PPH - Hear from Megan Miliken Biven about how cleaning up abandoned wells means employing abandoned workers

Host Logan Burke interviews Megan Miliken Biven about ​a brilliant idea she's been cultivating. Megan Miliken Biven has developed a proposal to put thousands of Americans who have been abandoned by the oil and gas industry back to work to identify and cap millions of abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells, many of which are emitting methane at an alarming rate.

Righting the wrongs of Louisiana's energy past requires some serious clean-up that will require workers who are experienced in the oil fields. This effort could be a first step toward a just transition.

2022 Update:

Home to 4,605 orphan oil & gas wells, Louisiana seeks federal money to plug them. 
Louisiana has lost 23% of its oil & gas jobs in less than two years.
Article by Mark Schleifstein
Originally published on Nola.com
January 10th, 2022

LA plans to ask the federal government for an Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act grant to help pay the estimated $401.7 million cost of plugging them. ​If all of Louisiana's orphan wells were targeted for plugging, the effort could employ about 1,000 people fulltime for a year.

Do you know if you live near an abandoned oil & gas well? Abandoned wells leak hazardous pollutants into the soil, groundwater & air, enduring nearby communities. Find out if you’re living near an abandoned well using this awesome map created by Tristan Baurick (The Times-Picayune | The Advocate) using data from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
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