"These Teens Adopted an Orphaned Oil Well. Their Goal: Shut It Down." Article Reflection No. 98 (5/26/2024)

Article: “These Teens Adopted an Orphaned Oil Well. Their Goal: Shut It Down.”

In The New York Times article “These Teens Adopted an Orphaned Oil Well. Their Goal: Shut It Down.,” journalist Delger Erdenesanaa writes of three high schoolers who are proactively addressing the climate issue by raising over $10,000 to plug a leaking oil well. The well that these teens “adopted” is one of the 3.9 million “orphaned” gas or oil wells that are no longer supervised or regulated, according to Erdenesanaa. These wells are damaging to the environment as they contribute methane to the atmosphere, which—though lasting for shorter durations than carbon dioxide—worsen global warming by capturing heat then keeping it in the air. The article discusses how, despite how the federal government provided $4.7 billion for plugging these wells through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act back in 2021, there are too many oil or gas wells; this means that more funds are needed to fully address these leaks. 

I never thought about plugging oil wells. I did not know that they release methane. I want to reach out and ask about how I can do something similar in my local community. Maybe I can reach out to the environmental club at my school about it.