Vote 4 Oil.png Guest post by Connor Gibson, cross-posted from Polluterwatch. Two days ago, President Obama denied the permit for the destructive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, much to the dismay of Big Oil's top lobbyist and propagandist. Speaking at the National Press Club to an audience dominated by oil, coal and nuclear representatives and
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DeSmogBlog: 72 Percent of Ohioans Want A Fracking Moratorium, Citing Need For More Study
The unconventional gas industry's latest rush in the United States will land it in the state of Ohio, but a recent poll shows that the state's residents are not rolling out the red carpet for an industry famous for threatening drinking water supplies, causing earthquakes, noise and air pollution and
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Permission Denied: Bulgaria Says "No" To Chevron’s Exploratory Fracking
Bulgaria Protest Tsvetelina Beloutova.jpg No kinky stuff, Bulgaria declared as it limited Chevron in using only conventional drilling techniques and not hydraulic fracturing. The Bulgarian government voted to prohibit Chevron from using fracking to search for natural gas in the northeast section of the country. The main driver for the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ‘Theoretically, Super Fracking Would Be Super Bad’: Gas Industry Touts Even More Extreme Drilling
Picture 1.png According to Halliburton, one of North America’s largest hydraulic fracturing operators and suppliers, the “frack of the future” has arrived. Hoping to both increase well production and lower production costs, Halliburton is one among a crowd of energy companies looking to overhaul their fracking operations with new –
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Fracking Job Creation Myth
hidden-jobs1.jpg The prospect of job growth in the United States has been a major selling point for industry in the four years since the beginning of the recession. And even with positive gains being made in the job sector over the last year and a half, unemployment is still hovering
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking Earthquakes Becoming Serious Cause for Concern
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,
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 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: 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: 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…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking Linked To Earthquakes In The U.S.
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On the heels of yesterday’s report detailing Cuadrilla Resource’s admission that their fracking practices were responsible for small earthquakes in the U.K., new report…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: UK Fracking Company Takes Partial Responsibility For Earthquakes
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U.K.-based energy company Cuadrilla Resources has finally admitted that their hydraulic fracturing activities were likely to blame for a series of small earthquakes …
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Natural Gas Gold Rush, Utica Shale Edition Courtesy of John Kasich
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Yesterday, the Ohio Governor's 21st Century and Economic Summit began, hosted by the controversial union-busting Governor John Kasich (R-OH), coming on the heels of …
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