Rejection of Colorado Coal Mine on Global Warming Grounds Could Be Game-Changer
A U.S. District Court judge ruled on June 27 that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service both wrongly approved expansion of the West Elk coal mine in…
Anne Landman
Direct Action Protest Temporarily Shuts Down Utah Tar Sands Project
An environmental group called Women of Action Against Violent Extraction (WAAVE) shut down U.S. Oil Sands’ mining operation in Utah temporarily on June 16, citing tension around whether the project’s…
Second Earthquake in Under a Month Shuts Down Colorado Fracking Wastewater Injection Well
A second earthquake struck Greeley in northeastern Colorado on Monday, June 23 prompting the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to order a halt to the injection of contaminated drilling…
Frackquakes in Colorado? Scientists Probe Fracking Wastewater Link to CO Earthquakes
At 9:35 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, Greeley, Colorado was struck by a 3.4 magnitude earthquake. Earthquakes are highly unusual in eastern Colorado, raising speculation that it was a “frackquake”…
Colorado Citizens Launch Class Action Lawsuit to Protect Lafayette’s Fracking Ban
Citizens of Lafayette, Colo., have filed a class action lawsuit against the State of Colorado, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) and Governor John Hickenlooper requesting immediate enforcement of…
Permanent Protest Set Up at US Oil Sands Project in Utah
The first tar sands strip mining project in the U.S. is gearing up to start operation in Utah, but not without resistance from a group that announced on May 29…
Groups Say CO Governor Hickenlooper Evading Public Input on Fracking Policy
Eleven grassroots citizens groups are demanding that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper allow them access to meetings he is holding about a proposed special legislative session to address fracking. Gov. Hickenlooper…
Groundbreaking Anti-Fracking Ballot Initiative Clears Key Hurdle in Colorado
The citizen-led anti-fracking battles in Colorado ratcheted up a notch May 22 when the Colorado Community Rights Network announced that Ballot Initiative #75, the Community Right Amendment (also known as…
Interactive Map Shows Extent of Oil and Gas Fouling of Colorado
Photos of Colorado’s spectacular Rocky Mountains draw tourists to the state from all over the world, but if people could see the extent to which oil and gas drilling is…
Spike in Stillborn and Neonatal Deaths Reported in Heavily Drilled Vernal, Utah
A midwife in Vernal, Utah, has raised a red flag about a spike in the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in the small town in 2013. The concern has…
Colorado Report on Birth Anomalies Near Fracking Sites Omits Key Factors
Last month, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment announced it would investigate a spike in rare fetal anomalies reported in Garfield County, the second most heavily-drilled and…
Colorado Oil and Gas Operations Emitting Far More Benzene, Methane Than Expected
Scientists affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have determined that oil and gas operations on Colorado’s front range are pumping almost three times more methane and seven…
American Sands Energy Corp. To Become Third Company to Mine Tar Sands in Utah
U.S. Oil Sands and MCW Enterprises, move over. Yet another company is poised to start grinding up and spitting out eastern Utah’s wilderness for its tar sands. Until now, the…
Seismologists Warn Fracking Boom Can Lead to More Earthquakes
Seismologists are warning that disposing of fracking wastewater by injecting it into underground rock formations may pose a far greater risk of setting off dangerous earthquakes than formerly believed. At…
Energy Industry Makes Last-Ditch Effort to Short Circuit Colorado Fracking Ballot Initiatives
Colorado’s oil and gas industry is trying to short-circuit proposed ballot initiatives that would strictly regulate drilling and fracking by pushing a watered-down, last-minute bill in the state legislature. The…
Wealthy Corporate CEOs Behind Fake Anti-Fracking Ads
The online version of the Post Independent, the local daily newspaper in heavily-drilled Garfield County, Colorado, is prominently displaying black-and-white banner ads that read, “Blowing the Lid off Fracking Colorado.”…
Untangling Colorado’s Flood of Anti-Fracking Ballot Initiatives
Colorado voters who try to figure out all the proposed statewide ballot initiatives to regulate drilling and fracking are in for a real challenge. So far, 11 ballot initiatives have…
Ohio Geologists Link Earthquakes to Fracking, State Introduces Seismic Monitoring
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced earlier this month that it will start requiring oil and gas companies to install networks of sensitive seismic monitors on their wells to…
Colorado Health Department Investigating Spike in Fetal Abnormalities in Heavily-Drilled Garfield County
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has called in an epidemiologist to investigate a recent spike in fetal abnormalities in Garfield County on Colorado’s western slope. Stacey…
Former Ohio Excavator Pleads Guilty to Dumping Contaminated Fracking Water
The former owner of a Youngstown, Ohio, excavating company pled guilty to illegally dumping thousands of gallons of contaminated fracking wastewater into a storm drain that led to the Mahoning…