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The Green War on the REAL Clean Energy Radical environmentalists fight against the very technologies that would cut carbon emissions.
Editor’s Note: The following article is hardly an endorsement of fossil fuels, but the points made underscore the current lunacy driving state and federal governments to establish energy policies that make environmental problems worse.
City Journal Magazine (August 15, 2022) – Excerpts from the linked article below:
“Green elites want to upend the lives of billions but show surprisingly little interest in whether their programs work. In some parts of the world, the climate lobby has already managed to enact policies that raise prices, hinder growth, and promote political instability—all while achieving only marginal reductions in emissions.”
“The problem starts with the movement’s blanket opposition to fossil fuels. For example, most environmentalists viscerally oppose fracking and natural-gas pipelines. The Biden administration moved to curtail U.S. gas drilling within days of taking office (one reason U.S. gas prices have roughly tripled since Biden became president). But in fact, since natural gas emits nearly 50 percent less carbon dioxide than coal, it is one of our best tools to bring down emissions in the short term, while also benefiting the economy. Alex Trembath, deputy director of the Breakthrough Institute, writes: “The U.S. fracking boom of 2008 onward tempered inflation, created hundreds of thousands of jobs during the worst recession in a century, and, yes, reduced carbon emissions by displacing much dirtier coal-fired power.”
“The zero-carbon energy sources they demand can take a terrible toll on the wildlife and open spaces they love. California’s iconic Altamont Pass wind farm, for example, kills thousands of birds yearly, including an estimated 75 to 110 golden eagles. Solar farms threaten endangered desert tortoises and other wildlife. Because of their low energy density, wind and solar developments require enormous tracts of land, compared with other energy sources. New York’s now-shuttered Indian Point nuclear power plant sits on just 240 acres. Replacing its power entirely with wind power would require more than 500 square miles of turbines. That’s a massive amount of land and habitat lost to energy production.”
IPANM (August 14, 2022) – At a time when New Mexicans are getting slammed with high gasoline prices, higher utility rates, and escalating inflation, the state has been given a unique opportunity to lead the country out of troubled times by safely producing more oil and natural gas, which will drive down the price of energy and decrease dependence on foreign sources of energy that are unquestionably worse for the environment.
Our industry is equally committed to reducing emissions, which is why New Mexico’s oil and gas producers are already using the most advanced technologies in the world to reduce the environmental impacts of development.
To further these efforts, members of the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico openly engaged in the state’s Methane Advisory Panel over the past few years with a genuine desire to develop balanced state emissions rules targeting ozone precursors. We worked toward a rule that would not only reduce emissions but also adhere to an early commitment the New Mexico Environment Department made to IPANM to “not create a rule that targets low emitters.”
The Environment Department’s original draft rule released in July of 2020 was supported by IPANM. Though it would certainly increase operating costs, it was crafted to achieve major emission reductions while ensuring operational feasibility for small, independent producers. A key provision in the original draft was an important low-emission exemption to allow low-producing wells to safely operate, as these wells have less potential to emit. But, environmental groups protested and applied considerable pressure on the Environment Department to create “the strictest methane rule in America.”
In May of 2021, the original draft was discarded. The department released a new rule contrived behind closed doors devoid of reason or noble purpose. The administration substituted the low-producing, emissions-based threshold with an exemption scheme cynically designed to never be achieved that will intentionally force at least hundreds, if not thousands, of New Mexico wells to be plugged prematurely. Producers are exempt if they have less than 10 employees and a gross income of less than $250,000 a year. Few, if any, operators will ever qualify. The substituted exemption ignores the already existing New Mexico code which defines small businesses as less than 50 employees. Furthermore, nearly all viable small operators need to generate the gross income threshold annually simply to cover their business costs.
A final most troubling aspect of this rule is the lack of proper modeling tied to the costly upgrades required on existing low-producing, low-emitting wells. The combined rule requirements targeting these wells will have little to no known impact on the reduction of ozone precursors. For the state administration to tinker with the largest economic driver in the state without such consideration is unacceptable.
IPANM has no choice but to appeal the Ozone Precursor Rule. We do so as a last resort after years of good-faith effort on our part to help the state develop a reasonable rule. We sincerely hope the Environment Department will reconsider the adopted rule, hold off on implementation, and re-petition the Environmental Improvement Board to adopt a fair, balanced rule. IPANM supports emissions reductions, but the current rule’s regulatory overreach disproportionately restricts development from small, independent producers.
The Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico represents hundreds of independent oil and gas operators. Many are small, multigenerational New Mexico-based family operators.
ABQ Journal (August 7, 2022) – The Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico filed a legal appeal Friday challenging new state regulations aimed at reducing ozone pollution in the oil and gas industry.
New Mexico’s Environmental Improvement Board adopted the new rules in April and they went into effect officially on Friday.
Oil and gas operators in high-ozone counties must now have emissions data certified by an engineer.
IPANM executive director Jim Winchester said the rule contains provisions that will force companies to plug productive wells and “inflict economic hardship” on residents.
“At a time when the public supports responsible domestic production to reduce gasoline prices and a decrease in our dependency on foreign sources of energy that are unquestionably worse for the environment, IPANM strongly feels this is the wrong rule at the wrong time,” he said.
