Environmentalists say that some of the largest methane polluters in the state are benefiting from a sleight of hand built into a deeply flawed emissions reporting system. They say those large-scale polluters might not be who you expect, pointing to a little-known natural gas producer called Terra Energy Partners. According to federal greenhouse gas emissions data, this small, privately owned company 鈥� headquartered in Texas, but operating exclusively on Colorado鈥檚 Western Slope - was the fourth largest source of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in the entire United States in 2019.

What happens when oil and gas companies go bankrupt and can鈥檛 afford to properly shut down their wells? The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is trying to decide.

The Biden administration wants Congress to increase drilling companies' royalty rates, which have stayed at 12.5% for 100 years.