Sign in

Fieldnotes

@fieldnotes.co
912 followers 1.1K following 230 posts

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

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This story features key findings from @fieldnotes.co's new investigation, which you can read here:
fieldnotes.co
‘And Not Much More’: Inside the Oil & Gas Industry’s Campaign Against…
Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.
031
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 25/09/2026
The oil & gas industry says it supports methane regulations, but has been working behind the scenes with the Trump admin to gut them.
110
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 18/09/2026
NEW: Oil & gas corporations have been working hand-in-glove with the Trump admin to gut methane regs. Check out our investigation—based on internal comms that were never meant to be public, FOIA records, and more—to learn how industry has been maneuvering behind the scenes.
fieldnotes.co
‘And Not Much More’: Inside the Oil & Gas Industry’s Campaign Against…
Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.
087
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 14/09/2026
✅ Legislative sleight of hand and a handful of friendly congressmen. ✅ A secret deal with the world’s largest pesticide makers. ✅ A bespoke trade group fronted by global soda and snack giants. Our latest investigation into Exxon's 'advanced recycling' campaign has it all.
fieldnotes.co
Exxon’s ‘Advanced’ Deception Revealed
Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.
053
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 14/09/2026
ICYMI 👇
044
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 11/09/2026
NEW: Exxon really doesn’t want you to know it’s behind the “advanced recycling” bill working its way through Congress. fieldnotes.substack.com/p/exxons-adv...
fieldnotes.substack.com
Exxon’s ‘Advanced’ Deception Revealed
Confidential docs show Exxon is waging a campaign of misdirection to weaken rules on its hazardous ‘advanced recycling’ business. The oil giant’s congressional allies don’t want to talk about it.
243
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 11/09/2026
To learn more about the oil & gas industry’s decades-long campaign to deflect regulations and how corporations are currently working behind-the-scenes with the Trump admin to gut the rules, tune into our briefing with @climateintegrity.org next week. tinyurl.com/methane-brie...
tinyurl.com
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Inside the Oil & Gas Industry's Campaign Against Methane Regulations. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Oil and gas industry watchdog groups Fieldnotes and the Center for Climate Integrity will hold a virtual reporter briefing where experts will shed light on oil & gas corporations’ recent behind-the-sc...
035
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 10/09/2026
Join Fieldnotes and @climateintegrity.org on 9/16 for a media briefing previewing what we uncovered investigating the oil & gas industry’s efforts to gut methane regs during the second Trump admin. tinyurl.com/methane-brie...
078
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 19/08/2026
The oil & gas industry wants the Trump admin to maintain the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program but hollow out methane reporting requirements, allowing corporations to continue undercounting the climate pollutant. @rsanta.bsky.social reports for @nsarchive.bsky.social and @desmog.com bit.ly/4geZ5Ic
bit.ly
Inside the Struggle to Dismantle America’s Greenhouse Gas Data
New accounts show the oil and gas industry trying to weaken methane reporting while saving the federal emissions system it relies on.
077
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 29/07/2026
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...
nytimes.com
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.
145
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 24/07/2026
NEW: Kate Yoder @grist.org on Exxon and the oil & gas industry entering 'panic mode' as climate lawsuits creep towards trial. bit.ly/44HwMgf
bit.ly
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.
123
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 23/07/2026
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)
111
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 16/07/2026
"It's all relative" 🤔
030
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 16/07/2026
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...
042
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 16/07/2026
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...
fieldnotes.co
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.
187
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
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...
documentcloud.org
EPA HQ Visitor Logs (Jan. - Oct. 2025) - results of FOIA appeal
144
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 17/06/2026
👇👇👇
021
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
@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!
propublica.org
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...
044
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 16/06/2026
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.
propublica.org
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...
065
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 04/06/2026
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...
citizen.org
Return of the Corporate Swamp Monster: Former Interior Secretary Exerts Influence Over Agency - Public Citizen
023
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 02/06/2026
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.
142
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 02/06/2026
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.
101
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
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.”
031
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 08/05/2026
🚨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...
publicdomain.media
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.
142
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 07/05/2026
🚨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...
publicdomain.media
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.
023
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 01/04/2026
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.
086
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Center for Climate Integrity @climateintegrity.org · 19/03/2026
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.
66339
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 13/03/2026
🚨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 🧵
bit.ly
