Fracking Archives - Inside Climate News

Will the American Geophysical Union Cut All Ties With the Fossil Fuel Industry?

By Liza Gross — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Scientist-activists ask the world’s biggest society of earth and space scientists to revoke the fossil fuel industry’s social license.

By Liza Gross

SAN FRANCISCO—Scientists who have risked their careers, freedom and livelihoods led a town hall meeting here on Tuesday at the world’s largest annual gathering of earth and space scientists to ask their colleagues to consider what their professional society’s stance should be in relation to the fossil fuel industry.

Texas Court Strikes Down Air Pollution Permit for Gulf Coast Oil Terminal

By Dylan Baddour — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:30:00 +0000

A judge reversed a 2022 decision by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that involved its controversial “one-mile rule” to deny hearing requests.

By Dylan Baddour

For the second time in three weeks, a court struck down an air pollution permit issued by Texas’ environmental regulator.

From Fracked Gas in Pennsylvania to Toxic Waste in Texas, Tracking Vinyl Chloride Production in the U.S.

By Kiley Bense — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Appalachia’s fracking boom is fueling the expansion of American plastics manufacturing, including production of vinyl chloride, the carcinogen used to make PVC that burned in East Palestine, Ohio.

By Kiley Bense

On the evening of May 17, 1970, the 19th car of a freight train derailed in the Pennsylvania village of Cromby, a small town nestled along a horseshoe curve in the Schuylkill River about 30 miles from Philadelphia.

Oil or Water? Midland Says Disposal Wells Could Threaten Water Supply

By Martha Pskowski — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

As oil and gas companies struggle to dispose of their wastewater in the Permian Basin, the city of Midland is challenging applications for disposal wells near one of its drinking water sources.

By Martha Pskowski

Attorneys for the city of Midland, the oil capital of Texas, made an unusual request to regulators this year: Could they please be allowed to challenge drilling permits?

Planned Fossil Fuel Production Vastly Exceeds the World’s Climate Goals, ‘Throwing Humanity’s Future Into Question’

By Nicholas Kusnetz — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 05:01:00 +0000

Among the 20 top fossil fuel-producing countries, the U.S., Brazil and Saudi Arabia foresee significant increases in domestic oil production, while Russia, India and Indonesia all project substantial increases in coal.

By Nicholas Kusnetz

The world’s top fossil-fuel producing nations are still planning to increase their output of oil, gas and coal far beyond what the world’s climate targets would allow, according to a new United Nations report.

Oil and Gas Companies Spill Millions of Gallons of Wastewater in Texas

By Martha Pskowski, and Peter Aldhous — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

An exclusive Inside Climate News analysis found companies have spilled nearly 150 million gallons of toxic, highly saline wastewater in Texas over the last decade.

By Martha Pskowski, and Peter Aldhous

State of Denial: Fourth in a series about how Texas’ environmental regulators enable Big Oil and other polluters.

An Alabama Coal Plant Once Again Nabs the Dubious Title of the Nation’s Worst Greenhouse Gas Polluter

By Lee Hedgepeth — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

A single Jefferson County power plant pollutes more than some entire countries.

By Lee Hedgepeth

In West Jefferson, everything happens in the shadow of Alabama Power.

Should Toxic Wastewater From Gas Drilling Be Spread on Pennsylvania Roads as a Dust and Snow Suppressant?

By Jake Bolster — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 09:30:00 +0000

Members of a gas industry advisory council would like the Department of Environmental Protection to consider the practice. The DEP has yet to be convinced.

By Jake Bolster

A gas industry advisory council to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection opened its meeting earlier this month by discussing the possibility of legalizing the spreading of toxic wastewater from conventional gas drilling on roads as a dust and snow treatment, despite studies showing the practice is potentially harmful to human health and the environment.

Research by Public Health Experts Shows ‘Damning’ Evidence on the Harms of Fracking

By Jon Hurdle — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 09:30:00 +0000

The natural gas industry answers with its own reviews of research, finding a lack of evidence to establish a clear link between fracking and negative health outcomes.

By Jon Hurdle

Hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas is linked to an array of health harms, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma and birth defects, according to the latest compilation of studies on the impact of fracking on human health.

Texas Continues to Issue Thousands of Flaring Permits

By Martha Pskowski — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 09:55:00 +0000

State regulators raise doubts about natural gas flaring permits but rarely reject them. Advocates for reform say the permit process is a “rubber stamp” and that companies shouldn’t get a free pass to keep flaring indefinitely.

By Martha Pskowski

At a Railroad Commission meeting last month, Commissioner Jim Wright chastised Callon Petroleum for flaring natural gas at a drilling site, saying it should “find a better solution.”