Oil and Gas Watch

February 19, 2026

Massive gas-powered data center in Permian Basin is latest in string of Texas AI computing hubs

Texas’s environmental agency recently approved the latest in a string of large gas-fired power plants to support the state’s burgeoning data center industrial complex. The GW Ranch Project, set to be constructed in Pecos County, West Texas, in the Permian Basin, could generate up to 7.65 gigawatts of electricity, making it the largest power project in the U.S. One gigawatt of electricity can power about 750,000 homes, so this single data center complex could power over five million homes, or a large American city.

Brendan Gibbons

November 21, 2023

Report calls chemical recycling a ‘dangerous deception’ meant to shield the plastics industry

A new report by the environmental group Beyond Plastics takes aim at chemical plastics recycling. It's a rapidly-spreading industry with 11 facilities operating across the U.S. that turn plastic waste into fuel or raw ingredients for new plastics. At least 31 more of these facilities are now planned. Chemical recycling leads to energy waste and toxic air and water pollution, often in minority neighborhoods and low-income areas already struggling with a heavy industrial presence, the report states.

November 14, 2023

Biologist encounters oil-spewing pipe while researching biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s not an isolated incident.

A group of researchers was on a boat returning from a biodiversity monitoring outing in the Mississippi Delta’s Barataria Bay just south of New Orleans on Saturday, Oct. 21, when they noticed a unplugged well spewing oil into the bay. They reported the spill. Unfortunately, unplugged or abandoned wells like this are common in the Gulf of Mexico, where the number of abandoned or broken wells exceeds 14,000.

Brendan Gibbons

November 1, 2023

Texas voters to decide whether to funnel $10 billion in taxpayer money to natural gas power plants

Next week, Texas voters will decide whether to amend the state’s constitution to provide $10 billion in taxpayer money to build more natural gas-fired power plants – a new subsidy for fossil fuels in a state that already gets most of its electricity from natural gas. The measure on the ballot on Tuesday, known as Proposition 7, would create a “Texas energy fund” that would be used to provide grants and low-interest loans to companies building natural gas plants. Critics say the program would create a never-ending flow of taxpayer money to the natural gas industry.

October 25, 2023

Major carbon pipeline is cancelled as opposition grows and regulations remain elusive

Carbon dioxide accumulation is a big problem in the atmosphere. But increasingly, pipelines carrying CO2 underground are also raising objections, including from state governments, creating a roadblock to a major Biden Administration climate strategy. South Dakota and North Dakota recently denied permits for carbon pipelines, triggering the cancellation last week of a 1,300-mile carbon pipeline across five Midwestern states. Meanwhile, a dozen Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden demanding a moratorium on all new carbon pipelines until federal safety regulations are updated.

Alexandra Shaykevich

October 18, 2023

World’s largest fertilizer factory plans major expansion, despite record of pollution and chemical accidents

The Donaldsonville Nitrogen Complex in southeastern Louisiana is the largest fertilizer plant in the world. It is also the state’s largest source of greenhouse gases and toxic air and water pollution. The plant is responsible for 185 accidental releases of chemicals since 2006 into a neighborhood that is three quarters Black or Latino. Despite the harm to the local community, CF Industries is planning a major expansion.