Oil and Gas Watch

Brendan Gibbons

December 18, 2025

Taxpayer-subsidized carbon capture is driving a backlash in Louisiana, Texas and other states

Driven by billions in taxpayer subsidies, companies are planning hundreds of projects across the U.S. intended to capture carbon dioxide emissions from industry and pump the pollution underground. The wave of carbon capture, transportation, and storage projects is triggering backlash in the form of lawsuits, grassroots activism, and regulatory changes. States in the Gulf Coast and Midwest have had public debates and court battles over some of these projects.

Brendan Gibbons

Biden Administration may spend billions funding 'clean' hydrogen made with fossil fuels

Some hydrogen energy advocates envision a future where factories will split water molecules into clean hydrogen fuel. But half of the proposed hydrogen production sites currently under consideration for $8 billion in federal funding could use fossil fuels to make their hydrogen fuel, raising doubts about how “clean” the fuel would really be.

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.