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Fieldnotes

@fieldnotes.co

A new watchdog group investigating the oil & gas industry. Sign up for our newsletter: http://fieldnotes.substack.com

217 Posts887 Follower 1115 Folgt

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · last wk.

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...

In Ohio, Toxic Wastewater Is Bubbling Up Out of the Ground

The state is a major importer of fracking wastewater, which gets pumped underground but doesn’t always stay there. The city of Marietta is fighting back.

nytimes.com

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 2w ago

NEW: Kate Yoder @grist.org on Exxon and the oil & gas industry entering 'panic mode' as climate lawsuits creep towards trial. https://bit.ly/44HwMgf

As climate lawsuits advance, the oil industry enters 'panic mode'

With a wrongful death suit among scores of cases creeping toward trial, oil executives might have to defend themselves to a jury soon.

bit.ly

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 2w ago

Read the extended version of our investigation into Harold Hamm and the Council for a Secure America here. fieldnotes.co/reporting/ha... (Art by Barbara Gibson)

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 3w ago

"It's all relative" 🤔

Julia Kane@juliakane.bsky.social · 3w ago

Quite a statement from Harold Hamm, fracking billionaire and Trump megadonor. Learn more here: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Screenshot reading:

“Hamm has said that he was unbothered by the price spikes and expressed indifference toward Americans who paid more at the pump. ‘I really don’t feel bad,’ he said in May. ‘These folks are driving down the road with the $80,000 F-150 and we’re at about $4 gas.’

Hamm, whose estimated net worth is $20bn, added: ‘It’s all relative.’

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 3w ago

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...

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 3w ago

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...

Trump’s ‘Original Oil Guy’ Spent Years Dismissing the Risks of a War…

Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.

fieldnotes.co

Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · last mo.

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...

EPA HQ Visitor Logs (Jan. - Oct. 2025) - results of FOIA appeal

documentcloud.org

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 2mo ago

👇👇👇

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2mo ago

Billionaire donor with highly polluting business gets special favors from Trump admin. This basic story is repeating itself hundreds of times over, in every corner of policy. It will be all but impossible to undo or reverse them all -- it's difficult to even *track* them.

Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 2mo ago

@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!

Trump Plans to Protect Methane-Leaking Stripper Wells. This Billionaire Donor Will Benefit.

Oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand gave millions to Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign. He is set to reap a financial windfall as the EPA moves to weaken restrictions on wells like his that produce very...

propublica.org

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 2mo ago

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.

Trump Plans to Protect Methane-Leaking Stripper Wells. This Billionaire Donor Will Benefit.

propublica.org

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 2mo ago

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...

Return of the Corporate Swamp Monster: Former Interior Secretary Exerts Influence Over Agency - Public Citizen

citizen.org

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 2mo ago

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.

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 2mo ago

Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 3mo ago

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

Screenshot of text: BURGUM’S BILLIONAIRE BUDDY: Oil giant Continental Resources, led by billionaire business magnate Harold Hamm, played a key role in the Interior Department’s decision to sign off on new wells in Wyoming despite a court injunction, according to a new report from Substack Public Domain’s Jimmy Tobias and watchdog group Fieldnotes’ Julia Kane.

— Hamm reportedly met privately with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in April 2025 at an Oklahoma City hotel on the same day Burgum announced new plans to open more federal lands to oil, gas and mineral extraction. And two months later, a Continental staffer contacted a top political appointee at Interior with a “roadmap” for getting around a court injunction that restricted Bureau of Land Management oil and gas permitting in Converse County, Wyoming, according to emails obtained by Public Domain and Fieldnotes.

— Burgum and Hamm’s friendship has drawn scrutiny for years. During the 2024 election cycle, Continental donated $250,000 to support Burgum’s presidential campaign, Federal Election Commission records show. Ever since Trump returned to the White House, BLM has approved more than 500 new wells in Converse County, Jimmy and Julia write. Continental did not respond to their requests for comment, and an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement that “Secretary Burgum has complied with all federal ethics requirements and remains committed to protecting America’s ability to responsibly use and care for our federal lands for the profit and benefit of future generations.”

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 3mo ago

🚨New from Public Domain + Fieldnotes: When fracking billionaire Harold Hamm’s company, Continental, wanted to drill in Wyoming, it handed federal officials a “roadmap” for how to get around a court injunction blocking new permits and issue them anyway. 🧵: www.publicdomain.media/p/emails-sho...

Emails Show How Interior Dept Delivered New Drilling Permits for Burgum's Billionaire Ally

Oil and gas giant Continental Resources wanted the Bureau of Land Management to sign off on new wells in Wyoming, despite a court injunction there. The agency obliged.

publicdomain.media

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 3mo ago

🚨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...

Emails Show How Interior Dept Delivered New Drilling Permits for Burgum's Billionaire Ally

Oil and gas giant Continental Resources wanted the Bureau of Land Management to sign off on new wells in Wyoming, despite a court injunction there. The agency obliged.

publicdomain.media

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 4mo ago

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

A screenshot of a paragraph from the ProPublica story that says: The Trump administration official leading an effort to loosen rules on methane pollution was an unnamed author of key industry arguments against those same rules just four years ago when he was an oil and gas lobbyist.

