Powering the Planet

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Justin Mikulka

Sun setting in Indiana through a haze of wildfire smoke.

The Cleanup Bill for the Fracking Boom is Already Here

In 1990 officials were warning the government that they needed a plan to make sure the costs to clean up the mess being made by the oil industry were not passed on to the public. If the public wants to avoid picking up the tab for the oil tycoons, it better get a plan of its own in place.

LNG tanker being loaded in Louisiana for export of U.S. LNG to China.

America’s Oil and Gas Export Delusions

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.

Optical Optical gas imaging showing methane emissions from unlit flare in the Permian. Credit: Oilfield Witness

Our Methane Blindspot

Methane is getting some attention as we learn new information on the severity of the problem of methane emissions in the oil and gas industry but it remains a distant second in the world's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, despite all of the good intentions (e.

Injection Wells Will Haunt Us Forever

Injection Wells Will Haunt Us Forever

In 1971 Orlo Childs was speaking at the annual Underground Waste Management symposium and posed the following question about the practice of using injection wells to dispose of America’s toxic waste. “Where will the waste reside 100 years from now?” Orlo Childs at the 1971 conference Underground Waste Management

U.S. Policy Implications of Global Peak Oil Demand

U.S. Policy Implications of Global Peak Oil Demand

Back in the beginning of the century James Kuntsler published the book The Long Emergency which warned about societal collapse due to declining oil production combined with “climate change, resurgent diseases, water scarcity, global economic instability and warfare to cause major trouble for future generations.” Twenty years ago it was

The Grifters

The Grifters

“Look around the poker table; if you can’t see the sucker, you’re it.”

Zombieland

Zombieland

Here we go again. “Last week, a retired oil and gas worker named Luke Shipp called out Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian for claiming that no wastewater disposal well has contaminated groundwater used by people.” That quote is from a column in the Houston Chronicle about the ongoing problem of toxic