IPANM(August 5, 2022) – At 5 p.m. MT today, the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico (IPANM) filed a Notice of Appeal to legally challenge the Environmental Improvement Board’s adopted Ozone Precursor Rule.
The following statement has been released by Jim Winchester, Executive Director of the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, regarding IPANM’s filing an appeal to the Ozone Precursor Rule.
“At a time when the public supports responsible domestic production to reduce gasoline prices and a decrease in our dependency on foreign sources of energy that are unquestionably worse for the environment, IPANM strongly feels this is the wrong rule at the wrong time. While IPANM does support a fair and balanced Ozone Precursor regulation, we have no choice but to appeal this version of the rule that will force operators to plug still-productive wells and will inflict economic hardship on New Mexicans with little to no gain for the environment.”
Today’s filing with the New Mexico State Court of Appeals against the Environmental Improvement Board will be followed by technical arguments to be filed by IPANM within 30 days that will identify the specific provisions to be challenged. With the matter now in the court, IPANM will not comment on the specifics of the pending objections other than to point to our concerns raised throughout the 3-year process that were not included in the New Mexico Environment Department’s final draft rule submitted to the EIB.
–Jim Winchester
Executive Director, Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico
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Mike Rowe Facebook Post (June 26, 2022) – IPANM appreciates the following Q & A posted by “Dirty Jobs” Host Mike Rowe.
Hobbs Sun (June 26, 2022) by IPANM Executive Director Jim Winchester –
Thanks to the thousands of hardworking men and women working in the oil & gas industry in the New Mexico Permian Basin, our great state is well positioned to continue to be an energy leader in America. We’re now #2 in oil production and #8 in natural gas production of all fifty states. This directly translates into revenues that are used to improve all walks of life in New Mexico. So, to those industry workers and to the many others who support our industry in Hobbs and SE New Mexico, we thank you for your support!
EnergyNow.com (June 22, 2022) – What we’ve been told about fossil fuels is exactly backward. We are told that we should be afraid of continuing fossil fuel use because it will make the world unlivable. In fact, fossil fuel use has made the world a better and better place to live, including safer from climate, for the last two centuries—and can continue to do so going forward. What will make the world unlivable for more and more people, as we are seeing now, is the attempt to eliminate fossil fuels—which necessarily leads to energy crises and economic crises. The only way out of this crisis is for America—and the world—to embrace a Fossil Future.
Feds Delay the Already Delayed Miniscule Land Sale
SANTA FE, N.M. — Today, the BLM-New Mexico announced that the oil and gas lease sale scheduled for June 23, 2022, is now be scheduled for June 30, 2022. The date for this sale has shifted slightly to complete the analyses required under the National Environmental Policy Act and allow time for protest resolution. To view the amendment announcing the adjusted sale dates please visit: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2015538/510.
Feds again delay New Mexico Oil and gas land sale
Carlsbad Current Argus (June 15, 2022) – A sale of public land in southeast New Mexico’s Permian Basin to the oil and gas industry was delayed again by about a week by the federal Bureau of Land Management, amid criticism that the federal administration’s energy policy was harming American consumers.
Environmentalists were also critical of the administration of President Joe Biden for scheduling the sales, after the President during his term and along the campaign trail vowed to reduce pollution caused by extraction in the U.S.
When Biden first took office, the Department of the Interior which oversees the BLM placed an indefinite pause on federal lease sales of public land to energy companies for oil and gas operations as the agency reevaluated its fossil fuel programs.
After months of intensified environmental and climate change analysis, the New Mexico lease sale was scheduled for June 16.
But records show on June 6, the sale was delayed again to June 23.
Energy industry leaders and local leaders in the Permian Basin area chided the Biden administration for disrupting what they said was an essential economic driver of the region.
New Mexico is second in the nation, after Texas is oil production which makes up more than a third of the State’s budget.
In comparison, Texas’s oil and gas operations are mostly on private land an unimpacted by federal decision making, leaving many in New Mexico concerned their state was uniquely vulnerable to shifts in energy policy.
Larry Behrens, spokesman for Power the Future based in Santa Fe said the delays in sales and other policies of the Biden administration related to oil and gas were chiefly responsible for rising energy costs.
The national average gas price rose to more than $5 a gallon in early June, with AAA reporting it at about $5.02 a gallon on Tuesday, with New Mexico’s average at $4.8 a gallon.
The U.S. Forest Service admitted to accidentally starting the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire in April, which grew to more than 300,000 acres – the largest in New Mexico’s history.
Power the Future Executive Director Daniel Turner said the administration must support U.S. oil and gas to provide solace to consumers, rather than following the agenda of the environmental community.
“In his heart of hearts, Biden knows unleashing American energy will fix the pain our families are enduring, but he doesn’t care because his cult green ideology is his highest priority,” Turner said. “Sadly, this historic failure will not be the last one forced on Americans before this administration faces a reckoning in November.”
But environmental groups said the fires were further proof that the government should cease providing land to the oil and gas industry for its operations.
Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager with Friends of the Earth said fossil fuel extraction on public land was responsible for almost a quarter of U.S. climate pollution.
“President Biden’s massive public lands giveaway in the face of utter climate catastrophe is just the latest sign that his climate commitments are mere rhetoric,” she said “The more public lands sacrificed to Big Oil, the more economic damage, death, and destruction baked into our future.
