The American Petroleum Institute (API) held an hour-long press conference titled the State of American Energy on January 12, which included a keynote address by CEO Mike Sommers. It was a confident, blistering defense of an industry facing pressure to change its business model in the face of a climate crisis it helped create. The Pipeline Safety Trust will address a few points from that address … [Read more...] about Fact-Checking API’s State of American Energy Keynote Address
Smart Pig Blog
Data Fact Check: API Pipeline Safety Infographic
On January 12, API held an hourlong press conference titled “State of American Energy”. Along with this press conference, they released a series of tweets, one of which showed some charts on pipeline safety that looked impressive, but were incredibly misleading. As the Pipeline Safety Trust’s new Data and GIS Analyst, I’d like to provide some context around the data and illustrate the … [Read more...] about Data Fact Check: API Pipeline Safety Infographic
Change is Afoot at the Pipeline Safety Trust
While our last blog post was well over a year ago, we have been hard at work here at the Pipeline Safety Trust. We started 2021 with the passage of the PIPES Act of 2020 which, among other key safety issues, began to regulate the reckless emissions of methane (the primary component of natural gas) by natural gas pipeline operators. We have been working to help PHMSA implement that mandate as … [Read more...] about Change is Afoot at the Pipeline Safety Trust
A Decade in Review 2010 – 2019
The decade that began in January 2010 and ended at the end of 2019 was punctuated with many astounding pipeline failures that captured the attention of the nation. We thought the end of the decade would be a good time to take a look at the PHMSA data to see what progress has been made toward the shared goal of Zero Incidents. This brief report shows what we found. The report can be downloaded … [Read more...] about A Decade in Review 2010 – 2019
The Continuing Education of the New Deputy Director
I’m now in my 4th week, and the state of our nation’s pipeline safety continues to shock me. I have seen many examples of the industry writing its own rules. Why the regulators abdicate this important work is beyond me. Expect to hear more from Carl on this soon. But I’d like to focus on something else in my space this week. As I dig into each area of pipeline safety, I … [Read more...] about The Continuing Education of the New Deputy Director
A Few Early Thoughts From The Pipeline Safety Trust’s New Deputy Director
I am honored and excited to join the Pipeline Safety Trust as Deputy Director. I want to thank the board for the trust they are placing in me and the staff for the warm welcome and assistance with this transition. I certainly did not imagine starting this new position in the middle of a global crisis but, while challenging in many ways, it has allowed me much more time to soak up … [Read more...] about A Few Early Thoughts From The Pipeline Safety Trust’s New Deputy Director
NH, CA and CO Improve in 2017 Website Transparency Study
Since 2011, the Pipeline Safety Trust has conducted an annual review of each state regulatory agency’s pipeline safety website. Our goal is to encourage states to make information about pipeline safety — like inspection records, incident data, maps, etc. — as transparent to the public as possible. We evaluate each website with the following criteria: Ease of finding the state agency’s … [Read more...] about NH, CA and CO Improve in 2017 Website Transparency Study
Clouded Vision
This story, Taxpayer Funded Horror at Standing Rock, came across my desk today. Here's the link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/22/taxpayer-funded-horror-at-standing-rock.html There has to be a better way: to make decisions, to spend scarce tax dollars, to treat each other. This is horrific on so many levels. For those of you concerned that these events or … [Read more...] about Clouded Vision
February Friday food for thought
A little February Friday food for thought. As most of you know, we scan news providers for stories about pipeline safety, pipeline incidents, pipeline regulations, for our listserv. Jaxon Vanderbeken, now a reporter with the NBC affiliate in San Francisco, covered the San Bruno explosion and all of the hearings, lawsuits, and political fallout for the San Francisco Chronicle for years. … [Read more...] about February Friday food for thought
Welcoming our new Outreach Manager
This week we welcome our new Outreach Manager, Kate Blystone. Or we could say we're welcoming her back, since in 2000, she was a college intern for Safe Bellingham, the community organization that preceded the formation of the Pipeline Safety Trust. In her new role, she will respond to requests for assistance from the public, assist with maintaining the Trust’s listservs, … [Read more...] about Welcoming our new Outreach Manager