Hope for slashing methane waste
By Camilla Feibelman,
Chapter director Common-sense, climate-protecting methane rules have been targeted as the next victim of an obscure tool that President Trump and congressional Republicans have used to revoke stream protections and other air and water safeguards. But the Sierra Club and our allies are building bipartisan opposition to this effort to appease the oil and gas industry at tragic cost. You may already know that methane is a colorless, odorless substance that is also the main component of ...
Chapter director Common-sense, climate-protecting methane rules have been targeted as the next victim of an obscure tool that President Trump and congressional Republicans have used to revoke stream protections and other air and water safeguards. But the Sierra Club and our allies are building bipartisan opposition to this effort to appease the oil and gas industry at tragic cost. You may already know that methane is a colorless, odorless substance that is also the main component of ...
Climate-saving methane rules at risk
By Camilla Feibelman,
Rio Grande Chapter director A riddle: What is invisible and odorless and does more harm than carbon dioxide? If you’ve been paying attention to the Rio Grande Chapter’s work over the last year, you know the answer. Methane is the primary component of natural gas and is unfortunately accidentally leaked and intentionally vented and flared by the oil and gas industry during extraction, gathering, storage and distribution. In addition to being a devastating greenhouse gas, wasted methane, extracted ...
Rio Grande Chapter director A riddle: What is invisible and odorless and does more harm than carbon dioxide? If you’ve been paying attention to the Rio Grande Chapter’s work over the last year, you know the answer. Methane is the primary component of natural gas and is unfortunately accidentally leaked and intentionally vented and flared by the oil and gas industry during extraction, gathering, storage and distribution. In addition to being a devastating greenhouse gas, wasted methane, extracted ...
Public Demands Greater Chaco Protection
On Monday night, 36 tankers storing crude oil and wastewater exploded and burned. According to reports, approximately 10 families were evacuated. According to reports this morning, the fire has yet to be extinguished ...
Out from under the methane cloud
We’ve all heard what President-elect Trump has said he’ll do to our environment when he gets into office, and it’s frightening. But we’re more concerned about what we are going to do. That’s you and me and other citizens who care about breathing clean air, drinking clean water and leaving a healthy, resilient state for our children. Working alongside our allies at Conservation Voters New Mexico, 350 New Mexico, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light and Western Environmental Law Center, ...
BLM: Stop auctioning off Chaco to oil and gas
Fracking in Greater Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico is on the increase and causing more health and public safety problems than ever. Please email the Bureau of Land Management Farmington Office at BLM_NM_FFO_Comments@blm.gov to protect these sacred and precious public lands. The BLM continues to promote oil and gas development in the Greater Chaco area, approving 365 horizontal fracking wells under an outdated Resource Management Plan for the region. But the agency is now gathering information for an overdue amendment ...
BLM planning smaller Chaco lease auction
By Miya King-Flaherty
Chapter Public Lands fellow Despite a recent explosion that destroyed thirty-six storage tanks on July 11 in Nageezi, N.M., the Bureau of Land Management’s Farmington Field Office continues to lease lands and approve drilling permits. The BLM’s Environmental Assessment reports, which are supposed to thoroughly analyze the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) before approving leases and drilling permits, constantly cite ‘Findings of No Significant Impact’ to the surrounding communities, land, water or sacred sites. The explosion occurred ...
Chapter Public Lands fellow Despite a recent explosion that destroyed thirty-six storage tanks on July 11 in Nageezi, N.M., the Bureau of Land Management’s Farmington Field Office continues to lease lands and approve drilling permits. The BLM’s Environmental Assessment reports, which are supposed to thoroughly analyze the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) before approving leases and drilling permits, constantly cite ‘Findings of No Significant Impact’ to the surrounding communities, land, water or sacred sites. The explosion occurred ...
NASA study shows methane sources in Four Corners
By Miya King-Flaherty,
Chapter Public Lands fellow On August 15, NASA released a report that affirms what we already know about the infamous 2,500-square mile methane cloud that hovers over the Four Corners area. Throughout oil and gas operations, methane leaks occur from storage tanks, pipelines and well pads, adding to the methane plume and exacerbating climate disruption. The NASA study identified 250 sources in the San Juan Basin that significantly contribute to the methane cloud. Even more astonishingly, only ...
Chapter Public Lands fellow On August 15, NASA released a report that affirms what we already know about the infamous 2,500-square mile methane cloud that hovers over the Four Corners area. Throughout oil and gas operations, methane leaks occur from storage tanks, pipelines and well pads, adding to the methane plume and exacerbating climate disruption. The NASA study identified 250 sources in the San Juan Basin that significantly contribute to the methane cloud. Even more astonishingly, only ...
Chaco Canyon: Too precious to frack
Our public lands are under siege, and the Bureau of Land Management continues to prioritize oil and gas extraction over our climate, air and water. We need your help to protect Chaco Canyon and the surrounding communities from fracking. https://www.riograndesierraclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/METHANE-CUT-5-SD.mp4 ...
Don’t let BLM auction off Chaco to oil and gas
Chaco Culture National Historical Park is Northwest New Mexico’s San Juan Basin, where there are over 56,000 oil and gas wells and processing plants. Last month, NASA released a report that identified natural gas waste and methane pollution as major contributors to the methane cloud hovering over the Four Corners. Now, the BLM is planning to lease 843 more acres of land in the Greater Chaco area to oil and gas developers at a Jan. 18 auction. The BLM’s Farmington Field office ...
NASA Releases Report On Threatening New Mexico Methane Hotspot
On Monday, August 15, NASA released a study on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico. The report, based on intensive aerial surveys and ground crews, is a follow-up on the 2014 satellite report that initially found the “hotspot” in the region, and sought to further identify and explain its causes. The study identified 250 large methane plumes emitted from well pads, storage tanks, pipelines, gas processing plants, and venting from ...
