Dear NRDC Activist,

Right now, as many as 3 million orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells are littered across the country, many of which are leaking crude oil and toxic gases, contaminating groundwater and soil, and spewing potent, climate-wrecking greenhouse gases like methane into our air.

Worse yet, they're hidden out of sight, buried near our communities — and in some cases right beneath our homes and our schools.

Instead of cleaning up and plugging these open wells, fossil fuel companies extracted what they wanted and then moved on to the next site with zero regard for the destruction they left behind.

It's outrageous. Oil and gas producers must be held responsible for cleaning up the messes they too often leave behind. NRDC is using every tool at our disposal to hold them responsible, but we need your support:

, because this work is so urgent, we're offering our FIRST-EVER 5X MATCH — but only until July 31. Make a tax-deductible gift of just $5 today and help NRDC's team of lawyers, scientists, and activists fight back against Big Oil's stranglehold on our environment. Every dollar donated will be MATCHED 5x — that's FIVE TIMES — up to $250,000!

Even just $5 can make a big impact, especially with this limited time matching gift offer.

The scale of the problem is hard to overstate, and these abandoned and orphaned wells — which are more like poisonous pits that emit tons and tons of climate-busting methane — are everywhere:

• In Rio Vista, CA, just one ten thousand-foot deep well has emitted enough methane to melt a sizeable iceberg
• In downtown Los Angeles, plumes of carcinogenic emissions were filmed billowing out of an undocumented well under the sidewalk where parents and children walk by
• And on tribal lands across the country, Indigenous people report smelling rotten eggs and burnt rubber from fumes that cause sore throats, nausea, and headaches within minutes

The good news is that President Biden has a plan that includes critical funds to begin desperately needed clean up, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process. But as our climate and health suffer more each day, action has never been more urgent.

NRDC is fighting for a real solution — an end to the toxic legacy of fossil fuel extraction by doing whatever it takes to ensure oil and gas producers become financially responsible for cleaning up these messes. And we can get there with your support.

That's why until July 31, we're offering an unheard of FIVE TIMES MATCH for every donation made.

PLEASE: Donate before July 31 and your gift will be MATCHED 5x (yes — FIVE times)! That's 5x the impact to end Big Oil's poisoning of our people and planet for profit. Just $5 has the impact of $25!

We are fighting tooth and nail every day to hold fossil fuel companies accountable, and to end their destructive impact on our environment.

But we need your help to win: donate just $5 now.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Joshua Axelrod
Senior Advocate, Nature Program, NRDC