In case you missed this story, here's a quick reminder to catch up before the weekend.

Just weeks after sending the above email, Pruett helped lead a Permian oil field tour for the EPA R6 administrator, where he claimed U.S. gas is cleaner than other countries' gas and that drilling companies (like his) were taking steps to reduce emissions. https://t.co/f9CIXUgRmJ

One group behind the deregulatory push is @IPAAaccess, an oil & gas lobbying org. Records obtained by @fldnotes_ reveal that a Texas oil company led by IPAA’s then-chair, Steve Pruett, increased flaring by 692% in 2023. At the same time, IPAA was crusading against methane regs.

The Trump admin is taking a sledgehammer to methane regs. Republicans repealed the first-ever fee on methane emissions & the EPA has delayed implementing rules requiring industry to reduce emissions/monitor for leaks. Now the agency is working to revoke the endangerment finding.

The industry brags about the progress it’s made reducing emissions in the Permian Basin—the country's largest oil field—which spans western TX and southeastern NM. But a 2024 study found it emits the second-most methane of any oil field in the world.

Flaring is when drillers burn off gas they don't capture, converting most of the methane to CO2. Venting is when gas is released without burning it. The permit apps showed oil companies requested to flare/vent more than 195 *billion* cubic ft of gas per year.

The story includes an analysis of data gathered by @oilfieldwitness that found @txrrc, Texas’s oil & gas regulator, received over 12,000 applications from oil corporations to flare or vent methane and approved all but 53 of them between 2021 and 2024.

Bombshell reporting by @propublica & @insideclimate describes massive flaring and venting from Texas oil wells, discrediting the oil & gas industry’s claim that natural gas and LNG are “clean” energy.

But it's also worth noting that @exxonmobil *knew* @TheAXPC was fighting methane regulations long before the WaPo story came out. The oil giant chose not to leave the lobbying group until after that knowledge became public and a risk to its reputation.

Back in Oct. 2024, @evanhalper and Josh Dawsey reported on the docs, which detailed @TheAXPC's strategy for a Trump presidency and how the group planned to dismantle the Biden administration's climate rules—particularly on methane.

🚨 from @julianhast & @ArgusMedia: @exxonmobil ends its membership w/ @TheAXPC b/c of the group's "aggressive" opposition to environmental regs. This comes after @washingtonpost reported on internal docs obtained by @fldnotes_ exposing AXPC 's efforts. https://t.co/Q5zJt7ZwrI

ExxonMobil says it has ended its membership with the US oil lobbying group AXPC because of the group's "aggressive" opposition to environmental regulations, though oil industry leaders with knowledge of AXPC's advocacy question that justification:

Great reporting from @Exxon_Knew highlighting the hypocrisy from the oil & gas industry around methane rules. Industry has publicly claimed to support the rules while working behind-the-scenes to weaken measures that would actually hold them accountable.

ICYMI: Oil lobbyists are working to write and introduce carbon capture and storage legislation in Ohio. We have the receipts.

The industry-backed bill stalled in 2024, but the push continues this year with API’s allies reintroducing an updated version in both chambers. See a detailed timeline along with the documents between industry and lawmakers here:

This means companies pay into a state trust fund for each ton of CO2 they inject into the ground and then the state assumes liability for the project, using the trust fund to pay for monitoring and remediation. When that money runs out? The state (read:taxpayers*) is left to pay.

What’s worse is this is a raw deal for Ohioans. Most CCS laws, including the one in OH, contain liability provisions which shift the financial liability for CCS projects from private corporations to state governments after a certain number of yrs or if certain conditions are met.

https://t.co/7aHfEUQm68

Records show API and OOGA have been in regular contact with the lawmakers they cherrypicked in-person or on Zoom on more than a dozen separate occasions since late 2023, as well as exchanged more than a hundred emails during that time to lobby the passage of this CCS legislation.

Documents obtained through public records requests show: 📜 API and OOGA drafted the legislation themselves 🧑‍⚖️ They chose which lawmakers would introduce it 🎤 They lined up supportive witnesses 📝 They even gave lawmakers talking points and media plans