Fracking - Inside Climate News

California Governor Signs Bills to Tighten Restrictions on Oil and Gas Drillers

By Liza Gross — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 08:55:00 +0000

“We will hold the oil industry accountable for their pollution and public health impacts,” said Assemblymember Gregg Hart, author of one of the bills.

By Liza Gross

With pumpjacks nodding in the background, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed new laws to hold oil companies accountable and protect neighborhoods from oil development, protections community groups have fought more than a decade to win.

Activists Disrupt Occidental Petroleum CEO’s Interview at New York Times Climate Event

By Keerti Gopal, Jake Bolster — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The move is part of a string of similar disruptions targeting appearances by oil company representatives and government leaders at Climate Week NYC.

By Keerti Gopal, Jake Bolster

NEW YORK—Vicki Hollub, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum, had barely stepped on stage for her interview at the New York Times’ Climate Forward event when an audience member leapt up into her path.

A Trump Debate Comment About German Energy Policy Leaves Germans Perplexed

By Dan Gearino — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

“Germany tried that,” the former president said. What was he talking about?

By Dan Gearino

In his closing statement at last week’s presidential debate, Donald Trump made a blink-and-you-miss-it comment that earned a pointed response from the German government.

A Company’s Struggles Raise Questions About the Future of Lithium Extraction in Pennsylvania

By Kiley Bense — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Amid public scrutiny over worker safety, Eureka Resources, a fracking wastewater treatment company, idled a facility, canceled plans to build another and intends to sell or close two more.

By Kiley Bense

When a new study suggested that vast quantities of the critical mineral lithium could be found in Pennsylvania’s fracking wastewater, Eureka Resources seemed perfectly positioned to take advantage of the frenzy of publicity that followed. In 2023, Eureka announced it had extracted 97 percent pure lithium carbonate from fracking wastewater.

Proposals to Build California’s First Carbon Storage Facilities Face a Key Test

By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News and Joshua Yeager, KVPR — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 20:47:07 +0000

Experts say extensive monitoring of the sites will be required to ensure safety.

By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News and Joshua Yeager, KVPR

Proposals to build California’s first carbon storage facilities are facing key tests in the coming weeks, beginning with a vote by the Kern County Planning Commission Thursday night.

Debate Flares Over Texas’ Proposed Oil and Gas Waste Rule

By Martha Pskowski — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

While environmentalists say the new rule doesn’t do enough to protect groundwater, oil and gas operators are contesting stricter requirements for waste pits near wells.

By Martha Pskowski

Texas is inching closer to adopting revised oil and gas waste management rules for the first time in four decades.

California Climate and Health Groups Urge Legislators to Pass Polluter Pays Bills

By Liza Gross — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

As the state’s legislative session draws to a close, activists urge their representatives to pass bills they call critical to protecting communities and the planet from fossil fuel extraction.

By Liza Gross

Dozens of activists gathered outside the state Capitol in the scorching Sacramento sun Monday to make a last push against the industry that’s largely responsible for the climate crisis shattering one heat record after another.

In Final Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, BLM Sticks With Conservation Priorities, Renewable Energy Development

By Jake Bolster — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 08:55:00 +0000

The controversial plan would also place new limits on the terrain open to coal mining and oil and gas drilling, mainly due to a lack of resources in the areas, irking many fossil fuel advocates in the state.

By Jake Bolster

The Bureau of Land Management, on Aug. 22, released its final Resource Management Plan for its Rock Springs District in Southwest Wyoming, spurring blowback from the governor and the fossil fuel industry, and drawing mostly praise from conservation groups.

US District Court Throws Out Federal Agency’s Assessment Allowing More Drilling for Fossil Fuels in the Gulf of Mexico

By Aman Azhar — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The lawsuit before the court showed the staggering scale of ecological damage a bad federal assessment can cause to endangered and federally protected sea creatures.

By Aman Azhar

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland has tossed a flawed environmental assessment that grossly underestimated harms to endangered and threatened marine species from oil and gas drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

This Country Voted to Keep Oil in the Ground. Will It Happen?

By Katie Surma — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

More than 10 million Ecuadorians voted last year to ban oil operations in part of the Amazon rainforest. But heavy crude has continued to flow from the region, which is home to uncontacted Indigenous families.

By Katie Surma

Update: After this article was published, the Ecuadorian government announced plans to cap and close 246 oil wells in the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) fields beginning on August 30, 2024. That phase-out process will last until December 31, 2029. The government expects that removing other infrastructure, such as well pads, and remediating environmental damage will last through August 31, 2032.