News Articles
What House Republicans have planned for the oil and gas industry
After a messy confirmation process for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican leadership signaled a plan to introduce bills that would boost oil and gas production and speed the permitting process for pipelines and other large facilities. In an event last week with the American Petroleum Institute, House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said legislators are working on a “package of bills” that would “secure American energy.”
Stalemate at FERC could stall Biden clean energy plan, landowner rights reform
Willie Phillips, who’s served on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission since December 2021, will become the new acting chair of the commission, or FERC, an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of gas and electricity. Advocates say FERC need reforms to strengthen landowner rights and accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels. However, Phillips' nomination and the departure of former chair Richard Glick mean the commission is split 2-2 among Republicans and Democrats.
Houston Ship Channel dredging for oil, chemical industry includes plan to dump toxic sediment in minority neighborhoods
Massive disposal areas for material dredged from the ship channel are common sights in the industrial neighborhoods in east Houston. Another million cubic yards of sediment – enough to fill one and a half football stadiums – is headed to the area because of Project 11, the latest plan to deepen and widen the channel to make room for more cargo ships, including oil and chemical tankers. Recent sampling shows the dredge material is loaded with contaminants, raising concerns about residents' exposure to toxic sediment.
Mitsubishi seeks tens of millions in Louisiana tax breaks for largest plastics plant of its kind
The more than $1 billion methyl methacrylate plant, which could receive up to $168 million over 10 years in local property tax breaks alone, would emit hundreds of tons per year of air pollution in an area where cancer risk from toxic air pollution is already three times the U.S. average. The company has said its decision to build in Geismar, Louisiana, was influenced by the availability of natural gas, a key ingredient in the manufacturing process.
No plastics panacea: chemical recycling causes pollution, promotes waste
Global plastic waste more than doubled from 2000 to 2019 and global plastics production is expected to increase by 40 percent over the next decade, as the fossil fuel industry rushes to build new petrochemical plants that turn fracked gas into plastic. While the public grows increasingly concerned about plastics pollution, the fossil fuel industry and its allies are marketing a false solution: chemical recycling. Despite serious health and safety concerns, states have approved 14 chemical recycling projects across the U.S. since 2016.
Why the EPA says new oil and gas regulations will cut methane emissions 87%
Earlier this month, the U.S. announced sweeping new restrictions on methane from the oil and gas sector. The proposal would require equipment upgrades, better monitoring at all well sites, and a program that would allow third parties to report 'super emitters.' The agency says the proposal will yield $3.1 to $3.2 billion per year in net economic benefits because of avoided climate disruption and is accepting comments on the proposals until Feb. 23, 2023.
Chemical plants in TX, LA exceed EPA action level for cancer-causing benzene
Air pollution monitors outside a pair of chemical manufacturing plants in Louisiana and Texas suggest that they have been releasing benzene, a known carcinogen, into nearby communities above an EPA action level that is supposed to trigger investigations and cleanup. Monitors at ExxonMobil's chemical plant in Beaumont, Texas, and a Shell Chemical facility in Norco, Louisiana, show levels significantly higher than the EPA's action level for benzene. More than 32,000 people live within three miles of these facilities.
How a woman of faith stopped the world's biggest plastics factory
Despite having little money and struggling with the death of close friends to illness in a part of Louisiana known as “Cancer Alley,” Sharon Lavigne has fought tenaciously against Formosa Plastics' “Sunshine Project.” In September, a Louisiana judge ruled in her favor in one of the biggest David vs. Goliath court battles in American history. A woman of strong Catholic faith, Lavigne says the decision to fight wasn’t hers, but God’s.
Drilling for digital dollars? Oil and gas sites catching on with crypto miners
Wyoming legislators earlier this year passed a law to provide tax incentives for cryptocurrency mines next to oil and gas drilling sites. Texas and other states may follow. The idea is for the centers to burn waste gas to supply their vast energy needs, instead of venting or flaring climate-warming methane. But critics warn that tax breaks for cryptocurrency mining at drilling sites would provide a financial incentive for drilling in more marginally productive areas. This would mean yet more drilling and more air and water pollution and more methane leaks.
Is hydrogen fuel worse for the climate than coal? It all depends on how it’s made
Hydrogen fuel can be produced by using only water as a basic ingredient and energy from wind and solar. In theory, when it is made this way, hydrogen is a clean fuel -- although a very expensive one -- that emits no carbon dioxide when burned, only water. But most hydrogen fuel today is not so clean, because it is produced using natural gas or coal. Companies are planning to build or expand at least 29 of these kinds of fossil-fuel hydrogen plants across the U.S., and one recent study concluded this kind of fuel is worse for the climate than coal or oil.
Pipeline routes now available on Oil and Gas Watch database
There are over 3 million miles of pipelines for natural gas, oil, and other petroleum products in the U.S., and over 7,000 miles of new pipelines are planned or under construction. In recent years, community groups, driven by concerns about oil spills, water pollution, explosions, and eminent domain, have challenged several pipeline projects. To make public information about pipeline projects more accessible, Oil & Gas Watch is now providing maps and public records about proposed pipeline routes in our online database.
Houston’s Parras family has made the pursuit of environmental justice their lives’ work
For more than 30 years, Juan and Ana Parras have been working to draw attention to the disproportionate share of pollution sites located in minority communities. First getting their start as union organizers, they founded their organization, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, or t.e.j.a.s., after a campaign in Louisiana that altered the course of their work forever.
Study: Air pollution from oil and gas flares severely underestimated
Flaring is the process of burning away natural gas and contaminants by energy companies eager to harvest the more valuable associated crude oil. A new study estimates that flares are releasing 43 million more tons per year of methane than currently estimated – the greenhouse gas equivalent of almost 3 million cars and trucks. A stark example of how much air pollution can come from flares can be found near the West Texas town of Crane.
Sen. Manchin pulls environmental permitting 'reform' bill from stopgap funding legislation
With the clock ticking on a possible government shutdown on Friday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin late today pulled from a stopgap funding bill his proposed legislation that would fast-track permitting reviews of major energy projects. Manchin made the move after failing to receive support from Republicans and some Democrats for his “Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022.”
Plastics industry boom brings flood of new ethylene “cracker” plants, despite frequent environmental violations
The plastics industry in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent years, including a massive buildout of chemical plants called ethane crackers that turn fracked gas into ethylene -- one of the primary building blocks of plastics and petrochemicals. By the end of 2022, ethylene will be made at 34 facilities in the U.S., up from 27 in 2015. Eighteen of these 34 plants have been designated by EPA as “high priority violators” of the Clean Air Act.
