Previous Fossil Fuel News 2014-2020

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2020

New York’s $226 Billion Pension Fund Is Dropping Fossil Fuel Stocks 12-09-20

The fund will divest from many fossil fuels in the next five years and sell its shares in other companies that contribute to global warming by 2040. Read more at The New York Times 

US Exported Natural Gas Could Worsen Climate Change 12-09-20

While natural gas has been touted as a solution to the world’s fossil fuel problem, a new analysis by NRDC shows that the U.S’ exports of liquified natural gas (LNG) will only worsen global warming. Read more at Our Daily Planet

San Jose To Become Largest City to Ban Natural Gas for New Construction 12-01-20

The city of San Jose, CA will become the largest city in the United States to ban natural gas from all new construction. Read more at Our Daily Planet

Environmental groups fight proposed Eastern Shore pipeline 11-26-20

Environmentalists argue the state is ignoring its commitment to renewable energy and brushing aside the pipeline’s potential impact on the low-income communities it would go through. Read more The Washington Post

Bailed Out & Propped Up 11-23-20

U.S. Fossil Fuel Pandemic Bailouts Climb Past $15 Billion. Read more at Bailout Watch

Trump Team Rushes to Drill In Arctic — But Will They Fall Flat? 11-17-20

They are rushing the process to auction off oil and gas drilling rights there before President Trump leaves office on January 20th. Read more at Our Daily Planet

Are We Prepared? 10-15-20

As the Mariner East pipelines become a permanent underpinning of Pennsylvania, secrecy and a patchwork of emergency plans have left many communities in the dark about what to do in case of an accident. Read more at Spotlight PA

Airborne radioactivity increases downwind of fracking, study finds 10-13-20

Particles released by drilling could damage the health of nearby residents, say scientists. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

Why hasn’t California banned fracking yet? 09-28-20

Alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom’s headline-making announcement last week that he would ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, he also said he supported a ban on new fracking permits by 2024. Read more at Grist

Student Climate Protesters Urge Their Universities to Go Carbon Neutral 09-22-20

As West coast wildfires color the skies dystopian red and orange and an aggressive hurricane season batters the U.S. Gulf coast, college students are demanding their schools take bold action to address the climate crisis. Read more at EcoWatch

Defund or Defend? In the Fight Over Fossil Fuel Investments, Who’s Winning? 09-21-20

Despite divestment victories, big banks and asset managers continue driving climate change through their lending practices. Read more at The Revelator

In reversal, Trump to ban oil drilling off coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina 09-08-20

The move comes after the White House previously proposed a huge expansion of drilling off U.S. coasts. Democratic and Republican governors have resisted offshore oil exploration Read more at The Washington Post

How SUVs conquered the world — at the expense of its climate 09-07-20

They are the hulking cars that have conquered the world. Spreading from the heartlands of the U.S. to a new generation of eager buyers in China to dominate even the twisting, narrow streets of Europe. Read more at Grist

Trump administration rolls back Obama-era rule aimed at limiting toxic wastewater from coal plants 08-31-20

Power plant discharge ranks as the largest source of toxic water pollution in the United States Read more at The Washington Post

Exxon Touts Carbon Capture as a Climate Fix, but Uses It to Maximize Profit and Keep Oil Flowing 08-27-20

The company sells the CO2 to other companies that use it to revive depleted oil fields and has relentlessly fought EPA oversight of the practice. Read more at Inside Climate News

Harvard activists’ new fossil fuel divestment strategy: Make it an inside job. 08-25-20

The fossil fuel divestment movement won a significant victory on Friday: Harvard University alumni elected three new divestment-focused members to the school’s Board of Overseers, the governing body with a say over who controls the school’s $40.9 billion endowment. Read more at Grist 

How to drive fossil fuels out of the US economy, quickly 08-06-20

The US has everything it needs to decarbonize by 2035. Read more at Vox

Fracking Firms Fail, Rewarding Executives and Raising Climate Fears 07-13-20

Oil and gas companies are hurtling toward bankruptcy, raising fears that wells will be left leaking planet-warming pollutants, with cleanup cost left to taxpayers. Read more at The New York Times 

Renewable Natural Gas Isn’t a Green Solution for Climate Change 07-08-20

Although it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants than coal or oil, natural gas is a major contributor to climate change, an urgent global problem. Read more at EcoWatch

This federal permit used to fast-track pipelines. Now it’s threatening them. 07-08-20

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is officially dead as of Sunday, and the Supreme Court delivered another blow to the troubled Keystone XL Pipeline on Monday. Read more at Grist 

The Next Energy Battle: Renewables vs. Natural Gas 07-06-20

As coal declines and wind and solar energy rise, some are pushing to limit the use of natural gas, but utilities say they are not ready to do so. Read more at The New York Times

Dominion cancels Atlantic Coast Pipeline, sells natural gas transmission business 07-05-20

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is dead, abandoned by Dominion Energy and its partner, Duke Energy, after the $8 billion project reached a regulatory dead end. Read more at the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Energy companies abandon long-delayed Atlantic Coast Pipeline 07-05-20

The two energy companies behind the controversial, 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline abandoned their six-year bid to build it on Sunday, saying the project has become too costly and the regulatory environment too uncertain to justify further investment. Read more at The Washington Post

George Washington University to fully divest from fossil fuels by 2025 06-29-20

George Washington University on Monday became the latest U.S. school to announce it will fully divest its endowment from fossil fuel holdings. Read more at The Hill

Trump administration wants to open up 82 percent of Alaska reserve for drilling 06-25-20

The Trump administration wants to open up 82 percent of an Alaska reserve for oil and gas leasing, it announced on Thursday. Read more at The Hill 

How CO2 boosters’ op-ed slipped by Facebook fact-checkers 06-23-20

A team of climate scientists working as approved fact checkers for Facebook evaluated a post last year by a White House-connected group that claims the world needs to burn more fossil fuels. Read more at E&E News

Trump administration overrules NC, approves offshore seismic testing for oil and gas deposits 06-22-20

“Our energy economic is trending toward wind and solar,” said Erin Carey, director of coastal programs for the NC chapter of the Sierra Club. “This is inline with propping up a dirty industry.” Read more at NC Policy Watch

Vatican Asks Catholics to Ditch Fossil Fuel Investments 06-19-20

The Vatican urged Catholics to closely consider where they invest their money and to take a close look at the environmental impact of the companies they may be shareholders in, as Reuters reported. Read more at EcoWatch

Slip-up reveals Chevron ties to architect of climate attack 06-18-20

It was an audacious messaging campaign: White environmentalists are hurting black communities by pushing radical climate policies that would strip them of fossil fuel jobs. Read more at E&E News

Halt Expanding Offshore Drilling: Scientists 06-09-20

More than 100 scientists, including several based in North Carolina, are urging the president and Congress to stop plans to expand offshore drilling. Read more Coastal Review Online

Saving Chaco: As Coronavirus Consumes New Mexico, Drilling Threatens Sacred Land 05-19-20

