22nd September 2025 - New York City – During the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) starting this week in New York City, Colombia proudly announces its plan to host the First International Conference for the Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels in April 2026.

"But methane rules alone are not enough. As long as fossil fuels are extracted, methane will leak. This is why the EU cannot claim climate leadership without a clear and urgent plan to phase out fossil gas altogether."

Wood MacKenzie is a big fan of the US LNG industry and historically paints a picture of a bright future for the industry. This change in tone is surprising but acknowledges current reality. "What surprised us at Gastech, however, were the first hints of scrutiny around financing new supply..."

To celebrate Sun Day, @txsharon.bsky.social has an op-ed in the New York Daily News. Good timing because the only proven way to cut methane from oil and gas production is to replace it with solar plus storage. (paywall)

The price of natural gas in the Permian (Waha pricing) is negative once again. The first argument for saying methane emissions can be reduced is that it will save the operators money because they can sell the methane. Not how it works in the Permian. We've explained this before.

Some great reporting by Bloomberg on the oil wastewater situation in Texas. Unfortunately it's paywalled but Hawk Dunlap really sums up the problem here: “The pipe does not lie,” Dunlap said, gesturing to oil bubbling out of a well that was supposedly plugged decades ago. “The Earth is full.”

More evidence of the oil industry's plan to not pay to clean up its mess. "And in that, Chuza Oil succeeded: Bankruptcy protected Goldstein and the other partners from paying for the cleanup."

Jack's work getting more coverage. "Yet a first-of-its-kind analysis of permit applications to the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s main oil and gas regulator, reveals a rubber-stamp system that allows drillers to emit vast amounts of natural gas into the atmosphere."

Without the systems in place that have allowed US oil and gas producers to greatly under-report their methane emissions, they are concerned they can't properly use the system to commit fraud so they can sell dirty LNG to the EU.

This great webinar on investing in renewable energy projects is coming up next Tuesday! Have you registered? Invest in the Sun: How Your Dollars Can Fund Renewable Energy September 16, 4:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM ET Register: actionnetwork.org/events/inves...

In case you missed this when it came out. "Our results indicate that there is no foreseeable slowdown in the momentum of global methane emissions growth."

I saw this image yesterday & haven't stopped thinking about it. A healthy lung, the lung of a 14-year-old boy with chronic exposure to air pollution, and a smoker's lung. Report comes out tomorrow, bringing together peer-reviewed research on fossil fuels & health us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

We've explained how US LNG has very high methane emissions. They've been telling us this isn't true, but since it is, now they are just trying to remove all regulations. “If you want to move US natural gas into the European Union, you have to change the legal regulatory framework.

Frontline communities across this country are exposed to methane emissions constantly and the health impacts are devastating.

"A big red flag for me is when people talk about [stuff] they know nothing about," Calvin explains in the video. "Calling [natural gas] an environmental solution ignores the broader impact it has on ecosystems, water resources, and long-term climate stability."

This webinar I've co-organized with @europe-calling.bsky.social @juttapaulus.bsky.social @justinmikulka.bsky.social @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social two months ago, talks precisely about the current developments - ie @ec.europa.eu willing to bow down to Trump europe-calling.de/en/webinar/m...!

On the same day we get this excellent reporting on how they are poisoning the farms in England by using toxic waste for irrigation, we get an article on the plans to do the same in the U.S. using toxic fracking wastewater. Dumb and dumber.

“There’s a number of sort of nontariff barriers that I think are problematic for growing energy into Europe,” Wright said ... pointing to the methane regulation. “Wouldn’t be good for America … wouldn’t be good for Europe." If they gas is clean like they say, why are the regulations a problem?

Together with @eia-news.bsky.social @umwelthilfe.bsky.social @caneurope.org @razomwestand.bsky.social & many others, I call on the @ec.europa.eu to not weaken the #methane regulation to appease Trump/US #LNG lobby! ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet... @juttapaulus.bsky.social @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social

Federal subsidies for fossil fuel companies have doubled to $35 billion a year since 2017, according to a new report. Authors warn oil and gas firms could receive even more in tax credits unless lawmakers act.

Calvin packs a lot into this short video and its all worth hearing. As he points out, methane is not a climate solution.

“It’s a gargantuan amount of emissions… because so much of this gas is methane, and so much of it is either incompletely combusted or not combusted at all. Through the venting process, we see a huge climate impact,” says Jack McDonald, for the environmental group Oilfield Witness

Looks like injection wells are Ohio oil and gas' Achilles Heel. @signalohio.bsky.social : bit.ly/4m71Qfu If the state of Ohio can't safely store toxic, radioactive oil and gas waste brine, why allow fracking under state parks and public lands? @kentksmith.bsky.social @ssteingraber1.bsky.social

1️⃣ Congratulations to @oilchange.bsky.social, and particularly @collinrees.bsky.social, for its new study on U.S. federal subsidies for fossil fuel production, which they estimate at $34.8 billion ($4 bln of which were added by Congress this year). This is who people should be citing, not the IMF.

