Yes, there is oil in the ground – we just can’t afford it. The folks over at the Post Carbon Institute have just put out this video on the propaganda Big Oil is busy spreading in response to the peak oil crisis: In recent months we’ve seen a spate of
Continue readingTag: fracking
BigCityLib Strikes Back: Is Shale Gas The Future?
The dominant narrative re The Shale Gas Revolution is that natural gas can power Western Civilization for the next century if hippies and socialists don’t get in the way. However, lately a bit of a counter-narrative has got going, which suggests that, regardless of the possible environmental fallout associated
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Hundreds of Concerned Citizens Protest Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Plans To Frack New York
Cuomo-Fracking-Credo.jpg Over 350 concerned citizens turned up at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s policy summit today to protest his risky plan to allow hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in New York. The state has had a moratorium on the dangerous shale gas drilling technique since 2008, but Governor Cuomo is expected to
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Drought, Fracking, Coal and Nukes Wreak Havoc on Fresh Water Supplies
nukeplant.jpg This is a guest post by EcoWatch, republished with permission. For the last few months EcoWatch has been covering what's become the worst drought in the U.S. in more than half a century. More than 3,200 daily high temperature records were set or tied in June, and July is in
Continue reading350 or bust: Arctic Sends Clear Message: Act Now To Reduce Carbon Dioxide Pollution
There’s not much good news to write about today, as a bubble of cold air from the Arctic moves into central North America. Brace yourself for some record-breaking cold if you (like me) live in that region. But that’s not the worst of it by a long shot; unfortunately this
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking Industry Paying Off Scientists For "Unbiased" Safety Studies
science-and-money.jpg As a whole, Americans have an unfortunate tendency to distrust scientists. The number of those who distrust science and scientists is skewed heavily by ideology, with self-identified “conservatives” overwhelmingly saying that they don’t trust science. DeSmogBlog’s own Chris Mooney has spent an enormous amount of time and energy devoted
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: BC NDP Challenge on Enbridge But Embrace Fracking and the Pacific Trails Pipeline!
Richard Hub Hughes-Political Blogger The BC Liberal’s have sold us out over the Enbridge Pipeline no matter how you cut it. The BC NDP are the Enbridge Opponent Champions! The Green Party is well, too corporate friendly for my taste, but then look at the BC NDP today. Pacific Trails Pipeline will
Continue reading350 or bust: It Is Time To Stop Our Dependence On Dirty Energy
Dirty energy isn’t just dirty because of the carbon dioxide pollution it releases into our atmosphere. It’s polluted the global geopolitical landscape – and increasingly North American domestic politics – for decades. Enough is enough. * Citizens Climate Lobbying: Building A Green Economy Post-Carbon Institute Transition Network
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: What To Expect When You’re Electing: Representative Paul Ryan
Ryan Romney.jpg With the selection of Wisconsin Republican Representative Paul Ryan has his running mate, Mitt Romney has effectively pushed his campaign into the climate change denying fringe. While Romney hasn’t been considered a friend of the environment since he began running for national office, his tendency towards flip-flopping made
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Republican Ohio Governor Kasich’s Trillion Dollar Shale Gas Lie
kasichshrug2.jpg About the only positive thing you can say about industry-funded astroturf groups is that they at least base their misinformation campaigns on phony “studies” and “reports.” Their lies are based on SOMETHING. The same cannot be said of Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has come up with a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: A "War on Shale Gas"?
Since late 2009, there’s been a slowly-growing wave of attacks from the unconventional oil and gas industry on media outlets that cover the controversies surrounding hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and other shale gas practices. Reporters who write for publications ranging from Rolling Stone to Reuters to the New York Times have
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Real Train Wreck: ALEC and "Other ALECs" Attack EPA Regulations
shutterstock_2531395.jpg When business-friendly bills and resolutions spread like wildfire in statehouses nationwide calling for something as far-fetched as a halt to EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, ALEC is always a safe bet for a good place to look for their origin. In the midst of hosting its 39th Annual Meeting this week in
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Exposed: Pennsylvania Act 13 Overturned by Supreme Court, Originally an ALEC Model Bill
alec-exposed-600×400.jpeg On July 26, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled PA Act 13 unconstitutional. The bill would have stripped away local zoning laws, eliminated the legal concept of a Home Rule Charter, limited private property rights, and in the process, completely disempowered town, city, municipal and county governments, particularly when it comes to shale gas
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: White House Wants Industry Help To Choose Which Regulations To Kill
white house.jpg When the Obama White House begins adopting the same talking points as the dirty energy industry, something has gone horribly wrong with our government. But that is exactly what is happening today, with the White House apparently buying into the repeatedly debunked industry talking point that claims that
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Does Red Leaf’s "EcoShale" Technology Greenwash Oil Shale Extraction?
Red Leaf EcoShale.png At the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008, former Vice President Al Gore called the possibility of fossil fuel corporations extracting oil shale "utter insanity." Insanity, though, doesn't serve as a hinderance for deeply entrenched and powerful fossil fuel interests. Oil shale, also known as kerogen, should not be confused with
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Will Hutton discusses how the increasing gaps in economic equality are leading to radical differences in opportunity – with the U.S./U.K. push toward private schooling serving as a particular source of exclusion: (T)he middle class of whatever ethnic background is spending more on
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Wisconsin v. Yoder Redux? MN Amish Citizens Revolt Against Frac Sand Mining
shutterstock_83010019.jpg "History," the old adage goes, "repeats itself." And this is precisely the reason why we learn it. read more
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Science Trumped by Politics In Cuomo’s NY Fracking Plans?
Don't Frack Sign.jpg New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said repeatedly that, in making the decision on whether to allow horizontal hydrofracking in New York State, he wants to rely on “science, and not emotion.” He is relying on the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to give him that
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Oil Sands Fact Check: New API Front Group
shutterstock_48011344.jpg How do you sell a rotten bag of goods? Rule number one of effective propaganda: repackage it into something seemingly less grotesque. In that spirit, the Houston Chronicle recently reported the American Petroleum Institute (API) has created yet another front group, this one to promote tar sands crude, one of the dirtiest sources of fuel in the world, as a
Continue reading350 or bust: Summer of 2012: North Americans Begin to Harvest Climate Chaos They’ve Sown
A friend and newly graduated family physician told us a story about a young man who came to his clinic for medical advice. The young man was having a hard time adjusting to being away from home for the first time, and to his first full-time job, and was considering
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