A landmark study finds U.S. oil and gas pollution causes 91,000 premature deaths annually, alongside asthma, cancer, and pre-term births.
The study highlights disproportionate harm to poor and minority communities, with racial-ethnic disparities tied to geography and supply-chain stages.
Despite the findings, the U.S. government is rolling back EPA pollution standards to expand fossil fuel production, raising alarms among environmental groups.
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Air pollution from oil and gas causes as many as 91,000 premature U.S. deaths a year, according to a study published in Science Advances in August. Meanwhile, during a time when many governments are shifting to green, the U.S. government is doubling down on its fossil fuel production and has recently carried out actions that aim to water down the rigorous air pollution standards enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The link between fossil fuels and premature deaths has been stressed by scientists and doctors for decades, although the connection is often greatly understated by the oil industry. Meanwhile, other safer energy sources, such as nuclear power, get far more attention for their perceived negative threat to health. However, the new study from University College London and the Stockholm Environment Institute, George Washington University, and the University of Colorado Boulder shows just how many tens of thousands of deaths are caused each year by air pollution from the burning of oil and gas, backed with real data.
Air pollution from oil and gas kills around 91,000 Americans prematurely, as well as causes health problems across hundreds of thousands more in the U.S., each year, with a greater impact on poor communities, particularly those of color. There are also over 10,000 pre-term births linked to fine particulate matter from oil and gas, 216,000 annual childhood-onset asthma cases, and 1,610 annual lifetime cancer cases, according to the study. The highest number of air pollution-linked deaths and illnesses was seen in California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
The paper’s lead author, Karn Vohra, said, “We’ve long known that these communities are exposed to such levels of inequitable exposure as well as health burden… We were able to just put numbers to what that looks like.”
The study is the first to comprehensively assess the impact of oil and gas-related air pollution on human health and premature deaths, analysing all stages of the oil and gas supply chain, from exploration to end use. It assesses data from 2017, which is the most recent year that has complete data available. However, between 2017 and 2023, U.S. oil and gas output increased by 40 percent, meaning the figures in the study likely understate the current situation.
To assess the data, researchers developed a comprehensive inventory of oil and gas air pollution sources, then ran it through a computer model that calculates the complex air chemistry that forms harmful pollutants across the U.S. They analysed the air pollutant concentrations and epidemiological evidence of the relationship between exposure and health risk, using census and health data, to determine various adverse health outcomes and racial-ethnic disparities. The analysis shows that the final end-use stage overwhelmingly contributes the biggest health burden, contributing to 96 percent of the total incidents linked to the oil and gas industry.
The research found that Indigenous and Hispanic populations were most affected by the exploration, extraction, transportation, and storage stages of oil and gas production, while Black and Asian populations were overwhelmingly more affected by emissions from the processing, refining, manufacturing, distribution, and usage stages. This is linked to the geographical concentrations of specific demographics in certain areas of the United States.
The researchers also looked at the spillover effects on neighbouring countries and found that air pollution linked to the U.S. oil and gas sector causes 1,170 premature deaths in southern Canada and 440 early deaths a year in northern Mexico.
Meanwhile, the President Trump administration is working to reduce the restrictions on air pollution to support government plans for higher fossil fuel production and accelerate new exploration and drilling projects. In March, U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to undertake 31 historic actions in the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history. Some of these actions included the reconsideration of: regulations on power plants, regulations throttling the oil and gas industry, mercury and air toxics standards and the mandatory greenhouse gas reporting programme.
He said at the time, “Today is the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen. We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more.”
A change in EPA standards could lead thousands of cities across the U.S. to become even more polluted at a time when most developed countries around the world are striving to reduce emissions, improve environmental protections, and undergo a green transition. Timothy Donaghy, the research director for the environmental group Greenpeace USA, stressed, “Given the reckless deregulation being pushed by Trump’s EPA and the president’s call to ‘drill, baby, drill’, this new study should be a flashing red warning light for the nation.”
Credit: Oilprice.com
