Trump may see high gas prices as 'peanuts,' but they are squeezing lower-income Americans the most

Photo by Yassine Khalfalli, Unsplash

In a frustrated remark, President Donald Trump referred to surging gas prices across the U.S. as "peanuts" compared to the threat of Iran producing a nuclear warhead.

And while many Americans might agree that wallet-draining gas prices are preferable to horrific global outcomes, the war is costing poorer Americans a higher percentage of their income than it is wealthier Americans.

"For households in the bottom quarter of the income distribution — those earning roughly $40,000 a year or less — commuting fuel costs now consume an average of about 4% of their income," report Julie Z. Weil and Federica Cocco of The Washington Post. "For households in the top quarter, earning $100,000 or more, the same costs amount to less than 1%."

Lower-income workers get squeezed from all sides when gas prices increase. "They tend to live farther from their jobs, in areas with little or no public transit, and are more likely to drive older, less fuel-efficient vehicles," the Post reports. For most, working from home is not an option, leaving them unable to escape the need to buy gas — no matter the price. The only other option is to skip work, doctor's appointments or social outings that require a car fueled by gas.

The more than 40% increase in gas prices from May 2025 to the present has left some lower-income Americans facing tough choices. Debbie Zambrana, who lives on a fixed disability income, used to help her son out by driving his children to school events. Weil and Cocco write, "For the first time, she recently told him that she could only drive them if he covered the fuel."

With gas prices recently reaching $4.50 a gallon, there is little low-income workers can do to help themselves — even when they budget carefully. "Personal finance experts commonly advise that people shouldn’t spend more than 10% of their after-tax income on commuting expenses," Weil and Cocco add. "Spending 4% of income on gas alone can quickly throw everything out of whack."

Quick hits: No.1 favorite ice cream; ousting rogue drones; big find by NASA's Curiosity Rover; some good news

Farm Journal graphic, from IDFA National Ice Cream & Frozen Novelty Trends Survey

It's dark and rich and back in the top spot. "Chocolate is back at No. 1 among U.S. ice cream flavors, with butter pecan gaining ground and richer options continuing to rise in popularity, according to a new survey," reports Taylor Leach of Farm Journal. "After briefly ceding the No. 1 spot to vanilla in 2024, chocolate has reclaimed the lead in 2026." Michael Dykes, the International Dairy Foods Association president, told Leach, "Americans’ love for ice cream is as strong as ever." 

The Conversation graph, from Energy Information Administration data

After weeks of surging gasoline prices with no end in sight, some Americans might be wondering what all goes into the cost of a gallon of gas. Robert I. Harris, an energy economist, breaks down gas prices for The Conversation. "The price of a retail gallon of gas is the sum of four things: the cost of crude oil, refining, distribution and marketing, and taxes. . . . In nationwide figures from January 2026, crude oil accounted for about 51% of the pump price, refining roughly 20%, distribution and marketing about 11% and taxes about 18%." Harris adds that since crude oil is the biggest component of gasoline, when its price spikes on the global market, gas prices go up. 

Indiana farmers didn't appreciate drones hovering over
their livestock. (Photo by B. Dittrich, Unsplash)

In rural Indiana, some farming families are "leaning on the law" to keep unwanted drones off their lands, reports Greg Weaver of Indiana Capital Chronicle. "Hoosiers in rural Indiana say drones are unlawfully tracking deer for poachers, inexplicably flying around chicken coops, and increasingly making people uneasy." Although many Indiana farmers considered shooting down the snooping drones, they learned that wasn't legal. "So they’ve found other ways to combat the rascals. . . . Farmers fearful that drones might be spreading disease among livestock recently persuaded the Indiana General Assembly to pass a law that prohibits the devices from being used to harm or harass farm animals."

When it comes to serving up energy for hungry grids in rural Virginia, sometimes smaller is better. "The Blue Ridge Power Agency, which serves a string of nonprofit utilities in central and western Virginia, is set to go live this summer with a collection of five batteries of about 5 megawatts each," reports Elizabeth Ouzts of Canary Media. By comparison, larger batteries are typically at least 10 megawatts; however, both sizes aim to store energy when it's less expensive and plentiful. Blue Ridge Power's new batteries will "help two rural electric co-ops and the city of Salem’s utility save money" by releasing battery-stored energy "when high demand on the grid spikes prices." Unlike their larger cousins, smaller batteries are cheaper and faster to build.

NASA's Curiousity Rover spends its time exploring Mars and 
sending information back to Earthlings. (NASA image)

It's hard to be more remote than exploring for signs of life on Mars, which is what the Curiosity Rover spends its time doing. "New research published in Nature Communications details Curiosity’s latest find — never-before-seen organic compounds, including one with a structure similar to DNA precursors," reports Jake Currie for Nautilus. NASA geologist Amy Williams told Nautilus, "The same stuff that rained down on Mars from meteorites is what rained down on Earth, and it probably provided the building blocks for life as we know it on our planet." To send all those compounds back to Earth, Curiosity had to conduct a full orchestra of experiments. The Curiosity also goes by "the little robotic chemist that could."