Center for Climate Integrity @climateintegrity.org · 5mo ago

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.

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 5mo ago

🚨There’s been a lot going on, so you may have missed the @politico.com investigation based on Fieldnotes research revealing how an obscure non-profit w/ deep ties to the far right, oil & gas corps, and the Trump admin is helping to stamp out the foundation of climate policy. bit.ly/3PzH11z 🧵

E&E News: This dark money group targeted Biden environmental rules. Now its members do it for Trump.

The group’s rapid rise has served as proof of concept for how wealthy benefactors can help rewrite federal environmental rules in their favor.

bit.ly

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 5mo ago

ICYMI: Groups have already sued over the endangerment finding. Be sure to check out our previous posts pointing out who was behind the effort to begin with and what it means for oil & gas trade groups like API.

Karen Zraick@karenzraick.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The legal war over the endangerment finding is now underway. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/c...

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 6mo ago

In EPA’s press release on the endangerment finding, API praises the agency’s tailpipe rule repeal, but notably doesn’t mention that EPA just killed the finding that underpins nearly all U.S. climate regs. Weird, right? Unless API is scared the extreme rollback might backfire...

Text: American Petroleum Institute SVP of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Dustin Meyer: “Today’s action appropriately ends the previous administration’s EV mandates, which effectively banned new gas-powered vehicles and represented a clear case of regulatory overreach at the expense of American consumers. We continue to support smart, effective federal regulation of emissions - including methane from oil and gas operations. Our focus now is working on durable policies that reduce emissions while meeting growing energy demand.”

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 6mo ago

The endangerment finding is EPA’s determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, which is what legally *requires* the federal government to regulate climate pollution under the Clean Air Act. It’s the foundation of U.S. climate regulation.

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 6mo ago

New from @rollingstone.com: Documents show industry and regulators knew *decades* ago that injecting toxic liquid waste from oil drilling underground wasn't safe...yet it’s still being dumped below communities nationwide. bit.ly/4aOvoMt

The Oil Industry's Latest Disaster: Trillions of Gallons of Buried Toxic Wastewater

The Environmental Protection Agency knew long ago that injecting toxic wastewater underground was dangerous. Trump’s EPA continues to claim it’s safe.

bit.ly

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 6mo ago

This week’s @nytimes.com story on how ultra-conservative activists plotted to wipe out federal climate regs included this doc, obtained by Fieldnotes. It's a confidential proposal seeking $2 million for a secret effort to draft regs and assemble an “arsenal" of climate denial. Full proposal here:

Citizens Lab for Regulatory Review - Narrative Proposal (Apr. 15, 2022)

documentcloud.org

Josh Voorhees @joshvoorhees.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Via @grist.org: grist.org/politics/tru...

Screenshot of article reads: Nevertheless, API pioneered many of the arguments now wielded against the endangerment finding. In 1999, the group held a meeting of industry lobbyists who strategized challenges to an early EPA proposal to regulate greenhouse gases, according to documents first reported by DeSmog and compiled by Fieldnotes, a research group focused on the oil and gas industry. At the meeting, the API circulated a legal analysis noting that there is “no clear-cut, explicit answer in statute” on the greenhouse gas question, and that “CO2 does not endanger public health and welfare and there are no cost-effective systems of emission control.” In 2008, after the Massachusetts decision, the group argued that the EPA had not produced “sufficient evidence of potential effects and harm,” and it opposed reducing tailpipe emissions in the U.S. on the grounds that this would not end climate change on its own.

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 6mo ago

A Popular Information investigation by @juddlegum.bsky.social finds corporate players of interest in the upcoming 250th celebrations coming up later this year. 🧵: popular.info/p/major-corp...

Major corporations bankroll "America First" propaganda

Mastercard, Deloitte, and ExxonMobil are spending millions to promote events supporting Trump and his divisive political agenda.

popular.info

Josh Voorhees @joshvoorhees.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The oil industry is 🩴🩴-ing & 🧇-ing on endangerment—despite putting the reversal in motion almost 20 years ago. @juliakane.bsky.social & I explain why in HEATED. Spoiler: industry is spooked—not about our health, about their $$$. heated.world/p/trump-is-w... > @fieldnotes.co + @emorwee.bsky.social

Trump is wiping out all climate regulation. Big Oil may regret it.

For decades, oil majors fought climate regulation. Now, they’re afraid Trump’s extreme rollbacks could leave them on the hook to pay for what they’ve done.

heated.world

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 6mo ago

New collaboration by @fieldnotes.co and @emorwee.bsky.social of HEATED. The endangerment finding is set to be revoked this Thursday by the Trump administration. Oil majors should be happy, right? Read the story here: https://heated.world/cp/187577268

Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 6mo ago

New investigation out today by @nytimes.com highlighting the four Trump administration veterans working behind the scenes to gut climate regulations. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/climate/endangerment-finding.html

Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Text (translated from French): "Powerful but discreet, the head of Continental Resources doesn't need to be in the spotlight to advance his agenda. During Trump's first term, he benefited from numerous measures taken by the administration, such as the reduction of regulations concerning methane emissions and the protection of certain endangered species. 'He's an extremely shrewd businessman,' adds Julia Kane. 'Everything he does is aimed at a direct financial benefit for his company, and for himself.'"