A look back at fracking, from a leading reporter on the beat; environmental questions remain as industry shifts

Mike Soraghan started out with Energy and Environment News, which was bought by Politico, so now he writes for both. His latest opus is a look back at the history of horizontal hydraulic fracturing of deep shale, better known as "fracking," which has had a big impact on parts of rural America. Soragahn has covered it for more than a decade.

Mike Soraghan (Politico photo)

"Shale promised riches, and in some instances, it delivered, saving farms," he writes for Politico Magazine. "Fracking birthed tales of instant 'shale-ionnaires' and oilfield strippers tucking four-figure handfuls of cash in their garter belts for a night’s work. And it also fundamentally changed the United States’ position in the global energy economy, in ways that have been on prominent display over the first half of 2026.

"But a lot of the people you’d expect to profit from fracking . . . were instead crushed by it. And drilling wells could wreak environmental havoc, triggering earthquakes, ruining farmland, polluting airways and contaminating household water to the point it could catch fire. In short: Fracking rewrote the book on American energy, globally and domestically. . . . Today, even if you walk everywhere or drive an electric vehicle, fracking is responsible for keeping your grocery and electric bills down."

But now, "That tumultuous chapter is coming to an end, just as a war-driven energy crisis offers — or threatens — to rewrite the script once again. The irony is that the U.S. is outdoing the petro-kingdoms of the Middle East — just as the world is accelerating its turn toward renewable energy. The easy oil is getting harder to find. Even as production continues to climb, the rate of growth is slowing. Automation is replacing oil workers the way it did coal miners. Environmental protests have moved on to data centers. America’s wildcatters are again starting to scan the horizon for new discoveries abroad. Even Michael Steele, the former Republican Party chair who coined the term, 'Drill, Baby, Drill,' thinks the phrase has outlived its usefulness."

Environmental questions remain, especially "the long-term impact of pumping chemicals from the nearly 2 million fracked wells — questions that may not be answered for years or decades," Soraghan writes. Environmentalists are mostly against fracking shale, but Christopher Knittel, the associate dean for Climate and Stability at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Soraghan that greenhouse-gas emissions have been cut mainly by power plants’ switch from coal to natural gas. More broadly, Knittel worries that the U.S. backoff from electric vehicles means the American industry could be “islanded off” from the rest of the world. "Perhaps the model for the United States’ energy future isn’t Saudi Arabia, but an actual island," Soragahn concludes.

Very rural New Mexico reaps millions in oil revenue

In the U.S., only Texas produces more oil than New Mexico.
(Photo by Laura Mann, Unsplash)

New Mexico's state treasury began reaping millions in oil revenue after global crude supplies were strangled in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Despite the predominantly rural state's dependence on fossil-fuel-generated revenue, the windfall has sparked mixed feelings for "Democrats who oppose the war and would rather reduce their reliance on fossil fuels," reports Morgan Lee of The Associated Press.

The Democratic-led "Land of Enchantment" is second only to Texas for oil production, and the "state’s revenue from taxes, royalties and lease sales helps cover the cost of college tuition, all school meals, health insurance and a new initiative for free universal child care," Lee explains.

Even seemingly small increases in crude oil prices can mean big money for the state. Lee reports, "For every $1 fluctuation in the average annual price of oil, New Mexico sees a roughly $59 million swing in state government income."

The state's treasury automatically channels increases in oil revenue "into a series of trust accounts designed to gradually reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels," Lee writes. Through investments, those trusts "underwrite Medicaid, early childhood education, infrastructure projects and an expansion of mental healthcare" in a very rural state that is "entrenched [with] swaths of extreme poverty and the nation’s highest enrollment rate in Medicaid."

New Mexico isn't the only rural state to see surges in state income because of the war with Iran. Lee adds, "In Alaska, the state forecast an additional $1.05 billion for the current fiscal year and the one beginning July 1."

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.

Reporter tips: Spiking gas prices unify many Americans; the general misery offers a multitude of story possibilities

Gas prices in Holden, Maine, after Russia invaded 
Ukraine in early 2022. (Photo by GG, Unsplash) 

Dismayed by soaring gasoline prices, many Americans are coping by sharing their frustration and misery. For journalists, the increase in gas prices combined with eventual transportation-cost price hikes on consumer and grocery goods is an opportunity to explore energy resources, shared financial stresses and the effects of the war in Iran.

