Oil Drilling

Oil Rig Texas

As Disposal Wells Reach Capacity, EPA Considers Changes to Drilling Wastewater Standards

The oil and gas industries want to see wastewater regulations loosened as they consider pumping the water into streams and rivers.

October 22, 2018 - Houston Chronicle

Louisiana Oil Spill

Trump Executive Order Clears the Way for More Offshore Drilling

President Donald Trump rescinded environmental protections put in place by former President Barack Obama after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

June 22, 2018 - AP via Detroit Free Press

Oil Pump in Los Angeles

Study: L.A. County's Urban Oil Wells Are Too Close to Homes and Schools

The Department of Public Health recommends taking action to better protect residents from oil operations that are sometimes only a few feet from where people live, work, eat, play and study.

March 7, 2018 - KPCC

Caribou and Brooks Range, Arctic NWR

Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Allowed with Passage of GOP Tax Bill

When President Trump signs the tax-cutting bill, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will have achieved a family dream of opening up the pristine refuge, created 37 years ago, to drilling.

December 24, 2017 - The New Yorker

Greener Gasoline to Come from Solar-Powered Oil Wells in California

Crude oil from Kern County's Belridge field will soon have a much lower life cycle carbon intensity thanks to new solar technology used to extract hard-to-get oil. The renewal of California's carbon cap-and-trade market made it possible.

December 4, 2017 - The Washington Post - Energy and Environment

Toyota Fuel Cell

Fuel Cell Vehicles Get Surprising Boost from Uncle Sam

The petroleum industry-friendly Trump Administration has awarded $15.8 million to 30 projects that are intended to substantially reduce oil consumption from passenger vehicles.

July 10, 2017 - AASHTO Journal

Oil Rigs

North Dakota's Oil Boom Falters

As oil prices dip to around $30 a barrel, fears are setting in that North Dakota's oil fields have been overdeveloped. If the current boom goes bust, these towns might find themselves nearly empty.

February 15, 2016 - New York Times

Oil Drills

Can Climate Change be Addressed by Halting Drilling on Federal Lands?

A production-side approach to tackling climate change is the basis of new legislation by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). The "Keep it in the Ground Act" would prevent new drilling for any fossil fuel on federal lands or renewal of nonproductive leases.

November 11, 2015 - Sen. Jeff Merkley Press Release

$7 Billion Later, Shell to Withdraw from Arctic Oil Drilling

Environmentalists could have saved themselves a lot of demonstrating had they known that Shell Oil would pack up their drilling rigs after only six weeks of exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska. Insufficient oil and other reasons cited.

September 29, 2015 - Reuters

EPA Proposes Rule to Reduce Methane Emissions from New Oil and Gas Wells

On the heels of President Obama's Clean Power Plan rule that reduces carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, the new rule focuses on the other major greenhouse gas, methane, and rather than coal, it is focused on oil and gas drilling.

August 20, 2015 - The Atlantic

Can Conservation and Drilling Coexist?

That's the question facing the nation's largest environmental organization (not the Sierra Club but The Nature Conservancy) regarding the management of its preserve in Texas. There is no question for Naomi Klein, who writes about it in her new book.

August 6, 2014 - The New York Times

Disaster or Dodged Bullet? Colorado Debates Environmental Impact of Floods

What was the extent of the environmental damage caused by leaking oil wells during September's flood? Turns out, it depends on whom you ask. Word from both government and the industry is that it was minimal, while environmental advocates disagree.

October 2, 2013 - The New York Times - U.S.

Oil's Voodoo Economics: Reserves Grow As They're Depleted

Contrary to what would seem logical, estimates of oil and natural gas reserves may increase as they are depleted, as the new USGS assessment of recoverable oil reserves in the greater Bakken Basin shows. How does this square with peak oil theory?

May 9, 2013 - MIT Technology Review

To Preserve Landscapes, Environmentalists Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Are

A novel approach to land conservation is emerging in the American West, where environmental advocates, ranchers, hunters and rich landowners, are utilizing the free market, rather than the courts, to preserve public landscapes.

March 18, 2013 - The New York Times

The Booms and Busts of North Dakota's Drilling

Oil drilling has brought abundant prosperity to North Dakota over the past few years. Nicholas Kusnetz exposes the impact of weak environmental regulation in the state.

June 10, 2012 - ProPublica

Oil Drilling Myths Exposed By Paul Krugman

New York Times economics writer and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman analyzes two major reasons for increasing oil drilling - reducing unemployment and lowering gas prices, and describes why it does neither.

March 20, 2012 - The New York Times - The Opinion Pages

Expedited Fracking Plan May Need to Apply the Brakes

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to expedite natural oil gas drilling, or fracking, is too risky to rush. Even with environmental regulations in place, writes Eric Goldstein, there are too many "unresolved substantive issues" to resolve.

October 9, 2011 - Gotham Gazette

Gas Prices Fueling Political Squabbles

The highest gas prices since the summer of 2008 have the two political parties taking separate approaches toward the oil industry - each showing how effective they are at killing each other's plans.

May 23, 2011 - The New York Times - Editorial

One Town That Celebrates Its Oil Spill

Taft, California was built on oil money, and saw its famous unstoppable oil gusher (still the largest spill in American history) as a boon rather than a disaster. Locals worry this year's centennial celebration may be overshadowed by the BP spill.

July 30, 2010 - The Wall St. Journal

Privatize the Ocean?

With the devastating spill of oil in the Gulf, this post from The National Review suggests taking control over off-shore drilling out of the hands of government and putting it into the hands of private interests.

June 14, 2010 - The National Review

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