During my vacation I read The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789, by Joseph J. Ellis. Ellis tells the story of the writing and passage of the US Constitution, orchestrated, he asserts, by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison (the quartet). Before the adoption of the…
In January, the El Paso Court of Appeals decided the appeal of Lazy R. Ranch, LP, et al. vs. ExxonMobil Corporation. The court reversed a summary judgment in favor of Exxon and remanded the case to the trial court for a trial on the merits. Exxon has asked the Texas…
Big news this week about the Environmental Protection Agency’s new proposed regulations to limit emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from oil and gas drilling, operating, compression and processing facilities. EPA’s proposed new rules can be viewed here. Among other things, the proposed regs would require operators to…
The EPA this week published a “proposed framework” for a new voluntary program for the oil and gas sector to reduce methane emissions – the “Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program.” It is part of the administration’s continuing effort to reduce emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The proposal…
Here is an excellent article by Michael Levy, senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations: “Fracking and the Climate Debate,” published in the journal Democracy. A well-reasoned and balanced summary of the debates over the role of natural gas in our energy future and…
Residents of DISH, Texas were awarded a victory by the Amarillo Court of Appeals in their long-running fight with pipeline companies. Sciscoe et al. v. Enbridge Gathering (North Texas), L.P., et al., No. 07-13-00391-CV. In an opinion issued on June 1, the court held that the plaintiffs are entitled to…
Two recent articles brought to mind the trade-offs in the debate over hydraulic fracturing. First, the Department of Environmental Conservation of New York State issued its Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, on the environmental impacts of allowing hydraulic fracturing in New York. New York has had a moratorium on…
Google has teamed up with the Environmental Defense Fund to detect leaks in gas lines in the Los Angeles Area, Boston, Indianapolis, Staten Island, Syracuse, and Burlington, Vermont. Google attached methane detectors to the cars it uses to create its street map images and has mapped the locations where it found levels…
Christi Craddick, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, testified in Washington yesterday before the House Science and Technology Committee, chaired by Lamar Smith, as part of a panel addressing environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing and wastewater disposal. Introductory remarks and testimony can be viewed here. The testimony reflects, I think,…
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission now allows landowners with complaints against operators to file their complaint online. Go to http://cogcc.state.co.us/ and click on “Complaints” in the left-hand column.If you’re a surface owner with no mineral rights and you have objections to a proposed well location, you can also…