Today, the Department of the Interior announced $63.8 million to plug and clean up orphaned oil and gas wells located in national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and on other public lands and waters. Orphaned wells have been abandoned by the oil and gas industry, spewing toxic chemicals into the air and water, threatening the health of nearby communities, and emitting large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas more than 80 times as potent at driving the climate crisis as carbon dioxide.

In response, Sierra Club Director of Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy Mahyar Sorour released the following statement:

“These funds will facilitate the critical work of cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells that are poisoning communities and destabilizing our climate. Addressing these existing wells is an important first step, but unless it’s paired with bonding reform that requires oil and gas companies to cover these costs up front, the industry will continue to leave behind toxic wells on our public lands and expect taxpayers to cover the cost of cleaning them up. We welcome this critical step, and we urge the administration to prioritize action to protect communities and taxpayers from having to keep cleaning up the fossil fuel industry’s messes.”

This post was originally published on Common Dreams.