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May 24, 2013 Tracking and Analyzing Energy Legislation Across the US AELTracker: One Database to Rule Them All Renewable Energy World James Montgomery A new online database created by Colorado State University's (CSU) Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) aims to serve anyone interested in clean energy legislation in any state in the U.S., or even those who are crafting policy themselves  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Fracking protest at shale meeting Lancashire Evening Post Environmental campaigners gathered outside Preston’s Marriott hotel yesterday morning, to show opposition to a summit held there to discuss a new report into the controversial shale gas drilling. Members of the Ribble Estuary Against Fracking (REAF) group wielded ‘Lancashire Not For Shale’ banners outside as industry delegates entered the meeting to discuss the Institute of Directors (IoD) report, Getting Shale Gas Working. Friends of the Earth’s North West campaigner Helen Rimmer, who asked questions at the event, said: “This report presents a rose-tinted view of a possible future shale gas industry, which isn’t surprising as it was paid for by Cuadrilla  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Shareholders Press for More Disclosure from Fracking Companies Triple Pundit Tina Casey For the fourth year in a row, a group of shareholders has organized to pressure oil and gas companies to disclose and address the risks of a drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. The fracking risk disclosure movement has been gathering steam as the impacts of fracking are becoming evident in more communities, contributing to increased public awareness and greater demand for corporate reports that acknowledge and quantify risk factors including water contamination, local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 NY gov: Fracking decision to come before election AP via Wall Street Journal SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he'll make a decision on whether to allow shale gas fracking in New York before the 2014 election. Cuomo says he's waiting for his state health commissioner, Dr. Nirav Shah, to report on his own health review. The Democratic governor told the editorial board at the Post-Standard in Syracuse on Wednesday (http://bit.ly/16cnU16 ) that he had expected Shah's review to be finished by now, but it should be done in the next several weeks. He made similar remarks in February. Development has been on hold since the Department of Environmental Conservation began an environmental impact study of horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing in 2008.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Fracking bill draws harsh criticism in Statehouse Illinois times Patrick Yeagle n the formerly quiet towns of western North Dakota, there are new strangers arriving every day. New housing is being erected at a breakneck pace, and newfound wealth is flowing quickly into the rolling hills because of the wealth flowing out of them. Hydraulic fracturing of the Bakken Shale rock formation has created an oil rush that demands plenty of workers and water to free up the trapped crude. One resident, who works at a hotel in a small western oil town, says even fast food workers are making upwards of $15 per hour because oil jobs are so plentiful and lucrative. Speaking before a packed Illinois House legislative committee on Tuesday, proponents of a bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing told lawmakers that the process would create badly needed jobs in southern Illinois. If they’re right, Illinois could see the same type of boom as North Dakota. But if the opponents of the bill are right, fracking could also bring a more undesirable transformation  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Wyden calls industry-funded website ‘constructive’ as feds consider fracking rules AP via Washington Post WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Energy Committee says a website partially funded by the oil and gas industry is a constructive tool that could be used by federal regulators in requiring public disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon stopped short of endorsing FracFocus.org but said it could be helpful as lawmakers and federal agencies consider ways to regulate hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 The Big Lie on Natural Gas Exports Huffington Post Carl Pope Last week the Department of Energy gave approval to the Freeport LNG export terminal. Combined with an earlier approval at Sabine Pass, the U.S. has now committed the first 2.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas it produces each day over the next 20 years to foreign consumers -- because under these LNG contracts exporters will be able to offer higher prices than any domestic user, regardless of the price of gas that results. These two terminals alone will divert enough energy to replace a half million barrels a day of oil.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Powerful Friends and Cozy Relationships Helped Cheniere Cut Through Regulation DC Bureau Peter Mantius Five years ago, Cheniere Energy Inc. was losing tens of millions of dollars a quarter and slashing its workforce in half, as crippling debt threatened to force it into bankruptcy. Today it’s the undisputed leader in the nation’s promising new energy sector: exportin liquefied natural gas, or LNG. That remarkable turnaround followed its industry-leading decision in 2010 to reverse course and export, rather than import, natural gas. Cheniere’s success in executing that costly and risky switch is a direct result of its ability to obtain a unique regulatory status.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Fracking Economics Revealed as Shale Gas Bubble, Not Silver Bullet EcoWatch Earthworks With several bills pending in the New York legislature related to natural gas development in the state, elected officials were briefed today on research revealing its economic limitations.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Smokey Is Fighting Fracking and the Feds Don’t Like It Adventure Journal Peter Rugh Environmental activist Lopi LaRoe is a provocateur and with her help Smokey the Bear is, too. The Occupy Wall Street veteran has been using Smokey’s likeness in a series of anti-fracking parodies that have gone viral enough to attraction the attention of Uncle Sam: Last week LaRoe received a letter threatening her with jail time and thousands of dollars in fines for enlisting Smokey to the anti-hydrofracturing cause.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Texas Cited by Democrat as Model for Less Flaring After Fracking Bloomberg Businessweek Mark Drajem Texas should be the model for other states as officials seek to reduce the need to burn, or flare off, methane coming from oil and gas wells drilled by hydraulic fracturing, a top Senate Democrat said.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Sandra Steingraber: Illinois, say no to fracking State Journal-Register Sandra Steingraber--Opinion Ominously, New York and Illinois have something else in common: Each state is caught in the crosshairs of an industry that seeks to blast apart its bedrock via a brutal technology called high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which uses chemical-laced water to free bubbles of methane — natural gas — trapped within deep layers of shale.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Senators, green groups spar on fracking The Hill Zack Colman The contentious debate on whether hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, contaminates drinking water bubbled to the surface Thursday during a Senate panel discussion.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Anti-Fracking Protestor Arrested At Capitol Fox Illinois Michael D'Amaro The debate over fracking legislation is moving to another level at the statehouse, after an anti-fracking protestor ended up behind bars. It all started when anti-fracking protestors showed up at the capitol on Tuesday for a House committee vote on a new regulatory bill. They then decided to take their message to the governor's office with a sit-in.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Broomfield residents urge moratorium on fracking Daily Camera Megan Quinn BROOMFIELD -- Residents at a town hall meeting asked the City Council to enact a moratorium on fracking to examine potential health and environmental impacts.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Water Protection Gets Shortchanged in Proposed Fracking Rules National Geographic Monika Freyman, CERES Blog Proposed standards that the U.S. Department of Interior announced last week for hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) on federal and Indian lands are hugely important, especially in the arid West where water is gold. Unfortunately, water protection gets short shrift in the rules that, once finalized, will apply to 750 million acres of public lands (see map below).  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Coalition Calls For Veto Override Vote On Fracking Ban Bill NJ Today TRENTON – A broad coalition of environmental, community, labor and faith-based groups from around the state are calling on members of the New Jersey Legislature to put in place protections against toxic fracking waste before representatives leave for the summer break. The Legislature passed a bill last year banning the disposal, treatment, and discharge of waste created through the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas. However, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill in September and an override vote is needed to protect New Jersey against this toxic threat.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Fracking Industry Wins Weak Ingredient Disclosure Rule All Gov The Obama administration has proposed a new regulation governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that has angered environmental and consumer groups while pleasing industry.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 No fracking brine for county roads MPN Now Julie Sherwood Canandaigua, N.Y. — The Ontario County Environmental Quality Committee Wednesday during a discussion of hydrofracking addressed the question of whether to allow use of fracking wastewater on county roads, a wastewater considered specifically in managing ice and snow. The committee overwhelmingly agreed not to.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Resistance in Ohio, Fracking's Dumping Ground Truthout Mike Ludwig Ohio has become a dumping ground for the fracking industry that has boomed in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and, most recently, eastern Ohio. Records from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) show that Ohio's 179 underground disposal wells have absorbed more than 1 billion gallons of fracking wastewater since 2010, with much of the waste coming from Pennsylvania and other states.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Fracking Role for Environmental Defense Fund Splits Green Groups Inside Climate News A coalition of 67 grassroots groups criticized the Environmental Defense Fund for its ties to natural gas drillers in setting voluntary standards for hydraulic fracturing, a process opposed by many green advocates.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Federal Government Proposes Fracking Rules EcoPolitics Daily Elizabeth Mooney The federal Department of the Interior has issued proposed rules governing hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on public lands, moving further to address industry concerns about the costs and reporting burdens of federal regulation.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Cuomo will make decision on hydrofracking before next year's election Post-Standard Syracuse, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he would make a decision on whether to allow hydrofracking in New York before the 2014 election.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Despite drilling boom, population continues to dip Daily Times Ian Hicks WHEELING - Despite promises of job growth resulting from the local oil and natural gas boom, the aging Upper Ohio Valley has lost an estimated 1.2 percent of its population since the 2010 Census, figures released this week indicate.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 DEP as murky as frack water Scranton Times-Tribune From the day the first drill bit broke the surface of Pennsylvania in search of natural gas from the deep Marcellus Shale formation, the industry's impact on water quality clearly has been the primary environmental concern. Yet the state Department of Environmental Protection has been less than transparent in its fundamental role of ensuring that water supplies are as clear as the public's right to know about drilling's impact.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 German Beer Purity Threatened by Fracking Say Brewers Bloomberg Businessweek Stefan Nicola German brewers called on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to block the tapping of shale gas by means of hydraulic fracturing, citing industry concerns that fracking could taint the purity of the country’s beer.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 NY gov: Fracking decision to come before election Wall Street Journal Associated Press SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he'll make a decision on whether to allow shale gas fracking in New York before the 2014 election.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Freaky frack-onomics Shale Reporter Miranda C. Spencer But resource development is seldom an equal-opportunity enterprise. As any economist will tell you, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” And when it comes to frack-onomics, ordinary Pennsylvanians might be financial losers at this barbecue.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 EnergyPolicyForum Director Testifies Before Senate Committee on Energy Energy Policy Forum Deborah Rogers Opening Statement for Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 21 May, 2013 Exportation of shale gas opens up many interesting, critically important questions. It is precisely for this reason that sensible and reasonable debate should occur before we commit billions of dollars and years of investment in an energy policy that will serve few of us. Unfortunately, debate has been subsumed by the cacophony of voices that would have us believe that shale gas is abundant, long lived and will defy pricing pressures for decades to come. This is simply not true.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 The Big Lie on Natural Gas Exports Huffington Post Carl Pope Last week the Department of Energy gave approval to the Freeport LNG export terminal. Combined with an earlier approval at Sabine Pass, the U.S. has now committed the first 2.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas it produces each day over the next 20 years to foreign consumers -- because under these LNG contracts exporters will be able to offer higher prices than any domestic user, regardless of the price of gas that results. These two terminals alone will divert enough energy to replace a half million barrels a day of oil. You may find these facts surprising, even implausible. I don't blame you. You have been massively misled.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 How They Saved Cheniere from Disaster to Dominate US LNG Exporting DC Bureau Peter Mantius Five years ago, Cheniere Energy Inc. was losing tens of millions of dollars a quarter and slashing its workforce in half, as crippling debt threatened to force it into bankruptcy. Today it’s the undisputed leader in the nation’s promising new energy sector: exportin liquefied natural gas, or LNG. That remarkable turnaround followed its industry-leading decision in 2010 to reverse course and export, rather than import, natural gas.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Gas boom called hype Cheaper prices from hydrofracking won't last, researchers say Times Union Brian Nearing Albany A natural gas drilling boom unleashed by hydrofracking will begin to recede before the end of the decade, and prices will climb as producers push for exports to shore up profits against lower prices caused by a temporary domestic glut, two energy experts said Thursday.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Environmental Defense Fund scolded by other green organizations on ‘fracking’ Washington Post Lenny Bernstein In an unusually public dispute, about 70 environmental groups Wednesday scolded one of their larger brethren, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), for joining with a group of energy companies that support hydraulic fracturing. The group of mostly small, local environmental organizations, joined by actors Mark Ruffalo and Debra Winger, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accused the EDF of “greenwashing” the practices of oil companies that engage in “fracking” of shale rock to extract oil and natural gas.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Energy-rich Colorado becomes setting for fracking fight fuel fix Stan Dempsey, an oil and gas lobbyist, raced from one committee hearing to another in Colorado’s statehouse this spring, defending the industry against an onslaught of bills. While only one of 10 measures passed, the flurry of activity is one of several worrying signs to Dempsey and others in the industry that Colorado, an oil-patch state long seen as friendly to energy producers, is becoming a battleground over hydraulic fracturing, the drilling process fueling the nation’s energy boom.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Site plan approved for ND natural gas processor AP via Fuel Fix BISMARCK, N.D. — An energy company has received approval to start construction of a new natural gas processing plant in northwestern North Dakota. The Oneok company says the plant will cost $160 million and be able to process 100 million cubic feet of natural gas each day. Oneok is based in Tulsa, Okla. The company already has built one natural gas processing plant at the site near Watford City. Another one is under construction. North Dakota’s Public Service Commission approved the site plan for a third plant on Wednesday.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 TN legislative committee approves fracking regulations The Tennessean The Tennessee General Assembly’s joint committee on government operations on Wednesday signed off on new fracking rules after more than two hours of testimony from state regulators, environmental groups and gas industry officials. The regulations will take effect June 18.  [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Project Under Scrutiny The Intelligencer Cassey Junkins WHEELING - After living in Warwood for the past 77 years, Barbara Bland fears GreenHunter Water's natural gas frack water recycling plant will harm the community she loves. Fourteen-year-old Sam Marshall wonders how the plant - planned for the former Seidler's Oil Service site on North 28th Street - will impact his ability to use the adjacent Wheeling Heritage Trail.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Marcellus shale testing to start in Perry Township Trib Live Rick Bruni Jr From spooked cattle to losing underground water, Fayette County residents vented their anxieties Wednesday to a pair of natural gas industry representatives at the Perry Township Volunteer Fire Hall. The concerns are over seismic testing which uses planted explosives and vibrating trucks to create sound waves that measure Marcellus shale at least 9,000 feet below the surface. The testing will be conducted in the township and vicinity within the next three weeks.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Steingraber Calls Out Illinois Fracking Regulations Eco Watch Jeff Biggers Before environmental lobbyists and legislators push a hydraulic fracking bill through the Illinois legislature, they need to sit down with farmers in Clinton County and learn how well regulations defended their water, farms and cankered lives from the contamination of coal slurry in the Pearl Aquifer. Then they would fight to the end, like five southern Illinois county boards, for a moratorium on fracking—instead of a regulatory compromise that undercuts their efforts.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Energy-Rich Colorado Becomes Setting for Fracking Fight Bloomberg Jennifer Oldham & Jim Snyder Stan Dempsey, an oil and gas lobbyist, raced from one committee hearing to another in Colorado’s statehouse this spring, defending the industry against an onslaught of bills. While only one of 10 measures passed, the flurry of activity is one of several worrying signs to Dempsey and others in the industry that Colorado, an oil-patch state long seen as friendly to energy producers, is becoming a battleground over hydraulic fracturing, the drilling process fueling the nation’s energy boom.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Fracking could ruin German beer industry, brewers tell Angela Merkel the telegraph The Brauer-Bund beer association is worried that fracking for shale gas, which involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure into the ground, could pollute water used for brewing and break a 500-year-old industry rule on water purity. Germany, home to Munich's annual Oktoberfest - the world's biggest folk festival which attracts around 7m visitors - has a proud tradition of brewing and beer drinking.   [Full Story] May 23, 2013 Oil Rigs Make Bad Neighbors: Americans Harmed By Oil And Gas Drilling, Seek To Be Heard Think Progress Jessica Goad Guest blogger A coalition of people who live and work near the drilling rigs that have allowed the U.S. to see incredible booms in oil and gas production is in Washington, D.C. this week demanding that both government and industry be held accountable when drilling causes health and environmental problems.  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 After One Arrest, Sit In Continues Demanding Moratorium on Fracking Eco Watch Concerned Residents of Illinois After more than a hundred Illinoisans packed a hearing and rallied in the Capitol yesterday for a moratorium on fracking, they demanded a meeting with Gov. Quinn to voice their concerns about fracking. The residents from Southern Illinois and across the state pointed to how fracking will pollute the air, contaminate the water and put the health and well-being of their families at risk. Sandra Steingraber, PhD biologist, distinguished scholar at Ithaca College and founder of Concerned Health Professionals of New York, testified yesterday at the House Executive Committee hearing on the Illinois fracking regulatory bill:   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Why Colorado Residents Can’t Keep Fracking Industry Out of Their Backyards Eco Watch Phillip Doe Do you want to know how cold it can get in Antarctica in midwinter? Go to a city council meeting in Greeley, CO, any time regulation of the oil and gas industry is on the agenda. You’ll get an idea. Last week, the room temperature felt near absolute zero from the iciness of the council’s reaction to citizen petitions to rein in industry designs on their neighborhood, a place called Fox Run.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Fracking moratorium vote urged Times Union Casey Seiler Albany State Senate Democrats and opponents of the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking called on the chamber's Majority Coalition to take up a bill that would ban its use through May 15, 2015. "New Yorkers deserve a vote on this issue, because it is an issue that will impact each and every one of us," said Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins at a Wednesday news conference. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tony Avella, passed the Assembly in early March and is currently before the Senate's Environmental Conservation Committee.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 100+ March for Ban on Fracking and End to Democratic Governors Taking Dirty Money Eco Watch Today a coalition led by Americans Against Fracking, 350.org, Democracy for America and Food & Water Watch, among others marched at the Spring Policy Conference of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) calling for a ban on fracking and demanding that the organization “Stop Taking Dirty Money,” citing the more than $3.5 million the DGA has taken from companies in the oil and gas industry since 2008, according to analysis out this week by Food & Water Watch.  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Ohio injection well operator fights state action AP via Shale Reporter Julie Carr Smyth COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A northeast Ohio injection well operator whose owner faces federal charges of violating the Clean Water Act is seeking permission to resume operations. D&L Energy, of Youngstown, will ask the Ohio Oil & Gas Commission on Wednesday to overturn a state order issued earlier this year. A commission decision could take months.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Wis. candidates got $758K from sand, gas industry AP via Shale Reporter MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new report says the sand mining and natural gas industries have given Wisconsin candidates nearly $758,000 dollars since 2007. Contributions spiked last year as sand mining took off in the state. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign study found the gas and sand mining industries gave candidates a total of $18,762 in 2007 when only five sand mines were operating in the state. Last year the industries gave candidates $413,642. About 100 mines and processing plants were running in Wisconsin that year. Demand for silica sand is grown because it's used in hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a process thta produces oil and gas.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 EU leaders pursue shale gas dream in Brussels talks Reuters Barbara Lewis and Peter Griffiths BRUSSELS, May 22 (Reuters) - European leaders discussed the region's reserves of shale gas at a summit on Wednesday, but the prospect of the continent enjoying a U.S.-style shale boom that drastically cuts energy costs remains elusive. Arriving at the summit, British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose government is advancing plans to exploit his country's shale gas deposits, said Europe could not afford to be left behind as the world scrambles to develop the resource.  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Natural gas boom fuels frac sand mining, political spending LaCross Tribune Chris Hubbuch Just as frac sand mines have popped up across western Wisconsin in the past half decade, so too has political spending from the sand and natural gas industries. Since 2007, contributions from industry interests ballooned more than 21 times, from just $18,762 to more than $413,000 last year, according to analysis by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Fracking moratorium vote urged Senate Democrats, foes ask for drilling ban to run until 2015 Albany Times Union Casey Seiler State Senate Democrats and opponents of the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking called on the chamber's Majority Coalition to take up a bill that would ban its use through May 15, 2015.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Two Wyo Residents decry fracking in D.C. Wyoming Business Report Mark Wilcox WASHINGTON, D.C. - A pair of Wyoming women have traveled to the U.S. capital today to try to get their stories about hydraulic fracturing heard on a national level. The women advocated tougher fracking laws today at a people's forum called Stop the Frack Attack in Washington, D.C.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 taunton Councilors Hope to Ban Natural Gas Drilling in National Forest NBC 29 Staunton City Council is considering lobbying lawmakers in Washington to ban natural gas drilling near the city's water supply  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 DCNR Sets Date For Public Hearing on Drilling in Loyalsock Forest State Impact PA Marie Cusick After facing mounting public pressure regarding the possibility of expanding natural gas drilling in the Loyalsock State Forest, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has agreed to hold a public meeting on the issue.  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 U.S. senators hear mixed assessment of shale UPI WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) -- Maintaining a flat level of natural gas production from U.S. shale deposits is an elusive prospect, an energy policy director told U.S. lawmakers. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee heard testimony on the prospects foreseen in the U.S. natural sector given production gains from shale exploration.  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Fracking Not Currently in NY's Economic Development Plans WXXI News Karen DeWitt Governor Cuomo, who still has not issued a decision on whether hydro fracking should be allowed in New York, is backing further away from the controversial gas drilling process in his economic development plans for the future. Two years ago, Governor Cuomo considered hydro fracking a key component of his plans for economic development in the faltering upstate regions of the state. Now, with a decision stalled over a months- long health review by the Administration, Cuomo is spending more time focusing on other ideas, like expanding casino gambling to three upstate regions, and attracting businesses through a tax free offer for tech start ups near all SUNY campuses upstate and on Long Island. “Which are 100% tax free communities that will be located all across the State of New York,” Cuomo told a cheering crowd at the SUNY Albany Nanotech College.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Who Speaks for Illinois on Fracking? Dr. Sandra Steingraber or Sierra Club, Compromising Environmental Groups? Huffington Post Jeff Biggers Before environmental lobbyists and legislators push a hydraulic fracking bill through the Illinois legislature, they need to sit down with farmers in Clinton County and learn how well regulations defended their water, farms and cankered lives from the contamination of coal slurry in the Pearl Aquifer. Then they would fight to the end, like five southern Illinois county boards, for a moratorium on fracking--instead of a regulatory compromise that undercuts their efforts. That was the advice given to me by an old farmer this week, as Illinois' controversial bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing rushes its way to a vote that will have national implications.  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Senate Dems make another push for fracking moratorium Politics on the Hudson Jon Campbell The Senate Democratic Conference on Wednesday made its latest push for a firm moratorium on hydrofracking, calling on the chamber’s leaders to allow a bill that would prohibit the natural gas drilling process from going ahed for two years.  [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Oettinger: EU studying 'fracking' as it seeks to cut energy prices UPI BRUSSELS, May 22 (UPI) -- The European Union will carefully weigh the risks of shale gas development this year but also needs to stem high energy prices, the union's energy chief says. European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, in an interview published Monday in the German daily Die Welt, strongly signaled member countries are embracing the idea that developing cheap shale gas may be necessary if Europe's struggling economy is to remain competitive, despite the environmental risks.   [Full Story] May 22, 2013 Robert Redford on America: 'Certain things have got lost' The Guardian Robert Redford today accused the US of losing its way in the years since the second world war. Speaking at the press conference for his new film All Is Lost at the Cannes film festival. "Certain things have got lost," said Redford. "Our belief system had holes punched in it by scandals that occurred, whether it was Watergate, the quiz show scandal, or Iran-Contra; it's still going on…Beneath all the propaganda is a big grey area, another America that doesn't get any attention; I decided to make that the subject of my films."   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Study: methane in water wells not a constant Pittsburgh Business Times Anya Litvak Some, who’ve signed oil and gas leases and had their water sampled by the gas company in advance of drilling, might know how much methane was there at the time of the test. But a handful of scientists from GES and Chesapeake Energy have a minute-by-minute map of methane in 11 groundwater wells in Bradford and Sullivan Counties. The results are all over the place.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 5 Fatal Flaws in President Obama's New Fracking Regulations Huffington Post Kassie Siegal They're popping up all over America's public lands, bringing toxic chemicals and dangerous pollution to beautiful wild areas and nearby farms and communities. Fracking rigs have spread like poisonous mushrooms across land managed by the federal government, which leases millions of acres a year to oil and gas companies. Most Americans don't know that 90 percent of wells drilled on our public lands are now fracked. There is, however, growing awareness of the dangers of fracking. This process, also known as hydraulic fracturing, involves blasting millions of gallons of water, mixed with industrial chemicals (including carcinogens), into the earth to fracture rock formations.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Fractures in the Anti-Fracking Movement State Impact Susan Philllips iscord over how to best protect the environment from impacts of natural gas drilling has led to a coalition of grassroots environmental groups shunning the Environmental Defense Fund. The groups plan to hold a conference call on Wednesday to “send a message…disapproving of [EDF's] willingness to be coopted by industry interests on the issue of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas.”  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Cuomo says poor job numbers in Southern Tier won’t impact fracking decision Politics on the Hudson Joseph Spector Only two areas of the state last month didn’t increase jobs between April 2012 and April 2013: Elmira and Binghamton. And today, labor statistics showed that Elmira was the only area in the state that didn’t see its unemployment rate decrease over the year. Elmira and Binghamton share something else: They both sit over the gas-rich Marcellus Shale. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today that any decision on whether to move forward with hydrofracking won’t be based on the local economy   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 BLM’s New Draft Fracking Rules Give Industry a Free Pass, But Were They Written By ExxonMobil? think progress By Frances Beinecke via NRDC When I talk to people who live near fracking operations, they often ask me the same question: “What is this doing to my drinking water?” Homeowners have shown me jugs of water from their kitchen sinks that look like rusty mud. One man said he could light his tap water on fire after energy companies put a drill pad in his neighborhood. Others tell me they worry their water is causing health problems for their families. People across the country share these concerns. From Pennsylvania to Texas to Colorado, residents see wastewater pits leak, smell chemicals in the air, or read the scientific research showing that fracking can contaminate water supplies and pose a host of other threats. No one should have to live with these dangers: we all want to keep our drinking water safe from dangerous chemicals and reckless industrial activity.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Aftermath of a Drilling Boom: Wyoming stuck with abandoned gas wells wyofile.com Dustin Bleizeffer The Powder River Basin coal-bed methane gas industry that drilled at a pace of 2,500 wells annually for a decade has been in sharp decline in recent years. Operators have mostly stopped drilling and are now idling thousands of wells, and perhaps thousands more have been abandoned — “orphaned” — by operators struggling financially. Last week, Wyoming lawmakers heard testimony that the number of orphaned wells likely exceeds 1,200 — and more will be added to the list of liabilities to the state.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Delmarva Power files for OK for gas pipeline to DuPont Experimental Station delaware onlline Aaron Nathans Delmarva Power is seeking permission from the state to build a pipeline under the Brandywine to deliver natural gas to the DuPont Experimental Station in Alapocas. The project, to be paid for by the DuPont Co., is central to DuPont’s plan to convert its 152-acre laboratory campus from burning fuel oil to the more affordable natural gas.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Testimony likely in House committee The southern Illinoisan BY L.E. HLAVACH, The Southern Springfield Bureau SPRINGFIELD – After a two month delay, a proposal to permit and regulate hydraulic fracturing in Illinois is likely to be hotly debated in a House committee Tuesday. When the proposal was introduced in February, bipartisan House sponsors, joined by leaders of business and three environmental groups, boasted that the proposed regulatory framework would be the strongest in the nation and bring needed jobs and revenue to the state.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Johnson County passes fracking moratorium The Southern Illinoisan Stephen Rickerl The Johnson County Board of Commissioners on Monday passed a one-year moratorium on hy-draulic fracturing. The board voted 2-1 in favor of putting the brakes on the controversial process that involves horizontal drilling combined with the injection of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to fracture deep rock formations in order to release oil and natural gas.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 BNSF Railway launches rail loop for frac sand Fuel Fix David Hendricks Chalk up another sizable investment in Bexar County — this one nearly $50 million — to the Eagle Ford Shale play. Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway Co. and Frederick, Md.-based U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. on Monday ceremoniously opened a Von Ormy facility that will store and distribute sand used in the hydraulic fracturing process in the South Texas energy fields.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 U.S. LNG export potential gaining momentum fuel fix Bloomburg Liquefied natural gas exports from the U.S. are looking more likely after the Freeport LNG terminal got conditional approval from the Department of Energy, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) said. Freeport LNG Development LP’s project in Texas was the second facility to receive approval from the Energy Department to send gas to countries that don’t have free-trade agreements with the U.S. The terminal would be able to export 1.4 billion cubic feet a day. The development, partly owned by ConocoPhillips (COP), Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) and Osaka Gas Co. (9532), still needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Poland shale boom falters as state targets higher taxes fuel Fix Bloomberg Poland’s shale gas boom is threatened even before it gets started after some wells failed and the government sought to increase taxes on profits. Of 39 wells planned for 2013, just two were drilled by May, Environment Ministry data show. The government plans to require that explorers take a state-run company as a production partner. It has also proposed raising taxes to almost 80 percent of profit, according to Ernst & Young estimates. The measures, announced in October, haven’t become law.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Moody’s: Freeport LNG exports will boost gas producers and pipelines fuel fix Jeannie Kever Moody’s has weighed in on last week’s approval of Freeport LNG’s request to export liquefied natural gas, saying it offers a clear benefit for natural gas-leveraged North American exploration and production and midstream companies. That benefit won’t be immediate, the commentary from Moody’s Investors Service said, predicting that the Freeport LNG export terminal will come online in 2017.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Senate forum sheds light on natural gas exports fuel fix Jennifer A. Dlouhy Energy analysts will be reading the tea leaves Tuesday as Obama administration officials field questions about their approach to exporting U.S natural gas during a Senate forum on the issue. The Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee’s roundtable comes just days after the Obama administration granted a second company the authority to broadly export the fossil fuel   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Review finds need for more water quality data in the Marcellus shale region phys.org (Phys.org) —What to do with Marcellus shale wastewater is one of the biggest concerns in Pennsylvania, and few published studies have evaluated such wastewater effects on regional waters, according to a review co-authored by professors at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Film director brings anti-fracking fight to Springfield Chicago Tribune Julie Wernau Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated director of two anti-fracking films, is bringing his fight to Springfield, where he has plans Tuesday morning to testify against legislation to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing. At a screening Monday night of his follow-up film "Gasland Part II," the filmmaker encouraged a packed house at Normal Theater to head to the state Capitol in caravans if necessary to fight the bill.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Polish Shale Gas Hopes Hit Major Roadblock Energy Tribune John Daly Since the December 1991 fragmentation of the Soviet Union, no issue has divided the post-Soviet states and its former Eastern and Central European colonies than energy issues. As the post-Soviet space slowly lurches from a centrally planned economy to something somewhat resembling capitalism, energy exports have remained a critical support of the Russian Federation’s economy. In the U.S. government’s Energy Information Agency’s authoritative “Country Analysis Brief Overview,” of the Russian Federation’s hydrocarbons, the following salient bullet points are made: - See more at: http://www.energytribune.com/77019/polish-shale-gas-hopes-hit-major-roadblock#sthash.DSjSIr0V.dpuf  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 More companies in Pa. trying fracking with gas AP via Bloomberg HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Another natural gas exploration company says it's experimenting with the gas to power huge pump engines that drive the hydraulic fracturing process. Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. said Monday that it successfully tested an engine last month in northern Pennsylvania's Susquehanna County with gas from other wells it had already drilled.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Bill to regulate fracking in Illinois sails through committee Chicago Tribune Julie Wernau A bill to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing in Illinois sailed through a House committee Tuesday morning in a unanimous vote amid chants of "shame" from a massive opposition group of activists and residents who packed the hearing.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Obama Administration Approves ALEC Model Bill for Fracking Chemical Fluid Disclosure on Public Lands truthout De Smog Blog Steve Horn On May 16, the Obama Interior Department announced its long-awaited rules governing hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") on federal lands. As part of its 171-page document of rules, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the U.S. Dept. of Interior (DOI), revealed it will adopt the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bill written by ExxonMobil for fracking chemical fluid disclosure on U.S. public lands.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Canandaigua Town Board extends fracking freeze mpnnow.com Scott Pukos Canandaigua, N.Y. — The Town of Canandaigua approved a local law to extend a moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing by nine months. The extra time will be used to work on a potential permanent ban of the controversial gas drilling method known as hydrofracking. The moratorium is not just for fracking, but any large scale natural resource extraction, said Tim Jensen, the town's director of development. This includes extraction and/or activities involving both natural gas and petroleum.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 University of Michigan Study: 58% of Pennsylvanians and 52% of Michiganders Support Fracking Moratorium in Their State NRDC Blog Daniel Raichel’s Blog Last Tuesday, the University of Michigan released a report highlighting growing local concerns about the risks of fracking in two states with two very different fracking-histories— Michigan, where there has been relatively little fracking, and Pennsylvania, where fracking growth has been explosive in the last five years. The report —which summarizes a survey of resident views on a number of issues related to fracking—demonstrates that while support for fracking in both states hovers around 50% (51% in Michigan and 49% in Pennsylvania), concerns about the risks of fracking are as high or higher. For example, 51% of Michiganders and 59% of Pennsylvanians agreed that fracking poses a "major risk" to water resources. And this is perhaps why overwhelming numbers of residents in both states (90% in Michigan and 91% in Pennsylvania) supported disclosure of all the fracking chemicals that gas companies pump into the ground.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Boulder County's oil, gas moratorium to end June 10 Timescall.com John Fryar BOULDER -- Boulder County's moratorium on processing new applications for oil and gas drilling in unincorporated areas will end, as scheduled, on June 10, county commissioners decided Tuesday. The Board of County Commissioners also decided, however, to try to limit the numbers and locations of new well sites that will be allowed under the county's land-use regulations over the next year or two -- and to inspect and monitor those wells closely to ensure they're complying with Boulder County's new Land Use Code regulations governing such oil and gas development. The idea, said Commissioner Deb Gardner, is that once the county has its own inspectors and technical experts doing that oversight, if any of initial wells are found  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Hearing on controversial parallel gas line through Fallston scheduled for Tuesday Baltimore sun David Anderson allston-area residents can make their voices heard on a proposed natural gas pipeline extension – slated to go through part of their community – during a public hearing Tuesday night. The hearing will be held in the cafeteria of Fallston High School, 2301 Carrs Mill Road, and begins with a "poster session" at 6 p.m. During the poster session, members of the public can view displays and speak with representatives of the applicant, Columbia Gas Transmission of Charleston, W. Va. and its parent company, NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage of Merrillville, Ind.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Kalama natural gas power plant plans in jeopardy tdn.com Plans for a $400 million natural gas power plant in Kalama are in jeopardy as one of the main partners dropped out of the project, officials said Monday. The uncertainty also has halted plans for a controversial natural gas pipeline nearby.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 COLUMN-U.S. aquifers fall as farmers take too much: Kemp Reuters John Kemp May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. farmers are withdrawing unsustainable volumes of groundwater to irrigate their crops, resulting in an accelerating decline in aquifers across the central and western United States, according to a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Groundwater resources have shrunk by 1,000 cubic kilometres since 1900 as the amount of water extracted exceeds the rate at which aquifers are recharged, according to "Groundwater depletion in the United States." This about double the total amount of water contained in Lake Erie.   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 UPDATE 1-Southern Star gas line in force majeure after Oklahoma tornado Reuters (Recasts, updates with details from company release, price impact) May 21 (Reuters) - Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline Inc on Tuesday said a portion of its natural gas pipeline near Moore, Oklahoma, was impacted after a tornado struck the region late Monday. Earlier, the company said in a website posting that it declared force majeure after it isolated most of line segment 340 near Cement, Oklahoma, adding that several receipt points would be unavailable until further notice. In a release on Tuesday, Southern Star said its crews immediately isolated the impacted pipeline segment, depressurized the line and blew the gas from the line.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 3 foreign companies invest in U.S. LNG export project NewsOK.com Mitsui and Mitsubishi of Japan, and GDF Suez of France each plan to take a stake in a gas export plant being developed at Hackberry, La., the New York Times reports. International companies, responding to a ravenous global appetite for natural gas, particularly in Japan and Europe, want access to shale gas from the United States, which has emerged as an important new source over the last few years.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Flash Fire at Pipeline Station in WV Kills 1, Injures 3 Others marcellusdrilling.com A flash fire at a "pig receiving station" along a Eureka Hunter pipeline near Wick (Tyler County), WV last Thursday evening seriously injured three people requiring they be airlifted to Pittsburgh. A fourth person was taken to a local hospital. Sadly, one of the seriously injured workers, 56-year-old Bruce Phipps of Marietta, Ohio, died late Friday night. Pipeline Inspection Gauges (or Pigs) are used for pipeline cleaning, inspection and maintenance, and fluid batching in pipelines. A pig is pushed along the inside of a pipeline by the flow of liquid or gas. A pig launching station is used to insert the pig into a pipeline using a series of valves and hatches. The pig is pushed through the pipeline by the liquid or gas stream to the pig receiving station  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Statement from Governor Quinn on House Committee Passage of Senate Bill 1715, the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Act enewspf.com Press Release SPRINGFIELD--(ENEWSPF)--May 21, 2013. Governor Pat Quinn today released the following statement regarding the Illinois House Executive Committee’s passage of Senate Bill 1715 – the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Act. “Many months ago I directed my staff to bring together a coalition of legislators, labor, industry and advocates to develop a hydraulic fracturing bill that would set a new national standard for environmental protection and job creation potential. “Today, I commend the members of the Illinois House Executive Committee who voted to put this proposal on the path to becoming law in Illinois.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 ERCB Releases Hydraulic Fracturing Directive market wired CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - May 21, 2013) - The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) has today issued Directive 083: Hydraulic Fracturing - Subsurface Integrity (Directive 083) following a two-month stakeholder consultation period. The release of ERCB Directive 083 represents a notable enhancement to existing regulatory oversight and monitoring as resources development continues and technology adapts.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Dow Endorses DOE's LNG Export Decision - Analyst Blog Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/dow-endorses-does-lng-export-decision-analyst-blog-cm247618#ixzz2TyJ8advL NASDAQ.com Dow Chemical ( DOW ) has supported the decision made by the Department of Energy (DOE) regarding export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The DOE has conditionally authorized Freeport LNG Expansion, L.P. and FLNG Liquefaction LLC to export domestically produced LNG to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S from the Freeport LNG Terminal in Texas   [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Moniz: LNG exports on hold until data reviewed AP via Galveston Daily News Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday he will delay final decisions on about 20 applications to export liquefied natural gas until he reviews studies by the Energy Department and others on what impact the exports would have on domestic natural gas supplies and prices.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Pacific NorthWest LNG awards design and engineering contract TheNorthernView.com Shaun Thomas Pacific Northwest LNG took the next step toward an export terminal island on Lelu Island earlier this week with the awarding of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract. The contract, which will see three firms working together to design the terminal and work on feasibility studies in the Port Edward area, were awarded to Bechtel, a KBR/JGC joint venture, and a Technip/Samsung Engineering/China Huanqiu joint venture.  [Full Story] May 21, 2013 Ohio Utica Shale The big lie on natural gas exports ohio.com Jim Mackinnon Carl Pope, the former head of the Sierra Club, isn't buying into the arguments that exporting shale-derived natural gas is in the best interest of the nation or consumers. He argues against exporting energy at the Energy Experts Blog at NationalJournal.com  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 The Big Lie on Gas Exports energynationaljournal.com Carl Pope Last week the Department of Energy gave approval to the Freeport LNG export terminal. Combined with an earlier approval at Sabine Pass, the US has now committed the first 2.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas it produces each day over the next 20 years to foreign consumers – because under these LNG contracts exporters will be able to offer higher prices than any domestic user, regardless of the price of gas that results. These two terminals alone will divert enough energy to replace a half million barrels a day of oil. You may find these facts surprising, even implausible. I don’t blame you. You have been massively misled.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Scientists find new tools for tracing fracking impacts Scranton Times-Tribune Laura Legere Researchers in the Rice University chemistry professor's laboratory have developed nanoparticles that will flow with the fluid used to hydraulically fracture oil and gas wells, slip through rocks and travel wherever the water ends up - in a holding pond at the surface, a tanker on the highway or, in a worst-case scenario, a nearby drinking water well.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Does the US need federal fracking regulations? Christian Science Monitor The U.S. Energy Department last week said it gave conditional authority for a facility in Texas to eventually export liquefied natural gas. New drilling technologies mean the United States could become a natural gas export leader, though opponents of LNG say that's likely to lead to more hydraulic fracturing. Last week, the government published more than 100 pages of documents that spell out what it sees as the way forward for hydraulic fracturing. The Interior Department said it took a "common sense" approach to the debate, though both sides of the argument have expressed concern.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Fracking boom triggers water battle in North Dakota NBC News Ernest Scheyder Reuters It's not that they lack water, like Texas and California. They are swimming in it, and it is free for the taking. Yet as the state's Bakken shale fields have grown, so has the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Proposed federal fracking rules weaker than in previous draft Market Watch Claudia Assis Draft rules on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are weaker than in a previous draft and signal the Obama administration’s “accommodative” approach to unconventional oil and gas exploration and production, analysts at the Eurasia Group said in a note Monday.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 EU energy chief says EU to look at fracking this year Reuters (Reuters) - Environmental concerns over the practice of hydraulic fracturing to tap shale gas will be on the European Union's agenda this year, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told a German newspaper.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Fracking and its effects on public health still debatable Some argue fracking is making them sick 7 News Russell Haythorn DENVER - It's the biggest environmental debate in Colorado right now: fracking. But the effects on nearby residents are still unclear.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Marcellus Shale fracking: Is well water really clean? Futurity B. Rose Huber U. PITTSBURGH (US) — No proof of groundwater contamination in Pennsylvania from hydrofracking doesn’t guarantee the water’s clean. More monitoring is needed to know for sure, experts say.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Tight gas still uses fracking methods Gippsland Times Dan Caffre Tight gas is still an unconventional gas and the gas will not flow unless hydraulic fracturing (fracking) processes are applied.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 VENTURA COUNTY LOOKS AT LAND USE PERMITS TO REGULATE FRACKING Ventura County Star Kathleen Wilson Ventura County supervisors Tuesday are poised to consider steps to regulate hydraulic fracturing. Last month, the Board of Supervisors discussed land use permits as a way to regulate the oil industry practice known as fracking. But the proposals from Supervisors Steve Bennett and Linda Parks on Tuesday’s board agenda represent the first move in that direction.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Shades of Texas Law Seen in Proposed Federal Fracking Guidlines State Impact TX MOSE BUCHELE Well, the rules may have more to do with Texas than you may think. Particularly in their reliance on the online database FracFocus.org to disclose what chemicals drillers are pumping into the ground.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 President enrages greens with new fracking rules Akron Beacon Journal JIM MACKINNON The Obama administration may be softening its stance on fracking, writes Walter Russell Mead at his blog, Via Meadia. Mead: "The Interior Department has just released long-awaited revisions to proposed rules governing fracking on federal land. The new rules are meant to replace a thirty-year-old set of regulations that are now hopelessly out of step with current technology.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Bill would ban importing frack waste Legislative Gazette Jessica String Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk is proposing a bill that would ban hydraulic fracturing waste from being shipped into the state for processing and disposal.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 The Big Story That Happened In His Backyard Huffington Post ANGELA MONTEFINISE When veteran news reporter Tom Wilber first started covering the development of hydraulic fracturing in upstate New York, he thought it was just an average story on his beat for a Binghamton newspaper.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 API wants desks cleared of LNG export plans UPI The U.S. Department of Energy needs to ensure that remaining requests for licenses for liquefied natural gas exports get approved, the API said.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Fracking and women’s health Shalereporter Miranda Spencer One of the most talked about headlines last week was Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a preventative double mastectomy. Although she is otherwise healthy, she carries a “faulty gene,” called BRCA 1, that puts her at unusually high risk for breast cancer. Gorgeous movie star, globe-trotting humanitarian, mother of six -- Ms. Jolie is not your average woman. Her health dilemma is also atypical: only 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancer cases have a genetic link. For the other 90 percent of us, prevention means avoiding the risks we can control through personal lifestyle choices. It also means keeping toxic substances linked to breast cancer out of the environment through public policy.   [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Paper: Drilling damage in 161 Pa. water supplies AP via Shalereporter SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Oil and gas development damaged the water supplies of at least 161 Pennsylvania homes, farms, churches and businesses between 2008 and the fall of 2012, according to state records obtained by a newspaper.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Wyo. groundwater test proposal gets good reviews AP via Shale Reporter CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Gov. Matt Mead's proposal to require groundwater testing at oil and gas drilling sites has gotten good reviews from environmental advocates, landowners and industry representatives. Mead released a state energy policy on Monday that includes baseline groundwater testing before drilling occurs.   [Full Story] May 20, 2013 OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Moniz era to begin as Senate weighs exports The Hill Ben Geman and Zack Colman ON TAP TUESDAY: The formal changing of the guard at the Energy Department. Ernest Moniz will be sworn in as Energy secretary in the department’s cafeteria Tuesday, several days after winning Senate approval on May 16. Moniz, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist, begins with bipartisan endorsement after his 97-0 confirmation. Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/300819-overnight-energy-moniz-era-begins-at-doe-as-senate-weighs-gas-exports#ixzz2TvP1BphE Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 More LNG export permits likely this year: Morgan Stanley Market Watch Claudia Assis The Department of Energy is likely to approve additional permits this year to companies looking to export liquefied natural gas more broadly, Morgan Stanley said in a note Monday. Freeport LNG on Friday received DOE approval to export LNG to countries without a free trade agreement with the U.S.. Only one other project — Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass — has been granted that coveted permit.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Fracking wastewater still in the market for a solution Pittsburgh Business Times Anya Litvak Every time a new frackwater treatment technology comes to town, I wonder: isn't this market saturated? Isn't all the wastewater recycling an indication that producers have found their preferred solutions? And every time the companies pushing those technologies sound an emphatic no to both. And even to the recycling part.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Fracking ban back before Fort Collins City Council cpoloradoan.com Kevin Duggan The ability of the lone oil production company operating within Fort Collins city to drill and frack new wells is back in the hands of the Fort Collins City Council. Council members on Tuesday are scheduled to vote on two items that would affect Prospect Energy’s activities in the northeast corner of city limits, including whether it could explore for oil and gas on land near the Anheuser-Busch brewery.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 New York Landowners Sue Norse Energy USA Over Leases Dow Jones Newswires Eighty-nine New York landowners who once agreed to let Norse Energy Corp. USA drill for natural gas on their property have filed a lawsuit against the struggling company, arguing that its executives have unfairly extended the life of their lease agreements using a legal clause meant for natural disasters and terrorist attacks.   [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Insight: The fight for North Dakota's fracking-water market Reuters Ernest Scheyder Reuters) - In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting." It's not that they lack water, like Texas and California. They are swimming in it, and it is free for the taking. Yet as the state's Bakken shale fields have grown, so has the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 New Draft Fracking Rules Give Industry a Free Pass The Energy Collective Frances Beinecke Now the Bureau of Land Management has issued woefully inadequate rules for fracking on public lands. The current draft rules are even weaker than a previous draft leaked several months ago, and they read like an industry wish list. They could exempt huge tracts of state and tribal lands from the safeguards. They offer only weak chemical disclosure requirements that would make it hard for homeowners or medical professionals to find out all the chemicals being used in fracking operations. And they ignore key areas of health and environmental concern like the huge wastewater pits have been known to leak toxic and radioactive materials.  [Full Story] May 20, 2013 Obama Admin. Approves ALEC Model Bill for Fracking Chemical Fluid Disclosure on Public Lands DeSmog Blog On May 16, the Obama Interior Department announced its long-awaited rules governing hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") on federal lands. As part of its 171-page document of rules, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the U.S. Dept. of Interior (DOI), revealed it will adopt the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bill written by ExxonMobil for fracking chemical fluid disclosure on U.S.   [Full Story] May 20, 2013 New York Landowners Sue Norse Energy USA Over Leases Rigzone Dow Jones Newswires Eighty-nine New York landowners who once agreed to let Norse Energy Corp. USA drill for natural gas on their property have filed a lawsuit against the struggling company, arguing that its executives have unfairly extended the life of their lease agreements using a legal clause meant for natural disasters and terrorist attacks.  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Oil industry eyes South Florida again Bradenton Herald CURTIS MORGAN The oil industry is primed for resurgence in Southwest Florida.   [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Sunday Times review of DEP drilling records reveals water damage, murky testing methods The Times-Tribune LAURA LEGERE First of two parts State environmental regulators determined that oil and gas development damaged the water supplies for at least 161 Pennsylvania homes, farms, churches and businesses between 2008 and the fall of 2012, according to a cache of nearly 1,000 letters and enforcement orders written by Department of Environmental Protection officials and obtained by The Sunday Times. The determination letters are sent to water supply owners who ask state inspectors to investigate whether oil and gas drilling activities have polluted or diminished the flow of water to their wells. View interactive map:  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Gas Drilling Complaints Map The Times-Tribune The drilling complaints map reflects the results of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection investigations at nearly 1,000 properties where water supply owners suspected oil and gas drilling activities polluted or diminished the flow of water to their wells between 2008 and fall 2012.  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Natural gas export plans stir debate Midland Reporter-Telegram Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking.   [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Tar sands exploitation would mean game over for climate, warns leading scientist The Guardian Damian Carrington Major international oil companies are buying off governments, according to the world's most prominent climate scientist, Prof James Hansen. During a visit to London, he accused the Canadian government of acting as the industry's tar sands salesman and "holding a club" over the UK and European nations to accept its "dirty" oil.  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 6,000 Homes Crumbling in the Groningen Gas Fields, Netherlands Fire Earth Europe’s largest gas field: The Dutch earthquake zone Earthquakes are becoming more intense and more frequent in northern Netherlands, as energy companies continue to extract natural gas at increasing rates, said a report.  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Could fracking in China be a climate game changer? CNN World We have been thinking about an idea in the opinion pages of the New York Times to tackle one of the great challenges of our times: cutting carbon emissions to slow down climate change. It would result in the single largest reduction of CO2 emissions globally of any feasible idea out there. But there are a couple of hitches. Let's explain. Here's the idea: it's time to help China master fracking safely.  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Report: Drilling damage in 161 Pa. water supplies Press Connects Associated Press SCRANTON, PA. — Oil and gas development damaged the water supplies of at least 161 Pennsylvania homes, farms, churches and businesses between 2008 and the fall of 2012, according to state records obtained by a newspaper. The (Scranton) Times-Tribune first requested the records in late 2011 under the Right to Know law, but the Department of Environmental Protection mounted legal challenges and didn’t release the records until late last year.   [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Industry uncertain as court upholds right to ban fracking Times Herald-Record It sure seems like the recent appeals court decision affirming the right of New York towns to ban fracking is a huge victory for those opposed to the natural gas extraction method of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking...But the most profound implication of the decision that upheld bans in the upstate towns of Middlefield and Dryden might be that the gas industry may feel drilling in New York is just not worth the risk.  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Sunday Times review of DEP drilling records reveals water damage, murky testing methods Scranton Times-Tribune Laura Legere State environmental regulators determined that oil and gas development damaged the water supplies for at least 161 Pennsylvania homes, farms, churches and businesses between 2008 and the fall of 2012, according to a cache of nearly 1,000 letters and enforcement orders written by Department of Environmental Protection officials and obtained by The Sunday Times.  [Full Story] May 19, 2013 Natural Gas Rises 5% From Week Ago as U.S. Approves LNG Exports Bloomberg Chou Hui Hong Natural gas futures extended gains after the U.S. conditionally approved a Texas liquefied natural gas project.  [Full Story] May 18, 2013 Not Your Grandpa's RV: This Roving Lab Tracks Air Pollution WNYC Richard Harris If you're driving down the road someday and you come across a camper with a 50-foot periscope sticking up into the sky, you just might have crossed paths with Ira Leifer. His quirky vehicle is on a serious mission. It's sniffing the air for methane, a gas that contributes to global warming.  [Full Story] May 18, 2013 Energy Dept. backs Texas LNG export plan Seattle Times The Energy Department on Friday conditionally approved a Texas company's proposal to export liquefied natural gas, only the second such project allowed to move forward amid a production boom that has led to glut of domestic natural gas.  [Full Story] May 18, 2013 Drilling Output Doubles In Ohio But some experts wonder how long the boom can last The Intelligencer COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Officials say drilling in Ohio's Utica Shale region nearly doubled the output of oil and natural gas there since 2011, although some industry experts remain cautious about the long-term potential for production. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday that the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the shale region of eastern Ohio increased the oil output year-over-year by 93 percent and the natural gas output by 80 percent in that time.  [Full Story] May 18, 2013 Friday Trash Dump: Obama DOE Approves 2nd Fracked Gas LNG Export Terminal DeSmogBlog Steve Horn Friday is the proverbial "take out the trash day" for the release of bad news among public relations practioners and this Friday was no different. In that vein, yesterday the Obama Department of Energy (DOE) announced a conditional approval of the second-ever LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal. LNG is the super-chilled final product of gas obtained - predominatly in today's context - via the controversial hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") process taking place within shale deposits located throughout the U.S. Fracked gas is shipped from the multitude of domestic shale basins in pipelines to various coastal LNG terminals, and then sent on LNG tankers to the global market. The name of the terminal: Freeport LNG. Freeport LNG is 50-percent owned by ConocoPhillips and located in Freeport, Texas, an hour-long car ride south of Houston. The export facility is the second one approved by the Obama DOE, with the first one - the Sabine Pass terminal, owned by Cheniere and located in Sabine Pass, Louisiana - approved in May 2011.   [Full Story] May 18, 2013 US eases natural gas glut with second export terminal (+video) Christian Science Monitor David J. Unger The US Department of Energy approved Friday the country's first liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal since 2011. It's a shift in policy that opens up America's newfound – and vast – natural gas resources to world markets. Advocates say they will improve the US trade balance and provide a boost for the natural gas industry, creating more jobs. The announcement is also a boost to key US allies, especially Japan, which has been lobbying the Obama administration to allow LNG exports as it transitions away from nuclear power.  [Full Story] May 18, 2013 DOE Approves Second Fracked Gas LNG Export Terminal EcoWatch Steve Horn In that vein, yesterday the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a conditional approval for the second-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal.   [Full Story] May 18, 2013 Fracking the Suburbs: An Explosive Combination? Truthout Peter Pearsall As rural deposits of fossil fuel grow fewer and farther between, extractive industries are increasingly siting their operations over the next best location: suburban neighborhoods. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the Marcellus shale formation beneath parts of the Midwest and Appalachia contains literally trillions of cubic feet of natural gas—the most accessible of which often lies beneath residential neighborhoods.  [Full Story] May 18, 2013 Climate Warnings, Growing Louder The New York Times Editorial The news that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, the most important global warming gas, have hit 400 parts per million for the first time in millions of years increases the pressure on President Obama to deliver on his pledges to limit this country’s greenhouse gas emissions.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Impact of Shale Gas Development on Regional Water Quality Science Magazine R. D. Vidic, S. L. Brantley, J. . Vandenbossche, D. Yoxtheimer, J. D. Abad Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing make the extraction of tightly bound natural gas from shale formations economically feasible. These technologies are not free from environmental risks, however, especially those related to regional water quality, such as gas migration, contaminant transport through induced and natural fractures, wastewater discharge, and accidental spills.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 A Black Mound of Canadian Oil Waste Is Rising Over Detroit New York Times IAN AUSTEN WINDSOR, Ontario — Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they’ve been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River. Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada’s oil sands boom. And no one knows quite what to do about it, except Koch Carbon, which owns it. The company is controlled by Charles and David Koch, wealthy industrialists who back a number of conservative and libertarian causes including activist groups that challenge the science behind climate change. The company sells the high-sulfur, high-carbon waste, usually overseas, where it is burned as fuel. The coke comes from a refinery alongside the river owned by Marathon Petroleum, which has been there since 1930. But it began refining exports from the Canadian oil sands — and producing the waste that is sold to Koch — only in November. “What is really, really disturbing to me is how some companies treat the city of Detroit as a dumping ground,” said Rashida Tlaib, the Michigan state representative for that part of Detroit. “Nobody knew this was going to happen.” Almost 56 percent of Canada’s oil production is from the petroleum-soaked oil sands of northern Alberta, more than 2,000 miles north. An initial refining process known as coking, which releases the oil from the tarlike bitumen in the oil sands, also leaves the petroleum coke, of which Canada has 79.8 million tons stockpiled. Some is dumped in open-pit oil sands mines and tailing ponds in Alberta. Much is just piled up there. Detroit’s pile will not be the only one. Canada’s efforts to sell more products derived from oil sands to the United States, which include transporting it through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, have pulled more coking south to American refineries, creating more waste product here. Marathon Petroleum’s plant in Detroit processes 28,000 barrels a day of the oil sands bitumen. Residents on both sides of the Detroit River are concerned that the coke mountain is both an environmental threat and an eyesore. “Here’s a little bit of Alberta,” said Brian Masse, one of Windsor’s Parliament members. “For those that thought they were immune from the oil sands and the consequences of them, we’re now seeing up front and center that we’re not.” Mr. Masse wants the International Joint Commission, the bilateral agency that governs the Great Lakes, to investigate the pile. Michigan’s state environmental regulatory agency has submitted a formal request to Detroit Bulk Storage, the company holding the material for Koch Carbon, to change its storage methods. Michigan politicians and environmental groups have also joined cause with Windsor residents. Paul Baltzer, a spokesman for Koch’s parent company, Koch Companies Public Sector, did not respond to questions about its storage or the ultimate destination of the petroleum coke. Coke, which is mainly carbon, is an essential ingredient in steelmaking as well as producing the electrical anodes used to make aluminum. While there is high demand from both those industries, the small grains and high sulfur content of this petroleum coke make it largely unusable for those purposes, said Kerry Satterthwaite, a petroleum coke analyst at Roskill Information Services, a commodities analysis company based in London. “It is worse than a byproduct,” Ms. Satterthwaite said.“It’s a waste byproduct that is costly and inconvenient to store, but effectively costs nothing to produce.” Murray Gray, the scientific director for the Center for Oil Sands Innovation at the University of Alberta, said that about two years ago, Alberta backed away from plans to use the petroleum coke as a fuel source, partly over concerns about greenhouse-gas emissions. Some of it is burned there, however, to power coking plants. The Keystone XL pipeline will provide Gulf Coast refineries with a steady supply of diluted bitumen from the oil sands. The plants on the coast, like the coking refineries concentrated in California to deal with that state’s heavy crude oil, are positioned to ship the waste to China or Mexico, where it is burned as a fuel. California exports about 128,000 barrels of petroleum coke a day, mainly to China. Tony McCallum, a spokesman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, played down the impact of Keystone XL. “Most of the Canadian oil earmarked for the U.S. Gulf Coast is to replace declining heavy oil imports from Mexico and Venezuela that produces the same amount of petcoke, so it doesn’t create a new issue,” he wrote in an e-mail. Much of the new coking investment has gone into refineries in the Midwest to allow them to take advantage of the oil sands. BP, the British energy company, is building what it describes as the second-largest coke refinery in Whiting, Ind. When completed, the unit will be able to process about 102,000 barrels of bitumen or other heavy oils a day. And what about the leftover coke? The Environmental Protection Agency will no longer allow any new licenses permitting the burning of petroleum coke in the United States. But D. Mark Routt, a staff energy consultant at KBC Advanced Technologies in Houston, said that overseas companies saw it as a cheap alternative to low-grade coal. In China, it is used to generate electricity, adding to that country’s air-quality problems. There is also strong demand from India and Latin America for American petroleum coke, where it mainly fuels cement-making kilns. “I’m not making a value statement, but it comes down to emission controls,” Mr. Routt said. “Other people don’t seem to have a problem, which is why it is going to Mexico, which is why it is going to China.” “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” he said. One of the world’s largest dealers of petroleum coke is the Oxbow Corporation, which sells about 11 million tons of fuel-grade coke a year. It is owned by William I. Koch, a brother of David and Charles. Lorne Stockman, who recently published a study on petroleum coke for the environmental group Oil Change International, says, “It’s really the dirtiest residue from the dirtiest oil on earth,” he said. Rhonda Anderson, an organizing representative of the Sierra Club in Detroit, said that the mountain’s rise took her group by surprise, but it had one benefit. “Those piles kind of hit us upside to the head,” she said. “But it also triggered a kind of relationship between Canada and the United States that’s allowed us to work together.”  