"Whatever you think of the war in the Middle East, people’s patriotism is being eclipsed by anxiety over fuel prices," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "That means the whole crisis is an opportunity to report on the environmental implications of burning petroleum. . . . It makes a big difference in people’s lives.”

For the most part, lamenting over eye-popping fuel prices -- and what some Americans are doing to cope -- isn't a partisan conversation. Community reporting can bring those stories to light. Davis writes, "People who live in rural and western areas may have to drive long distances daily. Many commercial truck drivers are independent entrepreneurs who pay for fuel out of their own pockets." 

Local reporting can remind readers about more recent gasoline price spikes and share some history on how older generations weathered previous gas crunches and steep inflation. In the spring of 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused gas prices to spike to levels similar to today's prices. Davis adds, "In July 2008, crude prices peaked at over $150/barrel, higher than even today, due to several factors, including Mideast tensions. They had previously peaked in late 1973 in response to a Mideast war and the Arab oil embargo."

At some point, there will likely be an opportunity to report on energy resources and the future of energy in your community, region or the nation. 

Davis' story ideas and reporting resources are shared below.

• If you are in a rural area, visit feed and fertilizer stores, and ask farmers how fuel prices affect them. Ask about fertilizer prices, too.
• Go to local car dealers (ideally ones that sell both gas vehicles and EVs). Talk to customers, salespeople and managers about whether interest in EVs is going up.
• If you live in a region, such as the Northeast or Alaska, where people still use fuel oil for heating, talk to customers and suppliers about how people are responding to higher fuel prices.
• Most states use fuel taxes to fund transportation infrastructure. Talk to your state legislators about any proposals to reduce fuel taxes.
• Beyond the steep prices at the pump, many Americans are facing historically high utility bills. Is there anything your community can learn from surrounding communities to help lower bills?  

Reporting resources:

• Price trackers: AAA, GasBuddy and the Energy Information Administration
• Consumer Energy Alliance: A nonprofit that advocates for lower energy prices for consumers
• U.S. Oil & Gas Association: An industry trade group that lobbies for oil and natural gas producers
• National Consumers League: A nonprofit that educates consumers about vehicle mileage standards, among other things

National Park Service let go its last engineer who monitored abandoned wells, which pose a 'significant threat'

Unplugged oil and gas wells can still spew noxious gases 
and pollute groundwater. (Adobe Stock photo)

Forrest Smith was the National Park Service's sole engineer tasked with finding and cleaning up the roughly 93 abandoned gas and oil wells scattered across federal lands. But in September, the NPS chose not to renew Smith's contract, leaving no one to track leaky wells. Old, unplugged wells can pose a "significant threat to the environment and public health," reports Maxine Joselow of The New York Times.

Often dubbed "orphaned wells," most forgotten sites were drilled and abandoned before the "national parks were established," Joselow explains. Orphaned wells can continue to spew noxious gases, such as methane, a greenhouse gas, and benzene, a chemical "linked to leukemia and other blood cancers. . . . .Oil and brine can seep from the wells into aquifers that supply drinking water to nearby communities."

Inactive and orphaned wells will continue to pose an unseen threat because the NPS lacks employees to monitor sites and make arrangements to have them sealed through a process know as "plugging". Beau Kiklis, associate director of energy and landscape conservation at the National Parks Conservation Association, told Joselow, "I don’t think I can underscore enough that this has been a significantly underestimated public health and safety problem." 

Smith estimated that there are "around 2,500 inactive wells on Park Service lands, including 93 that are orphaned. Of those abandoned wells, about 70 are leaking methane," Joselow reports.

A spokeswoman for the Interior Department, which oversees the Park Service, told the Times that "the Park Service 'has made strong progress in meeting the administration’s priorities to identify and plug orphaned wells on park lands,' and that 'staffing levels naturally fluctuate as appointments conclude and new positions are filled.'"

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."

A historic first in Alaska may mean drilling in an untouched national refuge; Native Alaskans want a 'seat at the table.'

Map by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder, from Bureau of Land
Management data. Click on map to enlarge.

Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is big, beautiful, and rich in natural resources and biodiversity. It has also been the "focal point of more than six decades of drilling controversy," which will come to a tentative resolution when tracts within the region's 19-million-acre expanse open for oil and gas leases this month, reports Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder. Native Alaskan communities want to be among the decision-makers for the coastal land that "is estimated to contain 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil."

Drilling in ANWR has never been done before. The region is home to "charismatic species like polar bears, wolves, and the caribou that are sacred to the Gwich’in, a Northwestern Alaska tribe," Melotte writes. "Oil and gas operations elicit mixed responses from Alaskan Natives. . . Some worry that drilling activity will hurt vulnerable wildlife and subsistence living, others say the oil and gas industry funds important infrastructure for their communities."

The coastal region, also known as the North Slope Borough, receives 95% of its total budget from oil and gas development taxation. Reservation members also depend on shareholder income regional corporations generate and pay out to Alaskan Natives. The Artic Slope Regional Corporation serves as an example. The company "has over 13,000 shareholders who receive dividends," Melotte notes. "Since its establishment in 1972, the ASRC has distributed more than $1 billion in dividends."

"Many leaders of the Iñupiat, an indigenous people native to Alaska’s North Slope Borough, say that oil and gas operations can be good for native communities if conducted responsibly," Melotte reports. Nagruk Harcharek, president of the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Alaska’s Iñupiat people, told Melotte, "Before oil and gas, you couldn't graduate high school and stay in the North Slope. Now there are K-12 schools in every North Slope village."

Harcharek used a past North Slope drilling project to help explain how Native Alaskans want to be included in drilling activity and practices. Melotte writes, "He said they were consulted 'early and often' in the decision-making process. . . . He said they want to be included before decisions are announced publicly."

Despite Alaska's rich natural resources, many Alaskan Natives live in poverty and still hunt for food, and drilling activities could interfere with their reliance on wild game. "Hunting is more than just a hobby in many native villages with high poverty rates," Melotte writes. "Hunting is a method of survival, said Dr. A.L. Lovecraft, professor of Political Science and director of the Center for Arctic Policy Studies at the University of Alaska. '[Drilling] also comes with all of this other baggage... Problems related to health, indoor health, indoor air quality, outdoor air quality.'"

Fracking wastewater is blowing out of old oilwells; the water can mean contaminated groundwater and unusable land

A Permian wellhead surrounded by fracking
equipment. (Adobe Stock photo)

Taking fracking wastewater and injecting it miles underground is the cheapest and most common way to get rid of Texas oilfield used or "produced water," but a new study from Southern Methodist University found that the toxic water may not be staying underground. The study showed "a significant link between wastewater injection and oil well blowouts in the Permian Basin," report Dylan Baddour of Inside Climate News and Carlos Nogueras Ramos of the Texas Tribune. "It’s the first scientific proof of a phenomenon local landowners have long warned was occurring."

To study wastewater injections and blowouts, researchers "examined a January 2022 blowout in Crane County that gushed almost 15 million gallons of brine before it was capped, according to the paper. That would fill about 23 Olympic-sized swimming pools," Baddour and Ramos report. "The study traced the cause of the blowout to a cluster of nine injection wells about 12 miles to the northeast."

The connection between the Permian Basin's briny sprays and fracking wastewater "raises concerns about the possibility of widespread groundwater contamination in West Texas," Baddour and Ramos write. While the Texas Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas extraction, it has "refrained from putting forth an explanation. . . . The link between injections and surface blowouts has remained unconfirmed, despite widespread suspicions." This recent study, which was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, "marks a big step forward in scientific documentation."

Attorney Sarah Stogner told Baddour and Ramos, "It just validates what we’ve been saying." Baddour and Ramos add, "For the last three years, Stogner has represented the Antina Cattle Ranch, where dozens of abandoned oil wells have been spraying back to life. Stogner persistently alleged that nearby wastewater injection was responsible. But she couldn’t prove it. . . . Now a scientific consensus is beginning to fall in behind her."

When old wells gush oil wastewater, the land that absorbs the salty mess is at risk. Baddour and Ramos explain, "West Texas ranchers who own land where contaminated water is seeping from underground are beginning to worry it will soon become uninhabitable. . . . Despite those problems, the Railroad Commission approved 400 new disposal wells in the Permian Basin alone in 2021, according to agency documents, and 480 in 2022."