Suicide deaths among younger Americans dipped by 11% from earlier projections. 
(Graph by Vishal R. Patel, MD,  Michael Liu, MD,  and Anupam B. Jena, MD)

And now, some really good news: "The rate of suicides among young people in the United States dropped 11% below projections, decreasing most sharply in states with a higher volume of answered 988 calls, a new study has found, reports Ellen Barry of The New York Times. The study's results, published in a research letter in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that 4,372 more adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 34, are alive today than previously projected. The study's data suggests that the federal government’s 988 suicide prevention hotline rollout, which launched in 2022, is having a positive impact among younger Americans.

Trump administration announces sharp increase in biodiesel fuel requirements, giving corn and soybean farmers a lift

The Trump administration announced biodiesel quota increases last week, which will give a much-needed financial lift to some corn and soybean farmers. "The new rule increases biomass-based diesel — which is partly derived from soybeans — blending by more than 60%," reports Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "It raises the biofuel requirement for all fuels by a lower percentage."

Federal biofuel requirements from 2025-2027. (Graph via Farm Progress)

The quota announcement, which tells refineries "how much biofuel made from crops must be blended into the gasoline and diesel supply" ... "is closely watched by corn and soybean farmers," Thomas explains. The percentage also impacts companies such as Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill, which "buy crops from farmers and process grains and oilseeds into fuel, food ingredients and other products."

Trump announced the quota requirements at a White House event "surrounded by farmers, ranchers and a gold-colored tractor," Thomas explains. Trump outlined how the increased renewable fuel requirements "would help bolster the U.S. fuel supply, while generating $10 billion for rural economies."

Trump also told the crowd that "he was seeking congressional action to allow gas containing 15% of ethanol year-round and new loan guarantees for farmers," Thomas reports. Farmers have been pushing for year-round sales of E-15 gasoline, commonly known as "Unleaded 88" for its higher octane rating. Ninety-seven percent of U.S. ethanol is made from corn, so continuous E-15 sales would primarily benefit American corn farmers.

The farmer loan guarantees Trump referenced are aimed at lowering grocery prices. Trump said the loans, which will flow through the Small Business Administration, will "open up 'massive new loan guarantees' for farmers and food producers," reports Joshua Baethge of Farm Progress. 

Specialty crop farmers and corn growers urge lawmakers to make needed changes to upcoming bills

U.S. specialty crops include fruits and vegetables.
(Adobe Stock photo)

U.S. farmers and farming advocates are pushing lawmakers to draft bills that include additional aid for specialty crop growers and include wording that allows for the year-round use of 15% ethanol-blended gasoline (E15), write Pro Farmer editors for Farm Journal.

Many specialty crop growers were disappointed with the Trump administration's 2025 aid package, which allocated $11 billion for row-crop farmers and $1 billion for specialty crop farmers. Specialty crops include fruits, veggies, nuts, nursery crops, Christmas trees and maple syrup.

Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance co-chair Cathy Burns told Nicole Heslip of Brownfield Ag Network, "Specialty crops account for one-third of crop sales in the U.S., and we have the same harmful headwinds that the rest of agriculture is experiencing."

Burns suggested "5 billion in relief would help alleviate some of the unprecedented economic challenges facing growers from labor, input costs, lost markets, and unfair competition from competitors," Heslip writes.

Allowing year-round sales of E15 gasoline has been on farmers' wish lists for years. Michelle Rook of Farm Journal reports, "Analysis from the National Corn Growers Association indicates that it would boost corn use by approximately 2.4 billion bushels annually and be one of the quickest ways to increase demand and chew through the record pile of corn in the U.S."

In the past, states had to apply for waivers to extend E15 sales into the summer months. 

Buc-ees debate tears apart a mountain-town community in Colorado, leading to cursing, 'mudslinging' and legal action

Palmer Lake is one of three communities in the Tri-Lakes region 
between Denver and Colorado Springs.

It may take years for the small mountain community of Palmer Lake, Colorado, to recover from the ongoing, scathing debate over whether a Buc-ees gas station should be built two miles outside of town.

Heated emotions both for and against the development have "led to cursing at packed town meetings, mudslinging on social media and texts, accusations of vandalism. . . and litigation," reports Karin Brulliard of The Washington Post. "Over the past year, the social fabric of this town of 2,500 has been torn apart."

Both sides insist they want what is best for the town, with some residents insisting Buc-ees will ruin the region's sublime views and quaint feel. Buc-ees proponents insist potential tax revenue from the colossal gas station would help the town pay for ailing infrastructure needs.

While the land Buc-ees proposed to develop wouldn't be seen by Palmer Lake residents, the company applied for the property to be annexed into Palmer Lake for access to its water supply. "At a heated board meeting, trustees considered whether the Buc-ee’s parcel was eligible for annexation," Brulliard writes. "Some commenters hailed the plan’s benefits. [Others] argued it wouldn’t bring the promised revenue and instead would attract traffic and crime."