The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed tribal communities in New Mexico, where Native Americans comprise about 11 percent of the state’s population but a staggering 56 percent of its recorded COVID-19 cases. Read more at Grist

New York Rejects Williams Pipeline Over Water, Climate Concerns 05-18-20

New York state has rejected the controversial Williams pipeline that would have carried fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania through New Jersey, running beneath New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean before connecting to an existing pipeline system off Long Island. Read more at EcoWatch

Harvard Didn’t Divest From Fossil Fuels. So What Does its ‘net-zero’ Pledge Mean? 05-05-20

In the lead-up to Earth Day, two wealthy, world-renowned universities made historic decisions about their relationships with fossil fuel companies and commitments to tackling climate change. Read more at Grist

Oxford Endowment Ditches Fossil Fuels in ‘Historic’ Decision 04-28-20

At the behest of student activist raising awareness about the climate crisis, universities around the world have recently been pulling their investments from the fossil fuel industry. Read more at EcoWatch 

As investment giant BlackRock pulls back from coal, NGOs urge the same for biomass energy 04-17-20

Responding to intense pressure from investors and environmental activists, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, signaled in January that it would reduce investments in coal for energy generation. Read more at Mongabay

Coal Industry Aims to Exploit Coronavirus Crisis to Cut Payments to Miners With Black Lung 04-11-20

Harold Sturgill, a 60-year-old retired miner who was diagnosed with black lung in 1998: “They’re crooks.” Read more at EcoWatch

U.S. oil companies hope for more economic help in next coronavirus stimulus package 03-30-20

The struggling U.S. oil industry got no special bailout in the huge coronavirus stimulus package signed by President Trump on Friday. Read more at The Washington Post

The Energy 202: Trump administration continues oil and gas leasing during price drop and coronavirus pandemic 03-23-20

The Trump administration is moving full-steam ahead to allow more drilling for oil and natural gas on public lands — despite the precipitous drop in petroleum prices now undercutting their value. Read more at The Washington Post

The Energy 202: Climate activists say JPMorgan Chase’s fossil fuel loan restrictions don’t go far enough 02-25-20

The world’s biggest lender to fossil fuel projects just took a baby step toward curbing that investment. Read more at The Washington Post

The Energy 202: Utah’s Slickrock Trail is ‘the most famous bike trail in the world.’ The Trump administration may lease it for oil. 02-19-20

It’s one of the best-known mountain biking trails in the world. But the Trump administration may lease it for oil and natural gas drilling. Read more at The Washington Post

Oil and Gas May Be a Far Bigger Climate Threat Than We Knew 02-19-20

Oil and gas production may be responsible for a far larger share of the soaring levels of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, in the earth’s atmosphere than previously thought, new research has found. Read more at The New York Times

Just Transition: Amid Climate Debate And Coal’s Decline, West Virginia Considers Its Future 02-14-20

On a recent soggy Wednesday evening, dozens of West Virginians packed a conference room inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center to discuss the need for a “just transition” for coal-impacted communities. Read more at Ohio Valley Resource

It’s official: Federal judge shuts down the largest oil refinery on the East Coast 02-14-20

A federal judge finally confirmed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan of Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) on Thursday. Read more at Grist

Global Financial Giants Swear Off Funding an Especially Dirty Fuel 02-13-20

Some of the world’s largest financial institutions have stopped putting their money behind oil production in the Canadian province of Alberta, home to one of the world’s most extensive, and also dirtiest, oil reserves. Read more at The New York Times

Oil from federal lands tops 1B barrels as Trump eases rule 02-11-20

Oil production from U.S.- managed lands and waters topped a record 1 billion barrels last year, federal officials said Tuesday, as technological advances helped drive development in new areas and the Trump administration eases rules on the industry. Read more at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

America needs to stop its natural gas pipeline mania 02-10-20

But despite the gusher of Big Carbon profits, like all natural gas infrastructure proposed or under construction, the ACP is a risky project both financially and in its direct effect on the landscapes and communities through which it will run. Read more at The Week

Calls for law firm to #DropExxon go national with law student boycott 02-10-20

What started as a single protest against the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP by law students from Harvard University last month is now growing into a movement. Read more at Grist

Harvard faculty votes overwhelmingly to call for divesting endowment from fossil fuels 02-05-20

Harvard University faculty voted overwhelmingly to call on the school’s endowment managers to divest from fossil fuel companies, adding to escalating pressure on the school to take dramatic measures targeting climate change. Read more at The Washington Post

The Energy 202: Big businesses face pressure to avoid investing in areas Trump wants to develop 02-03-20

The USMCA is a cornucopia of free-trade provisions for oil and gas companies. One environmentalist calls it “a climate failure any way you look at it.” Read more at The Washington Post

Youth Activists Call on California State Teachers Retirement System to End ‘Toxic Relationship’ With Fossil Fuel Companies 02-02-20

Youth climate activists in California descended on the state’s capitol Sacramento on Thursday to demand divestment from the fossil fuel industry from public school teachers’ pension system. Read more at EcoWatch

5 Reasons Many See Trump’s Free Trade Deal as a Triumph for Fossil Fuels 01-24-20

The USMCA is a cornucopia of free-trade provisions for oil and gas companies. One environmentalist calls it “a climate failure any way you look at it.” Read more at Inside Climate News

Ashes to Ashes 01-13-20

A Georgia town welcomed America’s largest coal plant. Now, residents worry it’s contaminating their water. Read more at Grist

Oil and gas emissions are reversing progress from coal’s decline 01-08-20

Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station, a gargantuan coal plant responsible for more than 16 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, shut down in November. Read more at Grist

N.C. settlement results in largest coal ash cleanup in America 01-02-20

In a historic settlement SELC reached with Duke Energy and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality today, approximately 80 million  tons of toxic coal ash are now slated for excavation at six Duke Energy coal ash sites. Read more at Southern Environmental Law Center

2019

Trump’s Christmas Gift to Big Oil: Killing Hopes of Electric Car Tax Credit Extension 12-19-19

The oil industry, a staunch opponent of electric vehicles (EVs), received an early Christmas present from the White House as President Trump reportedly intervened to quash an EV tax credit expansion from inclusion in a government spending package. Read more at EcoWatch

The Art of Oil 12-18-19

Oil money has fueled the arts for ages. Can museums survive without it? Read more at Grist 

Scotland is Turning Pennslyvania Shale Gas Into Plastic. But What Happens to it Next? 12-17-19

It’s a windy day on the Firth of Forth, a wide river estuary in central Scotland, and Jasper Hamlet is jabbing at the sand on Ferrycraigs Beach with a stick. He peels back layers of sand, dried seaweed, and sticks, and finds what he’s looking for: plastic pellets called “nurdles.” Read more at The Allegheny Front

A blowout turned an Ohio natural gas well into a methane ‘super-emitter’ 12-16-19

