Plugging Abandoned Wells: The Green New Deal Jobs Plan Republicans And Democrats Love
A story in Forbes features an RFF infographic and research on green stimulus for abandoned oil and gas wells.
Environmental organizations have also endorsed the proposal at various levels of effort. The Center for American Progress proposed Congress create a $2 billion fund to plug abandoned wells, estimating it could remediate 57,000 wells and support up to 24,000 jobs in energy producing states. Greenpeace estimates more than half of America’s unplugged wells are in just three states (Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas), with a large majority of all abandoned wells concentrated in just 15 states, and proposed a $4 billion funding stream across five years to plug 250,000 abandoned wells.
Resources for the Future aims even higher, proposing the federal government fund a program to plug up to 500,000 abandoned wells at a cost of up to $24 billion, estimating it would create up to 120,000 jobs nationwide for laid-off oil and gas workers.
