Gavin Newsom, follows ProPublica’s reporting on the multibillion-dollar cost to clean up California’s oil and gas industry and the exodus of major companies shifting ownership of thousands of aging wells. In a nutshell:The California Legislature has passed AB1167, a bill designed to provide strong protections for taxpayers against the costs of cleaning up orphaned oil and gas wells. The big picture:Cleaning up aging wells mitigates environmental harm by preventing the leakage of climate-warming methane, brine, and toxins that can result from neglected wells. Ensuring responsible management of aging oil and gas infrastructure is essential for both environmental sustainability and fiscal responsibility. It's not just California; the Gulf of Mexico is littered with tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells, and toothless regulation leaves climate warming gas emissions unchecked, writes Hanna Seo for EHN.

Source: The Guardian October 03, 2023 22:13 UTC