Petroleum-238: Big Oil’s Dangerous Secret and the Grassroots Fight to Stop It began as a feature with Rolling Stone magazine that examined the radioactivity brought to the surface in oil and gas production and the various pathways of contamination posed to the industry’s workers, the public and communities, and the environment. The magazine story was published in January 2020 and won an award for longform writing with the National Association of Science Writers. The book is an extraordinary seven-year investigation into how the U.S. oil and gas industry has avoided environmental regulations and created a dangerous and radioactive public health crisis and will be published April 24, 2024.

The launch party at Jalopy will feature special performances and conversations with a whistle-blowing oilfield waste worker and a mother-daughter grassroots environmental activism team from rural Ohio. Sane Energy is co-hosting the Event.

The Boxcutter Collective will perform a ritual that harnesses the collective power necessary to implement solutions to the climate crisis we know exists.

Justin Nobel writes about science and the environment for US magazines, investigative sites, and literary journals. His work has been published in Best American Science and Nature Writing and Best American Travel Writing. In 2016, the University of New Orleans Press published The Story of Dan Bright, a book he co-wrote with a death row exoneree. Justin’s writing has helped lead to lawsuits, academic research, and public dialogue, and he has been taught at Harvard’s School of Public Health.

Sane Energy is dedicated to replacing fracked gas infrastructure with 100% democratically controlled, renewable energy throughout New York State. Achieving this transition requires a robust, diverse grassroots movement of skilled, well-informed individuals. We foster deep connections within and between communities engaged in the collective struggle against fossil fuel projects across New York State.