Today, Big Gas Polluter crowns EQT Corporation as the coalition’s December Polluter of the Month. The fossil fuel giant is the second-largest gas producer in the United States, and has recently made some bold claims about its environmental footprint. Since June 2024, EQT has publicly and prominently insisted the corporation has “achieved net zero,” reaffirming the misleading statement in its June 2025 “Promises Made, Promises Delivered” report. However, Carbon Mapper’s satellite data, Earthworks OGI video evidence, and InfluenceMap investigative work tell a different story.
Original artwork from Wotto, aka Craig Watkins, accompanies this month’s announcement.
To start, EQT’s net-zero claims are calculated only using the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions data, ignoring downstream emissions from the fossil fuels it produces as well as those from its pipeline subsidiary, acquired in July 2024. Additionally, no independent auditor has ever verified the gas producer’s net-zero claims. Since the start of 2023, EQT has also been fined more than $4.5 million in penalties for four environmental-related offences.
Carbon Mapper’s satellite has captured at least six different super-emitter events, seemingly adjacent to EQT facilities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, since late June of this year. In total, the plumes released 12,376 kilograms of methane per hour, equivalent to approximately driving 78 gasoline-powered cars for an entire year. The three largest plumes released methane into the air at rates of:
- ~6,149 kilograms per hour near the company’s Jefferson well pad near Jefferson, PA, on May 25th;
- 2,200 kilograms per hour near the company’s Bryan well pad in Proctor, West Virginia, on June 22nd;
- 2,300 kilograms per hour near the company’s Old Crow well pad in Proctor, West Virginia, on July 12th;
On-the-ground evidence captured by Earthworks confirms what is being observed in the air, documenting methane emissions emanating from EQT’s facilities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, preceding the producer’s net-zero claims.
InfluenceMap analysis finds that EQT “exhibits active policy engagement that is oppositional to science-aligned climate policy to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement,” and is a member of several obstructive industry groups, such as the American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC). The oil and gas industry trade association reportedly spearheaded the plan to unravel federal methane rules; recently succeeding in delaying the nation’s waste emissions fee, which President Trump signed into law on July 4th.
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BigGasPolluters.org was launched to provide credible, evidence-based information on the claims and actions of the fossil fuel industry. The campaign includes a database documenting reported methane emissions, commitments made to reduce methane, evidence of leakage events from Earthworks, and more information about the 100 largest oil and gas companies in the US. It has never been more critical to fact-check claims regarding climate pollution, and BigGasPolluters is here to monitor methane pollution, hold the industry accountable, and serve as a resource in these uncertain times.
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