• Energy

Chesapeake Energy Files For Bankruptcy Protection Due to Debts and Slumping Gas Prices

• bankruptcy
• Chesapeake Energy
• COVID-19
• fracking
• natural gas

Chesapeake Energy, one of the first companies to take advantage of directional drilling and push fracking, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Houston on Sunday, the latest victim of the oil and gas price plunge caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Why This Matters:  This is one of the most high profile firms to fall apart during the pandemic, but due to the long term economics of oil and gas, it won’t be the last.

• Health

Living Near Oil and Gas Wells Tied to Low Birth Weight in California Study

• air pollution
• California
• fossil fuels
• natural gas
• oil
• oil and gas drilling
• public health

Pregnant women in rural California who lived near active oil and gas wells were 40% more likely to give birth to low birthweight babies, according to a new study. The study conducted by University of California researchers is the first to study how California’s network of oil and gas development affects babies born nearby. As […]

• Energy

Renewable Energy Passes Coal, Treasury Dept. Extends Renewable Tax Credits

• #COVID
• coal
• conservation
• energy
• environment
• natural gas
• renewable energy
• Solar
• wind

The Energy Department (DOE) reported yesterday that for the first time since basically the industrial revolution began in the late nineteenth century, in 2019 renewable energy consumption surpassed the consumption of energy generated by coal.  Coal power generation declined by 15% last year, while renewables increased by 1%.

Why This Matters:  Ten years ago coal dominated the power sector, but the trend toward wind and solar is unlikely to reverse — coal is now on its way out completely here.

• Air

The Impact of the Oil Price War On Methane Flaring Is Uncertain

• flaring
• greenhouse gas emissions
• methane gas
• NASA
• natural gas

With oil prices plummeting to 18-year lows, oil and gas companies are scaling back by cutting workers, halting infrastructure investments, and drastically reducing oil and gas production. But will the natural gas industry finally get their outrageous methane leaks under control?

Why This Matters:  Methane is the most potent greenhouse gas in terms of its short term impact.  The Trump Administration made flaring methane even easier.

• Climate Change

Bloomberg’s Position on Natural Gas Gets Greater Scrutiny

• exports
• fracking
• Michael Bloomberg
• natural gas
• pipeline

Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg’s position on natural gas took center stage yesterday with the President tweeting to “Texas & Oklahoma” — two Super Tuesday states — that people should not vote for “Mini Mike” because he will kill “your drilling, fracking, and pipelines.”  However, according to The Washington Post, Bloomberg’s position on natural gas is more complicated.

Why This Matters:  Bloomberg has funded a highly successful campaign to shutter dirty coal plants in the U.S., but overall his position on fossil fuels is the most conservative of the remaining top tier Presidential candidates.

• Climate Change

JP Morgan To Stop Funding Arctic Projects, Warns Its Investors About Climate “Catastrophe”

• Arctic
• climate change
• Exxon Mobil
• JP Morgan
• natural gas
• oil and gas

JP Morgan Chase, the largest funder of oil and gas projects in the Arctic, announced on Monday that it will no longer fund those projects and it will reduce its investment in coal-fired power projects, but it will continue to invest in oil and gas projects in the rest of the U.S.

Why This Matters:  The commitment by JP Morgan to stay out of the Arctic shows that pressure from the public is working — forcing the bank to reconsider its fossil fuel loans and investments in a part of the planet which is changing more rapidly than most areas.