** Revealing the Permian's methane "super emitters"
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Friday, December 13, 2019
Drilling sites in the Permian Basin ([link removed])
In-depth reporting from the New York Times details ([link removed]) methane venting in the Permian oil basin in Texas and New Mexico. Reporters and scientists flew a plane with specialized instruments and a camera designed to detect some of the worst sources of methane pollution. In one day, the survey identified six "super emitter" sites that were releasing thousands of pounds of methane every hour. These individual sites account for nearly half the emissions in the area. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas and contributor to ozone pollution, has been deregulated under the Trump administration through rollbacks in both the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, which are led by former oil, gas, and coal lobbyists.
Detecting and measuring methane emissions from oil and gas operations is a difficult task, and the federal government may be greatly underestimating emissions ([link removed]) as regulations are lifted to benefit oil and gas producers. And quite often, emissions come from oil and gas sites with operators that have since gone bankrupt, leaving the cleanup costs to taxpayers as methane continues to spew into the air.
Quick hits
** 80 percent of D.C. staffers could leave BLM rather than relocate
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Vast amounts of methane are vented at oil and gas sites as Trump administration weakens restrictions
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New York Times ([link removed])
** Former Monsanto executive confirmed to run U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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Bloomberg ([link removed])
** Parts of the southern border are ecological wonderlands, containing 23 endangered and at-risk species
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Outside ([link removed])
** Watchdog concludes BLM must better manage private companies unlawfully taking publicly owned minerals
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Bloomberg ([link removed])
** More than half of all U.S. National Parks are overrun with invasive animal species
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Yale Environment 360 ([link removed])
** Trump administration opens 1 million acres in California to oil and gas development
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Sacramento Bee ([link removed])
** Opinion: Let's not lose this opportunity to permanently fund land and water conservation
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Congress is just weeks away from the next funding deadline and if we don’t act Congress could allocate less than half the full funding level of $900 million, proposals that would rob communities and starve our public lands of critical investments."
-Whit Fosburgh of Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Land Tawney of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and Chris Wood of Trout Unlimited ([link removed])
Picture this
** @BLMUtah ([link removed]) | Web Staley, #Biological ([link removed]) #Science ([link removed]) Technician from the #GrandStaircase ([link removed]) -EscalanteNationalMonument wins the "#Solids ([link removed]) , #Fluids ([link removed]) and #Minerals ([link removed]) " category with this awesome picture of #moquimarbles ([link removed]) and #pricklypear ([link removed]) . #DiscoverBLMUT ([link removed]) #nature ([link removed]) #fun ([link removed]) #Utah ([link removed]) #UtahOOR ([link removed])
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