A quiet success story out of North Dakota became the blueprint for one of the country’s most ambitious environmental cleanup efforts—plugging abandoned oil and gas wells. Backed by billions in federal funds, the program spread nationwide, cutting methane emissions and protecting water supplies. But now it’s been frozen by President Trump’s executive order, despite the money being already approved by Congress. What began in the Bakken is suddenly in limbo, and the cost of inaction—both environmental and economic—is starting to show.
Nick Bowlin with the High Country News has the full story.