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Fracking the Suburbs: An Explosive Combination? Nation of Change Peter Pearsall As oil and gas get harder to find, the industry is drilling in suburbia—and the neighbors aren’t pleased. As rural deposits of fossil fuel grow fewer and farther between, extractive industries are increasingly siting their operations over the next best location: suburban neighborhoods. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the Marcellus shale formation beneath parts of the Midwest and Appalachia contains literally trillions of cubic feet of natural gas—the most accessible of which often lies beneath residential neighborhoods. But Broadview Heights is in the midst of a transformation. In 2004, the Ohio legislature passed a law effectively stripping local municipalities of their right to regulate the permitting, spacing, and location of oil and gas wells. This led to a spate of small fracking operations cropping up inside neighborhoods, which in turn has led to the flight of some residents. More than 70 gas wells have been drilled here since 2005—in some instances without the notification of residents living just 600 feet away, according to Truthout. Broadview Heights, population 19,400, is just south of Cleveland. The small town seems to typify Midwestern suburbia: tree-lined streets, vaguely familiar housing developments of recent vintage, and a median household income of over $70,000—significantly more than the state average of $45,000. Residents include former Clevelanders seeking a more peaceful place to live, where raccoons, deer, and wild turkey can be seen in their backyards.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Four Examples from the Last Week Prove Obama Is Full of Hot Air on Climate Protection AlterNet Tara Lohan A lot has happened in the last week. The Earth hit the 400 parts per million CO2 threshold for the first time in human history. Scientists tell us this is bad news if we want to prevent runaway climate change. "If we continue to burn fossil fuels at accelerating rates, if we continue with business as usual, we will cross the 450 parts per million limit in a matter of maybe a couple decades," scientist Michael Mann told Democracy Now! "We believe that with that amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, we commit to what can truly be described as dangerous and irreversible changes in our climate." If you didn't know this already, we should be listening to Mann and to other scientists. I thought this was settled a long time ago, but someone keeps giving print space to climate deniers, so a new survey of 12,000 peer-reviewed studies on the climate was just completed and the not-so-shocking conclusion was this, as Mother Nature Network reports: Published this week in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the analysis shows an overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree that humans are a key contributor to climate change, while a "vanishingly small proportion" defy this consensus. Most of the climate papers didn't specifically address humanity's involvement -- likely because it's considered a given in scientific circles, the survey's authors point out -- but of the 4,014 that did, 3,896 shared the mainstream outlook that people are largely to blame.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Most homeowner's insurance policies would not cover damage from fracking Chicago Tribune Ilyce Glink & Samuel Tamkin Q: I've not seen fracking addressed in your column but I understand that doesn't mean you haven't! Most homeowners do not know their home insurance does not cover fracking, even if they have earthquake coverage, because it would be "man-made" earthquake/earth movement. Can you please comment on how homeowners can protect themselves? A: Thanks for your comment. Homeowners' insurance policies have been made "easier" to read in the last dozen or so years, but the terms and issues involved can still be complicated. Most homeowners know that if their home burns down, they can expect that their insurance company will cover them in one way or another. As with most issues that have to do with insurance, there are always limitations.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 New Draft Fracking Rules Give Industry a Free Pass Frances Beinecke’s Blog Frances Beinecke’s Blog When I talk to people who live near fracking operations, they often ask me the same question: “What is this doing to my drinking water?” Homeowners have shown me jugs of water from their kitchen sinks that look like rusty mud. One man said he could light his tap water on fire after energy companies put a drill pad in his neighborhood. Others tell me they worry their water is causing health problems for their families. People across the country share these concerns. From Pennsylvania to Texas to Colorado, residents see wastewater pits leak, smell chemicals in the air, or read the scientific research showing that fracking can contaminate water supplies and pose a host of other threats. No one should have to live with these dangers: we all want to keep our drinking water safe from dangerous chemicals and reckless industrial activity.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Fracking Fan Ernest Moniz Confirmed As U.S. Energy Secretary Earth Techling Beth Buczynski With a unanimous vote, the United States Senate confirmed MIT professor Ernest Moniz as the new secretary of the Department of Energy. Unlike Obama’s pick for head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Moniz received support from both sides of the aisle, with the only delay coming from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who was protesting Obama’s plan to cut funding from a project in his state. Moniz, who was an energy undersecretary in the Clinton administration, replaces Steven Chu, who served as energy secretary in Obama’s first term. Although his acceptance into the office was fairly conflict free, the new DOE secretary will face many challenges over the next few years, and his decisions will likely shape America’s energy future long beyond his tenure in office.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Environmental Advocates Urge Council to Pass Fracking Ban New Brunswick Patch Jennifer Bradshaw A number of Food & Water Watch supporters attended Wednesday's city council meeting to urge the council to adopt a five year ban on fracking in the city. Fracking was a hot topic at Wednesday's city council meeting, as many Food & Water Watch supporters urged the council to consider banning it in the city of New Brunswick. Hydraulic Fracturing, or "fracking" is a controversial mining technique in which chemically altered water is blasted at high pressure into rock to free up natural gas reserves.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Revised Proposal on Fracking Emphasizes Flexibility, Coordination With State Rules Bloomberg BNA Alan Kovski The Interior Department released a revised proposed rule May 16 to govern hydraulic fracturing as a part of oil and natural gas drilling on federal and Indian lands. The new proposal emphasizes integration with existing state and tribal standards, increases flexibility for oil and gas developers in testing a wellbore for integrity, and clarifies chemical disclosure requirements. Where state or tribal regulations meet or exceed federal standards, compliance could be achieved by meeting the state or tribal regulations. Interior's Bureau of Land Management would work with the state or tribal officials “to craft variances that would allow technologies, processes or standards required or allowed by the State or tribe to be accepted as compliance with the rule,” according to the proposed rule. The revised proposal, formally a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, will be subject to a 30-day public comment period after publication in the Federal Register.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 495: Hot In My Backyard This American Life- WBEZ Ira Glass After years of being stuck, the national conversation on climate change finally started to shift — just a little — last year, the hottest year on record in the U.S., with Hurricane Sandy flooding the New York subway, drought devastating Midwest farms, and California and Colorado on fire. Lots of people were wondering if global warming had finally arrived, here at home. This week, stories about this new reality.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 New Study: Fracking Hasn't Polluted Arkansas Water ABC News Kevin Begos Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas hasn't contaminated drinking water wells in Arkansas, according to a new study, but researchers said the geology there may be more of a natural barrier to pollution than in other areas where shale gas drilling takes place. The most passionate critics and supporters of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, often describe the process in extremes, suggesting it is either inherently dangerous for the environment or that it poses virtually no risk at all. But Avner Vengosh, a Duke University professor of geochemistry and water quality, said making generalizations about fracking in Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Colorado doesn't make scientific sense.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 New Fracking Rules Proposed for U.S. Land The New York Times JOHN M. BRODER WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Thursday issued a new set of proposed rules governing hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on public lands, moving further to address industry concerns about the costs and reporting burdens of federal regulation. The new Interior Departmentproposal, which is subject to 30 days of public comment and further revision, disappointed environmental advocates, who had pushed for full disclosure of the chemicals used in the drilling process and tougher standards for groundwater protection and well integrity. The new rule allows oil companies to keep some components of their drilling fluids secret and will allow them to run well integrity tests on one representative well rather than all wells in a field where the geology and well construction techniques are similar.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 What the frack do we know? Not much, it turns out Grist Richard Schiffman That footage helped ignite the grassroots movement against fracking, a controversial technology that shoots a slurry of water mixed with sand and laced with toxic chemicals into underground shale formations to shatter the rock and release natural gas. The only problem with this by-now-iconic image is that the faucet pyrotechnics may actually have been made possible by a natural phenomenon: The guy’s house is perched thousands of feet above a double seam of coal, according to the Colorado Department of Environmental Protection, and methane from underground coal and gas formations occasionally bubbles up through cracks in the earth and into people’s water wells — no fracking required. (Kids in Pennsylvania have apparently been torching their water for generations.) Then again, the flaming tapwater may indeed result from fracking in the Colorado man’s neighborhood. The point is, nobody knows. There are a lot of things about fracking that we don’t know. And a lot of what we think we know we don’t. Not yet, anyway. This is the unsettling conclusion of a major new study [PDF] published today in the journal Science.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Obama Administration Approves Second Gas Export Facility NPR State Impact PA MARIE CUSICK In a closely watched decision, the Obama Administration has approved a second terminal to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) overseas, according to the Washington Post: The Energy Department said Friday that it had given preliminary authorization to Freeport LNG Expansion L.P. and FLNG Liquefaction LLC to export up to 1.4 billion cubic feet per day of liquefied natural gas from its existing facility in Quintana Island, Texas. The Freeport project is a joint venture between ConocoPhillips and other private investors. Energy Department approval is needed for exports to countries with which the U.S. doesn’t have a free-trade agreement, a category that includes major trading partners in Europe and Asia. The project still requires final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Freeport terminal is the second export facility approved by the Obama administration. Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana won approval to export LNG to the non-FTA countries in May 2011. The push to export comes as the gas industry has seen a boom in shale production that has depressed prices in the U.S., while prices overseas remain high. The industry welcomed the news, but continued to press for more approvals.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Drilling and Fracking and the Environment Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University Dean Bill Chameides Water contamination depends on the local geology. Initial Fracking Study Found Contamination Back in May 2011 my Duke colleagues Avner Vengosh and Rob Jackson and other co-authors published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that caused a fracking firestorm or at least a media fracking-firestorm. The authors found evidence for methane contamination in residential drinking water wells in Pennsylvania and New York overlying the Marcellus shale formation. The contamination correlated strongly with proximity to drilling sites that used the controversial technique of horizontal drilling and hyrdrofracturing (or fracking), and isotopic data linked the contamination to shale gas — a link possibly due to direct communication of the gas from the deep shale but more likely due to faulty well casings that allowed gas to leak from the well into nearby local aquifers. (The possibility that faulty well casings and/or drilling practices may be a determining factor in causing drinking water contamination would appear to question the wisdom of the administration’s newly released rules for drilling on public lands, which only require testing a single well in an area.)  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 DOE gives green light to controversial natural gas export project The Hill Zack Coleman The Energy Department (DOE) on Friday approved a controversial application allowing liquefied natural-gas exports to nations that lack a free-trade agreement with the United States. The department gave the green light to Freeport LNG Expansion and FLNG Liquefaction’s proposal to send 1.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas overseas from a terminal on Quintana Island, Texas, for 25 years. The DOE said that project opponents “have not demonstrated that the requested authorization would be inconsistent with the public interest,” which is the standard proposals for exports to nations lacking a free-trade pact with the U.S. must satisfy.   [Full Story] May 17, 2013 US fuels role in global energy markets Financial Times Ed Crooks and Jonathan Soble High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/22516820-beca-11e2-a9d4-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2TadZKuUj The growing role of the US in world energy markets was underlined on Friday as the Obama administration approved wider exports of liquefied natural gas and international companies committed billions of dollars for new infrastructure. The developments were both consequences of the shale revolution in the US, in which improvements in the techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, have unlocked new supplies of oil and gas, and raised the prospect that the US will be an increasingly important supplier of energy to the rest of the world.   [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Cold War politics hang over EU shale gas revolution EU Observer Benjamin Fox BRUSSELS - The shale gas revolution has taken its time to arrive in Europe. But after years of watching the US plunge head-first into natural gas exploration and of reaping the rewards, Europe's politicians are now deciding whether to join in. Most of the political focus has been on potential economic benefits and the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" used in unconventional oil and gas drilling.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Fracking Might Be Worse for the Environment Than We Think Reports have debunked claims that fracking contaminates drinking water, but a new study says a lack of monitoring equipment may mask problems US News MEG HANDLEY Is hydraulic fracturing – a common, but controversial, technique used to extract oil and gas from shale rock – bad for the environment? If you're shrugging your shoulders, you're not alone. Studies on the potential impacts of fracking are released on what seems like a daily basis, some indicting the practice for potential groundwater contamination, and others hailing it as a godsend to relieve the nation of its energy woes. But we don't really know what the impact of hydraulic fracturing has on the environment, according to a new paper, published in Science magazine Thursday, that examines the potential effects of fracking on groundwater in Pennsylvania's Marcellus region. Because of the massive ramp up in production thanks to the discovery of massive deposits of oil and gas in shale formations across the country, the infrastructure and technology to track the effects of things like fracking haven't kept pace. That's why we don't exactly know the true impact of fracking.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Fracking may jeopardize Gros Morne UNESCO status CBC News Gros Morne National Park's status as a world heritage site may be in jeopardy due to plans for controversial oil exploration on Newfoundland's west coast, CBC News has learned. Black Spruce Exploration wants to use hydraulic fracturing — the so-called fracking process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth — to find oil and gas in Sally's Cove and other areas, which lie just a few hundred metres from the boundaries of the park. On its website, UNESCO describes the park as "a rare example of the process of continental drift, where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the Earth's mantle lie exposed. More recent glacial action has resulted in some spectacular scenery, with coastal lowland, alpine plateau, fjords, glacial valleys, sheer cliffs, waterfalls and many pristine lakes."  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 New fracking regulations upset just about everybody Christian Science Monitor David J. Unger Environmentalists and industry representatives are criticizing new draft regulations on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial drilling method that has helped spark an oil and gas boom. The shared discontent reflects the complexity of the debate surrounding hydraulic fracturing and natural gas use. New draft regulations on a controversial drilling method are drawing fire from both sides of the hydraulic fracturing debate. The technique, which involves injecting large amounts of water, sand, and chemicals into the ground to release oil and gas, has helped to spark a boom in US energy production. Environmentalists say the proposal by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) does not go far enough in overseeing "fracking" on public lands. Citing preexisting state regulations, oil and gas representatives say the federal oversight is redundant and curtails an industry that supports millions of jobs.   [Full Story] May 17, 2013 Fracking water banned from Debert sewers Atlantic Industrial Services asked to pour 4.5 million litres of treated water into system CBC Nova Scotia Nova Scotia's Colchester County is blocking a company’s plan to dump fracking waste water in the sewer in Debert, a system that is connected to the Bay of Fundy. An appeal committee has unanimously rejected the idea Thursday. The company, Atlantic Industrial Services, wanted permission to get rid of 4.5 million litres of fracking waste. The water is from drilling operations several years ago near Kennetcook in East Hants County. This ruling overturns a decision two months ago.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 US weakens fracking rules RT The federal government has proposed a new set of national fracking rules that would weaken disclosure requirements. The proposal allows ‘trade secrets’ to remain unknown from the public, which has distressed environmental groups. The US Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Thursday released its proposed update to hydraulic fracturing regulations, which would be the first update in three decades. The proposal would require companies to have a water-management plan for fluids that flow back to the surface. Fracking companies would be required to prevent toxic chemicals from leaking into groundwater. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced the new rules, calling them an initiative of a pro-energy Obama administration policy.  [Full Story] May 17, 2013 A New Model for Valuing Distributed Energy GreenTechMedia ADAM JAMES The process of valuing energy resources can be very complex. As a result, the current model for assessing value is a reflection of the assets that have traditionally populated the grid, such as large centralized power plants, sprawling transmission and distribution lines, and the inherent costs for operating and managing this system. The valuation model has been to compensate these big investments over long periods of time through consumer’s electricity bills.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 BLM Fracking Rule Violates New Executive Order on Open Data effectivegovernment.org Sofia Plagakis Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its revised proposed rule for natural gas drilling (commonly referred to as fracking) on federal and tribal lands. The much-anticipated rule violates President Obama's recently issued executive order that requires new government information to be made available to the public in open, machine-readable formats. Last week, President Obama signed an executive order requiring that all newly generated public data be pushed out in open, machine-readable formats. Concurrently, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released an Open Data Policy designed to make previously unavailable government data accessible to entrepreneurs, researchers, and the public.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 N.D. delegation opposed to proposed fracking rule Bismark Tribune Jessica Holdman The U.S. Department of the Interior is proposing a rule to require oil companies drilling on federal lands to publish chemicals used in fracking fluids, which North Dakota's congressional delegation says would interfere with state laws. "As North Dakota's own Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms accurately pointed out last week in the House Natural Resources Committee, it is simply not possible for the federal government to create its own standard on hydraulic fracturing without interfering with state and local laws," Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said in a statement. Cramer serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources, which will conduct additional oversight hearings on the proposed rule in June.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Range says Worstell impoundment at ‘low’ level Observer-Reporter Mike Jones the impoundment and used only sporadically, but one of the township supervisors who is pushing for more information continues to see trucks heading into the property from the Swihart Road entrance. The impoundment, which can’t be seen from the road, was pushed into the spotlight earlier this year when the state Department of Environmental Protection admitted a defective valve in a holding tank at the site caused 30 gallons of recycled wastewater to escape in November 2011. There also was a spike in the total amount of dissolved solids at the impoundment site last fall, although the DEP does not think the two events are connected, nor was the ground contaminated. That prompted Cecil Township officials to question how often the impoundment is used and whether it should continue to operate. Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella said the impoundment is still used, but not at the level when three wells were drilled at the site a few years ago.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 N.D. delegation opposed to proposed fracking rule Bismarck Tribune Jessica Holdman The U.S. Department of the Interior is proposing a rule to require oil companies drilling on federal lands to publish chemicals used in fracking fluids, which North Dakota’s congressional delegation says would interfere with state laws. “As North Dakota’s own Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms accurately pointed out last week in the House Natural Resources Committee, it is simply not possible for the federal government to create its own standard on hydraulic fracturing without interfering with state and local laws,” Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said in a statement. Cramer serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources, which will conduct additional oversight hearings on the proposed rule in June.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Quebec proposes law to ban fracking for five years Financial Post Canadian Press UEBEC — The Quebec government has tabled legislation which could impose a moratorium on exploration for shale gas in the St. Lawrence River valley during the next five years. The bill would prohibit drilling, hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — as well as injection tests. Environment Minister Yves-Francois Blanchet tabled the legislation in the national assembly on Wednesday. The moratorium would last for five years or until new regulations on shale gas exploration are in place.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 A thirst for cheap energy Shale Reporter Kimberley Sirk Summer's on the way – you can see it in the trees and hear it in the bird songs. Even with fluctuations in temperatures, and the rough winter still fresh in our collective memory, it's time for proof of April's showers to be seen in May's flowers. Last winter's onslaught of precipitation has not alleviated the partial drought conditions throughout much of the country. And with fracking taking hold seemingly everywhere, the thirst for cheap energy may soon give rise to a national thirst for clean water.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Solving the Case of California's Extra Methane Scientific American Stephanie Paige Ogburn and ClimateWire missing methane had to be coming from somewhere. Was it dairies? Landfills? Natural seeps? Oil and gas operations? Emissions of methane from the Los Angeles basin had been estimated in the mid-2000s as part of the state's landmark cap-and-trade bill, known as A.B. 32, which regulates emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas. But later measurements of the air in the region showed there was a lot more methane being emitted than was accounted for, more than a third as much. Where was this "missing" methane coming from? Methane has 20 times the global warming potency of CO2. If regulators could identify the source, they could also get those methane emitters to reduce the amount of the gas they release. Now, Jeff Peischl, an associate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, has solved this puzzle, outlining the sources of the missing methane in a paper published yesterday in the Journal of Geophysical Research. While methane in the Los Angeles basin comes from many sources, there are three main sectors responsible for the difference in what the state of California had estimated and what is actually being emitted. These are leaks from pipeline distribution systems, natural seeps from areas such as the La Brea Tar Pits and emissions from oil and gas drilling operations in the area.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 GreenHunter price structure encourages gas industry brine re-use The State Journal (WV) Pam Kasey The gas industry brine processing facility GreenHunter Water proposes to build and operate in Wheeling would, in a sense, pay operators to take their clean brine back out with them. It's a business model that's unintuitive at first. "You mean," an operator might ask, "I take my dirty brine to you, you filter it, and then you'll give me clean brine to use in my next hydraulic fracturing job — and pay me to take it?"   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 New Fracking Rule Issued By Interior On Public Land Huffington Post Matthew Daly WASHINGTON -- Companies that drill for oil and natural gas on federal lands will be required to disclose publicly the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations, the Obama administration said Thursday. The new "fracking" rule replaces a draft proposed last year that was withdrawn amid industry complaints that federal regulation could hinder an ongoing boom in natural gas production. The new draft rule relies on an online database used by Colorado and 10 other states to track the chemicals used in fracking operations. FracFocus.org is a website formed by industry and intergovernmental groups in 2011 that allows users to gather well-specific data on thousands of drilling sites. The proposed rule also sets standards for proper construction of wells and disposal of wastewater.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Fracking waste from other states shouldn't be allowed in New York, Sen. Cecelia Tkaczyk says (video) Daily Freeman Kyle Hughes ALBANY, N.Y. — State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk on Wednesday proposed banning the importation into New York of waste products produced by hydrofracking operations in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, said “tens of thousands of tons of hazardous wastes” from fracking operations are being shipped to New York for disposal in landfills or treatment in wastewater plants. “It simply makes no sense that we would accept hazardous wastes from other states while we are working to determine the environmental impact fracking would have on New York,” she said at a press conference held with environmental groups.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Obama administration issues draft fracking regulations Washington Post Steven Mufson The Obama administration drew sharp criticism from environmental and oil industry groups Thursday when it issued a new draft of regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands. Environmental groups said the new draft provided weaker water protections than a version the Interior Department proposed a year ago, while oil industry groups said they wanted regulation left in the hands of states and were opposed to any federal rules. In its first update of hydraulic fracturing regulations in three decades, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management would require wider disclosure of chemicals used in drilling. It would also require that companies have a water-management plan for fluids that flow back to the surface and take steps to assure wellbore integrity and prevent toxic fluids from leaking into groundwater.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 All Around The Country, Regulators Are Getting Bullied Over Fracking Business Insider Rob Wile More than four years after America's hydraulic fracturing boom kicked off, conflicts of interest between officials charged with regulating the controversial practice and the oil and gas industry remain widespread. Meanwhile, in-depth studies of fracking's effects on human health and the environment remain scant. Conflicts of interest and undue corporate influence among drilling regulators features prominently in "Gasland II," documentarian Josh Fox's follow-up to his high-profile 2010 film "Gasland." "Gasland II" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last month. While the problem has so far been limited to states experiencing shale booms, some are concerned it's set to rear it's head in Washington, where the Interior Department will this afternoon announce new regulations for fracking on federal lands.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Three fracking moratorium bills pass Assembly Committee Indy Bay Dan Bacher Despite intense political pressure by the oil industry, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee recently approved three bills proposing to halt fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a controversial method of oil and natural gas extraction, in California. Fracking opponents fear that increased water diversions destined for the peripheral tunnels proposed under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) will be used for expanding fracking in Monterey Shale deposits in the San Joaquin Valley and coastal areas. The construction of the tunnels is expected to hasten the extinction of Central Valley Chinook salmon, Delta smelt and other fish species. Richard Bloom’s A.B. 1301, Holly Mitchell’s A.B. 1323 and Adrin Nazarian’s A.B. 649 would place a moratorium on fracking while threats posed by the controversial practice to California’s environment and public health are studied, according to a news release from Food and Water Watch.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Energy future may be swamped in fracking wastewater, scientists warn NBC News John Roach The current boom in U.S. natural gas production from glassy shale rock formations is poised to usher in an era of energy independence and could bridge the gap between today's fossil-fuel age and a clean-energy future. But that future may be swamped in a legacy of wastewater, a new study suggests. Natural gas production is soaring thanks to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a technique that shoots several million gallons of water laced with chemicals and sand deep underground to break apart chunks of the glassy rock, freeing trapped gas to escape through cracks and fissures into wells. An average of 10 percent of this water flows back to the surface within a few weeks of the frack job. The rest is absorbed by the surrounding rock and mixes with briny groundwater, explained Radisav Vidic, a civil and environmental engineer at the University of Pittsburgh. "What happens to that water is a very good question," he told NBC News. "We would like to know how much of it stays in the shale, and for how long, and is there a potential for migration away from the well." Vidic led a review study of the scientific literature looking into these questions, which is published in Thursday's issue of the journal Science.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Fracking on Federal Lands Said to Get Scaled-Back Rule Proposal Bloomberg Jim Snyuder & Mark Drajem Gas drillers using hydraulic fracturing on federal lands would be able to use an industry-sponsored website to disclose the chemicals they use and won’t need to perform cement tests on each well, according to a revised proposal from the Interior Department set for release today. Drillers will be permitted to use a variety of methods to test the integrity of their wells, according to a fact sheet from the Interior Department, which was provided to Bloomberg by an outside representative. The rules are set to be announced at 3 p.m. Washington time.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Fracking poll reveals public discontent Pittsburgh Business Times Anya Litvak Have you seen the seemingly contradictory findings from a recent public opinion poll conducted by the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania. In a nutshell: 49 percent of Pennsylvanians support shale gas extraction, 59 percent would support a moratorium on fracking until "there is a fuller understanding of the possible risks," and 54 percent think benefits outweigh problems. But let's face it. A moratorium just isn't likely in Pennsylvania. So let's turn instead to some of the rest of this poll, which surveyed 424 Pennsylvanians by phone in late October. What emerges is a bleak picture of the public's confidence in its leaders, regulators, and, information providers.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Fearful of 'fracking,' Kent County township adopts moratorium on oil and gas drilling Michigan Live Jim Harger ROCKFORD, MI – Cannon Township Clerk Bonnie Blackledge said her township’s board is concerned enough about “fracking” to adopt the moratorium on oil and gas wells even though their attorney has told them a moratorium probably can’t be enforced,. Blackledge and her fellow township board members voted unanimously on Monday, May 13, to impose a six-month moratorium on oil and gas operations while they explore regulations that may not be covered by the Michigan Supervisor of Wells, who has exclusive jurisdiction of oil and gas wells. “From my own personal motivation, it’s extremely important that we protect the water in our community,” said Blackledge, who said her concerns are based on her fear that oil and gas wells may be completed by hydraulic fracturing.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Will the Colorado River Get Fracked? EcoWatch Gary Wockner Two months ago a story started ‘leaking’ out of Western Colorado about a fracked-gas pipeline break—loaded with cancer-causing benzene—with fluids heading toward and eventually into Parachute Creek which is a tributary to the Colorado River. As water wells close to the Creek started testing positive for benzene, and then as the Creek itself tested positive for benzene above drinking water standards, the news media started telling a story of how the Colorado River—a drinking water source for 35 million people across the Southwest U.S.—was threatened. As of this writing the leak is still not cleaned up and the creek is still testing positive for benzene.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Which States Use the Most Green Energy? Mother Jones Tim McDonnell Florida and Texas might be leading the nation's rollout of solar and wind power, respectively, but Washington, where hydroelectric dams provide over 60 percent of the state's energy, was the country's biggest user of renewable power in 2011, according to new statistics released last week by the federal Energy Information Administration. Hydro continued to be the overwhelmingly dominant source of renewable power consumed nationwide, accounting for 67 percent of the total, followed by wind with 25 percent, geothermal with 4.5 percent, and solar with 3.5 percent. The new EIA data is the latest official snapshot of how states nationwide make use of renewable power, from industrial-scale generation to rooftop solar panels, and reveals an incredible gulf between leaders like Washington, California, and Oregon, and states like Rhode Island and Mississippi that use hardly any.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Breaking: Interior Department Bows to Pressure from Oil and Gas Industry, Weakens Fracking Rules EcoWatch EcoWatch The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed an updated set of rules governing hydraulic fracturing, on public lands today. The controversial oil and gas development technique—in which drillers blast millions of gallons of chemically treated water into the earth to force oil and gas from underground deposits—has been linked to air and water pollution and public health problems. “Comparing today’s rule governing fracking on public lands with the one proposed a year earlier, it is clear what happened: the Bureau of Land Management caved to the wealthy and powerful oil and gas industry and left the public to fend for itself,” said Jessica Ennis, legislative representative at Earthjustice.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 All Around The Country, Regulators Are Getting Bullied Over Fracking Business Insider Rob Wile More than four years after America's hydraulic fracturing boom kicked off, conflicts of interest between officials charged with regulating the controversial practice and the oil and gas industry remain widespread. Meanwhile, in-depth studies of fracking's effects on human health and the environment remain scant. Conflicts of interest and undue corporate influence among drilling regulators features prominently in "Gasland II," documentarian Josh Fox's follow-up to his high-profile 2010 film "Gasland."   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Fire, possible explosion at Susquehanna gas compressor station thought to be accidental The Times-Tribune JOSEPH KOHUT Natural gas fire believed an accident Possible explosion investigated A fire and possible explosion at a Susquehanna County gas compressor station late Tuesday night remain under investigation but is thought to be an accident, a state police fire marshal said. At 11 p.m., flames lit up a Williams Partners LP gas compressor station on Turnpike Road in Brooklyn Twp. None of the 11 workers on site were injured, but a possible blast and the flames caused moderate damage to the station. The facility's automatic safety devices functioned properly and stemmed the flow of gas to the compressor station.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Proposed New Fracking Rules Draw Fire From Industry Wall Street Journal Tennille Tracy The Interior Department proposed relaxing some of the requirements it wants to impose on energy companies that conduct hydraulic fracturing on federal land, but the industry remains opposed to the new rules, saying they are unnecessary. The department said Thursday it is replacing a proposed rule issued in May 2012 with a new version that grants additional flexibility to oil and natural-gas companies. Among other things, the new proposal allows companies to employ more than one method to verify that a well has been properly cemented, whereas the earlier proposal required one specific test.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Uninvited and Unwelcome: First Nation Asks Enbridge to Leave Territory Following Botched Consultation Market Wired HARTLEY BAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA- The Gitga'at First Nation has instructed Enbridge to leave its territory after the company and a team of oil spill response surveyors showed-up uninvited, during the nation's annual food harvesting camp, a time of rich cultural activity and knowledge sharing.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 High US Methane Levels Found in Cross-Country Drive Yahoo News Douglas Main The findings could have implications for dealing with global warming."Methane is the strongest human greenhouse gas on a political or short timescale, and also has more bang for the buck in terms of addressing climate change," said Leifer. "This research supports other recent findings suggesting that fugitive emissions from fossil-fuel industrial activity actually are the largest methane source. This clearly indicates a need for efforts to focus on reducing these methane emissions."  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Wyoming lawmakers grappling with 1,200 orphaned coal-bed methane wells Casper Star Tribune Adam Vogue GILLETTE — Some state legislators, officials and interest group representatives spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday morning wrestling with a mounting problem in northeast Wyoming — orphaned coal-bed methane wells. At the state Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee meeting in Gillette, state lawmakers heard testimony about the state’s 1,200 orphaned or abandoned wells — basically, wells that have not been plugged and reclaimed appropriately. “We’ve been presented with this topic a couple of times,” said Rep. Jim Byrd, D-Cheyenne. “If I remember correctly, the first presentation was that this has the potential to happen. Now I’m hearing it has happened.” Legislators took testimony on the issue from industry representatives, a landowner group and one of the state’s biggest landowners, Anadarko Petroleum Company. Anadarko and a representative of Powder River Energy Corporation each told the panel of lawmakers that sales of coal-bed methane have dropped precipitously since about 2009. Anadarko said the drop was, in part, because the gas field in the Powder River Basin was mostly played out, with the company having explored about 95 percent of all its economically viable opportunities in the area.   [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Energy future may be swamped in fracking wastewater, scientists warn NBC NEWS John Roach The current boom in U.S. natural gas production from glassy shale rock formations is poised to usher in an era of energy independence and could bridge the gap between today's fossil-fuel age and a clean-energy future. But that future may be swamped in a legacy of wastewater, a new study suggests. Natural gas production is soaring thanks to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a technique that shoots several million gallons of water laced with chemicals and sand deep underground to break apart chunks of the glassy rock, freeing trapped gas to escape through cracks and fissures into wells. An average of 10 percent of this water flows back to the surface within a few weeks of the frack job. The rest is absorbed by the surrounding rock and mixes with briny groundwater, explained Radisav Vidic, a civil and environmental engineer at the University of Pittsburgh.  [Full Story] May 16, 2013 Interior Releases Updated Draft Rule for Hydraulic Fracturing on Public and Indian Lands for Public Comment Commonsense Measure Will Support Safe and Responsible Production of America’s Domestic Energy Resources Dept of Interior Press Release WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above strategy to support safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior today announced the release of an updated draft proposal that would establish commonsense safety standards for hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands. Following the release of an initial draft proposal in 2012, Interior received extensive feedback, including over 177,000 public comments that helped inform today’s updated draft proposal. The new proposal maintains important safety standards, improves integration with existing state and tribal standards, and increases flexibility for oil and gas developers. The updated draft proposal will be subject to a new 30-day public comment period.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Does Pennsylvania’s Shale Gas Have Too Much Radon In It? State Impact PA Marie Cusick The latest concern from some New York City residents is that the shale gas they receive from Pennsylvania contains higher levels of radon — an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas, that’s responsible for more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths every year.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 US House Republicans release bills for more oil, gas drilling Platts US House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled two new bills aimed at opening more federal lands to oil and natural gas drilling and reforming federal lease sales. The Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act, (H.R. 1965), which was introduced by Representative Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Republican, is aimed at reforming the federal lease process for oil and gas projects on federal lands. The bill, which would require faster permitting and set new rules for shale development, is needed since the Obama administration "has repeatedly blocked and delayed the development of energy on federal lands," Lamborn said.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Methane Emissions Higher Than Thought Across Much of U.S. Science Daily May 15, 2013 — After taking a rented camper outfitted with special equipment to measure methane on a cross-continent drive, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has found that methane emissions across large parts of the U.S. are higher than currently known, confirming what other more local studies have found. Their research is published in the journal Atmospheric Environment. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, stronger than carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, though on a century timescale, carbon dioxide is far stronger. "This research suggests significant benefits to slowing climate change could result from reducing industrial methane emissions in parallel with efforts on carbon dioxide," said Ira Leifer, a researcher with UCSB's Marine Science Institute.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 The future of fracking in East Tennessee WBIR John Henry (WBIR - Knoxville) The debate over fracking continues in East Tennessee as UT moves forward with its proposal to bring the controversial energy extraction process to the Cumberland Forest. The University of Tennessee has considered the idea of fracking the 8,300-acre Cumberland Forest, which lays in Morgan and Scott Counties, since at least 2001. But, the process is not new to Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation say it has been performed in the state since the 1960s. Fracking, which is formally known as hydraulic fracturing, uses highly pressurized gases and liquids to crack rocks beneath the Earth's surface. "It means putting anything in down a well under pressure that will make the rock strata where your trying to get gas or oil, whatever you're looking for, crack or fissure so it will let gas or oil come up the well more easily," said Jonathon Burr, TDEC biologist.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 How frack waste will travel The Chronicle DAMASCUS — These maps from a permit application by XTO Energy, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp., were made available by the Damascus Citizens for Sustainability to show transportation plans for fracking wastes across upstate New York and their proximity to New York's reservoirs. The first map shows the path that radioactive drill cuttings will take across New York's southern tier. The cuttings, produced during well drilling in the Marcellus Shale and other deep shale formations, consist of the soil, rock particles, other soil like solids and drilling fluid residues generated from the drilling of wells.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Hundreds take part in anti frack camp Lancaskire Evening Post staff Protesters are taking part in a weekend vigil against fracking in Lancashire. Environmental campaigners, have set up camp in Mere Brow near Tarleton. Camp Frack has been devised by organisers to highlight what they believe are the dangers of fracking. During the weekend they will be promoting alternatives such as wind turbines The company behind planned fracking in the county, Cuadrilla Resources, has four sites in the county - Weeton, Singleton, St Annes and Banks. The firm says there is not any exploration work being carried out in the county.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Dems pick Republican to run for county board The Daily Star Joe Mahoney The Otsego County Democratic Committee has found a candidate to oppose county Board of Representatives Chairwoman Kathleen Clark, R-Otego — and he’s a Republican, at least for now. Stuart Anderson, a 59-year-old retired state worker from Otego and activist in the local movement against shale gas drilling, confirmed Tuesday that he will run against Clark this year, and will be changing his party registration to Democratic. “The county is really the front line of government,” Anderson said. “They’re the ones that actually do the work. The state creates, and the counties carry it out.” While he took no direct shots at Clark, Anderson said, “She’s been doing it for several terms, and I have just felt that the county board has been representing certain parts of our electorate and not really representing other parts. I’m just looking to change things around so we get a little more effective representation.”  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Fire erupts in gas compressor station WBNG Chelsea Bishop & Dave Greber Fire erupts in gas compressor station NTSB pushing for stricter alcohol limits Honoring business owners who make a difference State aid keeps programs in tact at SV One last look before budget vote Work all day, play all night Front Street gateway gets the greenlight Relief in sight for homeowners seeking flood buyouts Employees may move into city limits BackForward News » Local Email this articlePrint this article Fire erupts in gas compressor station By Chelsea Bishop By Dave Greber May 15, 2013 Updated May 15, 2013 at 7:18 AM EDT Brooklyn Township, PA (WBNG Binghamton) Fire broke out at a natural gas compressor station late Tuesday in Brooklyn Township, Pa. The Williams Central Compressor Station in the 100 block of Turnpike Road in Brooklyn Township, near Montrose, caught fire shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Faulkner County: ExxonMobil's "Sacrifice Zone" for Tar Sands Pipelines, Fracking DeSmogBlog Steve Horn There are few better examples of a "sacrifice zone" for ExxonMobil and the fossil fuel industry at-large than Faulkner County, Arkansas and the counties surrounding it. Six weeks have passed since a 22-foot gash in ExxonMobil's Pegasus tar sands Pipeline spilled over 500,000 gallons of heavy crude into the quaint neighborhood of Mayflower, AR, a township with apopulation of roughly 2,300 people. The air remains hazardous to breathe in, it emits a putrid strench, and the water in Lake Conway is still rife with tar sands crude. These facts are well known. Less known is the fact that Faulkner County - within which Mayflower sits - is a major "sacrifice zone" for ExxonMobil not only for its pipeline infrastructure, but also for the controversial hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") process. The Fayetteville Shale basin sits underneath Faulkner County.   [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Dems pick Republican to run for county board Daily Star Joe Mahoney The Otsego County Democratic Committee has found a candidate to oppose county Board of Representatives Chairwoman Kathleen Clark, R-Otego — and he’s a Republican, at least for now. Stuart Anderson, a 59-year-old retired state worker from Otego and activist in the local movement against shale gas drilling, confirmed Tuesday that he will run against Clark this year, and will be changing his party registration to Democratic. “The county is really the front line of government,” Anderson said. “They’re the ones that actually do the work. The state creates, and the counties carry it out.”  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 My View: Town Hall may be the bulwark against fracking Times Herald Record Bruce Ferguson In recent years, hydraulic fracturing has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the state, but despite all the attention it's received, Albany has failed to address the issue in a meaningful way. The Legislature hasn't passed a single bill to regulate the practice, and the DEC's proposed rules and regulations have been bounced back to the department for revision or scrapped altogether. Since taking office, Gov. Cuomo has been acting like a deer in the headlights, incapable of making a decision that might offend either the (very rich and very powerful) gas corporations, or the (very visible and very vocal) opponents of fracking. But while Albany has been in a state of paralysis, the center of power may have shifted, irreversibly, to an unlikely location: Town Hall. Over the past three years, municipalities in upstate New York have created a legal landscape that may eventually cause gas corporations to leave the state.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Exposed: Lung Cancer Risks from Fracked Natural Gas in NYC Kitchens EcoWatch Food & Water Watch At a public forum last night, leading voices in politics, public health, the environment and workers’ rights analyzed the threat to New York City residents from increased radon levels that would be found in natural gas from new regional sources being promoted by Mayor Bloomberg. Radon, a dangerous substance found in natural gas that most New Yorkers cook with, is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. At the forum, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal presented legislation sponsored by she and State Senator Diane Savino that would protect the public from the risks of radon in natural gas. The Bloomberg Administration and Con Edison are promoting increased use of natural gas sourced from the Marcellus shale field of Pennsylvania. Gas from this field is know to possess much higher concentrations of radon than that from other regions, such as Texas and the Gulf Coast. New supplies of natural gas from Pennsylvania are becoming available due to a drilling boom caused by the controversial extraction technique known as fracking.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Evolution of a Rebel Fort Worth Weekly Peter Gorman Don’t mess with Texas — TXSharon, that is, to use her online moniker. That’s the lesson the shale gas drilling companies have been learning since they got horse-riding, pickup-driving, fifth-generation Texan single mom Sharon Wilson riled up about the way they do business. She’s mad about the same litany of problems that have caused a major backlash in shale development areas all over the globe. “Any problems the gas industry has, they brought on themselves,” she said. “They’re lousy business partners and awful neighbors.” She’s not talking about one issue having to do with natural gas drilling, but all of them — the permanent elimination of billions of gallons of water from water tables, the release of poisonous gases into the air, the taking of land for pipelines by eminent domain, promises of “mailbox money” that never appears, and practices that put whole regions at risk of illness and explosions.   [Full Story] May 15, 2013 How Renewable Energy Can Transform New York State EcoWatch More than 160 business leaders, elected officials, representatives from organizations and concerned citizens packed the Mount Kisco Public Library in Westchester County, NY, last night to hear nationally-recognized experts explain how New York could and should accelerate New York State’s renewable and sustainable energy future. Only one seat—reserved for Gov. Cuomo—remained empty during the forum, Renewable New York: Local Energy Today and Tomorrow.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Frac-Sand Mining’s Promise of Economic Prosperity Fails to Materialize EcoWatch The true economic impact of frac-sand mining on rural Wisconsin communities may fall short of industry claims promising sustained prosperity and economic opportunity, says a first-of-its-kind expert report, released today. By using currently available economic data, The Economic Benefits and Costs of Frac-Sand Mining in West Central Wisconsin offers a full, unbiased analysis of costs and benefits for communities affected by frac-sand mining. The report concludes by offering a list of questions to be considered that can help rural towns effectively evaluate benefits and costs of frac-sand mining for their community.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Efforts to test Marcellus in upstate NY produces leaky well Carrizo crews on site to fix casing problem in Owego Shale Gas Review Tom Wilber A Houston company’s pioneering venture into the Marcellus Shale in upstate New York has produced a leaky gas well that the company is trying to fix before abandoning the project or turning it over to another company. A service crew is now working on the Wetterling Well in the Town of Owego after state inspectors found gas leaking from the ground between the bedrock and the cement casing last fall. Carrizo Oil and Gas drilled the vertical well in October to test the Marcellus Shale. The formation, one of the largest gas reserves in the world, runs from upstate New York through Pennsylvania and into parts of Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. Carrizo began the project in the Town of Owego even though New York state is not issuing permits for the kind of horizontal drilling and high volume hydraulic fracturing necessary for commercial production. The permitting moratorium is tied to a review of health and environmental impacts by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, now in its fifth year, and a growing protest movement against shale gas development in New York state. Problems were first confirmed at the Wetterling well on Oct. 25, according to DEC records, when an inspector, responding to updates from company representatives, found levels of combustible gas leaking from the well bore. The leak averaged about 20 cubic feet per day and was coming from somewhere between the cement casing and the ground – an area known as the annulus. According to the records, a company representative asked the agency last fall if it would be “OK to abandon the well with a vent pipe.”   [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Tkaczyk: No fracking waste in New York, thanks Capitol Confidential Casey Seiler State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk was joined Wednesday by opponents of the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking to announce she’ll introduce a bill that would ban “the treatment, discharge, disposal, transportation or storage of high-volume hydraulic fracturing waste products in New York State.” The legislation — which is so new it currently lacks an Assembly sponsor — is meant to wall off the Empire State from what fracking opponents describe as a steady stream coming over the border from Pennsylvania, where the technique has been used for several years. “It simply makes no sense that we would accept hazardous wastes from other states while we are working to determine the environmental impact fracking would have on New York,” the Duanesberg Democrat said at a Wednesday morning press conference.   [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Gas Compressor Shut Down for Now WNEP Amanda Kelley BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP – The State Department of Environmental Protection is investigating what sparked an explosion and fire at a natural gas compressor site. Some neighbors who live and work near the Williams natural gas compressor in Brooklyn Township said they barely heard the explosion. “We heard a little boom and a little bit of a percussion on the house, nothing serious. It didn`t blow the windows out or anything like that,” said Lane Puzo of Bridgewater Township. Dozens of fire trucks and first responders rushed to the scene, waking up neighbor Melanie Koslowski and her husband. “I got up and looked out and there were fire trucks and just vehicles everywhere, flashing lights, we didn`t know what was going on. It was scary,” said Kozlowski.  [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Company eyes natural gas pipeline extension through northern Broome Press Connects Steve Reilly A major natural gas shipping company is studying the potential installation of a 60-mile extension pipeline from the Town of Union to the Syracuse area. Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC on May 9 sent letters to officials in municipalities along its path notifying them of the preliminary plans, which company spokesman Steven Sullivan said are in their early stages. “We’ve had significant interest from our customers, on an informal basis, wanting us to be able to move gas northward,” Sullivan said. “There are some lines up near Syracuse into which we can interconnect, and that would increase the robustness of the entire system.” The current Millennium Pipeline runs nearly 200 miles along the New York-Pennsylvania border, bisecting Broome County as it shuttles natural gas produced in areas including Pennsylvania’s swath of the Marcellus Shale eastward to major metropolitan markets. Millennium on May 8 released a solicitation to potential natural gas suppliers to formally gauge interest in the possible pipeline, which would connect with the existing Millennium Pipeline in the Town of Union and reach the Tennessee Pipeline in the Town of Onondaga, outside Syracuse.   [Full Story] May 15, 2013 West Side Highway pipeline set to deliver fracked gas despite protests WPIX 11 Joe Mauceri Right now fracking in New York is banned. But pumping fracked gas into New York is very much allowed. And the next pipeline to pump that gas here to Manhattan and throughout the city is already under construction here on the West Side. Despite thousands of signatures opposing the pipeline, it’s scheduled to go into service later this year. And some groups say the risks are too great to let that happen. Floating in the Hudson River, just a few yards away from the West Side Highway, most runners ignore the barge as they head out for their evening run. Clare Donohue says she’s not surprised. She only found out about the project by chance. “I accidentally went to a community board meeting, I thought they were talking about fracking and found out it was a presentation by Spectra Energy and right away I thought it was a really bad idea,” said Clare Donohue of the Sane Energy Project.   [Full Story] May 15, 2013 Tkaczyk Proposes Ban on Hazardous Fracking Waste Being Shipped into New York State NY State Senate Press Release “New York is under assault,” Senator Tkaczyk said. “Tens of thousands of tons of hazardous wastes are being shipped here each year from fracking sites in Pennsylvania and other states. These wastes have high levels of heavy metals, carcinogens and other toxic chemicals and compounds, yet they are exempt from the storage and treatment regulations which govern the handling of other hazardous substances.” Senator Tkaczyk’s bill would ban “the treatment, discharge, disposal, transportation or storage of high volume hydraulic fracturing waste products in New York State.” While this type of fracking is not currently being conducted in New York, landfills and treatment facilities in the state are accepting tens of thousands of tons of fracking waste from sites in Pennsylvania. "It simply makes no sense that we would accept hazardous wastes from other states while we are working to determine the environmental impact fracking would have on New York,” Senator Tkaczyk said.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Will Ohio’s Landfills Become a Dumping Ground for Radioactive Fracking Waste? EcoWatch Don’t turn Ohio’s landfills into a dumping ground for radioactive waste from the oil and gas industry. That’s the message environmental groups hope will resonate with state lawmakers as they consider whether to approve a controversial proposal by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to allow the disposal in Ohio landfills of radioactive-laced drill cuttings from deep-shale oil and gas drilling in Ohio and nearby states.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Feds investigate natural gas pipeline rupture in Kimball County Lincoln Journal Star Algis Laukaitis More than a week after an interstate natural gas pipeline ruptured near Bushnell, officials and residents of Kimball County are searching for answers and expressing concerns about public safety. George Rider, general counsel for pipeline owner Tallgrass Energy Partners of Lakewood, Colo., said reports of an explosion are false. "The only sound I am aware of was the hissing sound from high-pressured gas that was escaping," Rider said. The 20-inch pipeline was in a remote agricultural area of the county, Rider said, adding the rupture may have damaged some farmland. The pipe ruptured at about 3:30 a.m. May 4 near the intersection of county roads 48 and 17, about seven miles north of Bushnell, a village of about 119 people in the southwest corner of the state. The pipeline was installed in 1954 but Rider did not know if the ruptured section had been replaced since then.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 DEP testing air quality in Susquehanna County Times Tribune STACI WILSON The state's environmental regulatory agency will monitor air quality in Susquehanna County this week. As a response to concerns expressed by area residents and with the growth of natural gas activity in the county, the state Department of Environmental Protection's mobile analytical unit will be conducting air-quality testing in several locations, including Elk Lake School District. DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said the testing will determine whether long-term air-quality testing in the region is needed. The mobile unit was at the fairgrounds in Harford Twp. on Monday afternoon, collecting baseline readings on the ambient air in that area; there are no nearby compressor stations or natural gas well pads nearby. Baseline, ambient air data will include the measure of dust from the roads and pollen, for instance, Ms. Connolly said.   [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Mead unveils Wyo. energy policy 2 years in making AP via ShaleReporter Mead Gruver CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Gov. Matt Mead unveiled a state energy policy two years in the making that calls for maintaining Wyoming's position as the top energy-exporting state. Mead's report outlines four priorities: Economic competitiveness, efficient regulation, natural resource conservation and developing new technologies. Lack of a national energy policy, Mead said, inspired him to develop the state policy. At least a dozen agencies play a role in federal energy development oversight, the 63-page report pointed out.   [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Town Board Gives Residents Cold Shoulder Over Anti-Fracking Petition Eco Watch Concerned Citizens of Covert On Monday night at the town board meeting, Concerned Citizens of Covert released the results of a six month town-wide petition campaign for a ban on fracking. The group knocked on every door in the town, garnering signatures for a ban on fracking from 68 percent of contacted residents. Signatories crossed party lines—50 percent of Republicans signed—age, sex and geographic area. Residents delivered the 840 petition signatures and gave an abbreviated summary of the results after being denied the requested opportunity to make a formal presentation   [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Radioactive Drilling Waste Sparks Concern stateimpact.com Marie Cusik The disposal of radioactive gas drilling waste has become a concern at landfills. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, there has been a fivefold increase in garbage trucks setting off radiation alarms at landfills over the past three years: Between 2009 and 2012, radiation alarms went off 1,325 times in 2012, with more than 1,000 of those alerts just from oil and gas waste, according to data from the Department of Environmental Protection. The state’s landfills have to one day be fit for people to live on after they close, so the state has to make sure they aren’t allowing a dangerous build-up of radioactivity, officials said.   [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Welty to lead Marcellus Shale Coalition legislative team Pittsburg Business Times Paul Gough Jim Welty, a former executive at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and K&L Gates, has been named vice president, government affairs, at the Marcellus Shale Coalition. Welty will work out of the Harrisburg office on its government affairs. "Jim’s more than two decades of experience working collaboratively with public officials on complex issues will serve our members well by advancing common sense solutions aimed at protecting our environment, generating jobs and revenue, and long-term energy security and affordability for the commonwealth," Kathryn Klaber, CEO of the coalition, said in a prepared statement.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Anti fracking campaign hots up following US award west cape news The town of Graaff-Reinet in the Karoo is set to become a battle ground between the anti-fracking environmental activist organization Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) and the oil and gas companies seeking to explore for shale gas there. TKAG chairman Jonathan Deal made the announcement on Monday after returning from the US where he received the prestigious Goldman Environment Award for leading the anti-shale fracturing (commonly known as fracking) campaign in South Africa. Deal said Graaff-Reinet was Shell’s “stronghold” and he planned to counter the oil company’s efforts to gather local support for fracking by launching “a big” campaign there next month.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Rep. Dan Maffei cosponsors FRAC Act; legislation would require disclosure of chemicals used in hydrofracking auburnpub.com U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei has cosponsored legislation that would require operators to disclose the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, process. The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act sponsored by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., and cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., would require companies to disclose chemicals used in hydrofracking operations before they start drilling and no more than 30 days after drilling is completed. Under the FRAC Act, the provision exempting the oil and gas industry from the Safe Drinking Water Act would be repealed.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Radioactive waste from drilling hot topic with Ohio eco-groups Akron Beacon Journal Bob Downing Don't turn Ohio's landfills into a dumping ground for radioactive waste from the oil and gas industry. That's the message environmental groups hope will resonate with state lawmakers as they consider whether to approve a controversial proposal by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to allow the disposal in Ohio landfills of radioactive-laced drill cuttings from deep-shale oil and gas drilling in Ohio and nearby states. "If passed, this proposed law would put a big, trashed-out 'Statue of Radioactive Liberty' on Ohio's eastern border. It would proclaim to the oil and gas industry, 'Bring us your spent, cast-off, radioactive waste. It's welcome in Ohio,' " said Jack Shaner, Deputy Director of the Ohio Environmental Council. Under the ODNR proposal, drill cuttings and brine could be classified by the state as naturally occurring radioactive materials, or NORM. Such materials would not be required to be tested for radioactivity and could remain on site at a horizontal-drilling well pad or could be shipped for disposal in any of Ohio's 39 licensed municipal solid waste landfills.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Compromise reached in fracking legislation Chicago Tribune Julie Wernau A bill to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing in Illinois is ready to move forward, according sources in Springfield who have been negotiating the bill behind closed doors. Following months of negotiations, the legislation stalled in March after a last-minute amendment was added to require unionized well contractors at each well site until drillers themselves were licensed. The move caused a coalition of business, labor, construction, transportation and agricultural organizations to pull their support for the bill.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Poll Shows Support for a Drilling Moratorium in Pennsylvania NPR State Impact PA Susan Phillips A new poll out Tuesday shows strong support for a moratorium on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania, despite showing general support for gas extraction. The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan, in conjunction with the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, surveyed both Pennsylvania and Michigan residents on fracking. The survey shows general support for gas extraction in Pennsylvania. Forty-nine percent of respondents approve, and 40 percent oppose. But almost two-thirds support a drilling moratorium in order to study the risks. Pollster and University of Michigan professor Barry Rabe says that’s not such a contradiction.   [Full Story] May 14, 2013 State Checking Air Quality In Gas Drilling Areas wnep.com Dan Ratchford DIMOCK TOWNSHIP — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is testing air quality this week in Susquehanna County in the area with the most natural gas activity. DEP says with so much drilling and fracking and so many compressor stations being built to help transport the gas, some have questioned if the air is being polluted. Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is the process of using liquid to break up underground shale to extract natural gas. It’s hard to miss all the natural gas activity in the Elk Lake area of Susquehanna County but some people wonder what you can’t see here, what’s happening to the air. So the state brought an air testing unit to spend the week in the area, trying to figure out if all the gas activity is causing any air quality concerns. “People have come to us at these public hearings, they’ve been worried about not just one compressor station, we’re worried about the cumulative effect of all these compressor stations and what they’re giving off. So the DEP is up here trying to monitor air quality and trying to see what is floating around,” said Colleen Connolly, DEP spokesperson.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Council to introduce fracking, injection well mitigation program athensohiotoday.com Sara Brumfield Athens City Council is taking another stab at protecting the city from the possible effects of fracking by introducing legislation that would create a resource extraction and waste disposal monitoring and mitigation program. The legislation will officially be introduced by Athens City Councilwoman Chris Fahl next week. On Monday, Fahl outlined the legislation during a Council Planning and Development Committee meeting. She said she’s been working on the legislation for a long time and it has been carefully reviewed by City Law Director Patrick Lang. “He said it is legally defensible in many ways,” Fahl said. While the city of Athens may not have much available land for the practice of oil and gas drilling, Fahl said she’d rather be “safe than sorry” if the community is impacted by hydraulic fracturing or injection wells.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Compromise reached in fracking legislation Chicago Tribune Julie Wernau A bill to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing in Illinois is ready to move forward, according sources in Springfield who have been negotiating the bill behind closed doors. Following months of negotiations, the legislation stalled in March after a last-minute amendment was added to require unionized well contractors at each well site until drillers themselves were licensed. The move caused a coalition of business, labor, construction, transportation and agricultural organizations to pull their support for the bill.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Dispute over Pa. gas drilling fees AP via San Francisco Chronicle Kevin Begos PITTSBURGH (AP) — There's been plenty of controversy over Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania, and now tax rates are part of the debate, too. Gov. Tom Corbett's energy executive is questioning research that suggests Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale impact fee will generate billions of dollars less in long-term revenue than the same natural gas production in West Virginia. But, a Democratic candidate for governor said the math is correct.   [Full Story] May 14, 2013 EPA to Have a Say on Frack Barges Wheeling News-Register CASEY JUNKINS WHEELING - GreenHunter Water wants to ship natural gas frack wastewater via barges from its proposed Warwood site, but several federal agencies must first sign off on the plan. "No organization has authorized this material to be transported by barge," said Carlos Diaz, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, the agency tasked with overseeing shipments on inland waterways such as the Ohio River. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Coast Guard are among the agencies that would need to approve before frack waste could be transported on barges. Diaz said other agencies involved in the discussion include the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget.  [Full Story] May 14, 2013 Energy Policy and Liquified Natural Gas: To Export or Not to Export? The Energy Collective Jim Pierobon resident Obama is preparing to decide how much liquified natural gas (LNG) from the the U.S. boom in shale natural gas production it makes sense to export. Economically and geopolitically a lot hangs in the balance. If Obama’s first term on energy was mostly about incentivizing renewable energy, his second term is all about whether to embrace growing U.S. supplies of fossil fuels. What a difference a few years make.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Carbon Bubble a Turning Point for Climate Change Action? theenergycollective Mitchell Beer The idea that a large proportion of the world’s proven fossil fuel resources would be unburnable in any reasonable climate change control scenario has fed a growing body of analysis over the last year, all of it suggesting that carbon could become the next housing bubble.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Guest Viewpoint: Visit to Pa. shows truth of fracking pressconnects Carol Egan Opinion As the hydrofracking debate rages on in New York, a group of Town of Maine citizens spent the day in Pennsylvania to experience firsthand what it looks like and to discuss its ramifications with residents. I witnessed drill pads with up to six wells on each site. Some sites had a runoff pond. Residents stated that several local creeks had turned brown. One homeowner showed us a bowl of “frack sand” that had settled in her pond. Collected and left to sit, it had turned into foul-smelling goop that we could see and feel. Large berms were set around the sites, along the roadways and across homeowners’ front lawns to minimize erosion. It was incredible to me that gas companies could put pipes carrying gas from the sites virtually anywhere. Erosion seemed imminent as grass now replaced trees, and the piped gas is under such tremendous pressure that residents fear a catastrophe if it bursts.