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Justin Mikulka

Abandoned oil pumpjack.

Learning from California As It Becomes An Orphan Petrostate

By 1910, California was producing roughly a fifth of the world’s crude oil. Today it is producing roughly a fifth of the oil consumed by the state. Source In addition to experiencing serious oil production decline, California is also a “fuel island” due to the geographical and regulatory constraints

Exxon Fraud Whistleblower Speaks

Exxon Fraud Whistleblower Speaks

I've written about the accusations of fraud at ExxonMobil and about how the company fired the people who called out the fraud. Lindsey was one of those whistleblowers and I highly recommend watching her speech about what happened and why she believes we need to hold these corporations

Big Oil is Sticking Us with the Bill

Big Oil is Sticking Us with the Bill

State regulators are allowing the oil industry to walk away from its cleanup responsibilities.

Deja Vu All Over Again: Carbon Dioxide Storage Poses Large Known Risks

Deja Vu All Over Again: Carbon Dioxide Storage Poses Large Known Risks

Oil industry plans to store carbon dioxide in injection wells pose huge financial, environmental and climate risks.

America's Water Woes

America's Water Woes

Water is seeping into a lot of the news these days. We should pay attention. Much like with the climate crisis, the American water crisis is a story of decades of greed and inaction. An approach that works well until it doesn't. First up, an issue that will

Oil Industry Unlikely to Pay Mounting Debts Owed to America

Oil Industry Unlikely to Pay Mounting Debts Owed to America

In 2019 I wrote an article that posed the question, “Will the Public End up Paying to Clean up the Fracking Boom?” The following year I wrote the article, “With Bankruptcies Mounting, Faltering Oil and Gas Firms Are Leaving a Multi-billion Dollar Cleanup Bill to the Public” in which I

Clean Power and Storage Wars

Clean Power and Storage Wars

When people find out what I do for work, it’s not unusual for them to ask, “Are we doomed?” My usual response is, “We would be, if not for the amazing developments in renewable energy.” We know the people willing to destroy the planet for personal gain are still