ORVI Insider #15: “Repairing the Damage” Sparks National Conversations on AML and Orphan Well Remediation

 

 

ORVI Insider Vol. 15

April 27, 2021

 

 

 

 

In this edition of our newsletter, we highlight coverage of ORVI’s recent Repairing the Damage reports and webinar series, co-produced by ReImagine Appalachia, on the environmental and public health problems posed by Appalachia’s slew of abandoned mine lands and orphan oil and gas wells. Our research demonstrates how federal programs to remediate these abandoned wells and mine lands could create tens of thousands of local, union jobs, reducing climate-warming methane emissions in the process.

The report’s findings have sparked conversation from the hills of Appalachia to the halls of Washington, D.C., where ORVI Senior Researcher Ted Boettner recently testified before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Watch Boettner’s testimony for “Building Back Better: Creating Jobs and Reducing Pollution by Plugging and Reclaiming Orphaned Wells”  here. 

To keep the conversation going, we’ve included sample social media posts for each Repairing the Damage news hit. Please feel free to copy and share on Facebook or Twitter!

Meanwhile, the stiff market headwinds facing the fossil fuel industry continue to dominate energy headlines, particularly as conversation around climate solutions takes to the fore. Keep scrolling to see what’s on our reading list this week.

 

 

 

 

ORVI in the News

A Just Transition in Appalachia May Start With Plugging Old Oil Wells (Gizmodo)
Appalachia “has suffered at the hands of fossil fuel producers for decades,” Molly Taft writes, “and has long been a political punching bag in conversations around energy and jobs. Figuring out a just transition for its environment and its people is way overdue.” Reclaiming the region’s 538,000 abandoned oil and gas wells could set Appalachia on a path to a just, equitable transition by creating much-needed local jobs and negating pollution and public health risks, according to ORVI Senior Researcher Ted Boettner.  “We can’t build a sustainable prosperous economy in many parts of Appalachia before we clean the area up first,” Boettner said. “It’s been a sacrifice zone for 200 years. Before you do that, it’s not going to have the quality of life necessary to have strong economic progress.”

  • [Sample post] “Figuring out a just transition for Appalachia’s environment and people is way overdue,” writes @mollytaft for @EARTH3R. According to a new @O_R_V_I report, plugging the region’s 530,000 abandoned oil & gas wells could be a start: https://earther.gizmodo.com/a-just-transition-in-appalachia-may-start-with-plugging-1846701080

Reclaiming Degraded Lands for People and Wildlife (National Wildlife Federation)
Old, non-producing mine lands are often abandoned by their corporate owners, “leaving behind rusting well equipment, polluted waterways, and scarred hillsides—degradation that poses immediate and long-term dangers to humans and wildlife alike,” write Jessica Arriens and Portia Bharath. Reclaiming and restoring abandoned mine lands can help mitigate climate change while creating green jobs and boosting local economies.

  • [Sample post] People & wildlife alike suffer from land degradation and mine abandonment. Restoring abandoned mine lands can help mitigate climate change while creating green jobs and boosting local economies, according to new @O_R_V_I data: https://blog.nwf.org/2021/04/reclaiming-degraded-lands-for-people-and-wildlife/

Another Reason to Nationalize Big Oil (The New Republic)
When major oil companies offload fossil fuel assets in the name of ‘going green,’ other firms often step in and keep drilling. “Just because greenhouse gas emissions move off a corporate balance sheet doesn’t mean they disappear,” Kate Aronoff writes. Truly mitigating carbon emissions will require eliminating the fossil fuel profit motive and holding firms accountable—right now, it’s too easy for oil and gas companies to walk away from highly polluting oil & gas wells, leaving cash-strapped local and state governments on cleanup duty.  That’s why, at the current rate of remediation, it would take 900 years to plug America’s abandoned oil and gas wells. Nationalizing big oil could be the answer, Aronoff argues.

  • [Sample post] At the current rate of remediation, it would take 900 years to plug America’s abandoned oil and gas wells, @O_R_V_I data shows. Per @KateAronoff, it’s a function of Big Oil’s profit motive and lack of accountability. Her story in @newrepublic: https://newrepublic.com/article/162077/another-reason-nationalize-big-oil

New Reports: Cleaning Up Coal Sites and Plugging Gas Wells Could Create Thousands of Jobs (Allegheny Front)
With the right funding, cleaning up Appalachia’s hundreds of thousands of old coal mines and abandoned oil and gas wells could create thousands of jobs as soon as tomorrow, Julie Grant writes. “These are not, ‘let’s train somebody and pray that they find a job.’ These are jobs that are identified, and that we can get started on today” said Ted Boettner, ORVI Senior Researcher and author of “Repairing the Damage from Hazardous Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells.”