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Spectra Natural Gas Pipeline: Another Controversy? theenergycollective Bill chameides A natural gas pipeline from New Jersey to New York: sane or insane? Bottleneck to the Northeast It could be a marriage made in economic heaven. Standing on one side of the altar is the northeastern United States, hungry for more natural gas, a fuel whose prices in the region are projected to reach five-year highs this summer. On the other side stand energy companies with growing supplies of natural gas, in large part as a result of fracked shale gas [pdf], looking for a market. So what’s the holdup? Transportation. In order to consummate this supply-and-demand betrothal, the energy companies have to be able to deliver; that is, get the product from its point of origin (in the Marcellus shale and elsewhere) to northeastern markets. And there just isn’t enough pipeline capacity to accomplish the union. (See here, here and here [pdf].)  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 $7 Billion Pipeline Company Merger to Create Major Midstream Company Energy & Capitol Justin Williams Announced last Monday, pipeline operator Crestwood Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: CMLP) will take control of energy infrastructure and distribution company Inergy LP (NYSE: NRGY), as well as Inergy’s master limited partnership, Inergy Midstream LP (NYSE: NRGM). The total enterprise is valued at about $7 billion, and together the takeover will form a midstream energy company that will link energy supply with demand. Crestwood Holdings, affiliate of Crestwood Midstream, will also be involved in the acquisition; together they are controlled by private equity firm First Reserve, which owns all of Crestwood Holdings and 43 percent of Crestwood Midstream.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Boulder County moms rally against fracking Daily Camera Amy Bounds Local moms, children and activists delivered several hundred postcards Monday to the three county commissioners before holding a rally on the Boulder County Courthouse lawn, urging the commissioners to extend a fracking moratorium. About three dozen people attended the rally. "Our children are among those most impacted," said Micah Parkin, member of 350 Boulder, a local environmental group.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Fracking and Water Pollution: Remembering First Study to Establish "Definitive" Link The Energy Collective Tyler Hamilton David Biello over at Scientific American had a story in 2011 that looked at research establishing a link between methane contamination in well water and nearby hydraulic fracturing of shale rock. The research came out of Duke University and was published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Duke researchers analyzed water samples from 60 wells located within a kilometre of active shale-gas drilling operations — specifically, the Marcellus and Utica shale formations of northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York. They found that “average and maximum methane concentrations in drinking-water wells increased with proximity to the nearest gas well” and were at levels high enough to pose “a potential explosion hazard.” As Biello pointed out, this “marks the first time that drinking water contamination has been definitely linked to fracking.” His story, which is old but I’ve just come across, is well worth the read. He makes clear that while a small amount of methane isn’t uncommon in most aquifers in the region, the researchers were able to distinguish between “new” methane being produced by the ongoing decay of biological material and “old” methane trapped and released from fossil rock. This was done by measuring the ratio of radioactive carbon present in the methane. Very cool.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 You can't drink money Shale Reporter Kimberley Sirk This is a tale of fracking in two eastern Ohio cities. First, we have Broadview Heights, a lovely, leafy bedroom community of Cleveland, about 25 miles south of Lake Erie. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 19,000 people live there. The biggest businesses are restaurants and shops, with winding streets of mature trees and reasonably priced homes mixed in. Last November, the voters Broadview Heights banned oil and gas drilling, declaring that it threatens the health, safety and welfare of the residents and neighborhoods. Next, we have Youngstown. It's a much larger city, close to the Pennsylvania border, but it has seen its population dwindle by half to about 66,000. It's a former steel town, with much bigger plots of land devoted to office parks, a university and other bigger businesses. Residential streets and a bustling downtown that once teemed with blue-collar workers and their families going about their lives now have constricted more into pockets of neighborhoods, with wide swaths of foreclosed homes and empty storefronts mixed in.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 House bill aims to expedite US gas pipeline construction Oil & Gas Journal Nick Snow US Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) introduced a bill on May 9 that aims to expedite construction of US natural gas pipelines by streamlining the permitting process and expediting approvals. Several parts of the country don’t have the necessary pipeline capacity as more gas is used to generate electricity, the House Energy and Commerce Committee member noted. Dramatic gas production growth also is occurring in areas of the US without pipeline access to markets, he added. HR 1900 would amend Sect. 7 of the Natural Gas Act by requiring US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of a new gas pipeline within 12 months of its application’s public notice. An agency responsible for issuing a siting, construction, capacity expansion, or operating permit or license could request a 30-day extension.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Tomblin celebrates new gas pipeline law CHARLESTON GAZETTE Rusty Marks SISSONVILLE, W.Va. -- Saturday marked five months since an explosion in a Columbia Transmission Corp. gas pipeline in Sissonville destroyed four homes and melted part of Interstate 77. On Monday, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and Kanawha County officials held a ceremony Monday to acknowledge the state's new pipeline safety law. Tomblin signed the bill into law April 29, but held a symbolic bill signing at 10:30 a.m. at the new Sissonville fire station on Call Road.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Grassroots campaigns can stop fracking one town at a time The Guardian Richard Schiffman Readers of the New York Daily News were treated to a little unsolicited advice from Ed Rendell recently. The former Pennsylvania governor, a Democrat, who presided over much of the fracking boom in his state from 2003 to 2011, invited his neighboring governor – who's been sitting on the fence over shale gas mining – to join the party. In Pennsylvania, Rendell effused, "thousands of solid jobs with good salaries were created, communities came back to life and investment in the state soared". What the Daily News failed to mention is that Rendell has lobbied the Environmental Protection Agency in favor of a driller company, Range Resources, and is currently a paid consultant of Elements Partners, a private equity firm with big stakes in several energy companies that are engaged in fracking.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Many NY gas leases expire as moratorium remains Press Connects Mary Esch New York’s five-year moratorium on shale gas development promised to be a blessing for many landowners eager to end leases they signed before anyone outside of the oil and gas industry had heard of fracking. But actually getting out of a lease can be tricky. Many have clauses giving the drilling company the right to extend them for another five years. Gas companies have tried to extend thousands of leases by claiming an unforeseen barrier — the moratorium — has prevented them from drilling. And even when a lease has expired, landowners often have to take several legal steps to clear their land of claims.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Low gas prices in Western Canada stifle upstream investment, impact power generation Cas to Power Journal Canada's natural gas industry is in a "holding pattern" as low prices of around $3.00/MMBtu in Western Canada are stifling new equity investment for gas producers, a report by Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) finds. Low gas prices have displaced "significant amounts" of coal-fired in favour of gas-fired generation but it is unclear if demand can be retained long enough to move prices into the $5.00/MMBtu level necessary to resume substantial investment in dry natural gas drilling. Western Canada is where 98 percent of the Canada's marketable production is sourced from, and in 2012 Canada produced 14.0 Bcf/d of marketable natural gas, a decline from 14.6 Bcf/d in 2011 and 17.0 Bcf/d in 2005.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Fracking moratorium remains as many NY gas leases expire Newsday Associated Press SYRACUSE - New York's five-year moratorium on shale gas development promised to be a blessing for many landowners eager to end leases they signed before anyone outside of the oil and gas industry had heard of fracking. But actually getting out of a lease can be tricky. Many have clauses giving the drilling company the right to extend them for another five years. Gas companies have tried to extend thousands of leases by claiming an unforeseen barrier — the moratorium — has prevented them from drilling. And even when a lease has expired, landowners often have to take several legal steps to clear their land of claims. Thousands of leases have reached the end of their five-year term since the moratorium began in 2008. That gives some landowners the chance to get out of a lease they signed for $2 or $3 an acre and 12.5 percent royalties and try to negotiate a new one for the far more favorable terms seen in recent years — potentially thousands of dollars an acre and 20 percent royalties.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Obama Seen Expanding Natural Gas Exports on Production Records Bloomberg Jim Efstathious, Jr & Jim Snyder As the U.S. sets records for natural gas production, the specter of shortages and surging prices has been replaced by a debate over how much to sell overseas. The bounty has fueled speculation President Barack Obama is ready to expand exports. Sending liquefied natural gas to non-U.S. customers, unthinkable a few years ago when demand outstripped supply, is now seen as a way to help U.S. trade and blunt the influence of producers such as Russia and Iran. The Obama administration is reviewing applications for 20 gas export terminals. If all win approval, the facilities could ship the equivalent of 41 percent of total U.S. production this year, according to Energy Department data.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 A Rare Bipartisan Clean Energy Bill Is Ready for Passage Inside Climate News Maria Gallucci An investment tool that is helping finance $400 billion worth of fossil fuel projects could be available to renewables—as soon as the bill can pass. Congressional lawmakers from both parties are taking a step to catalyze the nation's clean energy economy: After 32 years of restricting a crucial investment tool to expanding fossil fuels, they're pushing to open it to renewables. Legislation is moving through both houses to tweak the tax code to let clean energy developers form a master limited partnership, or MLP, a type of publicly traded company structure not subject to corporate taxes. For three decades, coal, oil and gas companies have used MLPs to raise hundreds of billions of dollars for pipelines, refineries and other projects. The financing vehicle is credited with helping sustain the nation's current drilling boom. But renewables have been shut out of the benefit, because the tax code prevents companies involved in "inexhaustible" natural resources like solar and wind from forming MLPs. This year, there's momentum to change that, in part because of uncertainty over the future of clean energy tax credits and the end of the federal stimulus. The bills in Congress would extend MLPs to 10 types of renewable electricity sources, cellulosic ethanol, energy efficient buildings, electricity storage and renewable chemicals, among other projects. "It's been talked about ever since I can remember," said Patrick Eilers, a managing director at Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm in Chicago, and a member of the U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance, a group of renewable energy financiers. No one expects much opposition to the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, the companion bills introduced last month. Co-sponsors include conservative Republicans and legislators from oil and gas states. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's main trade group, is among its backers. "MLP is a perfect example of an investment vehicle that can facilitate renewable energy," API President and CEO Jack Gerard said at a panel discussion last month at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit. However, the legislation could get caught up in the overhaul of the U.S. corporate tax system. "The challenge has nothing to do with the popularity of the bill, but simply with the fact that all tax legislation is going to move very slowly as Congress considers tax reform," said Richard Caperton, managing director of the energy program at the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group. There are two options, Caperton said. One is to pass the current legislation. The other is to incorporate the bills into a comprehensive tax reform package later this year. The decision over what to do could be many months away. For now, the bills are in committee and have yet to be scheduled for hearings or a vote. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) sponsored Senate Bill 795, and Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) sponsored House Resolution 1696. How Much Will MLPs Help? Master limited partnerships have two main advantages as an investment vehicle. One, they're publicly traded on the stock market so a broad range of investors can invest in projects, such as pension funds and individuals. Two, unlike typical businesses MLPs don't pay corporate taxes. In 1981, the Apache Oil Company formed the first MLP to raise capital for oil drilling and production. Over the next five years, the number of MLPs swelled to 100 and included oil and gas, real estate, hotel, restaurant and amusement park industries. Worried that companies were becoming MLPs to avoid corporate taxes, however, Congress passed legislation in 1987 to limit the financing structure to mainly fossil fuels, mining and real estate. It also blocked access to renewable resources. Interest in MLPs waxed and waned over the years. But by 2006—as the shale drilling boom started to heat up—the number of oil and gas MLPs skyrocketed again. Today, more than 100 MLPs are traded on stock exchanges. Of the nearly $450 billion in MLP capital, 90 percent is for energy and natural resource projects. Nearly three-quarters of the money—$320 billion—finances oil and gas pipelines and other midstream projects. Clean electricity developers could raise $7 billion through MLPs between now and 2020, according to estimates by Southern Methodist University's Maguire Energy Institute. That's about the cost of 40 average-sized wind farms and is equal to one-fifth of U.S. clean economy investments, which totaled $35 billion last year. For renewables, that's "significant," said Felix Mormann, an associate professor at the University of Miami School of Law and an expert on clean energy finance. Experts agree that extending MLPs to renewable power could help level the playing field. "It would take away a preferential advantage that fossil fuels have relative to renewable energy sources," said Steven Corneli, a senior vice president at NRG Energy, one of the nation's largest power companies. NRG owns 835 megawatts of wind and solar power, about 4 percent of the U.S. total. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), one of the sponsors of the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act/Credit: Sen. Chris Coons, flickr 0Share0 But MLPs are not a substitute for clean energy policy, such as state renewable energy mandates and federal investment and production tax credits for solar and wind, Corneli and others said. Both policies are under attack from mainly Republican legislators and fossil fuel industry and free-market groups. Joshua Freed, vice president of the clean energy program at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank, said the MLP structure "helps individual projects get off the drawing board and into the ground—but it's not the only action that needs to be taken." Why the Support Now? In 2008, the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships, the MLP trade association, proposed extending MLPs to non-petroleum transportation fuels to help companies meet the Renewable Fuels Standard. Later that year, Congress approved a tax-code tweak that let ethanol, biodiesel and industrial carbon dioxide projects qualify for MLPs. The bills now in Congress would do the same for clean electricity, energy efficiency and liquid biofuels from non-food feedstocks. Similar legislation was proposed last year but was never taken up. Since then, bipartisan support has grown for extending MLPs to renewable energy—something that is almost unheard of in this Congress. "In an era where partisanship is the practice of the moment in every issue, the fact that you've got bills ... introduced by such a geographically and politically diverse group of elected officials is striking," Freed of Third Way said. In addition to the American Petroleum Institute, the Business Roundtable, a coalition of CEOs, recommended that Congress open MLPs to renewables in its February report, Taking Action on Energy: A CEO Vision for America's Energy Future. Its members include executives from some of the nation's biggest energy firms, including Arch Coal, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron and ExxonMobil. Caperton of the Center for American Progress suggested the motives of these companies could be self-serving. Letting renewables qualify for MLPs creates an insurance against attempts to end MLPs altogether by mainly taxpayer groups that view the structure as a loophole for companies to avoid paying income tax. Fossil fuel companies "want to broaden the base of support for an incentive that currently is only available to them," Caperton said. "As long as they're the only people that benefit from it, then they're more of a target."  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 South African Anti-Fracking Activist Calls for Global Alliance National Geographic Sandra Postel “We’ve got to stop doing this,” said Jonathan Deal, with a sense of urgency tinged with discomfort. Deal could well have been talking about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the oil and gas drilling practice he has tirelessly fought to stop in his native South Africa. But at this moment, he was talking about the energy-guzzling extravaganza in full swing all around us at a gathering in Washington, DC. As we eyed hundreds of people in cocktail attire partaking of bounteous food and wine across a chandeliered room, I sensed Deal’s inner discord: this lavish event was in honor of him. Deal had just been awarded a Goldman Environmental Prize for his successful grassroots effort to win a moratorium on fracking in South Africa. And on this mid-April spring night at the Ronald Reagan Building near the National Mall, a magnificent reception followed a ceremony to honor and applaud Deal’s success, along with that of the five other remarkable 2013 prize winners.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 New Fracking Rules Have Environmental Groups Worried National Journal Coral Davenport The Obama administration is set to unveil major new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial method of extracting oil and gas, possibly as soon as Tuesday. The proposed regulation is expected to be more lenient to the oil and gas industry than a draft rule issued last year by the Interior Department, reflecting heavy lobbying by fossil fuel companies, as well as President Obama’s desire to support the nation’s recent boom in natural gas development—and the jobs that come with it. “We have observed that over the past few years, the administration has shifted toward a more favorable opinion of the value of natural gas to the economy and the nation’s energy security,” said Richard Ranger, a senior policy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute. “We think we’re being heard, but the proof will be in the pudding.” Environmentalists say they expect to be disappointed by the proposal and fear it won’t do enough to protect sensitive water supplies in communities around oil and gas wells.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Teacher and Principal Pressured to Resign Over Students' Presentation About Fracking Huffington Post Jocob Devaney At Evergreen Middle School near Denver, Colorado, young members of Earth Guardians made a presentation and sang a rap which has infuriated local parents and brought angry threats upon the school and the youth. Some are calling it "liberal indoctrination" others calling it "censorship," the school has apologized, and what started out as a simple presentation by 13-year-old Xiuhtezcatl and his 9-year-old brother Itzcuauhtl has turned into a national story. The youths presentation included a rap that they wrote about the dangers of fracking stating, "poisoned the water, poisoned the air, poisoned the people, do you think that's fair?" and included a call-and-response for the students, "When I say what the, you say frack. What the... frack, what the... frack." Earth Guardians is an organization started and run by youth (most under 13 years old) whose mission is, "...to educate and assist youth in becoming active caretakers of our precious earth, and to empower them in becoming outspoken environmental leaders, both locally and globally." Earth Guardians achieve their mission through nature programs, environmental education, message-driven performances and community activism. From their website, "Earth Guardians provide youth with the knowledge, tools, and leadership qualities needed to envision and shape a healthy planet, one that we can all be proud to pass on to our next generations."  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Fracking Update: NY Appellate Court Affirms Zoning Bans At Local Level Property Casualty 360 Michael Weller In another setback for proponents of the natural gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," a New York appellate court affirmed the right of local governments to ban the process within their borders. In New York, municipalities can effectively “zone out” oil and gas operations by passing zoning ordinances. An appellate panel of the New York Supreme Court affirmed the decision of a lower court, holding local municipalities have the power to enact zoning ordinances that ban “all activities related to the exploration for, and the production or storage of, natural gas and petroleum within its borders.”  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Fracking and Water Pollution: Remembering First Study to Establish "Definitive" Link The energy collective Tyler Hamilton Blog David Biello over at Scientific American had a story in 2011 that looked at research establishing a link between methane contamination in well water and nearby hydraulic fracturing of shale rock. The research came out of Duke University and was published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Duke researchers analyzed water samples from 60 wells located within a kilometre of active shale-gas drilling operations — specifically, the Marcellus and Utica shale formations of northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York. They found that “average and maximum methane concentrations in drinking-water wells increased with proximity to the nearest gas well” and were at levels high enough to pose “a potential explosion hazard.” As Biello pointed out, this “marks the first time that drinking water contamination has been definitely linked to fracking.” His story, which is old but I’ve just come across, is well worth the read. He makes clear that while a small amount of methane isn’t uncommon in most aquifers in the region, the researchers were able to distinguish between “new” methane being produced by the ongoing decay of biological material and “old” methane trapped and released from fossil rock. This was done by measuring the ratio of radioactive carbon present in the methane. Very cool.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Wyoming Congressional delegation opposes legislation that would reveal fracking chemicals Wyoming Public Media Bob Beck Congress is looking legislation that would require the oil and gas industry to disclose what chemicals are used in hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.” The bill, called the FRAC Act, is opposed by Wyoming lawmakers who say such regulations should be left up to the states. Companies say fracking chemicals need to remain under-wraps because the mixtures they use are trade secrets. Brad Powell with Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development says the legislation would set minimum baseline standards for impacts on water.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 "I Love My New York Water": Well-Known New Yorkers Ask Governor Cuomo to Extend the Fracking Moratorium nrdc switchboard Kate Sindig NRDC launched a two-week ad buy on Albany television stations today that features New York-based actors thanking Governor Cuomo for protecting the state’s world-class drinking water to-date from fracking, and urging him to formally extend the moratorium on new fracking until the health risks are considered. In the ad, actors Ethan Hawke, Zoë Saldana, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Charles and Nadia Dajani show viewers how much they “love their New York water” by inviting them along as they go fly-fishing, make tea, give their dogs water and even bathe with it. They do it all to say “thanks” to the Governor for holding true to his promise to-date that he would not rush ahead with risky fracking in New York and to ask him “to reaffirm his commitment to protecting the health and precious water for all 15 million New Yorkers.”  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Where Is All The Gas Going? Plan to export more of nation’s natural gas stirring debate AP via the Intelligencer WASHINGTON (AP) - A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking. Expanded drilling is unlocking enormous reserves of crude oil and natural gas, offering the potential of moving the country closer to its decades-long quest for energy independence. Yet as the industry looks to profit from foreign markets, there is the specter of higher prices at home and increased manufacturing costs for products from plastics to fertilizers.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Crosstex to build 3rd natural gas compressor station in Utica shale region Columbus Business First Evan Weese Crosstex Energy, which in March said it would invest $50 million in two natural gas compressor stations in Noble and Monroe counties, will spend another $25 million for a third facility in eastern Ohio, Youngstown's Business Journal reports. Crosstex, a midstream energy firm in Dallas, said it would make the investment in its E2 company. The facility, like the others, is supported by a long-term, fee-based contract with Denver-based Antero Resources.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Susquehanna Fish Diseased Yet The River Is Not “Impaired” American Rivers Liz G. Deardorff The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved Pennsylvania’ Department of Protection (PA-DEP) list of impaired waterways [PDF] disappointing advocates for a healthy Susquehanna River. In August 2011, American Rivers joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Pennsylvania’s Fish and Boat Commission (Fish and Boat) and others to request listing the lower Susquehanna River as impaired in order to restore the ecological health and important smallmouth bass fishery. PA-DEP did not support placing the river on the impaired list that was submitted for EPA approval earlier this year although listing would initiate a long-term clean-up plan.   [Full Story] May 13, 2013 EPA Approves PA Impaired Waters List Without Listing Lower Susquehanna PA Environment Digest The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday approved Pennsylvania’s 2012 final list of impaired waters without listing the lower Susquehanna River as impaired. The lower Susquehanna listing was changed from unimpaired to having insufficient water quality data to make a determination as recommended by the Department of Environmental Protection. The list is part of a bi-annual monitoring and assessment report characterizing the condition of Pennsylvania’s surface waters.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Op-Ed: SRBC Staying In Its Lane, Studying Water Quantity PA Environment Digest Op-ed: Paul Swartz, Exec Director Over the years, I have come to appreciate the phrase, “Stay in your lane.” At the street level, I think it generally means sticking to what you know and letting others do the same. When a regulatory agency chooses to stray out of its lane of expertise and mission, it can have profound programmatic and legal consequences. Most important, however, I believe it does the public a disservice. SRBC recently launched a multi-year effort to study the cumulative impact of consumptive water uses and water availability for the Susquehanna basin. Despite some calls for us to make it an expansive environmental assessment, we are being responsible water managers by focusing in our areas of responsibility and scientific and technical expertise.  [Full Story] May 13, 2013 Statement by the Tompkins County Workers’ Center on Workforce Issues in Fracking Tompkins County Workers Center Dreaming of a well-paying job in the fracking industry? Think twice. While jobs in fracking may offer high pay, they come at a price. A worker may get a job — and never be able to work again. Workers are often the first to be exposed to the hazards that later affect the whole community.  [Full Story] May 12, 2013 GreenHunter Water Reveals Its Plans Wheeling Intelligencer Casey Junkins NEW MATAMORAS, Ohio - John Jack is confident that GreenHunter Water's plans to store nearly 800,000 gallons of natural gas frack water in the Warwood section of Wheeling will become a reality.  [Full Story] May 12, 2013 Boulder County commissioners to consider oil/gas drilling impact fees Times Call John Fryar BOULDER -- Boulder County commissioners may decide on Thursday whether to adopt transportation impact fees to offset the costs of repairing county roads expected to be damaged by oil and gas drilling. Boulder County staff is recommending charging oil and gas companies a $700 "road deterioration" fee for each well pad and a $16,600 fee for each well -- $17,300 for a pad with a single well.  [Full Story] May 12, 2013 Group signs on locals to test air quality near injection wells Athens News David DeWitt A number of community members will soon be testing air quality throughout Athens County to measure the impact of oil and gas waste injection wells, anti-fracking advocates revealed this weekend. Anti-fracking advocates and local elected officials came together at ARTS/West on West State Street Friday afternoon to discuss air-testing community science training conducted by an entity known as Global Community Monitor. GCM is a California-based anti air contamination organization that provided training Saturday to 20 Appalachian Ohio and West Virginia residents to measure levels of air contamination in their communities.  [Full Story] May 12, 2013 New Fracking Rules Have Environmental Groups Worried National Journal Coral Davenport The Obama administration is set to unveil major new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial method of extracting oil and gas, possibly as soon as Tuesday. The proposed regulation is expected to be more lenient to the oil and gas industry than a draft rule issued last year by the Interior Department, reflecting heavy lobbying by fossil fuel companies, as well as President Obama’s desire to support the nation’s recent boom in natural gas development—and the jobs that come with it. “We have observed that over the past few years, the administration has shifted toward a more favorable opinion of the value of natural gas to the economy and the nation’s energy security,” said Richard Ranger, a senior policy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute. “We think we’re being heard, but the proof will be in the pudding.” Environmentalists say they expect to be disappointed by the proposal and fear it won’t do enough to protect sensitive water supplies in communities around oil and gas wells.   [Full Story] May 12, 2013 Hydraulic Fracturing Is A Dead-End Path The Post-Journal Glenn Whal In the 1960s the tobacco industry tried to counter evidence that smoking had serious health impacts by spending millions to make ludicrous claims about the benefits and safety of smoking. Today's natural gas industry is in much the same position, making claims about fracking that collapse under scrutiny. Yet because of the immense wealth and power of the energy corporations, they are generally succeeding in making very big profits while putting our people and water resources at risk through the fracking process. The industry proponents often say, "We've been fracking wells for 60 years without any problems." However, high volume hydrofracturing, using millions of gallons of freshwater and hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals per well, is very different from the fracking of earlier decades. This new kind of fracking has only been used since 1997 and most HVHF wells are less than five years old. Fracking's many negative impacts are being green-washed by an industry spending millions to convince us that fracking is safe and to increase its profits at the expense of the environment. For example, the gas industry used its influence to lobby for the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which exempted fracking from having to follow the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and several other major environmental laws. What has resulted from this lack of regulation are serious environmental and health issues associated with virtually every aspect of fracking. Leaking well-casing seals, radioactive isotopes in the frack fluid, compressor station air pollution, hazardous waste disposed as if it is household garbage, serious animal and human health impacts, contamination of water wells and surface water and almost-daily reports of accidents, spills, illegal dumping and explosions, are just a few of the many indicators of fracking's risks.  [Full Story] May 12, 2013 Viewpoints: Bid to halt fracking in state builds momentum The Sacramento Bee Kassie Siegel The risks are sinking in. For months, discussions about fracking in California have focused mostly on public disclosure. Should people living near fracked oil and gas wells, for example, be notified about this controversial procedure, which involves blasting huge volumes of water mixed with toxic chemicals underground? But being informed of fracking doesn't mean you'll be protected from its dangers. Now, three bills in the California Legislature have shifted the debate. Recently approved by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, all three bills would impose a moratorium on fracking, also called hydraulic fracturing, while fracking pollution's threats to our air, water, climate and health are studied.   [Full Story] May 12, 2013 Improve Your World: No Fracking, Yes Renewable Energy EcoWatch Sandra Steingraber [Editor's note: Students from the State University of New York (SUNY) School of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY held their 2013 graduation ceremony yesterday. SUNY ESF's motto is "Improve Your World." Dr. Sandra Steingraber was given an honorary doctoral degree for her life's work on environmental health and science, including her work to fight fracking in New York. She was given a standing ovation for her inspirational speech (see below) and called on our future environmental scientists to take action.] What an amazing moment. Thank you. And what makes this a special honor for me is not just that SUNY-ESF is the nation’s oldest and most venerable college of environmental science, which is my field of study, too, but also that its official motto consists of the three words that I happen to live by. Those words—for the guests here who may not know them—are not a Latin phrase about the nature of truth and wisdom. They are a set of simple directions in English. Improve your world. Isn’t that great? But embracing improve your world as your personal motto for life requires at least two things. One is to possess really good data on what’s wrong with the world. And that means staying awake and paying attention and being willing to look at hard truths without flinching.  [Full Story] May 12, 2013 Plans to export US natural gas stir debate Yahoo News Matthew Daly WASHINGTON (AP) -- A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking. Expanded drilling is unlocking enormous reserves of crude oil and natural gas, offering the potential of moving the country closer to its decades-long quest for energy independence. Yet as the industry looks to profit from foreign markets, there is the specter of higher prices at home and increased manufacturing costs for products from plastics to fertilizers. Companies such as Exxon Mobil and Sempra Energy are seeking federal permits for more than 20 export projects that could handle as much as 29 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day.  [Full Story] May 12, 2013 AP: Natural Gas Boom Means More Fracking, Increased Overseas Exports Boise Weekly George Prentice When natural gas exploration companies began what has become a nationwide drilling boom, they pointed to energy independence, but the Associated Press reports this morning that U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of their gas overseas in order to get a higher price. "As the industry looks to profit from foreign markets, there is the specter of higher prices at home and increased manufacturing costs for products from plastics to fertilizers," AP reported. "If approved, the resulting boom could lead to further increases in hydraulic fracturing." Hydraulic fracturing—better known as fracking—is a highly controversial method of injecting pressurized liquids and solids into the earth's crust in order to free up more gas and oil deposits.   [Full Story] May 11, 2013 U.S. energy independence based on natural gas unlikely Zanesville Times Recorder Darrell Shahan Natural gas industry officials advance the tantalizing prospect of U.S. energy independence. Our country recently has been dubbed the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. They talk of a 100-year reserve of cheap natural gas stored deep in the Utica and Marcellus shale deposits underlying West Virginia and parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee and Maryland. Access to this treasure trove is provided by the new techniques of fracking and horizontal drilling. Pumping millions of gallons of water and a chemical solution into the earth at high pressure fractures the shale deposits and releases the trapped oil and gas. This drilling temporarily has produced an abundance of cheap natural gas. Power plants have responded by switching many of their generating plants from coal to less-polluting natural gas. This has resulted in a drop in climate-altering greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  [Full Story] May 11, 2013 9 Things That Can Tear Down The Value Of A Home Business Insider Mandi Woodruff Just the threat of fracking drives home values down by 24%. Those homeowners in Mayflower, Ark., were terrified their property values would tank after a burst gas pipeline flooded their lawns with oil earlier this year. Their fears are justified. A team of Duke University economists and nonprofit research organization Resources for the Future found Pennsylvania homeowners who used local groundwater for drinking lost up to 24% of their property value if they lived within 1.25 miles of a shale gas well. And that's even without solid evidence that fracking really poses a threat to drinking water –– public perception alone is enough to drive down home values.   [Full Story] May 11, 2013 Strictly Business: Home rule hits home run in fracking debate Ithaca journal Jeffrey Aaron Suppose you are part of a family that owns an acre of wooded land that’s been in the family for generations. Suppose some Johnny Appleseed group wants to pay you to be able to take down the native timber on your acre and replace it with groves of fruit trees. After consulting with other family members, you turn the group down. But not willing to take “no” for an answer, the Appleseed group goes to court in an effort to overturn your refusal. If the scenario I’ve just laid out sounds slightly familiar, it should. Two years ago, the Town of Dryden voted to ban fracking within its borders. It was promptly sued by the energy company that wanted to drill there, if, and when, New York lifts its fracking moratorium. To make a long story short, lower courts upheld Dryden’s action and the energy company appealed to a higher court, which earlier this month upheld the lower court ruling.  [Full Story] May 11, 2013 As Pa. gas production soars, some experts question whether state's tax on it is keeping pace The Republic Kevin Begos PITTSBURGH — A boom in natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania is generating billions of dollars for companies and private landowners, but some experts question whether the state's low effective tax on the bounty makes long-term sense. Unlike most leading oil and gas producing states, Pennsylvania doesn't link fees to how much gas comes out of the well. Instead, each well pays an impact fee no matter how much it produces. That means that even as Marcellus Shale gas production has soared, revenue to local and state government isn't keeping pace.  [Full Story] May 11, 2013 Radioactive fracking debris triggers worries at dump sites Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Timothy Puko When a garbage truck from a shale gas well set off radiation detectors at a South Huntingdon landfill on April 19, it drew attention from township officials. But they aren't the only ones watching what's become a growing issue all over Pennsylvania. The number of garbage trucks setting off radiation monitors had a fivefold increase between 2009 and 2012, drawing renewed attention from state officials who hadn't believed radiation would be a big problem from the state's drilling industry. South Huntingdon is trying to block MAX Environmental Technologies Inc. from receiving DEP permission to accept a higher level radioactive waste, supervisor Melvin Cornell said.   [Full Story] May 11, 2013 Judge rules hydrant must be removed from Montrose property Times-Tribune STACI WILSON MONTROSE - A hydrant used to fill a water truck must be removed from the residential lot where it was installed last year. The hydrant, installed in January 2012 by Pennsylvania American Water Co. for anti-drilling activist Craig Stevens, is located on a property owned by Dr. Monica Marta at 12 Jessup St., on a "conditional use" lot in Montrose's residential zone. Mr. Stevens appealed a December decision against the hydrant by the borough's zoning hearing board to Susquehanna County Court. President Judge Kenneth Seamans handed down his order Wednesday upholding the zoning board's decision.  [Full Story] May 11, 2013 Joe Biden Talks Climate Change And Natural Gas In Rolling Stone Interview Huffington Post Nick Visser "We've been dealing with a Congress where a significant portion of the other party thinks there's no such thing as global warming," according to Vice President Joe Biden. In an interview with historian Douglas Brinkley published this week in Rolling Stone, Biden aimed squarely at congressional Republicans and their lack of enthusiasm for the environment. The Obama administration has pushed green legislation, including changes to fuel emissions standards and tax programs to spur the clean energy sector. But many broader proposals have languished in Congress, including a bill to cap carbon emissions. "If we had a different Congress, I think you'd see a more aggressive emissions legislation," the vice president said.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Efforts to stop drilling in Thompson Divide gets grant Denver Post Scott Condon An environmental foundation controlled by employees of Aspen Skiing Co. gave a $50,000 grant to three organizations fighting to prevent natural gas drilling in Thompson Divide, Skico announced Thursday. The grant was the largest in the 16-year history of the Environment Foundation. It was split among Wilderness Workshop, Thompson Divide Coalition and EcoFlight.   [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Pollutants detected in water wells in Sublette County’s gas fields Wyoming Public Media Willow Belden Sublette County has been in the news a lot because of its air quality problems, which largely stem from natural gas production. But there’s another issue too: Pollutants have been showing up in water wells. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden reports. WILLOW BELDEN: The pollutants in question are petroleum products like diesel-range organics and benzene. They first started showing up in water wells in the Pinedale Anticline gas field in 2006. That prompted the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Environmental Quality to call for extensive testing, and the following year, they detected hydrocarbons in 85 wells. Several were at concentrations exceeding the DEQ’s limit for what’s safe to drink. Since then, there have been dozens of detections each year, and each year, a handful exceed the legal limit. But nobody knows where the pollutants are coming from. Merry Gamper is a scientist with the BLM. She says her agency is working with DEQ to try to find answers. But that’s hard to do, because no testing was done before gas development started.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Reporting of shale gas story influenced by Internet trends PR, advocacy, fill niche as journalistic void grows Shale Gas Review Tom Wilber This post considers the latest news about methane migration in Pennsylvania. But to tell that story, I first have to tell another story. In 2010, the number of public relations specialists in the U.S. had risen to an all time high of 320,000. By contrast, the number of reporters had fallen to a low of 58,500. The fantastic trajectory of the PR business will hold strong at least through 2020 with a 21 percent growth curve, according to Statistics at the Department of Labor. Over the next decade, the number of new PR jobs alone will exceed the payroll of the entire news industry. For professional reporters and those who value their vocational contributions to society, it’s only going to get worse. The reporting payroll is projected to decline by another 6 percent by 2020. That means the public will be receiving more information billed as news that has been shaped, spun, or fabricated by professionals working within the narrow parameters of particular corporate interests. This growing rubric of the Fourth Estate will use the traditional tools – press releases and phone calls -- to leverage stories into news outlets. It also has at its disposal Facebook, Blogger, and Twitter – powerful tools to bypass the working press altogether.   [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Environmental Organizations Under Pressure to Divest Fossil Fuel Investments Living on Earth Steve Curwood In response to a national movement, colleges and cities around the country are moving their endowments out of fossil fuel stocks. But Dan Apfel, executive director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition tells host Steve Curwood that some big environmental organizations have yet to follow suit. Transcript CURWOOD: It’s Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. The movement to divest from fossil fuels is catching fire. Four universities and 10 US cities, including Seattle and San Francisco, have announced plans to divest their holdings in corporations that profit from the extraction of global warming fuels, especially oil and coal. But it appears most big environmental organizations have yet to follow suit. Groups including The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International invest part of their endowments in the very fossil fuel industries that are linked to climate change. Dan Apfel is Executive Director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition and joins us from New York. Dan Apfel, welcome to Living on Earth.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Visiting communities affected by fracking and gas extraction Rabble.ca Maryam Adrangi That is the first thing that came to mind when I took a drive down Highway 567, just 20 minutes northwest of Calgary, which locals call Frack Alley. "But that's not even the worst of it!" says a local resident who moved to the area a few years ago for her retirement. "In a few weeks, this single lane highway will be filled with industry trucks driving at hundreds of miles per hour. It is so dangerous. I don't even use it." But that is not the only reason she avoids the road. "I can't even breathe when I drive down Frack Alley in high season. Right now it is not as bad." Residents and local ranchers have experienced hair loss, burning scalps, asthma, cancers, and itchy eyes. "Our water tastes different now. I don't drink it," says a local rancher who has lived in the area for decades. She and her husband have had their water tested, but because some of the fracking chemicals are protected, they do not even know what to ask conventional water testing to look for. They ranchers brought me around their ranch and pointed to the numerous sloughs which used to be filled with geese, bluebirds, swallows, and swans. "There are no birds here anymore."  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Legislature Renews Call for Fracking Ban Lansing Star Marcia E. Lynch The Legislature once again urged a ban or moratorium on high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing in New York State—supporting bills pending in the State legislature that would, if enacted, support either a statewide ban on fracking or impose a two-year moratorium on it—and calls for the regulatory review process to begin again in light of apparent conflicts of interest. The vote was 13-1, with Legislator Brian Robison voting no and Legislator Jim Dennis excused. The measure cites apparent conflicts of interest on the part of several consultants employed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation in the development of the regulatory document, the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), including its socioeconomic analysis, since they have been identified as members of the Independent Oil and Gas Alliance of New York, the leading advocacy group in favor of permitting gas extraction through fracking. The Legislature calls upon the Governor and State Legislature to enact the legislation that would ban fracking for natural gas in New York State and, in the absence of a ban, that legislation be enacted to place a two-year moratorium on the drilling practice in the state. Due to the recently revealed apparent conflicts of interest, the Legislature’s action maintains that the current SGEIS process is “fatally flawed” and should be terminated and restarted from the beginning, and urges that the DEC conduct an independent, comprehensive study, as part of a new SGEIS process, that examines the costs, as well as the benefits, of fracking to local governments and communities, as required by the State’s environmental quality review law.   [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Judy Lubow: Fracking -- Longmont residents will not be bullied Daily Camera When confronted by a bully, there are choices about how to respond: stand up for what you believe, run away, join the bully or let him do what he wants. Here in Longmont, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COCOG) is playing the bully by suing the city to get COCOG's way. COCOG would like the residents of Longmont to allow oil and gas companies to drill within city limits. Let's imagine what Longmont will look like if the oil and gas industry has it's way and starts drilling within our city limits. Visualize a densely populated city with schools, parks and residential areas. Now -- with fracking -- add in truck traffic, a multitude of active wells, flares, sound pollution and air pollution. Is that worth saying no to? Yes. We are a concerned community that is putting its money where its mouth is. We are willing to pay for legal fees now, if we have to, and not cancer treatment for residents later. Longmont is at the forefront of the movement to stand up to the fear mongering of the oil and gas representatives. Even though some newspapers did not write about the Frack Sure conference that took place last weekend in Longmont, this conference attracted people from all over the country to Longmont. Let's make Longmont a city that more companies and families will want to reside in. That is the future of Longmont, not putting industrial straws in the ground and sucking out it's wealth to benefit companies in Houston, Japan or elsewhere. JUDY LUBOW Longmont  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 West MI Fractivist: Jeff Smith and the 'People's EPA' indict the oil & gas industry The Rapidian Tiffany Szakal With a welcoming smile and laid back attitude it’s difficult to imagine that a few short months ago Jeff Smith, founder of Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID), was in jail for occupying the downtown office of Wolverine Oil and Gas. The scene was something to behold. Hard hats, caution tape and men in suits reading off the “charges” they issued on Wolverine Executives. The charges ranged from profiting from environmental destruction, contaminating groundwater and soil with toxic chemicals to poisoning plants, animals and humans all while contributing to what the protesters called the most urgent crisis of our times: Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing in Michigan. “We were part of the People’s EPA,” Smith explains of the stunt still available to watch on Youtube. “The fact that they can do this to our land, water, and public health- that’s a crime.” What exactly has Jeff Smith up in arms over a lawful energy extraction process by Wolverine and companies like them? Horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, has fast become Michigan’s environmental talking point. It is a process of fossil fuel extraction that drills deep into the earth’s shale layers and then turns horizontally to drill up to two miles across the earth’s crust. Once the drilling is complete, explosions are set off through the horizontal well and a cocktail of undisclosed chemicals chased with millions of gallons of fresh water are shot through the site to collect gas and oils buried deep below.   [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Shale gas: green groups condemn methane flaring plans for wells Business Green Fiona Harvey The Guardian confirms that two leading fracking companies have plans to flare excess gas at sites in Lancashire and West Sussex. The two companies exploring for shale gas in the UK have confirmed that they intend to flare methane gas from their wells in a move that has been condemned by environmentalists. It is likely to be the most visible sign of the fracking revolution that many in business and government would like to bring to the UK. Flaring excess gas is widely regarded as environmentally damaging, as burning the methane results in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. In the US, where fracking wells are now widespread, flaring is so prevalent that the light from the flames can be seen from space, rivalling street lamps from cities.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Two House members introduce new fracking rules in Congress Akron Beacon Journal WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) joined with her colleague Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) to introduce the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (FRAC Act), a bipartisan bill that establishes common sense safeguards to protect groundwater from risks associated with the oil and gas drilling technique “hydraulic fracturing,” better known as “fracking.” The FRAC Act would require disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking fluids and would remove the oil and gas industry’s exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Rep. DeGette has introduced the FRAC Act in each Congress since 2008, but today marks the first time it has been introduced on a bipartisan basis. “As we recognize the need for energy independence and clean tech innovations to power our nation, natural gas is an important economic driver; but we must ensure the process for extracting natural gas is done safely and responsibly,” said Rep. DeGette. “I’m proud to introduce the FRAC Act today for the first time as a bipartisan bill. As fracking operations expand, colleagues on both sides of the aisle increasingly recognize we need common-sense legislation to ensure the economic benefits of natural gas do not come at the expense of the health and safety of families and communities.”  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Fracking Infrastructure vs. American Values EcoWatch Pramilla Malick As advances in technology open vast territories of the U.S. to new forms of extreme fossil fuel extraction, more and more American communities find themselves battling not only private oil and gas companies but also their own government to protect their homes, health and way of life. The oil and gas rush requires a massive infrastructure network to get those fuels to markets, domestic as well as foreign, including millions of miles of pipelines, compressor stations, storage facilities and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. Like the extraction process itself, this infrastructure carries enormous risks such as air pollution, water contamination and risk of explosion. However, unlike drilling sites, which are confined to areas on top of shale formations, the related infrastructure spans throughout the U.S. Indeed it can and will be built anywhere a gas or oil company so desires, striking indiscriminately at rural, suburban and even urban communities. Why? Because the sole federal permitting agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is also euphemistically known as the agency that “never met a pipeline it didn’t like.”  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Environmental Organizations Under Pressure to Divest Fossil Fuel Investments PRI In response to a national movement, colleges and cities around the country are moving their endowments out of fossil fuel stocks. But Dan Apfel, executive director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition tells host Steve Curwood that some big environmental organizations have yet to follow suit. Transcript CURWOOD: It’s Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. The movement to divest from fossil fuels is catching fire. Four universities and 10 US cities, including Seattle and San Francisco, have announced plans to divest their holdings in corporations that profit from the extraction of global warming fuels, especially oil and coal. But it appears most big environmental organizations have yet to follow suit. Groups including The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International invest part of their endowments in the very fossil fuel industries that are linked to climate change. Dan Apfel is Executive Director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition and joins us from New York. Dan Apfel, welcome to Living on Earth.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Brazilians turn to U.S. for drilling know-how Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Timothy Puko When they needed advice because of important natural gas drilling contracts coming up for bid, several Brazilians found a friend in Pennsylvania. A group of the country's political and business leaders spent Thursday touring gas drilling hot spots in Washington County and meeting with Pennsylvania officials and local lawyers at Pittsburgh International Airport. Natural gas in Brazil is three times more expensive than it is here, so their officials came for advice on how to safely manage their own shale resources and find American ingenuity to help.   [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Carbon Dioxide Level Passes Long-Feared Milestone New York Times Justin Gillis The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported on Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years. Scientific monitors reported that the gas had reached an average daily level that surpassed 400 parts per million — just an odometer moment in one sense, but also a sobering reminder that decades of efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control are faltering. The best available evidence suggests the amount of the gas in the air has not been this high for at least three million years, before humans evolved, and scientists believe the rise portends large changes in the climate and the level of the sea. “It symbolizes that so far we have failed miserably in tackling this problem,” said Pieter P. Tans, who runs the monitoring program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that reported the new reading. Ralph Keeling, who runs another monitoring program at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said a continuing rise could be catastrophic. “It means we are quickly losing the possibility of keeping the climate below what people thought were possibly tolerable thresholds,” he said. The new measurement came from analyzers high atop Mauna Loa, the volcano on the big island of Hawaii that has long been ground zero for monitoring the worldwide carbon dioxide trend. Devices there sample clean, crisp air that has blown thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean, producing a record of rising carbon dioxide levels that has been closely tracked for half a century. Carbon dioxide above 400 parts per million was first seen in the Arctic last year, and had also spiked above that level in hourly readings at Mauna Loa. But the average reading for an entire day surpassed that level at Mauna Loa for the first time in the 24 hours that ended at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, according to data from both NOAA and Scripps. Carbon dioxide rises and falls on a seasonal cycle and the level will dip below 400 this summer, as leaf growth in the Northern Hemisphere pulls about 10 billion tons of carbon out of the air. But experts say that will be a brief reprieve — the moment is approaching when no measurement of the ambient air anywhere on earth, in any season, will produce a reading below 400. “It feels like the inevitable march toward disaster,” said Maureen E. Raymo, a Columbia University earth scientist. From studying air bubbles trapped in Antarctic ice, scientists know that going back 800,000 years, the carbon dioxide level oscillated in a tight band, from about 180 parts per million in the depths of ice ages, to about 280 during the warm periods between. The evidence shows that global temperatures and CO2 levels are tightly linked. For the entire period of human civilization, roughly 8,000 years, the carbon dioxide level was relatively stable near that upper bound. But the burning of fossil fuels has caused a 41 percent increase in the heat-trapping gas since the Industrial Revolution, a mere geological instant, and scientists say the climate is beginning to react, though they expect far larger changes in the future. Governments have been trying since 1992 to rein in emissions, but far from slowing, emissions are rising at an accelerating pace, thanks partly to rapid economic growth in developing countries. Scientists fear the level of the gas could triple or even quadruple before being brought under control. Indirect measurements suggest that the last time the carbon dioxide level was this high was at least three million years ago, during an epoch called the Pliocene. Geological research shows that the climate then was far warmer than today, the world’s ice caps were smaller, and the sea level might have been as much as 60 or 80 feet higher. Experts fear that humanity may be precipitating a return to such conditions — except this time, billions of people are in harm’s way. “It takes a long time to melt ice, but we’re doing it,” Dr. Keeling said. “It’s scary.” Dr. Keeling’s father, Charles David Keeling, began carbon dioxide measurements on Mauna Loa and at other locations in the late 1950s. The elder Dr. Keeling found a level in the air then of about 315 parts per million — meaning that if a person had filled a million quart jars with air, about 315 quart jars of carbon dioxide would have been mixed in. His analysis revealed a relentless, long-term increase superimposed on the seasonal cycle, a trend that was dubbed the Keeling Curve. Subsequent research proved it was coming from the combustion of fossil fuels. Charles David Keeling died in 2005. Countries have adopted an official target to limit the damage from global warming, which by most estimates requires that emissions stop by the time the level reaches about 450. “Unless things slow down, we’ll probably get there in well under 25 years,” Ralph Keeling said. Yet many countries, including China and the United States, have refused to adopt binding national targets. Scientists say that unless far greater efforts are made soon, the goal of limiting the warming will become impossible without severe economic disruption. “If you start turning the Titanic long before you hit the iceberg, you can go clear without even spilling a drink of a passenger on deck,” said Richard B. Alley, a climate scientist at the Pennsylvania State University. “If you wait until you’re really close, spilling a lot of drinks is the best you can hope for.” Climate-change contrarians, who have little scientific credibility but are politically influential in Washington, point out that carbon dioxide represents only a tiny fraction of the air — as of Thursday’s reading, exactly .04 percent. “The CO2 levels in the atmosphere are rather undramatic,” a Republican congressman from California, Dana Rohrabacher, said in a Congressional hearing several years ago. But climate scientists reject that argument, saying it is like claiming that a tiny bit of arsenic or cobra venom cannot have much effect. Research shows that even at such low levels, carbon dioxide is potent at trapping heat near the surface of the earth. “If you’re looking to stave off climate perturbations that I don’t believe our culture is ready to adapt to, then significant reductions in CO2 emissions have to occur right away,” said Mark Pagani, a Yale geochemist who studies climates of the past. “I feel like the time to do something was yesterday.” Scientific monitors reported that the gas had reached an average daily level that surpassed 400 parts per million — just an odometer moment in one sense, but also a sobering reminder that decades of efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control are faltering.   [Full Story] May 10, 2013 How Big Oil Uses the Republican Party to Subvert American Democracy EcoWatch Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In a surprise move, the eight Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday blocked a floor vote on President Obama’s nominee, Gina McCarthy, as U.S. EPA Administrator. In doing so the Republican senators broke their earlier promise to move McCarthy’s nomination if she answered an unprecedented 1,079 written questions, a quest she completed. Political observers assume the Republican roadblock is meant to derail or delay the implementation of a new EPA rule, promised by President Obama to finally regulate carbon pollution. The Republican ranking member, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, orchestrated the double cross. Vitter is an unabashed mouthpiece for the petroleum industry and record breaking receptacle for petrodollars having received $1.2 million in oil company largesse during his public service career. With cash gushers of oily money cascading down their open gullets, the Republican leadership’s mercenary devotion to Big Oil shouldn’t shock us. However, the boldness of the party’s most recent assault on the public interest might cause us to ponder how GOP’s honchos’ knee jerk slavishness to petroleum interest has infected its rank and file.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Which side will you take in Britain’s frack wars? The Telegraph Geoffrey Lean Could this be the weekend when the long phony war over fracking – potentially the biggest domestic environmental battle of the next decade – finally flares into life? Surprise drilling plans, and escalating protests, suggest that it might. Last night, in Lancashire – where fracking has stalled since causing minor earthquakes near Blackpool two years ago – campaigners from throughout Britain gathered for a bring-your-own-tent “Frack Camp”, two days of music, presentations, poetry and discussions on campaign strategy, fuelled by “freshly prepared vegan and vegetarian foods”. In West Sussex, meanwhile, better-heeled residents of the Conservative heartland village of Balcombe are getting together more conventionally today to plan “peaceful protests”, after a shock announcement that “unobtrusive” round-the-clock exploratory drilling for shale oil and gas will start next month. They will start by accumulating street-by-street petitions – 82 per cent of the villagers are opposed – but some unlikely revolutionaries are already talking of passive resistance. G4S, of Olympics security fame, is being hired just in case.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Libous Should Refrain From N.Y. Fracking Vote, Group Says Bloomberg Freeman Klopott New York Water Rangers, a coalition of 10 environmental groups, is calling on state Senator Tom Libous to recuse himself from fracking deliberations after his ties to a real estate company with a natural-gas lease were disclosed. The organization, which includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Riverkeeper, said in a statement yesterday that Libous should stop blocking a vote on extending a ban on hydraulic fracturing for two years. Libous’s business partner and campaign donor, Luciano Piccirilli, runs a firm started by Libous’s wife that owns 230 acres near Oneonta. A drilling company has leased the property’s gas rights, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The recusal push targeting the 60-year-old Binghamton Republican comes amid calls to clean up Albany after two senators and an assemblyman, all Democrats from the New York City area, have been accused in corruption cases by federal authorities since April. They’ve all pleaded not guilty.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Colorado Springs group sues to allow vote on fracking ban The Denver Post Ned Hunter COLORADO SPRINGS —A citizens group said Thursday that it has sued the city of Colorado Springs in an effort to move forward a petition to amend the City Charter to ban oil and gas drilling in the city. The Colorado Springs Citizens for Community Rights filed the lawsuit in 4th Judicial District Court in response to the city's Initiative Title Setting Review Board's refusal to affix a title to the petition. The title is needed before signatures can be gathered; the board rejected the petition, saying it violates the city's single-subject rule. The proposed charter amendment, which the group wants to see on the November ballot, would prohibit any company from engaging 'in the extraction of natural gas or oil, ' including the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.   [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Fracking comes to West Michigan GRCC's Writing for Publication class interviews local fractivists - citizen activists concerned about the dangers of fracking. The Rapidian Maryann Lesert Perhaps you’ve seen them: billboards that aim to educate the public about horizontal hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a relatively new process of oil and gas extraction from deep shale layers. These frack facts, 49 numbered “fracts” as sponsoring organization West Michigan Environmental Action Council calls them, offer quick and often quantifiable slices of information about the process of fracking, from the average number of tanker trucks needed to transport the chemicals, acids and lubricants used to drill and frack a well, to the millions of gallons of fresh water used to pump fracking’s slurry of water, chemicals, sand and proppants through one to two mile long horizontal well bores 5,000-10,000 feet below the surface, to concerns about the potential for methane and toxins to migrate beyond the well bore when fracking fluid is pumped at high pressure into fissures or fractures in deep shale layers, to release “tight” or trapped gas and oil. Signs of growing interest, whether supportive or critical of fracking, seem to be everywhere: in economic reports, in scientific studies, in Bill McKibben’s Do the Math Tour, in a coalition of Michigan activist organizations calling for protest of the Michigan Department of Natural Resource’s next Oil and Gas Leasing Auction on May 9 and in the local coverage of a recent meeting introducing west Michigan to its newest frack well site in Muskegon county.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 State Senate Deputy Majority Leader With Fracking Connections is Taking Heat The Village Voice Sydney Brownstone A Bloomberg story blew the lid on one state senator's ties to the fracking industry yesterday. Turns out state Senator Tom Libous (R-Binghamton), who said in March that he'd "make sure no [fracking moratorium] bill passes the Senate," has deep ties to a real-estate company leasing underground natural gas rights to a drilling company. Now, Libous is feeling the pushback. Libous' wife founded the real-estate company, Da Vinci II LLC, and a campaign donor, Luciano Piccirilli, runs it. Da Vinci also owns 230 acres of land leased to a drilling company on top of the state's Marcellus Shale deposit. Piccirilli, meanwhile, has contributed $28,000 to Libous' campaign over the years, and jointly owns two Florida homes with Libous, according to Bloomberg.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Colorado Springs group sues to allow vote on fracking ban The Gazette Ned Hunter A citizens group said Thursday that it has sued the city of Colorado Springs in an effort to move forward a petition to amend the City Charter to ban oil and gas drilling in the city. The Colorado Springs Citizens for Community Rights filed the lawsuit in 4th Judicial District Court in response to the city's Initiative Title Setting Review Board's refusal to affix a title to the petition. The title is needed before signatures can be gathered; the board rejected the petition, saying it violates the city's single-subject rule.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Opinion: Little lawsuit, big implications for future of fracking projects Edmonton Journal EMMA LUI AND STUART TREW The annual meeting of a small, local oil and gas company is probably not front-page news in a global energy hub like Alberta. It might get close if the firm has done something exceptional in the past year, something that distinguishes it from the pack — for better or worse. Lone Pine Resources, which meets with shareholders in Calgary this week, surely meets that standard. Spoiler alert: it’s for the worse. Lone Pine is one of many energy companies charging into Canada’s growing but controversial hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) business. It’s also one of several companies that were hoping to extract shale gas in Quebec before the province passed a moratorium on fracking so that the environmental and health impacts can be studied.  [Full Story] May 10, 2013 Fugitive Methane Emissions Climate Implications of shale gas exports Eco Watch James Bradbury World Resources Institute U.S. natural gas production is booming. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), production grew by 23 percent from 2007 to 2012. Now—with production projected to continue growing in the decades ahead—U.S. lawmakers and companies are considering exporting this resource internationally. But what are the climate implications of doing so? This is a topic I sought to address in my testimony on May 7, before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The hearing, “U.S. Energy Abundance: Exports and the Changing Global Energy Landscape,” examined both the opportunities and risks presented by exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). I sought to emphasize a number of points that are often overlooked in this discussion; in particular, fugitive methane emissions and cost-effective options for reducing them.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Legislature says 'no thanks' to fracking brine The Chronicle Edie Johnson GOSHEN — Orange County Legislators agreed that fracking brine should not be used to clear icy roads in winter, after a stream of scientists, residents, and even a senior representative from Riverkeeper implored them to pass up the deal. Natural gas companies are trying to divest themselves of the brine — a byproduct of the controversial deep-drilling method known as hydrofracking — by pitching it as an economical way to treat roads. It is also sometimes used in water and wastewater treatment plants and in treating dusty roads and construction sites.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 In the Fracking Zone Syracuse University Magazine Tom Wilber Mary Beth and Merwyn Jones live on a wooded hillside above the Susquehanna River valley, near the hamlet of Apalachin, in New York’s Southern Tier region. Hiking paths weave through stands of hardwoods surrounding their colonial home and a large red barn. Springs and rivulets from the hill above feed ponds before draining into nearby Deerlick Creek and, by way of various channels over and through the land, the Susquehanna River. It’s a place where the couple’s three boys built forts and caught frogs in their youth, and the Joneses are keen to see it preserved for future generations. The family’s 50-acre tract, a fragment of a large farmstead active generations ago, is not much different than adjoining land flanking the Susquehanna River valley meandering along New York’s border with Pennsylvania. Once heavily farmed, this region is now more fallow than productive, but still possesses a bucolic richness sought by lovers of country life. The land also harbors a kind of richness sought by others: natural gas in the bedrock below. In this region, and across the country, burgeoning shale gas development is altering demographic, economic, and physical landscapes. At the heart of the matter is a practice called “fracking”—industry slang for high-volume hydraulic fracturing—the injection of pressurized chemical solutions into well bores to fracture bedrock and release gas. Developments in fracking chemistry, combined with advancements in mechanical technology that allow well bores to be steered horizontally through large mantles of shale, have made once-inaccessible shale formations lucrative targets for energy companies.   [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Brighton Residents Worried Oil Wells Are Contaminating Their Water CBS Denver BRIGHTON, Colo. (CBS4) – Homeowners in Brighton worried about their water are now looking across their street for answers. It’s a dirty water mystery. No one seems to know what is causing the well water to turn yellow. Since early March the homeowners have been looking at the color of water in their bathtubs, sinks, washers, and their drinking glasses. Right now they’re doing everything they can to get to the bottom of the issue.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Fracking up the future Anti-fracking protesters disrupt DNR oil and gas land lease auction, no arrests City Pulse Sam Inglot Thursday, May 9 — A gas and mineral rights auction of public land by the Department of Natural Resources drew the ire of about 40 anti-fracking protesters at the Lansing Center today. Several protesters were escorted out of the auction for disruptive behavior, but no arrests were made. The auction was held to sell state-owned oil and gas lease rights to 37,000 acres of land in 27 Michigan counties. No land in Ingham County was up for grabs, but land in neighboring Jackson County was on the table.   [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Lawmakers clash over proposed fracking rules Great Falls Tribune WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and state officials, including one from Montana, expressed growing frustration Wednesday over the federal government’s plan to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public lands. Montana state Sen. Alan Olson and others testified at a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee that states already regulate hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which uses pressurized liquid to fracture underground rock as a method for extracting natural gas.