Using satellite data, scientists have confirmed that a 2018 blowout turned a natural gas well in Ohio into a “super-emitter,” leaking more methane in 20 days than all but three European nations emit over an entire year. Read more at The Washington Post

Move over, coal: Gas now emits more CO2 in U.S. 12-09-19

Global carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas are rising faster than from other fossil fuels. A liquefied natural gas tanker docks at a port in China’s Hebei province last month. Yang Shiyao/Xinhua News Agency/Newscom Read more at E&E News

What the petrochemical buildout along the Ohio River means for regional communities and beyond 12-04-19

The Ohio River Valley, like the rest of the U.S., stands at a crossroads of energy and industry, facing decisions about whether to turn toward a future of renewable energy and a green jobs revolution or one of shale gas and plastics. Read more at Environmental Health News

Researcher says shale gas development stymies efforts to combat climate change 11-19-19

Continued development of shale oil and gas is a bridge fuel gone too far, according to Dr. Brian Schwartz, senior investigator at the Geisinger Health Research Center. Read more at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

U.S. Suspends More Oil and Gas Leases Over What Could Be a Widespread Problem 11-17-19

Fossil Fuel leases totaling hundreds of thousands of acres have been suspended as courts rule against the BLM for ignoring climate impact. Read more at Inside Climate News

Major Coal Producer And Trump Booster Files For Bankruptcy 10-29-19

The Trump administration has spent three years trying to help the coal industry by rolling back environmental regulations and pushing for subsidies for coal-fired power plants. Read more at NPR

Op-ed: Natural gas vs. renewable energy — beware the latest gas industry talking points 10-27-19

The natural gas industry is on an aggressive public relations tear to convince Americans that for decades to come, it is the “bridge” between coal and renewable energy. Read more at The Daily Climate

Americans would rather reduce oil and gas exploration than ‘drill, baby, drill’ 10-25-19

A new poll finds that a clear majority of Americans say oil and natural gas drilling should be curtailed or maintained at current level. But opinions were divided along partisan lines. Read more at The Washington Post

We Need a Just Transition—Because We Should Abandon Coal, Not Coal Workers 10-20-19

The coal industry is dying. But we can’t allow the communities that have been dependent on coal to die along with it. Read more at EcoWatch

Editorial: Will SC need gas pipeline like it needed abandoned coal, nuclear plants? 10-19-19

In 2007, Santee Cooper said it would run out of electricity to power Myrtle Beach within five years if it didn’t build a $1.2 billion coal plant on the Great Pee Dee River. 10-19-19

Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions 10-09-19

New data shows how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers. Read more at The Guardian

Meet The Coal Town Betting Big On Outdoor Recreation 09-27-19

Standing on the breezy outlook at Flag Rock Recreation Area, Norton City Manager Fred Ramey is taking in the panoramic view of downtown Norton, Virginia. The brick building-lined streets are framed by the verdant, rolling Appalachian mountains. Jagged, brown scars from mountaintop mining operations can be seen in the distance, reminders of the region’s history of coal production. Read more at Resource

GOP Leadership Huddles with Fossil Fuel Industry During Climate Week 09-22-19

YOUTH DEMONSTRATORS stormed streets across the world demanding drastic action on the climate crisis on Friday, following a visit by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Capitol Hill last week to press lawmakers to view rising greenhouse gases as an existential problem that requires an immediate response. Read more at The Intercept

Is U.S. shale facing an ‘unmitigated disaster’? 09-19-19

The booming shale industry could be headed off a financial cliff, experts say, and environmental groups are asking who will clean up thousands of wells drilled miles beneath the surface if businesses go bust. Read more at E & E News

University of California Will Divest From Fossil Fuels 09-19-19

The University of California system will dump all of its investments from fossil fuels, as the Associated Press reported. The university system controls over $84 billion between its pension fund and its endowment. However, the announcement about its investments is not aimed to please activists. Read more at EcoWatch

The oil industry vs. the electric car 09-16-19

Electric vehicles could make up nearly half the fleet of passenger cars and trucks by 2040. But oil and gas companies are striking back.

The oil industry is trying to crush the booming electric car movement. Read more at Politico

In Rural Appalachia, Beekeeping Offers a New Path for Coal Miners 09-12-19

Nearly 40 percent of coal jobs disappeared over the past decade. The Appalachian Beekeeping Collective is offering West Virginians a new future. Read more at Civil Eats

America’s mega-emitters are starting to close 08-16-19

When the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona shuts down later this year, it will be one of the largest carbon emitters to ever close in American history. Read more at Energy & Environment News 

Fracking causing rise in methane emissions, study finds 08-14-19

Researchers say boom in shale oil and gas major contributor to climate emergency. Read more at The Guardian

But at What Cost? 08-01-19

The first signs of change came to Belmont County several years ago, as natural gas extraction company trucks rumbled over the roads. Read more at The Columbus Dispatch

Booming LNG industry could be as bad for climate as coal, experts warn 07-02-19

Liquefied natural gas developments on a collision course with Paris agreement, Global Energy Monitor says Read more at The Guardian

The bioenergy delusion 05-21-19

Replacing fossil fuels with bioenergy only takes us backwards, continuing our addiction to burning and extraction, and causing extensive ecological damage. Read more at Ecologist

Puerto Rico got rid of its coal ash pits. Now the company responsible is moving them to Florida. 05-16-19

Earlier this year, Puerto Rico passed legislation establishing the goal of powering its grid with 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, which requires giving up coal power by 2028. Read more at Grist

Duke Energy, Dominion Resources, and other dirty energy corporations escape all taxes and even get rebates… 04-29-19

Colin Robertson wonders why he pays federal taxes on the $18,000 a year he makes cleaning carpets, while the tech giant Amazon got a tax rebate. Read more at The New York Times 

How the Media Launders Fossil Fuel Industry Propaganda Through Branded Content 04-03-19

With a headline predicting that natural gas “will thrive in the age of renewables,” the article made the case that there are limitations on solar and wind power and that — as a subhead spelled out in aquamarine type — natural gas “is part of the solution.” Read more at The Intercept 

A Broken Land 04-02-19

Ecological devastation in the American heartland. Fracking has tangible effects on the land and on the people living there and opposition to the industry has emerged, creating new alliances between middle- and working-class Americans. Read more at The Nation

U.S. banks pledged to fund renewable energy, but they still spend way more on fossil fuels 03-30-19

Each year since the Paris climate agreement, major world banks have increased their financing of fossil fuels, pouring $1.9 trillion into the industry from 2016 through 2018. Read more at Grist

More States Crack Down on Pipeline Protesters, Including Supporters Who Aren’t Even on the Scene 03-28-19

South Dakota’s law is the latest as pipeline companies encourage tougher penalties for activists who block oil & gas projects—and for the groups that support them. Read more at Inside Climate News

What We Know About Fossil Fuels 30 Years After The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 03-24-19

The largely invisible impacts of long-term fossil fuel extraction were beginning to surface. Read more at HuffPost

The Hidden Risk in the Fracking Boom 02-20-19

Are pipeline safety regulations keeping pace with the flood of natural gas?

