Energy Exchange

How oil & gas states did (and did not) protect land and water in 2018

By EDF Blogs / Published: January 10, 2019

Keeping an eye on what happens with domestic oil and gas regulation is a bit like herding cats. We’ve seen encouraging progress on air quality issues related to oil and gas, but an equally critical front that’s seen major action is protection of our land and water resources.

More than 30 states actively regulate oil and gas development but their practices and rules vary significantly. Add the recent attention around industry’s impact on local communities – from earthquakes and the risk of spills to increased traffic and local air pollution – and it’s easy to miss the big trends that dominated regulatory agendas in 2018.

EDF devotes a significant amount of time tracking this activity, and 2018 was a busy year. Over a dozen states completed rule updates and other types of improvements this year on a variety of topics.

Here are the big things we saw in 2018.

Posted in Aliso Canyon, California, Colorado, Methane, Natural Gas, New York, Ohio, produced water, State, Texas, Wyoming / Tagged Gas storage, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, produced water, Water, well integrity | Comments are closed

EPA-New Mexico wastewater report is a conversation starter, not the final word

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 20, 2018

This blog was co-authored by Colin Leyden and Nichole Saunders.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the outgoing Martinez administration in New Mexico have produced a draft white paper and solicited comments on potential ways to reuse or manage the growing volume of wastewater produced by the state’s oil and gas industry.

While the paper is a helpful outline of current produced water policy, New Mexico decision-makers should view it as a conversation starter and not the final word. When it comes to answering questions about whether the oil and gas industry’s wastewater can be safely reused for other purposes, like food crops, livestock or, as the white paper even suggests, drinking water, there are a number of other serious factors to be considered.

Posted in General, Natural Gas, produced water / Tagged EPA, Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico, produced water, Water | Comments are closed

Why clean energy investments should be part of your risk management strategy

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 20, 2018

By Jake Hiller

There’s a new way to approach energy risks that should interest business leaders who navigate today’s changing economy.

Is your corporate risk management strategy considering these three realities, and how to respond?

1. Energy prices are volatile and hard to predict

Energy prices fluctuate so knowing when to lock in the best price, and for how long, is a perennial challenge for businesses. Unless, that is, you consider signing a long-term Power Purchase Agreement with an energy provider that specializes in predictable renewable energy – or install your own clean energy infrastructure.

Posted in Clean Energy / Comments are closed

Three ways Zinke failed as Interior Secretary. Why the next Secretary will likely fail, too.

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 17, 2018

USDA photo by Lance Cheung.

This blog was co-authored by David Festa and Dan Grossman.

Two years ago, a colleague of ours penned a blog titled, “How Interior pick can make good on Trump’s promise to honor Theodore Roosevelt.”

Looking back now, it was optimistic for any of us to believe that Ryan Zinke could fulfill the responsibilities of the Interior Secretary, when it’s clear that the Trump administration has no respect for America’s natural resources and cultural heritage.

Here are three reasons why Zinke failed as Interior Secretary, and why we are deeply skeptical that his replacement will succeed, either.

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

EPA methane rollbacks contradict agency’s own scientific findings

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 13, 2018

By Rosalie Winn and Hillary Hull

As the world races to adopt cleaner fuels and implement carbon-reducing strategies to combat a warming climate, the Trump administration is moving feverishly to severely weaken federal methane emissions regulations across the entire oil and gas industry.

The Trump EPA’s current proposal to weaken the New Source Performance Standards 2016 methane rule will add 480,000 tons of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere within the next seven years, while simultaneously wasting tens of millions of dollars-worth of natural gas.

The EPA is proposing to weaken the current standards in the face of recent research warning that excessive waste of natural gas (methane) from the oil and gas sector is much higher than previously estimated, underscoring the harmful climate implications of methane leaks from oil and gas production well sites. This move also comes on the heels of a new federal government report published last month highlighting the dire social and economic consequences of climate change.

Particularly baffling is that the EPA’s own new analysis recognizes that increasing methane detection efforts will reduce methane emissions in the atmosphere, and doing so is more cost-effective than originally estimated by the agency. Despite the agency’s own scientific conclusions, the Trump EPA is choosing to move forward and weaken the standards, disregarding logic and common sense. Read More »

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Methane rollbacks test BP, ExxonMobil, Shell commitments to support Paris goals

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 12, 2018

By Ben Ratner and Nat Keohane

As business executives join leaders from government and civil society for COP24 in Katowice, Poland, a regulatory rollback across the Atlantic puts a sharp focus on the seriousness of energy companies’ commitments to support the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report detailed the devastating consequences from a rapidly warming planet. One critical piece of the solution is reducing emissions of highly potent short-lived climate pollutants. In fact, deep reductions in emissions of non-CO₂ pollutants, particularly methane, are essential to staying below temperature targets, and have the added benefits of improving public health, food security, and ecosystems.

The oil and gas industry is a leading source of potent methane emissions. But in the world’s largest oil and gas producing nation—the United States—the Trump Administration is working to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, while simultaneously rolling back common sense standards to limit methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

Posted in Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged COP24, Methane, oil and gas, Paris Agreement | Comments are closed