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Johnson County board hears fracking input The Southern Scott Fitzgerald GOREVILLE — Johnson County Board Chairman Jeff Mears said he wants more time to research fracking before the board votes on a two-year moratorium for the proposed gas and oil extraction method. His comments came shortly after adjournment Wednesday of a special commissioners meeting in the Goreville High School cafeteria that drew as many as 100 people.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Record: Libous ended stake in firm eyeing fracking San Francisco Chronicle Michael Gormley ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Sen. Thomas Libous on Thursday released a 2008 document that states he ended his personal financial interest in a real estate firm before it speculated in land purchases to benefit from drilling now being debated in Albany. Libous provided the document to The Associated Press after published reports said he was part of a real estate firm that is buying Southern Tier property, which could significantly increase in value if hydraulic fracturing for gas is approved.   [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Fracking is Coming to the Most Prized NYC 'Hood: The West Village PolicyMic Nicole Polizzi Hydraulic Fracturing, not-so-affectionately nicknamed “Fracking,” is coming to New York City’s West Village. Don’t believe it? I didn’t either, until I read this article in the Nation. Apparently, a pipeline 30 inches in diameter, carrying highly pressurized gas, is slated to run underneath the densely populated, and historic West Village’s tree-lined, cobblestone streets. The pipeline, being constructed by a subsidiary of Spectra Energy, will connect the New York City gas infrastructure to Marcellus shale, a bed that lies underneath Pennsylvania and upstate New York.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 New York's Zoning Ban Movement Fracks Big Gas Truthout Ellen Cantarow On Thursday, May 2, New York State's Appellate Court upheld the right of two townships - the Tompkins County town of Dryden and the Otsego County town of Middlefield - to use their zoning laws to ban gas drilling. This includes high-volume hydraulic fracturing, during which millions of gallons of sand-and-chemical-laced water are propelled into deep shale rock to force out the methane it contains. Last week's decision defeated corporate challenges to the state's constitutional home rule provision, under which local ordinances trump state laws. If you haven't been following New York State's astonishing grassroots battle against fracking, the foregoing may seem humdrum. But in fact it represents a victory wrenched by unknown grassroots activists from giants of the fossil-fuel industry. While the corporations defeated in last week's judgment are only two in number, the entire industry has had its eyes on New York State, which has become the epicenter of an international struggle against unconventional gas. (By "unconventional gas" I mean not only the drilling method, but the vast infrastructure that is metastasizing from hundreds of thousands of fracking wells into America's rural countrysides.)  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 "Fracking" Opponents Rally In Lansing Interlochen Public Radio Jake Neher Opponents of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” are blasting Michigan officials for opening more state lands to oil and gas companies. They held a rally in Lansing Thursday as state officials auctioned the mineral rights for tens of thousands of acres of state land.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Oil and fracking booms creating housing busts As exploration increases, employees often find themselves without adequate or affordable housing. Mother Nature Network John Platt The rapid expansion of natural gas and oil exploration companies over the past few years has created both jobs and economic booms for some regions, but employees and their families are often paying a price: a lack of adequate and affordable housing. Around the country, workers at fracking and oil sites frequently find themselves in locations without an existing infrastructure prepared to handle hundreds or thousands of new residents. In West Virginia, park sites are filled to capacity with row after row of RV, put into place to house out-of-state workers. Some of these sites aren't even legal while others can't handle the above-average sewage levels, according to a recent report from Mountaineer News Service. Other state and national parks are also feeling the pinch. This month Outside magazine reported that Theodore Roosevelt National Park is full of RVs and tents populated by "oil company employees who can't find permanent housing. And it's only getting busier."  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 N.Y. Senate Fracking Backer Tied to Firm With Gas Lease - Bloomberg Bloomberg Freeman Klopott Senator Tom Libous, a champion of fracking in the New York Legislature, is blocking a bill that would delay drilling for natural gas for at least two more years. Passage of the measure would harm the prospects of a real-estate company founded by Libous’s wife and run by a business partner and campaign donor. The donor, Luciano Piccirilli, operates Da Vinci II LLC, which owns 230 acres near Oneonta, west of Albany. Da Vinci II’s rights to underground natural gas are leased to a drilling company, property and corporate records show.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Death on the job: North Dakota ranks dead last in worker safety The Dickinson Press Katherine Grandstrand, rotect yourself. That’s the best advice Barbara Allen has for workers, especially for those in the Oil Patch. “There’s been so many accidents that I’m sure could have been avoided with a little safety,” said Allen, who lost her son, Terry Metcalf, to an oil field accident nine months ago. “Instead of depending on the company you work for, you’re just going to have to take care of yourself. Not depend on somebody else to take care of it for you.”  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 35 Arrested Protesting Frac-Sand Mining Facilities EcoWatch On April 29, more than 100 people shut down silica sand mining operations simultaneously at two facilities in the city of Winona, MN. Thirty-five concerned citizens were arrested and cited on trespass charges. One woman was held and transferred to Hennepin County because of a previous action against silica sand mining. All others were released with a future court date. It was, to date, the largest protest against frac-sand mining.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Senator Tom Libous’ ties to contractor, fracking scrutinized (UPDATED) The Journal News Jon Campbell Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton, on Thursday denied he has a personal stake in whether New York moves forward with hydraulic fracturing after a report linked him to a developer who has drilling lease deals. Libous, speaking on WNBF-AM in Binghamton, said neither he nor his wife have a financial stake in a company run by Luciano Piccirilli, a Libous friend and campaign donor who owns property in central New York. “I stand to gain nothing personally from fracking. And I mean that,” Libous, an ardent support of hydrofracking in the Southern Tier. Libous’ lakeside house in Sanford, Broome County, may also be the target of the FBI. Raymond Rolston, a retired contractor who handled the paving work at Libous’ house, said Thursday he was interviewed in March by the FBI about the job.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Shale gas: green groups condemn methane flaring plans for wells The Guardian Fiona Harvey The two companies exploring for shale gas in the UK have confirmed that they intend to flare methane gas from their wells in a move that has been condemned by environmentalists. It is likely to be the most visible sign of the fracking revolution that many in business and government would like to bring to the UK. Flaring excess gas is widely regarded as environmentally damaging, as burning the methane results in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. In the US, where fracking wells are now widespread, flaring is so prevalent that the light from the flames can be seen from space, rivalling street lamps from cities. Fracking companies prefer burning methane, which leaks from gas and oil fracking sites, because during the exploration stage it is cheaper than capturing it and using it for fuel, and it is less dangerous than allowing it to leak freely.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Why fracking pact is stalled in the Legislature Chicago Sun-Times Thomas Frisbie Outdoor enthusiasts, tourists, climbers and backpackers at Garden of the Gods Wilderness Area near Herod, Ill. Southern Illinoisans have hopes and fears surrounding the high-volume oil and gas drilling that may be starting in the Shawnee National Forest. (Seth Perlman~AP) After a year of negotiations over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in Illinois, a compromise that could be a model for the nation is snagged over a simple question. What exactly is fracking, anyway?  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 No protest at fracking film Documentary draws crowd of supporters Times Herald-Record Steve Israel LAKE HUNTINGTON — What if you show a controversial film about a subject that's generated countless protests — and no one shows up to protest? That's what happened Wednesday evening at the local debut of "FrackNation," filmmaker Phelim McAleer's pro-fracking documentary that aims to show that the natural gas extraction method of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is safe and that its critics — particularly the Academy Award-nominated stars of "Gasland" — are selfish and wrongheaded. With a message like that, and a subject that has generated shouting matches in public forums, you might expect anti-frackers to protest the showing at Sullivan West High School in Lake Huntington.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 CETA and fracking report makes an impact in Europe Rabble.CA Stuart Trew On Monday this week, the Council of Canadians co-launched a timely briefing note on investment treaties and fracking bans with the Brussels-based Corporate Europe Observatory and Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute. As we hoped, the report, The Right to Say No, is making an impact in Europe, where many countries are deciding to ban shale gas development because of the public health and environmental impacts. Our report makes the case that these completely reasonable, precautionary decisions by governments are threatened by an investment protection chapter in the proposed Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that will let Canada-based fracking companies sue the EU or European member states for hundreds of millions of dollars in lost profits on dirty gas.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Colorado Springs group sues to ban fracking San Francisco Chronicle COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A group of Colorado Springs residents is suing the city in hopes of eventually banning oil and gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, within city limits. Colorado Springs Citizens for Community Rights filed the lawsuit Thursday, urging the 4th Judicial District Court to overturn a city decision blocking a petition to amend the city charter to ban drilling. The city has denied the petition a title that it needs before it can be circulated. Several Colorado towns are grappling with how to regulate fracking, which involves shooting water, sand and chemicals underground to release oil and gas.   [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Guest Viewpoint: Fracking the farm not worth the price Press Connects Ed Nizalowski Farming has never been an easy occupation, although there have been times when the men and women who feed us had a greater sense of satisfaction when going to the bank. Those times seem long gone. If you have been to town meetings where the issue of a moratorium or ban on gas drilling has been a central issue, you have probably seen some of those hard-working men and women pleading their case for the industry, with the Farm Bureau solidly behind them. It is not easy standing in front of people with calloused hands and brawny arms who sweat and slave to put food on our tables that the short-term gains from gas drilling will be just that. In the long run, the stewardship of the land that the vast majority of farmers follow will be compromised.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Shale Bust: North America Natural Gas Production set to Seriously Decline OilPrice Shale oil has been North America's great experiment, says Oil & Gas Investments Bulletin Editor Keith Schaefer. But in this interview with The Energy Report, he questions the experiment's success and predicts steep declines ahead, with just a few formations left to supply the market. The question is what shale play will last the longest? Read on to find out how—and when—to get positioned for the end of the shale revolution.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Libous Should Refrain From N.Y. Fracking Vote, Coalition Says Bloomberg Freeman Klopott New York Water Rangers, a coalition of 10 environmental groups, is calling on state Senator Tom Libous to recuse himself from fracking deliberations after his ties to a real estate company with a natural-gas lease were disclosed. The organization, which includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Riverkeeper, said in a statement yesterday that Libous should stop blocking a vote on extending a ban on hydraulic fracturing for two years. Libous’s business partner and campaign donor, Luciano Piccirilli, runs a firm started by Libous’s wife that owns 230 acres near Oneonta. A drilling company has leased the property’s gas rights, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The recusal push targeting the 60-year-old Binghamton Republican comes amid calls to clean up Albany after two senators and an assemblyman, all Democrats from the New York City area, have been accused in corruption cases by federal authorities since April. They’ve all pleaded not guilty.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Will Aesop win energy race? Shale Reporter Tara Zrinski The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its Annual Energy Outlook 2013 on May 2, with a projection of what the world might look like in 2040 that includes a scenario where renewable energy, unimpeded by gag-regulations and pro-gas policies, could give natural gas a run for its money as the faster growing energy source. Coal is being phased out of the race. In 2005, coal production account for 50 percent of all energy generation in the U.S. By 2040, EIA expects that number to decrease to 27 percent, while natural gas outpaces it at 43 percent of energy generation. At this point renewable energy enters the footrace, slow and steady.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Fracking Activists Could Face Felony Charges as "Ag-Gag" Laws Spread Common Dreams Jacob Chamberlain The same "Ag-Gag" laws that make it a crime to film or document egregious abuses on industrial farms may soon be used to criminalize anti-fracking activists who seek to expose environmental harms brought on by the gas drilling industry—if a bill recently proposed in Pennsylvannia passes. House Bill 683, sponsored by Rep. Gary Haluska, D-Cambria, would make it a felony to take photos, video or audio on private land used for "agricultural purposes," downloading or distributing any such recordings; and entering agricultural property if one plans on recording. However, as Pittsburg'sTribLive reports, the bill would go even further, in that gas frackers now commonly drilling on land that would otherwise be used for "agricultural purposes" would also be protected—meaning anyone looking to document what goes on in the ordinary day of a gas fracker, could be slapped with felony charges.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Libous releases document showing severed ties to LLC The Journal News Jon Campbell After initially declining to make it public, the second-ranking Republican in the state Senate provided a document that shows he severed ties in 2008 from a limited liability corporation that was about to about to invest in land with oil-and-gas leases.  [Full Story] May 9, 2013 Obama-backed natural-gas van company shuts down The Hill Ben Geman A natural-gas van company awarded a $50 million Energy Department (DOE) loan has suspended operations and laid off roughly 100 workers, according to press accounts. The closure of Vehicle Production Group (VPG), which builds wheelchair-accessible vans powered by natural gas, will likely increase Republican criticism of Energy loan programs that are already facing heavy Capitol Hill scrutiny. Former CEO John Walsh told The Detroit Free Press that the Michigan-based company’s owners are negotiating a sale. “The people who are interested are close to the company and current partners,” he told the paper.   [Full Story] May 9, 2013 One year later, moratorium still on agenda in H'heads Corning Leader Derrick Ek Horseheads, N.Y. — A fracking moratorium has now been on the Horseheads Town Board agenda for a year, but has yet to be acted on. The moratorium was first placed on the agenda for discussion in May 2012, but a vote has never been scheduled. The board has been pressed at nearly every monthly meeting since by Horseheads residents who both support and oppose fracking. There was no further action on the moratorium at Wednesday night’s meeting. Horseheads Town Supervisor Mike Edwards says his stance hasn’t changed: He wants to wait and see if the state is going to allow fracking in New York; and then he wants to take a look at the DEC’s finalized regulations, if and when fracking is approved.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Sierra Club Statement on Senators Attempts to Gut the Clean Water Act Sierra Club Press Release Senators File Amendments to Gut the Clean Water Act Three Amendments by Appalachian Senators Seek to Turn Back the Clock on Critical Clean Water Protections Washington, DC – Three amendments to the Water Resources Development Act (S. 601) by Senators Paul (KY) and Manchin (WV) would effectively end key federal clean water protections for millions of Americans. These three amendments would essentially put a stop to the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to veto mountaintop removal mines that pose a threat to citizens and wildlife after the Army Corps of Engineers gives those mines a permit and will prevent the EPA from protecting 59% of U.S. streams.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Youngstown voters shoot down anti-fracking ballot measure Athens News A proposed anti-fracking amendment on the ballot in Youngstown got turned down decisively by voters in Tuesday's primary election. The proposal was based on the same template that an Athens anti-fracking group is using to propose a ban on drilling and related activities in Athens. According to a story posted on the Youngstown Vindicator's website shortly after midnight Tuesday, voters in that Northeast Ohio industrial city rejected a citizen-proposed anti-fracking charter amendment by 57 to 43 percent (in unofficial results).  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Fracking: Feds delay sale of drilling leases in CA SF Gate ederal authorities have delayed their next sale of oil-drilling leases in a swath of California that has become a battleground in the nationwide fight over fracking. A fracking operation in Monterey County. Photo: Steve Craig. The Bureau of Land Management has postponed a May 22 sale that would have offered oil companies the chance to drill on four parcels in Fresno and Kern Counties. Both counties sit atop the Monterey Shale, an immense geologic formation that the federal government estimates could hold 15 billion barrels of oil. The bureau did not set a new date for the lease sale but said it won’t happen in this fiscal year, which for the federal government ends on September 30. The sale could be held next year, said bureau spokesman Dave Christy.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Another Spill in PA Town Where Fracking Just Resumed in April After 200,000+ Gallon Spill in March Daily kos ProgressivePatriotPA A natural gas drilling rig operated by Carrizo Oil and Gas from Texas in Washington Township, PA has spilled thousands of gallons of fracking waste-fluid in the surrounding environment. If you're experiencing any deja vu right now, it may be because the very same company was responsible for a fracking spill in the very same municipality in March. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had the company stop all fracking operations following the March spill, but then allowed them to resume less than a month later essentially "just because." It turns out - surprise, surprise - giving a fracking company that prioritizes profit over the environment the benefit of the doubt regardless of the environmental threat they present wasn't such a bright idea after all. This marks a monumental failure for PA DEP. Fracking is the the commonly used term for hydraulic fracturing, which is a process used to extract natural gas that involves drilling as far as 10,000 feet underground and injecting millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals to pressure rock into cracking and releasing the gas.   [Full Story] May 8, 2013 New Yorkers Call on Gov. Cuomo to Protect Thriving Tourism Industry from Fracking Eco Watch On the day of Governor Cuomo’s tourism summit, New York bed-and-breakfasts, wineries and other tourism-related businesses highlighted fracking’s incompatibility with upstate tourism and called on the governor to protect the state’s tourism industry by banning fracking. New Yorkers Against Fracking also announced a radio ad running in Albany, emphasizing the risks that fracking poses to the state’s rural tourism industry. Dozens of citizens wore iconic “I (Heart) New York” t-shirts and handed out literature to participants as they entered the summit. “If Governor Cuomo is serious about creating a thriving tourist industry that continues to grow our economy and upstate jobs then he will realize that fracking is incompatible with that future,” said Julia Walsh of New Yorkers Against Fracking. “Fracking will drive away tourists from New York who will fear their health will be compromised from a visit to the Empire State   [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Community Group Launches Cutting-Edge Project to Test Air Quality for Fracking Chemicals EcoWatch Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC) announced yesterday that it is launching a cutting-edge air quality sampling project. The project is designed to establish an air quality baseline for the Delta County region in Colorado by testing for toxic chemicals associated with natural gas drilling. Formed in 2009 by a group of concerned residents, CHC’s mission is to protect people and their environment from irresponsible oil and gas development in the Delta County region.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exports: Friend Or Foe? Think Progress James Bradbury U.S. natural gas production is booming. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), production grew by 23 percentfrom 2007 to 2012. Now—with production projected to continue growing in the decades ahead—U.S. lawmakers and companies are considering exporting this resource internationally. But what are the climate implications of doing so? This is a topic I sought to address in my testimony yesterday before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The hearing, “U.S. Energy Abundance: Exports and the Changing Global Energy Landscape,” examined both the opportunities and risks presented by exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). I sought to emphasize a number of points that are often overlooked in this discussion; in particular,fugitive methane emissions and cost-effective options for reducing them. Environmental Impacts of Natural Gas Production  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Discharge of fracking wastewater into sewer system met with opposition Truro Daily News DEBERT - Colchester County residents will know by next Friday whether fracking wastewater from an industrial plant in Debert will be permitted to be discharged into the municipal sewer system. That is the date set by Colchester County council's sewer-use appeal committee to provide a written, "final decision" on the matter.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Boulder enters fracking fray: City Council to consider moratorium in June Daily Camera Erica Meltzer After months on the sidelines, Boulder is joining the statewide debate on fracking and local control with a possible moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. Longmont is engaged in a legal battle with the state over its own regulations and a voter-approved ban on the process, and Boulder County adopted regulations late last year. A county moratorium is set to expire in June. It's uncertain whether the county commissioners might extend it.   [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Interior Secretary: Fracking Regulations Will Be Based on Best Science Scientific American Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's second attempt at writing regulations for hydraulic fracturing on public lands is not intended to appease either environmentalists or oil and gas drillers, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on Tuesday. Jewell told lawmakers at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that the department was "very close" to unveiling the rules and reiterated a recent comment that the rules would be out in "weeks, not months."   [Full Story] May 8, 2013 The Increasingly Local Politics of Fracking The Atlantic Philip Bump Voters in Youngstown, Ohio, yesterday rejected a proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing in the city. Resident of Dryden, New York, just had their ban of the practice upheld. One of the biggest environmental fights in America is increasingly happening at the country's lowest political level, where councils and voters are deciding which is more important: jobs or the environment. Hydraulic fracturing, which you likely know better as "fracking," is a process of natural gas and oil extraction which involves forcing water solutions into shale rock deposits at high pressure. The pressure shatters the rock, allowing the gas and oil to seep back to the surface, where it is collected. Fracking has resulted in a massive increase in natural gas production — but also earthquakes and some apparent episodes of water pollution. Those two poles — job creation and economic growth versus pollution and environmental risk — have driven frequently partisan reaction to attempts to increase production. The state of New York, which in 2008 passed a moratorium on any new fracking wells, has been considering whether or not to lift that ban ever since. Likewise, the federal government, under the aegis of the Department of the Interior and the EPA, have been considering increased restrictions or disclosures on the fluids that are injected into the wells. One Republican Congressman today argued against those plans, saying that, "the regulatory needs of North Dakota versus Ohio and New Mexico are vastly different."   [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Hickenlooper orders state to review oil and gas fines The Coloradoan Bobby Magill Fines for Colorado oil and gas rules violators are rare and often $2,000 or less even for the largest oil companies. After a bill that would have raised the fines, which haven’t been revised since the 1950s, died in the Colorado Legislature Wednesday, Gov. John Hickenlooper ordered state oil and gas regulators to review its rules enforcement program and penalties. “The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission should re-evaluate its enforcement philosophy and strive to structure fines and penalties to ensure that operators comply with rules and respond promptly and effectively to any impacts from such violation,” an executive order Hickenlooper issued after the bill died says.   [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Five things Gov. Hickenlooper did to put oil & gas industry ahead of Colorado’s health and water The Checks and Balances Project Governor Hickenlooper likes to paint himself as an outsider, unfamiliar with the political process. But his recent actions to undermine public health, water safety – and basic common sense – have proven that Gov. Hickenlooper has become the ultimate insider – adept at helping his billion dollar oil and gas industry boosters cheat the rules, while playing the role of concerned official. While Governor Hickenlooper has said the he’ll increase fines and hold polluters accountable, behind closed doors he’s actually been working hard to kill or weaken legislation aimed at doing just that. Case in point: Governor Hickenlooper announces both his campaign for Colorado to be the healthiest state and safe drinking water week, then days later he successfully killed legislation to help protect water from toxic oil and gas spills. Here’s are the FIVE THINGS Gov. Hickenlooper did to put the public health and water of Coloradans at risk and to make it easier for oil and gas companies to pollute.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 County Renews Call for Fracking Ban, Moratorium, Approves Construction Spending ithacaindy.org Marcia Lynch ITHACA — The legislature once again urged a ban or moratorium on high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing in New York State . In a 13-1 vote, support was renewed for either a statewide ban on fracking or impose a two-year moratorium. Additionally, the Tuesday night vote calls for the regulatory review process to restart in light of reported conflicts of interest on the part of several consultants employed by DEC regulators. Legislator Brian Robinson (R-Dist. 9), who represents portions of the Towns of Groton, Dryden and Lansing in District 9, voted agains the statement, questioning whether it was needed, given that the County had previously voiced support for such a ban or moratorium.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Report: Weak water flow not Chobani plant's fault The Daily Star Joe Mahoney A preliminary review of data from tests examining the impact of Chobani’s withdrawal of groundwater has determined that “mechanical problems” with wells were the “root cause” of nearby homeowners having difficulty drawing water from the same aquifer, according to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. The data suggests there had only been a “minor influence” on wells from Chobani’s pumping of water, the commission told The Daily Star in response to the newspaper’s inquiries. Some residents of South Edmeston in Otsego County — just east of the Chobani yogurt plant in nearby Columbus — had told The Daily Star in February 2012 that they suspected that the company’s use of massive amounts of water was responsible for their wells running dry. The residents noted they began experiencing problems with their wells after the company rapidly expanded and began taking water without the proper SRBC permit.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Community Group Launches Cutting-Edge Project to Test Air Quality for Fracking Chemicals EcoWatch Citizens for a Healthy Community Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC) announced yesterday that it is launching a cutting-edge air quality sampling project. The project is designed to establish an air quality baseline for the Delta County region in Colorado by testing for toxic chemicals associated with natural gas drilling. Formed in 2009 by a group of concerned residents, CHC’s mission is to protect people and their environment from irresponsible oil and gas development in the Delta County region. Local residents will carry backpacks containing air-sampling devices to collect data over 24-hour periods to determine actual human exposure. CHC is beginning to work with local residents to identify sampling locations so that the first round of sampling can begin in September.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 SRBC Staying in Its Lane, Studying Water Quantity SRBC Over the years, I have come to appreciate the phrase, “Stay in your lane.” At the street level, I think it generally means sticking to what you know and letting others do the same. When a regulatory agency chooses to stray out of its lane of expertise and mission, it can have profound programmatic and legal consequences. Most important, however, I believe it does the public a disservice. SRBC recently launched a multi-year effort to study the cumulative impact of consumptive water uses and water availability for the Susquehanna basin. Despite some calls for us to make it an expansive environmental assessment, we are being responsible water managers by focusing in our areas of responsibility and scientific and technical expertise. Click for full commentary: http://www.srbc.net/newsroom/NewsRelease.aspx?NewsReleaseID=106  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 This Town Took On Fracking and Won Tiny Dryden, New York, just won the right to send frackers packing. Mother Jones Kate Sheppard There was a time not so long ago when the most contentious issue in Dryden, New York, was hiring a new dog catcher. Situated in New York's Finger Lakes region, Dryden is a rural town with a population of just 14,500 spread over 94 square miles. It's "a little more progressive than your average upstate town," explains town supervisor Mary Ann Sumner, because it gets some spillover residents from nearby Ithaca, a college town. "But we're still just an upstate town," best known for dairy farms and cornfields. But everything changed in August 2011, when Dryden became one of the first towns in New York to ban fracking. Natural gas interests swiftly sued, putting the once sleepy spot in the middle of a nationwide debate over gas drilling. Last week, after a spending a year and a half in court fighting to protect its ban, Dryden became the first town in the state to prevail over the gas industry—in a case that could set a precedent for other towns that are trying to keep frackers out.  [Full Story] May 8, 2013 Interview: Energy Investor Bill Powers Discusses Looming Shale Gas Bubble desmog blog Michael Horn On Sat., April 27, I met up with energy investor Bill Powers at Prairie Moon Restaurant in Evanston, IL for a mid-afternoon lunch to discuss his forthcoming book set to hit bookstores on June 18. The book's title - "Cold, Hungry and in the Dark: Exploding the Natural Gas Supply Myth" - pokes fun at the statement made by former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon at the 2011 Shale Gas Insight conference in Philadelphia, PA. "What a glorious vision of the future: It's cold, it's dark and we're all hungry," Powers said in response to the fact that there were activists outside of the city's convention center. "I have no interest in turning the clock back to the dark ages like our opponents do."   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Forest Service Inflamed by Brooklyn Anti-Fracking Artist's Smokey the Bear Village Voice Blog Sydney Brownstone Brooklyn-based artist and environmental activist Lopi LaRoe sees Smokey the Bear as a friend. As a kid raised by environmentalists, she grew up with him, she says, and feels a particular connection to the affable but informative cultural touchstone invented by the US Forest Service in 1944. "So I thought it was a perfect culture-jamming opportunity to take this very familiar conservationist and turn him into an anti-fracking activist," she tells the Voice. The Forest Service, on the other hand, isn't a fan of LaRoe's representation of a Smokey who tries to prevent "faucet fires." Nearly a year after LaRoe began carrying images of a newly radicalized Smokey to protests, selling T-shirts, and circulating what soon became an Internet meme, the Forest Service asked LaRoe to cease and desist.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Court ruling on fracking could end divisive debate pressconnects opinion On May 2, an intermediate Court of Appeals in Albany issued twin decisions upholding the legal authority under New York law of the towns of Dryden and Middlefield to ban gas drilling within their borders. Reactions vary from cheers to jeers. As a lawyer, I won’t dwell on these different views, but I would like to focus on the legal and policy implications of the decision. First, what did the decision not say? Second, what legal options are left to those New Yorkers who would still like to lease their land for gas drilling? And, third, what policy opportunities does the decision open up for Gov. Andrew Cuomo?  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Should America export its fracked gas? Why greens say no. grist.org John Upton Frackers already contaminate America’s groundwater, make people sick, produce radioactive waste, and contribute to earthquakes. Processing and moving the natural gas that they produce leads to nasty spills and deadly explosions. And cheap natural gas makes it harder for renewable energy to compete. But, hey, at least almost all of that cheap fuel is being used by Americans in America, right?  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Foreign Policy Considerations Need to Be Central in Debate on US Energy Exports fuel fix Anne Myers Jaffe Foreign policy considerations should be central to the discussion of U.S. oil and natural gas export policy. Barriers to energy trade and investment between major oil and gas rich regions and consuming countries can harm the global economy, leave the U.S. and its allies subject to energy blackmail, and create artificial shortages of vital energy supplies. In my Testimony May 7, 2013 at the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, I argue U.S. energy trade in particular can enhance American power and influence by strengthening our ties to important allies and trading partners and allowing us to help our allies in times of market instability while at the same time weakening the petro-power of some of our adversaries such as Iran and Russia. Congressman Michael Turner’s bill to highlight our commitment to NATO in policies towards LNG exports is spot on to the kind of discussion that should be taking place in considering the future of US energy trade in light of rising shale gas supply.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Will energy abundance destabilize world politics? foreignpolicy.com Daniel Drezner A standard take on how energy affects world politics is Tom Friedman's "First Law of Petropolitics" -- the belief that high energy prices cause energy exporters to act in more belligerent ways. What if the opposite is the case, however? The Atlantic's Charles Mann has a long, winding cover story on the growth of non-traditional hydrocarbon energy reserves -- shale gas, methane hydrate, and so forth -- and what that could mean for world politics. The good parts version: Shortfalls in oil revenues thus kick away the sole, unsteady support of the state—a cataclysmic event, especially if it happens suddenly. “Think of Saudi Arabia,” says Daron Acemoglu, the MIT economist and a co-author of Why Nations Fail. “How will the royal family contain both the mullahs and the unemployed youth without a slush fund?” And there is nowhere else to turn, because oil has withered all other industry, Dutch-disease-style. Similar questions could be asked of other petro-states in Africa, the Arab world, and central Asia. A methane-hydrate boom could lead to a southwest-to-northeast arc of instability stretching from Venezuela to Nigeria to Saudi Arabia to Kazakhstan to Siberia. It seems fair to say that if autocrats in these places were toppled, most Americans would not mourn. But it seems equally fair to say that they would not necessarily be enthusiastic about their replacements.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Neighborhood Continues Fighting Gas Compressors nbcdfw.com Chris Van Horne For the seventh time in the last 19 months a Fort Worth community will head to the city council chambers in opposition to gas line compressors. The compressors are typically housed in buildings to help move natural gas through pipelines. For those in the Historic Randol Mill Valley Alliance, a conglomeration of neighborhoods including Trails of River Lakes and Mallard Cove, they don’t want to see a single compressor go up on rural land in there relatively quiet east Fort Worth neighborhoods. "Absolutely not," said Jackie Barnd, a Mallard Cove resident.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 U.S. Interior says not bowing to outside groups on fracking regs Reuters Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - The Obama administration's second attempt at writing regulations for hydraulic fracturing on public lands is not intended to appease either environmentalists or oil and gas drillers, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on Tuesday. Jewell told lawmakers at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that the department was "very close" to unveiling the rules and reiterated a recent comment that the rules would be out in "weeks, not months." Jewell was also pressed about the department's plans to issue regulations for offshore drilling in the Arctic.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Pa. proposes gas drilling health advisory panel AP via Shale Reporter Kevin Begos PITTSBURGH (AP) — A leading Pennsylvania politician wants to create an advisory panel to look at possible health issues related to Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling. Senator Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, is sponsoring Senate Bill 555. The proposed 13-member panel would look at potential public health impacts from drilling and at potential health benefits. The members wouldn't be paid and it's not clear how much funding will be needed. Bernard Goldstein of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health says he supports the proposal. Patrick Henderson, Gov. Tom Corbett's energy executive, says the administration looks forward to working with Scarnati on the bill.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Shell to begin fracturing wells this month in Moffat County Craig Daily Press Joe Moylan CRAIG — Shell Oil officials said the past year has been characterized by experimentation, a trend that will continue when the energy company turns to hydraulic fracturing of at least two of its Moffat County wells. Shell officials described their energy exploration efforts in Northwest Colorado during a community open house at the Moffat County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Craig on Monday. A second open house was scheduled for Tuesday in Hamilton, and two more are being held Wednesday in Steamboat Springs and Hayden. During the past year, Shell officials said, they launched a winter drilling program for the first time since the company began exploring the Niobrara Shale formation for shale oil, and they also drilled multiple horizontal wells from a single pad. Up next is hydraulic fracturing. Shell has not fractured any of its wells in Moffat County to date.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 New Paper Shows Fracking Drilling Concentrates in Water Pressed Areas justmeans.com A new paper sends an extra word of environmental caution to policy makers and industry leaders regarding hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, a type of gas drilling. A new Ceres research paper on water use in areas with fracking operations shows that a significant portion of this activity is happening in water stressed regions of the United States, especially in Texas and Colorado. Both states are in the midst of prolonged drought conditions. The report was compiled with data on well drilling and water use provided by FracFocus.org, and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI). The research shows that nearly 47 percent of the wells were developed in water basins with high or extremely high water stress. The FracFocus' data was collected on 25,450 wells in operation from January 2011 through September 2012.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Anti-fracking amendment rejected in NE Ohio city AP via Seattle Pi COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing in a northeast Ohio city where disposal of wastewater from the drilling method led to earthquakes and alleged groundwater contamination. The Community Bill of Rights on Youngstown's ballot would have prohibited the controversial high-pressure oil and gas drilling technique, also called fracking, inside city limits. Unofficial results showed the vote was about 43 percent in favor of the proposal and 57 percent against it.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 LNG expansion raises a trucking issue mysavannahnow.com Mary Landers Federal regulators will be in Savannah this week to talk about the planned expansion of the Elba Island LNG facility, which includes the trucking of “natural gas liquids.” These are not to be confused with the controversial trucking of “liquid natural gas” or LNG, said plant owner Kinder Morgan. “The reference to trucking of natural gas liquids in the (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) notice does not involve LNG trucking,” said Kinder Morgan spokesman Richard Wheatley. “It refers to any residual gas liquids that may remain post-processing, which can be hauled off the island by truck for other uses or disposal.” Natural gas liquids include propane, butane and ethane. “We estimate a daily maximum of two trucks will be required to transport unused liquids off Elba Island,” Wheatley said. Nevertheless, any mention of trucking in connection with Elba raises local eyebrows. A proposal to truck up to 58 tankers of LNG a day out of the facility and across DeRenne Avenue created a heated debate about the safety of such a proposition in an urban area. Federal regulators had not yet given the proposal a green light when in March 2012 AGL Resources ended its joint venture with then-owner El Paso and terminated the lease agreement to operate the truck-loading station at Elba. El Paso Corp., including the Elba Island facility, has since been bought by energy giant Kinder Morgan.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Activists Rally Against Senator Libous wicz.com Could public financing of campaigns cure what ails Albany? Activists who rallied outside Government Plaza in downtown Binghamton say yes. The group rallied for campaign finance reform while railing against State Senator Tom Libous for working to keep two pieces of legislation from reaching the senate floor: a moratorium on fracking, and a fair elections bill. Libous, who supports fracking in New York, said earlier this year he would work to keep the moratorium bill from coming to the floor for a vote. Activists Tuesday said public financing of campaigns would make politicians more accountable to the public instead of big donors. "It's never in the best interest of the people to have only one system in place, one system that requires that a politician that runs for office in New York State goes to where the money is," said Lawrence Parham of Citizen Action.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Three bills seek to ban fracking temporarily So Ca Public Radio The controversial oil extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is again coming under scrutiny in California. Last week, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee okayed three measures that would place a moratorium on fracking until its environmental impacts are fully understood. California is in the early stages of regulating fracking. And the fight over fracking in the state has been centered around the Monterey Shale in the San Joaquin Basin, which contains about 15 billion barrels of oil. These three bills were not the first bills to make it out of committee this year, but they are the toughest. Last year, the California Legislature killed a proposed temporary ban on the practice.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Spectra Pipeline: Could Radon Exposure Or A Natural Gas Explosion Be Concerns For New York City Residents? International Business Times Zoe Mintz pectra Energy (NYSE:SE), a Houston-based gas company, is in the process of building a 20-mile-long natural gas pipeline that will run from Staten Island, through New Jersey, under the Hudson River to Manhattan’s West Village. Construction began in July 2012 and is set to be completed in November, Marylee Hanley, director of stakeholder outreach for Spectra Energy, said. Pipeline supporters point to the 5,200 local jobs the project creates, reduced energy costs and a reduction of greenhouse gases. Opponents cite the possibility of an explosion and exposure to radioactive gas, and they question the demand for the pipeline altogether. “We all agree we don’t like the idea of further committing to natural gas,” said Owen Crowley, founder of environmental group Sane Energy Project. “It’s replacing one problem with another.” The placement of such a pipeline in a dense urban setting has environmental groups, residents and elected officials concerned, especially after recent natural gas pipeline explosions in Sissonville, W. Va.; another in Goldsmith, Texas; and a deadly one in San Bruno, Calif. “The only thing we have in common is that it’s a natural gas pipeline. That’s the only similarity,” Hanley said about Spectra’s pipeline’s association with the San Bruno blast.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 How a big fracking setback got overlooked Salon David Sirota As an oft-rumored 2016 presidential candidate, a regular subject of obsequious profiles in the local and national press (including in this week’s New Yorker), and the chief executive of one of the biggest fossil fuel states in America, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s declarations about environmental issues carry weight. And so his stunning admission late last week is, indeed, big news in how it so definitively proves that political money buys hostility toward environmental science. With his election campaigns bankrolled by the fossil fuel industry, Hickenlooper has long ignored troubling drilling-related data from (among others) the Environmental Protection Agency, Duke University, the University of Colorado and the fossil fuel industry itself. Instead, as he rakes in massive amounts of fossil fuel campaign cash Hickenlooper has paid back his donors by publicly declaring that “there is literally no risk” associated with hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and by claiming to Congress that fracking fluid is safe to drink (it isn’t). That’s where Hickenlooper’s admission comes in. At a forum on energy issues last week, Hickenlooper simultaneously defended his assertion that fracking is perfectly safe and yet according to the Associated Press, he also “said the science on the impact of fracking is far from settled.”   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 DeWitt and Pompey to vote on banning hydrofracking; Fabius may extend moratorium Syracuse.com Elizabeth Doran The towns of Pompey and DeWitt are poised to adopt bans on the controversial gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking, while Fabius will consider extending its moratorium. Pompey and DeWitt are scheduled to vote soon on proposed laws that would prohibit hydrofracking, which is the practice of shooting fluid into bedrock to release gas trapped underground. Fabius is scheduled to discuss extending its current moratorium on May 20, while it works on a zoning amendment similar to the one proposed in Pompey.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Smokey the Bear silenced on fracking Salon Smokey the Bear thought he smelled a fire in the woods. But as he approached the clearing and saw a giant derrick jutting out into the sky, he realized that what his nose had picked up was the scent of hydrocarbons. It was another piece of evidence that the increasingly widespread method of oil and gas extraction known as fracking was poisoning the environment that he and his human friends depend on. He decided something must be done. At least that’s the way that artist, Occupy Wall Street veteran and environmental activist Lopi LaRoe sees it. But last week she received a letter threatening her with jail time and thousands of dollars in fines for enlisting Smokey to the anti-fracking cause.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Inverness County bans fracking Chronicle Herald PORT HOOD — Municipal councillors in Inverness County have passed a bylaw that bans hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Deputy warden Dwayne MacDonald was the only councillor to vote against the bylaw at a meeting Monday in Port Hood. Hydraulic fracturing for gas and oil involves using chemically treated water under extreme pressure to fracture rock and extract natural gas. Earlier this year, a Nova Scotia cabinet minister said the bylaw was moot because the province isn’t issuing permits for fracking and is conducting a technical and policy review of the practice. Service Nova Scotia Minister John MacDonell also said the bylaw would not supersede provincial authority over mineral rights.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Judge Asks Enviros for Ideas to Punish Gas Company AP via NY Times PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Apparently frustrated by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down an $18 million penalty for a Texas natural gas firm, a federal judge is taking the unusual step of asking the environmental community for suggestions on how to sentence the company in a way that will have "the broadest possible impact."   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Health advisory panel for Marcellus Shale gas drilling proposed under new Pa. legislation AP via The Republic Kevin Begos PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania politician wants to create an advisory panel to examine possible health issues related to Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling. Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, is sponsoring a bill that would create a 13-member panel chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Health. The Health Advisory Panel on Shale Gas Extraction would look at potential public health impacts from drilling, along with potential health benefits from natural gas use. The members wouldn't be paid for their two-year terms, and it's not clear how much funding will be needed for the proposal. Bernard Goldstein, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, said he supports the proposal.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Kasich balks at anti-fracking charter amendment vindy.com Gov. John Kasich, on a visit to the Mahoning Valley today, balked at a proposed charter amendment to ban fracking in Youngstown. As voters at polling stations across the city cast their vote on the matter, which has been a contentious one among the activists that are pushing for the ban and the businesses afraid that it will turn the oil and gas industry away from Youngstown, Kasich said he hadn’t worried much about the effort or similar proposals across the state. “We haven’t seen many efforts like this. People of the state of Ohio overwhelmingly support [the industry],” Kasich said. “It’s an industry that’s been around for 40 or 50 years and there’s just some scattered opposition. “This is a state that is openly embracing this,” Kasich added. “We’ll see what the people of the city do, you know, but I don’t spend any time worrying about this because at the end of the day there’s massive support for the development of oil and gas in the state of Ohio and the jobs that are connected to it —­ that’s what matters most.”   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Hydraulic Fracturing Uses Way Too Much Water Motley Fool via San Antonio News Taylor Muckerman Droughts made headlines throughout 2012 due to their harmful affects on our nation's food supply, but privation wasn't the only drag on our fresh water sources. A recent study shows that oil and natural gas fracking has placed great stress on available fresh water in areas around the country by taking up measurable amounts of the resource. In some instances in Texas, fracking staked its claim to 20% of total water usage in the regions surrounding production areas. Reading that astonishing fact clears up any doubt as to why Texas now mandates the recycling of water used in the fracking process. If we plan on becoming more energy independent through increased production of domestic oil and natural gas, then something will most likely be done at the federal level as well. Which companies stand to benefit? Check out Motley Fool analyst Taylor Muckerman's video below.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Fracking is draining water resources, especially in the West mother nature network John Platt The natural gas extraction technique known as fracking uses so much water that it could threaten groundwater resources, especially in the Western U.S., two new reports conclude. The first report (pdf), from the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), found that hydraulic fracking removes 7 billion gallons of water every year in just four states: North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. The organization blames inadequate federal and state-level protections for the use and/or contamination of fresh water. "Fracking's growing demand for water can threaten availability of water for agriculture and Western rural communities," WORC board member Bob LeResche said in a prepared release. He also told The Dickinson Press that "Unless our states take real action soon, we stand to watch our agricultural economies, and even our human habitation of some places, disappear. Ninety-nine percent of rural Americans rely on groundwater for their domestic needs, as do 51 percent of all Americans."   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 California seems likely to ban fracking QZ.com todd woody Have environmentalists already won the war over fracking in California? It’s starting to look that way. A trio of bills swiftly moving through the state’s legislature would ban hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, until the practice is deemed safe. The bills are among nine pieces of legislation currently under consideration that would effectively restrict drilling in the Monterey Shale, a geological formation that holds an estimated 15.4 billion barrels of oil, the largest such reserve in the US. Unreachable by conventional drilling, the Monterey Shale has come into play with advances in fracking, which injects chemical-laced water into wells under high pressure to fracture rock formations so oil and gas can be extracted.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 U.S. Interior says not bowing to outside groups on fracking regs reuters Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - The Obama administration's second attempt at writing regulations for hydraulic fracturing on public lands is not intended to appease either environmentalists or oil and gas drillers, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on Tuesday. Jewell told lawmakers at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that the department was "very close" to unveiling the rules and reiterated a recent comment that the rules would be out in "weeks, not months." Jewell was also pressed about the department's plans to issue regulations for offshore drilling in the Arctic.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Ferguson: The home-rule fight against fracking Newsday Bruce Ferguson In recent years, hydraulic fracturing has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the New York State. But despite all the attention fracking has received, Albany has failed to address the issue in a meaningful way. The legislature hasn't passed a single bill to regulate the practice, and the DEC's proposed rules and regulations have either been bounced back to the department for revision or scrapped altogether. Since taking office, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has been a deer in the headlights on this issue, incapable of making a decision that might offend either the (very rich and very powerful) gas corporations, or the (very visible and very vocal) opponents of fracking. But while Albany has been in a state of paralysis, the center of power may have shifted, irreversibly, to an unlikely location: Town Hall. Over the past three years, municipalities in upstate New York have created a legal landscape that may eventually cause gas corporations to leave the state. According to the FracTracker Alliance, more than 150 towns have enacted local bans or moratoria that prohibit fracking since 2011. Taken together, these ordinances bar shale gas extraction on more than 20 percent of the land that sits atop the Marcellus Shale.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Anti-fracking amendment on ballot in NE Ohio city Seattle PI Julie Carr Smyth COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Voters were weighing a proposal Tuesday to ban hydraulic fracturing in a northeast Ohio city where disposal of wastewater from the drilling method led to earthquakes and alleged groundwater contamination. The Community Bill of Rights on Youngstown's ballot would prohibit the controversial high-pressure oil and gas drilling technique, also called fracking, inside city limits. Youngstown City Council put the proposal on the ballot in February after an anti-fracking group called Frackfree Mahoning Valley collected the necessary signatures.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Pro-fracking film to be shown Wednesday in Sullivan County school Times Herald Record Steve Israel These have not been promising days for supporters of fracking. Last week, a second state court ruled that towns can essentially ban the natural gas extraction method of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. And after nearly five years of trying to come up with the regulations to allow fracking, the state just said there was still no timetable for a decision. This is one reason pro fracking landowners in Sullivan and Delaware Counties are presenting the pro-fracking film, “FrackNation” 7 p.m. Wednesday at Sullivan West High School in Lake Huntington - to reverse the tide of negative news about fracking.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 League Offers Comments to EPA Science Advisory Board League of Women Voters Press Release On May 7, 2013 the League offered comments to the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board on the study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. The comments were delivered on behalf of LWVUS and 18 different state Leagues. ~~~~~~~~~~ Public Comment to EPA Leaders and Science Advisory Board on the Study of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources Advisory Board Panel Meeting May 7, 2013 Arlington, VA The League of Women Voters has a long history of conducting research, examining issues from various perspectives, and reaching positions based on consensus.[i] Advocacy, based on these positions, is an important part of League activity. I am Jessica Jones speaking on behalf of the Leagues of Women Voters of the United States and our State signatories.  [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Worker camps from natural gas boom cause headaches for local officials Mother Nature Network Lydia Nuzum, Carly Runquist, and David Perry Triadelphia, West Virginia –– Just outside of Wheeling on a busy stretch of Route 40, rows of RVs and campers line a gravel campground across from a distribution plant. Pick-up trucks parked beside most of the RVs boast identical front plates that proclaim their owners’ alliance to the Pipeliners Union. Each license plate tells a different story, with distant states such as Texas, Arkansas, California, Missouri and Colorado stamped across the plates. Less than a decade ago, the Dallas Pike Campground was the lone campsite in the area and the only recourse for sportsmen and families hoping to spend time in the great outdoors. Today, Wheeling has 14 registered campgrounds, and most of them house the influx of out-of-state workers who work on the hydraulic fracturing sites that dot the northern panhandle. These campgrounds in Ohio County and throughout the state fill the growing demand for temporary housing in the wake of a natural gas boom in West Virginia, and they have caused some headaches for local officials, according to Howard Gamble, administrator of the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 Lawmakers: Gas exports could undercut US rivals Russia, Iran The Hill Zack Coleman Lawmakers who back natural-gas exports are trying to woo skeptical Democrats by arguing the sales would boost American power at the expense of Russia and Iran. Russia has long dominated the market for natural gas in the Eastern hemisphere, with Iran being another major supplier. But booming production in the United States presents an opportunity to undercut those countries by selling more natural gas abroad, including to allies like Japan and India, boosters say.   [Full Story] May 7, 2013 California urges record $2.5 billion fine for natural gas blast Christian Science Monitor David J. Unger One of the country's largest utility companies could face a record $2.5 billion fine for its role in a 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people, injured 66, and destroyed 38 houses. If adopted, it would be the largest penalty ever levied by a state regulatory body in the US.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Southern Illinois braces for oil rush as 'fracking' regulations considered by lawmakers AP via fox news VIENNA, Ill. – This is the Illinois that many people never see -- the sparsely populated southern tip where flat farmland gives way to rolling hills, rocky outcrops, thick forests and cypress swamps. Blacktopped county roads wend through no-stoplight towns. Locals speak in soft drawls and talk of generations who've lived on the same land or in the same villages. The remote and rugged Shawnee National Forest attracts hikers, campers and horseback riders, and offers a stark contrast to the rest of a state that largely has been plowed, paved or suburbanized. But many here are beginning to brace for change as the Illinois Legislature considers regulations that could set off a rush among energy companies to drill deep in the southern Illinois bedrock for oil and natural gas. The crews would be using a process known as high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," that has transformed the landscape in places like North Dakota and Pennsylvania.   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Crestwood to Merge With Inergy to Create $7 Billion Firm The New York Times MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED As the boom in drilling continues to foster deal-making, Crestwood Midstream Partners L.P. agreed to buy control of a fellow gas pipeline operator, Inergy L.P., on Monday to form a company with a combined enterprise value of about $7 billion. The complicated takeover is built on a series of cash-and-stock transactions, in which Crestwood Midstream and its affiliate, Crestwood Holdings, will take over Inergy and a related master limited partnership, Inergy Midstream L.P. Together, the combined company will provide pipeline and other services in some of the biggest oil and gas drilling areas on the continent, including the Marcellus, Bakken and Eagleford shale formations. The merged pipeline operator is expected to generate about $450 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization this year. Crestwood Midstream’s chairman and chief executive, Robert G. Phillips, will hold those roles at the combined company.   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 New Mexican County Fracking Ban Sets Stage for National Challenge Business Insider Hydraulic fracturing, more familiarly now referred to as “fracking,” is a mining process to release previously unobtainable volumes of natural gas that has drawn deep divisions between the oil/gas industry, which insists that the process is not only safe, but contributes to American energy security by lessening dependence on foreign imports. Its opponents cite the potential environmental damage, compounded by cozy arrangements between local and federal officials closely connected to the country’s hydrocarbon lobby.   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 What boom? Numbers don’t quite add up on employment claims Shale Reporter Rachel Morgan Industry, legislators, geologists -- even the press -- called it a game-changer. They predicted it would create hundreds of thousands -- even millions -- of jobs. They talked about energy independence, waves of new industry flocking to the area. But today, years into the Marcellus shale boom, the numbers tell a different story. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is now higher than the national average.   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Legislation would expand drilling impact safeguards Standard Speaker Robert Swift HARRISBURG - House Democratic lawmakers are preparing new legislation to expand safeguards for the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling on the environment and public health. The caucus policy committee last week held a hearing at which a former state official and environmental and public health advocates called for a rewrite of state laws addressing air and water quality, public health monitoring and public land issues related to drilling.   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Debating economic impact of Marcellus Shale in Pa. Philadelphia Inquirer Andrew Maykuth Since the Marcellus Shale boom began in 2008, there has been much debate and disagreement over the effect natural gas development would have on Pennsylvania's economy. Gov. Corbett, who found himself in the hot seat last week over his comments on the state's lagging employment rate, has promoted Pennsylvania as a rival to Texas as a regional energy hub. In his budget address this year, he talked about the energy sector creating "hundreds of thousands of new jobs." Most economists credit the Marcellus Shale development with creating jobs and having a profound economic effect in the rural areas where drilling is taking place. But they say energy development can have only a modest effect in an economy as diverse as Pennsylvania's. "Gas development has not been as big as we thought and is not the size that it will cure all the state's employment problems," said David Passmore, director of the Penn State Institute for Research in Training and Development. Even if shale-gas development has created 245,000 direct and indirect jobs - the number used by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, and touted by industry trade groups - that still amounts to only 4 percent of total employment in a state with 5.7 million jobs. Mark Price, a labor economist with the liberal-leaning Keystone Research Center, says he can find only 20,000 direct jobs created from Marcellus Shale. Even if all coal-mining and legacy natural gas drilling is added together, "this is a sector that still only makes up half of 1 percent of Pennsylvania's economy," he said.   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 The surprising reason why Obama favors natural-gas exports The Washington Post Brad Plummer For the past year, there’s been a simmering debate in Washington over whether the Department of Energy should approve more terminals to export liquefied natural gas. The country, after all, is newly awash in shale gas. Should we sell it abroad or keep it all for ourselves? Now here’s the latest twist: The Financial Times reports that President Obama is likely to weigh in on the side of more exports. Why is that? Administration officials reportedly think that the trade and geopolitical benefits of increasing exports outweigh the possible downsides:  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Obama Hints at Increasing LNG Exports as Environmentalists Push Back NPR State Impact PA Susan Phillips The Financial Times reports that President Obama may be ready to support more exports of liquefied natural gas, after the President was quoted this weekend saying the U.S. may be a net exporter of natural gas by 2020. The push for exports comes from the natural gas industry, which has experienced a boom in shale gas production that has pushed down prices nationwide while prices overseas remain high. The Department of Energy is considering new applications for LNG export terminals. One of those proposals would be in Cove Point, Maryland, a facility owned by Dominion Resources along the Chesapeake Bay. It’s the closest proposal to Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. A coalition of environmental groups has filed public comments against the plan. The Sierra Club, along with a number of local groups have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on the project. “The communities that surround the Chesapeake depend on the Bay and its rivers for our food, livelihood and way of life,” said Robin Broder, Vice President of Potomac Riverkeeper in a release. “It’s unthinkable that federal officials would rubber stamp this project without a careful look at how our Bay and upstream communities and natural resources will be affected by increased fracking for natural gas.”   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 A dilemma in metro Detroit: Welcome fracking, or fear it? Detroit Free Press Bill Laitner Fracking — the controversial method of injecting water and chemicals under intense pressure miles underground to extract natural gas — is raising fear in metro Detroit, pitting neighbor against neighbor and business against environmentalist. The irony? Fracking hasn’t occurred in metro Detroit but the fear of multimillion-dollar drilling rigs rolling into town to break up deep deposits of shale rock laced with lucrative petroleum is enough to rile communities — prompting some opponents to gather petitions to put a proposal on a statewide ballot in November 2014 to ban most fracking in Michigan.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Mark Ruffalo Fracking: It's the Environmental Cause Celebrities Gravitate to Most Policymic Mijim Cha In the world of advocacy, celebrity activism is a unique tool with mixed results. On the one hand, celebrities are able to bring great attention to causes that would otherwise be buried, if not flat out forgotten. At the same time, it’s hard to quantify the impact of just awareness building. For instance, is celebrity activism really making an impact on world poverty, or even childhood poverty, despite numerous celebrity-led efforts? Given that 80% of the world’s population lives on less than $10 a day, it would seem the answer would be no. So, can celebrities ever make a difference? The truth is that the steps that make celebrity activism successful are not that different from other successful advocacy efforts: locally based community organizing, specifically targeted decision-makers, and leveraging communication tools. Mark Ruffalo shows how these tools can lead to successful celebrity activism in his fight against fracking. For one, Ruffalo lives upstate in a community that would be directly impacted by fracking. The fight against fracking, especially in New York, is led by a strong coalition of local organizations that have been joined by celebrities, rather than the other way around. This provides legitimacy of the celebrity claim within the impacted community. It also shows a vested interest that goes beyond just improving one’s image.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Appeals court upholds local fracking bans in NY Skaneateles Journal Associated Press ALBANY | New York municipalities can use local zoning laws to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas, a mid-level state appeals court said last week. The town of Skaneateles used a series of zoning laws to prohibit heavy industry last year. State mining and drilling law doesn't trump the authority of local governments to control land use, the four-judge appellate division panel ruled unanimously.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Occupy the Pipeline: Fracking Threat Comes to NYC The Nation Allison Kilkenny A massive new pipeline that will carry hydrofracked gas is being constructed in New York City. The pipeline, built by subsidiaries of Spectra Energy, will carry the gas from the Marcellus Shale, a bed that lies under Pennsylvania and New York State, into New York City’s gas infrastructure. Naturally, the construction of such a pipeline, carrying controversial highly pressurized gas, has been met with resistance. In the spring of 2012, Occupy the Pipeline emerged, raising health and safety concerns about the pipeline. For starters, the group states the Marcellus shale has seventy times the average radioactivity of natural gas and possesses extremely high radon content. Worse, monitoring radon content doesn’t appear to be a priority for federal regulators. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stated radon risk assessment is “outside their purview.” High radon levels have been linked to increases in the risk of lung cancer among non-smokers, a claim Occupy the Pipeline restates in a video that was recently picked up by Upworthy (the video currently has been viewed over 470,000 times):  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 NC's fracking disclosure regulations on hold Fierce Energy Travis Mitchell The North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission has delayed final approval of new hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", disclosure rules after facing pushback from industry giant Halliburton. The final draft of the Chemical Disclosure Requirements created procedures for the permitting, operating, monitoring and reporting of fracking operations, which are becoming more widespread as the nation's natural gas industry continues to grow. The Charlotte Observer reported last week that the fate of the proposal is now uncertain, as the Commission works with Halliburton to reduce the scope of the regulations. Read more: NC's fracking disclosure regulations on hold - FierceEnergy http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/ncs-fracking-disclosure-regulations-hold/2013-05-06#ixzz2SZ0xJUQu Subscribe at FierceEnergy   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Pitt Study Finds Perceptions of Fracking Linked with Higher Stress Levels WESA Deanna Garcia A small sampling of people living near Marcellus Shale development sites were found to have higher rates of perceived health problems and stress levels. That’s according to a study done by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. This was not a clinical study, but researchers said it could provide insight into effects of stress. “It’s been shown that stress can be related directly to health impacts and can create other health impacts,” said lead author Kyle Ferrar. “As stress increases, you can often find an increase in other health impacts as well.”  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Video: The face of fracking in New York Capitol Confidential James M. Odato In Sunday’s TU profile of Karen Bulich Moreau, the head of the New York Energy Council, there is a reference to a squirmish between Moreau and Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell. Here is the footage, with the confrontation taking place about 47.5 minutes into this hearing tape:  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Illinoisans Urge Gov. Quinn to Reject Fracking Bill and Pass Moratorium EcoWatch On Friday, a coalition of grassroots organizations including Americans Against Fracking, Illinois People’s Action and Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment (SAFE) urged Gov. Quinn and Speaker of the House Michael Madigan to reject a bill pending in the legislature that would allow hydraulic fracturing in the state and instead pass a moratorium. Their call was reinforced by more than 500 concerned citizens who flooded statehouse phone lines asking the leaders to protect Illinois families and communities from fracking, and by Americans Against Fracking advisory board members Josh Fox, Natalie Merchant and Mark Ruffalo who voiced their opposition to the bill through social media.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Chesapeake Bay LNG Export Terminal: Opposition Concerned for Ecology and Economy EcoWatch Sierra Club A coalition of local, regional and national groups are objecting to the environmental impacts posed by the proposed Dominion Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on the Chesapeake Bay, saying the project would hurt the Bay’s economy and ecology, increase air pollution and hasten fracking and drilling in neighboring states. The group—Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Patuxent Riverkeeper, Potomac Riverkeeper, Shenandoah Riverkeeper, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper—filed public comments and a motion to intervene in the proceedings late Friday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission calling on the agency to conduct a thorough environmental review, or prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, of the project. The coalition argues the development of this terminal in Lusby, MD would result in major damage to the Chesapeake Bay, coastal forests and the local economy, which currently support more than a trillion dollars in economic activity from the seafood and tourism industries.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Gas Rush Stories: Life Above the Marcellus Shale:VIDEO EcoWatch The shale gas drilling boom has changed the lives of many Pennsylvanians. Two-thirds of Pennsylvania sits on top of Marcellus Shale, one of the world’s largest shale gas deposits. While some other states and countries are taking their time to figure out how to proceed with shale gas drilling, Pennsylvania has welcomed the gas industry and allowed it to move ahead at a rapid speed. By featuring stories from Pennsylvania residents, including a cattle farmer who lost stock due to gas drilling, grain farmer who leased her land for drilling six years ago, company that is recycling frack wastewater and cancer-survivor-fractivist who helps people who have been negatively impacted by drilling, this documentary goes beyond the polarized fracking debate and humanizes the issue. An independent filmmaker and journalist, Kirsi Jansa has been witnessing the many impacts of the shale gas drilling boom in Pennsylvania since early 2011. This 16-minute documentary, Life above Marcellus Shale 2011-2012, provides multiple perspectives of shale gas drilling. It is based on the first ten episodes of her short documentary series, Gas Rush Stories.