Environmental Issues: Energy

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All Documents in Energy Tagged oil

Fighting Oil Addiction
Ranking States' Gasoline Price Vulnerability and Solutions for Change
Issue Paper

To curb America's perilous addiction to oil, we need effective government policies that will increase the availability of efficient vehicles and clean fuels and that will promote smart growth and public transit. This November 2012 paper updates NRDC's research identifying the states that are most vulnerable to spikes in oil prices -- and those states that are doing the most to break their addiction to oil.

Disaster in the Gulf
Action

The BP oil rig that exploded killed 11 workers and spewed some 170 million gallons of toxic crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Whether we look to habitat and wildlife, employment and pay, or basic health and family welfare, the BP oil blowout has devastated the region.

Federal Transportation Bill Should Cut Oil, Boost Economy
Testimony

NRDC's Federal Transportation Policy Director Deron Lovaas testified before the House Transportation Committee on March 30, 2011, laying out the ways that upcoming federal transportation legislation can cut our addition to oil and boost our economy at the same time. Lovaas recommended that lawmakers focus on

1) investing in rail, transit, and other strategies that cut oil use and congestion;
2) prioritize maintenance and rehabilitation of the rest of our existing transportation system; and
3) leveraging innovative financing tools and performance standards to make the most of taxpayer dollars.

Get document in pdf.

High Gas Prices: Supply, Demand and the Oil Industry’s Monopoly on Transportation
Efficiency and Better Cars Will Fuel America Faster than Drilling
Overview

With such a meager share of global oil, no amount of domestic drilling will make a dent in our dependence on foreign imports, despite what Big Oil would have us believe. The only way to take back control over our energy future is to move toward more efficient cars and trucks, cleaner fuels, and more transportation options for Americans.

Say No to Tar Sands Pipeline
Proposed Keystone XL Project Would Deliver Dirty Fuel at a High Cost
Fact Sheet

The Canadian pipeline company TransCanada has proposed a tar sands pipeline that could bring as much as 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of costly and polluting fuel to the U.S. Gulf Coast. This pipeline, called Keystone XL, will lock the United States into a dependence on hard-to-extract oil and generate a massive expansion of the destructive tar sands oil operations in Canada. In addition to the damage that would be caused by the increased tar sands extraction, the pipeline threatens to pollute freshwater supplies in America’s agricultural heartland and increase emissions in already-polluted communities of the Gulf Coast. Get document in pdf.

Tracking Oil Washing Ashore on Beaches
Find out which beaches are unaffected by the Gulf oil disaster, and what to do if you encounter spilled oil.
Guide

Find out which beaches are unaffected by the Gulf oil disaster, and what to do if you encounter spilled oil.

Tar Sands Invasion
How Dirty and Expensive Oil from Canada Threatens America's New Energy Economy
Fact Sheet

The oil industry is currently planning a massive project to export millions of barrels more per day of dirty tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the United States. Tar sands strip-mining and drilling in Canada’s Boreal forest is the largest and most destructive project on Earth. The decline in oil demand and the rise of alternative energy puts North America on the verge of a phenomenally important step forward toward a new, clean energy economy. Expanding reliance on tar sands is unnecessary, undermines our progress as a nation, and is severely destructive. We have a choice: we can move forward towards a clean energy future with greater national security or remain stuck with the dirty fossil fuels of the past. Get document in pdf.

Protecting New Yorkers’ Health and the Environment by Regulating Drilling in the Marcellus Shale
Fact Sheet

With rising energy costs and fears of more volatility in the future, the natural gas industry is now searching for additional fuel sources. One such source is the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale, an ancient rock formation that spans 600 miles and four states, including New York. While there may be benefits to drilling this large natural gas reserve, doing so without the proper monitoring and regulation by state and local officials will present a number of serious threats to human health and the environment in New York State. NRDC is therefore working with leaders across the state to ensure that if drilling in the Marcellus Shale occurs in New York, it will be done responsibly and only in appropriate areas. This fact sheet includes recommendations for action you can take to help ensure that gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale does not proceed in New York without full protections for New Yorkers’ health and the environment.
Get document in pdf.