At 10:40 a.m. on Monday, January 21st, a pipeline carrying natural gas ruptured in rural Noble County, in southeastern Ohio, producing a fireball that engulfed the Noll family home, with 12-year-old son Nash inside. Read more at Rolling Stone

TVA Votes to Close 2 Coal Plants, Despite Political Pressure from Trump and Kentucky GOP 02-14-19

The aging Paradise coal-fired power plant is unreliable, expensive and polluting, TVA data show. The federally owned utility said its decision is based on economics. Read more at Inside Climate News

Atlantic Coast Pipeline delayed to 2020, Dominion adds $1B to cost estimate 02-04-19

Dominion Energy disclosed on Friday that its Atlantic Coast Pipeline project has been delayed and costs are rising, a result of environmental lawsuits that have forced a stop in construction. Read more at Utility Dive

2018

‘Reasonably necessary’? How natural gas drilling is changing WV’s landscape 12-20-18

Lee Martin loved her 104-acre farm in Wetzel County, West Virginia. The family raised chickens there and rode horses. Read more at the Charleston Gazette-Mail

Trump Auctions Off 150,000 Acres of Public Lands for Fracking Near Utah National Parks 12-12-18

On Tuesday the Trump administration offered more than 150,000 acres of public lands for fossil-fuel extraction near some of Utah’s most iconic landscapes, including Arches and Canyonlands national parks. Read more at EcoWatch

Trump’s pursuit of ‘American energy dominance’ threatens the entire planet 12-09-18

President Trump upended decades of U.S. policy that started with Richard Nixon when he declared that the goal of the United States was no longer “energy independence” but rather “American energy dominance.” Read more at The Los Angeles Times

Global carbon emissions are on the rise, but don’t let that dash your hopes 12-06-18

Carbon dioxide, that invisible, earth-warming gas you keep hearing about, is anticipated to hit an all-time high in 2018. Emissions are expected to rise by 2.7 percent this year, according to new research. That’s compared to a 1.6 percent rise in 2017 and a plateau between 2014 and 2016. Read more at Grist

Report: 90% of Pipeline Blasts Draw No Financial Penalties 11-16-18

A striking report has revealed that 90 percent of the 137 interstate pipeline fires or explosions since 2010 have drawn no financial penalties for the companies responsible. Read more at EcoWatch

Arctic Oil Drilling Project Approved by Trump Administration 10-25-18

The Trump administration’s unrelenting quest for Arctic oil and gas took a major step on Wednesday as it approved an energy company’s controversial production plan.

Hilcorp Alaska received the green light to build the Liberty Project, a nine-acre artificial drilling island and 5.6-mile underwater pipeline, which environmentalists warn could risk oil spills in the sensitive Beaufort Sea and threaten polar bears and Arctic communities. Read more at EcoWatch

One of oldest coal companies in US files for bankruptcy 10-09-18

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — One of the oldest coal companies in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday to deal with more than $1.4 billion in debt amid declining demand for the fuel.

Englewood, Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal Co. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston as part of a restructuring agreement with an unnamed group of lenders. Read more at WMBF News

Trump Lets Fracking Companies Release More Climate-Warming Methane 09-19-18

Oil and gas companies flare natural gas that cannot be processed or sold.

As expected, the U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday released a final rule that reverses Obama-era restrictions on methane emissions from oil and gas operations. Read more at EcoWatch

Only 11 Percent Of Pennsylvania’s Natural Gas Pipelines Are Mapped For The Public 09-17-18

Maps of the majority of natural gas pipelines in Pennsylvania are not readily available to the public. That includes the pipeline that exploded last week in Beaver County, demolishing one home and forcing dozens of people to evacuate. Read more at WESA Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station

Pennsylvania Oil And Gas Well Drilling Increased In 2017 After Two Years Of Decline 09-10-18

The Department of Environmental Protection has released its 2017 Oil and Gas Annual Report, which revealed 2,231 oil and gas well drilling permits were issued last year; it’s the first increase in activity since 2014. Read more at NPR Pittsburgh

When Trump tries to bring back coal, these communities pay the price 08-23-18

Christina Zacny has a rare immunological condition, mast cell activation syndrome. “I’m literally allergic to almost everything,” she says. Her symptoms became more severe four years ago when she began going into anaphylactic shock, at one point going into shock thirty times within 3 months. Read more at Grist

Colorado’s oil and gas industry goes after reporters and signature gatherers in new fracking fight 08-16-18

With large oil and gas reserves, Colorado often is at the center of the nation’s fossil fuel wars.As Colorado gears up for another fight over oil and gas drilling near homes and schools, this time the fossil fuel industry is reportedly doing whatever it takes to win. Read more at Think Progress

Fossil Fuel Industry Outspent Environmentalists and Renewables by 10:1 on Climate Lobbying 07-19-18

Industry sectors based on fossil fuels significantly outspent environmental groups and renewable energy companies on climate change lobbying. Read more at Eco Watch

Trump and Putin are clearly in cahoots — over propping up fossil fuels 07-16-18

Whether Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential election in 2016 is not up for serious debate — numerous intelligence agencies, both foreign and domestic, concluded it did.

During a joint press conference with President Donald Trump in Helsinki on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin went a long way toward answering why. Read more at Grist

Fossil Fuels Account for Lowest Share of U.S. Energy Consumption in More than a Century 07-05-18

Fossil fuels supplied about 80 percent of the energy consumed in the United States in 2017, the lowest share since 1902, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy. Meanwhile, renewable energy accounted for more than 11 percent, its highest share over the same period, the Houston Chronicle reported. Read more at Yale Environment 360

There’s No Power Grid Emergency Requiring a Coal Bailout, Regulators Say 06-12-18

The idea that the power grid is so frail it’s become a national security crisis got little support from FERC commissioners testifying before Congress. Read more at Inside Climate News

Report: Wood pellet mills threaten public health in North Carolina 05-22-18

An environmental group’s report says state permits allow pellet factories to violate the intent of the Clean Air Act.

The U.S. South has fast become the world’s largest supplier of wood pellets, a rising source of fuel for power plants primarily in Europe.

on this side of the Atlantic, with enormous pellet plants using regulatory loopholes to spew substantially more pollution into the air than the law intends — a charge Read more at Energy News Network

Solar Plans for a Mined Kentucky Mountaintop Could Hinge on More Coal Mining 05-18-18

Plans for the state’s largest solar farm are stuck in limbo while a coal giant, once run by West Virginia’s governor, drags its feet on required reclamation. Read more at Inside Climate News

Parents Didn’t Want Fracking Near Their School. So the Oil Company Chose a Poorer School, Instead. 04-17-18

In one of the most fracked counties in the country, a fight is underway between environmental justice advocates and the Colorado commission that oversees oil and gas development. Read more at Mother Jones

Residents ask whether the proposed Shell ethane pipeline is an acceptable risk 04-04-18

The question of what is an “acceptable risk” loomed large over the first of three public hearings on a proposed Shell Falcon ethane pipeline meant to deliver the natural gas liquid to the petrochemical giant rising in Potter Township. Read more at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Here’s why Duke Energy wants to use pig poop in an NC power plant 03-29-18

Duke Energy is turning to home-grown pig poop to help it comply with state law.

