Oil and Gas Drilling

Opening lands and oceans to energy extraction will rapidly accelerate climate change and threaten our very existence. The administration was especially aggressive in opening public lands to oil and gas leasing, even though the law requires that these lands be managed on behalf of all Americans. PEER is working to thwart further plundering of our natural resources at the behest of industry and corporate polluters while ignoring public concerns and local values.

NEWS FROM PEER

EPA Rejects Air-Pollution Permits for Oil, Gas Wells in Colorado

Win for Clean Air Calls Into Question Effectiveness of Pollution Controls

PEERMail | A Gaping Climate Blind Spot

PEER is requesting intervention to jump-start the long-overdue environmental review of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

Trans-Alaska Pipeline: Gaping Climate Blind Spot

No Federal Assessments of Climate Change Impacts Upon or From Pipeline

More Oil and Gas Wells Illegally Permitted in Colorado

Conservation groups petition EPA to step in and protect air quality

COMMENTARY | Suspend your disbelief—Minnesota Permitting Process Self-Corrects

An air pollution permit granted illegally in to a power plant in Minnesota has been suspended pending ...

COMMENTARY | Building Better Climate Solutions

To address climate change we must move faster to clean energy sources, reduce energy consumption, and conserve ...

PEERMail | A Manchin Miracle?

In what's being called a Manchin miracle, a deal was reached to address climate change as part of the recently ...

BLM Oil Exemptions Undercut Sage Grouse Safeguards

More Than 80 Waivers from Just 3 Field Offices Prompt Call for Inquiry and Lawsuit

Minnesotans Demand Environmental Review of Oil-burning Power Plant Proposal

Groups Encourage MN Residents and Landowners to Sign MEPA Petition

BLM Fires Migratory Bird Whistleblower on Second Try

Case Is Early Litmus Test of Whether Hidebound BLM Will Be Reformed

COMMENTARY | Is EPA Playing with Funny Numbers in its Methane Proposal?

The EPA is undervaluing the short term Global Warming Potential of methane gas in its most recent regulation proposal.

Another Gulf Deepwater Disaster Narrowly Averted

Hurricane-Induced Drilling Emergency This Fall Only Now Coming to Light

BLM Moves to Fire Migratory Bird Whistleblower  

Reports on Raptors Dying in Big Wyoming Oil and Gas Project Spiked 

Arctic Refuge Becoming Oil & Gas White Elephant 

Desperate Last-Minute Government Maneuvers Denote Industry Disinterest 

COMMENTARY | BLM Forges Ahead With Nevada Oil and Gas Leasing

Public lands in Nevada are being leased for oil and gas extraction despite little financial benefits to ...

COMMENTARY | Another Roll-Back That the Oil and Gas Industry Hoped You Wouldn’t Notice

The Forest Service hopes to pass a new rule making it easier for private companies to drill for oil and gas on ...

PEER Testifies Before Colorado Oil and Gas Commission

Kyla Bennett testified in front of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission to require a robust analysis of the impacts ...

Op-Ed | Public Lands Are Key to Fighting Climate Change

A new administration must stop address climate change, stop the fossil fuel madness and rapidly work to heal our ...

Comments Submitted to BLM on September 2020 Oil and Gas Lease Sale (PDF)

DESCRIPTION: September 2020 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale, DOI-BLM-UT-0000-2020-0004-EA TO: Leah Waldner, ...

Wheels Coming Off Trump Arctic Refuge Drive

Haste to Roll Out Leasing Approvals Proves to be Their Undoing

Arctic Refuge Drilling Scientific Concerns Suppressed

Memos Outlining Major Environmental and Public Health Information Gaps Buried

Alaska Permanent Fund Weans off Fossil Fuel Companies

Both Portfolio Percentage and Return-on-Investment in Oil & Gas Down Sharply

Rick Steiner: Protecting Alaska’s Bounty

As a faculty member of the University of Alaska during the Bush Administration, Rick spoke out about the ...

