Oil and Gas Watch

Brendan Gibbons

Bills that target the public's right to monitor air pollution are popping up in state legislatures

In 2024, the Louisiana legislature passed a bill that effectively bans community groups from using their own air monitoring to warn residents about pollution or publicly advocate for cleanup action. Industry advocates are pushing similar bills to restrict air pollution monitoring around the country, with Kentucky passing a similar law this year. Legislators in Ohio and West Virginia have also considered bills that would restrict the use of data from local groups doing their own independent air monitoring.

Biden/McCarthy compromise would approve Mountain Valley Pipeline and limit national environmental reviews

To avoid the possibility of the U.S. defaulting on its debts, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday endorsed compromise legislation that requires the federal government to issue all permits needed to “expedite” completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The 303-mile natural gas pipeline through West Virginia and Virginia has been stalled by court challenges but is championed by Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) The bill would also limit environmental reviews of major projects like pipelines, dams, and electric transmission lines across the U.S.

Brendan Gibbons

Three Texas oil & gas industry sites that caught fire had long violation records

The three large refinery and petrochemical facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast that caught fire this month had long track records of environmental compliance problems, including a combined 5,469 violations over a decade but few penalties, according to state records. On May 5, a Shell chemical plant near Houston caught fire and burned for days. Ten days later, flames erupted at a Marathon oil refinery south of Houston, burning to death a plant worker. And on May 17, a blaze broke out at a Valero refinery in Corpus Christi. Repeat violations often indicate a pattern of companies not investing in modern equipment and safety measures.

Lottie Mitchell

Biden’s bioplastics move could be a shell game, swapping one polluting plastic for another

President Biden recently issued an executive order with the goal of replacing 90 percent of petroleum-based plastics manufacturing with plastic produced using ingredients like corn or wood. These "bioplastics" do not cause the same environmental harm as fossil fuel plastics, but they do not break down quickly and can persist in the environment. Biden’s order also endorses chemical plastic recycling, which generates huge quantities of toxic waste and hazardous air pollutants.

Brendan Gibbons

Shell chemical plant that burned near Houston had a record of nearly 2,000 violations

Shell Deer Park Chemical, which caught fire over the weekend, has a long track record of environmental violations, including 37 enforcement orders and $1.6 million in penalties. One of these violations was for the release of more than 30,000 pounds of a dangerous carcinogen (1,3-butadiene) from vents and a relief valve over nearly 24 hours in January 2013.

Ammonia fuel sets sail into an ocean of petroleum-based energy

As the demand for low-carbon energy sources grows, "clean" ammonia – referred to by advocates as either green or blue ammonia, depending on how it is produced – is expected to dramatically increase in production. Developers in the U.S. are proposing 15 new ammonia plants, mostly in Texas and Louisiana, to produce ammonia for fuel. Ammonia could be used as a fuel for ships, or to help produce clean-burning hydrogen for industry. But about two thirds of these "clean" ammonia projects are dependent on untested carbon capture technology.