Fracking - Inside Climate News

Baltimore Judge Tosses Climate Case, Hands Win to Big Oil

By Aman Azhar — Sat, 13 Jul 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Environmental groups say judges across the country believe cases like Baltimore's should hold oil companies accountable in state courts for environmental harm.

By Aman Azhar

In a first of its kind decision, a Maryland judge on Wednesday tossed Baltimore City’s climate suit against major oil giants on the grounds that it is not the role of the state courts to address a global issue like climate change.

Montana’s High Court Considers a Constitutional Right to a Stable Climate

By Nicholas Kusnetz, Najifa Farhat — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 09:10:00 +0000

The state’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments on an appeal of a decision that struck down a law supporting fossil fuel development. The ruling centered on a constitutional right to a healthy environment.

By Nicholas Kusnetz, Najifa Farhat

A landmark climate change lawsuit reached Montana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, with the justices hearing arguments that a state law promoting fossil fuel development violated Montanans’ constitutional rights.

Sen. Britt of Alabama Confronted on Her Ties to ‘Big Oil’

By Lee Hedgepeth — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 22:46:14 +0000

A Sunrise movement activist approached the senator in the halls of Congress and asked about her campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry. Britt later thanked the activist for helping promote her bedrock belief in “energy dominance.”

By Lee Hedgepeth

Amalia Hochman isn’t from Alabama, but she’s willing to fight for it anyway.

Peering Inside the Pandora’s Box of Oil and Gas Waste

By Kiley Bense — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 09:10:00 +0000

A new book investigates what happens to the mountains of waste generated by the American oil and gas industry.

By Kiley Bense

In 1971, scientists gathered at a symposium to examine the practice of getting rid of oil and gas wastewater by injecting it into porous rock formations deep underground. Called injection wells, they are now widely used by the industry to dispose of the liquid byproducts when an oil or gas well is drilled, which can contain salts, metals and radioactive elements. At the conference, experts speculated about the long-term consequences for the earth and human health.

Governors in the West Seek Profitability for Industrial and Natural Carbon Removal Projects

By Jake Bolster — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The Western Governors’ Association decarbonization report, led by Wyoming’s Mark Gordon, pushes industrial carbon capture and natural CO2 sequestration, but says little about reducing the fossil fuels emitting the greenhouse gases.

By Jake Bolster

Should the West become a proving ground for fledging carbon capture technology, or bolster conservation and land management projects that naturally sequester carbon emissions?

California Communities Celebrate ‘Massive’ Victory as Oil Industry Drops Unpopular Referendum

By Liza Gross — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 20:49:30 +0000

The oil industry withdrew its $40 million campaign to kill a historic law to protect neighborhoods from oil drilling’s toxic effects, but is threatening to challenge the measure in court.

By Liza Gross

Environmental justice communities across California rejoiced last week when the oil industry, at the eleventh hour, withdrew its controversial effort to overturn a historic law aimed at curbing the deadly effects of neighborhood oil drilling.

To Save the Amazon, What if We Listened to Those Living Within It?

By Katie Surma — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Aiming to prevent “climate and ecological collapse,” rainforest inhabitants release a detailed plan to save their home, honing in on ending fossil fuel subsidies and securing Indigenous land rights.

By Katie Surma

RURRENABAQUE, Bolivia—Beneath a setting sun, marchers clad in feathered headdresses and hand woven clothing streamed across the Alto Beni River bridge on a muggy June evening, calling out:

Texas Opens More Coastal Waters for Carbon Dioxide Injection Wells

By Dylan Baddour — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The Gulf Coast is poised to be a major hub for underground disposal of greenhouse gas to mitigate climate change, but questions remain over who will fund it long-term.

By Dylan Baddour

Texas has opened more than a million acres of offshore, state-owned waters for proposals from companies to inject greenhouse gas underground for permanent disposal as a means to mitigate climate change.

Low-Emission ‘Gas Certification’ Is Greenwashing, Climate Advocates Conclude in a Contested New Report

By Phil McKenna — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Gas utilities see certified gas as a way to sell low-carbon fuel at a premium. U.S. senators are calling on the FTC to investigate the industry’s claims.

By Phil McKenna

A growing effort by the fossil fuel industry to sell natural gas as a low-carbon fuel is little more than greenwashing, according to a new report by climate advocacy organizations.

New Mexico Debates What to Do With Oil and Gas Wastewater

By Martha Pskowski — Sun, 16 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000

State regulators say discharges of treated produced water into rivers are too risky. But they see a pathway for produced water to be reused in industry.

By Martha Pskowski

The question of what to do with the vast quantities of toxic wastewater from oil and gas drilling in New Mexico is up for debate.