  • [Sample post] Cleaning up Appalachia’s abandoned mine lands and orphan oil & gas wells could create thousands of Appalachian jobs—and ones that “we can get started on today,” per @BoettnerTed ‘s latest @O_R_V_I report. @JulieIGrant for @AlleghenyFront: https://www.alleghenyfront.org/new-reports-cleaning-up-coal-site-and-plugging-gas-wells-could-create-thousands-of-jobs/

Dual Reports See Economic Opportunity in Cleaning Up Abandoned Mine Lands and Wells in WV (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
Biden’s infrastructure plan proposes $16 billion for abandoned mine and well restoration, Mike Tony writes, which could give the region “a leg up” on limiting acid mine drainage from abandoned mines, methane leaks from unplugged abandoned wells and reversing job losses sustained after fossil fuel industry downturns. “The opportunity we don’t want to miss is there’s movement at the federal level of investing billions of dollars in West Virginia that help employ people that are in the fossil fuel industry,” said ORVI Senior Researcher Ted Boettner. “We should take full advantage of that.”

  • [Sample post] Biden’s $16 billion proposal to restore orphan oil & gas wells and abandoned mine lands could give WV “a leg up,” creating thousands of jobs across the Ohio Valley. @Mike__Tony covers @O_R_V_I’s latest reports for @wvgazettemail: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/dual-reports-see-economic-opportunity-in-cleaning-up-abandoned-mine-lands-and-wells-in-wv/article_26856496-4017-5661-a8bd-00f9ec8af3e2.html

New Research: Reclamation of Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells, Mine Sites Could Create Thousands of Jobs (Ohio Valley ReSource)
The hundreds of thousands of unplugged oil and gas wells and abandoned mine lands in Central Appalachia can pollute the air and water and pose threats to public safety. “But according to two new ORVI reports, these sites that now pose serious health risks to residents could be providing thousands of jobs for the region,” Katie Myers writes. “The group’s findings indicate that, should the federal government take the risk seriously and invest in mitigation, not only would environmental risk be reduced, but thousands of well-paying jobs could potentially be created.”

  • [Sample post] Appalachia’s abandoned mine lands and unplugged oil and gas wells “that now pose serious health risks to residents could be providing thousands of jobs for the region,” @stopitkatie writes in @OVReSRC. A pair of new reports from @O_R_V_I have the data: https://ohiovalleyresource.org/2021/04/14/new-research-reclamation-of-abandoned-oil-and-gas-wells-mine-sites-could-create-thousands-of-jobs/

Reports: Plugging Wells, Reclaiming Mine Land Could Create Thousands of Jobs (Farm and Dairy)
Appalachia’s long history with fossil fuels “turned out to be a costly one,” Rachel Wagoner writes, “but those costs could provide a ‘shot in the arm’ to the region in terms of employment.” The 530,000 abandoned oil and gas wells across Ohio River Valley states will cost up to $34 billion to plug, but could bring as many as 15,000 jobs per year to the region over 20 years.

  • [Sample post] .@wagonerrachel for @farmanddairy: the costs of abandoned oil & gas wells could provide a “shot in the arm” to Appalachian employment numbers. Per new @O_R_V_I data, plugging abandoned wells could bring 15,000 jobs per year. https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/repairing-the-damage/

 

 

 

 

What We’re Reading at ORVI

The fossil fuel industry continues to face market headwinds as climate solutions and clean energy take to the fore. Here are the stories we’ve been reading this week:

  • After Hard Year, Promise of Unparalleled Clean Jobs Growth (E2) Despite a decline in the number of U.S. renewable energy jobs in 2020, clean energy remains the biggest job creator across America’s energy sector, employing nearly three times as many workers as work in fossil fuel extraction and generation. Median hourly wages for clean energy jobs are also about 25 percent higher than the national median wage and pay better than most fossil fuel extraction jobs.

  • Oil and Gas: An Industry in Decline (Environmental Working Group) Over the past decade, the oil and gas industry’s profits have sagged, revenues and cash flows have withered, bankruptcies have abounded, stock prices have fallen, massive capital investments have been written off as worthless and fossil fuel investors have lost hundreds of billions of dollars. These financial pressures are set to intensify over the coming decade as the fossil fuels sector faces the reality of the world’s transition to clean energy.

