Inside Climate News discusses an oil company basically stiffing the city of Midland through bankruptcy and orphan wells causing delays on cleaning up the city's water system, as well as problems, natch, with Railroad Commission oversight. Part of the issue is the RRC artificially capping the environmental costs of things such as bad injection wells to make sure that, in bankruptcy, the capitalists get paid back, even if it leaves the people holding the bag.
Meanwhile, even as Midland is doing its own site remediation, it stonewalled Inside Climate News' request for more information. I can feel sorry for the people, but not any more sorry for those that govern them than I do for bankrupt oil companies.
And, the drought mentioned in the story? Likely to only worsen. The Permian Basin, or at least its western half, surely counts as part of the greater Southwest that is likely to remain generally in drought for the rest of this century.
Also in the story? Wayne-o (not a) Christian apparently doesn't fully understand state law on groundwater protection. Shock me.
Finally, per a bigger picture, and riffing on the story, this is why, or part of why, High Plains farmers and ranchers like Suzanne Bellsnyder were and are wrong about Proposition 4.
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