Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** New satellite images reveal extent of methane pollution in the West
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Monday, December 2, 2024
Source: Screenshot/ ([link removed]) MethaneSAT ([link removed])

New images released by the Environmental Defense Fund's MethaneSAT project reveal much more methane is being wasted ([link removed]) in Western oil fields than previously thought. The first-of-its-kind technology gives a full picture ([link removed]) of oil and gas methane emissions over wide areas, including emissions from smaller sources that are largely missed by other methane-monitoring satellites.

The new images align with a growing body of research that indicates smaller emission sources dispersed across wide areas are responsible for a substantial share of total oil and gas methane emissions. Methane is more than 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ([link removed]) .

“This groundbreaking technology empowers oil and gas producers to eliminate methane leaks and to play an important and essential role as part of the solution,” said Sir Andrew Steer ([link removed]) , president of the Bezos Earth Fund, which helps fund MethaneSAT.

The new images include the Appalachian, Permian, and Uinta basins. They reveal the methane loss rate observed in the Permian basin is at least nine times higher ([link removed]) than the 2030 target loss rate of 0.2 percent promised by the oil and gas industry. In Utah’s Uinta basin, which has aging, leak-prone infrastructure and low producing wells, MethaneSAT observed loss rates around nine percent ([link removed]) —ten times higher than in the more productive Appalachian basin.


** Quick hits
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New California bonding law is working, slowing sales of low-producing oil and gas wells

Capital & Main ([link removed])

Consultants falsified data at hundreds of Colorado oil and gas sites, state says

Colorado Newsline ([link removed]) | Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])

North Dakota lawsuit could upend nearly five decades of environmental regulations

North Dakota Monitor ([link removed])

Federal wildlife officials adopt lynx recovery plan, propose changes to critical habitat designations

Montana Free Press ([link removed])

Setting the record straight on oil and gas production under Biden

Land Desk ([link removed])

In the dry Colorado River Delta, the future of these green oases hangs in the balance

KUNC ([link removed]) | Colorado Sun ([link removed])

Congress could toss Rock Springs plan in 2025 using an unprecedented move

WyoFile ([link removed])

After five generations, a family gave back the Lakota treasures in its closet

New York Times ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” As America’s first conservationists, hunters have a century-old tradition of protecting public lands habitat and fighting those driven by myopic greed. Although greed never sleeps, neither do we when it comes to the protection of our wild public lands, waters and wildlife.”

—David A. Lien, former Air Force missile launch officer, author, and hunter, Colorado Newsline ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
The eastern screech owl is a master of disguise. You better have a sharp eye to spot these birds of prey, which like to nest in tree cavities.

Photo at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge by Graham McGeorge

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