Fracking-illustration-001.jpg For the fracking industry, 2012 is off to a shaky start…literally. On New Year’s Eve 2011, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Ohio, one of the largest fracking-related quakes to date. According to reports, the quake was felt across hundreds of square miles in the state of Ohio,
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DeSmogBlog: API’s New ‘Vote 4 Energy’ Ad Campaign Is Thinly Veiled Election Year Bullying
API Vote 4 Energy.jpg American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard today announced the oil and gas industry’s latest election-year scare campaign to threaten the demise of the U.S. economy unless Big Oil gets its every wish in Washington. This year the wish list includes approval of the Keystone XL pipeline,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Fracking
Earthjustice-Fracking.jpg The practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has taken center stage this year as one of the most important environmental threats facing North America (and increasingly in other parts of the world). Thanks to inadequate state oversight and Dick Cheney's hamstringing of EPA oversight with the Halliburton Loophole, fracking has
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Canada trails USA in risk awareness
Canadian media doesn’t provide much detail but ProPublica, the American non-profit doing fine investigative reporting, is examining dangers of gas and oil production through hydraulic fracturing. In an earlier article here, we linked to ProPublica’s report on unregulated fracking in BC and Alberta. Today, Abrahm Lustgarten, the reporter with an
Continue readingFracking Gone Wild
“Our Government believes shale gas is an important strategic resource that could provide numerous economic benefits to Canada,” the (environment) ministry’s statement said. Gas is an important part of a clean energy future, the ministry added, saying that “a healthy environment and a strong economy go hand in hand.” This
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: BC Government: Frack the barriers to pollution
British Columbia taxpayers reward energy companies that pollute. The province enacted a series of incentives, including self-regulation, right to pollute without punishment, access to fresh water, reduced royalties and credits for building roads and pipelines. Oh, Canada’s Become a Home for Record Fracking, Nicholas Kusnetz, ProPublica Early last year, deep
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: "Raising Elijah": An Interview With Ecologist and Author Sandra Steingraber
Raising Elijah.jpg Q: In light of your new book Raising Elijah: Protecting Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, which raises the specter of raising children in troubled times, both environmentally and ecologically, are you surprised that natural gas corporations have been producing public relations and propaganda materials like coloring books
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Another LNG Deal Inked, Fracking Export Bonanza Continues
LNG Ship.jpg On December 7, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commision (FERC) granted a 30-year license to Jordan Cove LNG (liquefied natural gas), located in Coos Bay, Oregon, to transform its existing import terminal license into an export terminal license. It would be the first LNG export terminal on the west
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking Ohio’s Utica Shale to "Boost Local Economy"? A "Total" Sham
Total Energy Logo.jpg It is a well-known fact that the unconventional gas industry is involved in an inherently toxic business, particularly through hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), which the EPA just confirmed today has contaminated groundwater in Wyoming. The documentary "Gasland," DeSmogBlog's report "Fracking the Future: How Unconventional Gas Threatens our Water, Health,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: EPA Connects Dots Between Groundwater Contamination and Fracking in Wyoming
niobrara-shale-map1.png The tables turned on the gas industry today with the release of a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) connecting the dots between fracking and groundwater contamination in the state of Wyoming, located in the hear tof the Niobrara Shale basin. The report is sure to leave many
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, Exemplar of Political Corruption
Dan Boren.jpeg Today, The New York Times ran an investigative piece uncovering a thick, multi-layered corruption scene, honing in on one man: U.S. Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK). Boren, many will recall, is one of the original co-sponsors of H.R. 1380, the NAT GAS Act, also known as the Pickens Plan, which
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Smeared But Still Fighting, Cornell’s Tony Ingraffea Debunks Gas Industry Myths
ingraffea.jpg Cornell University Professors Robert Howarth and Anthony Ingraffea made waves in April 2011 when they unveiled what is now known simply as the "Cornell Study." Published in a peer-reviewed letter in the academic journal Climatic Change Letters, the study revealed that, contrary to the never-ending mythology promulgated by the gas
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: LNG Groundhog Day: Cheniere Energy Signs Yet Another Gas Export Deal on Gulf Coast
shutterstock_33324859.jpg Another day, another unconventional gas export deal signed. Nascent North American LNG (liquefied natural gas) export deals are happening so fast and furiously that it is hard to keep track of them all. The latest: On November 21, Cheniere Energy Partners signed a 20-year LNG export deal with Gas Natural Fenosa,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: To Understand What’s Happening with Fracking Decisions in New York, Follow the Money
Money.jpg In a November 25 article titled, "Millions Spent in Albany Fight to Drill for Gas," The New York Times reported: Companies that drill for natural gas have spent more than $3.2 million lobbying state government since the beginning of last year, according to a review of public records. The broader natural
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Are New York Lawmakers Poised To Throw Upstate Residents Under The Fracking Bus?
NYS watershed.jpg Despite last week’s temporary win protecting the Delaware River Basin and its inhabitants from natural gas fracking, the debate rages on in New York State. Lawmakers, industry lobbyists and concerned landowners have debated for over a year about whether or not to open up the state to the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Another Blow To Dirty Energy: Fracking Nixed In The Delaware River Basin
Hydrofracking-picture.jpg Last night, big news erupted across the Northeast with an announcement that fracking in the Delaware River Basin, a pristine watershed that supplies water to over 15 million people, would be suspended. The Delaware River Basin Commission was set to vote on whether or not to permit 20,000 fracking
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ExxonMobil and Shell Eyeing North American LNG Export Deals
LNG Export.jpg Yesterday, LNG World News reported that ExxonMobil Vice President Andrew Swiger announced, at a conference hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, that it was actively seeking LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminals throughout North America, including, but not limited to, in British Columbia and on the Gulf Coast. “In terms of
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Senate Hearing Confirms Natural Gas Export Plans Will Raise Prices For Americans
RonWydenLNGhearing-300×188.jpg Considering the rate at which natural gas resources are being developed, and the sudden push from industry to export the product, it might come as a surprise that the Senate’s Energy Committee hadn’t had a hearing on liquified natural gas (LNG) since 2005. Last Tuesday, for the first time in
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Gas Industry Geologists – Not Doctors – Decide If Water Is "Safe" in Alberta Fracking Contamination Cases
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Water contamination is at the heart of the fracking debate. Gas companies and their well-funded industry support groups (still) adamantly contend that &l…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New Report: CCPA and the Wilderness Committee on BC’s "Reckless" Desire to Frack
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If British Columbia wants to pursue economic, environmental and human health then the province must slow its furious pace of unconventional gas production…
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