Howdy, yall!

Happy New Year! We are very excited about the work ahead of us in 2025. After a busy first year in 2024 that took us from the Permian in Texas and New Mexico to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in Louisiana, we will be expanding our work with partners in other countries including Japan, Mexico and Canada.

In 2024 we worked with international media outlets from Europe and Japan to help them educate their audiences about the climate disaster being created by the U.S. oil and gas industry. Like in America, most people in those countries are hearing the industry message that natural gas [methane] and liquefied natural gas (LNG) are clean energy despite the well documented evidence this is not true.

This video includes many of the 2024 highlights of the foreign press coverage of our work documenting the climate killing methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Our Work in the Media

In December Sharon spoke with The Guardian for an article about oil industry fraud in Colorado. Sharon explained how the issues detailed in the article are just one more example of how consultants hired by the oil and gas industry are expected to find results that please the industry.

“It’s obvious: if you want the oil and gas industry to pay you money for a service, you better not find any big problems, or they’re not going to pay you.”

Justin was quoted in a Forbes article about the economics of the hydrogen industry

Fieldwork

In December Sharon was in the West Texas Permian with a crew from The Hill who were researching and documenting the various issues contributing to the polycrisis in the Permian including methane emissions, injection wells, abandoned wells and the ongoing air pollution in an Odessa neighborhood.

Image: Flare near homes in Odessa from December visit.

Educational Efforts

Justin guest lectured (remotely) at University of Vermont’s Law School for a session of Oil & Gas Development & the Environment. In 2025, Justin is planning to collaborate with professor Mark James and several of his students on a project to further define oilfield liabilities.

Justin was also invited to present a paper on the topic of oilfield liabilities at the annual conference for the Berle Center at Seattle University’s School of Law. This year’s topic will be “Climate Risk and the Corporation” and will be held in early November.

Abandoned oil wells are an ongoing source of methane emissions and making sure oil and gas companies are held accountable to properly cap and remediate old wells is another important part of addressing the ongoing methane crisis.

Our Writing

Sharon wrote about her December visit to the Permian with a team from The Hill and the realities of the health impacts of oil and gas production on the people who live near it. This is another example of the ongoing issues we highlighted in our report Unmonitored and Unregulated.

“That’s when a man drove up and asked us what we were doing. He lives about a quarter mile away and checks the well daily. He could smell the strong odors from his house. The reporters asked him for an interview. I resigned myself to the fact that I would soon be miserable with the same health impacts the man lived with daily.

About an hour later as we loaded our gear, we listed our various health impacts: headache, burning eyes, nausea. When we finally drove out of the neighborhood, we all expressed relief to be leaving. I mentioned that I often feel survivors guilt because I get to drive away while those families have to live with the misery on a daily basis.

This is the experience I want to share with all the deniers, all the people who only care about economics. I want them to experience standing next to that well and suffering for just one hour.”

Justin wrote about the recent analysis and warning from the American Lung Association about the health and climate risks of methane. We fully support their recommended action:

“Support local and federal policies promoting electrification and phasing out methane.”

Justin also published an article on the U.S. oil and LNG export industry at Powering the Planet.

“The true hoax of this energy transition is the idea that the U.S. has unlimited oil and gas that is just waiting to be produced as soon as those tree-hugging liberals stop standing in the way.”

Video Work

Inside Climate News published an article on the efforts of Diane Wilson to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for its impacts on the local shrimping industry in Texas.

In October we went to Louisiana and spoke to shrimp boat captains about the impacts of the CP1 LNG export facility on the local shrimping industry there — an area that was formerly the top shrimp producing location in the country. Miguel created this short documentary video about what we learned on that trip.

Social Media

We continue to build a following of people interested in issues related to methane and the climate with over 3,300 followers on Bluesky, where we provide a source for all the latest news and analysis on methane issues.

Follow us on Bluesky

@oilfieldwitness.bsky.social

– Till the end of oil

The Oilfield Witness Team