  • Utility and Fossil Fuel Influence in Ohio Goes Beyond Passage of Bailout (Eye on Ohio) Dark money loopholes remain in Ohio law, despite last month’s surgical repeal of part of the law at the heart of the $60 million House Bill 6 corruption scandal. Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged in recent months, detailing the flow of money by groups engaged in the scandal and showing close ties between current and former utility lobbyists and Gov. Mike DeWine, as well as various lawmakers.

  • A Coal Miners Union Indicates It Will Accept a Switch to Renewable Energy in Exchange for Jobs (New York Times) United Mine Workers of America, the country’s largest mine workers union, indicated this month that it would accept a transition away from fossil fuels in exchange for new jobs in renewable energy, spending on technology to make coal cleaner, and financial aid for miners who lose their jobs.

  • Gas Is the New Coal With Risk of $100 Billion in Stranded Assets (Bloomberg) Natural gas is falling out of favor with emissions-wary investors and utilities at a quicker pace than coal did, catching some power generators unaware and potentially leaving them stuck with billions of dollars of assets they can’t sell. The cost of renewables has also dropped dramatically during the past decade, making gas-fired stations less competitive.

  • The Delaware River Basin Paradox: Why Fracking Is So Hard to Quit (Grist) In late February, the Delaware River Basin Commission made a historic announcement: It banned hydraulic fracturing in the basin, a 13,539-square-mile area that supplies some 17 million people with drinking water. But the same commission also voted several months earlier to pave the way for a natural gas company to use the Delaware River to export its product abroad, tacitly permitting the industry to use the river for a different side of the natural gas business — one that’s not without its own environmental and health threats. The rulings illuminate the complex, often contradictory relationship with natural gas that many policymakers find themselves in at the moment, as pressure builds for communities to transition away from fossil fuels toward a clean economy.

  • Largest Source of U.S. Methane Emissions: Appalachian Basin (E&E News) The Appalachian Basin is the largest U.S. source of methane, when factoring in the amount of the greenhouse gas released from coal mines, according to a data analysis firm. ORVI research shows that 84% of remaining abandoned coal mine damage is concentrated in the 7 Appalachian states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia, and Tennessee.

  • Watch: A Conversation on the Renewed Promise of Climate Solutions (Axios) Axios launched its Energy Forward series with a conversation on sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental policy with a panel including West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. Manchin emphasized coal, carbon capture and storage, and a need for energy independence.

  • Energy Firm Pleads Guilty in Emissions Scheme (The Lock Haven Express) Rockwater Northeast, an energy firm that services the natural gas fields in central and western Pennsylvania, has been fined $2 million for 31 violations of the Clean Air Act. Six individuals have plead guilty to removing emissions-mitigating hardware on 31 heavy-duty diesel trucks used to transport water and wastewater in the Marcellus Shale natural gas fields.

  • Solar farm: Project Will Create Jobs, Tax Revenue for Buchanan (Bluefield Daily Telegraph) Rural Buchanan County, Virginia will soon be home to the second largest solar farm in the U.S. Appalachian Mountain range, creating 250 construction jobs and eventually generating 60 megawatts of electricity. “Our coalfield counties must continue to make every effort to diversify the economy,” said Virginia Senator Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell.

  • Young Adults Active in Climate Change Battle (Observer-Reporter) According to a March NextGen Climate Survey, 8 out of 10 young people are concerned about the health of the planet. Nearly 70% of respondents said their environment affects their physical health, and 75% said it affects their mental health. And more than half said they are very concerned about the planet running out of resources. Students at Washington & Jefferson College and the California University of Pennsylvania are taking action, promoting sustainability and structural change to combat the worsening climate crisis.

  • Fracking Jobs Will Disappear. Philadelphia Has to Manage the Decline.  (Philadelphia Inquirer) Fracking natural gas was supposed to be a godsend. Instead, fracking created dramatically fewer jobs than industry promised, and those jobs created are now at risk. As the climate crisis worsens, more abrupt and painful measures to decrease fossil fuel emissions fast will become necessary, yet increasingly inadequate. Pennsylvania has a choice: wait for the decline, or manage it, benefiting workers and the environment.

  • U.S. Exploration and Production Companies Are Issuing New Debt and Equity (U.S. Energy Information Administration) The amount of debt and equity issued among publicly traded independent U.S. exploration and production companies totaled $4.4 billion in March 2021, the most since August 2020.

 

 

 

 

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Ben Hunkler

Ben comes to ORVI from community advocacy work in the Ohio River Valley. He offers communications and design support for report releases, social media content, and the ORVI Insider.