The Charlotte-based utility on Thursday said one of its power plants in central North Carolina has begun burning natural gas created from N.C. manure. Read more at The Charlotte Observer

Wood Fuel is Bad News for Climate and Biodiversity 03-29-18

Burning wood for energy is thought to be carbon neutral: trees soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and burning wood puts the greenhouse gas back in the air. But wood fuel is not quite as green it’s touted to be, according to an article in the journal Science. Read more at Anthropocene

Never Mine 03-27-18

Judge to Wyoming and Montana: Less coal mining, more climate minding.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris told government officials they have to take climate change into account as they map out future infrastructure and land use in the Powder River Basin. The mineral-rich area, shared by Wyoming and Montana, produces 40 percent of America’s coal. Zoya Teirstein for Grist

Study Finds Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals Near Fracking Wells 03-20-18

Dozens of chemicals that can affect the fertility of humans and animals are being found in the air near unconventional oil and gas development, according to a new study. Read more at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Analysis: U.S. call to drill off all coasts, economic and ecological folly? 03-14-18

90 billion barrels of recoverable oil, plus 327 trillion cubic feet of natural gas lie untapped offshore on the U.S. continental shelf. In January, the Trump administration ordered that the entire coast, in the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf, and Arctic, be opened to drilling. Read more at Monga Bay

How Climate Activists Failed to Make Clear the Problem with Natural Gas 03-13-18

The climate movement’s biggest failure has been its inability to successfully make the case that natural gas is not a clean replacement for other fossil fuels. So as natural gas has boomed, U.S. emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, have increased dramatically. Read more at Yale Environment 360

Maine fishermen, environmentalists join in opposition to offshore drilling 03-04-18

Multiple groups and interests plan to speak out – though there is no traditional public hearing – when federal officials visit the state this week.

Fishing groups, environmentalists, politicians and tourism advocates plan to use a pair of tailored public hearings this week to oppose the Trump administration’s proposal to expand offshore drilling in the Atlantic and other ocean waters.Read more at the Portland Press Herald

California says will block crude oil from Trump offshore drilling plan 02-07-18

California will block the transportation through its state of petroleum from new offshore oil rigs, officials told Reuters on Wednesday, a move meant to hobble the Trump administration’s effort to vastly expand drilling in U.S. federal waters. Read more at Reuters

Think wood is a greener source of energy than coal? Think again. 02-05-18

The latest round of United Nations climate negotiations, which took place in November in Germany, delivered a banner moment for wood. At the conference in Bonn, Reuters reported that 19 countries, including China, Brazil and Canada, pledged to use more trees to generate electricity—a form of power called wood bioenergy that some have hailed as a green alternative to fossil fuels. Read more at Anthropocene

First U.S. City to Ban Fossil Fuel Expansion Offers Roadmap for Others 02-05-18

On a clear July morning three years ago, dozens of environmental activists pushed their kayaks into the Willamette River in Portland while others rappelled 400 feet from the top of St. Johns Bridge in an attempt to block a Shell Oil ship and its drilling equipment from leaving the port and entering Alaskan waters. Read more at Yes! Magazine

State of the Union: Trump Glorifies Coal, Shuts Eyes to Climate Risks 01-31-18

Trump talked of the year’s climate disasters—without saying ‘climate change’—and while repeating his usual promotion of the fossil fuels that drive global warming

It was a distinct irony to hear President Donald Trump open his State of the Union address by reciting the litany of climate calamities that the nation survived in 2017. Read more at Inside Climate News

Empire State Building Shines Green After NYC’s Decision to Take on Fossil Fuel Industry 01-11-18

New York City’s iconic Empire State Building glowed green Wednesday night following two “watershed” announcements—that the city would seek to divest its pension funds from fossil fuel investments, and that it filed suit against five oil giants for contributing to climate change. Read more at EcoWatch

Pennsylvania shuts down construction on Sunoco gas pipeline 1-3-18

Pennsylvania environmental officials ordered Sunoco on Wednesday to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline across the southern part of the state, citing a series of spills and leaks of drilling fluid and other “egregious and willful violations” of state law that have plagued the $2.5 billion project. Read more at AP News

2017

The Dark Bounty of Texas Oil 12-31-17

For more than a century, the economic fortunes of Texas have depended on oil. The image of mighty geysers spewing depreciable assets out of the ground is forever linked to the state. In the popular imagination, a rich Texan is invariably an oil baron. Read more at The New Yorker

How Big Oil Lost Control of Its Climate Misinformation Machine 12-22-17

The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank, launched a billboard campaign in 2012 to compare believers in global warming to “murderers and madmen” such as the Unabomber, Charles Manson and Osama bin Laden. Read more at Inside Climate News

GOP Tax Bill Sneaks Plan to Drill Arctic Refuge 12-15-17

The pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) faces a looming threat from oil and gas drilling. The little known provision, proposed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, was quietly included in the House and Senate Republicans’ compromise tax bill. Read more at EcoWatch

Fracking Study Finds Low Birth Weights Near Natural Gas Drilling Sites 12-13-17

Researchers examined over 1 million birth records in Pennsylvania and found links between babies’ health and fracking proximity. Pinpointing which aspect is harder.

Babies born near hydraulic fracturing sites are 25 percent more likely to have a low birth weight than those born only a few kilometers away, a new study of more than 1 million births in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region concludes. Read more at Inside Climate News

Reclaiming Appalachia: A Push to Bring Back Native Forests to Coal Country 12-14-17

Near the top of Cheat Mountain in West Virginia, bulldozer operator Bill Moore gazes down a steep slope littered with toppled conifers. Tangled roots and angled boulders protrude from the slate-colored soil, and the earth is crisscrossed with deep gouges. Read more at Yale Environment 360

How Bill McKibben’s Radical Idea of Fossil-Fuel Divestment Transformed the Climate Debate 12-12-17

“We need to view the fossil-fuel industry in a new light. It has become a rogue industry, reckless like no other force on Earth. It is Public Enemy Number One to the survival of our planetary civilization.” Read more at EcoWatch

The United States of Petroleum – Government’s secret alliance with Big Oil 12-12-17

To ensure a steady flow of fuel, petroleum executives met regularly with federal officials in Standard Oil’s oak-paneled boardroom on Wall Street. The same industry broken up as an illegal monopoly in 1911 had become a quasi-arm of government. Read more at Public Integrity

Atlantic Coast Pipeline files first eminent domain action in North Carolina 12-4-17

Utilities behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have filed condemnation complaints in North Carolina, the first eminent domain cases in the state over the 600-mile natural gas pipelineRead more at Triangle Business Journal

A map of $1.1 billion in natural gas pipeline leaks 11-29-17

In seven years, pipeline incidents have killed nearly 100 people nationwide.

