Fossil Fuels - Inside Climate News

California Climate and Health Groups Urge Legislators to Pass Polluter Pays Bills

By Liza Gross — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

As the state’s legislative session draws to a close, activists urge their representatives to pass bills they call critical to protecting communities and the planet from fossil fuel extraction.

By Liza Gross

Dozens of activists gathered outside the state Capitol in the scorching Sacramento sun Monday to make a last push against the industry that’s largely responsible for the climate crisis shattering one heat record after another.

In Final Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, BLM Sticks With Conservation Priorities, Renewable Energy Development

By Jake Bolster — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 08:55:00 +0000

The controversial plan would also place new limits on the terrain open to coal mining and oil and gas drilling, mainly due to a lack of resources in the areas, irking many fossil fuel advocates in the state.

By Jake Bolster

The Bureau of Land Management, on Aug. 22, released its final Resource Management Plan for its Rock Springs District in Southwest Wyoming, spurring blowback from the governor and the fossil fuel industry, and drawing mostly praise from conservation groups.

‘It’s Just No Place for an Oil Pipeline’: A Wisconsin Tribe Continues Its Fight to Remove a 71-Year-Old Line From a Pristine Place

By Phil McKenna — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

A proposed reroute of a pipeline would still jeopardize the “Everglades of the North,” the EPA warns, including wild rice beds that the Bad River tribe depends on.

By Phil McKenna

ODANAH, Wis.—“This is the last turn and the end of the fourth hill of life, when Bad River, as a spirit, transforms into something other, something extraordinary,” Mike Wiggins said as he rounded a final bend in one of the largest and most pristine wetlands on the shores of Lake Superior, one of the biggest freshwater lakes in the world.

US District Court Throws Out Federal Agency’s Assessment Allowing More Drilling for Fossil Fuels in the Gulf of Mexico

By Aman Azhar — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The lawsuit before the court showed the staggering scale of ecological damage a bad federal assessment can cause to endangered and federally protected sea creatures.

By Aman Azhar

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland has tossed a flawed environmental assessment that grossly underestimated harms to endangered and threatened marine species from oil and gas drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston’s Plastic Waste, Waiting More Than a Year for ‘Advanced’ Recycling, Piles up at a Business Failed Three Times by Fire Marshal

By James Bruggers — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Houston seeks to be a national model for plastic recycling. But a program that started in 2022 hasn’t yet found its footing.

By James Bruggers

This story is a partnership between Inside Climate News and CBS News.

Coal Baron a No-Show in Alabama Courtroom as Abandoned Plant Continues to Pollute Neighborhoods

By Dennis Pillion — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The son of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was hailed as a hero five years ago when his family’s company purchased a troubled coke plant in North Birmingham that had polluted three historically Black neighborhoods. Now, a judge says the Justices’ Bluestone Coke is on a “superhighway to contempt.”

By Dennis Pillion

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor is fed up.

In Alabama Meeting, TVA Votes to Increase the Cost of Power, Double Down on Natural Gas

By Lee Hedgepeth — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 23:26:18 +0000

The 5.25 percent base price hike will fund ongoing construction and energy development, including fossil fuel infrastructure, according to TVA officials. Consumers and advocates are skeptical.

By Lee Hedgepeth

FLORENCE, Ala.—At Thursday’s meeting of the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, members got a friendly reminder from among their ranks.

This Country Voted to Keep Oil in the Ground. Will It Happen?

By Katie Surma — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

More than 10 million Ecuadorians voted last year to ban oil operations in part of the Amazon rainforest. But heavy crude has continued to flow from the region, which is home to uncontacted Indigenous families.

By Katie Surma

Update: After this article was published, the Ecuadorian government announced plans to cap and close 246 oil wells in the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) fields beginning on August 30, 2024. That phase-out process will last until December 31, 2029. The government expects that removing other infrastructure, such as well pads, and remediating environmental damage will last through August 31, 2032.

After Partnering With the State to Monitor Itself, a Pennsylvania Gas Company Declares Its Fracking Operations ‘Safe’

By Kiley Bense — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:38:18 +0000

Environmentalists say a new report from CNX Resources’ monitoring program, created as part of a collaboration led by Gov. Josh Shapiro, is full of misinformation.

By Kiley Bense

On Wednesday, the natural gas company CNX Resources released the initial results from its environmental monitoring collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, a partnership predicated on “radical transparency” around fracking operations that Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration announced in November.

Thousands of Disaster Survivors Urge the Department of Justice to Investigate Fossil Fuel Companies for Climate Crimes

By Keerti Gopal — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The action follows a growing trend of lawsuits and legislation aimed at making oil, gas, coal and petrochemical companies pay for their damage to the atmosphere.

By Keerti Gopal

Allen Myers was getting ready to visit his parents in his hometown of Paradise in November 2018 when the community was hit with the deadliest wildfire in California’s history. As he traveled home, Myers experienced the destruction in real time.