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Chesapeake Bay LNG Export Terminal: Opposition Concerned for Ecology and Economy EcoWatch Sierra Club A coalition of local, regional and national groups are objecting to the environmental impacts posed by the proposed Dominion Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on the Chesapeake Bay, saying the project would hurt the Bay’s economy and ecology, increase air pollution and hasten fracking and drilling in neighboring states.   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 A dilemma in metro Detroit: Welcome fracking, or fear it? Detroit Free Press Bill Laitner Fracking — the controversial method of injecting water and chemicals under intense pressure miles underground to extract natural gas — is raising fear in metro Detroit, pitting neighbor against neighbor and business against environmentalist. The irony? Fracking hasn’t occurred in metro Detroit but the fear of multimillion-dollar drilling rigs rolling into town to break up deep deposits of shale rock laced with lucrative petroleum is enough to rile communities — prompting some opponents to gather petitions to put a proposal on a statewide ballot in November 2014 to ban most fracking in Michigan.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Pitt Study Finds Perceptions of Fracking Linked with Higher Stress Levels WESA NPR Pittsburgh DEANNA GARCIA A small sampling of people living near Marcellus Shale development sites were found to have higher rates of perceived health problems and stress levels. That’s according to a study done by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. This was not a clinical study, but researchers said it could provide insight into effects of stress. “It’s been shown that stress can be related directly to health impacts and can create other health impacts,” said lead author Kyle Ferrar. “As stress increases, you can often find an increase in other health impacts as well.”  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 NEPA: California Federal Court Requires Full Environmental Impact Statement for BLM Leases Involving Hydraulic Fracturing Marten Law Adam Orford and Daniel Kolta In the first federal court decision to directly examine an agency’s review of the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, a federal magistrate judge[1] in the Northern District of California ruled that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when the agency failed to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to entering into two oil and gas leases with companies seeking to conduct hydraulic fracturing (commonly called “fracking”). Order Re Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment, Center for Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Land Management, No. 11-06174 (N.D. Cal. filed Dec. 8, 2011). The March 31, 2013 decision turned directly on a finding that increasing interest in hydraulic fracturing has rendered prior development forecasts in older Resource Management Plans (RMPs) and accompanying environmental reviews obsolete. The decision, if upheld, may cause BLM to require greater environmental scrutiny of hydraulic fracturing proposals on public lands, including preparation of an EIS. Background California is becoming a major battleground in the hydraulic fracturing debate. See A. Orford, Hydraulic Fracturing in California: Oil Boom on the Horizon; Groups Seek Statewide Injunction Pending Review; State Considering Regulation, Marten Law Environmental News (Nov. 19. 2012); D. Kolta, California Issues Draft Hydraulic Fracturing Rule — Alaska, South Dakota Also Announce New Regulations, Marten Law Environmental News (Jan. 22, 2013). With the discovery that the Monterey/Santos shale play may hold 15.4 billion barrels of oil that may be extractable using hydraulic fracturing, growing interest has sparked a real estate rush in the region.[2]  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Frack Inaction: Hydrofracking Foes Target IDC In Moratorium Push City & State John Lentz Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have the final say over whether hydraulic fracturing is allowed in New York—but some hydrofracking opponents are shifting their focus to lawmakers to pass a two-year moratorium on the controversial method of drilling for natural gas. Drilling foes see a potential for a breakthrough in the state Senate, which has traditionally been more supportive of hydrofracking but where state Sen. Jeff Klein and his breakaway Independent Democratic Conference could be in a position to play a pivotal role. “I think it’s going to be a critical test of Klein and the IDC coalition and the Independent Democratic Conference’s leadership in the state, of whether they will in fact be able to get this done,” said John Armstrong, the communications director for the antifracking group Frack Action. “New Yorkers are going to see this, perhaps more than any other issue, as a test of their leadership and whether the IDC has the best interests of all New Yorkers in their hearts when it comes to the health and safety of the state.”   [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Fracking, and the nature of man Shale Reporter Tara Zrinski Extracting natural gas from shale requires the exploitation of water, air, land and people. It requires drilling deep into the earth upon which people, wildlife and ecological systems depend, to mine a finite resource that may or may not provide abundant energy for the next 100 years. And for what? To line industry CEOs’ pockets, to provide 10,000 industry jobs and to create shellionaires who will reinvest in the very industry that is destroying the world around us? Divestment from a fossil fuel-based economy requires more than just a shift in consumption; it requires a shift in philosophy away from business as usual.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 DEP Releases Initial Susquehanna River Sampling Results PA Environment Digest The Department of Environmental Protection Thursday released an initial Susquehanna River Sampling Report, explaining the latest results from an aggressive sampling effort across the Susquehanna River. Work is continuing across the watershed this spring and summer as the scope of the study broadens to include more tributaries of the three main sections of the Susquehanna watershed: the Juniata River, Main Stem and West Branch of the Susquehanna. “The results of the 2012 report speak to the complexity of this issue and the need to continue to keep pushing forward with our partners at the Fish and Boat Commission, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the U.S. Geologic Survey,” DEP Acting Secretary Chris Abruzzo said.  [Full Story] May 6, 2013 Senate Environmental Committee Approves Natural Gas Service Area Extension Bills PA Environment Digest The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Wednesday approved two bills designed to make natural gas service available to more Pennsylvanians, according to Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. The bills include-- -- Senate Bill 738 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) providing for natural gas distribution system extension, expansion plans; and -- Senate Bill 739 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) authorizing the Commonwealth Financing Authority to provide $15 million for school, hospital, small businesses to obtain access to natural gas  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Early Birds Get the Gas Leases Wheeling News-Register J.W. JOHNSON JR. MIDDLEBOURNE - May 1 appeared to be a typical spring day in Tyler County: bright sunshine, chirping birds and youngsters awaiting the beginning of a new school day. Outside the Tyler County Courthouse, however, the day started as anything but typical and hasn't for the past several months. More than 60 abstractors formed a line outside the courthouse, waiting for the day to begin.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Rancher worries leak could pollute well water Post Independent John Colson RIFLE — A ranch owner along Parachute Creek, who also is a member of the Garfield County Energy Advisory Board (EAB), on Thursday questioned the state’s classification of the creek as a “non-drinking water” source. Howie Orona said he has property near land owned by WPX Energy, which is one of two companies implicated in a natural-gas-liquids pipeline leak that was reported to state authorities on March 8. He spoke at the EAB’s regular monthly meeting, at the Rifle branch library on Railroad Avenue.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Cheap natural gas prompts states to sour on renewables Arizona Daily Star Christopher Martin More than half the states with laws requiring utilities to buy renewable energy - including Arizona - are considering ways to pare back those mandates after a plunge in natural gas prices brought on by technology that boosted supply. Sixteen of the 29 states with renewable portfolio standards are considering legislation that would reduce the need for wind and solar power, according to researchers backed by the U.S. Energy Department. North Carolina lawmakers may be among the first to move, followed by Colorado and Connecticut.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 CHARTOCK: Cuomo at standstill on fracking Daily Freeman Alan Chartock The contest between the frackers and the anti-frackers has shifted into high gear. I suspect Gov. Andrew Cuomo had no idea of the impact the fracking issue would have in New York. In fact, it has become a signature issue for state liberals. Cuomo has done much to bring left-leaning moderates into his camp after starting out as a pro-business, almost blue dog Democrat. I suspect both his pollsters and his own political instinct warned him that if he wanted to go further in electoral politics and perhaps take up residence in the White House, he would have to do better with liberals. That’s how you get nominated for president when you’re a Democrat. He’s trying hard to satisfy that group.   [Full Story] May 5, 2013 North Carolina: A Banana Republic for Dirty Energy Interests? Truthout Sue Sturgis Clean energy opponents turned to dirty tactics this week at the North Carolina legislature to advance a bill repealing the state's groundbreaking renewable power program. In a contested vote that led to an outcry from Democrats, the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday advanced a measure to roll back the 2007 state law requiring electric utilities to generate a modest amount of energy from renewable sources including solar, wind, and livestock methane -- 12.5 percent of total retail sales by 2021 and thereafter.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Hydrofracking foes opposing gas-storage plans in NY's Finger Lakes The Post-Standard Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, frequented by tourists for its vistas, recreation and vineyards, is dotted with caverns left behind a century ago when the area was a major salt-producing region. Now, an energy company is eyeing those caves as ideal spaces for storing natural gas, upsetting opponents who are trying to prevent a resurgence of industry to what they call an environmental gem. The plans call for six new rail spurs to handle 24 propane tanker cars every 12 hours. A round-the-clock cycle of trains and tanker trucks seven days a week would bring propane in and out of the facility. Four 700-horsepower compressors would be built, and two open brine ponds would be placed on a hillside above Seneca Lake.   [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Scenic, struggling S. Illinois braces for oil rush ABC NEWS TAMMY WEBBER, AP This is the Illinois that many people never see _ the sparsely populated southern tip where flat farmland gives way to rolling hills, rocky outcrops, thick forests and cypress swamps. Blacktopped county roads wend through no-stoplight towns. Locals speak in soft drawls and talk of generations who've lived on the same land or in the same villages. The remote and rugged Shawnee National Forest attracts hikers, campers and horseback riders, and offers a stark contrast to the rest of a state that largely has been plowed, paved or suburbanized. But many here are beginning to brace for change as the Illinois Legislature considers regulations that could set off a rush among energy companies to drill deep in the southern Illinois bedrock for oil and natural gas. The crews would be using a process known as high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," that has transformed the landscape in places like North Dakota and Pennsylvania.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Motegi seeks quick U.S. approval of LNG exports Japan Times WASHINGTON – Trade minister Toshimitsu Motegi has requested early U.S. approval of liquefied natural gas exports in a meeting with Acting Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman in Washington, saying that securing a relatively cheap energy source is crucial to Japan. Poneman told Motegi on Friday that he fully recognizes that LNG exports from the United States are an urgent issue for Japan and said the U.S. Energy Department will examine each project in line with federal law, the trade minister told a news conference after their talks.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 In S. Illinois, residents debate economic lure of ‘fracking,’ preserving area’s rugged beauty Washington Post Associated Press VIENNA, Ill. — This is the Illinois that many people never see — the sparsely populated southern tip where flat farmland gives way to rolling hills, rocky outcrops, thick forests and cypress swamps. Blacktopped county roads wend through no-stoplight towns. Locals speak in soft drawls and talk of generations who’ve lived on the same land or in the same villages. The remote and rugged Shawnee National Forest attracts hikers, campers and horseback riders, and offers a stark contrast to the rest of a state that largely has been plowed, paved or suburbanized.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Opinions deeply divided over fracking Buenos Aires Herald Marcela Valente The enthusiasm of the government and oil and gas companies over Argentina’s unconventional fuel potential has come up against fierce opposition from communities living near the country’s shale gas reserves and environmental organizations. Indigenous communities, other nearby residents, academics and environmentalists are deeply concerned about the risks of disastrous environmental damage entailed by the hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” required to extract the country’s significant reserves of shale gas. Unlike the gas and oil that can be obtained by merely extracting them from deposits where they are found in a more or less pure state, the gas and oil trapped in shale, slate and tar sands, among other formations, require more costly and contaminating techniques.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Fracking is a biz boon at a real risk The Daily Progress Fracking — a topic about which we’ve been cautioning readers for several years — is inching closer. Fracking is the controversial practice of injecting water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to force oil and natural gas into position for better access by drilling. As an accompanying piece on the front of today’s Commentary section notes, fracking is, in many ways, an exciting development. The technology is a true game-changer, an example of American ingenuity. The energy opportunities it has opened up are poised to solve the nation’s oil dependence problems; indeed, the U.S. might even become a significant exporter of oil. The new energy boom is enriching some landowners.   [Full Story] May 5, 2013 'Fracking' debate pits science against ideology Capitol Weekly Dave Quast Science and common sense, not ideology, needed in hydraulic fracturing discussion Science and common sense are in a pitched battle against ideology here in California, where activists are pressuring state and local officials to ignore science and common sense and ban a hydraulic fracturing -- a safe and proven technology that’s been used to stimulate oil and gas wells all over the United States for more than six decades. How do we know that the anti-fracturing activists are on the fringe? Because Gov. Jerry Brown – one of the nation’s most celebrated environmentalists and a man whose political career has been enthusiastically supported by for decades by groups like the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club – has flatly rejected activist calls for a halt to hydraulic fracturing in California. At a recent press conference on renewable energy, Brown said he would not climb aboard the “ideological bandwagons” of anti-industry activists, and threw his support behind state oil and gas officials who are developing updated regulations that allow hydraulic fracturing to continue under tougher oversight and disclosure requirements.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Gas-storage plans in NY's Finger Lakes draw outcry New Jersey Herald Mary Esch ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, frequented by tourists for its vistas, recreation and vineyards, is dotted with caverns left behind a century ago when the area was a major salt-producing region. Now, an energy company is eyeing those caves as ideal spaces for storing natural gas, upsetting opponents who are trying to prevent a resurgence of industry to what they call an environmental gem. The plans call for six new rail spurs to handle 24 propane tanker cars every 12 hours. A round-the-clock cycle of trains and tanker trucks seven days a week would bring propane in and out of the facility. Four 700-horsepower compressors would be built, and two open brine ponds would be placed on a hillside above Seneca Lake. Opponents say the industrial site and related heavy traffic will harm the wine and tourism industries that flourish around the Finger Lakes, a necklace of fjord-like lakes south of Rochester. An accident at the brine ponds could pollute Seneca Lake, which supplies drinking water to 100,000 people.  [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Obama backs rise in US gas exports Financial Times Richard McGregor and Ed Crooks High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5af31212-b59e-11e2-a51b-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2SVpnCNmY The Obama administration has signalled support for more plants to export liquefied natural gas, as the US embraces its surging energy production as a key new element of its national security policy. Barack Obama said at the weekend the US was likely to be a net gas exporter by 2020, the strongest sign yet that the president is swinging his support behind higher energy sales overseas. The Department of Energy is studying applications for new liquefied natural gas terminals, with approval of one in Texas likely within months. It would be only the second such approval granted for sales to countries without trade agreements with the US, such as Japan, the world’s largest importer of LNG.   [Full Story] May 5, 2013 Enbridge breaks safety rules at pump stations across Canada CBC News Max Paris The biggest oil and gas pipeline company in Canada is breaking National Energy Board safety rules at 117 of its 125 pump stations across the country, but Enbridge says it's not to blame. Enbridge was ordered by the Canadian energy regulator to disclose whether or not it had backup power to operate emergency shut-down systems in the facilities that keep oil flowing through its pipes. The company told the NEB only eight of its pump stations complied with the board's backup power system regulation. On top of that, Enbridge disclosed that 83 of its pump stations were missing emergency shut-down buttons. But the NEB admits that it has only just started to concentrate inspections on regulations covering backup power and shut-down systems. The regulations are anywhere from 14 to 19 years old.   [Full Story] May 4, 2013 LeBrun: Frack ruling is far from the last word Times Union Fred LeBrun Opponents of hydrofracking in New York are elated, thanks to a pivotal appellate court ruling last week. So is the governor. The mid-level court here in Albany's Third Judicial District ruled unanimously in favor of the right of local governments with zoning authority to ban hydrofracking within their borders, affirming a pair of lower court decisions related to bans issued by the towns of Dryden and Middlefield. The gas extraction industry and landowner proponents of fracking had challenged the towns' right to ban fracking, arguing that only the state had the "supremacy" to do that. There are 55 local bans already in place, and now that two courts have ruled the same way, a flood of others is expected to follow.  [Full Story] May 4, 2013 LNG Exports Could Hurt California Recovery Santa Monica Mirror Tom Elias California’s recovery has led the nation for months in producing new jobs, even though it hasn’t yet come close to replacing all those lost in the Great Recession of 2008-2011. Low natural gas prices have been one key element helping California along. They help everything from factory production to oil refineries, power plants, dairy farms and citrus groves where fans blew heat onto trees to keep fruit from freezing during January’s unusual cold snap.  [Full Story] May 4, 2013 AG Pruitt, 12 States Send Letter to EPA Warning Not to Employ Backdoor 'Sue and Settle' Tactic to Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing; Oil Production Targeted News service ttorney General Scott Pruitt was joined by 12 states Friday in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency warning administrators not to employ its backdoor "sue and settle" tactic to regulate hydraulic fracturing and oil production. The letter, signed by 13 energy producing states, was sent to the EPA after several northeastern states threatened to sue the agency for not taking over regulatory responsibility of oil and gas production. The Clean Air Act provides states, not the federal government, with primary regulation responsibility. The letter states, "It is abundantly clear that EPA should not succumb to the pressure intended by the Northeastern States. ... Any discussions to regulate methane emissions from oil and gas facilities would obviously have a significant impact on the economy and citizens of those states. ... EPA must, at a minimum, include Oklahoma and other states with similar interests in any negotiations."  [Full Story] May 4, 2013 Fracking battle likely to hit local levels Democrat & Chronicle Jon Campbell ALBANY — The ultimate decision on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing and shale-gas drilling in New York rests with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his Cabinet. A pair of court rulings Thursday, however, all but ensure the battle will play out on the local level, too. With the state Appellate Division ruling unanimously that New York’s municipalities can use zoning laws to ban fracking, critics of the much-debated industrial technique say they’re energized and ready to take their argument to even more town boards.  [Full Story] May 4, 2013 Court decisions mean NY fracking battle could go local Press Connects Jon Campbell ALBANY — The ultimate decision on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing and shale-gas drilling in New York rests with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his cabinet. A pair of court rulings Thursday, however, all but ensure the battle will play out on the local level, too. With the state Appellate Division ruling unanimously that New York's municipalities can use zoning laws to ban fracking, critics of the much-debated industrial technique say they're energized and ready to take their argument to even more town boards.  [Full Story] May 4, 2013 What boom? Industry pundits claim thousands of jobs will be created, but numbers don’t quite add up Shale Reporter Rachel Morgan Industry, legislators, geologists -- even the press -- called it a game-changer. They predicted it would create hundreds of thousands -- even millions -- of jobs. They talked about energy independence, waves of new industry flocking to the area. But today, years into the Marcellus shale boom, the numbers tell a different story. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is now higher than the national average. The state lost 5,800 jobs last year, ranking 49th in the nation for job creation. The latest government data shows that Marcellus shale development brought about 6,362 jobs annually to the state, which accounts for less than 0.5 percent of the workforce. If the out-of-state license plates on energy company trucks are any evidence, there's seems to be a good deal of imported labor working in the Marcellus shale region. So where is the Marcellus shale boom? THE NUMBERS   [Full Story] May 4, 2013 Chemical soup used in fracking includes hydrochloric acid, antifreeze The Vancouver Sun Kevin Griffin Toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and ethylene glycol (antifreeze) are among those pumped underground to help release natural gas through hydraulic fracturing, according to a database operated by the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission. Environment Canada wants gas companies to fully disclose what fluids they inject deep underground during fracking, a process that fractures shale rock with tonnes of sand, water and chemicals injected at high pressure to get the gas out. Disclosure is voluntary and the database FracFocus.ca reveals some of the fluids used. However, it doesn’t list quantities, and types of chemicals vary from site to site.   [Full Story] May 4, 2013 Fracking Well Meltdown Sends 9,000 Gallons Of ‘Frack Fluid’ Onto Farmland Mint Press News Trisha Marczak A fracking site dumped more than 9,000 gallons of chemical-laden fracking fluid Tuesday near a farm site in Pennsylvania’s Wyoming County, marking Carrizo Oil & Gas’ second spill in two months. Crews were still cleaning up the site Wednesday, digging trenches to dig up contaminated areas. Large vacuums were hauled in to suck up the fracking water, which consists of a combination of water, silica sand and chemicals An inquiry made by Mint Press News to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding the well site number could not immediately be fulfilled. Well site numbers are needed to access the chemical makeup of a well’s fracking fluid on the industry-run FracFocus.org’s “chemical disclosure registry.” Current provisions do not require outside regulators to monitor the chemical makeup of fracking fluid — all information listed on FracFocus is provided by operating oil and gas companies. The Tuesday spill seeped into the basement of a nearby home and onto the site of a miniature horse farm, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The owners of the farm and home were not in town at the time of the spill.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Woodstock councilman encourages Rosendale to back effort to criminalize hydrofracking Daily Freeman WILLIAM J. KEMBLE ROSENDALE, N.Y. — The Town Board has been asked to follow Woodstock’s lead and approve a resolution that asks for the state to criminalize activities involved with hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. The request was made during a meeting Wednesday, with Woodstock town Councilman Jay Wenk providing a copy of legislation proposed by the grassroots group Sovereign People’s Action Network of Ulster and Greene Counties. “If we can succeed in getting more communities and municipalities to agree to this ... the state will be required hopefully to pay attention,” he said. “We know that they don’t pay a lot of attention.”   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Fremont County earns failing air quality grade due to ozone pollution County 10 Kelsey Dayton (Lander, Wyo.) – Fremont County’s air is some of the worst in the state according to the American Lung Association. In the organization’s annual “State of the Air” report Fremont County earned a ‘D’ the worst grade other than Sublette County, which received an ‘F.’ Eight Wyoming counties were graded, and five- Campbell, Carbon, Crook, Sweetwater and Uinta- received an ‘A,’ and Teton County earned a ‘B.’ Fremont County’s low grade is due to ozone, which can cause respiratory problems. This is the 14th year the American Lung Association has issued the report, said Carrie Nyssen, regional director of advocacy with the association. The goal is to educate the public and generate interest in knowing what is in the air and if air quality is poor teach people how to protect themselves, Nyssen said.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Newest gas line film producers discuss companies' violations Pocono Record Jessica Cohen ournalists Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman say they pursued an "unbiased, just data" investigation of gas drilling in Potter County, on the way to making their film, "Triple Divide," which was screened on April 27 at Milford Theatre. However, says Pribanic, "we interviewed people with contaminated water and found shocking things in files. At the Department of Environmental Protection file office, we looked for waste records for operators in Potter County. There were no waste reports for Seneca Resources. They don't know where waste goes." What the DEP did well, said Troutman, was guard files. Gaining access took a month after a specific request was made, and if they needed more files once they saw one set, they had to wait another month. Burying waste Meanwhile, they found drilling companies burying toxic waste in environmentally sensitive areas, even where disposal permits had been denied. And when a Seneca Resources worker encountered Troutman scouting around with a camera at night, he pinned her down and accused her of being an "ecoterrorist."   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Amid protest, GreenHunter pursues Wheeling frack fluid plant The State Journal (WV) Pam Kasey A gas industry waste fluid treatment facility proposed for Wheeling has come up against some public opposition. GreenHunter Water plans to put its facility in the Warwood section of Wheeling. It's already bought an out-of-use industrial property, and it will invest $1.7 million and employ 15 for construction and 12 permanently — all things communities usually like. But not everyone, in this instance. A subsidiary of GreenHunter Energy out of Grapevine, Texas, GHW was formed 2011 to take advantage of the anticipated need for water-related services for unconventional oil and gas. GHE is a sister company to Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., which is the parent of producer Triad Hunter and pipeline company Eureka Hunter that operate locally.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Colfax’s neighbor bans oil, gas extraction; Mora County claims to be first county in nation with such a law The Raton Range Todd Wildermuth Just six days after the Colfax County commission accepted the recommendations of a special committee that produced ideas for potential elements of an ordinance to regulate oil and gas drilling in the county, Colfax’s counterpart to the south, the commission of neighboring Mora County, passed its own ordinance that established a permanent ban on all oil and gas extraction in that county. According to Mora County, it is the first county in the United States to create a permanent ban on oil and gas drilling.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Fracking Should Up Recycled Water Use, Ceres Says Enironmental & Energy Management News Hydraulic fracturing operations should scale up their use of recycled water and non-freshwater resources, and practice better water management planning if shale energy production is to grow as projected, a Ceres research paper says. Most fracking to extract shale gas is happening in water-stressed regions of the US, such as Texas and Colorado, both of which are in the midst of prolonged drought conditions. The report highlights the growing tensions between increasing fracking activity and localized water supply needs, Ceres says. The report is based on well drilling and water use data from FracFocus.org, collected on 25,450 wells in operation from January 2011 through September 2012, and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute. The research shows that nearly 47 percent of the wells were developed in water basins with high or extremely high water stress (see map). Extremely high water stress means more than 80 percent of available water is already being allocated for municipal, industrial and agricultural uses.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Fracking Divide: Simulating Gas Development in Colorado’s Wild Wild West. Includes 4 Minute Video EcoWatch Recently, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced they would temporarily suspend 25 oil and gas leases in the Thompson Divide, a wild swath of backcountry covering 221,500 acres of public land in western Colorado. Because the lease holders did not diligently develop these leases and are running out of time on their ten-year lease terms, they asked BLM for an extension. While this decision paused the clock on drilling for natural gas in this rugged portion of the White River National Forest, our friends at the Wilderness Workshop and Thompson Divide Coalition, as well as thousands of people from around the country, were pressing for BLM to allow the leases to expire this year.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Gas well leak now called blowout Denton Record-Chronicle Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe The city of Denton released additional information this afternoon related to the April 19 incident at an Eagleridge Operating gas well site on the city’s west side. Earlier in the day, the city sent out a press release acknowledging the incident as a blowout, one of the most serious problems encountered in the field. Essentially, operators no longer have control of the well. Early in the Barnett Shale boom, a blowout in Palo Pinto County in December 2005 ignited, blowing a 750-crater in the ground and burning for several days. The city’s link to the Texas Railroad Commission’s initial report of the blowout in Denton shows that a flash fire was a risk until the operator got extra water to the site.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 DEP Allows Driller To Continue Operations Despite Two Accidents in As Many Months NPR State Impact PA Marie Cusick In the span of two months the same gas drilling company, Carizzo Marcellus, has had two accidents in Wyoming County and spilled thousands of gallons of fracking fluid. After the first accident on March 13 released more than a quarter million gallons of fluids and forced the evacuation of three homes, the state Department of Environmental Protection asked the company to halt all operations within the state. But the DEP allowed Carizzo to resume work just a few weeks later, before the agency’s own investigation was complete. Now Carrizo has spilled another 9,000 gallons at a different well site in Wyoming County.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 What if we never run out of oil? Grist Charles C. Mann As the great research ship Chikyu left Shimizu in January to mine the explosive ice beneath the Philippine Sea, chances are good that not one of the scientists aboard realized they might be closing the door on Winston Churchill’s world. Their lack of knowledge is unsurprising; beyond the ranks of petroleum-industry historians, Churchill’s outsize role in the history of energy is insufficiently appreciated. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911. With characteristic vigor and verve, he set about modernizing the Royal Navy, jewel of the empire. The revamped fleet, he proclaimed, should be fueled with oil, rather than coal — a decision that continues to reverberate in the present. Burning a pound of fuel oil produces about twice as much energy as burning a pound of coal. Because of this greater energy density, oil could push ships faster and farther than coal could.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Fracking threatens to escalate the West’s water wars Grist Claire Thompson One of fracking’s few but feverishly touted upsides is that the natural-gas boom it’s spurred could help America move toward energy independence; it’s a crucial piece of Obama’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. But in building up our fuel supply, fracking threatens our supply of another crucial natural resource – water. A new report from nonprofit Ceres (which maintains a neutral position on fracking in general) reveals that nearly half of the country’s fracking wells are located in water-stressed regions — in particular Texas and Colorado, where 92 percent of fracking wells are in extremely high-water-stress regions. Ceres compiled its report using data from the World Resources Institute — which considers an area extremely water-stressed if 80 percent of its available water supply is already allocated for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses — and FracFocus.org, a voluntary national registry of fracking wells’ locations and water usage.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Cities in New York Just Got a Big Stick in the Fracking Fight Slate Adam Briggle For a while, it looked like we were scraping the bottom of Earth’s barrel of fossil fuels. Then along came hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling, and now some argue that we might never run out of the stuff, though not everyone agrees. But as exploitation of oil and gas has intensified, so has opposition. The most significant resistance is coming from the towns and cities that are becoming sacrifice zones in the wake of corporate profits and the national quest for energy independence. Local government is the one entity that might throw a wrench in the works, because they actually have some legal power. The burning question is: How much power? For the past six weeks, a New York appellate court has been hashing this out in the case of Norse Energy Corp. v. Town of Dryden. In 2011, the little town of Dryden, N.Y., banned gas drilling and was promptly sued by a multibillion dollar energy company. A year ago, Dryden won its first battle in a New York Supreme Court ruling. Just yesterday, it won the second. Indeed, the people of Dryden didn’t beat the industry—they pummeled it. The Appellate Court just handed New York towns and cities a very heavy stick in the jurisdictional street brawl over fracking. Norse can appeal (and my sources say they are planning on it), but because this was a unanimous decision they’ll have to first get the court’s permission, and that may be challenging.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Fracking chemical rule sent back for revisions News & Observer John Murawski The state’s fracking board put off voting on a chemical disclosure standard Friday in response to objections from energy conglomerate Halliburton and top officials within the state’s environmental agency. The last-minute delay follows disclosures this week that Halliburton had privately expressed concerns to state officials about North Carolina’s proposed standard on fracking chemicals. The disclosure of chemicals is considered one of the most important rules governing fracking, which involves pumping water and chemicals underground to break up shale rock and flush out natural gas trapped inside.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Fracking giant Halliburton nixes NC’s chemical disclosure rule Charlotte Observer John Murawski After more than six months of congenial meetings, the N.C. Mining & Energy Commission was set to approve its first fracking rule Friday, perhaps the most important of all the safety rules the commission will write to protect the public and safeguard the environment. The standard spells out which chemicals fracking operators have to publicly disclose when drilling natural gas wells in North Carolina. But commissioners learned Thursday the proposal they had approved in committee in March is on ice. The problem: Fracking giant Halliburton has told North Carolina’s environmental regulators the rule goes too far. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working to get the rule changed.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Spectra Pipeline, Natural Gas Delivery System For New York City, Has Activists Up In Arms (VIDEO) Huffington Post Hunter Stuart The Spectra pipeline, a high-pressure natural gas delivery system that aims to bring hundreds of millions of barrels of hydrofracked gas directly into New York City, has sparked controversy just a few short months before its scheduled completion. The $1.2 billion project will pipe 800 million barrels of natural gas a day directly underneath Manhattan's iconic West Village neighborhood. The pipeline is an extension of Houston-based Spectra Energy's Texas Eastern gas delivery network, which exploits the huge Utica and Marcellus shale natural gas resources in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. But now, with the pipeline nearly complete (construction started almost a year ago and is expected to be done by November), activists are up in arms.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 A Fracking Pipeline in Manhattan?! AlterNet This Fall, the Spectra Pipeline is slated to enter New York City under the Hudson River Park in Manhattan, carying fracked gas into New York homes and businesses. Concerns about the safety of the pipeline in the West Village, Manhattan are predictably grave. Spectra Energy's dismal safety record includes tens of million dollars in fines for safety violations like spills, leaks, and explosions. In places where drilling has happened, some home owners have been able to set their fawcets on power. A similar pipelin caused an explosion in California. Will the same happen in Manhattan? Also concerning is the introduction of radon into NYC homes and businesses. An odorless, radioactive gas emitted during the process, radon is the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Check out this educational, astounding video from Occupy the Pipeline for more:  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Chemical soup used in fracking includes hydrochloric acid, antifreeze The Vancouver Sun Kevin Griffin Toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and ethylene glycol (antifreeze) are among those pumped underground to help release natural gas through hydraulic fracturing, according to a database operated by the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission. Environment Canada wants gas companies to fully disclose what fluids they inject deep underground during fracking, a process that fractures shale rock with tonnes of sand, water and chemicals injected at high pressure to get the gas out.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Fracking giant Halliburton nixes NC’s chemical disclosure rule News & Observer John Murawski After more than six months of congenial meetings, the N.C. Mining & Energy Commission was set to approve its first fracking rule Friday, perhaps the most important of all the safety rules the commission will write to protect the public and safeguard the environment. The standard spells out which chemicals fracking operators have to publicly disclose when drilling natural gas wells in North Carolina. But commissioners learned Thursday the proposal they had approved in committee in March is on ice. The problem: Fracking giant Halliburton has told North Carolina’s environmental regulators the rule goes too far. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working to get the rule changed.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 NC fracking rule pulled after Halliburton objects Ashville Citizen-Times Associated Press RALEIGH — A new rule set for approval by the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission requiring some disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing has been withdrawn at the request of industry giant Halliburton. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Thursday (http://bit.ly/108gYtC ) that the state commission had been set to vote on the new rule Friday. The standard spells out which chemicals operators must publicly disclose when drilling natural gas wells. But commissioners were surprised to learn the rule was pulled from their agenda last minute so that it could be reworked by staff at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The commission had already approved the standard in committee  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Ruling favors local control of fracking Gives Cuomo cover on divisive issue Washington Times Ben Wolfgang With its ruling on Thursday, a New York appeals court delivered a key victory to environmentalists in their fight to keep fracking out of the state. But the decision — affirming that local governments can ban the practice — may have been an even bigger gift to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, still waffling on whether to green-light fracking. “This is the ultimate out for Gov. Cuomo,” said James Pardo, a New York City attorney who represents numerous oil and gas companies. By granting municipalities the right to outlaw or permit fracking as they see fit, the fight will now play out in town halls across the state rather than in Albany, Mr. Pardo said.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Cities in New York Just Got a Big Stick in the Fracking Fight Slate Adam Briggle For a while, it looked like we were scraping the bottom of Earth’s barrel of fossil fuels. Then along came hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling, and now some argue that we might never run out of the stuff, though not everyone agrees. But as exploitation of oil and gas has intensified, so has opposition. The most significant resistance is coming from the towns and cities that are becoming sacrifice zones in the wake of corporate profits and the national quest for energy independence. Local government is the one entity that might throw a wrench in the works, because they actually have some legal power. The burning question is: How much power? For the past six weeks, a New York appellate court has been hashing this out in the case of Norse Energy Corp. v. Town of Dryden. In 2011, the little town of Dryden, N.Y., banned gas drilling and was promptly sued by a multibillion dollar energy company. A year ago, Dryden won its first battle in a New York Supreme Court ruling. Just yesterday, it won the second. Indeed, the people of Dryden didn’t beat the industry—they pummeled it. The Appellate Court just handed New York towns and cities a very heavy stick in the jurisdictional street brawl over fracking. Norse can appeal (and my sources say they are planning on it), but because this was a unanimous decision they’ll have to first get the court’s permission, and that may be challenging.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk visits fracking sites in Pennsylvania Daily Freeman Ariel Zangla KINGSTON, N.Y. — A visit last week to see hydraulic fracturing sites in Pennyslvania has left freshman state Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk with questions. “As you know, the fracking issue is something that hasn’t been decided yet in New York state,” Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, said Wednesday. “And I wanted to see first-hand what it was like.” She said she and state Senators David Carlucci, D-Clarkstown, and Bill Perkins, D-Harlem, visited several sites in Susquehanna County and the town of Montrose in Pennsylvania. The group visited sites where fracking had taken place and where it was still ongoing, Tkaczyk said. She said they also visited Montrose resident Tammy Manning, whose well water, she said, had been affected by fracking. Tkaczyk said Manning’s water was contaminated by methane after fracking took place in the area. She said Manning has little recourse and has been relying on a water tank to supply her home. A recent ruling, however, means the gas company which had been supplying that water is no longer obligated to do so, Tkaczyk said.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Cliff Smedley: Fracking support may oust our governor Daily Camera Cliff Smedley Blog I'm writing as a Democratic Party activist. Elected Democrats damage the party brand whenever they vote against popular measures like gun control, as our two US Senators did recently; or when they support corporate exploitation as Governor Hickenlooper is doing with the toxic issue of Fracking. A nugget in the recent "Public Policy Polling" poll shows that our supposedly popular Governor has a 44 percent disapproval rating. With that in mind it should be noted that a politician who has a disapproval of more than 50 percent is generally considered as unelectable!! Fractivists have exposed Hickenlooper as an unwavering mouthpiece for fossil fuels who is even willing to sue his own constituents in Longmont in order to support an outdated fuel source. If you don't believe me then consider the fact that the US receives 3,900 percent more sun than Germany, yet Germany currently produces 6000% more solar power. We are faced with a political problem rather than an energy problem! Fracked Natural Gas is not necessary in our energy mix. To my fellow Fractivists, we only have to generate 6 more disapproval points to put our "Hickenlooper Problem" into unelectable territory - way to go!  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Orange County lawmakers vote to ban fracking brine from county roads Mid Hudson News GOSHEN – In a unanimous vote, the Orange County Legislature Thursday joined other counties in voting to ban fracking brine from county roads. Lawmakers are concerned about the potential danger of the chemicals used in the fracking process to extract natural gas from shale formations. Resolution author Jeffrey Berkman said this could the first step in other legislation by the county. “Rather than write a comprehensive ban on all fracking wastewater, I thought it would be wiser for this legislature to get control of our own roads first”, Berkman said. Maybe we will get control of our sewer treatment plant next and then we will work with the local governments.” Prior to the vote by the legislature, several citizens spoke in support of banning the use of fracking brine.   [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Nearly half of fracking happens in places short on water SF Gate David Baker Fracking for oil and gas is a thirsty business. Hydraulic fracturing uses large amounts of pressurized water — mixed with sand and chemicals — to crack subterranean rocks and release oil or natural gas. Up to 10 million gallons of water can go into a single well. And according to a new study, it’s happening in many places where water supplies are already stretched perilously thin. The study, released today by the nonprofit group Ceres, examined 25,450 fracked wells across the United States and found that 47 percent lie in areas that face high or extremely high “water stress.” In those areas, at least 80 percent of the available fresh water is already being used in homes, farms or businesses. The numbers have big implications.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Shell shuns UK shale gas industry The Telegraph Emily Gosden In a blow to Government attempts to attract investment to the controversial industry, Simon Henry, Shell’s chief financial officer, said it had already allocated more than $6bn (£3.8bn) to shale globally and was not going to exceed that sum. “We have a successful and growing business in North America, we have great opportunities in China, Ukraine and Russia,” he said. “The UK has to compete directly with them and right now nobody even knows whether the gas will flow.”  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk visits fracking sites in Pennsylvania Daily Freeman ARIEL ZANGLA KINGSTON, N.Y. — A visit last week to see hydraulic fracturing sites in Pennyslvania has left freshman state Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk with questions. “As you know, the fracking issue is something that hasn’t been decided yet in New York state,” Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, said Wednesday. “And I wanted to see first-hand what it was like.” She said she and state Senators David Carlucci, D-Clarkstown, and Bill Perkins, D-Harlem, visited several sites in Susquehanna County and the town of Montrose in Pennsylvania. The group visited sites where fracking had taken place and where it was still ongoing, Tkaczyk said. She said they also visited Montrose resident Tammy Manning, whose home had been affected by fracking. Tkaczyk said Manning’s water was contaminated by methane after fracking took place in the area. She said Manning has little recourse and has been relying on a water tank to supply her home. A recent ruling, however, means the gas company which had been supplying that water is no longer obligated to do so, Tkaczyk said.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Obama's Former Communications Director's Firm Does PR For Keystone XL Pipeline, Tar Sands Rail Transport DeSmogBlog Steve Horn Double-dipping is a "no go" in the real world of eating chips and salsa with a circle of friends but an everyday reality in the world of lobbyists and PR professionals. Enter double-dipper Anita Dunn, former White House Communications Director for President Barack Obama who now runs the firm SKDKnickerbocker (Squier Knapp Dunn), a firm that "brings unparalleled strategic communications experience to Fortune 500 companies, political groups and candidates, non-profits, and labor organizations." Dip one: TransCanada Corporation, which SKDK does public relations work for, as revealed in an Oct. 2012 New York Times investigation. TransCanada is the multinational corporation currently building the contentious southern half of the Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipeline, following the dictates of a March 2012 Obama Administration Executive Order. Within months, the fate of the border-crossing Alberta to Port Arthur, TX KXL export pipeline will also likely be decided by the U.S. State Department.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Proposed gas port off Jones Beach worries LI opponents Newsday Ellen Yan A natural gas transfer port has been proposed for ocean waters about 19 miles south of Jones Beach -- a concept that failed to win support in New Jersey and now has Long Island and environmental leaders fuming. Liberty Natural Gas, part of an investment fund based in theCayman Islands, wants to supply the downstate region with natural gas that tankers would bring from overseas, primarily the Caribbean, according to the "Port Ambrose" project submitted in September for approval by the U.S. Maritime Administration and the Coast Guard. Company officials hope to install the system in 2015 in nine months. While opponents warn of potential explosive accidents in high-traffic ship lanes, the company's president said the system is safe and only eight to 10 deliveries will be made each year.  [Full Story] May 3, 2013 Costa Rica eyeing possible LNG imports from U.S.-Chinchilla Reuters Isabella Cota May 3 (Reuters) - The United States may in the future export liquefied natural gas to Costa Rica to help mitigate the Central American nation's high energy prices, President Laura Chinchilla said on Friday. Speaking at a press conference alongside United States President Barack Obama, Chinchilla said the two governments had "explored" using the pre-existing Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to possibly begin importing the fuel.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fla. Legislature Approves NGV Incentives Downstream Today Thursday, the Florida House passed HB 579 to promote the use of natural gas fuels in Florida. Eric Criss, Chairman of the Florida Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (FNGVC) congratulated the legislature on its action: "Florida now leads the nation in our crucial drive toward energy independence. This is an important step forward in America's evolving national security policy and in protecting our environment. I commend Senator Wilton Simpson, Representative Lake Ray and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle for this important accomplishment." On Tuesday, HB 579 passed the Florida Senate 39-0 and was immediately sent to the Florida House. That chamber took up the bill on Thursday, passing it 116-2. The legislation encourages commercial fleet owners to invest in new natural gas vehicles through grants administered by the Office of Energy at the Florida Department of Agriculture. The immense popularity of American natural gas among Floridians contributed to the bill's success.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Clean technology investors shift focus to drilling Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Fahey NEW YORK - A decade ago, large investors in so-called clean technology had a straightforward goal: finance companies that would help eliminate the world's dependence on oil, natural gas and coal. But as profits from wind, solar, biofuels and other alternatives consistently fell short of expectations , and as the fossil fuel business boomed , things got complicated. Venture capitalists and other investment funds started stretching the definition of clean technology almost beyond recognition in an effort to make money while clinging to their environmental ideals.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Parachute Creek benzene value exceeds safe federal level The Denver Post Bruce Finley The contamination of Parachute Creek after an industry spill is worsening with the level of cancer-causing benzene exceeding the federal safe drinking water standard. Creek water tests found benzene reaching 5.3 parts per billion at the sampling spot closest to the spill from a pipeline at Williams' gas-processing plant, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The limit for safe drinking water is 5 ppb. However, Colorado water quality overseers have set the limit for benzene in Parachute Creek at 5,300 ppb because the creek isn't designated as a water source for people.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Dryden officials pleased, cautious after fracking decision Press Connects Andrew Casler DRYDEN — Another chapter of history has transpired in favor of Dryden’s ban of hydraulic fracturing, but town officials are not yet calling the fight finished. On Thursday, a mid-level appeals court upheld the town’s ban. “It’s good news — not surprising — but excellent confirmation that we’re on the right track,” Dryden Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner said about Thursday’s court ruling. “I’m very proud of the town for being able to take a lead on this issue and say that ‘yes, local government matters. The people supporting the local government matter,’ and it’s nice to have that affirmed by the court,” Sumner said. “It has definitely been worth it.”  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Details Withheld on Fracking Methane Study The Epoch Times Kristen Meriwether Susquehanna County, Pa.—made famous from Josh Fox’s documentary film “Gasland”—is back in the forefront of the hydraulic fracturing debate with pro-drilling activists claiming victory and at least one family still desperate for answers about their undrinkable water. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is the process of breaking up shale rock thousands of feet underground with water and chemicals, and then propping open the fissures with sand in order to extract natural gas.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fight Over Fracking Continues as Counties Begin to Ban Practice US News & World Report MEG HANDLEY While the nation's so-called "Shale Gale" might be benefiting some communities in the United States, one county in New Mexico has said "no thanks" to a stronger oil and gas industry presence in its region. Mora County, N.M. voted to ban all oil and gas extraction this week, after commissioners decided federal and state laws did not adequately protect communities from the impacts of hydraulic fracturing, a common practice used to extract oil and gas from shale rock. "They just come in and do whatever is necessary for them to make profits," Mora County, N.M. commissioner Alfonso Griego told E&E News. "There is technology for them to do it right, but it's going to cost them more money. They're not willing to do that yet. So we don't want any oil and gas extraction in the county of Mora. It's beautiful here."  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Anti-Fracking Laws in New York Towns Upheld by Appeals Court (2) Bloomberg Businessweek Chris Dolmetsch & David McLaughlin Anti-fracking laws passed in two New York towns were upheld by an appeals court, which rejected arguments by a dairy farm and a Norwegian energy company that the bans are superceded by state law. An appellate panel of the New York State Supreme Court in Albany today ruled that drilling bans in the towns of Dryden and Middlefield don’t conflict with state regulations for the oil and natural-gas industry. The state law seeks to protect the right of the general public, not just the owners of oil and gas properties, “a goal which is realized when individual municipalities can determine whether drilling activities are appropriate for their respective communities,” the court said.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 NY Appellate Court upholds Home Rule fracking ban Landmark case critically linked to Marcellus development Shale Gas Review Tom Wilber New York’s anti-fracking movement scored a critical victory today in a landmark case testing the right of local governments to ban fracking. In a much-anticipated decision, the state’s Third Appellate Division upheld a ruling giving local governments authority to ban the controversial practice of unconventional drilling and well-stimulation techniques – including high volume hydraulic fracturing -- to extract petroleum from bedrock. Today’s ruling comes after the shale gas industry appeal of a February, 2012 decision by a lower court favoring the right of local governments to ban drilling. The appeal was based on an argument that legislation amending the Oil Gas and Solutions Minding Law gave the state, not local governments, exclusive jurisdiction over wells. In today’s appellate court ruling, the three-judge panel unanimously agreed that the oil and gas law did not reflect legislative intent to “pre-empt a municipality’s power to enact a local zoning ordinance banning all activities related to the exploration for, and the production or storage of, natural gas and petroleum within its borders.” This theme was reiterated emphatically throughout the 15-page ruling:  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Revolving Door Keeps Spinning for Former DEP Chief Michael Krancer NPR State Impact PA Susan Phillips Under former Secretary Michael Krancer, the Department of Environmental Protection was not always the easiest place to get information about Marcellus Shale gas drilling. But it looks like Krancer is eager to talk about natural gas drilling now that he’s switched to the private sector. Under Krancer, right-to-know requests for inspectors’ notes about drilling-related water complaints were denied. Requests to speak directly to DEP field officers were denied because “they were too busy” to talk. Calling to DEP staffers at home for interviews was decried as “unacceptable” and “unprofessional” behavior.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 NY Local Fracking Bans Upheld By Appeals Court Huffington Post GEORGE M. WALSH-AP ALBANY, N.Y. — New York municipalities can use local zoning laws to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas, a mid-level state appeals court said Thursday. State mining and drilling law doesn't trump the authority of local governments to control land use, the four-judge appellate division panel ruled unanimously. Norse Energy Corp.'s challenge to a drilling ban in the upstate town of Dryden has been closely watched by an industry hoping to drill in New York's piece of the Marcellus Shale formation and opponents of the technology they want to use, also known as fracking. Environmentalists fear the drilling, which frees gas from deep rock deposits by injecting wells with chemical-laced water at high pressure, could threaten water supplies and public health.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 The Falling Cost Of Solar Energy Is Surprising Everyone Business Insider Rob Wile Everyone's talking about all the new oil and gas being produced thanks to new drilling methods. But there's another narrative nipping at the shale boom's heels: solar energy. And it's expanding just as fast. It's just that the scale is not quite the same. But that's changing. Citi has just named solar photovoltaics, which convert solar radiation into electric currents via semiconductors, to its list of 10 world-disrupting technologies. In a note this week in advance of the disruption report, Citi's Jason Channell said that in many cases, renewables are already at cost parity with established forms of electricity sources.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 …and not a drop to drink Shale Reporter Miranda C. Spencer Are you worried that a fracking company might come to town, trash your environment and use up all your water? Rest easy; it won’t happen if Nestle gets there first. Lack of water is a hot topic these days, and the latest God-help-us-all video is a recirculated snippet of a 2005 Austrian documentary called “We Feed the World,” which investigates water, hunger and the global waste of food. “Water is … the most important raw material we have,” said Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the former CEO (now chairman) of Nestle, the largest food company in the world.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Big Oil Profits—and Tax Breaks—Remain High Despite Sequestration Cuts Center for American Progress Daniel J. Weiss and Jackie Weidman Middle-class families have gotten some relief at the pump this spring due to declining gasoline prices. AAA reported that U.S. drivers paid an average of $3.55 per gallon of gasoline in April, the least expensive average for this month since 2010. Gasoline prices are now almost 35 cents lower than they were one year ago, when gasoline cost an average of $3.89 per gallon. Despite lower prices at the pump, the biggest publicly traded oil companies in the world have raked in billions of dollars in profit over the past three months. According to their earnings reports released today, the big five oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell—earned a combined $30.2 billion during the first quarter of 2013, or $331 million per day. Cumulatively, Big Oil profits were 6 percent lower than the first quarter of 2012 due to lower gasoline and oil prices, but these companies still earned a combined $229,832 every minute from January through March. This is more than what 95 percent of American households earn in an entire year.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Are Methane Hydrates Really Going to Change Geopolitics? The Atlantic Chris Nelder The right way to understand the potential of unconventional fuels like methane hydrates and tight oil is to closely examine their production rates and their prices. If these fuels can be produced at large scales and profitable prices, they very well might influence geopolitics and economics in the ways that Mann speculates. If they cannot, then it truly doesn't matter how much of those resources may exist underground and in the ocean floor. Unfortunately Mann offers precious little data on price or production rates. If Mann's data on methane hydrates is correct, then Japan's experiment so far has taken 10 years and $700 million to produce four million cubic feet of gas, which is worth about $16,000 at today's U.S. gas prices, or about $50,000 at today's prices for imported LNG in Japan. At this point, it is an enormously expensive experimental pilot project, and nothing more. We do not yet know when it might be able to recover commercial volumes of gas, or at what rate, or at what price. We have no reason to believe that if commercial quantities are recoverable by 2018 as Japan hopes--which seems incredibly optimistic--that the price of that gas will be competitive with imported LNG.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Liberal candidate’s fracking remarks push Clark into corner The Globe and Mail Daniel Bitonti and Andrea Woo Spurred by the comments of a Liberal candidate in an TV interview, Christy Clark and Adrian Dix traded jabs over the practice of hydraulic fracking. Mike Bernier, the Liberal candidate in Peace River South, told Sun News on Wednesday he “absolutely had no problem with doing a review” of fracking” – which the NDP has been calling for. “In fact, prior to the election, I know there were MLA candidates with the Liberal Party [who] themselves were saying, ‘should we be doing a review?’” he said. “The problem I have is the flip-flopping of the messaging: Some people saying we’re doing a review in the NDP, other NDP candidates saying we’re going to stop fracking altogether.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking, Keystone fueling fight among Dems Boston Herald Mackubin Thomas Owens Much has been made of the divisions plaguing the Republican Party these days, but the Democrats also face an issue that has the potential to drive a wedge between important constituencies of that party. The issue is energy — the Keystone Pipeline and the production of oil and gas by means of hydraulic fracturing: “fracking” and multi-directional drilling. The outcome of the intra-party debate will have serious implications not only for Democrats but for the country at large. The Democratic constituency that favors Keystone, fracking, and the like is labor, the working class that Democrats purport to represent. The Obama administration’s record on creating jobs has been abysmal and increasing employment in the traditional energy sector — oil, gas, and coal — would seem to be a prudent way to improve the economy of the country and this core constituency. But another constituency has come to dominate the Democratic Party and its financial power may prove decisive: environmentalists and advocates of “green” energy. This constituency opposes exploitation of fossil fuels because, its members argue, such exploitation is a major cause of climate change.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 The fracking gas war The Hill Chet Nagle Blog In 2012, National Geographic told us, “Unlike CO2, methane affects human health, because it is a precursor of smog.” Now the Environmental Defense Fund tells us, “... each pound of methane is 72 times more powerful at increasing the retention of heat in the atmosphere than a pound of carbon dioxide.” So, what is this toxic greenhouse gas, methane? It’s natural gas, that stuff we get from “fracking.” To be fair, good things come from the fracking boom like jobs drilling wells, new industrial plants, and the hope America may be energy independent one day. But Sherry Vargson is not enthusiastic. Chesapeake Energy fracked her Pennsylvania farm and now her tapwater fizzes with twice the methane that could cause an explosion. Chesapeake gives her bottled water, though that might end soon since gas production on her farm dropped dramatically and her monthly royalty checks have fallen from $1000 to $100. If that’s just natural, as Chesapeake says, let’s examine some other facts.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 As Fort Collins awaits similar fracking lawsuit, Longmont racks up $69,000 in legal fees Longmont faces two lawsuits related to its its oil and gas restrictions. Coloradoan If you’re wondering what it might cost Fort Collins to defend itself in court if it is sued for banning fracking, the answer is a quickly moving target. The only other city in Colorado to ban fracking and restrict energy development within city limits is Longmont, which has spent nearly $69,000 in legal fees through March 31 defending itself against two lawsuits challenging the city’s oil and gas regulations. A Colorado Open Records Act request this week revealed that the city of Longmont has spent $21,196 in attorney’s fees and other costs through March 31 fighting a lawsuit filed against the city late last year by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, or COGA, which is challenging the city’s fracking ban.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Appeals Court Upholds Local Fracking Bans in NY ABC George M. Walsh New York municipalities can use local zoning laws to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas, a mid-level state appeals court said Thursday. State mining and drilling law doesn't trump the authority of local governments to control land use, the four-judge appellate division panel ruled unanimously. Norse Energy Corp.'s challenge to a drilling ban in the upstate town of Dryden has been closely watched by an industry hoping to drill in New York's piece of the Marcellus Shale formation and opponents of the technology they want to use, also known as fracking. Environmentalists fear the drilling, which frees gas from deep rock deposits by injecting wells with chemical-laced water at high pressure, could threaten water supplies and public health.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Colorado Democrats Push Fracking Rules After Towns Bar Drilling Bloomberg Jennifer Oldham Colorado, where hydraulic fracturing has helped push oil production to the highest level in 55 years, is considering legislation to rein in the practice, drawing threats from drillers who say they will flee the state if the restrictions become law. The General Assembly is debating at least nine bills that would require additional groundwater sampling, prioritize inspections of oil and natural gas facilities, increase penalties for violations, revise the state oil and gas regulator’s mission, strengthen reporting standards for spills, and expedite certain air permits.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking poll reveals uninformed populace Wyoming Business Report Mark Wilcox DENVER - A new poll released today showed good support for the oil and natural gas industry, including hydraulic fracturing - though familiarity on fracking with many was low. The poll, commissioned by the Western Energy Alliance and conducted among 1,000 voters who have voted in at least three of the last four elections, was carried out by Republican strategic research firm the Tarrance Group. Western Energy Alliance spokesman Jon Haubert said surveys among a targeted group like past voters tends to be "a little more engaged" and follow the news. Even so, the polls collected between March 10 and March 14 showed that 32 percent were "not at all familiar" with hydraulic fracturing, and 35 percent were unfamiliar with horizontal drilling that aids fracking operations.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Pavley Fracking Bill Gets OK From Senate Panel KHTS News Release Fracking regulation could be on the horizon after state Sen. Fran Pavley's bill passed an important panel. The bill authored by Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, the law calls for an in-depth look into the controversial practice that has grown in popularity in recent years, and passed with a 6-2 vote. The Senate Environmental Quality Committee approved Senate Bill 4, which would create a first-ever system for tracking fracking. The bill is headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee, and if it receives approval there, it will be read on the Senate Floor.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking Ourselves to Death in Pennsylvania Truthdig Ellen Cantarow More than 70 years ago, a chemical attack was launched against Washington State and Nevada. It poisoned people, animals, everything that grew, breathed air, and drank water. The Marshall Islands were also struck. This formerly pristine Pacific atoll was branded “the most contaminated place in the world.” As their cancers developed, the victims of atomic testing and nuclear weapons development got a name: downwinders. What marked their tragedy was the darkness in which they were kept about what was being done to them. Proof of harm fell to them, not to the U.S. government agencies responsible. Now, a new generation of downwinders is getting sick as an emerging industry pushes the next wonder technology—in this case, high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Whether they live in Texas, Colorado, or Pennsylvania, their symptoms are the same: rashes, nosebleeds, severe headaches, difficulty breathing, joint pain, intestinal illnesses, memory loss, and more. “In my opinion,” says Yuri Gorby of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, “what we see unfolding is a serious health crisis, one that is just beginning.”  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Dems call for ban on fracking waste Coshocton Tribune Russ Zimmer Ohio House Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that would make it illegal to dispose of oilfield waste in deep underground injection wells. The possibilities of such a ban becoming law seem slim given other ill-fated attempts at legislation that ultimately would raise costs on the oil and gas industry. The proposal would make it illegal to dispose of brine into one of Ohio’s 179 active Class II injection wells, which shoot the liquid into a deep geologic formation sometimes more than 10,000 feet below the surface.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 The Mines That Fracking Built Truth Out Mike Ludwig This story is the first installment of Truthout's Fracking Road Trip series on the wide-reaching impacts of the fracking industry. The bluffs rise up gently from the rolling hills and farmlands of Wisconsin's Chippewa County. For years, the bluffs stood silent as small farming communities grew around them. The bluffs are too steep to farm and most of the trees in the area grow on the tops of bluffs and around their rolling slopes and steep faces. It's unusually cold for April and trees stand as silhouettes against a layer of snow. This scene is quickly interrupted at the intersection of two county roads in the small township of Cooks Valley. A large bluff behind a farm has disappeared. The bluff has been blasted, churned up and turned into giant piles of sand. The sand will soon be trucked off to a processing plant, loaded back into trucks or perhaps onto a waiting train and then shipped to oil and gas fields in other states.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Trout River residents demand answers about fracking The Western Star Paul Hutchings The Port au Port/Bay St. Georges Fracking Awareness Group brought its series of presentations to Trout River Tuesday night to, what they say, arm residents with information to ask the right questions about a proposal for an oil exploration project that would include fracking along the west coast. Fracking involves injecting water, sand and toxic chemicals under high pressure underground through horizontal wells to break rock formations, making it easier to extract oil and natural gas. A relatively new process, fracking has become controversial around the world due to possible negative impacts on the environment and public health.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Oil and gas trade group guarded on upcoming fracking rules The Hill Zack Colman A major oil and gas trade group said Thursday that it’s hopeful forthcoming federal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, rules will incorporate industry suggestions. Erik Milito, upstream group director with the American Petroleum Institute (API), said it was encouraging that the Interior Department pulled back draft fracking rules in January.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Senate Passes Fracking Wastewater Pipelines Bill State Impact Texas Olivia Gordon Update: The Senate unanimously approved SB 514 from the floor this afternoon, according to a representative from Sen. Davis’ office. Original Story: A bill that would reform how fracking wastewater moves to disposal wells could pass through the state Senate today.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Liberal candidate in Peace River calls for review of fracking The Vancouver Sun Jonathan Fowlie The Liberal party's candidate in Peace River South, Mike Bernier, has spoken out in favour of a review on hydraulic fracturing. "I'm all in favour of doing a review," Bernier said in an interview with Sun TV News on Wednesday. "In fact, before the election I know there were MLAs — candidates with the Liberal party — themselves were saying should we be looking at doing a review."   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fight Over Fracking Continues as Counties Begin to Ban Practice Tension between state and local government may force the feds to step in US News Meg Handley While the nation's so-called "Shale Gale" might be benefiting some communities in the United States, one county in New Mexico has said "no thanks" to a stronger oil and gas industry presence in its region. Mora County, N.M. voted to ban all oil and gas extraction this week, after commissioners decided federal and state laws did not adequately protect communities from the impacts of hydraulic fracturing, a common practice used to extract oil and gas from shale rock. "They just come in and do whatever is necessary for them to make profits," Mora County, N.M. commissioner Alfonso Griego told E&E News. "There is technology for them to do it right, but it's going to cost them more money. They're not willing to do that yet. So we don't want any oil and gas extraction in the county of Mora. It's beautiful here."  