• Energy

A Methane Pandemic: Millions of Abandoned Wells Are Leaking into the Atmosphere

• fracking
• greenhouse gas emissions
• Joe Biden
• leaks
• methane
• oil and gas

As the candidates debate fracking, millions of abandoned natural gas wells are leaking literally tons of methane into the atmosphere, and there’s no fix in sight. There are an estimated 3.2 million abandoned oil and gas wells in the United States, and an estimated 29 million worldwide.

Why This Matters:  Methane leaks are dangerous — they have led to reports of tap water catching fire, toxic groundwater, and fatal explosions, all of which have been motivators for the federal government to track and seal these wells.

• Energy

2019 May Have Been Peak Year For Oil Demand, BP Trying to Pivot

• BP
• British Petroleum
• climate change
• net zero
• oil and gas
• OPEC
• unsustainable

Yesterday, the world’s leading oil producers, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), projected a larger decrease in oil demand than was predicted earlier in the pandemic.  The Hill reported that OPEC predicts oil demand will drop by 9.46 million barrels per day (bpd) rather than 9.06 million bpd. 

Why This Matters:  Big oil and gas companies like BP may be trying to put a good face on the bleak prognosis for oil, while they try to remain sunny about gas.

• People

Interview of the Week: Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico

• #GreatAmericanOutdoorsAct
• clean energy
• climate change
• oil and gas

We caught up with the Senator this week, as Congress is getting back to work, and talked with him about the raging wildfires and climate change, the clean energy economy, the Great American Outdoors Act, and what he’s got on the shelf behind him in his office!  Watch the full interview by clicking above.

• Energy

Trump Extends Drilling Ban In Eastern Gulf Plus Atlantic Coast of Florida, Georgia and SC

• Florida
• lobbyist
• moratorium
• ocean
• offshore drilling
• oil and gas

Yesterday the President traveled to Florida and in a surprising reversal (or “ambush” if you are an oil and gas lobbyist) of a draft plan he put in place two years ago that would open virtually the entire U.S. ocean to oil and gas drilling, he signed an order banning offshore drilling in the Eastern […]

• Forests

Trump Administration Will Open Millions More Acres of Public Lands to Oil and Gas Drilling

• Bureau of Land Management
• drilling
• federal land
• Forest Service
• leasing
• oil and gas

The Trump Administration announced that it intends to open millions of acres of national forest land for oil and gas drilling, and they will not evaluate whether the areas being opened will cause any environmental impacts, nor will they give the public advance notice, The Hill reports.

Why This Matters:  The Trump team seems to be speeding up their desperate efforts to help fossil fuels as the first (and hopefully only) term nears an end.  There is no economic or national security rationale for this.  

• Ocean

Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Challenged By Lawsuits and Bankruptcies

• conservation
• environment
• Florida
• leasing
• North Carolina
• offshore drilling
• oil and gas

One thing Democrats and Republicans in many southern states seem to agree on is that they don’t want oil and gas drilling off their coastlines.  The Hill reported that last week the State of North Carolina sued the federal government for its continuing to prepare for offshore leasing in the Atlantic just off their coast.  And in Florida, while President Trump has promised that he will not pursue oil and gas drilling there, even outgoing Republican Congressman Francis Rooney is worried about the President going back on his word if he is re-elected.

Why This Matters:  The President’s fossil fuel commitments are hard to deny, even as he promises Florida a reprieve.