When a crude oil pipeline is ruptured, it’s bad news, particularly if the oil gets into water, where it’s likely to impact wildlife or drinking water supplies. But when a natural gas pipeline busts, it can be far worse because of the volatility of the fuel, which is made up mostly of methane. Read more at High Country News

A Troubling Look at the Human Toll of Mountaintop Removal Mining 11-21-17

For years, the coal industry has dismissed the idea that mountaintop mining adversely affects people living nearby. But research by Indiana University’s Michael Hendryx provides stark evidence that this widespread mining practice is leading to increases in disease and deaths in Appalachia. Read more at Yale Environment 360

Massive Pipeline Leak Shows Why Nebraska Should Reject Keystone XL 11-17-17

About 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) of oil leaked Thursday from TransCanada’s Keystone oil pipeline near Amherst, South Dakota, drawing fierce outcry from pipeline opponents. Read more at EcoWatch

A Small Town in Pennsylvania Has Been Ripped Apart by a New Gas Plant 11-17-17

First came questions about pollution and property values. Lawyers and public-records requests followed. Now this borough of 4,500, where it’s only a slight exaggeration to say that everybody knows everybody, is embroiled in a full-out political revolt. Read more at Mother Jones

Trump’s Mine-Safety Nominee Ran Coal Firm Cited for Illegal Employment Practices 10-17-17

Records show the coal mining company formerly run by David Zatezalo retaliated against a foreman who complained of harassment and unsafe conditions Read more at ProPublica

New Mexico’s Largest Utility Will Stop Burning Coal, Despite Trump’s Clean Power Plan Rollback 10-11-17

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt announced Monday that the Trump administration is rolling back the Clean Power Plan to end the previous administration’s “war on coal” but there’s a big problem: Obama didn’t kill the coal industry—the market for cheap natural gas and increasingly affordable renewable energy did. Read more at EcoWatch

Wood Pellet Demand, Opposition Growing 10-6-17

Wood pellets are often marketed as an energy source that’s a better alternative to fossil fuels, but environmental groups worry about ties between the industry and loss of biodiversity, deforestation, faulty trade policies and climate change. Read more at Coastal Review

These Suburbanites May Have No Fracking Choice 10-3-17

In Colorado, it’s hard to keep drillers out of the neighborhood.

When Bill Young peers out the window of his $700,000 home in Broomfield, Colo., he drinks in a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains. Starting next year, he may also glimpse one of the 99 drilling rigs that Extraction Oil & Gas Inc.wants to use to get at the oil beneath his home. Read more at Bloomberg Business Week

Controversy brews over new North Carolina wood pellet facility 9-19-17

A controversy with reverberations across the Atlantic Ocean is brewing in Hamlet, North Carolina – a literal hamlet 120 miles northwest of Wilmington – where a new wood-pellet facility is already in the initial stages of construction. Read more at Southeast Energy News

Momentum Building to Stop Gas Pipelines 9-13-17

In the past few weeks, the Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign and our partners have helped secure game-changing victories in our work to stop fracked gas pipelinesRead more at EcoWatch

Investment Giant Votes to Require Exxon to Detail Climate Risk Disclosure 09-01-17

Investing giant Vanguard voted to require ExxonMobil to include more detailed assessments of how climatepolicies impact its bottom line, according to proxy voting records released Thursday.

Vanguard’s vote at the shareholder meeting and its vote in favor of a similar resolution for Occidental Petroleum mark the first time the firm has voted for shareholder resolutions opposed by company management. Read more at EcoWatch

17 million in US live near active oil or gas wells. 08-23-17

In West Virginia and Oklahoma, almost half the population lives within a mile of a well.

More than 17 million people in the United States live within a mile of an active oil or natural gas well, according to a new study. Read more at Daily Climate

Right of Way 08-20-17

If you know where to look, you can spot them along the roadsides as you drive through the hilly farmland of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Short wooden stakes stand exactly 50 feet apart, topped with orange tape. The markers seem benign, but for many Lancaster residents, the threat they represent is anything but: These poles mark the proposed path of the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline. Read more at The Intercept

Natural gas building boom fuels climate worries, enrages landowners 07-17-17

Companies have asked a federal regulator to approve thousands of miles of pipeline from Appalachia. They almost always get their way.

They landed, one after another, in 2015: plans for nearly a dozen interstate pipelines to move natural gas beneath rivers, mountains and people’s yards. Like spokes on a wheel, they’d spread from Appalachia to markets in every direction. Read more at The Center for Public Integrity

The coal industry is collapsing, and coal workers allege that executives are making the situation worse 07-01-17

What’s a coal miner to do when they’re laid off, leaving them without much-needed insurance or their pension? What if it happens to the whole community at the same time?

“We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know how hard it was gonna be. We’re losin’ everything,” Regina Lilly, wife of a West Virginia coal miner who was laid off after their child was born, said in a new National Geographic documentary about coal mining. Read more at Yahoo Finance News

Rising from the ashes, a Buffalo suburb ends its dependence on coal 07-11-17

Sixteen months ago, the coal-fired Huntley Generating Station, which sits on the banks of the Niagara River, stopped producing power for first time since World War I. Read more at Grist

Fossil Fuel Groups Want Out of Children’s Climate Change Lawsuit 05-28-17

The industry groups fought to have the case dismissed. If allowed to withdraw now, they could avoid releasing documents and answering questions under oath. Read more at Inside Climate News

Not a Drill 05-03-17

Alaska Natives are fighting Trump’s call to “drill, baby, drill.”

President Trump was aiming to undo a move that then-President Obama made in December, one month before Trump’s inauguration. Read more at Grist

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Would Require Extensive Mountaintop Removal 04-28-17

A new briefing paper details how Dominion Energy‘s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would involve the blasting, excavation and removal of mountaintops along 38 miles of Appalachian ridgelines as part of the construction. Read more at EcoWatch

The woman who stopped a fracking truck 04-17-17

Fed up with pollution in her town, one woman decided to block a truck from entering a fracking site – by putting her own body on the line. Read more at Yale Climate Connections

Pipeline Route Lands This Virginia Town on List of State’s ‘Most Endangered’ Historic Places 05-19-17

Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline were dealt a blow after the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) denied a hearing request to appeal the state’s water quality certification for the controversial project. Read more at EcoWatch

U.S. Senate Contributions from Energy & Natural Resources, Agribusiness, and Construction 2004–2016  02-14-17

As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on the confirmation of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Donald J. Trump’s nominee to serve as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this fact sheet provides campaign contribution data for all current senators from three sectors that are often at odds with the EPA: Energy and Natural Resources, Agribusiness, and Construction. For full report from Public Citizen download PDF here

