Megan Milliken Biven Proposes an Abandoned Well Administration

For over a hundred years, American land and waters have been tapped for that dark and viscous substance that has propelled our economy and generated the climate crisis. But oil wells don’t last forever, and now approximately 3 million defunct oil and gas rigs sit idle in states like Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, and others. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to energy market analyst Megan Milliken Biven about her lemons-to-lemonade idea for the abandoned equipment and the people who used to work on them. She proposes a new federal agency that will oversee the millions of obsolete wells, many of which are seeping toxic stuff. We discuss the existing problem, outline the concept of an Abandoned Well Administration, and discuss folding oil & gas workers right into the machinery of a Green New Deal economy.