Fieldnotes

“Methane emissions are not slowing down,” said @txsharon.bsky.social, an activist in Texas who has documented pollution from oil and gas for more than 20 years. “Nobody ever knows because it’s invisible.”

"Companies want to be able to *say* that they're well regulated, they don't actually want to *be* well regulated." — @fieldnotes.co's @juliakane.bsky.social explains why the oil & gas industry is pushing the Trump admin to hollow out methane regs, but not repeal them completely.

Fracking billionaire tycoon Harold Hamm has “tremendous sway over Trump,” @juliakane.bsky.social said. If the EPA completely deregulates methane, that’s likely Hamm. Trump has called Hamm a longtime friend and “amazing man.” @motherjones.com @fieldnotes.co www.motherjones.com/environment/...

The Trump admin is poised to gut regulations on methane, a potent greenhouse gas. This is exactly what the oil & gas industry has been asking for. @dylanbaddour.bsky.social reports for @insideclimatenews.org:

“Lee Zeldin’s EPA is giving oil and gas corporations exactly what they’ve long wanted, a toothless methane standard they can use to pretend they’re well-regulated, all while they continue to knowingly leak and flare dangerous amounts of the heat-trapping gas.” — Fieldnotes' @juliakane.bsky.social

EPA is about to gut methane regulations, the result of “a coordinated industry strategy in which fossil fuel groups maneuvered behind the scenes to avoid regulatory accountability.” @rsanta.bsky.social reports for @motherjones.com:

EPA just announced that it’s “days not weeks” from gutting a landmark methane rule, fulfilling the oil & gas industry’s wishes. To learn more about corporations’ decades-long campaign against methane regulations, check out @fieldnotes.co and @climateintegrity.org’s recent briefing:

This story features key findings from @fieldnotes.co's new investigation, which you can read here:

NEW: Oil & gas corporations have been working hand-in-glove with the Trump admin to gut methane regs. Check out our investigation—based on internal comms that were never meant to be public, FOIA records, and more—to learn how industry has been maneuvering behind the scenes.

✅ Legislative sleight of hand and a handful of friendly congressmen. ✅ A secret deal with the world’s largest pesticide makers. ✅ A bespoke trade group fronted by global soda and snack giants. Our latest investigation into Exxon's 'advanced recycling' campaign has it all.

ICYMI 👇

To learn more about the oil & gas industry’s decades-long campaign to deflect regulations and how corporations are currently working behind-the-scenes with the Trump admin to gut the rules, tune into our briefing with @climateintegrity.org next week. tinyurl.com/methane-brie...

Join Fieldnotes and @climateintegrity.org on 9/16 for a media briefing previewing what we uncovered investigating the oil & gas industry’s efforts to gut methane regs during the second Trump admin. tinyurl.com/methane-brie...

The oil & gas industry wants the Trump admin to maintain the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program but hollow out methane reporting requirements, allowing corporations to continue undercounting the climate pollutant. @rsanta.bsky.social reports for @nsarchive.bsky.social and @desmog.com bit.ly/4geZ5Ic

Fracking wastewater - which can be ☢️ radioactive ☢️ - is migrating to the surface in Marietta, OH, leading to growing concerns due to the close proximity of injection wells to the city's aquifer. Must read from @quinnglabicki.bsky.social @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/c...

"It's all relative" 🤔

IN THE TANK: Harold Hamm downplayed the risks of war in Iran for years. He was wrong, but now stands to profit from the energy crisis the war set off. fieldnotes.co/reporting/ha...

NEW: Fieldnotes' @joshvoorhees.bsky.social reveals how Trump megadonor & fracking magnate Harold Hamm spent years downplaying the risks of war w/ Iran in a new investigation w/ @us.theguardian.com. Hamm now stands to profit from the energy crisis the war has triggered. fieldnotes.co/reporting/ha...

Small #FOIA win: @fieldnotes.co obtained EPA HQ visitor logs that have more info than the logs publicly available on EPA’s website. You can check out the logs here: www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

👇👇👇

@alexcuadros.bsky.social's new investigation for @propublica.org is fantastic. It's got everything: ➡️ On-the-ground reporting from the oilfield! ➡️ Behind-the-scenes industry mtgs w/ admin officials! ➡️ FOIA records from @fieldnotes.co! 😆 Take some time to read the whole thing—it's well worth it!

NEW: A @propublica.org investigation—featuring records obtained by @fieldnotes.co—reveals EPA is about to wipe out methane regulations on stripper wells. This will especially benefit billionaire Trump backer Jeffery Hildebrand, who owns one of the most polluting oil & gas companies in the country.

A new report co-authored with @publiccitizen.bsky.social shines light on the first Trump admin's DOI Secretary David Bernhardt, a long-time lobbyist for oil & gas, mining, and big ag interests, and the stronghold he still has on the department. Read it here: www.citizen.org/article/retu...

New @houstonchronicle.com story explores the growing push to reuse "produced water" from oilfields for data center cooling — a proposal that supporters say could help address both Texas' water shortages and the oil industry's mounting wastewater disposal problem.

Public Domain + @fieldnotes.co's investigation was written up in the POLITICO Influence newsletter yesterday:

🚨New from Fieldnotes and Public Domain: Emails show that Harold Hamm’s Continental wanted the Bureau of Land Management to sign off on new wells in Wyoming, despite a court injunction there. The agency obliged. www.publicdomain.media/p/emails-sho...

Aaron Szabo, the official leading EPA efforts to weaken methane rules, once helped write the oil industry's arguments against said rules. Emails show he's now working closely with industry groups to gut federal climate policy. That's textbook regulatory capture. @propublica.org: bit.ly/4m1DxkG

Big Soda and Big Oil want us hooked on plastic. Together, they're working in lockstep to stop "any cap on plastics production," and make sure that efforts to meaningfully address the plastic pollution crisis fail. @joshvoorhees.bsky.social of @fieldnotes.co and @davisallen.bsky.social explain.