E.U. loophole counts wood energy as “carbon neutral.” It’s not. 01-01-17

As American foresters ramp up logging to meet the growing demand for wood pellets by power plants on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, a new European wood energy proposal would allow the power plants to continue claiming their operations are green for at least 13 more years, despite releasing more heat-trapping pollution than coal. Read more on Grist

2016

President Obama bans oil drilling in large areas of Atlantic and Arctic oceans 12-20-16

President Obama moved to solidify his environmental legacy Tuesday by withdrawing hundreds of millions of acres of federally owned land in the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean from new offshore oil and gas drilling. Read more on The Washington Post

This Pipeline Would Cut Through America’s Most Celebrated Hiking Trail 12-17-16

The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline would carry natural gas 300 miles from northwest West Virginia to southern Virginia, crossing the Appalachian Trail and clearing trees on its way. Read more on EcoWatch

McConnell Says No Help for Miners 11-14-16

Mitch McConnell has already admitted GOP promises to out-of-work coal miners won’t come true. Read more on Grist

Trump Wins, Renewable Energy Investments Lose and Dirty Energy Stocks Surge 11-9-16

Political upheaval has major influence over the stock markets, and with climate-change-denying Donald Trump’s “disaster” of an election win, renewable energy investment is looking bleak at the moment as dirty energy surges. Read more on EcoWatch

Duke Energy Cooling Pond Dam Collapses in Wake of Hurricane Matthew Flooding 10-14-16

Waterkeeper Alliance and Upper Neuse Riverkeeper are responding to and documenting the breach of a 1.2-billion-gallon cooling pond dam at Duke Energy’s H.F. Lee plant. Read more on Eco Watch

Burning trees for electricity is a bad idea 9-8-16

Climate change is such a vast and systemic problem that almost every large industry has tried to figure out how to make some money off it in the last couple of decades. That’s OK — money is one motivator, and someone has to build all those solar panels. Read more on Grist

Coal’s Last Gamble: A choking industry bets on one more big score 9-21-16

Squeezing into a wobbly four-seater propeller plane is the only way to reach the tiny tribe of Tyonek, tucked deep in the roadless Alaskan wilderness. Gliding above the long mudflats and the serpentine curves of streams, I spot the fat white backs of beluga whales surfacing at the mouth of a river and an island covered by sunning sea lions. Read more on Grist

Is a fracking ban a good idea? 8-24-16

A bold demand has recently become standard among many U.S. environmentalists and progressives: ban fracking. Major green groups such as the Sierra Club have called for ending the practice. Bernie Sanders gave the issue more visibility when he first endorsed a national fracking ban four months ago. Read more on Grist

Increased Asthma Attacks Tied to Exposure to Natural Gas Production 7-18-16

New study in the heart of Pennsylvania’s fracking region shows increase in severity of asthma in residents exposed to most active wells.

Exposure to more intense shale gas development correlates with a higher risk of asthma attacks among asthma patients, according to a new study of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, one of the nation’s largest and most active fracking regions. Read more on Inside Climate News

Quarreling Over Coal Ash 7-16-16

Navajo Generating Station is a 2250 megawatt coal-fired power plant located on leased land in the Navajo Indian Reservation, near Page, Arizona.

A recent study found evidence that coal ash storage ponds are leaking contaminants into nearby water sources. The fight over solutions is pitched. Read more on UNDARK

Hundreds of Offshore Fracking Wells Dump Billions of Gallons of Oil Waste Into Gulf 7-11-16

As the U.S. shale industry comes under increasing scrutiny for its environmental and health impact, it has emerged that the U.S. has approved fracking offshore leading to billions of gallons of wastewater to be dumped at sea. Read more on EcoWatch

Hot Mess: States struggle to deal with fracking waste 6-20-16

Potentially dangerous drilling byproducts are being dumped in landfills throughout the Marcellus Shale with few controls

The Marcellus Shale has transformed the Appalachian Basin into an energy juggernaut. Even amid a recent drilling slowdown, regional daily production averages enough natural gas to power more than 200,000 U.S. homes for a year. Read more on Public Integrity

Oregon Utilities Agree to Phase Out Coal-Fired Power 1-6-16

EPA regulations are leading to more coal plant closures. Profita Oregon utilites have agree to support a bill that would phase out coal-fired power in Oregon by 2030. The proposed legislation would only affect Pacific Power and Portland General Electric, which together serve about 70% of Oregon’s electricity …Full article

2015

Washington Post Writer Finally Discloses He’s a Shill for Fossil Fuel Industry 12-22-15

In his latest column repeating his clients’ attacks on climate change policies, lobbyist and Washington Post writer Ed Rogers finally disclosed to readers that his lobbying firm “represents interest in the fossil fuel [industry].” …Full article

Can Coal-Hungry Appalachia Take Any Lessons From Australia’s New Solar Farm? 12-21-15

Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, birthplace of the world’s largest mining company and home to the world’s largest zinc-lead ore deposit, is perhaps not the most obvious site for a solar farm. But in the face of a declining mining industry, the election of a relatively climate-friendly prime minister, and plenty of sun, that’s starting to change …Full article

Paris Climate Pact Sinks Coal Stocks, Lifts Renewable Energy 12-14-15

A landmark deal to curb global warming dented shares of fossil fuel companies and lifted renewble energy stocks. Renewable energy companies are expected to see big upticks in investments to develope new technologies in coming years, while coal and oil companies may see tougher regulations …Full article

Methane Emissions in Texas Fracking Region 50% Higher Than EPA Estimates 12-9-15

The recent release of 11 research papers marked another milestone in the Environmental Defense Fund’s ongoing effort to understand the natural gas industry’s carbon footprint. …Full article

Texas Fracking Zone Emits 90% More Methane than EPA Estimated 12-7-15

Sweeping Environmental Defense Fund-baked study finds that the Barnett Shale in north Texas emissions have been vastly underestimated…Full article

Another Earthquake Hits Oklahoma: Officials Worry Stronger Quake Could Threaten National Security 11-30-15

Officials in frack-happy Oklahoma are continuing to express concern over the state’s alarming earthquake boom. If a strong one strikes the northwestern city of Cushing—one of the largest crude oil storage facilities in North America, if not the world—it could disrupt the U.S. energy market and become a national security threat, NPR says …Full article

Obama Cancels Arctic Drilling Leases 10-17-15

First Shell Oil pulled the plug on its horrific current drilling effort in the arctic and now the Obama administration has taken its first concrete steps to reduce future threats …Full article

In Appalachia, the coal industry is in collapse, but the mountains aren’t coming back 8-30-15

In Appalachia, explosions have leveled the mountaintops, where barren expanses of dirt stretch for miles. This is a process known as “mountaintop removal”, in which coal companies use explosives to blast away hundreds of feet of rock in order to unearth seams of coal, leaving a permanently damaged landscape …Full article

Fracking Fight Heats Up in Ohio 8-21-15

Enivronmentalists sue Ohio’s secretary of state after he strips communities of the right to vote on fracking intrastructure projects

