Oil and Gas Watch

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.

Brendan Gibbons

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.

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

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

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.

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.