Witness Blog
The Texas Oil and Gas Story: Profits Over People and the Planet
There were many alarming facts in the recent study “High rates of hydrogen sulfide emissions measured from marginal oil wells near Austin and San Antonio, Texas,” published in Environmental Research Communications. However, all of the problems can be linked back to a fact stated in the study. “We did not...
Technical limitations of satellite and regulations in stopping methane.
Don't use satellites and regulations as delay tactics Sitting on a stone bench on my Wise County farm. Way back when I lived on a farm in Wise County Texas watching fracking pioneer George Mitchell experiment with combining horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to produce oil...
Gen Z: Our future is not in our own hands
Written by Jack McDonald When I was 19, I testified in front of the EPA. I spoke about my personal experience living on the Barnett Shale where the fracking boom originated, but I also spoke about the looming threat of climate change that weighs on my entire generation. Based on...
101: Understanding the Texas Oil and Gas Pollution Permits
Written by Jack McDonald Each green dot represents as well permitted by the Texas Railroad CommissioPollution is built into the American environmental protection framework. Even in circumstances where the environment is already damaged, our regulations allow new facilities to be built in the same area–doubling down...
“Please?” Oil companies wield extreme control over Texas agencies.
by Miguel Escoto Regulatory commissioners vote to approve a dangerous oil industry wastewater disposal pit next to a children’s summer camp and Baptist conference center, but then ask the owner to “be a good neighbor” to the summer camp. June 2nd, 2024, Sharon and I visited the Circle...
Cautioning against the optimism of the EIA flaring data
By Jack McDonald Flaring by Skytruth How can the EIA rely on state data if the vast majority of flaring in Texas is unknown to the RRC? Last week, the EIA published their preliminary estimate of the amount of natural gas flaring that happened across the...
Economics Don’t Justify Optimism About New Methane Regulations
Methane cloud from a small midstream facility in the Texas Permian Basin. After years of working to raise the alarm about dangerous methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, I’m happy to see that the media is now reporting on many aspects of the ongoing...
TotalEnergies Flowback Operations on Memorial Day in Arlington, Texas
TotalEnergies gas well site is too close to homes. TotalEnergies decided that Memorial Day weekend would be a good time to start flowback operations at the Bruder Gas Lease in Arlington, Texas. People who have lived with oil and gas operations too close to their homes...
The Barnett Shale, the birthplace of fracking, is still a big polluter
The Texas Permian Basin is not the only area with massive emissions. The Barnett Shale in North Texas is doing its part creating health impacts for neighbors and accelerating the climate crisis by dumping more methane into our atmosphere. Methane is over 100 times more powerful at warming our planet...
A Cautious Perspective on Biden’s LNG Permit Pause
We won a battle, but the climate war is far from over. Anyone living near the four proposed LNG export terminals and the two that are in pre-filing got a reprieve when the Biden Administration announced a pause on LNG permitting. Those people have every reason to celebrate. Assessing the...