With the oil and gas industry already reveling in a recent Ohio Supreme Court decision stripping local control on fracking and other extraction activities away from communities, the Secretary of State has now handed the industry another victory, opening the door for fracking infrastructure projects to spread even faster across Ohio …Full article

40 Earthquakes Hit Frack-Happy Oklahoma in the Last 7 Days 7-28-15

5 earthquakes were recorded in Oklahoma this past Monday, some of which were felt in 5 states. 3 of the earthquakes measured above 4.0-magnitude and the biggest of these was 4.5-magnitude …Full article

New York Formalizes Ban on Fracking, Ending 7-Year Review 6-29-15

After a 7-year environmental and health review that drew a record number of public comments, NY formalized its ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing for natural gas …Full article

Earthquake Spike Pushes Oklahoma to Consider Tighter Fracking Regulations Decision comes after recent uptick in temblors – 35 of at least 3.0 magnitude 6-25-15

Oklahoma has been hit with 1 – 2 earthquakes a day since drilling operations began in 2009 and is now considering tightening regulations on its oil and gas industry …Full article

Federal Oil and Gas Royalty and Revenue Reform 6-19-15

When the federal government last changed its royalty rate for oil and gas production on America’s public lands, Standard Oil’s monopoly has only recently been broken, Ford’s Model A still had not rolled off the assembly line and the 20s had just begun to roar …Full article

Cuomo Adminstration Blocks Massive Tar Sands Oil Facilty Expansion in Albany 5-21-15

In the face of a court challenge from a broad coalition of environmental and community groups and massive community opposition, the Dept. of Environment Conservation halted Global Companies’ proposed expansion of its massive Albany oil train facility to handle tar sands oil …Full article

As Opposition to Offshore Drilling Mounts, Activists to Join “Hands Across the Sand” for Annual International Day of Action 5-14-15

Ocean activists kicked off the 5th Annual Hand Across the Sand International Day of Action, by joining hands in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool in a symbolic gesture to oppose the expansion of offshore drilling to the Atlantic and Arctic oceans …Full article

Protesters to Join Hands Against Oil and Coal 5-11-15

North Carolinians will take 15 minutes Saturday to join hands with strangers in a peaceful demonstration against fossil fuels. The event, known as Hands Across the Sand, will take place in different states and countries around the world. “What it does is it creates an amazing, powerful image,” said Dede Shelton, executive director of Hands Across the Sand. “We send this image to elected officials so they see people won’t want this to happen” …Full article

19 Students Arrested by Yale Police at Fossil Fuel Divestment Sit-In 4-10-15

Nineteen Yale students were arrested by Yale police yesterday following a day-long sit-in that called for the university to reopen the conversation on fossil fuel divestment. Yale is one of the first schools where a fossil fuel divestment action has led to arrest. “Yale would rather arrest its students than re-engage in the conversation” said Fossil Free Yale Project Manager Mitch Barrows …Full article

Drought Stricken California Exempts Big Oil and Big Ag From Mandatory Restrictions 4-2-15

An April snowpack assessment in California, which set an all-time record for lowest snowpack levels in the state’s history, finally spurred governor Brown’s office to issue an executive order to residents and non-agricultural businesses to cut water use by 25% in the first mandatory statewide reduction in the state’s history. Some groups have been exempted from the water restrictions, specifically big agriculture which uses about 80% of Caiifornia’s water, and oil companies …Full article

Syracuse to Drop Fossil Fuel Stocks From Endowment 3-31-15

Syracuse University is dropping all fossil fuel stocks from its endowment, the university announced on Tuesday. At $1.2 billion, Syracuse’s is the largest endowment to divest entirely of fossil fuel stocks. The university’s chancellor, Kent Syverud, said the move was part of Syracuse’s “long record of supporting responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship.” …Full article

U.S. Coal Sector in ‘Structural Decline’, Financial Analysts Say 3-24-15

Over 200 mines shut down and industry loses 76% of its value in 5 years, report finds. The US coal sector is in a “structural decline” which has sent 26 companies bust in the last 3 years, according to financial analysts. A report for the Carbon Tracer Initiative found that between 2011 and 2013 at least 264 mines were closed. The world’s largest private coal company, Peabody Energy, lost 80% of its share price  …Full article

New Fracking Rules on Public Lands ‘A Giveaway to Oil and Gas Industry,’ Advocates Say 3-20-15

The new rules are released following a 4-year process that included more than 1.5 million public comments. The Bureau of Land Management claimed they would “support safe and responsible hydraulic fracking on public and American Indian lands.” Drilling has been occuring on federal lands for years with more than 100,000 wells in existence. …Full article

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Ends on March 16 3-5-15

14 months after the world watched in astonishment as poorly regulated coal-washing chemicals contaminated the Elk River in West Virginia, coal country residents and supporters are gearing up for an epic showdown on March 16 with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection-and the US Congress-over the mounting death toll and health crisis from mountaintop removal strip mining …Full article

EPA Keystone Review Links Oil Sands to Carbon Emission Jump 2-3-15

(Bloomberg) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said developing Canadian oil sands would significantly increase greenhouse gases. “Until ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of oil sand are more successful and widespread,” developing the crude “represents a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions,” the EPA said in a letter to the State Department, which is reviewing the project …Full article

U.S. Interior Department Plan: Open Atlantic Coast to Offshore Drilling 1-27-15

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s new five-year offshore drilling strategy calls for opening the offshore stretch from Virginia to Georgia, an area the energy industry says could hold large amounts of oil and gas. The Obama administration proposes an unprecedented opening of the waters off the Atlantic coast for oil and natural gas drilling …Full article

Could Global Tide Be Starting to Turn Against Fossil Fuels? 1-13-15

Boom may be turning to bust for fossil fuels. Market forces are combining with the prospect of new limits on carbon emissions from major economies such as China and the US to prick the carbon bubble. Many anaylsts are now suggesting that — with prices falling and production costs rising — the coming year could be the moment when investors realize the game is up for the coal and oil industries …Full article

11 Earthquakes Rock Texas Fracking Heartland in 24 Hours 1-8-15

A recent study showed that a series of earthquakes outside of Youngstown, OH, were caused by the fracking operations in the area …Full article

Another Study Confirms Fracking is Definitely Causing Earthquakes 1-7-15

Another study has found a link between hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes. This study examined 77 minor earthquakes near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border …Full article

2014

Newspapers Complicit in Selling Phony “War on Coal” 12-16-14

A new study shows that American newspapers push the coal industry’s misleading narrative.

There are a number of reasons why the tide has turned against the coal industry around the globe. Coal is the single largest source of global warming pollution—while coal-fired power represents only 39% of all electricity generated in the U.S., according to the EPA, it is responsible for 75% if carbon emissions …Full article

New Study Shows Huge Methane Emissions ‘Hot Spot’ Found in U.S. 10-9-14

The largest concentration of methane emissions seen in the U.S. over the past decade has been detected by satellite over the most active coal-bed methane production area in the country — the Four Corners of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona, according to a new study published Thursday …Full article