Chesapeake-McClendon.png Given radioactive wastewater, earthquakes, and flammable tap water, one might think that drilling and fracking could not possibly have any more dirty secrets. But here’s the biggest secret of all: it’s expensive. With natural gas at historic low prices – the Wall Street Journal ran a column recently suggesting
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DeSmogBlog: Fracking Industry Trying To Keep Doctors Silent About Chemical Dangers
doctor silence.jpg Polls conducted in recent years show that close to 80% of Americans trust their doctors. They believe, rightly so, that their personal doctors are looking out for their patients’ best interests, and that doctors will do what is necessary to get patients healthy. But what happens when a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Toothpaste More Dangerous Than Fracking, "Expert" Says
strawman-argument.jpg It's okay, people. We've been blowing this whole fracking thing way out of proportion. Dr. Barry Stevens of To-Be-Determined America sets the record straight in hopes that we'll re-align our focus and concentrate on the real issues at hand, which, by the way, is not fracking (Spoiler Alert: it's
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Public Accountability Initiative Produces New Report on SUNY Buffalo’s "Shill Gas Study"
PAI Logo.jpg The Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) has upped the ante on DeSmogBlog's reporting on what we coined a "Shill Gas Study" recently conducted by SUNY Buffalo. In our critique of the "study" we pointed out the fact that all of the authors and nearly the entire peer review board of the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New Shill Gas Study Published by SUNY Buffalo Institute With Heavy Industry Ties
shutterstock_15465343.jpg When does a study on the unconventional shale gas industry become a "shill gas study"? The quick answer: when nearly everyone writing and peer reviewing it has close ties to the industry they're purportedly doing an "objective" study on. The newest kid on the block: a recent study published by
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Onion Skewers The Boom in Fracking PR Spin
theonion_logo.png In typically grand fashion, satirical news source The Onion has skewered the rise of misleading PR bankrolled by the oil and gas industry to defend the dangerous practice of fracking. Although the piece is not "real" news, anyone could be forgiven for taking it as fact since it isn't
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ALEC Wasn’t First Industry Trojan Horse Behind Fracking Disclosure Bill – Enter Council of State Governments
shutterstock_95581429.jpg 19th Century German statesman Otto von Bismarck once said, "If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made." The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), put on the map by the Center for Media and Democracy in its "ALEC Exposed" project, is the archetype of von Bismarck's truism. So too are the fracking chemical
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Chesapeake Energy Well Blowout in Wyoming Causes Evacuation, Methane "Roared" For Days
chesapeake-energy.jpg A potentially dangerous oil well blowout at a Chesapeake Energy site in Wymoing caused at least 60 and perhaps 70 residents to evacuate within 5 miles of the disaster for several days until it was contained earlier today. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) was drilling the well in the Niobrara Shale
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rendell and Ridge: From "Militant" Labelers to Terrorist Enablers
Ed Rendell MEK.jpg A new chapter has been added to the shale gas industry's eco-terrorism, counterinsurgency and psychological operations saga. In March, NBC News investigative reporter Michael Isikoff revealed that many prominent U.S. public officials are on the payroll of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), a group labeled by the U.S. State Department as a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Exposing the Gas Industry’s Myth of ‘Recycled Water’
fracking-photo-drink.jpg Reposted with permission from EcoWatch.org (a fantastic site that you should bookmark and visit often) Authored by Mackenzie Schoonmaker and Mike Dulong from Riverkeeper Every time the gas industry fracks, the public loses. We forfeit an enormous amount of fresh water from our rivers, lakes and streams, and we get
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New Bakken Shale Pipeline to Cushing, OK in the Works
shutterstock_79616923.jpg The controversy over TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline has raged on for years now, with no end in sight. The Keystone XL pipeline would carry tar sands crude from the tar sands epicenter of the world in Alberta, Canada, take it down to Cushing, OK, and then eventually down to Port Arthur, TX, where
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Who Is Monitoring Fracking Wells And Pipelines? Nobody
see-hear-speak-no-evil.jpg As we here at DeSmogBlog have been covering in exhaustive detail for quite some time now, there is virtually no safe way to perform hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for unconventional oil and gas. Fracking has been linked to numerous problems, including the release of radioactive molecules that cause an array
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Investors: No More Flaring of Fracked Oil and Gas in Bakken Shale
exxon-gas-flaring-photo01.jpg The debate over flaring unconventional oil and gas in shale basins across the United States has suddenly heated up immensely (excuse the bad pun). On March 27, the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economy (CERES) penned a letter calling for an end to the practice, writing, We are a group of 37
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Documents Reveal USDA Risking Lawsuits by Ignoring Own Staff On Fracking Mortgages Review
usda.png A major storm is brewing over the USDA’s sudden about-face on fracking and environmental laws. On Tuesday, the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture pulled a 180-degree U-turn and decided to reverse the call made by his staff specialists, who advised that the agency immediately stop giving special exemptions
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Obama Sojourns to "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" for Campaign Speech
Cushing .jpg It's the multi-pronged fight that never seems to end. The Alberta Tar Sands have been near the forefront of the North American energy and climate debate, thanks in large part to growing public concern and grassroots efforts like Tar Sands Action, a campaign led by climate activists to block construction of the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking: Ohio Establishes Tough Regulations After Disposal Wells Cause 12 Earthquakes
earthquake.jpg State officials have determined that at least 12 earthquakes that occurred in Ohio last December were caused by the injection of brine into hydraulic fracturing disposal wells. As a result of its findings [pdf], the state has established the nation's "toughest regulations" for the fracking disposal wells. Brine is a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Experts Air Serious Concerns Before New York Fracking Decision
120111frack.jpg Two recent court decisions in New York state upheld the right of towns to use zoning laws to limit or even ban fracking within their borders. Other states and cities such as Dallas, Maryland, and North Carolina, are still trying to figure out whether, and if so how, to proceed with new drilling. But
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Video of Josh Fox Being Arrested At House Energy Hearing, First Amendment Rights Ignored
Here is video footage of Gasland director Josh Fox being arrested by Capitol police earlier today. Josh Fox will be on the Ed Schultz show tonight on MSNBC at 8:45pm EST to talk about his arrest today. Fox released a statement about his arrest, which we reprint below (H/T Grist): read more
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Josh Fox Arrested For "Unlawful Entry" At Congressional Fracking Public Hearing, GOP Attacks 1st Amendment Rights
Josh Fox Arrested.png Earlier this morning, "Gasland" filmmaker and anti-fracking advocate Josh Fox was ejected out of the Energy and Environment subcommittee meeting on fracking after he attempted to film it. Claiming the First Amendment gave him rights to record, Fox refused to leave, so he was handcuffed, led out, and
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New York Looks To Local Bans On Fracking
logo_350.jpeg As the New York moratorium on fracking continues to hang in jeopardy, towns within the state are taking it upon themselves to issue fracking bans locally, what may become a last-ditch effort to keep fracking out if the moratorium is lifted. Over 20 cities, including Buffalo, Ithaca, Syracuse, and
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