The US oil and gas industry is adamant that their gas has very low associated methane emissions. And yet they say complying with EU methane regulations would required "massive modifications." Both of those can't be true. And the first one isn't.

There is a lot of theater being performed right now about how the U.S. is cleaning up its methane emissions and can easily meet the EU regulatory standards. But has anything really changed?

More on the grim reality facing the fishing communities being overwhelmed by LNG terminals. 'The letter ended with a warning. If the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries waits to assess the damage from gas export facilities until after they are constructed, it 'will be far too late.'”

🧵I went to the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum (celebrating 50 yrs!) so you don’t have to. It’s in Midland, TX and purports to “interpret the history of oil, its geology, and the industry’s modern roots.” Here’s my report. (Pay no attention to the nearby fracking operations reflected in the glass)

A lot of methane comes from the holes we made looking for oil, gas and coal. The industry is supposed to properly close those holes but it doesn't and governments let the industry get away with it.

I’m in Texas with @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social and this is what I witnessed today: These are compressor stations. Like the kind planned for NYS to push fracked gas through pipelines we don’t want or need. Turn on the sound. Standing near them is like standing next to a jet plane. BUT… 1/2

@txsharon.bsky.social is out in the Permian oil fields of Texas with @ssteingraber1.bsky.social and they just came across this. The oil industry loves to tout emissions numbers based on theoretical operating conditions using engineering estimates - thus ignoring the reality of the oilfield.

UPDATE: For 11 days after an oil plant exploded, Millie Simmons couldn’t stay outside more than 10 min. Weeks later, sludge still paints gravestones, rooftops, & swing sets—and residents still don’t know what’s on their homes or in their yards. STORY: capitalbnews.org/roseland-exp...

"Our results indicate that there is no foreseeable slowdown in the momentum of global methane emissions growth."

alternative title: "we've gotta stop burning $hit" www.nature.com/articles/d41...

New peer-reviewed paper documents massive lobbying by big oil & gas over 20 yrs to promote carbon, capture & storage, spending almost $1 Billion. CCS is a scam. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

More excellent work from @psskow.bsky.social. So much damning info here but this line stood out. "Dowden herself lacked any oilfield experience when she began managing the facility; she had previously worked as a bartender."

Remember when Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said that the EU's methane regulations would be "bone crushing" to US LNG exporters? Look at the new distraction they are promoting. The oil industry has had access to these satellites since 2016.

ICYMI yesterday, incredible reporting by @insideclimatenews.org and @propublica.org (with data from @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social) on the Texas oil & gas industry’s *massive* emissions from flaring and venting 👇

Trump’s “energy emergency” has supercharged the LNG boom. On the Gulf Coast, that means more flares in the sky, more pollution in the air, and more broken promises. Floodlight went to Louisiana to meet the communities who are paying the price.

Since 2017, the Int'l Energy Agency has told the world the fossil fuel industry can reduce its emissions of toxic, planet-warming methane at little to no cost to itself. But industry keeps failing to clean up its act. Methane emissions are still rising in lockstep with production. bit.ly/47YXaVt

"Our results indicate that there is no foreseeable slowdown in the momentum of global methane emissions growth."

A single abandoned gas bore in Queensland is emitting as much methane as the equivalent of 10,000 cars a year. And there are 130,000 of these bore holes.

“It's just the fact that if it's just one resident or 100 residents without drinking water, it's not right. In 2025, we should not have residents who can't drink their water." Courtesy of the largest gas producer in the country.

The story includes an analysis of data gathered by @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social that found TX Railroad Commission, Texas’s oil & gas regulator, received over 12,000 applications from oil corporations to flare or vent methane and approved all but 53 of them between 2021 and 2024.

top-notch work from @psskow.bsky.social, Mark Olalde, @propublica.org and @oilfieldwitness.bsky.social

“They can’t get it below 2% because they keep drilling,” DiCarlo said. Since emissions are highest when a well is being drilled, overall emissions will remain high as long as the industry is drilling new wells. “That’s just the nature of the beast.” @txsharon.bsky.social has said this for YEARS!

New feature in Propublica based on Jack's research. “It’s a gargantuan amount of emissions,” said Jack McDonald, “Because so much of this gas is methane and so much of it is either incompletely combusted or not combusted at all through the venting process, we see a huge climate impact.”

Late Friday after the story pubbed, the EPA confirmed that arsenic, barium, chromium, lead, & other hazardous materials like cancer-causing nitrobenzene were found in soot following the explosion. The agency maintains the position that the toxins are not a threat to human health.

Did you hear about the big methane leak from an LNG plant in Australia that went on for 20 years? How about the biogas plants leaking methane?

"The Australia Institute's principal advisor, Mark Ogge, said the allegations amounted to a 'national scandal'. 'It confirms that Australia's key regulators are either grossly incompetent or have been captured by the gas industry, or both,' he said." Our vote is "captured by the gas industry"