Once Palmer Lake trustees agreed the parcel was eligible for annexation, townspeople who opposed Buc-ees filed suit "alleging First Amendment, due process and open meeting violations and arguing that the annexation was improper," Brulliard explains. "Opponents also initiated the recall of three trustees."

When it looked as though the opposition would prevail and Buc-ees would seek out a different site, the battle stalled, only to resume when Buc-ees "requested a public vote, which it would pay for," Brulliard reports. "The proposal is expected to go to a public vote this winter."

Report: Despite big output, northern Appalachian states with fracking projects reap fewer rewards than expected

Frackalachia residents don't earn 'higher than average incomes'
from regional fracking projects. (Graph by S. O'Malley, ORVI)

Residents in heavily fracked northern Appalachian states haven't seen the job creation gains oil and gas companies promised, according to a new research report from the Ohio River Valley Institute. "The report uses the term ​'Frackalachia' to describe 30 top oil- and gas-producing counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia," reports Kathiann M. Kowalski of Canary Media. 

Despite the region's surging output, which "increased their share of the country’s gross domestic product by 6%" over the course of 15 years, Kowalski writes, Appalachia residents living near natural shale-gas fracking sites did not benefit from "higher-than-average incomes. . . . [The area's] income growth was 25% below that of the nation as a whole."

Part of the dilemma for communities with shale deposits is that extraction doesn't require a constant workforce, but it does require financial backing and expensive machinery. Kowalski reports, "Most earnings go to shareholders, investors, and suppliers based far from where fossil fuels are extracted, so only a small share of project income stays in the community to stimulate more economic activity."

Transferring employees into a region with extraction is another reason oil and gas companies don't generate jobs for residents. "From 2012 through 2022, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services issued annual reports about the economic impact of the state’s oil and gas industry, including data for ​'core' jobs," Kowalski adds. "More than half of the new hires for the core industry jobs in 2021 came from outside Ohio, according to the state data."

When actual employment data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services was compared to those predicted by the fossil fuel industry, the number of new jobs the industry created in the region fell short. Kowalski writes, "The agency numbers are also far lower than the 79,000 direct and 375,000 total jobs the American Petroleum Institute cited in a 2021 report based on data from 2019."

The report's author, Sean O’Leary, told Kowalski, "Whatever else it is, the natural-gas boom is not an engine for economic prosperity." Kowalski adds, "He thinks the gas industry is ​'structurally incapable' of delivering lasting growth in jobs and income for the people living in heavily fracked areas."

E.V. charging stations help fuel mega gas station growth. Not every town wants one.

Sheetz location in Romulus, Mich. 
(Sheetz photo via WXTZ News in Detroit, Mich.)

Despite controversies over their impact, big gas station chains such as Buc-ees and Sheetz are adding locations in small communities and residential spaces across the U.S. The need for more E.V. charging stations, with their longer "fill" times, is part of the reason.

"As battery-powered cars become more common on roadways, more gas stations are installing chargers alongside old-fashioned pumps," reports Kevin Williams of The New York Times. "E.V. charging takes time, so gas station operators are turning their stores into shopping centers where people can spend time — and money — while they wait for cars to charge."

Area residents have a range of reactions when they hear their community is being considered as a mega gas station location. "The sheer size of the businesses has turned off some communities that don’t want the heavy traffic, bright lights and 24/7 activity," Williams explains. "When communities object to Sheetz’s moving in, the company isn’t fazed. . . . It knows there are communities that want its business."

Restaurants in small to mid-sized cities have pushed against mega gas stations because they offer extensive food menus and may even include a drive-thru. Williams reports, "Craig Dunaway, the chief operating officer of Penn Station East Coast Subs, said his restaurant chain was fending off gas station businesses like Sheetz."

The city of Farmington Hills, Mich., which has roughly 86,000 residents, "rejected Sheetz’s proposal this year to take over a space once occupied by Ginopolis, a restaurant that called Elizabeth Taylor and Bob and Delores Hope its customers, after several contentious meetings," Williams writes. But the smaller town of Romulus, Mich., welcomed the development.

Jeremy Taylor, a long-time Romulus resident, enjoys what Sheetz offers. He told Williams, "It’s been a long time since we’ve had something this good in Romulus. There’s nothing out here.”

New rule increases royalties for oil and gas companies that drill on public lands; bond will be at least 15 times more

The Interior Department worked to bring oil and gas management
into the 21st century. Drillers are angry. (Photo by J. Evans, Unsplash)

 

For decades, companies that  drilled on public lands for oil paid the federal government small royalties and spent little on cleanup funding, but that era is about to change. "A suite of regulatory changes from the Bureau of Land Management will increase royalties on oil and stiffen cleanup requirements," reports Heather Richards of E & E News. "The rule caps a multiyear effort by the Interior Department to 'modernize' how the U.S. manages vast resources of oil and natural gas under public lands in states like Wyoming and New Mexico."