To learn how fracking wastewater can contaminate groundwater, click 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."

Interior Dept. proposes restrictions on mining, energy work, grazing in 'sagebrush sea' to protect greater sage-grouse

Bureau of Land Management map; for a larger version, click on it. For more maps and the whole plan, click here.

The bird's mating dance (Photo by Bob Wick, BLM)

The Bureau of Land Management proposed Thursday to save the greater sage-grouse "by limiting oil and gas drilling, mining, livestock grazing and other activities across much of the American West," reports Maxine Joselow of The Washington Post. That "sets up a fierce clash with the fossil-fuel industry, which has long seen the bird as a barrier to extracting some of the richest oil and gas reserves in the region."

The BLM's draft plan "outlines several alternatives for managing nearly 67 million acres of the birds’ habitat across 10 Western states," the Post reports. "The 'preferred alternative' would restore some restrictions on drilling and other activities that the Obama administration imposed in 2015, although it would maintain some elements of the Trump administration’s 2019 strategy." Those plans weren't fully implemented because of court action.

The greater sage-grouse — known for its mating dance — numbers as many as 200,000 and is not listed as threatened or endangered but there were once a million. In 2015, the Fish and Wildlife Service, another arm of the Interior Department, said that was unnecessary because the Obama-era plan would protect it enough. "Since then, congressional Republicans have inserted provisions into must-pass spending bills to prevent a future listing," the Post reports. "Much of the birds’ habitat, known as the 'sagebrush sea,' has been destroyed by huge wildfires and an invasive plant called cheatgrass. Climate change has hastened the habitat loss, since fires have spread more easily through a warmer, drier landscape parched by a two-decade megadrought.”

Publicly at least, energy groups took a wait-and-see attitude, noting variations among areas, while "Conservation groups offered a mixed reaction to the draft plan," the Post reports. "Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, called it the 'last best hope' to save the sage grouse. But Vera Smith, senior federal lands policy analyst at Defenders of Wildlife, said the proposal does not go far enough. . . . . Although sage grouse regulations have rankled the oil and gas industry, they could also curtail clean-energy projects essential to the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels. Such projects include wind farms, solar installations, and mines for minerals used in electric vehicles and other green technologies. That poses a conundrum for the Biden administration, which has set a goal of permitting 25,000 megawatts of renewable energy on federal lands by 2025 — a key pillar of its climate agenda."

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. 

California's new climate laws are set to have a global impact; the state is the fifth-largest world economy

Lily Hsueh, Associate Professor of Economics
and Public Policy, Arizona State University

Under California's new climate laws, corporate behemoths like Apple and Exxon that do business in the state will have to track and report "almost all their greenhouse gas emissions -- including emissions from their supply chains, business travel, employees' commutes and the way customers use their products," reports Lily Hsueh for The Conversation, a platform for journalism for academics. "That means oil and gas companies like Chevron will likely have to account for emissions from vehicles that use their gasoline, and Apple will have to account for materials that go into iPhones."

The mandatory disclosure laws are "a huge leap from current federal and state reporting requirements, which require reporting only certain emissions from companies' direct operations. And it will have global ramifications," Hsueh explains. While other places have similar laws, "California is the fifth-largest economy in the world. So, the state's new laws are poised to have substantial influence worldwide."

Despite the change in rules, many corporations knew mandatory reporting was coming and prepared, and some were already doing a portion of it. "Close to two-thirds of the companies listed in the S&P 500 index voluntarily report to CDP, formerly called the Carbon Disclosure Project. CDP is a nonprofit that surveys companies on behalf of institutional investors about their carbon management and plans to reduce carbon emissions," Hsueh reports. "Many also face reporting requirements elsewhere, including in the European Union, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore and cities like Hong Kong."

Research is unclear if mandatory disclosures work.
(Photo by Robin Sommer, Unsplash)

What changes do mandatory disclosures make in terms of lowering greenhouse gas output? Hseuh writes, "My research shows that voluntary carbon disclosure systems like CDPs that focus on reporting corporate sustainability outputs, such as having science-based emissions targets, tend not to be as effective as those that focus on outcomes, such as a company's actual carbon emissions. . . . For example, a company could earn an A or B grade from CDP and still increase its entity-wide carbon emissions, notably when it does not face regulatory pressure.