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking is Eating Away at Our National Parks Outside Mary Catherine O'Connor With the number of fracking wells surrounding National Parks skyrocketing, a watchdog group exposes the true extent of their damage to our public lands. National Parks, or at least the more remote parks or regions within, are sanctuaries from development. But National Parks are not walled gardens, and in some, reminders of the nation's current surge toward energy independence can be increasingly seen, heard, smelt, and even felt. That is what compelled the National Parks Conservation Association, a National Parks watchdog group, to write a detailed report on the impacts that the hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) boom and conventional energy development are having on ten different National Parks across the country.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking Ban Stands in New York Town; Victory for Local Communities EarthJustice ALBANY, NY — Local residents and elected leaders in Dryden, N.Y. are celebrating victory today in a closely watched case over local fracking bans. A state appeals court ruled in favor of the towns of Dryden and Middlefield, affirming lower court decisions upholding the towns’ right to ban oil and gas development activities—including the controversial technique of fracking—within town limits. The legal battle first began in 2011, and industry is widely expected to seek review of the ruling by New York’s high court (the Court of Appeals).  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Monroe County Legislators Call for Fracking Ban YNN After hearing arguments in March over whether local governments have the authority to ban hydrofracking, a four judge appellate division panel has delivered its ruling. The panel says local zoning laws can in fact be used to ban the use of hydrofracking to drill for natural gas. The panel ruled Thursday the state mining and drilling law does not trump the authority of the local municipalities to control land use. Monroe County Democrats are showing their support for the new Hydrofracking Ruling. Monroe County Legislators are now calling on the County to enact a ban on fracking. Legislation was drafted last October, recommending that Monroe County establish a moratorium on the acceptance of any fluid waste as a result of fracking. That legislation was referred to the County Administration, and no action has been taken yet.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking critics say New York appellate decision is major loss for shale gas drilling 4-0 appellate ruling gives communities the right to prohibit shale gas drilling Albany Times Union Casey Seiler In another setback for proponents of the natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking, a state appellate court affirmed the right of local governments to ban the process within their borders. In a 4-0 decision Thursday, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court's Third Department rejected an appeal from Norse Energy Corporation, which had stepped into the plaintiff's role in a lawsuit initially brought by Anschutz Exploration Corp. against the Town of Dryden's fracking ban.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Drilling down, but gas industry here to stay [The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.] Bloomberg Businessweek May 02--Even as drilling activity has noticeably declined, the natural gas industry will remain part of the area's economic landscape for generations to come, industry officials said at NEPA Energy Day in Scranton. About 300 people turned out Thursday for the event designed to acquaint business and civic leaders in Northeast Pennsylvania with the process and opportunities of natural gas in an era when new drilling in the region is waning.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 A new problem for fracking: Drillers are running out of water Quartz Todd Woody Could severe water shortages short-circuit the US shale gas boom? With 64% of the country in drought, water is looming as the next hot-button issue in the debate over hydrofracturing, also known as fracking, which involves injecting chemical-laden water under high pressure to create fissures in subterranean rock formations so gas and oil can be extracted. A comprehensive survey of fracking and water availability, due to be released Thursday, found that 47% of oil and gas wells are located in high or extremely high water-stressed areas. The report compiled by Ceres, the Boston-based nonprofit that promotes corporate sustainability, is based on water consumption information from 25,450 wells reported by drillers to a database called FracFocus between January 2011 and September 2012.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Spread of Hydrofracking Could Strain Water Resources in West, Study Finds The New York Times FELICITY BARRINGER The rapid expansion of hydraulic fracturing to retrieve once-inaccessible reservoirs of oil and gas could put pressure on already-stressed water resources from the suburbs of Fort Worth to western Colorado, according to a new report from a nonprofit group that advises investors about companies’ environmental risks. “Given projected sharp increases” in the production of oil and gas by the technique commonly known as fracking, the report from the group Ceres said, “and the intense nature of local water demands, competition and conflicts over water should be a growing concern for companies, policy makers and investors.”  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Hydraulic Fracturing Faces Growing Competition for Water Supplies in Water-Stressed Regions EcoWatch A new Ceres research paper on water use in hydraulic fracturing operations shows that a significant portion of this activity is happening in water stressed regions of the U.S., most prominently Texas and Colorado, which are both in the midst of prolonged drought conditions. It concludes that industry efforts underway, such as expanded use of recycled water and non-freshwater resources, need to be scaled up along with better water management planning if shale energy production is to grow as projected.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Hydraulic Fracturing & Water Stress: Growing Competitive Pressures for Water CERES This Ceres research paper analyzes water use in hydraulic fracturing operations across the United States and the extent to which this activity is taking place in water stressed regions. It provides an overview of efforts underway, such as the use of recycled water and nonfreshwater resources, to mitigate these impacts and suggests key questions that industry, water managers and investors should be asking. The research is based on well data available at FracFocus.org and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute. The research paper provides valuable insights about potential water use/water supply conflicts and risks, especially in basins with intense hydraulic fracturing activity and water supply constraints (due to water stress and/or drought). Given projected sharp increases in production in the coming years and the potentially intense nature of local water demands, competition and conflicts over water should be a growing concern for companies, policymakers and investors. The bottom line: shale energy development cannot grow without water, but in order to do so the industry’s water needs and impacts need to be better understood, measured and managed. A key question investors should be asking is whether water management planning is getting sufficient attention from both industry and regulators.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 The Downwinders Fracking Ourselves to Death in Pennsylvania TomDispatch Ellen Cantarow More than 70 years ago, a chemical attack was launched against Washington State and Nevada. It poisoned people, animals, everything that grew, breathed air, and drank water. The Marshall Islands were also struck. This formerly pristine Pacific atoll was branded “the most contaminated place in the world.” As their cancers developed, the victims of atomic testing and nuclear weapons development got a name: downwinders. What marked their tragedy was the darkness in which they were kept about what was being done to them. Proof of harm fell to them, not to the U.S. government agencies responsible. Now, a new generation of downwinders is getting sick as an emerging industry pushes the next wonder technology -- in this case, high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Whether they live in Texas, Colorado, or Pennsylvania, their symptoms are the same: rashes, nosebleeds, severe headaches, difficulty breathing, joint pain, intestinal illnesses, memory loss, and more. “In my opinion,” says Yuri Gorby of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, “what we see unfolding is a serious health crisis, one that is just beginning.”   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Appeals court says NY towns can ban fracking The Journal News Jon Campbell A mid-level appeals court on Thursday said local governments in New York can ban hydraulic fracturing and shale-gas drilling within their borders, delivering a major blow to the natural-gas industry and landowners who had sought to have the bans overturned. The state Appellate Division ruled unanimously in favor of the Tompkins County town of Dryden and the Otsego County town of Middlefield, both of which passed zoning laws that prohibit natural-gas drilling. The ruling upheld decisions last year from a lower court. The so-called “home rule” issue has been a topic of contention among the gas industry and critics of fracking, a technique where water, sand and chemicals are injected deep underground to fracture shale and release natural gas.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Public oversight of industry requires public trust of government EARTHWORKS Nadia Steinzor From global politics to the workplace to personal relationships, progress isn’t possible without trust. Last week, a gas industry group—with a bit of a boost from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) —struck a blow against public trust in New York’s review of the impacts of high-volume hydraulic fracturing. In a letter to Governor Cuomo, the Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) asked that the de facto moratorium on drilling be lifted. Cosigners of that letter: three consulting companies retained by the DEC to work on the fracking impacts review. For some time, questions have been raised about whether consultants with close ties to the oil and gas industry can objectively analyze impacts from that industry. Big red flags went up when the socioeconomic study by one of the consultants looked at benefits (like tax revenue and job creation) but ignored costs (like damage to public health or roads).  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Appellate Division says localities can ban fracking Times Union Casey Seiler The state Appellate Division, Third Department, has turned aside an appeal from Norse Energy Corporation, which stepped into the lawsuit abandoned by Anschutz Exploration Corp. that challenged the Town of Dryden’s use of its zoning laws to ban fracking. The plaintiffs argue that the ban violates the state’s supremacy to regulate the oil and gas industry under the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law. The decision, which was agreed to by all three justices who heard the case, states: We find nothing in the language, statutory scheme or legislative history of the (Mining Law) statute indicating an intention to usurp the authority traditionally delegated to municipalities to establish permissible and prohibited uses of land within their jurisdictions. In the absence of a clear expression of legislative intent to preempt local control over land use, we decline to give the statute such a construction.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 The fracking gas war The Hill Chet Nagle In 2012, National Geographic told us, “Unlike CO2, methane affects human health, because it is a precursor of smog.” Now the Environmental Defense Fund tells us, “... each pound of methane is 72 times more powerful at increasing the retention of heat in the atmosphere than a pound of carbon dioxide.” So, what is this toxic greenhouse gas, methane? It’s natural gas, that stuff we get from “fracking.”   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Companies line up to drill after survey shows Dakota oil, gas fields far bigger than believed Fox News Barnini Chakraborty WASHINGTON – Energy companies are lining up for their shot to drill in the Dakotas and Montana after a new government report revealed that a massive geological formation stretching across the states contains twice the oil and three times the amount of natural gas than was originally believed. While the new estimate is drawing smaller companies to the game, the larger players like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Continental Resources are pushing forward with ambitious multi-year plans to stake their claim in the industry.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Court affirms local fracking bans Panel concludes state law doesn't constrain communities Albany Times Union Casey Seiler ALBANY — An state appellate court has affirmed the right of local governments to ban the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking. In a 3-0 decision, the Appellate Division, Third Department, turned aside an appeal from Norse Energy Corporation, which had stepped into the plaintiff's role in a lawsuit initially brought by Anschutz Exploration Corp. against the Town of Dryden's use of its zoning laws to ban fracking.   [Full Story] May 2, 2013 A new problem for fracking: Drillers are running out of water Yahoo Todd Woody Could severe water shortages short-circuit the US shale gas boom? With 64% of the country in drought, water is looming as the next hot-button issue in the debate over hydrofracturing, also known as fracking, which involves injecting chemical-laden water under high pressure to create fissures in subterranean rock formations so gas and oil can be extracted. A comprehensive survey of fracking and water availability, due to be released Thursday, found that 47% of oil and gas wells are located in high or extremely high water-stressed areas. The report compiled by Ceres, the Boston-based nonprofit that promotes corporate sustainability, is based on water consumption information from 25,450 wells reported by drillers to a database called FracFocus between January 2011 and September 2012.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Hydraulic Fracturing & Water Stress Ceres n the map below, one can see that almost half (47 percent) of shale gas and oil wells are being developed in regions with high to extremely high water stress. This means that more than 80 percent of the annual available water is being withdrawn by municipal, industrial and agricultural users in these regions. Overall, 75 percent of wells are located in regions with medium or higher baseline water stress levels.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Anti-Fracking Laws in New York Towns Upheld on Appeal Bloomberg Chris Dolmetsch & David McLaughlin Anti-fracking laws passed in two New York towns were upheld by an appeals court, which rejected arguments by a dairy farm and a Norwegian energy company that the bans are superceded by state law. An appellate panel of the New York State Supreme Court in Albany today ruled that drilling bans in the towns of Dryden and Middlefield don’t conflict with state regulations for the oil and natural-gas industry. The state law seeks to protect the right of the general public, not just the owners of oil and gas properties, “a goal which is realized when individual municipalities can determine whether drilling activities are appropriate for their respective communities,” the court said.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Rangers band together to protect National Parks from oil and gas drilling The Wall Street Journal Press Release WASHINGTON, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new organization comprised of National Park Rangers introduced itself to the country, Monday. Park Rangers for Our Lands (PROL), the brainchild of leader Ranger Ellis Richard, will work to create public awareness of the threats America's current drilling policies pose to National Parks. Richard created the organization after hearing numerous stories from rangers serving in Western parks of how oil and gas drilling is encroaching on protected lands. PROL's primary goal is to inform people about the threat National Parks are under from the impacts of oil and gas drilling, and urge the federal government to adopt a more balanced approach to drilling. "National Parks like Dinosaur National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park and Chaco Canyon are crucial to the west," said Richard. "They help define the region's identity, they drive state and local economies, and they're a part of the history that we want to see passed down to our children and grandchildren. Park Rangers for Our Lands will work to create public awareness of the threats our nation's current drilling policies pose to National Parks. We will use that awareness to drive change in how we decide where to drill, in this country."  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking Presentation Debunks Industry Arguments Pride Source Crystal A. Proxmire Professional well-driller Joe Curry of Holly has been speaking out against the expansion of fracking in Michigan. Among his presentations was one given in Ferndale Apr. 23 at the request of Oakland County Water Resource Officer Jim Nash, who hopes to educate residents about the risks. Fracking is the process of drilling into the earth and using gas, water or foam to expand cracks in the shale to force natural gas to the surface. Slickwater horizontal fracturing uses the traditional fracking process but super-sized - with wells drilled horizontally into the shaleplate and expanding miles out, and with a newly-developed, chemical-laden "slickwater" used as the fluid.  [Full Story] May 2, 2013 Fracking Ourselves to Death in Pennsylvania EcoWatch Ellen Cantarow More than 70 years ago, a chemical attack was launched against Washington State and Nevada. It poisoned people, animals, everything that grew, breathed air and drank water. The Marshall Islands were also struck. This formerly pristine Pacific atoll was branded “the most contaminated place in the world.” As their cancers developed, the victims of atomic testing and nuclear weapons development got a name: downwinders. What marked their tragedy was the darkness in which they were kept about what was being done to them. Proof of harm fell to them, not to the U.S. government agencies responsible. Now, a new generation of downwinders is getting sick as an emerging industry pushes the next wonder technology—in this case, high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Whether they live in Texas, Colorado or Pennsylvania, their symptoms are the same: rashes, nosebleeds, severe headaches, difficulty breathing, joint pain, intestinal illnesses, memory loss and more. “In my opinion,” says Yuri Gorby of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, “what we see unfolding is a serious health crisis, one that is just beginning.”  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Could Ohio Ban The Use Of Injection Wells For Fracking Waste? NBC4I Rick Reitzel MORROW COUNTY, Ohio - Two state lawmakers are proposing a ban on Ohio's oil and natural gas injection wells until safety and health concerns are satisfied. The Center for Health, Environment & Justice said that in 2012, Ohio accepted nearly 14 million barrels of oil and natural gas drilling waste. Nearly 40 local community and environmental groups signed on to back the proposed ban.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Gold Mine Of Natural Gas? WNEP Jon Meyer DIMOCK TOWNSHIP — For years now, Susquehanna County has been a focus of natural gas drilling but in some parts of the county, the amounts of natural gas are exceeding expectations. One well is getting the most attention. An analyst calls its production “astonishing.”  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 California Fracking Moratorium: Trio Of Bills Would Halt Controversial Drilling Practice Huffington Post Aaron Sankin SAN FRANCISCO -- California fracking opponents put three new feathers in their caps on Monday as a trio of bills that would halt the controversial practice took major steps forward in the state legislature. The bills in question, which were given the stamp of approval by the state Assembly's Natural Resources Committee, would place an immediate moratorium on the process of hydraulic fracturing, an oil and natural gas extraction technique that involves injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and assorted chemicals into the ground. "They're all good bills and they would all do pretty much the same thing," said the Center for Biological Diversity's Patrick Sullivan, a fracking opponent who explained that some of the bills may eventually be combined. "There's clearly support in the assembly for a moratorium on fracking."  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Cuomo to host tourism summit next week Press Connects ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday the state will host a summit next week with industry leaders and business owners to discuss ways to boost tourism in New York. The summit will allow participants to provide ideas about how to increase tourism, create jobs and contribute to the state’s economic development, the governor said.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Fracking too complex for rush to approval The Southern Joy Ramsey--Opinion “Let’s trust them (Big Oil) to do right by their neighbors.” This is what U.S. Rep. John Shimkus wants us to do. Well, it’s my land they may frack, and they give me no reason to trust them. We witness spill after spill like in the Gulf of Mexico by BP, and in Arkansas most recently in the little town of Mayflower. Ask the people of Mayflower if they trust the job Big Oil has done there. They don’t believe them when they say the oil hasn’t gotten to the Arkansas River. A lot of locals think a cover-up is going on.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Fracking Fluid Cleanup Continues WNEP Amanda Kelly WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – On Wednesday, crews continued to clean up the 9,000 gallons of fracking fluid spilled from a well site in Wyoming County on Tuesday. Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is the process of using liquid to break up underground shale to extract natural gas. One home and some farmland have significant damage.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Sand Land: Fracking Industry Mining Iowa's Iconic Sand Bluffs in New Form of Mountaintop Removal Truthout Steve Horn Within immediate vicinity of a central battleground of the Black Hawk War of 1832, land rife with a resource necessary for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is in the crosshairs of an industry prepared to turn the area into a battle zone once again. The resource? Frac sand -- officially known by the industry as fine-grained silica sand -- used as a proppant when blasted thousands of feet down the well during the ecologically volatile fracking process as part of the chemical cocktail that serves as the subject of Josh Fox’s new documentary film, “Gasland 2.”  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Fracking and Groundwater: Mora County, New Mexico Bans Oil & Gas Drilling The Energy Collective Mora County, New Mexico is the first county in the country to ban drilling and fracking. They did it to protect their groundwater. The new county ordinance also established a local Bill of Rights that confirms the county's right to clean air and water, a healthy environment, and self governance. According to E&E News (subscription required), County Commissioner John Olivas stated: "There are plenty of resources out there for natural gas. I don't think it's necessary for them to come into our community. Leave us alone. Let us enjoy what we have."  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Economic development talks don’t include fracking, Cuomo says (UPDATED) Politics on the Hudson Jon Campbell Closed-door talk over how to spark economic development in New York—particularly upstate—has not touched on the issue of shale-gas drilling, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. Legislative leaders on Tuesday met with Cuomo to discuss economic-development initiatives, including negotiations over how to site potential Las Vegas-style casinos in New York. And Cuomo on Wednesday again pushed his casino plan Wednesday while referring to a few potential development plans that he wasn’t ready to discuss publicly yet. Allowing shale-gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Southern Tier, however, has not been discussed as part of those talks, Cuomo said.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Ohio Legislation Introduced to Ban Fracking Waste Injection Wells EcoWatch This week, State Sen. Mike Skindell (D-Lakewood), State Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) and State Rep. Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown) introduced legislation to ban Class II fracking waste injection wells in Ohio. The bill would prevent waste from being discharged into Ohio’s waterways after treatment, and would make it illegal for municipalities to use the liquid waste from oil and gas operations for dust and ice control on roadways. Today, grassroots leaders from around the state applauded the bill, citing that none of Ohio’s wastewater treatment plants are equipped to handle the level of toxicity and radioactivity present in fracking waste.   [Full Story] May 1, 2013 The Clean Railroads Act: The Oil and Gas Industry Exemption You’ve Never Heard Of NPR State Impact PA MARIE CUSICK The federal Clean Railroads Act of 2008 was meant to close a loophole in the law and increase state and local oversight of polluted rail yards across the country. But it left open a smaller loophole for the oil and gas industry, according to Mark Szybist, an attorney for the environmental group PennFuture. “This is not one of the big [exemptions],” he says, “But it’s one more example of the industry’s great clout on the federal level and how they establish for themselves a different set of rules.”  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Marcellus Watch: Budgeting orange jumpsuits in Schuyler The Corning Leader Peter Mantius The three people who willingly did jail time in April to protest a plan to make Watkins Glen a regional natural gas storage hub reportedly ran up a $1,600 bill for their incarceration, and Schuyler County officials are miffed about it. “Your group may want to do the responsible thing and take up a collection to reimburse county taxpayers,” Schuyler County Legislator Barbara Halpin wrote in an April 23 email to Yvonne Taylor, co-head of Gas Free Seneca, which is fighting the project.   [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Economic development talks don’t include fracking, Cuomo says (UPDATED) The Journal News Jon Campbell Closed-door talk over how to spark economic development in New York—particularly upstate—has not touched on the issue of shale-gas drilling, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. Legislative leaders on Tuesday met with Cuomo to discuss economic-development initiatives, including negotiations over how to site potential Las Vegas-style casinos in New York. And Cuomo on Wednesday again pushed his casino plan Wednesday while referring to a few potential development plans that he wasn’t ready to discuss publicly yet. Allowing shale-gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Southern Tier, however, has not been discussed as part of those talks, Cuomo said. “There’s no change in where we are on fracking,” Cuomo said at a cabinet meeting Wednesday. “That’s not what I was referring to when I talking about economic development ideas. I was talking about separate economic development ideas.”  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Moody's: Modest amount of controversial natural gas exports will get approval The Hill Zack Coleman The Obama administration will likely approve a limited number of politically controversial natural gas export projects despite some fears on Capitol Hill about a massive expansion, according to a Moody's report released Wednesday. It said the Energy Department (DOE) would likely approve three out of the 20 applications under review for exporting natural gas to nations that lack a free-trade agreement with the United States. One such application already has received the go-ahead from the DOE. Those projects have alarmed some lawmakers, who are tussling over whether to allow a major expansion of natural gas exports.   [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Cuomo admin: 'No timetable' on fracking decision Wall Street Journal Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. — Months after the Cuomo administration promised a decision "within weeks" on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, it now says there's "no timetable for a decision." State officials say recent meetings with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have provided new information that's factoring into the state health review. Health commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah says Wednesday he recently met with EPA officials in Washington to discuss the drilling technology known as "fracking." It's fiercely opposed by environmental groups and Cuomo's Democratic base. Supporters of hydraulic fracturing to extract gas from upstate shale deposits say it will provide a long-needed economic boost to the region.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 MAYDAY-MAYDAY: Coalition Calls for New York State to Oppose LNG Port EcoWatch Evoking the international call for maritime distress, 36 groups stood united today in opposition to a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) port proposed to be built off of Jones Beach, NY. The groups, from across New York and New Jersey, call on Gov. Cuomo to oppose the plan. The proposal by Liberty Natural Gas (Liberty LNG), a corporation owned by a nameless bank account in the Cayman Islands, was submitted to the Maritime Administration, a sub-agency of the Department of Transportation. The organizations, representing thousands of citizens, called on Gov. Cuomo to oppose the creation of Liberty LNG’s “Port Ambrose” project. The port would be near the entrance to the New York Harbor, in two active Coast Guard training areas, in the middle of a proposed offshore wind area and among several fishing areas and wildlife migration routes. The port, south of Jones Beach, NY and east of Monmouth Beach, NJ, would be a fossil fuel hub, connecting massive oceangoing LNG vessels to a natural gas pipeline located off of Atlantic Beach, NY.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Fire at Natural Gas Site:VIDEO WNEP It happened at a gas compressor station on Russell Road South of Montrose around 1:00 Wednesday morning. Firefighters said a construction company trailer went up in flames. Authorities said the compressor station itself, that helps transport the natural gas, was not affected. Investigators have not said how the fire started.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Shell Bets Big on Natural Gas The New York Times Stanley Reed LONDON — As Big Oil increasingly becomes Big Gas, no major petroleum player may have more at stake in the shift than Royal Dutch Shell. More than any of its rivals, Royal Dutch Shell, which will report its quarterly results on Thursday, is betting its future on the business of bringing natural gas from remote locations like Qatar to energy-hungry destinations like China and Japan. And while analysts expect the results to show a sharp decline from last year’s first quarter, in part because of disruptions in its Nigerian gas operations, many experts say Shell may eventually show big benefits from its natural gas emphasis.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Forest Lands Exposed to Gas Drilling News & Advance Editorial When gas companies buy up leases on 12,000 acres of George Washington National Forest lands, you can bet they are not planning new recreation areas in the pristine forest. They are looking to protect the possibility of drilling for natural gas that lies deep below the surface of the ancient forests that lie in parts of Amherst, Bedford and Nelson counties. The availability of new technology that makes it possible to extract gas from the forest lands has brought the subject to the attention of the U.S. Forest Service. The agency, which administers America’s national park lands, is considering a proposal to ban horizontal drilling for natural gas in the George Washington National Forest. The process is known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” — a technique for shooting water mixed with sand and chemicals into rock, splitting it open and releasing previously inaccessible natural gas, or shale gas as it is known in the petroleum industry.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Activists deliver anti-drilling petitions to Gov. Corbett Philadelphia Inquirer Andrew Maykuth Anti-drilling activists calling for a moratorium on Marcellus Shale natural gas development in Pennsylvania on Tuesday presented petitions they say contain more than 100,000 names to Gov. Corbett's office in Harrisburg.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Fracking Fluid Cleanup Continues WNEP Amanda Kelley WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – On Wednesday, crews continued to clean up the 9,000 gallons of fracking fluid spilled from a well site in Wyoming County on Tuesday. Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is the process of using liquid to break up underground shale to extract natural gas. One home and some farmland have significant damage. This comes less than two months after the same company had another big spill that forced several families from their homes. Trenches are being dug, and big vacuums are sucking up the spill. Fred Kuntz is a farm hand along Sickler Road, and says the spill has caused him lots of problems on the Windy Hill Cattle farm.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 NY fracking: Gov. Andrew Cuomo says no timetable for decision Newsday Associated Press ALBANY - Months ago, the Cuomo administration promised a decision within weeks on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Now, one of the key officials says there's "no timetable" for a decision. "It's kind of like shooting at a moving target," said Dr. Nirav Shah, the state health commissioner.  [Full Story] May 1, 2013 Faster Drilling, Diminishing Returns In Shale Plays Nationwide? Think Progress Sharon Kelly Today’s shale gas boom has brought a surge of drilling across the US, driving natural gas prices to historic lows over the past couple of years. But, according to David Hughes, geoscientist and fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, in the future, we can expect at least the same frenzied rate of drilling – but less and less oil and gas from each well on average. “It’s been a game changer,” Mr. Hughes said of the shale gas boom at a talk last week in Maryland, “but I would say a temporary game changer.” After crunching data from hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells across the U.S., Mr. Hughes found that just five of the country’s 30 best shale plays have been responsible for 80 percent of domestic shale gas production: the Haynesville shale in Louisiana; the Barnett shale in Texas’s Fort Worth region; the Marcellus shale, which underlies New York, Pennsylvania, and parts of Maryland and West Virginia; the Fayetteville shale in Arkansas; and Oklahoma’s Woodford shale. When it comes to natural gas, all of the other plays pale in comparison to these five regions.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 EPA Report Confirms Oil and Gas Sector is Among Nation's Worst Climate Polluters NRDC Switchboard Meleah Geertsma A new report issued by EPA in late April – an update to the national emissions inventory for greenhouse gases – continues to highlight the oil and gas sector’s role as the country’s top industrial source of methane pollution and one of the top industrial sources of greenhouse gases overall. Moreover, while the update shows a net reduction in methane emissions from the sector relative to EPA's previous understanding, there are many reasons to believe EPA’s new numbers underestimate the real extent of the climate problem from oil and gas development. Methane is a highly potent heat-trapping pollutant that the oil and gas industry vents and leaks from equipment and operations throughout the sector’s exploration, production, transmission, and distribution phases. In particular, hydraulic fracturing – a relatively new and highly controversial method for extracting oil as well as natural gas – poses risks to water resources and results in far more upfront methane released than traditional drilling methods.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Bills to ban fracking in California move forward Grist Claire Thompson Could California put a halt to fracking? Some lawmakers are pushing legislation that would do just that. On Monday, the state Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee approved no fewer than three bills calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing until its environmental and health effects are thoroughly studied by the state. Meanwhile, another bill pending in the state Senate would allow fracking to continue for now but would impose a moratorium if the state fails to complete a comprehensive review by January 2015.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Millennium seeks OK on gas compressor station Times Herald Record James Nani MINISINK — The Millennium Pipeline Co. is asking federal regulators for the green light to start its $43 million gas compressor station by May 15. In a letter Monday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Millennium asked for permission to start its two 6,130-horsepower compressors with a pair of exhaust stacks 52 feet tall off Jacobs Road. The compressor station has met with vehement opposition from locals since the federal approval process began in late 2011. Those opposed have flooded public meetings, taken bus trips to commission headquarters in Washington, D.C., picketed the site and faced arrested for disorderly conduct.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 NM county ordinance bans oil, gas development News Channel 10 Susan Montoya Bryan ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Communities across the nation have imposed moratoriums on oil and natural gas drilling and some have banned the practice of hydraulic fracturing, but one northern New Mexico county has gone a step further. The Mora County Commission has voted 2-1 in favor of an ordinance that makes it unlawful for any corporation to extract oil and natural gas within the sparsely populated county. Commission Chairman John Olivas said Tuesday he believes Mora County is the first in the nation to impose an outright ban on oil and gas development. He says the ordinance is designed to protect the county's groundwater sources. The ordinance also establishes a local bill of rights, which is aimed at affirming the county's right to local autonomy and self-governance.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 WWF - Shale gas incompatible with controlling global warming Wired Responding to a report published last week by the Energy and Climate Change Committee on shale gas in the UK, WWF expressed dismay that the report appeared not to acknowledge the fundamental incoherence between exploiting shale gas and tackling climate change. WWF said that the report also plays down concerns about the impact of shale gas on the natural environment many of which are legitimate and backed up by scientific evidence from the US. Jenny Banks, energy specialist at WWF-UK said: “The committee should recognise the incompatibility of exploiting shale gas and tackling climate change. “There's a hard truth that we need to face up to on fossil fuels; it's simply impossible to keep global warming below 2°C and burn all known fossil fuel reserves – let alone exploit unconventional reserves like shale gas. “In other words, the climate impacts on new fossil fuel developments must be front and centre of any decision on shale gas, not a secondary concern. Continuing this doublethink will lead to poor policy decisions.”   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Feds set to unveil hydraulic fracturing rule within weeks fuel Fix The Obama administration is set to unveil federal regulations governing hydraulic fracturing and drilling on public lands within weeks, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Tuesday. Jewell’s timeline echoes that of her predecessor, Ken Salazar, who called the rule “imminent” during a congressional hearing on April 12. Pressed for a more specific timetable, Jewell said the Bureau of Land Management was set to release the draft drilling rule within “weeks, not months.” Jewell’s comments came during a teleconference with reporters to highlight a new U.S. Geological Survey assessment of the oil and gas resources lurking in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in North Dakota, Montana and South Dakota.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Hydraulic Fracking & Water Pollution the energy collective Grant McDermott n planning my series on the environmental impacts of natural gas for The Energy Collective, I had always intended for my third post to cover the critical issue of water needs. While climate concerns may dominate for some (see my previous posts), it seems fair to say that the most contentious aspect of the shale gas revolution is related to fears over high water demands and contamination risks posed by hydraulic fracturing, i.e. “fracking”. Unfortunately for me, Jesse Jenkins inadvertently pre-empted my article with a great recent post asking how much water is actually consumed by fracking for shale gas? (Short answer, probably not nearly as much as you think.) While I don't wish to reproduce Jesse's article verbatim, I think a recapitulation of his main points is in order:  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Boxes of petitions delivered to Corbett call for moratorium on natural gas drilling penn live Jan Murphy Talking about a lesion the size of pancakes on his former co-worker’s side, Rick “Mac” Sawyer stood in the Capitol Rotunda making a case for state leaders to listen to more than 100,000 people's calls for putting the brakes on drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania. The former drilling rig worker said he too is sick. Neither he nor his friend has insurance and neither knows exactly what is wrong with them. He said their doctors won't tell them and accuse their doctors of being too afraid of the gas company.   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Grass-roots group begins anti-fracking New York mailing Ohio.com Bob Downing rom the Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, a New York-based grass-roots group: The Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy ha started mailing an informational brochure, ARE YOU READY TO BE PART OF GOVERNOR CUOMO’S EXPERIMENT?, to more than 84,000 households in the Southern Tier and municipalities where Town Boards have taken actions to encourage fracking, usually without public notice, and often despite clearly expressed opposition from town residents. Actor Debra Winger lives in the Sullivan County Town of Fremont. Its Board refused to let the public read, or comment upon, a pro-fracking resolution before adopting it last summer. “It’s sad that people who have been my neighbors for twenty-two years, people I've shared meals with, whose businesses I've supported, are now falling prey to a divisive approach to government” said Ms. Winger. She blames the corrosive influence of industry lobbyists. “Members of my Town Board are following the lead of others and adopting furtive methods to get what they think is being denied to them, instead of entering into public discourse.”  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 'Crisis in public confidence' moves three fracking moratorium bills forward (Photos) Examiner DAN AIELLO In a vote along party lines, three bills calling for a halt to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the golden state moved forward Monday. "At a minimum, there is a crisis in public confidence" with the state's ability to regulate fracking and keep Californians safe, Assembly Natural Resources Chair, Wesley Chesbro (D-Humboldt) told oil and gas lobbyists who testified before his committee which passed all three fracking moratorium bills; AB1323 (Mitchell), AB1301 (Bloom) and AB649 (Nazarian).  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 How renewable energy could beat natural gas to the future Quartz Todd Woody We’ve taken the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) to task for its projections of future energy production and consumption that assumes the nation’s fossil fuel addiction will continue until the dinosaur juice runs dry. Well, today the agency threw caution to the wind and focused on an alternative reality as part of its Annual Energy Outlook, due to be released on May 2. In the latest chapter, EIA examined what the world might look like in 2040 if current renewable energy incentives do not end in 2014 and 2016 as scheduled. Under that scenario, green energy production grows, accounting for around 23% of total electricity generation in 2040, compared to 16% if business as usual continues. Given the skyrocketing growth in solar and wind generation over the past several years—half of America’s solar capacity was installed just in 2012—that forecast still seems conservative.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Spill on Wyoming County Road Affects Neighbors WNEP Dave Scarnato TUNKHANNOCK — Officials in Wyoming County have confirmed a fluid spill from a natural gas well site. DEP says about 9,000 gallons of flow-back fluid spilled from a site along Sickler Road near Tunkhannock this morning. The fluid that spilled flowed onto a miniature horse farm and into a farmhouse basement, along with a garage across the road. A second home was also affected. DEP says a faulty hose broke loose from a tank. Carrizo Oil and Gas is the company drilling at the site. Fluid spilled from another Carrizo well site in Wyoming County last month.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Governor Explains Away Poor Jobs Numbers: Most Unemployed People Are On Drugs Think Progress Igor Volsky Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) is facing an uphill fight for re-election as he battles negative job approval ratings and a slow economic recovery. The state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 7.9 percent, but the “number of people working in Pennsylvania tumbled by about 14,000 in March, following a drop of 6,000 in February.” Private employment has remained flat for 13 months, “growing by a mere 1,000 jobs” and landing the state “49th in the nation for job creation during March.” During an appearance on a local radio show this week, Corbett sought to explain away Pennsylvania’s less than stellar performance, arguing that the state gained 111,000 private sector jobs since he took office and is “doing better than other states.” But then he grew defensive and complained that “a lot” of businesses are still having trouble filling their ranks because too many Pennsylvanians use illegal drugs: CORBETT: The other area is, there are many employers that say we’re looking for people but we can’t find anybody that has passed a drug test, a lot of them. And that’s a concern for me because we’re having a serious problem with that.   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Partnership between drillers, environmentalists a gimmick The Times Leader Dr. Thomas Jiunta The PittsburgH-based Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD), is a public relations tool, created by the biggest oil and gas companies in the world. Its goal is to help sugarcoat a method of natural gas extraction called fracking. Public perception of this technique has suffered because of the many problems caused. To call the CSSD a partnership between environmental groups and the shale gas and oil industry is misleading at best and a convenient lie at worst. The Clean Air Task Force, one of the “environmental partners” in this coalition, was formed mainly to help reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired electric plants. Their effort is hypocritical and misguided in light of recent scientific studies indicating that methane, (natural gas), is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Sierra Club Campaign Director Deb Nardone says, “If we have any chance of avoiding climate disaster, the majority of natural gas must stay in the ground.”  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Southwestern buys up gas rights; doubles holdings in NEPA Times Tribune David Falchek Southwestern Energy Co. plans to purchase natural gas rights for 162,000 acres in central and Northeast Pennsylvania from Chesapeake Energy Corp. Houston-based Southwestern will pay $93 million for the leasehold acres held by Chesapeake in a deal expected to close May 15. Southwestern is a medium-sized player in massive Marcellus Shale play, but one with significant holdings in central and Northeast Pennsylvania. This purchase will double Southwestern's holdings in the region to 337,300 acres. The transaction includes 53,000 acres in Wyoming County, 51,000 in Susquehanna County and 25,500 in Sullivan County.   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Lawmakers advance bill to halt oil fracking AP via Fuel Fix SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Critics of hydraulic fracturing urged lawmakers Monday to impose a moratorium on the controversial drilling technique, saying there is too much uncertainty about its health and environmental effects. More than two dozen opponents of “fracking” lined up to share their concerns at an Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing, where lawmakers advanced three bills to prohibit the practice temporarily. The drilling technique involves blasting water, sand and chemicals into deep rock formations to release oil or natural gas. One measure from Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, would halt the practice until an advisory panel analyzes the potential consequences   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Woodside says floating LNG may allow fastest browse development Bloomberg via Fuel Fix Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), Australia’s second-largest oil producer, said producing liquefied natural gas on a ship off the country’s coast may be the fastest way to develop its Browse project. Woodside reached an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) on how to develop Browse if the partners choose to develop the project using Shell’s floating LNG technology, the Perth-based company said today in a statement. The selection of a development concept needs to gain approval from all the partners, including BP Plc (BP/), according to Woodside.   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Police arrest 35 during Minn. frack sand protest AP via Fuel Fix WINONA, Minn. — Police arrested 35 people for trespassing Monday during a protest of frack sand mining in Winona. More than 100 people split into two groups and gathered at the city’s commercial dock, where frack sand is shipped out on barges, and at a sand processing plant on the city’s west end. Officers asked protesters several times to leave both sites, then began arresting them, the Winona Daily News reported. Police arrested 19 people at the dock and 16 people at the plant, according to the Winona Police Department. All were arrested without incident. Winona Catholic Workers organized the protest. Protesters say their goal was to halt business operations at each site   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 House GOP to discuss fracking in Illinois AP via Times Union SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Republicans from the Illinois House plan to address hydraulic fracturing in the state. House Republican leader Tom Cross has called a Tuesday news conference along with state Reps. Mike Bost, Mike Fortner, Brad Halbrook and David Reis. They say they will discuss the future of hydraulic fracturing in the state. Lawmakers have been working on legislation that would facilitate and regulate the practice of high-volume oil and gas drilling, known as "fracking." Lawmakers, representatives from the oil and gas industry, environmentalists, agriculture industry officials and Attorney General Lisa Madigan have been involved.   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Shrouded in Secrecy: Industry Buries Fracking’s True Dangers EcoWatch EcoWatch Author and journalist Tom Wilber doesn’t take sides on whether the risks of fracking outweigh its rewards. But as a reporter, he does have strong feelings about the issue of transparency. “And often, this puts me on the same side of the fence as the anti-fracking activists,” Wilber said in an April 23 speech at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Wilber, author of the 2012 book Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale, said the natural gas industry is different than almost every other type of industry in terms of the exemptions and the nondisclosure agreements under which it operates. All of this secrecy, “doesn’t give people a true idea of what all of the risks are,” he explained. “And part of my job is to show what the industry is rather than just the glossy public relations image of itself.”  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Sand Land: Fracking Industry Mining Iowa's Iconic Sand Bluffs in New Form of Mountaintop Removal De Smog Blog Steve Horn and Trisha Marczak Within immediate vicinity of a central battleground of the Black Hawk War of 1832, land rife with a resource necessary for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is in the crosshairs of an industry prepared to turn the area into a battle zone once again. The resource? Frac sand -- officially known by the industry as fine-grained silica sand -- used as a proppant when blasted thousands of feet down the well during the ecologically volatile fracking process as part of the chemical cocktail that serves as the subject of Josh Fox’s new documentary film, “Gasland 2.” The rolling hills of Northeastern Iowa’s Allamakee County defy the state’s stereotypical flat-land geography, and local residents boast of the serene beauty and rich geological history. Yet those same bluffs also play host to robust reservoirs of frac sand.   [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 CentAm businessmen propose building gas pipeline AP via boston.com MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — A proposal by Central American businessmen to build a natural gas pipeline from Mexico to Panama will be presented during a weekend meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Central American presidents.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 California Regulator Eyes Tracking of Fracking Chemicals Bloomberg Alison Vekshin California may set up its own system for tracking chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing by oil and natural gas producers, rather than depend on the current voluntary registry, the state’s energy industry regulator said. California’s formal rule proposal may also extend the time required for prior notification of fracking, said Mark Nechodom, director of the state Conservation Department. He said the plan may be released in weeks. “I really don’t want this to delay any further,” Nechodom said yesterday in an interview at a public meeting in Monterey. “We’re having meetings with different stakeholders like the environmental community, the industry, some of the health-care providers. Hopefully, we’ll wrap those up in a few weeks and get our official draft submitted.”  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Fracking fuels grassroots activisim North Country Public Radio David Chanatry In the five years since New Yorkers first began to hear about horizontal hydrofracking, the state has become a battleground over the gas drilling technique. While opponents have some high profile support, their movement remains mostly a loose collection of small groups that have been remarkably effective. Hear this Listen with NCPR Player Download audio Share this FacebookTwitterTumblrEmail0 Comments Explore this Reported by David Chanatry Reporter, New York Reporting Project at Utica College Tags cuomo · economy · energy · environment · fracking · hydrofracking · mining When philosophy professor Mike Gorr and his wife were looking for a place to retire, they took a trip from Illinois to New York's Fingerlakes region. "When we first drove into Skaneateles I looked around and I said I think I can live here," said Gorr. "And so we did." But not long after they moved to nearby town of Niles, the Gorrs got an unwelcome surprise. It turns out their new home was sitting on top of the Marcellus shale and the surrounding area could be hydrofracked for natural gas. Gorr says he was never politically active, but that quickly changed.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Survey Shows Fracking Communities Suffer from Stress Due to Fear of Exploitation Oil Price In a new survey, 76 percent of people living near fracking sites in Pennsylvania reported stress, which they attributed to lack of trust and feeling taken advantage of. Survey respondents attribute several dozen health concerns and stressors to the Marcellus Shale developments in their area, according to a long-term analysis by University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Three Fracking Moratorium Bills Win Key Vote in California Legislature eNews Park Forest SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(ENEWSPF)--April 30 - Three bills that would halt fracking in California won key votes last night, passing the Assembly Natural Resources Committee despite intense pressure from the oil industry. Richard Bloom’s A.B. 1301, Holly Mitchell’s A.B. 1323 and Adrin Nazarian’s A.B. 649 would place a moratorium on fracking while threats posed by the controversial practice to California’s environment and public health are studied. Oil and gas wells have been fracked in at least nine California counties without fracking-specific regulation or even monitoring by state oil and gas officials. Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, employs huge volumes of water mixed with sand and toxic chemicals — including known carcinogens — to blast open rock formations and release previously inaccessible fossil fuels.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Fracking bill yet to be voted on in Illinois House Pantagraph Kurt Erickson SPRINGFIELD — Illinois House Republican leaders want Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan to blast a bipartisan hydraulic-fracturing drilling proposal out the procedural quicksand in which it is mired. Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, and several other GOP lawmakers Tuesday urged Madigan to bring the measure up for a vote in the chamber.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Iowa: Fracking Industry’s Next Frac-Sand Target EcoWatch Steve Horn and Trisha Marczak Within immediate vicinity of a central battleground of the Black Hawk War of 1832, land rife with a resource necessary for hydraulic fracturing is in the crosshairs of an industry prepared to turn the area into a battle zone once again. The resource? Frac-sand—officially known by the industry as fine-grained silica sand—used as a proppant when blasted thousands of feet down the well during the ecologically volatile fracking process as part of the chemical cocktail that serves as the subject of Josh Fox’s new documentary film, Gasland II. The rolling hills of northeastern Iowa’s Allamakee County defy the state’s stereotypical flat-land geography, and local residents boast of the serene beauty and rich geological history. Yet those same bluffs also play host to robust reservoirs of frac-sand.  [Full Story] Apr 30, 2013 Fracking is bad for state's economy Politics on the Hudson Jannette M. Barth--Opinion Many were surprised to learn that Ecology and Environment Inc., the firm that conducted the economic assessment for the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s reviews on hydrofracking, is a member of a gas industry lobbying association. I was not at all surprised. The E&E assessment is very similar to industry-funded economic impact studies. Economic benefits are exaggerated and significant costs are ignored. The quantity and years of gas production are overstated. E&E and the other gas industry studies fail to take into account declines in industries that are not compatible with an industrial landscape or with the real or perceived threat of water, air and land contamination. Industries that will be negatively impacted include tourism, agriculture, organic farming, winemaking, hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. The studies do not properly acknowledge that many of the jobs created in the gas drilling industry are taken by transient workers from other states — workers who will send much of their income to their families in their home states, helping those economies instead of New York. The studies ignore costs to communities due to increased demand for police, fire, first-responder and hospital services. Costs associated with road damage due to heavy truck traffic are not taken into account. And public health costs are entirely omitted. The E&E assessment and industry-funded studies ignore peer-reviewed and other independent research. Unbiased research indicates that in the long run, New York state and its local communities will be worse off economically if fracking is allowed. Jannette M. Barth Croton-on-Hudson The writer is an economist and founder of Pepacton Institute.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Assembly committee passes three bills to impose fracking moratorium vcstar,cin Timm Herdt SACRAMENTO — Assembly panel passed three bills that propose to halt the oil drilling practice for up to five years while more studies on its environmental safety are conducted.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Faster Drilling, Diminishing Returns in Shale Plays Nationwide? DeSmogBlog Sharon Kelly Today's shale gas boom has brought a surge of drilling across the US, driving natural gas prices to historic lows over the past couple of years. But, according to David Hughes, geoscientist and fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, in the future, we can expect at least the same frenzied rate of drilling – but less and less oil and gas from each well on average. “It’s been a game changer,” Mr. Hughes said of the shale gas boom at a talk last week in Maryland, “but I would say a temporary game changer.”  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Ecology & Environment: IOGA-tied DEC contractor Little Sis Rob Galbraith Ecology & Environment (E & E), the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) contractor whose membership in the lobbying group Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) of New York set off alarm bells, “clarified” its relationship with the organization last week. In a letter released April 24, E & E asserted that it was never a member of IOGA, though it had previously paid an employee’s membership fees “in order to attend IOGANY’s Conferences and receive its newsletter to be kept apprised of new technical developments in the industry and develop industry contacts.” The environmental consultant castigated IOGA for not obtaining authorization to name Ecology & Environment in its letter to Andrew Cuomo pushing to move forward with fracking in New York State. E & E also declared that it had directed its employee to terminate his IOGA membership. According to the April 24 letter, “E & E’s nationwide policy has been to not take any position on fracking and only provide objective environmental consulting;” however, the company has a financial interest in New York’s approving the practice evinced in corporate financial reports and past work for oil and gas companies. E & E has also been criticized for its overly optimistic prediction of fracking’s economic effects written on contract for the DEC and further has ties to a now-defunct fracking research institute at the University at Buffalo that incorrectly reported that the incidence of major environmental citations had declined in Pennsylvania.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Chesapeake Sells Marcellus Acreage To Southwestern At $574 Per Acre: Quick Read Seeking Alpha This morning, Southwestern Energy (SWN) announced a definitive agreement to acquire approximately 162,000 net acres of leasehold located in Northeast Pennsylvania prospective for the Marcellus Shale from Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and Statoil (STO) for approximately $93 million. The key acreage is located in Susquehanna, Wyoming, Tioga and Sullivan counties. The acreage is mostly undeveloped - current net production from these properties is approximately 2 MMcf/d from 17 gross wells (1.2 net wells). The transaction's price may come as a surprise and major disappointment to Chesapeake shareholders as it implies valuation of just $574 per acre (value of existing production is de minimis). While the acreage is located mostly on the fringes of the Northeast Pennsylvania's dry gas sweet spot, the price still appears surprisingly low, particularly given that the acreage includes 51,000 net acres in Susquehanna County. To put this in perspective, Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) whose most important asset is its ~200,000-acre leasehold located in Susquehanna just 10-20 miles from the acreage that Chesapeake is selling, is a company with $14.4 billion market capitalization, which exceeds Chesapeake's. Of Cabot's acreage, only approximately half is currently held by production. Excluding Cabot's production and value of oil properties, the equity market valuation implies over $30,000 per Cabot's undeveloped acre in Susquehanna, a striking difference relative to the price received by Chesapeake.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Gas industry group crashes NY senators’ Pennsylvania tour The Journal News Jon Campbell Sens. David Carlucci, Cecilia Tkaczyk and Bill Perkins all traveled to northeastern Pennsylvania on Friday for a tour organized by an anti-fracking group. And when they got there, a staffer for a gas-industry-funded group decided to tail along. Energy in Depth, an advocacy group funded by an assortment of oil-and-gas companies and trade groups, took an assortment of videos of the trip and posted their own take on it today. They show some relatively tense confrontations between the trip organizers, the Energy in Depth staffer and a spokesman for WPX, a gas company with wells in the area; At one point, the WPX spokesman refers to trip organizers Vera Scroggins and Craig Stevens as “professional activists,” to which Perkins objected and Scroggins correctly pointed out that the Energy in Depth staffer was being paid by the industry group.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Pa. plant could discharge wastewater into Susquehanna Shale Reporter Rachel Morgan STANDING STONE TWP., Pa. — Eureka Resources’ proposed plant in Bradford County could discharge up to 210,000 gallons of fracking wastewater a day into the Susquehanna River. If permits should be approved, it would be the first treatment facility in the state to do so, officials say. But Eureka officials say discharge is their last resort for the water, favoring industry reuse over treating and discharge.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Gas pipeline connections start on Transco expansion, visible from Route 513 in Hunterdon County Hunterdon Democrat Renée Kiriluk-Hill Several steps have been completed as work proceeds on the Transco pipeline expansion project in Franklin and Union townships in Hunterdon County. Motorists on Route 513 and Sidney Road, near Clinton and Route 78, are flanked by the project, which will add 6.64 miles — the Stanton Loop — to the Northeast Supply link. New, 42-inch pipes are being installed alongside existing pipe. In this area Williams Co. has completed pre-construction surveys, cleared and graded land, trenched — moving topsoil to separate mounds in agricultural areas — strung pipe near the trench, and started connecting the sections on the Franklin Township side of Route 513. According to the company, once pipe sections are welded together they are "placed on temporary supports along the edge of the trench. All welds are then visually and radiographically inspected. Line pipe, normally mill-coated or yard-coated prior to stringing, requires a coating at the welded joints. Prior to the final inspection, the entire pipeline coating is electronically inspected to locate and repair any coating faults or voids" before the pipe is placed in the trench and backfilling begins.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 What Does The Senate GOP Want? YNN Capitol Tonight Are the Senate Republicans playing a legislative version of Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope with Gov. Andrew Cuomo? It certainly seems that way. Consider Cuomo, assuming the bully pulpit this post-budget legislative session, has tossed out multiple fixes to public corruption and misconduct and has leftovers from his State of the State agenda such as casino siting and a women’s agenda that he’d like to see done. ........................................................................................................................ And yes, when it came to jobs, Skelos tossed out the “f” word in state politics these days, the one topic that has become the third rail for Cuomo. “I think when you poll people, they talk about jobs,” he said. “The Southern Tier wants to know when fracking is going to start. When is the studies upon studies going to be over? Unemployment in many of the upstate communities is outrageous.”  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Fracking Opponents Await Cuomo Decision WAMC David Chanatry In the five years since New Yorkers first began to hear about horizontal hydrofracking, the state has become a battleground over the gas drilling technique. While opponents have some high profile support, their movement remains mostly a loose collection of small groups that have been remarkably effective. Our story comes from David Chanatry with the New York Reporting Project at Utica College. When philosophy professor Mike Gorr and his wife were looking for a place to retire, they took a trip from Illinois to New York’s Finger Lakes region. "When we first drove into Skaneatles, I looked around and said, 'I think I can live here,'" he says. "And so we did." But not long after they moved to nearby town of Niles, the Gorrs got an unwelcome surprise. Turns out their new home was sitting on top of the Marcellus shale and the surrounding area could be hydrofracked for natural gas. Gorr says he was never politically active, but that quickly changed.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Consultants' role in state DEC hydrofracking study is questioned Legislative Gazette Mary Esch-AP and Jess String Government watchdog Common Cause and 11 other environmental groups are questioning the role of gas industry-associated consultants in the state's environmental impact study of shale gas drilling and fracking. As a result of the perceived conflict of interest, The New York Public Interest Research Group has sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo urging him to "scrap" the DEC's revised SGEIS on fracking after discovering one of the parties that contributed to the study on fracking is a member of a group lobbying in favor of hydraulic fracturing. Last Wednesday, environmental groups and a dozen state legislators questioned the role of consultant Ecology and Environment Inc. in the DEC's review.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Gas leaks: Pick a reality Shale Reporter Suzie Gilbert Last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that methane emissions from fracking operations had risen sharply. Now it has announced that although production has risen sharply, emissions have declined. Whuh? A year ago researchers from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado at Boulder released a study saying 4 percent of the methane produced at a Denver field was escaping into the atmosphere. Since methane causes about 25 percent more warming than CO2, this kind of data shoots a big hole into the oil and gas industry’s claims of environmentally-friendly energy production.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Oil, Natural Gas Spills In Lafayette Township The Bradford Era Amanda Nichols A considerable amount of natural gas and crude oil residue blew out of a pipeline when a valve broke in Lafayette Township on Saturday afternoon. Around noon, passersby on U.S. Route 219 reported the spill, visible from the highway shooting about 60 feet in the air out of a pipe, according to fire chief Don Fowler of the Lafayette Township Volunteer Fire Department. According to Fowler, the spill mainly involved a great deal of natural gas blowing off into the atmosphere for about three hours. The pipeline is owned by Atlas Energy, which has a local office in Mayville, N.Y.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Gasland II: From Broken Promises to Renewable Solutions AlterNet Alison Rose Levy Sometimes people tell me, “If you cover fracking, you really need to see that film—that film, what’s it called?” “Gasland?” I’ll offer helpfully. “Yes, that’s it.” It kind of charms me that people less immersed in this issue, than many folks I know, would imagine that I could cover the topic without knowing the film that started it all. Fact is, I’ve seen Gasland nine or more times, usually because I accompany people I feel must see it. And now, we can start all over because of the release of Gasland II.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Many stressors associated with fracking due to perceived lack of trust, Pitt finds Science News Pennsylvania residents living near unconventional natural gas developments using hydraulic fracturing, known by the slang term "fracking," attribute several dozen health concerns and stressors to the Marcellus Shale developments in their area, according to a long-term analysis by University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers. Reported health impacts persist and increase over time, even after the initial drilling activity subsides, they noted. The study, which will be published in the May issue of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, did not include clinical examinations of the participants' physical health or any environmental tests. Researchers surveyed those who believe their health has been affected by hydraulic fracturing activities for self-reported symptoms and stressors. The most commonly cited concern was stress, which 76 percent of participants said they'd experienced. Among the leading causes of stress reported by the participants were feelings of being taken advantage of, having their concerns and complaints ignored, and being denied information or misled.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 "Fracking" Near National Parks Lake Powell Life Much of the country’s richest resources for oil and gas development using hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," exist in remote areas – and those same areas are home to hundreds of national park units. A new report from the National Parks Conservation Association shows that as those projects move closer to park borders, policies need to be in place to limit damage to the parks. "Drawing down that water is a challenge for national parks. The fact that sometimes that water can be chemically-laced, that can get loose, it can seep into streams that feed national parks, it can go underground and seep out in springs and little wells." That's Jim Nations of the N-P-C-A's Center for Park Research. Nations says other risks to parks include air pollution, damage to historical and cultural sites, and wildlife habitat fragmentation. Nations outlines some of the impacts on the park experience.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Harvard takes issue with fracking disclosure UPI CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 29 (UPI) -- The disclosure of chemicals using FracFocus for hydraulic fracturing isn't considered an acceptable regulatory safeguard, the Harvard Law School says. FracFocus serves as an Internet forum that lists chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas deposits.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Orange County considers banning fracking brine on its roads Mid Hudson News GOSHEN – Taking the lead from Ulster and other area counties, Orange County is considering banning the use of fracking fluid on county roads. Because of its brine, or salt content, some municipalities in other states are being offered the liquid as a winter snow and ice melting agent at little to no cost. But, Ulster and other area counties have banned it from their roads. In Orange County, the move advanced by legislature Minority Leader Jeffrey Berkman will go before the full county legislature on Thursday. It won the approval of two committees already. Berkman’s concern is that the chemicals in the liquid, which are largely unknown, could leach into the ground and contaminate aquifers and private wells.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 College Democrats of New York Back Ban on Fracking, Support for Fair Elections and Reforms for Public Education News LI (Poughkeepsie, NY)- The College Democrats of New York held their annual convention at both Marist and Vassar College’s this weekend. Over one hundred students from across New York attended workshops and heard from elected leaders from around the state. For the first time the organization also passed a series of resolutions on hot topic issues that affect the State of New York. Among them, the organization voted in unanimous support of a state wide ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), reforming New York States public schools, and a call for fair elections in New York.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Democrats split with Hickenlooper on oil, gas regs Gazette Megan Schrader DENVER • When it comes to regulating oil and gas operations in Colorado, Democrats at the Capitol are at odds with Gov. John Hickenlooper who has earned a reputation of being fracking friendly. Among the bills being considered in the final full week of the legislative session are increased fines for oil and gas spills, additional inspections for each well, and more groundwater sampling in an area of the state that has the most drilling activity. The oil and gas industry has opposed most of those bills in part through a force of lobbyists that have been paid more than $750,000 in the past nine months, according to an analysis of data maintained by the Secretary of State. “We’re trying very hard, but it’s been very frustrating this session. We just haven’t gotten a lot done,” Rep. Dickie Lee Hullinghorst, D-Longmont, said. “I’m not going to give up on it, but I’ve got to tell you I’m frustrated.”   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Energy and Climate Change Committee ‘backs shale gas drilling’ Lancashire Evening Post A committee advising the Government on ‘fracking’ has advised them to support exploratory drilling. The Energy and Climate Change Committee’s report into the impact of shale gas on energy markets said it would be ‘impossible’ to determine how much shale gas could be tapped into unless some drilling was encouraged.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Pressure to cut costs drives energy producers to drill for answers The Tribune As dense oil and natural gas drilling continues to expand throughout the country, the industry is facing increased pressure to reduce costs. Shareholders demand it. Exploration and production companies need it to fund more drilling. Contractors must have it to remain competitive. “This is a very costly business,” Marc Edwards, senior vice president of completion and production at Halliburton, said. “It’s a complicated business. The benefits of streamlining the process gives us a big opportunity to reduce costs.”  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 UK ministers consider offering communities fracking sweeteners Financial Times The government is proposing to bribe communities with cheaper energy bills in exchange for dropping opposition to local fracking projects as part of plans to push ahead with shale-gas extraction. Several options to cajole rural England to accept the contentious drilling schemes are being discussed as ministers prepare to announce that the UK’s shale-gas reserves are much larger than previously estimated. Fracking, an extraction technique that involves pumping water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into shale rock to release trapped pockets of oil and gas, has transformed the US energy market, triggering a production boom that pushed gas prices to 10-year lows last year. Environmentalists worry that the process can pollute ground water and cause emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The government’s paper on “community benefits” will propose policies that aim to persuade locals to drop their resistance to fracking in northwest and southeast England, where the largest shale-gas deposits are found. The biggest incentive being discussed by the coalition is cheaper household energy bills for people in the area, according to those familiar with the discussions. Neighbourhoods could also be offered funding for new sports clubs or community centres and other projects to improve local amenities. The House of Commons energy select committee said on Friday that communities affected by shale-gas projects “should expect to receive, and share in, some of the benefits of development”. It suggested that local authorities hosting shale ventures should also be allowed to retain business rates. The system would be similar to the “planning gain” whereby councils that give planning permission to property developments can force the developer to pay for certain infrastructure improvements, such as roads and schools. A separate paper will make a similar proposal for new wind farms. The government could still face big protests against fracking sites, reminiscent of the widespread grassroots Tory hostility to onshore wind turbines and to the HS2 high-speed railway. One Conservative MP, Laura Sandys, has said that planning applications for shale-gas drilling will “make onshore wind farms look like a walk in the park”. Britain’s only fracking operation, by Cuadrilla Resources near Blackpool, was suspended after two minor earthquakes in 2011. It was allowed to resume last December. Last year, the government commissioned the British Geological Survey to produce a new estimate of Britain’s shale-gas reserves, which is understood to show that they are much larger than previously thought.