Initially, President Joe Biden planned to end drilling on public lands "to shrink the future footprint of the nation’s oil program. . . but he retreated due to legal setbacks early in office," Richards writes. "The rule requires a minimum bond for drilling a federal lease that's 15 times higher than the previous minimum of $10,000. Environmental groups and government watchdogs like the Government Accountability Office have asked BLM for years for stronger bonding requirements to cover decommissioning costs of wells and pipelines when they are abandoned."

The new rule angered drillers who "are already panning the rule as an attack on their industry and threatening to sue," Richards reports. "The final rule suggests the Bureau of Land Management will have a higher responsibility to limit oil and gas in areas that are considered valuable for wildlife or recreation by prioritizing leasing in areas with greater oil potential. Oil companies nominate lands for lease, but BLM decides what acres are ultimately offered for sale."

Environmental advocates praised the action as a good stewardship plan. Emily Olsen, vice president of the Rocky Mountain Region for Trout Unlimited, told Richards, "Energy development and conservation need not be mutually exclusive. The BLM is prioritizing energy development where it will have the fewest resource impacts."

Many charging stations for electric vehicles are being built at gas stations and truck stops; rural areas might not benefit

EV charging gas stations may not be a win for rural
areas. (Photo by Oxana Melis, Unsplash)

A developing trend shows that one of the best ways to encourage cleaner energy use is to piggyback it with fossil fuel convenience. Despite this shift becoming a lifeline for fossil fuel-based gas stations, it may not help rural economies. "When Americans steer their electric vehicles off the highway and into shiny new charging stations — many paid for with federal tax dollars — they're likely to find them in a curiously familiar place: the gas station," reports David Ferris of E & E News. "More than half of the charging stations being built so far from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law are rising at truck stops and gasoline stations."

While the infrastructure development may be a positive for EV vehicle owners and gas stations, program restrictions and complex application processes can limit rural participation. "Because the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program rules require proximity to the highway and sites that operate 24/7, they could lead to EV drivers not stopping and spending money in rural downtowns, which are sleepy at night and distant from turnoffs," Ferris explains. "The extensive application processes that states have put in place to win the money may also create barriers to small-business owners, including mom-and-pop gas stations and convenience stores."

When EV charging stations first entered the energy market, fueling station owners pushed against the change, but the hybrid of both is gaining traction. "After initially resisting EVs and their charging needs, fueling centers are now using their lobbying strength and financial might to win federal dollars," Ferris writes. "Service stations have the upper hand in this first wave of subsidies because they occupy the very real estate where the federal government wants to build a charging backbone: at 50-mile intervals along the interstates and no more than a mile from highway exits."

Considering the cost and complexity of gaining NEVI funds, it's not surprising that "two of the nation's biggest truck stop chains, Love's and Pilot Flying J, are slated to host 39 charging plazas," Ferris reports. "As bidders, truck stops and gas station chains won $92.1 million, out of a total of $265 million awarded by the infrastructure law to date, according to the EVAdoption data. Gas stations and trucks stops together are hosts for almost 54 percent of NEVI-funded charging stalls."

The U.S. is about to set a record for the most oil and gas extraction in its history

Guardian graph, from EIA data

Despite climate goals and lots of talk about the U.S. ending its dependence on fossil fuels, "The United States is poised to extract more oil and gas than ever before in 2023, a year that is certain to be the hottest ever recorded, reports Oliver Milman of The Guardian. "The U.S.’s status as the world’s leading oil and gas behemoth has only strengthened this year, even amid warnings from Joe Biden himself over the unfolding climate crisis, with the latest federal government forecast showing a record 12.9m barrels of crude oil per day, more than double what was produced a decade ago, will be extracted in 2023."

Part of what Americans want is cheaper gas, but that has come at a cost. Milman writes, "The increased fossil fuel production, which Biden championed last year as a way to tamp down gasoline prices for U.S. drivers and to support overseas allies in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also risks burdening disadvantaged communities living next to polluting infrastructure and threatens to alienate younger, climate-conscious voters ahead of next year’s presidential election, an adviser to the White House has cautioned."

The transition to renewables is hard for Americans to imagine. Nate Hultman, an expert in climate policy at the University of Maryland, told Milman, "We have a dynamic that feels awkward, of how to reconcile the world we are living in, that’s heavily fossil fuel-driven, with the vision of a clean, non-emitting world. That’s the tension.”

Despite the Biden administration's "boost to renewable energy in the U.S., Biden has been handing out oil and gas drilling leases on public lands at a rate comparable to Donald Trump, with the emissions from 17 large projects permitted by his administration," Milman reports. 

States have money to fund plugging abandoned oil wells, but numerous obstacles remain to invigorate a new industry

Skilled labor and unique equipment make orphaned well
operations expensive. (Photo by Will Peischel, Grist)

Labor shortages, complex operations and bottlenecks for funding are just a few obstacles facing states and contractors trying to plug hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil wells, reports Will Peischel for Grist. "The exact number of orphan wells nationwide is unknown. In late 2021, The Interstate Oil and Gas Commission, a multi-state organization, had more than 130,000 orphan wells on record but estimated that anywhere between 310,000 and 800,000 remained unidentified."