"In contrast, a recent study of the U.K.'s 2013 disclosure mandate for U.K.-incorporated listed firms found that companies reduced their operational emissions by about 8% relative to a control group, with no significant changes to their profitability. When companies report their emissions, they can gain important knowledge about inefficiencies in their operations and supply chains that weren't evident before. . . . Ultimately, a well-designed disclosure program, whether voluntary or mandatory, needs to focus on consistency, comparability and accountability. Those traits allow companies to demonstrate that their climate pledges and actions are real, not just a front for greenwashing."

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."

States having issues with federal program to plug orphan oil and gas wells: not enough pluggers, new rules from Interior

Crude oil, water, chemicals and probably methane leak from an orphaned well’s

borehole in West Texas. (Photo by Shelby Webb, Energy & Environment News)

The federal government has $4.7 billion to plug orphaned oil and gas wells, "but the new federal money is creating logistical and regulatory challenges . . . raising many questions about whether the money will live up to its promise," Shelby Webb reports for Energy & Environment News.

"Some officials say they are having a hard time finding enough crews to plug the wells under the timelines dictated by the federal funds, and available workers are charging higher prices than originally anticipated," Webb reports. "Many orphaned wells also remain undiscovered, putting pressure on states to develop new methods for finding and plugging them."

The latest hiccup is the Interior Department's new rules for the grant money, which it announced last week. They "will require states to track methane emissions, develop screening processes to check for groundwater pollution and prioritize plugging wells near historically underserved communities," Webb reports. "However, Lori Wrotenbery, executive director of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, said in an email that Interior cannot require states to track methane or groundwater pollution and can instead only tell states they are 'expected' or 'encouraged' to do so. The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission represents all but one of the 26 states that have been deemed eligible to receive the federal orphaned well plugging funds."

The Interior Department told Webb that while methane and water-pollution measurements were encouraged in its initial grants, they are now “requirements.”

Webb writes, "There may be as many as 800,000 orphaned wells across the country, according to some estimates. In 2021, states reported 126,806 to the Department of Interior, although many experts say that number vastly understates the problem. Along with being eyesores, the wells may be polluting groundwater and are estimated to be the 10th largest source of methane emissions in the U.S., according to a study by McGill University in Canada."

In a partial win for a Chippewa band in Wisconsin, a federal judge orders a section of oil pipeline to close in three years

The Bad River Band's insignia shows the river's watershed
inside the reservation. (Image from Bad River Tribe website)

A federal judge's ruling gave a partial victory to members of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, who were suing Canadian oil firm Enbridge "over a stretch of pipeline that crossed over tribal lands," reports Zack Budryk of The Hill. District Judge William Conley "ordered the firm to shut down a section of its pipeline in Wisconsin. . . . The tribe has argued the area of the pipeline is at risk of rupture, while erosion of the banks of the Bad River has left only about 15 feet of land separating the pipeline and the river. . . . Conley agreed with the tribe on the environmental risks of the situation but did not agree a state of emergency warranted an immediate shutdown."

Reservation and pipeline (WNMU map)

Conley, a Barack Obama appointee and native of Rice Lake, 80 miles southwest of the reservation, ordered a "gradual shutdown within three years, and he ordered the energy firm to pay the tribe $5 million in damages for trespassing," Budryk reports. "His ruling expressed concerns that an immediate halt to the pipeline would disrupt energy security in the area and make consumer fuel costs spiral." The judge pointed out Enbridge's delay in building a bypass pipeline, noting that "'Enbridge has now had 10 years since losing its rights of way, including four years of litigating, to move its bypass forward. Considering all the evidence, the court cannot countenance an indefinite delay. . . . Nevertheless, the court will give Enbridge an additional three years to complete a reroute.'"

Enbridge said the ruling was a partial win, but it plans to appeal. "Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Band, told Budryk that its "victory is not a cause for unqualified celebration . . . We are under no illusion that Enbridge will do the right thing. We expect them to fight this order with all of their corporate might. This is just one step in protecting our people and water."