Trump Hiring Freeze Hamstrings His Own Agenda

Energy and Other Initiatives Require More People in Staff-Starved Agencies

New Safeguards for Fracking Fluid Discharge

Segregation, Tighter Monitoring and Ingredient Disclosures for Wyoming Permits

Shell Arctic Offshore Safety Data Still Under Wraps

Specifics Bolstering President’s Assurance Cannot Be Produced Until After Drilling

Suit to Obtain Arctic Offshore Drilling Safety Data

Key Oil Spill Prevention and Response Documents Still Not Released to Public

EPA Fracking Discharge Permits on Indian Lands Appealed

Fracking Fluids Dumped into Stream for Livestock on Wind River Reservation

Exxon Valdez Damages Suit Drags Into 2015 and Perhaps Beyond

Judge Frustrated That Long Overdue Restoration Plan Still Not Near Completion

End Dumping of Fracking Fluids

Rulemaking Petition Urges EPA to Ban Surface Discharge of Fracking Fluids

Refuge Oil & Gas Drilling Regulations on Very Slow Track

After Years, Fish & Wildlife Service Still Unprepared to Propose Specific Safeguards

On Exxon Valdez 25th Anniversary Much Remains Unresolved

Alaska Legislature Takes Up Measure Urging Action on Long-Stalled Damages Claim

Pinelands Commissioners’ Energy Holdings Spark Ethics Query

Expedited Conflict Review Sought before Hurried Pipeline Approval Vote This Week

Old Dead Fish Spark Spat Between Government and Oil Giant

Pacific Herring Tissue Samples from 2005 Figure in Ongoing Exxon Valdez Litigation

Exxon Valdez Recovery Remains Stuck in Limbo

Federal Judge “Dismayed” over Slow Pace of Promised Preliminary Work

Don’t Drink the Fracking Fluids!

Toxic Well Flowback Pumped for Consumption by Wildlife and Livestock

Fatal Gulf Rig Explosion Still Unresolved Months Later

Black Elk Blast Killed Three; Agency “Cannot Estimate” Investigation Completion

Call to Open up Emergency Shell Arctic Review

Federal Agencies Need to Consult Outside Experts and Residents Not Just Industry

Alaska Dropped Ball on Runaway Shell Vessel

State Focused on Capacity of Towing Vessel to be Towed, Not on Its Ability to Tow

Arctic Offshore Drilling Safety Assurances Sought

Lawsuit to Force Release of Key Spill Prevention and Response Documents

Kafkaesque IG Polar Bear Report at Odds With Facts

Probe Commissioned to Plug Leaks and Root out Dissent on Arctic Offshore Drilling

Brits Decry Reckless Rush to Drill in Arctic Waters

House of Commons Calls for Moratorium Until Stronger Safeguards Are in Place

Interior Ignored Invasive Introduction Into Arctic Waters

Exotic Organisms on Oil Drilling Equipment Excluded from Environmental Reviews

Scant Testing for Arctic Blowout Capping System

Safety Agency Can Produce Only One Page of Notes to Demonstrate Cap Reliability

LAWSUIT FOR RELEASE OF KEY ARCTIC OFFSHORE SAFETY DATA

Testing Results for New Blowout Capping System Sought

National Wildlife Refuges to Regulate Oil and Gas Drilling

Agency Acts on PEER Rulemaking Petition to Curb Damage of Energy Production

Fracking Fluids – the Deeper, the Dirtier

New Study Finds Bottom-of-Barrel Flowback Fluids Much More Contaminated

Exxon Valdez Oil Lingering in Environment, Feds Say

ExxonMobil Seeks to Block Collection of $100 Million Restoration Fund

Fracking Fluids Poison a National Forest

New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastation of Trees and Plants

Call to Regulate Drilling on National Wildlife Refuges

To Avert Damage from Shale Gas Boom, Refuges Urged to Adopt Park Service Rules

Lawsuit to Unravel Varying BP Spill Estimates

Paper Trail Explaining Starkly Different Leak Rate Numbers Yet to Surface

Exxon Valdez Damages Remain Unsettled After 21 Years

Inability to Document Natural Resource Damages May Bedevil BP Spill Payments

Buy MMS Mementos Before It Is Too Late

Auction of MMS Knick-Knacks as Successor Agency Struggles with Its Acronym

BP Bucked Canada’s Same Season Relief Well Policy

Citing Its Gulf Expertise, BP Argued Rapid Relief Well Capacity Is Needless Expense

Did Anyone Actually Read BP’s Oil Spill Response Plan?