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Fracking Ruled Out by Pennsylvania in Town’s Water Case Bloomberg Mark Drajem Methane in the water wells of a Pennsylvania town visited by Yoko Ono in her campaign against hydraulic fracturing wasn’t caused by drilling for natural gas nearby, the state environmental regulator said. In the northeastern town of Franklin Forks, samples from three private water wells are comparable in their chemical makeup to the natural spring at a nearby park where methane had been detected for decades, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said today.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Lawmakers consider moratorium on oil fracking Bloomberg Businessweek Laura Olson SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Critics of hydraulic fracturing urged lawmakers Monday to support several bills that would impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, saying there is too much uncertainty about the health and environmental effects of the oil drilling practice. More than two-dozen fracking opponents lined up to share their concerns at an Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing, where lawmakers were expected to vote on three bills that would prohibit fracking temporarily. The drilling technique involves blasting water, sand and chemicals into deep rock formations to release oil or natural gas.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Government to offer cheaper energy bills to communities that don't oppose fracking The Telegraph Alice Philipson As part of plans to push ahead with the controversial practice, where by shale gas is forced out of the ground by blasting water into rocks, the coalition is considering a range of sweeteners for local communities. While the biggest incentive would be cheaper household energy bills, communities who agree to shale-gas extraction in their area could also be offered funding for new sports club or community centres and other local amenities, according to the Financial Times. The proposals will form part of the Government's paper on "community benefits", which will aim to convince people in northwest and southeast England to drop opposition to fracking. Environmentalists claim the hydraulic fracturing involved in the process causes earthquakes and contaminates drinking water.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Committee dampens fracking hopes Cambridge News Fracking for shale gas is not guaranteed to provide the "silver bullet" needed to solve Britain's high energy bill woes, according to MPs. The Energy and Climate Change Committee said it was "too soon to call" what impact the potential energy source could have in the UK but added companies must be able to "get on and drill" to establish what resources exist.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Harvard takes issue with fracking disclosure UPI CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 29 (UPI) -- The disclosure of chemicals using FracFocus for hydraulic fracturing isn't considered an acceptable regulatory safeguard, the Harvard Law School says. FracFocus serves as an Internet forum that lists chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas deposits. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has led to major gains in U.S. natural gas production. The practice is controversial because some chemicals used in the process, including carcinogens, may reach groundwater supplies. A report published by Harvard Law School's environmental law program says voluntary disclosure via FracFocus is inadequate.   [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 Wastewater impoundments a bad practice Observer-Reporter Jesse White I feel compelled to respond to the April 23 letter from Range Resources’ Matt Pitzarella, in which he says: “Range is on record on countless occasions being in support of, and in fact lobbying for, not against, smarter and tighter regulations that adapt to new and emerging technologies.” This statement is stunning because less than 24 hours earlier, every member of the state House of Representatives was lobbied to do exactly the opposite. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, speaking on behalf of Range Resources, circulated email messages to urge a vote against my amendments to House bills 302, 303 and 308. It should be noted that Range Resources and the Marcellus Shale Coalition combined to spend more than $1 million in just a three-month span last year lobbying the state legislature to pass Act 13, the law designed to eliminate the accountability of the drilling industry to local communities.  [Full Story] Apr 29, 2013 What Has the Pursuit of Fossil Fuels Cost Us? And Who Has Had to Pay? The Atlantic PHAEDRA ELLIS-LAMKINS In his piece, "What if we never run out of oil?" Charles Mann examines the possibility that new technologies and new sources of petroleum, like methane hydrate, could mean that we never run out of oil. The conclusion? As long as there is some kind of oil, somewhere, we will never make the transition to clean energy--and as a result, we won't be able to do anything about climate change. It's true that for years, many in the environmental movement have quietly, eagerly anticipated the end of oil. You can't blame them. There's no question that running out of oil would hasten the switch to healthier forms of energy like wind and solar.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 PPL battles homeowners over drilling royalty checks on forgotten land The Times-Tribune DAVID FALCHEK Growing up in the 1970s, Charles Chidester would often find old rail spikes from the abandoned Northern Electric trolley line that bisected the family farm. Dairy cows grazed over the right-of-way that hadn't seen a trolley car since 1931. In places, the rail bed stretched under a lush tunnel of trees that young Charles would walk to get around Brooklyn Twp. "We thought it was ours," he said. The families of several property owners have used the forgotten rail bed for generations. But an heir to the old Northern Electric trolley line was eventually found: PPL Electric Corp.   [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Question of fracking lingers over George Washington National Forest The Daily Progress Ray Reed LYNCHBURG — Apparently for the first time in America, the U.S. Forest Service is considering whether to allow horizontal drilling for natural gas, in the George Washington National Forest. Energy companies are saying "yes," environmental activists are saying "no," and governments are divided on whether roads, trucks and drilling equipment should be permitted in the national forest, a source of drinking water for 260,000 people. More than 54,000 public comments have been made, and Virginians oppose the gas prospecting by at least a 2-1 margin, according to Kate Wofford of the Shenandoah Valley Network, an environmental advocacy group that analyzed the comments.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Do You Know What Fracking Is? Most People Don't. The Motley Fool Taylor Muckerman Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been around for a long time. However, it wasn't until the last couple of years that it became truly revolutionary in terms of oil and natural gas production. The shale boom, and those profiting from it, have fracking to thank for the record levels of production that are currently being achieved. So with a technology that is having such a dramatic impact on the energy landscape in North America, one would expect that the majority of the population would have some understanding of what is taking place. However, if that was your assumption, you would be drastically wrong, according to the Pew Research Center.   [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Anti-fracking issue on May 7 ballot triggers controversy: Can it be enforced? Vindy.com Supporters of a Youngstown anti-fracking charter amendment on the May 7 ballot say the proposal returns the rights to clean air, pure water and self-government to the people. But opponents of the citizens-based initiative see the proposal quite differently.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 NOFRAC implores government to see bigger picture Hants Journal Ashley Thompson Group wants province to ‘wait for the science’ A report a fracking awareness advocacy group completed to study the impacts hydraulic fracking has had on the province says Nova Scotia is far from ready for shale gas production. Barb Harris, the author of the in-depth report commissioned by the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition (NOFRAC), says Nova Scotians have only experienced a fraction of the issues that may arise if the temporary fracking ban is lifted and Nova Scotia is opened up to shale gas production once the provincial review of the controversial drilling procedure is completed in 2014.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Impact Fees Fracture Pennsylvania Forbes KRIS MAHER CUMBERLAND TOWNSHIP, Pa.—Unlike many communities focused on cutting budgets, this small township of hilly farmland an hour south of Pittsburgh recently splurged on a new firetruck, a police cruiser and a new pavilion, bathrooms and riding mower at its Wana B Park. The shopping spree was financed by a $1 million check—nearly half as much as the township's $2.3 million operating budget—thanks to a state law passed last year to assess fees on natural-gas wells drilled into the Marcellus Shale formation. The township, which has 130 such wells on its 39 square miles, is among the state's most densely drilled areas.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Fracking Debris Considered Too Radioactive Even For Waste Site OpEd News RT TV A truck carrying drill cuttings from a fracking site set off a radiation alarm at a landfill in Pennsylvania. Emitting gamma radiation 10 times higher than the permitted level, the waste was rejected by the landfill. After the alarm went off, the MAX Environmental Technologies truck was immediately quarantined and sent back to the Marcellus Shale fracking site it had come from in Greene County, Va. The 159-acre Pennsylvania landfill site accepts residual and hazardous waste, but the cuttings were too radioactive for the site to safely dispose.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Fracking beneath the gold dome Conflict of interest between industry rights and public health is untenable Denver Post Loyd Burton--Opinion One of the Denver cityscape's most compelling icons is the gold dome atop the state Capitol. It's a colorful reminder of Colorado's mining heritage. And it also reminds us of the boom-and-bust cycles that financed Colorado's growth to the point that it could support a more diversified economy. To those familiar with what goes on beneath the dome, however, it carries an additional significance. It's a pointed reminder of who is literally on top in Colorado law and politics when it comes to the supremacy of mineral rights development over nearly every other land use.   [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 EPA slashes estimate of greenhouse gas leaks from gas wells, crediting pollution controls Star-Telegram Kevin Begos PITTSBURGH -- The Environmental Protection Agency has dramatically lowered its estimate of how much of a potent heat-trapping gas leaks during natural gas production, in a shift with major implications for a debate that has divided environmentalists: Does the recent boom in fracking help or hurt the fight against climate change? Oil and gas drilling companies had pushed for the change, but there have been differing scientific estimates of the amount of methane that leaks from wells, pipelines and other facilities during production and delivery. Methane is the main component of natural gas.   [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Caught in the Drill Zone A growing natural-gas industry poses toxic challenges for organic farmers and anyone else living near a fracking operation. Organic Gardening Sue Smith-Heavenrich Before Carolyn Knapp signed a gas lease, she questioned the industry representatives as to its effect on her organic dairy certification. That was 7 years ago. Now, nine wells have been drilled within 2 miles of her Bradford County, Pennsylvania, farm and the water tastes so bad at times that her cows won’t drink it. Neither will her husband. Last year, he suffered rashes all over his body; they disappeared once he quit drinking the water. Knapp’s cows had boils and skin rashes, too, and neighbors have noted skin lesions, fertility issues, and early miscarriages in their cows. Knapp can’t afford to test her water—lab fees can run as high as $3,200—and even if she could, she doesn’t know what to test for. Drillers don’t have to reveal what chemicals they use. But she believes her water problems stem from the nearby drilling and fracking operations.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Forest Service considers allowing natural gas drilling in Va. Tri Cities Ray Reed Apparently for the first time in America, the U.S. Forest Service is considering whether to allow horizontal drilling for natural gas, in the George Washington National Forest. Energy companies are saying "yes," environmental activists are saying "no," and governments are divided on whether roads, trucks and drilling equipment should be permitted in the national forest, a source of drinking water for 260,000 people.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Not enough: DEQ plan needs to be better Casper Star Tribune ELAINE CRUMPLEY Some would believe that the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s newly released “Ozone Strategy Plan” is a comprehensive, good response to Sublette and parts of Sweetwater and Lincoln County’s status of nonattainment. However, others see it as too little, too late. The DEQ’s new “Strategy Plan” is in response to events of two years ago—the March 2011 ground-level ozone found in Sublette County which finally rendered the area in violation of the Clean Air Act.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Landowners face challenges with new leasing rules The Vindicator JAMISON COCKLIN In Portage and Stark counties, on a vast stretch of 958 acres straddling Lake and Suffield townships, natural gas company Chesapeake Energy had a plan to drill six horizontal shale wells — all from one pad. It was still early in the Utica Shale play in 2011.The company set out to secure all the mineral rights it could across the plot, but ran into a problem: 23 landowners and homeowners who could not be reached or had no interest in selling the oil and gas reserves thousands of feet below their property. So in November 2011, for the first time in the Utica Shale play, the company turned to a rarely used section of Ohio law governing the development of the state’s mineral resources: It filed a request for unit operations with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management.   [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Caught in the Drill Zone Organic Gardening Sue Smith-Heavenrich efore Carolyn Knapp signed a gas lease, she questioned the industry representatives as to its effect on her organic dairy certification. That was 7 years ago. Now, nine wells have been drilled within 2 miles of her Bradford County, Pennsylvania, farm and the water tastes so bad at times that her cows won’t drink it. Neither will her husband. Last year, he suffered rashes all over his body; they disappeared once he quit drinking the water. Knapp’s cows had boils and skin rashes, too, and neighbors have noted skin lesions, fertility issues, and early miscarriages in their cows. Knapp can’t afford to test her water—lab fees can run as high as $3,200—and even if she could, she doesn’t know what to test for. Drillers don’t have to reveal what chemicals they use. But she believes her water problems stem from the nearby drilling and fracking operations.  [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 EPA methane report further divides fracking camps Associated Press Kevin Begos, AP PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has dramatically lowered its estimate of how much of a potent heat-trapping gas leaks during natural gas production, in a shift with major implications for a debate that has divided environmentalists: Does the recent boom in fracking help or hurt the fight against climate change? Oil and gas drilling companies had pushed for the change, but there have been differing scientific estimates of the amount of methane that leaks from wells, pipelines and other facilities during production and delivery. Methane is the main component of natural gas.   [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Pilot study: Group of Bradford Co, Pa. residents concerned about health effects of hydrofracking Phys.Org Residents living in areas near natural gas operations, also known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are concerned their illnesses may be a result of nearby drilling operations. Twenty-two percent of the participants in a small pilot study surmise that hydrofracking may be the cause of such health concerns as sinus problems, sleeping difficulties, and gastrointestinal problems. The findings will be presented at the American Occupational Health Conference on April 28 in Orlando, Florida. Scientists collected responses from 72 adults visiting a primary care physician's office in the hydrofracking-heavy area of Bradford County, Pa., who volunteered to complete an investigator-faciliated survey   [Full Story] Apr 28, 2013 Fracking fears resurface: Talladega National Forest CBS-Alabama Mike McClanahan TALLADEGA, Ala. (WIAT) – Is it an untapped resource or an environmental disaster waiting to happen? There are a lot of concerns and questions from the public about the possibility of drilling in the Talladega National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management delayed leasing 43,000 acres of the Talladega National Forest for oil and gas exploration last year. At the same time, the federal government announced there would be public meetings about the process. Thursday in Montgomery about 55 people gathered for what turned out to be a public information session, but not a public hearing. Representatives from the U.S. Forest Service and the leasing agency for the federal government, the Bureau of Land Management, were on hand to answer questions. The Talladega National Forest leases that were offered last year are still on hold, but not out of the question.  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Cash for Road Repair in Shale Areas Proves Elusive The Texas Tribune Aman Batheja As he looks at the calendar, DeWitt County Judge Daryl Fowler is getting nervous. Fowler is among a group of officials in the Eagle Ford Shale area who are lobbying lawmakers for money to address the rural South Texas region’s roads, many of which have been pummeled by drilling activity. With about a month left before the legislative session ends, he and others fear the push for funding has stalled. “We’re not looking for state-highway-quality roads,” Fowler said. “We’ve just got to armor them up and keep them safe.”   [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Fracking Our National Parks: America's Best Idea Threatened By Oil and Gas Addiction DeSmogBlog BEN JERVEY Teddy Roosevelt must be rolling over in his grave. Elkhorn Ranch, where the great Republican conservationist sat on his porch overlooking the Little Missouri River and conceived his then-progressive theories of conservation, is at risk of being despoiled by fracking. Now sitting in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, you’d assume that Roosevelt's "home ranch" (as he called it) was protected from fossil fuel development. But the view from Elkhorn could soon be dominated by a new gas well staked just 100 feet from the site, a new bridge over the river and a new road to service nearby fracking fields. “Astronomers at Theodore Roosevelt National Park -- which once offered some of the nation’s darkest, most pristine night skies -- also see a new constellation of flares from nearby fracking wells,” writes the National Parks Conservation Association.   [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 NY fracking study needed, Sen. David Carlucci says Newsday SARAH ARMAGHAN Following a trip to hydrofracking sites in Pennsylvania this week, state Sen. David Carlucci says he will push even harder for health and environmental studies to be conducted in New York. Carlucci (D-Rockand/Orange) toured drilling sites in Montrose, a small borough in a county of 32,000 people, and heard from local homeowners whose lives have been disrupted by the controversial method of obtaining natural gas. "I visited with families that have lost their water supply because of contamination," Carlucci told Newsday on Saturday. "They're getting water delivered every day so they could live a decent quality of life."  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Many Openings at State Agency Go to Those With Ties to Cuomo The New York Times DANNY HAKIM ALBANY — New York State’s economic development agency created a new position last June, and then found a candidate to fill it: a young man named Willard Younger, who had just graduated from Colgate University with a degree in classics and religion. He became a special projects associate, at a salary of $45,000 a year, according to state personnel records.  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 National Parks and Hydraulic Fracturing National Parks Conservation Association Center for Park Research Report Hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) is a relatively new extraction method that is now responsible for 90 percent of domestic oil and gas production, with thousands of wells peppering the countryside. The number of wells is expected to skyrocket during the next two decades. The Energy Information Administration estimates that the United States has 2,119 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 25.2 billion barrels of crude oil recoverable through fracking. What will history say about this innovation? What will the impacts be on America’s public lands—especially our cherished national parks? No one knows for sure. Most Americans aren’t witness to fracking operations, which typically take place in remote, rural locations inhabited (and visited) by few people. Most North Dakotans, for example, live within eight miles of the Minnesota border, so they’ve never laid eyes on the fracking wells that are springing up in the western part of the state, near Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Other national parks in relatively undeveloped regions have also seen fracking arrive at their doorstep: From Glacier National Park’s eastern boundary, visitors can throw a stone and hit any of 16 exploratory wells and their associated holding tanks, pump jacks, and machinery that is capable of forcing millions of gallons of pressurized fluids into energy deposits hiding thousands of feet beneath the earth. Yet even the experts can’t predict fracking’s impacts. Will it contaminate the air we breathe in national parks? Will it harm native wildlife and the water and forests they depend on for survival? Will it damage the resources we value in our national parks? The answers are just beginning to emerge. Consequently, the National Parks Conservation Association recommends that policymakers require a measured, thoughtful approach to fracking, especially near national parks and in their surrounding landscapes. We must make every effort to understand and anticipate potential consequences—before they become irreversible.  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Plant could be first to discharge treated wastewater into Susquehanna TimesOnline Rachel Morgan STANDING STONE TWP., Pa. — Eureka Resources’ proposed plant in Bradford County could discharge up to 210,000 gallons of treated fracking wastewater a day into the Susquehanna River if its permit should be approved. It would be the first treatment facility in the state to do so, officials say.  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 New York fracking study needed, Sen. David Carlucci says Newsday SARAH ARMAGHAN Following a trip to hydrofracking sites in Pennsylvania this week, state Sen. David Carlucci says he will push even harder for health and environmental studies to be conducted in New York. Carlucci (D-Rockand/Orange) toured drilling sites in Montrose, a small borough in a county of 32,000 people, and heard from local homeowners whose lives have been disrupted by the controversial method of obtaining natural gas. "I visited with families that have lost their water supply because of contamination," Carlucci told Newsday on Saturday. "They're getting water delivered every day so they could live a decent quality of life." The extraction process uses fracturing fluid -- a mixture of water and chemicals. Studies have shown that poor wastewater management and the improper use of concrete that lines the wells could leak the fluid as well as methane into ground and surface water. Hydrofracking has been a hot-button issue in Albany, where multiple environmental organizations have pushed for studies to be conducted before drilling is permitted in the state. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has not made his stance clear on the issue. Carlucci said noise and air pollution also have increased in the Pennsylvania area due to the water delivery trucks driving through daily.  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Have Another Hit of Fracked Air OpEd News J Dial We were treated to two speakers on the subject of the state of our air. Jana Milford[1], an engineer and lawyer, began by requesting that we stop her if we heard her use the words "frack" or "hydraulic fracturing". She did not explain her reason but one suspects it might stem from their status as "loaded" words. One avoids provoking the petulant throng. Of the options for assessing atmospheric impacts of our actions, said NOAA scientist Gabrielle Petron[2], she prefers the evidentiary approach and so spends much time in the field collecting air. What she finds is not always expected. As of 2012, 26 percent of US power was derived from natural gas, and that percentage is growing. Colorado is approaching 50,000 active fracking wells; compare that to the 35,000 populating the Middle East. Yet among Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado, the four states straddling our substrate of fecund shale, Colorado is not foremost in wells. That position is held now by Wyoming, formerly by New Mexico. These are production trends, Milford tells us, that lead to emissions. But, she hastens to add, fracking is hardly the sole source of such emissions. Don't forget feedlots and landfills.   [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 The Dark Side of Energy Independence New York Times Benjamin Alter & Edward Fishman--Opinion JUST as the world was writing off America as a declining power, the country now finds itself on the cusp of realizing one of its longstanding goals: energy independence. A wave of new technologies has made it possible to extract oil and gas from shale rock formations, and the results have been astonishing. By some estimates, the United States is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer as early as 2017, start exporting more oil and gas than it imports by 2025, and achieve full energy self-sufficiency by 2030. American politicians in both parties have long dreamed of energy independence — not only for its potential economic benefits, but also because it could free the United States from the vicissitudes of the outside world. Last March, President Obama said that new energy sources and technologies would make America “less dependent on what’s going on in the Middle East.” The Romney campaign, meanwhile, argued that energy independence would mean that “the nation’s security is no longer beholden to unstable but oil-rich regions halfway around the world.” But that is a fantasy. While the latest energy revolution will be a boon to America’s economy, it will in no way allow the United States to turn its back on the rest of the world. That’s because America’s oil and gas bonanza will drive down global energy prices, undercutting the foundations of petrostates everywhere. According to Francisco Blanch, the head of commodities research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, oil could fall to just $50 a barrel within the next two years, which could unleash unrest in regions crucial to American interests. Far from releasing the United States from the burden of global leadership, this process would force Washington to assume an even greater international role than it currently plays. If there’s one part of the world that America would like to be less encumbered by, it’s the volatile and oil-rich Middle East. But energy independence will not spell the end of American engagement in that region. On the contrary, lower energy prices will undermine the stability of the Persian Gulf monarchies, whose hefty oil revenues have allowed them to win their populations’ loyalties through patronage and a lack of taxation. These countries do not always share American values or help advance American interests, but anything that destabilizes them would create problems that Washington could not afford to ignore. Consider Bahrain, which earns 70 percent of its revenues through petroleum production and refining. The small island monarchy has undergone deeply destabilizing protests since the start of the Arab Spring. A drop in global energy prices would hurt the already weak government, breathing new life into opposition forces. A populist revolution in Bahrain could empower the country’s long-repressed Shiite majority, who already resent Washington’s support for the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa family. A new regime in Bahrain might even seek to expel the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, complicating America’s efforts to protect international shipping lanes, fight piracy and check Iran’s regional ambitions. Even more alarming is the prospect of instability in Saudi Arabia. In 2011, the Saudi royal family was able to head off an Arab Spring-style revolution because of its enormous oil revenues, doling out $130 billion in benefits to pacify the country’s younger and poorer inhabitants. Should lower oil prices make such patronage impossible in the future, the kingdom could face domestic unrest — making the country a far less reliable partner for America in fighting terrorism and countering Iran. Moreover, if Saudi Arabia has less of its own money to spend on regional security, Washington will have to make up for the shortfall. Outside the Middle East, declining global energy prices could have equally destabilizing effects. Russia rode its way out of the post-Soviet doldrums on a wave of rising revenues from oil and natural gas sales. Today, roughly half the country’s 83 regions could not stay afloat without federal aid, which President Vladimir V. Putin has been able to supply generously thanks to huge oil profits. As in the gulf monarchies, such transfers have allowed the government to neutralize political opposition. But discontent is still on the rise, as evidenced by the occasional protests that have shaken Moscow since 2011. Even a temporary drop in oil prices would constrain Mr. Putin’s ability to pay off his enemies: experts at the Russian School of Economics predict that the country’s oil wealth fund, a stash of petrodollars reserved for times of need, would be depleted if prices fell to $60 a barrel for just one year. If he’s unable to buy loyalty through patronage, Mr. Putin could turn to more pernicious methods like bullying neighbors and fanning the flames of nationalism. With outstanding border disputes and age-old rivals circling Russian territory, another conflict along the lines of the 2008 war against Georgia is not out of the question. In the long run, of course, America would welcome a Russia that is more beholden to its people’s wishes than to fluctuations in energy markets. Washington should be under no illusions, however, that the transition to that point will be either smooth or linear, and it should prepare for turbulence along the way. Many will argue that an energy-independent America could simply retreat into isolationism during such a period of turbulence. But American engagement abroad has never been purely about securing access to energy. The United States has benefited as much as any other country from the free exchange of goods, the safety of global sea lanes, the spread of democracy and the great-power stability that have characterized the entire post-World War II era. None of this could exist without the steadying hand of American power. Washington must make abundantly clear that it will continue to uphold this world order — irrespective of its own energy fortunes. Americans should cheer the energy revolution. It will do wonders for the American economy, and the democratic politics it could encourage in the Middle East and Russia may ultimately serve American interests. But in the meantime, Washington should expect a world far less stable than the one it is used to — and, in turn, prepare to adopt an even more outward-looking foreign policy. Benjamin Alter is a staff editor, and Edward Fishman is an assistant editor, at Foreign Affairs.  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Ready (or Not?) for a Great Coming Shale Boom New York Times Kate Galbraith SWEETWATER — About a year ago, talk began circulating in this West Texas town about a huge oil-producing formation called the Cline Shale, east of the traditional drilling areas around Midland. Then the oilmen and their rigs arrived. Now homes and hotels are sprouting, “help wanted” signs have multiplied, and a major drilling company has cleared land to build an office and equipment yard. “It is coming, and it is big,” said Greg Wortham, the mayor of Sweetwater, who also serves as executive director of the Cline Shale Alliance, a new economic development group. The Cline Shale, thousands of feet underground in a roughly 10-county swath, is just one of many little-tapped shale formations in Texas and across the nation, geologists say. That means the potential for oil and gas discoveries is theoretically huge, and the reason is technology. The rock-breaking process known as hydraulic fracturing, coupled with the ability to drill horizontally underground, has allowed drillers to retrieve oil and gas from previously inaccessible areas. Many shales will be too expensive or too small to develop, especially if oil prices fall or environmental regulations tighten. But in Texas, which is already the top oil-producing state, bullishness about a new era is pervasive. “We’re back into another phase of wildcatting, like the old-timers,” said Jamie Small, the president of Icon Petroleum, a Midland-based company that has worked in areas including the Cline Shale and another early-stage formation, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale. Barry Smitherman, chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency, has said that oil production in Texas could roughly double by 2020. Much of Texas’ production in the near future is likely to come from well-known formations like the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas and the shales of the Permian Basin of West Texas. Figures from the Railroad Commission show that oil production in the Eagle Ford Shale nearly tripled between 2011 and 2012. But with oil prices relatively high, around $90 a barrel, the quest for new shales is under way, often in regions where drillers had found oil (as they had in the Cline Shale area) in the pre-fracking era. Nearly every month brings reports of promising explorations, from New Mexico to Alaska, though some reports may deserve to be taken with “a grain of salt,” Mr. Small of Icon cautioned. Within Texas, shales besides the Cline that are not household names include the Midway Shale, which is closer to the coast than the Eagle Ford in South Texas, and deeper layers beneath well-known formations in the Permian Basin. There is also shale under Austin, geologists say. Large-scale extraction of oil and gas from shale is relatively new, which is why modern-day oilmen feel like explorers. Hydraulic fracturing — or fracking, the process of breaking up underground rock with a high-pressure mix of water, sand and chemicals — took off in the late 1990s in the Barnett Shale near Fort Worth. In recent years, aided by companies’ ability to drill thousands of feet horizontally under the earth, fracking has expanded into areas like the Eagle Ford and the Bakken Shale of North Dakota. Shale, a fine-grained type of sedimentary rock, underlies much of the nation, according to Mr. Small, a geologist. In Texas, shales are especially abundant. That is partly because hundreds of millions of years ago, sediment from much of what is now North America washed down toward modern-day Texas, according to Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of professional geosciences programs at the University of Houston. Marine organisms, from the days when Texas was covered by a shallow sea, were buried and cooked by the earth’s heat and eventually became oil. “We have one of the thickest sedimentary wedges in the world,” Dr. Van Nieuwenhuise said. Sedimentary rock in the Gulf of Mexico can reach 50,000 feet in thickness, whereas it is about 3,000 feet thick near the Atlantic coastline, he said. That means that Texas could theoretically drill deeper than current onshore norms of about 10,000 feet to 15,000 feet. The existence of a shale does not guarantee successful oil and gas production, geologists say. A formation may hold little oil or gas — or it may not be brittle enough for the fracking process to work effectively. Fracking is expensive; one well can easily cost $4.5 million, Dr. Van Nieuwenhuise said. So drilling is likely to slow if global oil prices drop, as they have slightly from a year ago when they topped $100 per barrel. Natural gas drilling has already been slowed by lower gas prices. On the other hand, improving technology could boost production. “The most optimistic of people believe that we’ve only seen the beginning of a burst of technological innovation, and if you look back from 2020 to fracking techniques in 2013, by 2020 you’ll think these are sort of feudal times,” said Edward Morse, global head of commodities research for Citigroup. Mr. Morse noted that recent production forecasts had “fallen short of where production growth has been.” Still, he said, political or environmental concerns could slow the rush to drill, as could a fall in oil prices. But with oil prices still high, some areas that were once an afterthought for oilmen feel like boomtowns. There are “a lot more people coming in looking for hotels,” said Mikala Brownfield, manager of the Hampton Inn in San Angelo, a city in the Cline Shale region. She also gets business from oil workers who cannot find rooms in Midland, a two-hour drive away. Devon Energy, an Oklahoma City-based drilling company known for pioneering work in the Barnett Shale, has opened offices in the past 18 months in San Angelo and Abilene, in addition to the planned Sweetwater location. It has nine rigs operating in the Cline and in the nearby Wolfcamp Shale. “We’ve had some encouraging results in the Cline, and we are hopeful and optimistic about our prospects for being successful in this play,” Chip Minty, a Devon spokesman, said. Cities with fast-developing shales may find it hard to keep up with the boom. If the Cline Shale gets going, “Where are the workers going to be? Where are you going to put them?” asked Diana Davids Hinton, a professor of history at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and a co-author of “Oil in Texas” (2002). Already, she noted, Midland’s hotels and schools are full. (The University of Houston and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin are corporate sponsors of The Texas Tribune.) In Sweetwater, Mr. Wortham acknowledged that housing remained a concern. However, he said, the schools and roads were well prepared, partly because the area had already experienced a build-out of wind farms. “There’s a lot more traffic than there used to be,” he said. “And we haven’t started yet.”  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules on gas rights issue JURIST Matthew Pomy The Pennsylvania Supreme Court [official website] ruled [text, PDF] Wednesday in a deed dispute over Marcellus shale gas rights that the gas is not considered a "mineral." The dispute dates back to an 1881 deed that conveyed partial mineral rights to the property holder. In the decision, the court reaffirmed Pennsylvania's "Dunham rule," derived from Dunham v. Kirkpatrick [text, PDF], which created the rebuttable presumption that oil and gas are not considered minerals. The court found that, notwithstanding different interpretations proffered by other jurisdictions, the rule in Pennsylvania is that natural gas and oil are not minerals because they are not of a metallic nature, as the common person would understand minerals." In addition, the court rejected the appellee's argument that because the gas is derived from Marcellus shale that the gas belongs to the individual that owns the shale itself. Instead of accepting the analogy put forward by the appellee comparing Marcellus shale and the natural gas derived from it to coal and its gases, the court asserted this was not applicable because the gas from Marcellus shale is merely natural gas trapped in the shale not a by-product like that of coal.  [Full Story] Apr 27, 2013 Eminent domain plays a key role in U.S. pipeline projects Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rich Lord The pipelines are coming, and with them, the potential for eminent domain lawsuits that leave property owners over a barrel. This month Columbia Gas Transmission filed two federal eminent domain lawsuits, demanding access to land in Allegheny, Indiana, Washington and Westmoreland counties for pipeline reconstruction or other infrastructure work. Uncommon until recently, such complaints could be a sign of things to come as gas companies upgrade and expand pipelines statewide. Texas Eastern Transmission, for instance, is seeking approval for $520 million in pipeline expansions and improvements to carry gas from Pennsylvania's Marcellus to New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Mississippi and Louisiana. "I imagine that there are going to be increased [eminent domain lawsuits], at the very least," said Gerald R. O'Brien, an Irwin-based attorney who represents a defendant sued by Columbia. When pipeline companies invoke eminent domain, there isn't much the targeted landowner can do to prevent or even slow the construction.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Jail term imposed for Marcellus pipeline damage The Patriot-News John Beauge WILLIAMSPORT - A Marcellus Shale natural gas worker who admitted he knowingly on three occasions in June 2011 damaged a buried pipeline in northern Lycoming County with an excavator will spend a year and a day in prison. U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III Friday also ordered Henry V. Benton, 45, of Bradford, Ark., to pay $150,000 in restitution to the Holloman Corp. of Houston, Texas, for whom he was working. He already has paid $28,900 of that amount. Assistant U.S. Attorney George J. Rocktashel sought an 18-month sentence, questioning whether it was a case of vandalism or industrial sabotage.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Fracking Is Draining Western Water, Says Regional Group States Must Take Lead to Make Sure Water Isn’t “Gone for Good” YubaNet Western Organization of Resource Councils BILLINGS, Mont. April 25, 2013 - Oil and gas extraction practices are permanently removing at least seven billion gallons of water from the hydrologic cycle each year in just four arid western states, according to a new report, Gone for Good, published today by the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC). The reason for the huge loss of water is that states have failed to place adequate protections on the use and contamination of fresh water in hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," the technology that has allowed the oil and gas industry to extract oil and gas from shale formations, such as the Bakken field in North Dakota and Montana.   [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Greeley drilling proposal under fire Petroleum producer faces rare resistance with plan for 22 wells Reporter Herald Tom Hacker When Loveland last year began coming to grips with prospects of oil and natural gas production in the city, some city councilors pointed eastward. Greeley, they said, offered the region's best example of how a city and the petroleum industry can co-exist. But a newly permitted natural gas drilling complex in the heart of west Greeley -- near schools, homes and nearly adjacent to the city's vaunted Family Fun Plex community pool and recreation center -- has pushed nearby residents to action.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 The number of natural gas drilling rigs working in the U.S. may have topped out for now, falling... Seeking Alpha The number of natural gas drilling rigs working in the U.S. may have topped out for now, falling by 13 in the latest week to 366, while oil rigs rose by 10, according to Baker Hughes' weekly rig count. Conoco (COP), for one, has no plans to start redirecting any capital toward gas assets until it’s "significantly north of current prices,” an exec said in yesterday's conference call.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Senate bill on US-Mexico drilling lacks Dodd-Frank exemption The Hill Ben Geman New Senate legislation to implement a U.S.-Mexico energy accord omits House language that exempts oil companies operating under the pact from controversial regulations that force them to disclose payments to foreign governments. The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee introduced legislation Thursday to enable the Interior Department to implement the Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement. The accord, which U.S. and Mexican officials signed in 2012, is designed to enable cooperation in development of oil-and-gas along a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico.   [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 New York Fracking Study: Groups Question Industry-Associated Consultants' Involvement Huffington Post Mary Esch ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Government watchdog Common Cause and 11 environmental groups raised more questions Thursday about the role of gas industry-associated consultants in New York's environmental impact study of shale gas drilling and fracking. A review of Department of Environmental Conservation documents obtained by Common Cause through Freedom of Information Law requests shows two more firms with memberships in the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York were contracted for the state's review.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Fracking debris considered too radioactive even for waste site RT A truck carrying drill cuttings from a fracking site set off a radiation alarm at a landfill in Pennsylvania. Emitting gamma radiation ten times higher than the permitted level, the waste was rejected by the landfill. After the alarm went off, the MAX Environmental Technologies truck was immediately quarantined and sent back to the Marcellus Shale fracking site it had come from in Greene County, Va. The 159-acre Pennsylvania landfill site accepts residual and hazardous waste, but the cuttings were too radioactive for the site to safely dispose.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Fracking away the water: Report warns of dwindling supply due to oil industry The Dickinson Press Bryan Howath A scathing report issued Thursday by the Western Organization of Resource Councils says water used in the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is reaching a crisis point in Western states. The regional network of organizations’ 37-page report, titled “Gone for Good,” warns of continued diminished water supplies in areas that have been hit hard by drought in recent years. The report also states that the data currently available and processes used to track energy industry water used for fracking are not sufficient, and that the “current level of water use for oil and gas production simply cannot be sustained.”  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Bay’s smallmouth bass under siege, report says The Washington Post Darryl Fears Smallmouth bass that draw hundreds of millions of dollars to the Chesapeake Bay region for sport fishing are sick, and many look too awful to ever mount as a trophy. A report released Thursday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says the fish, particularly those in the lower Susquehanna River, have been struck by a perfect storm of pollution, parasites, disease and endocrine disruptors that are changing the sex of males. The fish have been struck by a perfect storm of pollution, parasites, disease and endocrine disruptors. The catch rates of adult bass fell 80 percent between 2001 and 2005 in some areas of the Susquehanna River, the report said, citing a study by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The director of the commission, John Arway, said Thursday that he caught and released 200 bass on a summer night before 2005 and can now catch only three or four. Arway said that anglers who come up empty-handed are shying away from the smallmouth bass, valued at nearly $650 million in 2011, according to the American Sportfishing Association. The foundation is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to designate a 98-mile stretch of the river as “impaired” under the federal Clean Water Act, “and a decision is due any day,” said William Baker, the foundation’s president. If the EPA makes the designation, Pennsylvania could be forced to require farms and cities to limit nitrogen and phosphorous pollution that runs into the bay more aggressively than the current cleanup plan that is set to run until 2025.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Drilling into controversy Some fear fracking in George Washington National Forest News Leader Laura Peters The George Washington National Forest may be tapped for natural gas resources in what conservationists are calling an “unconventional way of drilling.” High-volume hydraulic fracturing, fracking, is quite different than conventional vertical wells, said Kate Wofford, executive director of a protection agency called the Shenandoah Valley Network.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Fatal Injuries in Offshore Oil and Gas Operations — United States, 2003–2010 Center for Disease Control & Prevention During 2003–2010, the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry (onshore and offshore, combined) had a collective fatality rate seven times higher than for all U.S. workers (27.1 versus 3.8 deaths per 100,000 workers). The 11 lives lost in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion provide a reminder of the hazards involved in offshore drilling. To identify risk factors to offshore oil and gas extraction workers, CDC analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), a comprehensive database of fatal work injuries, for the period 2003–2010. This report describes the results of that analysis, which found that 128 fatalities in activities related to offshore oil and gas operations occurred during this period. Transportation events were the leading cause (65 [51%]); the majority of these involved aircraft (49 [75%]). Nearly one fourth (31 [24%]) of the fatalities occurred among workers whose occupations were classified as "transportation and material moving." To reduce fatalities in offshore oil and gas operations, employers should ensure that the most stringent applicable transportation safety guidelines are followed.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 DEC’s Martens says he’s satisfied with fracking consultants’ response The Journal News Jon Campbell We caught up with state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens earlier Friday, whose agency has had an interesting week. Each day, Martens has been in a different part of the state as part of a week of events marking Earth Day. On Monday, the DEC unveiled a 200+ page wildlife guide that will arrive in bookstores in May. Other events were held in the Adirondacks and New Paltz throughout the week, and he was in Albany Friday to mark Arbor Day. At the same time, the DEC has faced questions over a trio of consultants that have worked on its review of large-scale hydraulic fracturing, a process that has stretched on for nearly five years. The three companies—Ecology and Environment, Alpha Geoscience and URS Corporation—all were listed on a letter sent Monday to Gov. Andrew Cuomo by the Independent Oil & Gas Association, a top industry lobbying group that was calling on Cuomo to allow high-volume fracking in New York.   [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Ohio company accused of dumping drilling waste Shale Reporter Rachel Morgan LOWELLVILLE, OHIO -- An Ohio company about a mile from the Pennsylvania border has been accused of dumping and burying petroleum-contaminated waste. The waste has been allegedly burried on the company's property close to the Mahoning River, a waterway that eventually flows into the Beaver River. Ohio officials say they fear Soil Remediation Inc.’s illegal disposal of oil and gas waste at 6065 Arrel Smith Road, Lowellville, could have polluted groundwater and the river, which is about a quarter mile from the property. Authorities there confirmed Thursday they are pursuing criminal charges and civil action against the Mahoning County company.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 In Gasland sequel, fracking saga’s pressure ratchets up Grist Sarah Laskow Josh Fox’s 2010 documentary Gasland alerted legions of people to the dangers of fracking and helped grow the movement against the drilling technique, which has created a natural-gas bonanza in many parts of the U.S. Now Fox is back with a sequel, Gasland Part II, that premiered this week at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The new film begins much like its predecessor: Shots of politicians alternate with shots of the forest, dripping wet with fresh rain. Fox introduces himself, his home, and his problem: A gas company wants to frack his land and the land around it. But the sequel tells a different kind of story from the first film, and Fox plays a different part. When Fox first started this project five years ago, he was an avant-garde theater writer and director. After his family received an offer from a gas company to lease his land, he spun his own questions about fracking into a powerful investigative film. Now, three years after Gasland became a sensation, he’s one of the leading activists in the fight against fracking.   [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 DEP Fines Gas Driller for Lycoming County Spills NPR State Impact PA Susan Phillips *This piece has been updated with new information from the Department of Environmental Protection.* The Department of Environmental Protection announced Friday that the agency fined Pennsylvania General Energy Company $125,500 for three spills that occurred back in January, 2012. The fine also includes failing to comply with sediment and erosion controls during a four-month construction project near a high-quality, trout stream in 2011. DEP says that during a fracking operation in January, 2012, PGE spilled an estimated 8,200 gallons of “brine,” and 89 gallons of diesel fuel. Brine is salty water, and often refers to what returns as wastewater during the fracking process. Typically this brine also contains chemicals and sometimes radioactive material. In an email, DEP spokesman Dan Spadoni gave more details about the content of the brine.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 An Interview With Pioneering Climate Scientist James Hansen truthdig Joe Conason Having directed NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies for most of the past four decades, Dr. James E. Hansen retired this month to devote himself to the scientific activism that has brought both awards and catcalls during his long and distinguished career. On April 24, he will receive the Ridenhour Courage Prize in Washington, D.C., for “bravely and urgently telling the truth about climate change.” Hansen recently spoke with The National Memo about the dangers of global warming, the benefits of nuclear power, the failures of both Republican and Democratic administrations, the imperatives of scientific advocacy—and how a carbon tax might actually replace “cap and trade,” which seems to be disintegrating in Europe. Now 72, Hansen is the son of a tenant farmer who studied with the legendary space scientist James Van Allen at the University of Iowa, before going on to postgraduate work in the Netherlands and at Columbia University, where the Goddard Institute is located. He joined NASA in 1972, planning to study the effect of gas clouds on the climate of Venus, but eventually realized that investigating climate changes on Earth was “probably more important—a planet that is changing before our eyes and has people living on it.”  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Former Gas Workers: Fracking Caused Health Problems WETM NBC Elmira-Corning Shannon Lins BATH, N.Y. (WETM-18) - Former natural gas drillers gathered in the Southern Tier Friday night to say fracking has been harmful to their health. A group of doctors and former workers spoke to a crowd in Bath. They say hydraulic fracturing is harmful to the environment and to the people involved with it.. So the group wants to stop drilling from coming to New York. One worker says he has severe health problems that he never did before working in the gas field. "This is dangerous stuff,” said Mac Sawyer. “It's not safe, it wrecks. Once it's polluted, it's done and it's never going to be right again."  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Rigell renews push to allow drilling off Va. coast Virginia Pilot Bill Bartel U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell is beginning a new push to force the federal government to open up Virginia's coastal waters to oil and natural gas drilling. Rigell expects to introduce a bill today that would require the Department of Interior to sell at least one lease to oil and gas companies and mandate that a portion of any federal government revenue be shared with Virginia.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 DEP Fines Gas Well Driller $125,500 For Violations In Lycoming County PA Environment Digest The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Pennsylvania General Energy Co. LLC of Warren, Warren County, $125,500 for two separate sets of violations in Lycoming County during 2012 and 2011. “The agency’s Oil and Gas program assessed penalties for three separate spills in January 2012 at a Pennsylvania General Energy well pad in Cummings Township, and for excessive sediment discharges to Pine Creek and related violations in Watson Township between May and September 2011,” DEP Director of District Oil and Gas Operations John Ryder said.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 What If We Never Run Out of Oil? New technology and a little-known energy source suggest that fossil fuels may not be finite. This would be a miracle—and a nightmare. The Atlantic Charles C. Mann As the great research ship Chikyu left Shimizu in January to mine the explosive ice beneath the Philippine Sea, chances are good that not one of the scientists aboard realized they might be closing the door on Winston Churchill’s world. Their lack of knowledge is unsurprising; beyond the ranks of petroleum-industry historians, Churchill’s outsize role in the history of energy is insufficiently appreciated.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Earthquakes and coal seam gas The Conversation Damien Maher and Douglas Tait and Isaac Santos Two recent peer reviewed studies on opposite sides of the globe have shed light on how monitoring of earthquakes and determining greenhouse gas emissions from the coal seam gas (CSG) industry may be connected. Predicting earthquakes has been a major scientific challenge, and so far considered impossible. In a recent case, Italian scientists were jailed for underplaying the likelihood of a major earthquake with the case sending shockwaves through the scientific community. Could radon be the clue? Monitoring radon, a radioactive noble gas produced by nearly all soils, may be a promising approach to predicting earthquakes. Sharp changes in radon have been observed before major earth quakes in places such as Japan, northern India, and Slovenia. During the recent earthquake in Italy, unusual radon concentrations prompted a scientist to suggest a massive evacuation of the town of L’Aquila. Unfortunately, the alarm was not raised at the right time and when the earthquake did strike many lives were lost.  [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 Jailed Members of Anti-Fracking “Seneca 12” Freed Public News Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – The Seneca 12 blocked the entrance to a natural gas storage facility in Reading on March 18. The peaceful protesters were demonstrating against what they see as a plan by Inergy Midstream to turn salt caverns near Seneca Lake into a regional storage hub for fracked gases from Pennsylvania and Ohio. Some of them appeared in court and paid fines, but Michael Dineen, Melissa Chipman and Sandra Steingraber opted for jail instead, getting 15-day sentences. Released shortly after midnight Thursday, several days early for good behavior, Steingraber – an author, biologist and professor at Ithaca College – says she's opposed to the facility and its role in continued dependence on fossil fuels.   [Full Story] Apr 26, 2013 FDIC acts to retain mineral rights Boulder County Business Report Molly Armbrister The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has launched a national program to retain mineral rights on lands it has taken back as a result of foreclosures and bank failures. In areas where oil and gas development is booming, the new policy could mean millions of dollars for the agency’s beleaguered bank insurance fund, and mean that banks will see lower insurance premiums. However, the program also could complicate land deals, reduce some property values and mean lower tax revenue for local governments, experts said.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 State Department Will Make Keystone Public Comments Public After All Inside Climate News David Sassoon Under pressure, the department reverses itself and says it will provide online public access to comments on its controversial environmental review. A State Department official confirmed that for the first time the department will make public all the public comments received on its draft environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL pipeline. In an email to InsideClimate News, the official, who requested anonymity, said the comments would be posted on Regulations.gov.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Consultants' role in NY drilling study questioned Newsday Mary Esch-AP ALBANY, N.Y. - (AP) -- Government watchdog Common Cause and 11 environmental groups raised more questions Thursday about the role of gas industry-associated consultants in the state's environmental impact study of shale gas drilling and fracking. A review of Department of Environmental Conservation documents obtained by Common Cause through Freedom of Information Law requests shows two more firms with memberships in the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York were contracted for the state's review. The review, still incomplete after five years, is to determine whether hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves blasting chemical-laden water deep into the ground, will be allowed in the state.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Fracking list generates more heat Times Union Brian Nearing Natural gas hydrofracking opponents turned up the heat Thursday, pointing out two more companies working on the state's hydrofracking environmental review that also appeared on a list of members of a statewide gas lobbying group that chided Gov. Andrew Cuomo for undue delays. That brings the number of companies to three, and foes say that raises potential conflict of interest concerns that should force the state to scrap its Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, now four years in the making, and start over. A delay could push back any decision indefinitely.   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 New fossil fuel frontiers pose 'catastrophic' threat to global recovery Guardian Terry Macalister Soaring risks around new fossil fuel frontiers – shale gas, deepwater exploration and the Arctic – have the potential to blow the global economic recovery off course, according to a report. Energy companies need to adopt more sophisticated risk management strategies to take account of relatively low-likelihood but potentially "catastrophic" disasters, says the paper from the global insurance broker Marsh. The warning comes amid a heated debate around environmental and other dangers associated with shale and other unconventional reserves. The industry says they are needed to meet a near-40% increase in energy demand forecast by 2030.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Urban Land Institute's "Balanced" Panel on Fracking ArtVoice Buck Quigley While a ban against high-volume horizontal fracturing in New York State remains in place pending more research into environmental and health effects, the Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday, calling for his help in pushing their fracking agenda. From the plea, signed by IOGA executive director Brad Gill: The science is in. The public can be assured that exploration for natural gas in New York is — and has been — safe, good for our environment and for our economy. Our New New York must now join the nation and embrace the expansion of responsible natural gas development. We need your help. The letter is “respectfully submitted” on behalf of over 200 companies identified as members of IOGA of NY. Among them, Ecology & Environment (E&E), the local consulting firm that was hired by the state in 2011 to produce a report on the economic impact of fracking, if the practice were to be allowed in New York. The DEC touted the positive numbers subsequently produced by E&E, while environmentalists criticized the study’s lack of scope. Meanwhile, the logo of the Urban Land Institute of Western New York was affixed to “Hydrofracking: An Informational Presentation,” scheduled for Wednesday, April 24 at 6pm at the Hotel Lafayette. The event was sponsored by EnergyMark, LLC; Lumsden & McCormick, LLP; and Palmerton Group, “A Division of GZA.”  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Arkansas Oil Spill Damage Assessment: If Not the Feds, Then Who? Inside Climate News Maria Gallucci For now, two state agencies will little experience in dealing with major oil spills are in charge of surveying and counteracting the ecological damage. Federal agencies have so far not decided whether to undertake an assessment of the ecological harm caused by ExxonMobil's pipeline break, which spewed a tarry oil slick into yards, streets and creeks in a central Arkansas town. For now, they're leaving it to state agencies to decide whether and how to quantify and counteract the environmental damage.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Corporate Profit Trumps Public Health in Colorado Fracking Vote EcoWatch Phillip Doe What is the common curse of mankind? Folly and ignorance, observed an old English playwright. The curse was on uncommon display two weeks ago at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. I went there to testify in favor of a bill, House Bill 1275. It was a modest bill. It simply asked that data on Front-Range citizen complaints about fracking be collected and examined by an independent body of scientists and health professionals. A preliminary report on their findings was to be issued within a year. Presumably, this report would lead to an evaluation of the need for follow up studies to protect the public’s health and well being, as it almost certainly would have, for the air is leaden with unexamined citizen complaints of ill health from living near fracking sites. The cost was earmarked at around $300,000. It belabors the point to remind readers, as several citizens did the legislators, that in a rational world we would investigate the health consequences of fracking on public health before we allowed the process to begin, but we don’t live in a rational world as the following events clearly demonstrate.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Water truck driver won't face criminal charges, officials say The Exponent Telegram Darlene Taylor-Morgan CLARKSBURG — The driver of a water truck that crashed into a vehicle March 8 killing two Clarksburg youth will not be charged criminally, officials said. “After gathering all the evidence back and meeting with Prosecutor Joe Shaffer, it was decided it wasn’t warranted to pursue criminal charges,” Clarksburg Detective Sgt. J.M. Walsh said. “It will be handled through citations to the truck driver.” Stephen Kuhn, 43, of Belpre, Ohio, drove the tanker off the U.S. 50 West Pike Street exit and collided with a vehicle driven by Lucretia Mazzei, 49, of Clarksburg at the intersection of U.S. 19.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Unknowns about Eaton Township injection well tell story ...Observations from the field in Ohio Shale Gas Review Tom Wilber Ohio’s Class II injection wells, depicted on a map as red dots, look like a rash spread over the eastern half of the state. These are end points for fracking waste. While regulators and industry officials say properly constructed and regulated injection wells are a safe and effective answer to the growing waste stream from shale gas production, others view them as nothing more than sanctioned dumping of industrial toxins. Concerns over the long-term consequences of the practice are compounded by a lack of information about the composition of fracking waste, and distrust of an industry that operates outside of the authority of local jurisdictions and the line of public vision.   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Artists vs. frackers Shale Reporter Miranda C. Spencer In New York State’s fracking wars, the latest death match is between celebrity residents -- who are using mass media to organize opposition -- and the oil and gas industry, which has taken to the blogosphere and the courts to “expose” them. In this corner: Yoko Ono, 80-year-old avant-garde artist and widow of music legend John Lennon, and their son, Sean. Upstate property owners, they are the co-founders and figureheads of Artists Against Fracking. In the opposite corner, we have the Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) and Energy in Depth (EID). The former is a trade association and the latter, a front group for the Independent Petroleum Association of America and its member corporations.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Who is Donor's Trust? DeSmogBlog On their website, Donors Trust describes themselves as a solution to the problem of philanthropic capital straying from the original donor's wishes and, "the free market principles that made their philanthropy possible in the first place." "As an antidote to this drift, Donors Trust was established as a 501(c)(3) public charity to ensure the intent of donors who are dedicated to the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise." Donors Trust is a tax deductible organization that allows donors to donate money anonymously and receive a tax credit. Under their FAQ section, Donors Trust promises that donors can keep their charitable giving private, especially for gifts, "funding sensitive or controversial issues."   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Don't let America get 'fracked' CNN Phil Radford and Mark Ruffalo Even the heads of fossil fuel companies read the polls. They know the majority of Americans see global warming as an imminent threat and a clear sign that the way we use energy must change. But instead of offering the solar and wind choices America wants, fossil fuel companies like Shell, Exxon and Duke are offering what might be their most disastrous bait and switch yet: natural gas. The bait? Burning natural gas is "clean" because it produces less carbon pollution than burning oil and coal. The switch? The catastrophic pollution caused when companies like Exxon fracture the earth -- commonly called fracking -- to get natural gas out of the ground.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Slaves to Our Stuff: A Creative Vision to Break Away From Consumer Culture's Destructive Grip AlterNet Sabrina Artel Need a creative way to fight fears of our planetary demise? A new book by Billy Talen prophetically titled, The End of the World (OR Books), may be just the trick. Talen, also known as Reverend Billy, and his Church of Stop Shopping, exposes the socio-political structure of consumerism and the commoditization of the earth with songs, impassioned preaching and theater events. Talen has been arrested 70 times along with members of the Church for their acts of civil disobedience in banks and other places of corporate mediation. Their decade-long collaboration, under the direction of Savitri D, has brought them to communities throughout the U.S. and internationally where they have built a performance institution of communities of action with songs and uplifting protest spectacle on the streets and in concert halls. Talen and the Church’s inspiring and engaging performances ask us to take action on behalf of our home on our rapidly dying planet.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 California fracking rules plan stirs trade secrets fight Fuel Fix Bloomberg A California proposal to regulate the chemicals used by oil companies in hydraulic fracturing is stirring a battle over industry assertions of trade secrets protection and environmentalist calls for disclosure to shield public health. State officials developing rules for fracking say they have to walk a fine line to avoid lawsuits by both the public and the industry, circumscribing their proposal. “What we’re doing with the regulation is limiting how often we would get sued,” said Jason Marshall, chief deputy director of California’s Conservation Department, which oversees oil and natural gas production.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 More groups call for fracking review to be scrapped (UPDATED) The Journal News Jon Campbell A second good-government group joined with a number of environmental and anti-fracking groups Thursday to call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to throw out his administration’s draft review of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Common Cause/NY raised red flags over Ecology and Environment’s work on the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s fracking review, which the group says included analysis of public comments received in addition to a look at the economic impacts of shale-gas drilling. Ecology and Environment, an Erie County-based firm, was listed as a member of the Independent Oil & Gas Association, gas-industry lobbying group, in a letter sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday. But on Wednesday, the DEC released a letter in which the company says it had been paying a single employee’s dues, but did not have a corporate membership. It severed ties with IOGA on Wednesday, accusing the association of “misrepresenting” its membership. (IOGA has since wiped the member list from its letter.)  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Government Watchdog and Environmental Groups Join Call to Scrap the SGEIS New Review Shows Further Revelations of Additional Disturbing Conflicts of Interest Riverkeeper Press Release Today, Common Cause/NY, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Food & Water Watch, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, Center for Environmental Health, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Citizens for Water, NYH2O, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Riverkeeper Inc., and Frack Action called on Governor Cuomo to scrap the Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (RDSGEIS) for high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) due to the extent of involvement by three firms who are members of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York (IOGA NY) in the preparation of the SGEIS. A new review undertaken by Common Cause/NY showed two more IOGA members worked on the SGEIS, bringing the total to three. The groups also asked for a full accounting of relationships between SGEIS reviewers and IOGA. IOGA NY is the state’s leading voice advocating for the gas industry and touting the safety and economic benefits of fracking. On its website, the group describes itself as “represent[ing] oil and gas professionals to the citizens and lawmakers of New York State.” Just last July, the organization received $2 million from Exxon Mobil to run a pro-fracking advertising campaign.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Could a carbon fee save us from climate change? Salon Tara Lohan t’s hard to imagine anyone who has done more to further our understanding of the impacts of climate change than Dr. James Hansen. After 46 years working a scientist and climatogolist for NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Hansen wasn’t content to simply catalog the dangers facing humanity and our planet — he has been ringing the alarm bell. “On a blistering June day in 1988 he was called before a Congressional committee and testified that human-induced global warming had begun,” the New York Times wrote in a recent story about Hansen. “Speaking to reporters afterward in his flat Midwestern accent, he uttered a sentence that would appear in news reports across the land: ‘It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here.’” Over the next several decades as scientific evidence poured in about the threats from climate change, and as governments — including the U.S. — failed to take any meaningful action, Hansen stepped out of the lab and into the media spotlight. He has participated in climate change protests, including being arrested several times, and has been outspoken about urging the Obama administration to kill the Keystone XL pipeline proposal. He warned that building the pipeline would mean “game over” for the climate.   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 NY gas company appeals 'home rule' court decision Press Connects Associated Press ALBANY — A gas drilling company has filed a notice of appeal in its attempt to overturn a western New York town’s moratorium on natural gas development. Lenape Resources had sued the Livingston County town of Avon, claiming its moratorium was illegal because the state Department of Environmental Conservation has sole power to regulate the industry. On March 15, a trial-level state Supreme Court judge ruled against Lenape, citing two other local bans that had withstood court challenges. Those two cases are now before the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court.   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Fracking firms should offer sweeteners to locals, say MPs The Guardian Fiona Harvey & Terry Macalister Energy committee says UK shale resources should be exploited but 'that looks difficult, given local opposition' Shale gas fracking companies should be made to offer incentives, such as cash payments or rebates on energy bills, to people living near their sites, according to an influential committee of MPs. But the demand for sweeteners to help overcome opposition to fracking came as one of the world's leading insurance groups warned that those drilling in shale areas, deep waters or the Arctic risked "company-killing" reputational and environmental damage.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Fracking Debris Ten Times Too Radioactive for Hazardous Waste Landfill Common Dreams Abby Zimet A truck carrying cuttings from a Pennsylvania fracking site was quarantined at a hazardous-waste landfill and sent back after its contents triggered a radiation alarm showing the load was emitting 96 microrem of radiation per hour; the landfill rejects waste with levels above 10 microrems. The radioactive material from a site in the Marcellus Shale formation was radium 226, a common contaminant from the decay of uranium-238 that tends to accumulate in bone and can get into water. Officials said “everything was by the book in this case" because the alarm went off as designed; the fracking operators can now either re-apply at that landfill or take their deadly waste to an out-of-state facility that accepts it - and yes, they exist. The scariest thing here: Pennsylvania, which is currently studying radiation contamination associated with fracking wells, claims to be the only state that even requires landfills to monitor radiation levels. “It’s not too frequent that this occurs, but it’s not totally infrequent either.” - DEP spokesman John Poister, trying to be reassuring. “Long-term exposure to radium increases the risk of developing several diseases. Inhaled or ingested radium increases the risk of developing such diseases as lymphoma, bone cancer, and diseases that affect the formation of blood, such as leukemia and aplastic anemia. These effects usually take years to develop. External exposure to radium’s gamma radiation increases the risk of cancer to varying degrees in all tissues and organs.”  