Feds want to allow leasing of federal land for conservation; critics call it a back-door attack on grazing, mining, drilling

Cattle graze along a section of the Missouri River in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument near Fort Benton, Montana. Much federal land in the West is used for grazing. (Photo by Matthew Brown, The Associated Press)

The Biden administration's plan to sell leases of federal land for conservation, just like it does for "oil drilling, livestock grazing and other interests," has drawn "pushback from Republicans and ranchers," reports Matthew Brown of The Associated Press. 

"The proposal is stirring debate over the best use of public land, primarily in the West," Brown writes. "Opponents . . . are blasting it as a backdoor way to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture. Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the Bureau of Land Management, said the proposed changes address rising pressure from climate change and development. She said it would make conservation an 'equal' to grazing, drilling and other uses while not interfering with them."

The bureau, part of the Interior Department, "has a history of industry-friendly policies for the 380,000 square miles it oversees, an area more than twice the size of California," Brown writes. "Those holdings put the agency at the center of arguments over how much development should be allowed." At the first virtual public meeting about the proposal, "There was no opportunity for public comment, and the agency screened questions . . . Officials acknowledged receiving numerous queries about grazing and drilling potentially being excluded. Brian St. George, acting assistant director for the bureau, said the conservation leases would not 'lock up land in perpetuity'."

Stone-Manning said conservation-leased property could still be used for hunting or recreation. "Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada — where the federal land bureau controls about two-thirds of the land — urged the administration to work with ranchers and farmers before finalizing the proposal."

Congress is nixing protections for the lesser prairie-chicken, but won't be able to override a veto promised by Biden

A lesser prairie-chicken performs a mating display. (Getty Images photo via States Newsroom)

Which comes first, the land or the bird? In the case of the South Plains' lesser prairie chicken, it's become a back-and-forth in Washington, D.C. In a rare move, the U.S. Senate voted 50-48 Wednesday to overturn a Biden administration rule that listed one population of the lesser prairie-chicken as an endangered species and the rest as threatened. The House is expected to do likewise and send the legislation to the president, who has said he would veto it. A veto override, which requires a two-thirds vote of both houses, looks impossible.

"Lesser prairie-chickens thrive in native grasses, and conservation groups' efforts to preserve habitat for the birds," reports Ariana Figueroa of States Newsroom. Republican lawmakers who argue the Biden policy is a threat to farmers, ranchers and energy producers."

Map from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service species assessment report

In November, the Fish and Wildlife Service put the southernmost population of the lesser prairie chicken back on the endangered-species list, citing "fairly drastic" differences in the outlook for survival of the species in different areas of the Great Plains. The rule has been particularly unpopular in Kansas, which has three populations now listed as threatened, and the Congressional Review Act resolution was filed by Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas. "Congress can use a CRA to block rules recently promulgated by federal agencies, and in specific other circumstances, by submitting a joint resolution of disapproval," Figueroa explains. "Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said the rule threatens ranchers and farmers. 'I am confident there are ways to conserve the species without hindering economic opportunity in rural communities. . . . He said what Kansas needs is 'more rainfall, not more regulations.'"

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Delaware, said the game bird "has long been considered an indicator for healthy grasslands and prairies upon which hundreds of species depend. So, if the lesser prairie-chicken is in peril — in time, other species could be in peril as well." Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the designation "is holding American farms, ranches, and other small businesses hostage to an animal called the lesser prairie-chicken." McConnell "argued that local landowners and officials already set aside millions of acres of potential habitat for the bird," Figueroa reports.

The bird's numbers have drastically declined. "Its population is now estimated to be about 30,000, according to FWS. The habitat for the lesser prairie chicken has diminished by about 90%," Figueroa reports. Mike Leahy, the senior director of wildlife policy for the National Wildlife Federation, told her, "A Congressional Review Act vote is not the right approach because it would not only overturn this particular listing, it would mean this bird could never be listed again no matter how bad things get."

Satellites can spot methane emissions from individual wells

Satellite photo over the Permian Basin in New Mexico on Dec. 24
shows methane escaping from an APA Corp. facility. Bloomberg News
gave the photo to APA, which reported the emission to state regulators.

Satellite images of methane emissions from oil and gas production have become so detalied that the emissions can now be attributed to individual wells and other assets, Bloomberg's Aaron Clark reports.