Abandoned wells leak methane, release air toxins and can contaminate groundwater, but despite their environmental harm, laws and funding to manage old wells have been lacking. Luke Plants, who heads Plants & Goodwin, which specializes in plugging orphan wells, told Peischel, "Until the 1970s, there were no strong plugging standards in place. People just shoving tree stumps down a well to plug it, or a cast iron ball or something like that."

In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $4.7 billion to "help states handle their orphan well inventories," Peischel explains. "The first batch of that money has trickled down to states. . .to contractors like Plants & Goodwin. It's the most funding spent to address the problem, but both states and pluggers are now facing hurdles as they begin to identify and plug wells."

While many states can now fund plugging projects, their oil and gas regulation offices need more staffing to award contracts. Plugging companies have their own hurdles. Peischel reports: "Since oil operators tend to avoid the costly work of well capping, the service has remained a niche industry. . . . Companies have also struggled to find trained workers, not to mention the specialized equipment required to plug wells."

Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry continues to spawn far more orphaned wells than there are pluggers. "Between 2015 and 2022, more than 600 oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy, leaving thousands of wells unplugged," Peischel writes. "For example, Pennsylvania's list of 20,000 orphan wells grows by about 400 each year; the state has plugged just 73 wells with the federal money that began to arrive last year."

Plugging is complex work: "One capping can take anywhere from three days to three months, sometimes costing more than $100,000," Peischel reports. However, plugging operation owners believe the industry can fill gaps left by extractive industries. "Experts watching the federal orphan well program contend that a well-plugging wave could revive regions whose economic fates are tied to dwindling resource extraction sectors." Ted Boettner, a senior researcher at the Ohio River Valley Institute, a think tank focused on economic and environmental sustainability in Appalachia, told Peischel: "The most positive thing that could happen is that we begin to get more companies plugging wells, especially in rural, distressed areas to help their local economies."

'Orphan' gas and oil wells are found 'everywhere,' as the federal government aims to plug these hidden polluters

Adapted screenshot of interactive map that has data by county; for the interactive version click here.

Workers cap an orphaned well in Louisiana.
(Photo by Cooper Neill, The Washington Post)

On its own, an orphaned oil or gas well (named so because often no viable owner exists) has little impact the planet; however, across the U.S., there are thousands of unplugged wells that "collectively account for a significant source of the potent greenhouse gas" and pollute water, notes Brady Dennis of The Washington Post. "Congress set aside an unprecedented $4.7 billion to fund the idea in late 2021. . . . Dedicating billions of dollars to target the most troublesome wells around the country has the potential to result in significantly fewer toxic substances, such as arsenic and benzene, polluting groundwater."

Dennis joined the Tolbert Construction crew in the piney woods of Louisiana to understand the "find-and-plug-well" process: "Merely locating orphan wells can be arduous, and plugging them is tedious, time-consuming and expensive. To follow a crew like Tolbert's is to understand how the work is a mixture of sweat, science and improvisation. They must navigate swampy roads or thick forests with heavy equipment to access the wells, remove miles of steel piping, set underground plugs to prevent fluid from flowing, fill straw-like holes with cement, remove the well head, and restore the land to something resembling normal. The whole endeavor takes days and can cost $30,000 to plug a single well — and sometimes far more."

Attempting to count abandoned wells is like counting stars. "The wells are everywhere. They're in backyards and buried under thorny thickets in suburban woods. Rusted pipes rise from the farmland of Texas and New Mexico, from an Amish community in Kentucky, from the bayous in Louisiana and the dense forests in Pennsylvania and Ohio," Dennis writes. "They have been found under sidewalks and driveways, houses and apartment buildings — and in at least one Wyoming schoolyard."

Adam Peltz, a director and senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund who has worked on the issue for years, told Dennis, "We really only know where a fraction of them are. We are only scratching the surface on this." Dennis reports, "According to its most recent national inventory, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates the actual number of abandoned wells around the country could be in the millions and that the methane that leaks from them each year accounts for nearly 3 percent of the U.S. total."

Dennis explains, "Curtis Shuck, a former oil and gas executive, founded a nonprofit known as the Well Done Foundation, whose work has been funded primarily by philanthropic donors and corporate sponsors. . . . His foundation also has backed a carbon accounting methodology that, if adopted by the American Carbon Registry, could offer an incentive for businesses that want to offset emissions. Already, the nonprofit is plugging or monitoring wells in about a dozen states and has plugged 25 wells so far, with plans to keep expanding."

"Louisiana is home to more than 4,500 orphaned wells . . . . there are high hopes for the months ahead," Dennis reports. "With the federal money flowing, the state and its contractors have already plugged more than 100 wells this year, and some workers say 500 or more might be possible depending on the weather and any problems they encounter. Patrick Courreges, a Louisiana Department of Natural Resources spokesman, told Dennis, "We want to show bang for the buck."

