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.

January 24, 2023

Direct air carbon capture sets up shop in the oilfields of Texas

A subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum – one of the largest oil producers in the country – is taking advantage of billions of federal decarbonization dollars up for grabs under new government subsidy programs to invest in climate tech solutions to global warming. Meanwhile, Occidental will still be pumping out oil and gas responsible for heating the atmosphere. It is simultaneously profiting from both fossil fuel extraction and carbon capture.

Brendan Gibbons

January 17, 2023

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.”

Brendan Gibbons

January 11, 2023

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.

Brendan Gibbons

January 4, 2023

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.

Brendan Gibbons

December 14, 2022

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.