{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-warren-and-rep-welch-lead-letter-on-trump-administration-failure-to-address-millions-of-orphan-oil-and-gas-wells-that-continue-to-emit-methane-and-toxic-chemicals", "Sen. Warren and Rep. Welch Lead Letter on Trump Administration Failure to Address Millions of Orphan Oil and Gas Wells That Continue to Emit Methane and Toxic Chemicals", "2020-12-23", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 23, 2020\n\t\t\t Sen. Warren and Rep. Welch Lead Letter on Trump Administration Failure to Address Millions of Orphan Oil and Gas Wells That Continue to Emit Methane and Toxic Chemicals \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tThe problem is exacerbated by\r\noil drillers' financial struggles caused by the pandemic and the Trump\r\nadministration slashing environmental regulations Trump administration's failed\r\nenforcement could cost states hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for\r\ncleanup, while endangering the environment and public health Text\r\nof Letter (PDF) Washington, DC -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren\r\n(D-Mass.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led a letter to Secretary of\r\nthe Interior (DOI) David Bernhardt about the Bureau of Land Management's\r\nfailure to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for plugging millions of\r\nabandoned oil and gas wells on public lands, which continue to leak dangerous\r\nchemicals like methane and endanger both the environment and public health. The\r\nletter is also signed by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jeff Merkley\r\n(D-Ore.) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.). The federal government estimates that there are more than three million\r\nabandoned oil and gas wells across the United States, two million of which are\r\nunplugged and are releasing \"the methane equivalent\r\nof the annual emissions from more than 1.5 million cars.\" These\r\nabandoned wells can contaminate groundwater and emit volatile and hazardous\r\ncompounds, posing significant environmental and public health risks. Leaking\r\nmethane is particularly dangerous, since methane \"pound for pound can warm\r\nthe planet more than 80 times as much as carbon dioxide over a 20-year\r\nperiod.\" In 2018\r\nand 2019, the\r\nGovernment Accountability Office (GAO) laid out recommendations for how the\r\nBureau of Land Management can track and manage the wells. But the Trump\r\nadministration largely ignored and even hampered efforts to hold Big Oil and\r\nfranking firms accountable by weakening environmental laws like the Methane\r\nRule, which would have helped the government compel oil and gas companies to\r\nplug their wells, but instead freed these companies from the need to detect and\r\nrepair methane leaks. \"Implementing the GAO recommendations is a bare minimum action that the\r\nInterior Department and its agencies can take to address the growing number of\r\norphan and abandoned wells and their associated environmental health and safety\r\nrisks. Congress and the American public deserve an explanation as to why your\r\nagency has refused to do so in a timely manner,\" wrote Senator\r\nWarren and Representative Welch. Their letter notes that the Trump administration's inaction paired with oil\r\ncompanies' financial strain during the pandemic have exacerbated the problem,\r\nmaking it unlikely that bankrupt or struggling companies will pay to plug these\r\nabandoned wells that threaten the lives and livelihoods of surrounding\r\ncommunities. This shunts the financial responsibility of hundreds\r\nof millions of dollars to states and represents a lost\r\nopportunity to create good-paying jobs -- paid for by oil companies -- to\r\nclose the wells while also boosting the economy. \"Plugging these orphan and abandoned wells would reduce the threats\r\nthat they pose to human health and the environment, and could create thousands\r\nof new jobs during the pandemic-caused recession,\" the lawmakers\r\nwrote. Their letter to DOI requests updated information about the DOI's plans to\r\nimplement the recommendations from the GAO and the steps it is taking to assist\r\nstates in addressing these dangerous orphan and abandoned oil and gas wells\r\nbefore the impending end of the Trump administration. \"The American public deserves an Interior Department that will resolve\r\nproblems that fall under its jurisdiction,\" wrote the lawmakers.\r\n\"Without decisive action, the number of oil and gas wells... will only\r\ncontinue to grow.\" Senator Warren has called for an outright ban on fossil fuel extraction in\r\npublic lands and waters and has previously raised concerns about abandoned\r\nindustry sites that pose serious threats to local communities and exacerbate\r\nthe climate crisis. ###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-warren-and-rep-welch-lead-letter-on-trump-administration-failure-to-address-millions-of-orphan-oil-and-gas-wells-that-continue-to-emit-methane-and-toxic-chemicals"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9057980496436357, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}