As quakes in West Texas increase, some oil-wastewater disposal has changed, but preparedness questions remain

The Permian Basin is a major oil production area. (Wikipedia map)

In 2017, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said "Texas is ranked first in the U.S. in the variety and frequency of natural disasters. Flooding, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes . . . . Sometimes, even utilization of the state’s natural reserves of oil, gas, and water can lead to subsidence and earthquakes." It's that last part, earthquakes, that has been increasing in number, and raising concerns: "In 2022, the state recorded more than 220 earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher, up from 26 recorded in 2017, when the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas began close monitoring," reports David Goodman of The New York Times.

In oil-rich West Texas, two earthquakes were felt in late 2022, one in Pecos and the second in December near Odessa and Midland, all in the Permian Basin. Goodman writes: "The [November] tremor registered as a 5.4-magnitude earthquake, among the largest ever recorded in the state. Then, a month later, another of similar magnitude struck not far away. . . . . The earthquakes, arriving in close succession, were the latest in what has been several years of surging seismic activity in Texas. . . . In 2022, the state recorded more than 220 earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher, up from 26 recorded in 2017, when the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas began close monitoring."

The cause of the earthquakes is known. Goodman reports: "Dr. Peter Hennings, the principal investigator for the Center for Integrated Seismicity Research at the University of Texas, said that earthquakes can be induced through human activity: the injection of a large amount of water in a short period of time adds fluid pressure under the earth, which essentially decreases the 'clamping' between rocks along natural faults and allows them to slip, creating an earthquake. . . . seismologists have established a relationship between smaller earthquakes and larger ones, Dr. Hennings said: The more small earthquakes you have, the greater the likelihood of a bigger one." 

Many Texas earthquakes "have been concentrated in the highly productive oil fields of the Permian Basin, particularly those in Reeves County, north and west of the city of Pecos," Goodman writes. "Where oil and gas production has increasingly meant hydraulic fracturing, a process of extraction that produces, as a byproduct, a huge amount of wastewater. Some of that wastewater is reused in fracking operations, but most of it is injected back under the ground."

An oil field near Pecos; Texas only recently began its statewide program of
monitoring for earthquakes. (Photo by Paul Ratje, The New York Times)

And what about the quakes? Rod Ponton, a former Pecos city attorney, told Goodman, “In West Texas, you love the smell of the oil and gas patch because it’s the smell of money. If you have to have the ground shaking every two or three months to make sure you have a good paycheck coming in every month, you’re not going to think twice about it.” But the area has made some changes. Goodman writes: "To address earthquakes outside of Odessa and Midland, state regulators suspended permits for deep disposal wells. . . . For local officials the earthquakes have presented new and unforeseen concerns about the structural integrity of buildings and buried pipes, as well as basic questions, such as, what are you supposed to do in an earthquake?"

Odessa Mayor Javier Joven told Goodman, "The big popular discussion out here is: Did you feel it? Did you feel it? And everyone goes on Facebook: I felt it. I felt it.” Joven also noted that the city has yet to alter building safety codes to prepare for earthquakes.

Collected research on health effects of fracking prompts physicians and advocates to call for stricter regulations

A natural gas fracking well pad in Valencia, Pa.
(Photo by Ted Shaffrey, The Associated Press)

A consistent pattern has emerged linking health symptoms to horizontal hydraulic fracturing to produce oil and gas. The evidence has researchers calling for new restrictions on where fracking wells can be drilled. “A paper by the Yale School of Public Health this summer showed that children living near Pennsylvania wells that use fracking to harvest natural gas are two to three times more likely to contract a form of childhood leukemia than their peers who live farther away,” reports Jon Hurdle of Yale Environment360. “That followed a Harvard study in January that found elderly people living near or downwind from gas pads have a higher risk of premature death than seniors who don’t live in that proximity.”

The oil and gas industry has insisted that its processes protects against water contamination and notes that there is no causation study proving that fracking causes any harm to groundwater. "The industry coalition cited earlier studies, including one by Duke University in 2017, which found no evidence of groundwater contamination over three years,” Hurdle reports “and another by Pennsylvania State University in 2018, which reported no deterioration in groundwater chemistry in Bradford County, a heavily fracked area of northeastern Pennsylvania.”

Hurdle continues, “In April, the nonprofit Physicians for Social Responsibility and Concerned Health Professionals of New York, which consists of health professionals, scientists, and medical organizations, published its most recent compendium of investigations into risks and harms linked with fracking. Since 2014, the compendium has tallied 2,239 peer-reviewed papers that found evidence of harm, with nearly 1,000 of those papers published since 2018.” Concerns about fracking harm "have prompted bans in France, Ireland, and Bulgaria," Hurdle notes.

For U.S. medical providers and advocates, the multiple studies have formed a pattern of connection. "There are enough studies now that show that fracking threatens the health of workers and communities and threatens the mental and physical health of people who work nearby and children who go to school nearby,” Dr. Ned Ketyer, president of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania told Hurdle. But he cautioned that the studies show correlation, not causation. "There’s enough of those associations now between fracking and bad health outcomes that should be informing regulators, politicians and industry that there needs to be a better way."