Walruses and Seals, Non-Existent Equipment Lists and Other Fanciful References

Why the Breakup of MMS Won’t Work

Interior Itself Part of Problem; Broader Solutions Required

Interior Cooking Books on Alaska Offshore Eco-Analyses

Interior Had Critical GAO Report Weeks before Unveiling Offshore Drilling Plans

NOAA Concerns Brushed Aside in Obama Offshore Drilling Plan

Political Positioning Trumps Promises of Comprehensive Planning

National Park Oil Drilling Rules Slated for Improvement

New Protections Should Be Extended Beyond Oil & Gas to All Mineral Extraction

New Science Rules for Offshore Drilling Send Mixed Message

MMS “Transparency” Mandate Riddled with Welter of Non-Release Categories

NOAA Raises Red Flags on Aggressive Offshore Drilling Plan

Exclusion Zones, Buffers and Oil Spill Protections Would Scale Back Lease Schedule

Don’t Expect New Marine Sanctuaries Under Obama

NOAA Chief Says No Plans to Even Begin Considering New Ocean Reserves

Interior Sued to Obtain Oil Royalty Revenue Data

Feds Claim Prices Oil Company Paid for Royalty-In-Kind Oil Are Trade Secrets

Oil and Gas Drilling Labeled Major Threat to Eastern Forests

U.S. Forest Service Flying Blind on Drilling Impacts Yet Still Issues More Permits

Gas Drilling Divides Another National Forest

Damage to Endangered Bat Caves and Toxic Pits Plague Monongahela NF

Forest Service at Sea on Status of Vast Mineral Rights

Wilderness and Experimental Forests in 34 Eastern States Open to Drilling

Drilling and Mining in Store for Two Iconic Southwest Parks

Falling Commodity Prices Brings Brief Reprieve for Petrified Forest and Aztec Ruins

Probe Demanded Into Shutdown of BP Alaska Oil Spill Case

Senior EPA Agent Charges Criminal Investigation Truncated and Fines Slashed

Industry Lawyers Directed Baca Wildlife Refuge Drilling Study

Concerns of Refuge Scientists Overridden by Interior, Justice Officials

Revolving Door Woes Mount at Federal Minerals Agency

Following Guilty Plea MMS Director Warns Workers to Expect More Shoes to Drop

Shell’s Revolving Door Swings U.S. Arctic Drilling Program

Oil Company Grabs Top Agency Managers to Push What They Used to Regulate

U.S. Trusting Oil Companies to Safeguard Arctic Wildlife

Industry Permit Plans Not Subjected to Required Peer-Review or Monitoring

U.S. OFFSHORE LEASING PREMISED ON FUTURE OF CHEAP OIL

Planning Assumes $30 a Barrel Oil to Minimize Potential Environmental Impacts

Bowhead Whale Imperiled by Arctic Drilling Plans

Scientific Warnings on Oil Spills and Seismic Noise Disregarded to Speed Lease Sales

Arctic Ocean Oil Reviews Soft-Pedaled Exxon Valdez

Oil Spill Dangers to Wildlife Minimized to Keep Lease Sales on Schedule

Leaked E-Mails May Sink Arctic Offshore Lease Sales

Officials Scramble to Suppress Scientific Dissent over Bush Arctic Oil Initiative

INVASIVE SPECIES THREAT FROM ARCTIC OFFSHORE DRILLING IGNORED

Interior Purged Scientific Concerns about Introduction of Exotics in Arctic Waters

INTERIOR STIFLES POLAR BEAR PROTECTIONS FROM ARCTIC DRILLING

Listing Delay Blocks Safeguards Urged by Scientists Contrary to Agency Testimony

INTERIOR WITHHOLDING KEY DOCUMENTS ON ARCTIC DRILLING

Shell Plans for LNG and Tanker Traffic in Chukchi Sea Barred from Lease Review

The Immaculate Scandal: Big Cypress Oil Scammers Go Scot-Free

After Three Years, Interior Inspector General Finds No One Responsible
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