Protecting Our Ocean and Coastal Economies
Avoid Unnecessary Risks from Offshore Drilling
Fact Sheet

Healthy oceans are critically important to marine life and to coastal communities whose economies rely on tourism and fishing. Opening up new offshore areas to drilling risks permanent damage to our oceans and beaches without reducing our dependence on oil. When oil spills occur they can bring catastrophic harm to marine life and devastating losses for local businesses. And even routine exploration and drilling activities bring harm to many marine species. The Administration and Congress must work together to assess the environmental impacts of offshore drilling before making key decisions about offshore oil and gas activities in new areas or Alaska. Get document in pdf.

Clean Energy Saves Americans Money
Clean Energy is the Real Solution to Unpredictable Oil Prices
Fact Sheet

Clean energy is cheaper and cleaner than oil, and the amount of fuel we can get from clean energy measures dwarfs what can be scraped from drilling. New NRDC analysis shows that, unlike dirty fuel options, clean energy strategies can actually save drivers money while reducing our oil dependency and slashing global warming pollution from the transportation sector. Get document in pdf.

Building the Wheels of the Clean Energy Economy
Public Transportation for the 21st Century
Fact Sheet

In too many cities and towns across the nation, Americans are spending more time in their cars—and stuck in traffic—when traveling between home, work, and school. This dangerous reliance on our vehicles, which keeps us addicted to oil and causes serious pollution, is a threat to our health, environment, and national security. Developing a modern, efficient public transportation infrastructure will create millions of jobs, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, combat global warming and serve as the foundation of the clean energy economy. Get document in pdf.

Offshore Drilling Threatens Our Beaches, Oceans, Coastal Communities and Marine Life
Legislative Analysis

President Bush and some members of Congress are pressing to open offshore areas that have been protected from oil drilling for many years, including the east and west coasts and Florida.

Tapping into Stranded Domestic Oil
Enhanced Oil Recovery with Carbon Dioxide Is a Win-Win-Win
Fact Sheet

The country has a significant, untapped win-win-win opportunity to stimulate our economy and reduce our dependence on imported oil while actually helping to protect wild places and reduce global warming pollution: a process known as carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR). According to industry research CO2-EOR would give America access to large, domestic oil resources -- potentially more than four times the proven U.S. reserves, or up to 10 full years of our total national consumption. But without the stimulus of climate protection legislation, CO2 for oil recovery is likely to remain in short supply and most of this domestic oil resource will stay in the ground. Get document in pdf.

Putting Biofuels on the Right Track
Renewable Fuels Standard Safeguards Protect Wildlife and the Environment
Fact Sheet

RFS safeguards can ensure that biofuels are done right, and don't just become another dirty fuel. Get document in pdf.

Testimony on the Environmental and Health Impacts of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production
Testimony

Testimony of Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), on the applicability of federal requirements that protect public health and the environment to oil and gas development. Presented to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, United States House of Representatives, October 31, 2007.

Drilling Down
Protecting Western Communities from the Health and Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Production
Report

Oil and gas production releases pollution that can have serious impacts on people's health and the surrounding air, water, and land. Although these operations are frequently located near homes, schools, and other community resources, the oil and gas industry enjoys numerous exemptions from provisions of federal laws intended to protect human health and the environment.

The Drill in the Backyard
Photo Album

Domestic oil and natural gas production has soared in recent years as our demand for energy continues to rise. Much of this growth is occurring in the Rocky Mountain region, where well pads, waste pits and giant compressors mar the legendary western landscape of wide vistas and soaring peaks.

Getting Biofuels Right
Eight steps for reaping real environmental benefits from biofuels
Fact Sheet

America's transportation sector is the key link between our ever-growing dependence on oil and global warming pollution. The oil that powers our cars and trucks accounts for two-thirds of our total oil use and generates one-third of the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming. Energy efficiency is the cleanest, cheapest, and fastest way to cut oil demand, but it is only a part of the package. NRDC research shows that liquid motor vehicle fuels made from plant matter, such as ethanol, butanol, and biodiesel, can be a large and important tool for ending our dependence on oil and stopping global warming -- but only if we get them right. Get document in pdf.

Treating America's Oil Addiction
A Clean, Renewable Path to Energy Security
Fact Sheet

Our future depends on reducing our oil demand now. Get document in pdf.

Safe, Strong and Secure: Reducing America's Oil Dependence
America's rising consumption of oil threatens the economy and national security.
Analysis

America spends more than $200,000 per minute on foreign oil -- $13 million per hour. More than $25 billion a year goes for Persian Gulf imports alone. This NRDC analysis considers oil demand and supply projections and how our current policy of oil dependence effects our economy and security.

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