Paper finds that thriving rural areas need three key elements: industry, workforce, and a connected community

The report divides rural counties into five economic archetypes; McKinsey & Company map; click the image to enlarge it.

"New research published recently by McKinsey, a management consulting firm specializing in corporations, governments and other entities, identified three key elements necessary for rural communities to thrive: sectors or tradeable industries, workforce, and community and connectivity," Kristi Eaton reports for The Daily Yonder. Rural economic development usually ties into one or more of those three areas, according to the paper.

The research also noted that rural America "is not a monolith, so economic development structures will vary based on place," Eaton reports. "However, there are some overarching themes that emerged. Among those themes are big-push investment, embracing placemaking, developing tourism infrastructure, attracting and retaining small and medium-sized businesses, attracting remote workers, and increasing access to healthcare."

The report divided rural America into five community archetypes:

Americana counties, the most common type, have "slightly lower GDP and educational outcomes than urban areas. They are relatively close to major cities and often include several major employers," according to the report.

Distressed Americana counties, which tend to be in the South, have high poverty levels, low workforce participation, and low educational attainment. "Historically, these communities have been hubs for agriculture, extractive industries, and manufacturing. Their decline has mirrored the struggles in these sectors," says the report.

Rural Service Hubs are big on manufacturing and service industries such as retail and healthcare, and are often close to highways or railways. They typically serve nearby counties that are even more rural.

Resource-Rich Regions rely on oil and gas or mining, and often have high agricultural production rates too. They typically have higher-than-average household income, GDP per capita, and educational attainment.

Great Escapes counties, the least-common archetype, are home to "wealthy enclaves and tourist destinations" (think Aspen, Colorado). Average GDP, household income, and educational attainment are high in these counties, but this kind of economy often results in many low-paying service jobs.

1/2 of methane emissions in U.S. come from low-producing oil and gas wells, which EPA may not regularly monitor

"Low-producing oil and gas wells are to blame for roughly half of the methane emitted from all U.S. well sites, despite making up 6 percent of the country’s total production, according to new research published this week," Carlos Anchondo reports for Energy & Environment News. "The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first comprehensive look at low-production well-site emissions nationwide, researchers said. The paper found that low-producing or 'marginal' wells emit methane at a rate 6 to 12 times higher than the national average — releasing some 4 million metric tons of the potent greenhouse gas a year."

But the draft methane rules released by the Environmental Protection Agency in November say smaller wells don't have to be regularly monitored. That's a mistake, according to lead author Mark Omara, a scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund. There are about half a million low-producing wells in the U.S., he said, and they have the same environmental impact as 88 coal-fired power plants. "Omara said methane emissions from low-producing well sites can come from sources that are common throughout oil and gas operations, including both intentional vented emissions as well as unintentional emissions like those from equipment malfunctions," Anchando reports. "Marginal wells produce less than 15 barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to the study."

Petroleum lobbyists and sympathetic regulators have protested that regulating marginal wells will be overburdensome to operators, but EDF says its research found that about 75 percent of marginal wells are owned by large companies with ample resources, Anchando reports.

An Appalachian county illustrates how higher gas prices are hitting rural communities hard, from work to groceries

Owsley County, Kentucky
(Wikipedia map)

High gasoline prices are hurting Americans of all stripes, but rural residents are having a particularly tough time.

In southeastern Kentucky, "The surge in prices has rippled throughout the region, where people already have to drive far to commute to work or school, visit family and run their businesses," Corinne Boyer reports from Owsley County, one of the nation's poorest, for Eastern Kentucky University's WEKU-FM.

Fuel distributor Bob Riley, who serves Owsley County's gas stations, told Boyer the higher costs mean stations hit their credit limit sooner and can't buy as much gas from him. Riley hits his own credit limit sooner, restricting the amount of supply he can have on hand.

Increased fuel prices drive up prices on goods, too, Riley told Boyer: "It also has a big effect on that hot dog you just brought at Kroger's and the produce, all your goods because everything's—at some point in the distribution chain—carried by a truck."

Commuting for college or work has become more prevalent "as population and investment declines in rural parts of the country," Boyer reports. Some people have had to cut back on work hours because they can't afford to drive far away to work at a low-wage job.

Megan Warner, who works at the Owsley County Library, said many city dwellers may not understand what it's like to live in a rural area where jobs don't pay well and housing is limited. "People tell you a lot, too, that you just need to get out there and work hard," Warner told Boyer. "It's hard to work hard when they basically just push you down with all these high prices that probably aren't going to get any lower anytime soon."

Dee Davis, president and founder of the Whitesburg-based Center for Rural Strategies, suggested ways policymakers could help rural communities if gas prices remain high: "Minimum wage can go up. It has been too low, too long. And we can make earned income tax credits permanent."

Two weeks ago, President Biden announced the release of a million barrels of oil per day from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Last week, he announced that E15 fuel, which contains more ethanol, will be available for sale this summer.