There are three such satellites in orbit now, and at least 24 "are expected to be in orbit by the end of this year, quietly tracking the super pollutant that’s invisible to the naked eye," Clark reports. "Their sensors are able to detect the natural gas component as it spews from pipelines, unlit flares, storage tanks and compressor stations around the world. The images sent back are crystal clear and leave little doubt about who is responsible for leaks. . . . Much of the demand for the data is coming from oil and gas operators themselves, who are increasingly using the systems to identify leaks along thousands of miles of pipeline or remote facilities. . . . The detections are also empowering regulators and the public. New Mexico officials said in March they were inspecting any methane plumes detected by NASA and other entities and would use the data to evaluate reporting and compliance by operators."

While carbon dioxide is the main contributor to global warming because it lasts up to 200 years in the atmposphere, "Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during its first two decades in the atmosphere," Clark notes. "Halting emissions of the greenhouse gas could do more to slow climate change in the near term than almost any other single measure."

World is on the brink of a climate calamity, U.N. panel says

Cattle and a wind farm in Carbon County, Wyoming, which no longer
produces coal, in 2021 (Photo by Katherine Frey, The Washington Post)

"Human activities have transformed the planet at a pace and scale unmatched in recorded history, causing irreversible damage to communities and ecosystems, according to one of the most definitive reports ever published about climate change," reports Sarah Kaplan of The Washington Post. "Leading scientists warned that the world’s plans to combat these changes are inadequate and that more aggressive actions must be taken to avert catastrophic warming."

The warning comes in a report issued Monday by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which "found the world is likely to miss its most ambitious climate target — limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial temperatures — within a decade," Kaplan rpeorts. "Beyond that threshold, scientists have found, climate disasters will become so extreme people cannot adapt. Heat waves, famines and infectious diseases will claim millions of additional lives. Basic components of the Earth system will be fundamentally, irrevocably altered."

Citing the report, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said the U.S. and other highly developed countries must eliminate carbon emissions by 2040, a decade earlier than the rest of the world. He called the report a “how-to guide to defuse the climate time-bomb,” and said “The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.”

Climate change has "caused irrevocable damage to communities and ecosystems," Kaplan writes. "Fish populations are dwindling, farms are less productive, infectious diseases have multiplied, and weather disasters are escalating to unheard of extremes. The risks from this relatively low level of warming are turning out to be greater than scientists anticipated — not because of any flaw in their research, but because human-built infrastructure, social networks and economic systems have proved exceptionally vulnerable to even small amounts of climate change, the report said."

Kaplan reports, "The researchers say it’s all but inevitable that the world will surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the early 2030s — pushing the planet past a threshold at which scientists say climate change will become increasingly unmanageable. . . . Beyond 1.5 degrees of warming, the report says, humanity will run up against 'hard limits' to adaptation. Temperatures will get too high to grow many staple crops. Droughts will become so severe that even the strongest water conservation measures can’t compensate. In a world that has warmed roughly 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) — where humanity is currently headed — the harsh physical realities of climate change will be deadly for countless plants, animals and people."

Decline in output of nation's largest oil region signals the fracking-driven U.S. oil boom is at its peak, or just past it

Wikipedia map, adapted, highlights Culbertson County

The U.S. oil boom created by horizontal hydraulic fracturing of deep shale beds "is nearing its peak" if it hasn't passed it already, report Collin Eaton and Benoit Morenne of The Wall Street Journal.

"Frackers are hitting fewer big gushers in the Permian Basin, America’s busiest oil patch, the latest sign they have drained their catalog of good wells. Shale companies’ biggest and best wells are producing less oil," the Journal reports. "The average well put out 6% less oil than the prior year, according to an analysis of data from analytics firm Novi Labs."

More recent results from the basin, which stretches across New Mexico and west Texas, "are mimicking the onset of a production plateau that has taken place at other, more mature U.S. shale plays," the Journal reports. "Chevron, one of the largest landholders in the Permian, drilled some of the region’s most prolific wells in Culberson County, Texas, but some of its newer wells there have seen productivity decline. . . . Chevron executives said last week the company missed its oil-production target" in the richest section of the basin. . . Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth said last week the rate of production growth and drilling activity the U.S. shale industry saw a decade ago 'is unlikely to be repeated,' though the Permian still has areas that haven’t been developed."