NationofChange
New Mexico stuck with $8 billion in cleanup for oil wells, highlighting dangers from fossil fuel dependence
The oil industry boasts that it fills state coffers with revenues from drilling, but a new study finds a serious gap in funding available to tackle the environmental legacy of abandoned wells.
New Mexico is facing more than $8 billion in cleanup costs for oil and gas wells, an enormous liability that taxpayers could be left to pick up if drillers go out of business or walk away from their obligations.
Cleaning up old wells at the end of their operating lives can be expensive, and typically states require drillers to cover part of the cleanup cost at the outset, known as financial assurance requirements. The money is tapped later on when the well or pipeline must be dismantled and cleaned up.
North Dakota, Using Taxpayer Funds, Bailed Out Oil and Gas Companies by Plugging Abandoned Wells
The bailout, environmentalists say, raises bigger questions about who will pay, in an energy transition, to close off the nation’s millions of aging wells.
May 23, 2021
An abandoned oil well sits on a farm in Western North Dakota, with contamination spreading into the field beyond it. Credit: Daryl Peterson
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When North Dakota directed more than $66 million in federal pandemic relief funds to clean up old oil and gas wells last year, it seemed like the type of program everyone could get behind. The money would plug hundreds of abandoned wells and restore the often-polluted land surrounding them, and in the process would employ oilfield workers who had been furloughed after prices crashed.
Facebook touts impact of its renewable energy projects in New Mexico
Social media giant Facebook touted its renewable energy projects across the country in a recent report, citing the impact of a facility in New Mexico the surrounding local community.
Facebook’s U.S. Renewable Impact Study was released Wednesday to show how the company’s initiatives in wind and solar power benefited 10 states: New Mexico, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Virginia – states identified, per the report, as having growing markets for low-carbon energy.
In 2011, Facebook began its efforts to support data centers across the country completely using renewable energy, bringing 55 new solar and wind projects to date and adding 5,763 megawatts (MW) of “clean electricity” to the U.S. grid.