Interior opens federal land for new drilling but raises fees

"The Interior Department announced on Friday plans to hold its first onshore oil and gas lease sales since President Biden took office," Anna Phillips reports for The Washington Post. "The department said it plans to open roughly 144,000 acres up for lease next week and will charge oil and gas companies higher royalties to drill on federal land, raising the fees for the first time. Under the plans unveiled Friday, royalty rates would increase to 18.75 percent from 12.5 percent for oil and gas lease sales. The long-awaited announcement follows a report the department issued last fall, which called for royalty fees to be more in line with the higher rates charged by most private landowners and major oil- and gas-producing states."

Matthew Brown reports for The Associated Press, "Friday’s announcement comes amid pressure for Biden to expand U.S. crude production as the pandemic and war in Ukraine roil the global economy and fuel prices have spiked. The Democrat faces calls from within his own party to do more to curb emissions from fossil fuels that are driving climate change."

 

The announcement angered climate activists and violates a campaign promise not to allow any more drilling on federal lands. Biden tried to follow through on that promise, and suspended new leasing a week after taking office to give Interior time to create a report on the state of the leasing programs. But a federal judge in Louisiana ordered the administration to resume the sales, Brown reports.

"In opening new land for drilling, while at the same time requiring companies to pay more to drill, Biden appears to be trying to walk a line between trying to both lower gas prices and fight climate change," Coral Davenport reports for The New York Times. "While Biden came into office with the most ambitious climate-change agenda of any president in history, his climate policies have been largely stalled, stymied by inaction in Congress."

Interior may make make oil, gas companies pay more to drill on federal lands; wouldn't affect home energy costs much

The Interior Department announced plans Friday to make oil and gas companies pay more to drill public lands and waters. The federal leasing program is outdated, fails to serve taxpayers, and worsens climate change, said an18-page report from the department.

"The document calls for increasing the government’s royalty rate — the 12.5 percent of profits fossil-fuel developers must pay to the federal government in exchange for drilling on public lands — to be more in line with the higher rates charged by most private landowners and major oil- and gas-producing states," Sarah Kaplan reports for The Washington Post. "It also makes the case for raising the bond companies must set aside for cleanup before they begin new development." Raising the royalty rate could generate between $1 billion and $2 billion a year annually, and wouldn't significantly impact energy prices for American households.

The report focuses on fiscal rather than environmental benefits of updating the law, but "Interior officials say they will also consider how to incorporate the real-world toll of climate change into the price of permits for new fossil fuel extraction," Kaplan reports. "Economic analyses suggest the changes to royalty and bonding rates will increase revenue, but they will not significantly curb carbon emissions." That's because "Less than 10 percent of oil and gas produced in the United States comes from Interior-controlled land, and cuts to U.S. production will be partly offset by increases in other countries."

Interested parties on both sides of the issue expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal. A representative of the American Petroleum Institute said it would increase the cost of production, Kaplan reports. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Center for Biological Diversity noted that one-third of Americans experienced a disaster driven by climate change this summer, and called for the Biden administration to end drilling on public lands rather than reform it.

The administration is under pressure to deliver on President Biden's campaign promises to protect the environment, especially after the recent United Nations climate agreement. "Even as he has come under criticism for not moving quickly or boldly enough to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs in a greener economy and alleviate pollution impacting poor and minority communities, Biden has continued to pursue swaths of his climate agenda," Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and John Muyskens note for the Post. "Less than a year after taking the oath of office, Biden has now targeted half of Donald Trump’s energy and environmental policies." Click here for the Post's frequently updated list of the Biden administration's environmental actions.

Because of pandemic, Appalachia unseated the Permian Basin as the biggest methane-emitting region in 2020

The Appalachian Basin surpassed the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico to became the biggest source of methane emissions in the U.S. last year, according to analytics firm Kayrros. That's largely because falling energy demand hit the Permian a little harder than Appalachia: emissions fell by 20 percent in Appalachia and 26% in the Permian in 2020, Jamison Cocklin reports for Natural Gas Intel. It's the first time methane emissions from coal have been comprehensively quantified.

"Kayrros said recent data show emissions from fossil fuel production in the Appalachian Basin hit 3 million tons (Mt) in 2019 and 2.4 Mt in 2020," Cocklin reports. "Excluding emissions from coal mines, emissions from natural gas produced largely from the Marcellus, Utica and Upper Devonian shales declined from 1.9 Mt in 2019 to 1.4 Mt in 2020. Methane from oil and natural gas production in the Permian declined from 2.7 Mt to 2.0 Mt over the same time." Some of the methane is from oil and gas, but some is from coal. It's tricky to figure out the source of Appalachian methane emissions since coal, gas and oil extraction sites are intermingled throughout the basin. 

The analysis shows "Large methane emissions cannot simply be considered as an unavoidable side effect of production but rather the avoidable consequence of various factors such as insufficient or poorly maintained infrastructure for natural gas gathering, processing, and transportation," World Oil reports. 

The report coincides with the Senate vote this week to restore regulation of methane emissions, as well as a major United Nations report calling for deep cuts in methane emissions to slow global warming.