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.
143
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 24/02/2026
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.
021
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 18/02/2026
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.”
132
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 16/02/2026
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.
173
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 13/02/2026
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
bit.ly
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.
144
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 13/02/2026
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:
documentcloud.org
Citizens Lab for Regulatory Review - Narrative Proposal (Apr. 15, 2022)
155
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Josh Voorhees @joshvoorhees.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
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.
153
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 11/02/2026
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...
popular.info
Major corporations bankroll "America First" propaganda
Mastercard, Deloitte, and ExxonMobil are spending millions to promote events supporting Trump and his divisive political agenda.
130
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Josh Voorhees @joshvoorhees.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
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
heated.world
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.
0116
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 11/02/2026
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: heated.world/cp/187577268
043
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 10/02/2026
New investigation out today by @nytimes.com highlighting the four Trump administration veterans working behind the scenes to gut climate regulations. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/climate/…
011
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
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.'"
021
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
I spoke with @baptlanglois.bsky.social at @lexpress.fr (a French news magazine) for this story on oil billionaire Harold Hamm's influence on Trump.
lexpress.fr
Harold Hamm, le milliardaire qui a tout appris à Donald Trump sur le pétrole
Ancien pompiste, le fondateur de Continental Resources exerce une influence sans pareil sur la politique énergétique américaine.
142
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Josh Voorhees @joshvoorhees.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
ICYMI: @fieldnotes.co + @drilledmedia.bsky.social teamed up for a new investigation into Energy Transfer, the DCI Group, and a decade-old front group that went from manipulating the press to trying to influence the ND Supreme Court: open.substack.com/pub/fieldnot...
open.substack.com
Energy Transfer Has a Make-Believe 'Friend'
A new investigation reveals the pipeline giant is using an astroturf group run by a powerful DC shadow lobbying firm in a bid to block Greenpeace's first-of-its-kind countersuit in the Netherlands.
032
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 18/12/2025
One man that keeps showing up in Energy Transfer’s pipeline: Craig Stevens. He appears on panels, writes op-eds and even shows up in sponsored content. What’s missing? 👉He’s a VP at DCI Group 👉DCI was hired by Energy Transfer 👉Energy Transfer funds the group he speaks for
112
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Josh Voorhees @joshvoorhees.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Energy Transfer has its own make-believe “friend": New from the @nytimes.com w/ a little help from @fieldnotes.co: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
nytimes.com
Greenpeace’s Fight With Pipeline Giant Exposes a Legal Loophole
041
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 17/12/2025
🚨New from the @nytimes.com, with research from @fieldnotes.co: Energy Transfer is using an astroturf group run by a powerful DC shadow lobbying firm to block a first-of-its-kind countersuit in the Netherlands. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
nytimes.com
Greenpeace’s Fight With Pipeline Giant Exposes a Legal Loophole
144
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
In his own words, here’s how oil billionaire Harold Hamm orchestrated fracking exec Chris Wright’s rise to lead the Dept of Energy. As Energy Sec, Wright has published a report denying climate science (which EPA is using to axe climate regs), boosted fossil fuels, & slashed funding for renewables.
12716
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 12/12/2025
Harold Hamm—the billionaire behind Continental Resources and one of Trump’s biggest supporters—has gotten major favors from the Trump administration. Here’s our analysis of this great story by @ericlipton.nytimes.com and @nytimes.com. nyti.ms/4pApnYY
nyti.ms
176
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Greenpeace USA @greenpeaceusa.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Have you ever had a bad neighbor? The kind that makes you sick, literally? Big Oil company Energy Transfer is all of our neighbors. Their long history of spills, explosions, emissions, and safety violations proves that they’re harming communities. Read More: www.greenpeace.org/usa/bad-neig...
59891
Reposted by Fieldnotes
Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
@fieldnotes.co found that the oil & gas industry is behind a CCS bill currently moving through the state legislature in Ohio. Last night I presented our research on a webinar with @ohiorivvalleyinst.bsky.social and @buckeyeenviro.bsky.social. Check it out!
youtube.com
The New Wild West: The Oil & Gas Industry’s Push for Carbon Capture and Storage in Ohio
YouTube video by Ohio River Valley Institute
031
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 06/11/2025
Tune in tonight at 6pm ET to catch our very own @juliakane.bsky.social talk shop with @ohiorivvalleyinst.bsky.social and @buckeyeenviro.bsky.social. Be there or be square.
042
Fieldnotes @fieldnotes.co · 27/10/2025
"The New Wild West": Inside the Oil & Gas Industry's Push for Carbon Capture & Storage in Ohio On Thurs. Nov. 6 at 6 PM ET, join @buckeyeenviro.bsky.social, @ohiorivvalleyinst.bsky.social, and @fieldnotes.co for a webinar and Q&A on CCS in Ohio. Sign up here: bit.ly/new-wild-west
A flyer with an image of the Ohio statehouse reads: “‘The New Wild West”: Inside the Oil & Gas industry’s Push for Carbon Capture & Storage in Ohio. Thursday, Nov. 6, 6 PM ET. Register: bit.ly/new-wild-west.” The logos for Buckeye Environmental Network, Ohio River Valley Institute, and Fieldnotes are along the bottom.
022