsets” are in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the world’s most prolific oil-producing region. Of the 17 Permian Basin sites with the worst chronic emissions, only seven of them faced fines over the six-year period studied in the EIP report.
Opening of new plastics plant brings glowing orange clouds and repeated pollution violations
Residents of a western Pennsylvania county learned that Shell's new plastics plant had begun operating from the orange glowing clouds in the night sky, illuminated by blazing flares. Community concerns about the strange lights and sounds from the new plant, which transforms natural gas into tiny pellets used to make soda bottles and other single-use plastic goods, turned out to be based on more than just appearances. State records show 34 malfunctions at the new Shell Monaca plant, and 14 violations, including for exceeding permitted levels of smog-forming air pollutants.
After East Palestine, the slow-moving train wreck of petrochemical pollution deserves more attention nationally
Following the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz blasted President Biden for not visiting the scene of the accident. Cruz claimed that “Democrats don’t give a damn about East Palestine." He failed to mention a similar chemical catastrophe outside his own city, Houston. On Nov. 27, 2019, a series of explosions ripped through the Texas Petrochemicals Port Neches plant, spewing carcinogens into the air and requiring the evacuation of thousands of people. Cruz never demanded that then-President Trump make an appearance in Texas to show his concern for petrochemical pollution, which is a serious national issue.
Wave of new oil export terminals looms over Gulf Coast
The approval off the Sea Port Oil Terminal 35 miles off the coast of Texas marks the beginning of what could be a wave of five massive new deepwater oil export terminals along the Gulf Coast that service oil tankers over 1,000 feet in length. In the eight years since Congress lifted a long-time ban on crude oil exports, the U.S. has gone from barely exporting any fossil fuels to offloading millions of barrels of oil per day.
Proposed LNG export terminals threaten 21,000 acres of wetlands, many in Louisiana
According to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission data, 27 LNG export terminal construction or expansion projects that are proposed or already underway threaten 21,205 acres of wetlands – or 34 square miles, which is roughly half the size of Washington, D.C. Southwest Louisiana is a hotspot for LNG construction, with 10 LNG terminals built or proposed so far.
Ozone drifting into small-town New Mexico from Texas oil & gas industry
A new analysis by Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) shows that when air quality monitors in Carlsbad show spikes in pollution, it’s often because the wind is blowing in from Texas. The monitors record levels of ozone, a key component of smog that’s linked to chronic conditions such as asthma and heart disease. Texas does not have any official monitors on its side of the Permian Basin, despite having a much larger population in harm’s way.
The other big fossil fuel project the Biden Administration is pushing in Alaska
A controversial and much-discussed Alaska drilling proposal known as the Willow Project isn't the only energy project in the state with potentially serious consequences. The Biden Administration is also backing a controversial 870-mile natural gas pipeline that would deliver 3.9 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Alaska’s North Slope to a southern liquefaction and export terminal. From there, the gas would be shipped primarily to Japan and elsewhere in Asia.
New study: Refineries under-reported benzene emissions by as much as 28-fold
Data collected by fenceline benzene monitors suggest that some refineries may have been significantly under-estimating and underreporting their emissions for years. That means neighborhoods downwind could have been facing higher risks of cancer than long thought. New research looks specifically at three refineries – Chevron and LyondellBasell's refineries in the Houston area and a HollyFrontier refinery in Artesia, New Mexico.
Report exposes vast amounts of unregulated water pollution from oil refineries
A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project reveals that, across the U.S., 81 refineries discharge a half billion gallons of wastewater a day directly into waterways. That's as much as 712 Olympic swimming pools every 24 hours. The federal Clean Water Act requires EPA to set limits for pollutants from industrial sources and update them at least every five years as treatment technologies improve. But EPA has never set any limits for refinery discharges of many pollutants.
Direct air carbon capture sets up shop in the oilfields of Texas
A subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum – one of the largest oil producers in the country – is taking advantage of billions of federal decarbonization dollars up for grabs under new government subsidy programs to invest in climate tech solutions to global warming. Meanwhile, Occidental will still be pumping out oil and gas responsible for heating the atmosphere. It is simultaneously profiting from both fossil fuel extraction and carbon capture.
