"Biden Admin Announces $650 Million To Plug Orphaned Gas And Oil Wells"

"The Interior Department announced Monday more than $650 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells.

The $660 million in funding, available to 27 states, will go toward the plugging of so-called orphan wells, or wells abandoned for extraction by the oil and gas industry.

Orphan wells are associated with major safety and health hazards, many of them associated with methane leaks. Methane is also a major driver of climate change, due to its capacity to trap more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide."

Zack Budryk reports for The Hill July 10, 2023.