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Public comment extended for state gas well air quality permit The State Journal The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection announced April 25 that it has extended the public comment period for the permit governing the operation of natural gas production facilities located at natural gas well sites. WVDEP's Division of Air Quality will now take comments on the Class II General Permit G70-A until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17. The draft General Permit G70-A on the DEP's Web site at http://www.dep.wv.gov/daq/Pages/NSRPermitsforReview.aspx. Email comments may be sent to Laura.M.Jennings@wv.gov. Written comments can be sent to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection / Division of Air Quality at 601 57th Street, SE, Charleston, WV 25304, Attention: Laura M. Jennings. For more information about the permit, contact Jennings at (304) 926-0499 ext. 1217.   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Fla. House OKs 'fracking' disclosure bill Bloomberg Businessweek Bruce Schreiner TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — In a pre-emptive move, the Florida House voted Wednesday evening to require oil and natural gas companies to disclose the chemicals pumped underground as part of hydraulic fracturing operations — a process better known as "fracking." That method for extracting oil or gas hasn't been used in the Sunshine State to date, but supporters of the measure say parts of the Panhandle and southwest Florida have been identified as as geological areas suitable for fracking.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Harvard Law: Fracking Disclosure Site Fails the Test Triple Pundit Jan Lee The national database registry, FracFocus.org has come under scrutiny by a Harvard Law team, which says the voluntary registry that is used by oil and natural gas extraction companies has some “serious deficiencies” in the way it reports fracking disclosures. The website, FracFocus.org was created in 2011 in response to public concerns about chemicals used an oil and natural gas extraction procedure called “fracking.” The procedure uses a water-based chemical process to fracture rock below the earth’s surface. To date, only 18 states require public disclosure of the chemicals used in the process. Eleven of those states direct or permit companies to utilize the privately run database for disclosure purposes.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Fracking adviser cuts ties to trade group Poughkeepsie Journal Jon Campbell ALBANY — A consulting company assisting with New York’s review of hydraulic fracturing severed ties with a gas-industry trade group Wednesday, accusing the organization of misrepresenting the company’s membership status. Gannett’s Albany Bureau reported Monday that Ecology and Environment Inc. had been listed as a member of the Independent Oil and Gas Association in a letter sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo urging him to support hydrofracking and shale-gas drilling in New York. The association has been one of the most-active most active groups lobbying in favor of allowing large-scale fracking in the state.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Home rule fracking decision challenged in Avon Innovation Trail Kate O'Connell Gas and Oil producer Lenape Resources has filed a note of appeal as part of an attempt to overturn a court decision made in March that allowed the town of Avon to maintain its moratorium on fracking. This is the third case of this kind in upstate New York. President of Lenape Resources John Holko says his company can’t survive in Avon if the fracking moratorium is upheld.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Mayor Bloomberg Speaks at Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy Launch AOL Energy Jared Anderson New York City – the world's energy finance capital and one of the world's largest commodity trading marketplaces - is a fitting location for the Center on Global Energy Policy. As part of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, the center will seek to "provide independent, balanced, data-driven analysis to help policymakers navigate the complex world of energy." At Wednesday's launch event, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was joined by energy experts and US government officials, who helped officially inaugurate the new energy policy initiative.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Seneca Protesters Ask: Just Who is Doing the Trespassing Here? The Marcellus Effect Three protesters of conscience - Melissa Chipman, Michael Dineen, and Sandra Steingraber - gained their freedom in the wee hours of midnight/morning. They were released from custody a little after midnight in front of the "Public Safety Building" - no irony intended, given that they were arrested for protesting what they see as a very unsafe situation: Inergy's proposed natural gas/propane storage facility in the salt caverns edging Seneca Lake. Today at 1 pm the three returned to Seneca Lake to talk about their experiences. "I come out reforged and rejuvenated for the fight ahead," said Steingraber. Seneca Lake serves as a drinking water source for 100,000 people. Inergy's project puts that at risk: risk of leaks, risk of explosions, risks of air pollutants. Furthermore, the company is not in compliance and has experienced two brine spills in the past three years. "But I don't see anyone from Inergy wearing an orange jump suit!"   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Canadian Drilling Forecast Boosted for 2013, Industry Group Says Bloomberg News Rebecca Penty Canadian oil and natural gas drilling will rise 9 percent this year, an industry group said, boosting its estimates from November. The higher forecast was attributed to an increase in gas drilling in British Columbia and more oil drilling in Alberta, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada said in an e-mailed statement today. Companies are expected to drill 12,000 wells, a 600-well increase from the group’s prior projection.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 One Doable Policy Change that Can Dramatically Expand Clean Energy Daily Kos Billy Parish How do we create enough clean energy, fast enough to prevent catastrophic climate change? I’ve been asking myself this question for years, and the answer I keep coming back to, time and again, is simple. If we want more clean energy, we need to find ways to allow more people to participate in creating clean energy. Right now, almost all of the profits from our energy system (the largest industry on the planet) flow to a few huge companies. In 2012, as gas prices in some parts of the country hovered around $5.00, Exxon Mobil was making $104 million in profits per day. No wonder fossil fuels own Washington. Imagine if just a small fraction of that kind of money was flowing back into communities around the country. Imagine community centers and schools saving money on their utility bills by putting up solar panels on their roofs. Imagine farmers’ cooperatives with crops and cattle beneath community-owned windmills.   [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Harvard Study: FracFocus Fails to Provide Adequate Disclosure for Fracking Chemicals EcoWatch Alan Septoff Thanks to two great stories by E&E’s Mike Soraghan, we know that the Harvard Law School has evaluated FracFocus.org and found government (and the public) shouldn’t rely upon it. In short, Harvard says FracFocus is inadequate for at least three reasons: It is hard to determine when and if companies make disclosures. The data contained within FracFocus isn’t vetted—it consists of whatever the company reports. Secrecy claims made by companies aren’t vetted—FracFocus allows for unchallenged and extremely broad disclosure exemptions made at the company’s discretion. In sum, Harvard says that FracFocus allows for disclosure on the fracking company’s terms without much regard for the community’s right to know. And the end product is inconsistent and unreliable.  [Full Story] Apr 25, 2013 Colorado 'promotes' natural-gas catastrophe that now threatens Colorado River Boulder Weekly Joel Dyer Parachute Creek is now officially contaminated with cancer-causing benzene and heaven knows what else. A carcinogenic stew is now making its way quickly down the creek and presumably into the Colorado River a mere four miles away from the source of the contamination, a natural gas plant run by Williams, the international oil and gas company headquartered in Tulsa, Okla. I’m outraged by what has happened, and everybody in this state should be as well. It didn’t have to happen. We could have stopped it. We just chose not to. State authorities, along with the company, have been watching this slow-motion catastrophe unfold for months, all the while taking one half-measure after another, supposedly in an effort to stop the benzene from reaching the creek. One can only assume that our state’s gas-friendly regulators have allowed Williams to use a half-assed approach full of half-measures because it was half as expensive as doing the right thing from the get-go.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Cheyenne, Casper net good air quality grades; Sublette County ranks worst Casper Star Tribune Adam Vogue Casper and Cheyenne have some of the cleanest air in the country, and Sublette County is among the most polluted counties, according to a study by the American Lung Association. The group released its annual “State of the Air” study Wednesday. Wyoming’s two most populous cities both ranked highly. Cheyenne received an “A” from the association for its low levels of average particle pollution for 2012, a measure of how many fine liquids or solids are in the air. The capital city ranked first in the country in the standard, edging out cities in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Are People Living Near Fracking Sites Getting Sick? EcoWatch Gary Wockner On April 11,Colorado State Rep. Joann Ginal’s (D-Fort Collins) House Bill 1275 was heard, and died, in committee in the Colorado State Legislature. Rep Ginal’s bill asked and proposed to answer a very honest and simple question, “Are people living near oil and gas drilling and fracking getting sicker than people who don’t?” And, the bill would have provided that information to the public in a short timeframe. Clean Water Action has a door-to-door campaign in the Denver metro area and across the northern Front Range where fracking is moving into suburban neighborhoods. We hear a lot of stories on people’s doorsteps and we hear lots of stories from our colleagues involved in this issue. The stories we hear are similar to those reported in the newspaper and offered as testimony at recent meetings of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission—people believe they are getting sick because of drilling and fracking near their homes, schools and neighborhoods.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Fracking waste deemed too radioactive for hazardous-waste dump Grist John Upton A truck carrying fracking waste was quarantined and then sent back to where it came from after its contents triggered a radiation alarm at a Pennsylvania hazardous-waste landfill. The truck’s load was nearly 10 times more radioactive than is permitted at the dump in South Huntingdon township. The radiation came from radium 226, a naturally occurring material in the Marcellus Shale, which being fracked for natural gas in Pennsylvania and nearby states. “Radium is a well known contaminant in fracking operations,” writes Jeff McMahon at Forbes.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 AG criticizes oil pipeline plan review Schneiderman says administration ignores risks to environment Times Union Brian Nearing Albany New York state's top lawyer accused the Obama administration Wednesday of breaking federal environmental law by ignoring climate change in its review of a controversial pipeline project that would carry Canadian tar sands oil through the U.S. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a 21-page letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, whose office last month released its environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Canada through the U.S. Midwest and ultimately to Texas, where it would be refined or exported.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Examples for Cuomo to follow Times Union John Armstrong To govern New York is to join the company of many acclaimed historical figures and to lead the state that has long been a progressive pioneer for our nation. A few stand out in particular for creating a thriving upstate New York — including "Father of the Erie Canal" Gov. DeWitt Clinton, Gov. Thomas Dewey, who created SUNY and the State Thruway, and Gov. Mario Cuomo, who did so much to grow upstate infrastructure and investment. Any leader would do well to draw from their wisdom.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Oil & gas public lands management 101: How to put our farms, water, and national parks at risk The Checks and Balances Project Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado State Director Helen Hankins has developed a pattern of offering controversial drilling plans, which when met with widespread public outcry are temporarily halted, only to be re-offered after the furor has died down.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Pa. judge conviction leads to delay in gas drilling ruling phillyblurbs.com Amanda Cregan The corruption conviction of Justice Joan Orie Melvin and her ensuing resignation from Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court might have caused a delay in the Act 13 decision, according to attorney Jordan Yeager. In March 2012, Nockamixon, Yardley and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network teamed up with several Western Pennsylvania communities to file a lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale gas drilling law, claiming it strips away the constitutional rights of citizens and local municipalities.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Federal agency, lab to study natural gas emissions The Wall Street Journal Associated Press PITTSBURGH — A federal agency and laboratory will conduct research on air emissions at natural gas drilling sites, and on possible hazards to workers. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says in a release that they've signed an agreement to collaborate with the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which is based in Morgantown, W. Va. Washington, D.C.-based NIOSH says the research will support ongoing efforts to address worker health and safety issues in the oil and gas industry, which has seen booming production in recent years. The new research will conduct exposure assessments on emissions at natural gas drilling sites. The agency says the research may lead to new recommendations for personal protective equipment for workers.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Fuel Barges Explode On Mobile River, Injuring 3 (VIDEO) Huffington Post Three people were seriously injured when two barges previously loaded with liquid natural gas exploded on the east side of the Mobile River in Alabama on Wednesday evening. The first barge blew up around 8:30 p.m. CDT. According to AL.com, the blast rattled windows in downtown Mobile and blew open doors in Spanish Fort. Since then, six additional explosions have been heard. Alan Waugh, general manager of the Ft. Conde Inn, told WALA-TV that he saw and heard the explosions.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Several explosions rock 2 fuel barges, spark major fire CBS News CBS/AP MOBILE, ALA. A large fire that began with explosions aboard two fuel barges in Mobile, Ala., was hit with a seventh explosion early Thursday and fire officials said they planned to let the fire, which has injured three, burn overnight. Firefighters from Mobile and U.S. Coast Guard officials responded after 8:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday to a pair of explosions involving the gas barges in an area of the Mobile River east of downtown, authorities said. As they were responding, a third explosion occurred around 9:30 p.m., Mobile Fire and Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Additional explosions followed over the next few hours. The Coast Guard said early Thursday that a one-nautical-mile safety zone had been established around one barge, which it said was "at the dock for cleaning." Authorities said three people were transported to University of South Alabama Medical Center after suffering burn-related injuries. Huffman identified them as workers with Oil Recovery Co. The three were in critical condition early Thursday, according to hospital nursing administrator Danny Whatley.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Explosions on River in Alabama Injure 3 The New York Times GERRY MULLANY A series of explosions on two fuel barges on the Mobile River in Alabama caused a fire to burn out of control into Thursday morning, leaving three people critically injured and forcing the evacuation of a Carnival Cruise Lines ship nearby.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Lowellville Company Investigated for Illegal Dumping WKBN Adam Ferrise State and federal investigators are pursuing criminal charges and civil penalties against a Lowellville company accused of dumping toxic oilfield waste in a hole in the ground on their property that the officials believe could contaminate groundwater less than a quarter-mile away from the Mahoning River. Soil Remediation, Inc. and its two subsidiaries are being investigated for possibly violating state open dumping or federal Clean Water laws for dumping oilfield waste they never had permits to treat directly on the ground and into a hole dug into the property, according to court records and officials. The Northeast Ohio Environmental Crimes Task Force— consisting of the federal and state Environmental Protection Agencies, the state attorney general’s office, the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and others — executed a search warrant Monday at the company’s 360-acre property at 6065 Arrel-Smith Road, taking company records and 28 samples from various locations at the property, according to search warrant proceedings filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday. The EPA, records show, was notified by an anonymous complaint about brine water and contaminated soil being buried in the ground on Nov. 30, 2011.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Europe Struggles in Shale Gas Race The New York Times MARK SCOTT IN eastern Poland, politicians are still hoping to join the shale gas energy revolution, but lately they have had to curb their enthusiasm. Large reserves of the gas discovered two years ago were initially projected to meet Poland’s energy needs for 300 years, but estimates have since been slashed by more than 80 percent. International energy giants like Exxon Mobil and Talisman Energy of Canada have scaled back their investments after disappointing early attempts at extraction. And competition from other fossil fuels, like abundant coal supplies, has made it unprofitable to tap many of the country’s new energy fields.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 New Mexico Earthquakes Linked to Wastewater Injection Yahoo News Beck Oskin An ongoing earthquake swarm in New Mexico and Colorado, which includes Colorado's largest earthquake since 1967, is due to underground wastewater injection, researchers said Friday (April 19) at the Seismological Society of America's annual meeting in Salt Lake City. The earthquakes are concentrated near wastewater injection wells in the Raton Basin, where mining companies are extracting methane from coalbeds. The basin, which is actually a series of rock layers exposed in the Rocky Mountain foothills, stretches from northeastern New Mexico to southern Colorado.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Canada’s Oil Minister, Unmuzzled New York Times Joe Nocera Opinion The last time your friendly scribe sought an interview with Joe Oliver, Canada’s minister of natural resources, he was turned down flat. It was February last year. Oliver had made a series of impolitic remarks about the efforts to block the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which, if it’s ever built, would import oil from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast — and which Canadians believe that the United States would be nuts to reject. “I referred to the fact that some U.S. environmental groups were sending money to Canada to advance their anti-pipeline, anti-hydrocarbon agenda, and I just felt that that effort was working against Canada’s national interest,” is how he puts it now. But shortly after Oliver began speaking out, Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, told his cabinet to refrain from making any remarks that might be construed as commenting on the upcoming presidential election. Hence, no interviews with American columnists. Which is not to say that Oliver — and Harper — didn’t have other means to send a message. After President Obama, looking to shore up his base, temporarily delayed the Keystone pipeline — an action that stunned Canada — the Canadian leaders jetted to China for a series of meetings with Chinese officials. Thanks to the Alberta sands, Canada is sitting on the third largest oil reserves in the world after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. “That oil will be sold,” says Oliver, “if not to you, then to somebody else. That is not meant as a threat. It is just a fact.” As you can tell by now, Oliver is talking again. With the election over; with a presidential decision on Keystone imminent; with the pipeline rerouted to mollify the concerns of Nebraskans; with the State Department having issued a recent report saying there are no environmental impediments — with all of that as the backdrop, Oliver came to New York and Washington earlier this week to preach Canada’s energy message. In part because of enormous new natural gas finds, made possible thanks to hydraulic fracturing (a k a fracking), and in part because of the oil sands, energy independence is finally within reach for North America. As recently as five years ago, this goal would have been “inconceivable,” Oliver said on Monday, at a Bloomberg energy conference. Canada, he added, “has the resources to meet all of America’s future needs for imported oil.” When I spoke to him before his speech, Oliver pointed out that Venezuela, which currently supplies the United States around one million barrels a day, has more than once threatened to cut us off. “That would never happen with Canada,” he said. “We honor our contractual obligations.” As a longtime supporter of Keystone, I could only nod my head in agreement. Perhaps a quick refresher on the benefits of Keystone are in order. First, notwithstanding the development of alternative energy sources, the world is going to continue to need oil; Oliver, quoting the International Energy Agency, says that global energy demand is expected to grow by at least 35 percent over the next 20 years. The notion, pushed by environmentalists, that blocking the oil sands will spur green energy is delusion. Second, energy independence is a long-sought national goal. We would no longer need OPEC, a cartel of countries with values, in many cases, antithetical to ours. Third, that oil is coming here anyway — by rail and boat, where spills are common, and via pipelines that are older, and hence less safe, than Keystone would be. And one other thing: Oil mined from the sands is simply not as environmentally disastrous as opponents like to claim. Extraction technology has improved to the point where there is almost no difference, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, between sands oil and old-fashioned oil drilling. The government has insisted that the companies extracting the oil return the land to its original state when the mining is completed. Indeed, for all the hysteria over the environmental consequences of the oil sands, there is oil in California that is actually dirtier than the oil from the sands. Even now, nothing gets under Oliver’s skin more than the accusation that Canada’s oil sands will be ruinous to the environment. “That statement that the Keystone pipeline would mean ‘game over’ for the environment is absurd,” he said. He was referring, of course, to the line first used by James Hansen, the recently retired leader of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who is one of the most prominent critics of the oil sands and the Keystone pipeline. I couldn’t help myself: I asked Oliver what he thought of Hansen’s willingness to chain himself to the White House fence to protest the pipeline. He couldn’t help himself either. Given the dirty oil in California, he replied, “he should be chaining himself to a mannequin in Rodeo Drive.”  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 In Gas-Drilling Fight, Opposites Attract, and Distract New York Times Andrew Revkin Opinion There are passionate and well-meaning people arrayed all around the issues surrounding America’s enormous shale-gas resource and the communities on the surface above it. I’ve met landowners and residents and scientists in Pennsylvania and upstate New York with powerfully articulated positions against and for drilling using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.And then there are the filmmakers. First there was Josh Fox, who rose to prominence in 2010 with “Gasland,” a potent attack on fracking, and who unveiled “Gasland Part Two” at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday (read an IndieWire interview and film review). This year saw “Frack Nation,” a rebuttal to “Gasland” from Phelim McAleer, a provocative filmmaker with a libertarian bent who shares Fox’s penchant for stunts and histrionics. (For an example, see McAleer’s hijacking of a question-and-answer session with former Vice President Al Gore at a 2009 journalism conference.) At the premiere of Fox’s antifracking sequel on Sunday, a batch of ticket holders — mostly landowners from the Marcellus shale region who support gas drilling, but including McAleer — was blocked from entering the theater (see the Artsbeat blog post for Tribeca’s dubious explanation). I feel bad for the blocked residents of the country’s gas lands. Here’s video shot by McAleer of the excluded attendees complaining to security. I’d like to think that there might have been a chance for an open discussion of the economic and environmental realities in shale-gas country if the tickets had been honored. A set of YouTube videos of the question session after the screening (1, 2, 3) depicts a big group hug, in essence, between the audience and film team. But given McAleer’s track record, the chances for a productive conversation if the pro-fracking group had been allowed in were low. Still, proper ground rules for post-screening discussions could have limited the chances of disruption and allowed at least a taste of the real divisions in such regions as residents (and elected officials) consider a diverse set of risks and opportunities. The two films at least provide a great teachable pairing for my communication students at Pace University.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 TransCanada Lashes Out at EPA Over Keystone, Asserts Canadian 'Sovereignty' Inside Climate News John H. Cushman, Jr. The Canadian company calls the scope and tone of the agency’s comments on the pipeline that will bisect the U.S. heartland 'somewhat surprising.' WASHINGTON—The Canadian builder of the Keystone XL pipeline has lashed out at the Environmental Protection Agency for recommending that the United States and Canada work together to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from the tar sands crude that the pipeline would carry to refineries on the U.S. gulf coast. The suggestion "ignores the fundamental sovereignty of the Canadian government," said Shawn Howard, a TransCanada spokesman, in a message to reporters on Tuesday.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Arkansas AG on Why He's Taking Exxon Spill Probe Into His Own Hands Inside Climate News Lisa Song Dustin McDaniel is on a mission to resolve the many unanswered questions about the March 29 pipeline rupture. 'The timeline is going to be very important.' Since launching an investigation into the Mayflower, Ark. oil spill on April 2, state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has pushed hard to resolve unanswered questions about the pipeline accident. McDaniel, a Democrat in his second term as attorney general, caused a stir on April 3 when he insisted on touring the site of the spill with his staff instead of in a bus tour organized by ExxonMobil, the company responsible for the 210,000-gallon pipeline rupture. He drew attention again when he was among the first public officials to acknowledge that some of the oil had reached Lake Conway, a popular recreational area. And instead of relying solely on the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate the spill, he issued a subpoena that forced ExxonMobil to provide his office with documents about the pipeline and its operational history.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Gas company settles NM air pollution complaint Albuquerque Business First Dennis Domrzalski A Houston-based natural gas company with operations in the Farmington area has reached an $838,000 settlement with the New Mexico Environment Department for alleged air pollution emissions at 31 of its New Mexico facilities. Enterprise Products Operating LLC agreed to the settlement in the form of a $186,000 cash payment to the state’s general fund and $932,000 to install pollution-control devices at its facilities, NMED said in a news release. Seventy percent of the pollution-control devices count toward the civil penalty, NMED said.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Fort Collins Again Postpones Decision on Fracking EcoWatch Last night the Fort Collins City Council voted unanimously to postpone their decision until their May 21 meeting about whether to terminate the moratorium on fracking. The city council passed a ban in March, but that ban allowed one drilling operation to continue fracking in North Fort Collins. However, three weeks later, the council passed an “agreement” allowing the drilling company to open up two new square miles of land for drilling and fracking. The council’s postponement comes after it received hundreds of public comments via email and phone messages over the last few days. Many of those comments were very critical of the “agreement” with the driller and of the council’s attempt to expand drilling and fracking in Fort Collins on two new square miles of land surrounding the Budweiser brewery in North Fort Collins.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Oil Lobbyists Oversee Protection of Threatened Lizard Texas Tribune Jay Root When Texas promised to protect a threatened lizard in the oil-rich Permian Basin, state officials entrusted the day-to-day oversight to a nonprofit that sounds like an environmental group: the Texas Habitat Conservation Foundation. What’s not advertised is the occupation of the board members who created it. They are all registered lobbyists for the powerful Texas Oil and Gas Association, also known as TXOGA.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 NYPIRG calls on Cuomo to rescind fracking review The Journal News Jon Campbell A top good-government group and a host of Senate Democrats called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to rescind the state’s ongoing review of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on Wednesday, citing a “clear conflict of interest” for a consultant that has assisted with the report. Gannett’s Albany Bureau reported Monday that Ecology and Environment, a private consultant that contracts with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, is a member of the Independent Oil & Gas Association, one of New York’s most-active lobbyists in favor of hydrofracking. On Wednesday, the New York Public Interest Research Group wrote to Cuomo, asking him to throw out a draft version of the DEC’s review of hydrofracking, which the outside consultant’s report was used to support. “We write to urge you to scrap the (DEC’s draft fracking review) due to a clear conflict of interest on the part of Ecology and Environment Engineering PC, a state contractor that prepared a key portion of this critically important review document,” the New York Public Interest Research Group wrote to Cuomo on Thursday.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Fracking advisor fallout hits Capitol Capitol Confidential Rick Karlin A group of Democratic lawmakers are calling for a do-ever in light of revelations (H/T to Gannett’s Jon Campbell) that one of the firms hired to assess the potential impacts of horizontal high volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking for natural gas, is a member of IOGA, one of the state’s pre-eminent gas and oil drilling trade group. “The governor and (DEC) Commissioner Martens should re-do the SGEIS,” anti-fracking activist Julia Walsh said, referring to the impact statement that will help guide whether or not the new form of fracking should be allowed in New York.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Why Did Hickenlooper and Urbina Kill the Fracking Healthcare Bill? Huffington Post Gary Wockner On Thursday evening, April 11th, Colorado State Rep. Joann Ginal's (D-Fort Collins) House Bill 1275 was heard, and died, in committee in the Colorado State Legislature. Rep Ginal's bill asked and proposed to answer a very honest and simple question, "Are people living near oil and gas drilling and fracking getting sicker than people who don't?" And, the bill would have provided that information to the public in a short timeframe. Our organization, Clean Water Action, organizes door-to-door in the Denver metro area and across the northern Front Range where fracking is moving into suburban neighborhoods. We hear a lot of stories on people's doorsteps and we hear lots of stories from our colleagues involved in this issue. The stories we hear are similar to those reported in the newspaper and offered as testimony at recent meetings of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission -- people believe they are getting sick because of drilling and fracking near their homes, schools and neighborhoods.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Range Proposes Tie-up with International Petroleum Rigzone Range Resources is proposing a tie-up with International Petroleum that will see the combined group focused on the expansion and development of projects in Russia, Trinidad and onshore Africa. Range said Thursday that a share-swap deal between the companies would see International Petroleum taken over for approximately $108 million. Range already holds assets in the Republic of Georgia, Texas, Trinidad, Colombia and Guatemala, while International Petroleum has assets in Russia, Kazakhstan and Niger. The merged entity would hold estimates proved (1P) reserves of 23.6 million barrels, with proved, probable and possible (3P) reserves amounting to 264 million barrels. The combined production for the enlarged group would be approximately 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, based on current output. Key assets for the new business will include International Petroleum's interests in five projects in Russia. During the period from August 2012 to December 2012, the firm produced 25,000 barrels of oil from well number 52 at its 100-percent owned Zapadno-Novomolodezhny Project at an average flow rate of 197 bopd. The new business will see Chris Hopkinson appointed as managing director. Hopkinson, the current CEO of International Petroleum, has more than 23 years' experience in the oil and gas industry, including management positions with BG Group, TNK-BP, Yukos, Imperial Energy Corporation and Lukoil.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 CO2 Record Highs Environment News Network Andy Soos How high can the CO2 concentration in the air go? It is a bit like looking at the stock market except that the CO2 does not go down. For the first time in human history, concentrations of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) could rise above 400 parts per million (ppm) for sustained lengths of time throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere as soon as May 2013. To provide a resource for understanding the implications of rising CO2 levels, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is providing daily updates of the Keeling Curve, the record of atmospheric CO2 measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa. These iconic measurements, begun by Charles David (Dave) Keeling, a world-leading authority on atmospheric greenhouse gas accumulation and Scripps climate science pioneer, comprise the longest continuous record of CO2 in the world, starting from 316 ppm in March 1958 and approaching 400 ppm today with a familiar saw-tooth pattern. For the past 800,000 years, CO2 levels never exceeded 300 parts per million.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 NY groups claim industry bias in fracking study The Wall Street Journal Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. — Opponents of gas drilling and several state lawmakers on Wednesday called for the Department of Environmental Conservation to scrap work done by a consultant as part of an environmental impact review of fracking, saying the firm is part of an industry group lobbying to lift the state's 5-year-old shale drilling ban. Ecology and Environment Inc. was hired in 2011 to do an economic analysis of how shale gas development would affect the state. It gave a positive picture of jobs and economic benefits. Critics immediately panned the study, saying it didn't analyze negative economic effects, including the toll of truck traffic on roads and increased health care costs. DEC Commissioner Joe Martens responded by saying the consultant would take a harder look at the costs communities would have to deal with if fracking is allowed, but no new report has been made public.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Fracking: destroying the Earth, the economy and lives Bucks County Courier Times REBECCA POWER, age 13 For years, people have been saying America needs to clean up the environment, quit using fossil fuels and find better sources of energy. Coming up with new ideas that help search for fossil fuels is definitely taking a step in the wrong direction. One way to extract natural gas and oil is known as hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is when holes are drilled or cut into rock to extract gas, using chemical-infused liquids at high pressure. Workers are out there right now drilling into the crust and mantle of the Earth, trying to find oil and natural gas for our own personal convenience. The technique of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is damaging the world, creating a hole in the American economy and risking human health. Unless people want to live on an injured planet, a good suggestion would be helping to cease the use of fracking. Fracking is destroying Earth’s environment. Drilling holes involves a clear area, so forests and habitats are being chopped down. Even though some companies may say fracking has the potential to gain energy independence (American-made fuels), it can’t happen without woods being cleared; the people who care about the Earth feel that fracking could result in the extinction of some species. Habitats and homes are being destroyed because the property used for fracking is limited. The space that workers are using for the drilling is taking the place of forests. Some companies have started to use national parks and landmarks for their work space, like the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and the Grand Canyon.   [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 DEC Hired Fracking Lobby for $50 Million to Assess...Fracking? The Village Voice Sydney Brownstone New York State might just have to scrap the latest draft of its environmental impact study on hydraulic fracturing. The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) and state lawmakers are asking for a re-do after the discovery of a pretty large conflict of interest: Namely, that an environmental consulting group that helped prepare the draft study turned out to be a member of the Independent Oil & Gas Association (IOGA), a natural gas industry lobbying group. In 2011, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation signed a $50 million contract with Ecology and Environment, Inc., an environmental consulting firm. The company was also selected to provide an analysis of the economic impacts of fracking in the state. In August of 2011, Ecology and Environment provided the DEC with that study, which some anti-fracking groups claimed was biased. The New York Times highlighted that skepticism when it pointed out that Ecology and Environment "expedited permit applications for more than 200 pipeline and gas storage projects worldwide" in 2011, but couldn't establish a clear connection to any lobbying interest. That changed this week, when NYPIRG discovered that Ecology and Environment, Inc. appeared as a member of IOGA on a letter to Governor Cuomo, urging him to open New York to hydraulic fracturing.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Fracking consultant breaks silence, cancels employee’s IOGA membership (UPDATED) The Journal News Jon Campbell A consulting company assisting with New York’s review of hydraulic fracturing says it severed ties with a gas-industry trade group after the organization “misrepresented” the company’s membership status, according to a letter sent Wednesday to state regulators. Gannett’s Albany Bureau reported Monday that Ecology and Environment Inc. had been listed as a member of the Independent Oil and Gas Association in a letter sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo urging him to allow hydrofracking and shale-gas drilling in New York. The association has been one of the most-active groups lobbying in favor of fracking in the state. The Erie County-based company had been touted as an “independent” consultant by the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 2011 when it was tapped to assess the economic impacts of allowing high-volume fracking in New York.  [Full Story] Apr 24, 2013 Ecology And Environment Clarifies Relationship With IOGA YNN Capitol Tonight Nick Reisman he firm contracted by the state to help complete an environmental impact statement for the controversial natural gas drilling process hydrofracking clarified its relationship with an energy industry trade group in a letter to the Department of Environmental Conservation. The letter from Ecology and Environment Inc.‘s in-house counsel Colleen Mullaney-Westfall asserts that the firm has never been a corporate member of the Independent Oil and Gas Association, one of the key energy lobbying organizations pushing for the state to allow high-volume hydrofracking.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 New Mexico Earthquakes Linked to Wastewater Injection Live Science Becky Oskin An ongoing earthquake swarm in New Mexico and Colorado, which includes Colorado's largest earthquake since 1967, is due to underground wastewater injection, researchers said Friday (April 19) at the Seismological Society of America's annual meeting in Salt Lake City. The earthquakes are concentrated near wastewater injection wells in the Raton Basin, where mining companies are extracting methane from coalbeds. The basin, which is actually a series of rock layers exposed in the Rocky Mountain foothills, stretches from northeastern New Mexico to southern Colorado.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Will Water Limit Fracking and Natural Gas Development in Saudi Arabia? the energy collective Geoffrey Styles Recent comments by Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali Al-Naimi, indicated that Saudi Aramco would soon begin exploring the country's shale gas resources. As another means of reducing oil consumption in the Kingdom's electricity sector, in order to preserve oil exports, this appears to make both practical and economic sense. However, as noted by the Wall St. Journal, compared to the US Saudi Arabia has much less water available for the hydraulic fracturing of shale and tight gas reservoirs. Absent a reallocation of its substantial conventional gas production, Saudi shale gas could become a key factor in global energy security. However, the techniques employed to extract it might be different from those that currently dominate the US shale gas scene.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Fracking Opinions at Tipping Point The Hill David Hill Opinion resident Obama’s appointment of Ernest Moniz, an MIT scientist, to head the Department of Energy is stirring up the hornet’s nest known as fracking again. Moniz’s supposed enthusiasm for the natural-gas boom and the practice of hydraulic fracturing — fracking, for short — that fuels gas production is scaring the greenies. Ponder these widely circulating blogger quotes: “fracking is madness, a sign of a society gone completely insane and bent on self-destruction,” and “the more we learn about a gas-drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing — or ‘fracking’ — the more we see it as a zenith of violence and disconnect.” The incoming secretary, a physicist by training and vocation, might need a short course in social science and polling to manage the firestorm of controversy he is certain to face over the next year.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Fracking, oil drilling a threat to Oakland County lakes, water quality chief says Detriot Free Press Oakland County’s recently elected chief of water quality has challenged what he says is lenient acceptance of oil and gas development by county and state governments that could bring the controversial process called fracking to metro Detroit. Jim Nash is holding a series of meetings to discuss the environmental risks posed by drilling for oil and gas.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 N.Y. Gov. Cuomo marks Earth Day by touting accomplishments but ignoring fracking Washington times Ben Wolfgang As pressure mounts from both sides of the debate, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a new strategy for dealing with the pressing question of whether he’ll approve fracking in his state: ignore the issue altogether. In a lengthy press release celebrating Monday’s 43rd Earth Day, Mr. Cuomo, a first-term Democrat rumored to have his eyes on the White House, gives himself a pat on the back for his many “environmental accomplishments.” He cites serious initiatives such as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions limits, the establishment of a “green bank” to fund renewable energy projects and a pledge to install 3,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the state in the next five years.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Albany Earth lobby Day dominated by fracking debate Innovation Trail Karen DeWitt On Earth Day lobby day at the Capitol, whether or not to allow hydro fracking in New York continues to be the dominant issue. The Senate and Assembly Environmental Committee Chairs both take a dim view of the controversial gas drilling process, but they differ over what’s the next step. Assembly Environmental Chair Bob Sweeney believes in a clearly legislated moratorium. In fact, the Assembly has already passed one. “I think it is pretty clear that this is a bad deal not only environmentally,” said Sweeney. “But it’s a bad deal economically too.” Senate Environmental Chair Mark Grisanti says the state already has a de facto moratorium on fracking, as the Cuomo Administration continues to study the potential health impacts.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 US could act on natural gas exports within weeks-Dominion CEO MSN Monney Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - The Obama administration may be just weeks from announcing decisions on whether some of more than a dozen companies will be allowed to export U.S. natural gas, the chief executive of one of the applicant firms said on Tuesday.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Harvard report slams fracturing chemical website Fuel Fix Harry R Weber A new Harvard report sharply criticizes the industry-backed website FracFocus, where hydraulic fracturing companies voluntarily disclose fracking chemicals they use in oil and natural gas production. The report issued Tuesday by the Harvard Environmental Law Program’s Policy Initiative says reliance on FracFocus.org to aid in regulatory compliance in some states has “serious flaws.” Among other things, the report cites a lack of transparency about when disclosures are filed, allowing companies to disclose late without penalties. It also claims there is no review of the disclosures by FracFocus. Further, the report criticized an overly broad standard that gives companies sole discretion to determine when to assert trade secrets, which allows them to withhold the identity and amount of the chemicals used.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 NETL, NIOSH to study air impacts of shale drilling statejournal.com Pam Kasey Air quality at shale gas drilling sites is the subject of a new research collaboration between federal agencies focused on energy and on worker safety. The Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health signed a memorandum of understanding on April 22. Advancing Department of Energy needs, NETL's participation in the research supports development of modeling tools for predicting and measuring risks associated with production of shale gas through hydraulic fracturing and for analyzing greenhouse gas life-cycle emissions.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 FRACKING: A Driller Gave Us This Up-Close Look At A Rig That's Tapping The Marcellus Shale Business Insider Roib Wile & Robert Libetti Fracking remains a mysterious process to many. It involves a lot of weird, arcane equipment. You can't see it happening (since it occurs underground). And it's developed an air of danger around it, having been linked to water contamination, earthquakes and neutered farm animals. If you've been affected by it, you're sometimes not allowed to talk about it. At the same time, oil imports are plummeting. The shale boom has boosted employment. And it's reducing energy costs.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 House Dems, Environmentalists Seek to Block Drilling in Loyalsock State Forest WESA Mary Wilson State House Democrats and environmental advocates are asking the Corbett administration to block natural gas drilling in a state forest that straddles three counties in the thick of Marcellus Shale country.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Elmira thinks twice about its fracking boom North Country Public Radio Matt Richmond Apr 23, 2013 — The City of Elmira is just seven miles from the Pennsylvania border. And for four years, the natural gas boom in Pennsylvania's Northern Tier crossed over the border and boosted Elmira's economy. But that natural gas rush has slowed down, and there's disagreement in Elmira about whether a temporary boom is worth the costs.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Health experts are turning to HIA to predict the effects of gas drilling on local communities Medical.net As natural gas development expands nationwide, policymakers, communities and public health experts are increasingly turning to health impact assessments (HIA) as a means of predicting the effects of drilling on local communities, according to a new study from the Colorado School of Public Health. The report, published this week in the American Journal of Public Health, highlights lessons learned when scientists from the school were hired to assess the possible health impacts of fracking in a small western Colorado town. "Health impact assessments can be a useful public health tool to determine the possible health effects of natural gas development on the local level," said the study's lead author Roxana Zulauf Witter, MD, MPH, at the Colorado School of Public Health. "In fact, our study is now being looked at as a model nationwide." In 2009, the Colorado School of Public Health was contracted by Garfield County to conduct a health impact assessment of 200 proposed natural gas wells in the community of Battlement Mesa.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Q&A: 'Gasland Part II' Director Josh Fox on the Fight Against Fracking Rolling Stone Katie Van Syckle Three years after the Oscar-nominated documentary Gasland secured fracking a place in the global lexicon, director Josh Fox returns with Gasland Part II, which premiered this weekend at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. The sequel opens with quick cuts of Republicans and Democrats extolling the virtues of natural gas drilling, setting viewers up for a rollercoaster ride through government and corporate accountability. Like his first film, Fox spotlights the various health problems and water contamination issues facing individuals that live near gas wells. Part II, which will premiere on HBO this summer, also charts the EPA's progress and interviews members of the the scientific community. Rolling Stone spoke with Fox about gas infrastructure and what it's like to get kicked off Capitol Hill   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Cuadrilla censured by advertising watchdog over fracking safety claims The Guardian Fiona Harvey Cuadrilla, the only shale fracking company operating in the UK, has been slapped down by the advertising watchdog for claiming that it uses "proven, safe technologies". The censure by the Advertising Standards Authority will force a significant watering down of some of the company's claims and is a further blow to Cuadrilla, which has halted fracking at all of its UK sites following a series of setbacks. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into deep wells at high pressure to open up fissures in shale rock, enabling trapped gas to be extracted. Concerns have been raised about pollution and small earth tremors linked to the method.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Urban Land Institute Sponsors Pro-Fracking Event Tomorrow ArtVoice Buck Quigley While a ban against high-volume horizontal fracturing in New York State remains in place pending more research into environmental and health effects, the Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) sent this letter to Governor Cuomo on Monday, calling for his help in pushing their fracking agenda. From the plea, signed by IOGA Executive Director Brad Gill: “The science is in. The public can be assured that exploration for natural gas in New York is – and has been – safe, good for our environment and for our economy. Our New New York must now join the nation and embrace the expansion of responsible natural gas development. We need your help.” The letter is “respectfully submitted” on behalf of over 200 companies identified as members of IOGA of NY. Among them, Ecology & Environment (E&E), the local consulting firm that was hired by the state in 2011 to produce a report on the economic impact of fracking—if the practice were to be allowed in New York. The DEC touted the positive numbers subsequently produced by E&E, while environmentalists criticized the lack of scope in the study. Read about it here.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Colorado fracking database questioned by Harvard study The Denver Post Mark Jaffe The online database that Colorado employs for disclosing the ingredients in fracking fluids used in drilling oil and gas wells is seriously flawed, according to a Harvard Law School study. The analysis, done by the school's environmental policy initiative, found reporting errors and gaps in the independent database FracFocus. Colorado and 10 other states, including Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Oklahoma, require operators to post chemical disclosures on FracFocus.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Legislators prepare for potential ‘fracking’ in Florida The Miami Herald MARY ELLEN KLAS AND CURTIS MORGAN TALLAHASSEE -- No one knows if Florida is going to be the next frontier for the new generation of oil and gas drilling known as fracking, but state legislators say — just in case — it’s time to write rules to require disclosure of the controversial technology. The Florida House on Wednesday is expected to pass a bill that will require companies to disclose what chemicals they use when they explore for oil and gas using the controversial extraction process.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 EPA Deems Keystone Review 'Insufficient' as Green Groups Hint at Lawsuit Inside Climate News John H. Cushman, Jr. Enviromentalists and the EPA take apart State Dept's Keystone review, and momentum shifts yet again toward pipeline opponents in the long-running battle. WASHINGTON—Leading environmental groups declared on Monday that the Obama administration's latest environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline fundamentally violated the nation's core environmental law, an unmistakable warning that they would sue the State Department if it continued to insist that the pipeline poses no significant environmental risk. As if to bolster their case, the Environmental Protection Agency weighed in as well with its own rebuke, saying that it found "environmental objections" to the State Department's controversial draft environmental impact statement, issued in March, which it deemed "insufficient." A public comment period ended on Monday, and these were among the first comments released.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 West Virginia judge recognizes trespass by hydraulic fracturing LEXOLOGY Anthony J. Carna, Gregg M. Rosen , Jonathan T. Blank and Lisa M. Lorish he notion that an oil and gas producer can commit a trespass by engaging in hydraulic fracturing gained traction on April 9, 2013, when U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey of the Northern District of West Virginia denied a motion for summary judgment filed by oil and gas producer defendants Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC, Statoil USA Onshore Properties, Inc. and Jamestown Resources, Inc. in Stone v. Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC. In this case, Chesapeake Appalachia drilled a horizontal Marcellus Shale well with a vertical well bore within 200 feet of the plaintiffs’ property and a horizontal well bore within “tens of feet” of the plaintiffs’ property. Although Chesapeake Appalachia maintains a lease for the oil and gas underlying the plaintiffs’ property, plaintiffs’ lease does not authorize pooling or unitization of the Marcellus formation. Defendants urged the court to follow the ruling in Coastal Oil & Gas Corp. v. Garza Energy Trust, in which the Supreme Court of Texas held that a landowner’s claims of trespass where the operator extended hydraulic fracturing underlying the landowners’ property were barred by the rule of capture, the highly regulated nature of oil and gas in Texas and other reasons. The court declined to do so, explaining that under the rule announced in Garza, oil and gas companies would be able to dictate that a landowner either sign a lease on the producer’s terms or the producer will hydraulically fracture under the property and take the oil and gas without compensation. Observing that under West Virginia law, trespass is an entry on another person’s property without lawful authority, and doing some damage, however inconsiderable, to his real property, the court predicted the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals would find that hydraulic fracturing under the land of a neighboring property without that person’s consent is not protected by the rule of capture, but rather constitutes an actionable trespass. Although not expressly stated, it appears that the trespass claim rests on plaintiffs’ allegation that the hydraulic fracturing fluid entered the subsurface of plaintiffs’ property.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Shale truck trips radiation alarm in SW Pa. AP via Shale Reporter A truck loaded with Marcellus shale drill cuttings that triggered a radiation alarm at a hazardous waste landfill in South Huntingdon was ordered back to a Greene County drilling site last weekend. Township Supervisor Mel Cornell said the MAX Environmental Technologies truck was quarantined Friday after it set off a radiation alarm at MAX’s landfill near Yukon, a 159-acre site that accepts residual waste and hazardous waste. DEP spokesman John Poister confirmed the drill cutting materials from Rice Energy’s Thunder II pad in Greene County had a radiation level of 96 microrem.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Public sessions planned on state-forest gas drilling philly.com Andrew Maykuth Pennsylvania conservation officials, who are in the hot seat over a proposal to open Loyalsock State Forest for Marcellus Shale gas development, have agreed to hold public informational sessions on drilling plans for the popular recreational area. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will participate in a free, web-based seminar Thursday on gas-development options for the state forest, which is in Lycoming, Bradford, and Sullivan Counties near Williamsport. The department also says it is planning a public meeting on the forest at an unspecified date. The department came under fire this month after conducting an invitation-only session for legislators and local officials to explain complex negotiations under way over drilling in the forest   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Local environmentalists protest DEP in honor of Earth Day Shale Reporter Rachel Morgan PITTSBURGH — Protestors came by land and by sea to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Southwest Regional Office on Monday. About 15 protestors kayaked down the Allegheny River to the DEP office, joining with nearly 100 other protestors in a march to the DEP office, part of a statewide protest of the agency’s regulatory actions regarding hydraulic fracturing -- or fracking -- activity in the state.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Shale truck sets off alarm in South Huntingdon Tribune-Review Paul Peirce A truck loaded with Marcellus shale drill cuttings that triggered a radiation alarm at a hazardous waste landfill in South Huntingdon was ordered back to a Greene County drilling site last weekend. Township Supervisor Mel Cornell said the MAX Environmental Technologies truck was quarantined Friday after it set off a radiation alarm at MAX's landfill near Yukon, a 159-acre site that accepts residual waste and hazardous waste. DEP spokesman John Poister confirmed the drill cutting materials from Rice Energy's Thunder II pad in Greene County had a radiation level of 96 microrem.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 DEC’s Martens on fracking: “We’re just simply not in a rush, and we shouldn’t be” The Journal News Jon Campbell New York’s top environmental regulator on Monday acknowledged it may have been a “mistake” to try and put a timetable on the Department of Health’s ongoing review of hydrofracking, saying the state is “simply not in a rush” to decide whether to allow shale-gas drilling. Joseph Martens, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, took questions on fracking following a news conference in Saratoga County touting a new wildlife viewing guide that will be released in May. A decision on fracking has long rested on a decision on the DEC completing a lengthy environmental review, called the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, which it launched in 2008.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 FracFocus Fails as Fracking Disclosure Tool, Study Finds Bloomberg Businessweek Jim Polson FracFocus, the website used by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and other energy companies to disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, fails as a compliance tool for the 11 states that rely on it, a Harvard Law School study found. Using the voluntary registry for compliance with state disclosure requirements is “misplaced or premature” because of spotty reporting, lack of a searchable database and an “overly broad” allowance for trade secrets, according to the study published today by the Environmental Law Program at Harvard.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 EPA Slams Keystone Pipeline Review Scientific American Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. environment regulator on Monday said the State Department must take a harder look at climate and other impacts of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil sands pipeline before the Obama administration issues a final decision on the project. The Environmental Protection Agency rated the State Department's 2,000-page March 1 draft review of the TransCanada Corp pipeline project as "insufficient," in a letter to department officials as a public comment period ended on Monday. The agency's tough stance signals that unless the State Department addresses its concerns in a final review, it could create more hurdles for a $5.3 billion dollar project which has been pending for more than four years.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 NIOSH joins federal fracking triumvirate Pittsburgh Business Times Anya Litvak Fracking is getting more attention from the Obama administration, and more money to unite research being done by a handful of government agencies over the past few years. The president’s proposed FY2014 budget has $45 million slated for a multi-agency research initiative to look into the health and safety aspects of fracking. (That’s 150 percent more than this year’s budget, by the way).  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Get Ready for Higher Prices and Less Energy Security: Our Natural Gas Reserves Are Being Plundered For Export AlterNet Brad Jacobson Unlimited export of U.S. natural gas would have enormous implications on the future of the nation's economy, environment and domestic energy choices. Yet a burgeoning chorus in Congress, on both sides of the aisle, is calling for the swift approval of 19 liquid natural gas (LNG) export permits he acceptance of these permits would unleash an unprecedented frenzy of domestic high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, just to meet daily production rates under decades-long contractual obligations. If accepted, the total of the permits currently under review by the Department of Energy for LNG export would be equal to 28.54 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day, approximately 45 percent of what the U.S. is projected to consume daily in 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Administration.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Tim DeChristopher Speaks Out After 21 Months in Prison for Disrupting Oil Bid AlterNet Amy Goodman AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. As the world marks Earth Day, we spend the rest of the hour with climate justice activist Tim DeChristopher, who has just been released after 21 months in federal custody. Tim DeChristopher was convicted of interfering with a public auction in 2008 when he disrupted the Bush administration’s last-minute move to auction off oil and gas exploitation rights in Utah, where he was a student at the time. DeChristopher posed as a bidder, won drilling lease rights to 22,000 acres of land in an attempt to save the property from oil and gas extraction.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 The U.S. oil and gas boom has had a modest economic impact — so far The Washington Post Brad Plummer The U.S. economy has expanded 7.6 percent since the recession ended in 2009. That’s better than Britain, Japan, the euro zone and many other advanced nations around the world. So why is that? One popular theory is that the United States has benefited from a huge domestic energy boom. Thanks to new advances in drilling technology — particularly in hydraulic fracturing — U.S. companies have managed to exploit new sources of oil and shale gas in places like North Dakota, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 U.S. States Turn Against Renewable Energy as Gas Plunges Bloomberg Christopher Martin More than half the U.S. states with laws requiring utilities to buy renewable energy are considering ways to pare back those mandates after a plunge in natural gas prices brought on by technology that boosted supply.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Commentary: Natural gas exports would halt US manufacturing comeback Fuel Fix Daniel R. DiMicco For the last decade, media headlines in the U.S. have reported on closed factories and the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs to facilities located overseas. How times have changed. Today there is hope that these trends, once thought irreversible, could be changing. But why? Abundant, low-cost supplies of U.S. natural gas provide an opportunity to bring manufacturing jobs back to America and rebuild our middle class. The gas is creating new jobs. It is as simple as that. There is a little-noticed but hugely important natural gas policy decision our government is about to make. If we are not careful with our natural gas export policy, we could squander this opportunity by allowing unchecked natural gas exports. We cannot let that happen.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Yoko Ono Comes Together With Musicians--Including Paul McCartney--Over Fracking Forbes Zack O'Malley Greenburg oko Ono and Paul McCartney’s relationship dates back about half a century. Famously, John Lennon’s widow and his former bandmate have had their share of differences over the years. But in recent months, they’ve found something to agree on: That the drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking,” shouldn’t be allowed in New York State. So is it fair to say that they’ve “come together” over the issue? “Well yeah, of course,” Ono told FORBES before an anti-fracking gala in New York last weekend. “I mean, he’s very intelligent. Look, we know each other from the 60s, so it’s like family, really.”  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Calif. advancing measures to stop or limit fracking E & E Newswire Anne C. Mulkern A slew of measures are advancing in California to stop or limit hydraulic fracturing as the oil industry works to unlock a massive shale formation in the state. California lawmakers have offered 10 bills that would affect the technique known as fracking, where companies blast chemical-laced water underground at high pressure to break apart rock formations and release oil or natural gas. Critics charge it endangers watersheds, wildlife and air quality, while industry disputes those claims. Two bills would ban fracking at least temporarily, and one would outlaw it near aquifers. Four others would place new restrictions or force disclosure of information including which chemicals are being injected into the ground. Three additional bills would affect all oil and natural gas operations, but could loom large over hydraulic fracturing.  [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Two US government agencies to study shale-drilling emissions Platts Two US federal agencies will team up to study the impacts of exposure to airborne emissions at shale gas drilling sites, the agencies said Monday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Energy Technology Laboratory signed a memorandum of understanding to begin conducting collaborative research on human exposure to emissions at drilling sites. "As part of a multiagency team, NIOSH and NETL will identify and monitor the potential impact of shale gas production on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, improving scientific understanding of the pollutants that contribute to regional air quality hazards," the agencies said in a statement.   [Full Story] Apr 23, 2013 Rooftop Solar Seen Protecting U.S. Power Grid From Attack Bloomberg Businessweek Christopher Martin The U.S. power grid is vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and the growing use of rooftop solar panels will provide protection against lengthy blackouts, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said. “It wouldn’t take that much to take the bulk of the power system down,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said today at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance summit in New York. “If you took down the transformers and the substations so they’re out permanently, we could be out for a long, long time.”  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 State Department Criticized by E.P.A. on Pipeline Report New York Times John M. Broder WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency sharply criticized the State Department’s impact statement for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, saying the report failed to adequately consider the climate change impacts of building the pipeline or to realistically assess alternative pipeline routes or modes of transport. In a relatively unusual public squabble between agencies, a top E.P.A. official said in a letter to State Department officials that the department’s latest environmental statement for the 1,700-mile pipeline provided “insufficient information” to adequately judge the project, and that the E.P.A. could not sign off on the pipeline unless more complete studies were performed. The letter was one of more than a million documents submitted as part of the public comment phase of the project. At the end of February, the State Department issued an environmental-impact statement for the pipeline, saying there was no conclusive environmental or economic reason not to build the project. The pipeline would carry a heavy form of oil known as bitumen from oil sands formations in Alberta to refineries in Texas. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to make a recommendation to President Obama on the pipeline later this year. The State Department must determine whether the project is in the national interest because it crosses an international border. The E.P.A. comments cheered environmentalists, who have made stopping the pipeline a major cause. But it was not clear whether it would affect the decision on the project. Cynthia Giles, the E.P.A. assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance, said that the State Department had failed to adequately support its two fundamental conclusions supporting the project — that the climate change effects of building the pipeline would be negligible, and that Canada would develop the oil sands regardless of whether the $7 billion pipeline is built. Ms. Giles said that the State Department significantly underestimated the long-term climate change impact of developing the Canadian oil formations. She also questioned the study’s conclusion that Canada would find other modes of transportation — chiefly rail — to ship the oil without a pipeline. Critics of the pipeline have seized upon these two issues as reasons to veto the project. They say that Canadian oil is substantially dirtier than other forms of oil, and that if Canada cannot easily get the oil to the American market, it will slow development of the oil sands. Anthony Swift, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the E.P.A. report “tremendous,” and said it proved that the State Department had not yet adequately considered the wide range of environmental issues that have long concerned the pipeline’s opponents. A senior State Department official said the department had been closely working with the E.P.A. to analyze the pipeline’s environmental effects and would take the agency’s concerns into consideration.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Tim DeChristopher Is a Free Man: 'We Need a Movement That Gets a Little Bit Out of Control' Rolling Stone Alexander Zaitchik There are worse ways for a climate activist to celebrate getting out of jail than speaking to a packed theater of comrades and supporters. Tonight, that's how Tim DeChristopher will publically mark his release from two years of state custody, spread over four states and five institutions – from the isolation wings of federal prisons to the halfway house he left yesterday. Following an address that will represent DeChristopher's public return to grassroots climate activism, Salt Lake City's Tower Theater will screen Bidder 70, a documentary about his 2009 trial. Both the talk and the screening will be live-streamed to 50 theaters around the country.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Health Impact Assessments Prove Critical Public Health Tool: Best Way to Gauge Impact of Gas Drilling On Communities Science Daily As natural gas development expands nationwide, policymakers, communities and public health experts are increasingly turning to health impact assessments (HIA) as a means of predicting the effects of drilling on local communities, according to a new study from the Colorado School of Public Health. The report, published this week in the American Journal of Public Health, highlights lessons learned when scientists from the school were hired to assess the possible health impacts of fracking in a small western Colorado town. "Health impact assessments can be a useful public health tool to determine the possible health effects of natural gas development on the local level," said the study's lead author Roxana Zulauf Witter, MD, MPH, at the Colorado School of Public Health. "In fact, our study is now being looked at as a model nationwide." In 2009, the Colorado School of Public Health was contracted by Garfield County to conduct a health impact assessment of 200 proposed natural gas wells in the community of Battlement Mesa. The team found that the natural gas project could contribute to health effects such as headaches, upper respiratory illness, nausea and nosebleeds and a possible small increase in lifetime cancer risks as a result of air emissions.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Voters 3 to 1 say fracking will damage environment Legislative Gazette Staff New York state voters remain divided on drilling for natural gas, as 42 percent support drilling because of the economic benefits, while 46 percent oppose it because of environmental concerns, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released last Thursday. This slight opposition compares to the results of a March 20 survey by Quinnipiac University, in which voters opposed natural gas drilling 46 to 39 percent  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Anti-drilling activist ends prison stint AP via Shale Reporter SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An environmental activist who disrupted an oil and gas auction for land near Utah's national parks has been released by the federal prison system. Now Tim DeChristopher is making plans to attend Harvard Divinity School. In December 2008, the environmental activist grabbed a bidder's paddle and ran up prices at a federal oil-and-gas lease auction without any money to pay for his bids. The 31-year-old University of Utah economics graduate was released on parole Friday. He says his 21 months of incarceration left him stronger than ever. He was at federal prisons in California and Colorado and a halfway house in Salt Lake City.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 ND measure aimed at curbing natural gas flaring AP via Shale Reporter BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Legislature has endorsed a measure aimed at curbing the oil industry's practice of burning natural gas. The House voted 84-7 Friday to allow tax exemptions for natural gas if it's used for such things as electrical generation or farm fertilizer. North Dakota's Senate approved the measure earlier.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Drillers, Frackers Fill Up Ohio Park Casey Junkins ST. CLAIRSVILLE - As sand and cement trucks surround the new Stingray Pressure Pumping office at Fox Commerce Park, Sue Douglass knows Belmont County needs more land for development. The 125-acre industrial park west of St. Clairsville is now full, thanks in part to the burgeoning oil and natural gas industry. Located near the south end of the park, Stingray is an oilfield services company that opened earlier this year. Chesapeake Energy and Great Plains Oilfield Rental have offices at the north end of the development   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Protesters Fight Planned Plant Wheeling Intelligencer Casey Junkins WHEELING - About 50 self-proclaimed "water warriors" flowed into Warwood Garden Park Sunday to protest GreenHunter Water's plans to build a natural gas frack water recycling plant on North 28th Street. "Whether you are opposed to fracking or not, you should take a close look at this. It is just too close to our water plant," said Wheeling resident Deborah Sinclair. "They are saying this plant will be the first of its kind. How do they know it is safe?"   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Members of Seneca Lake 12 Spend Earth Day Jailed for Blockade The Wall Street Journal NEW YORK, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Businesswoman Melissa Chipman, farm owner Michael Dineen, and Author, Biologist, and Heinz Award Recipient Sandra Steingraber, PhD, refused to pay their fines and were sentenced to fifteen days in jail by Reading Court Justice, Raymond H. Berry. Steingraber is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Ithaca College and a prominent critic of fracking. The three peaceful protesters were arrested as part of a civil disobedience blockade of Inergy's salt cavern gas storage facility in Reading, NY, just north of Watkins Glen.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 City of Ithaca Responds to Youth Demands, Becomes First East Coast City to Divest from Fossil Fuels Youth Power Summit Press Release 100 Tompkins County middle school, high school and college students converge for Youth Power Summit 2013, Demand Climate Justice from City of Ithaca on Earth Day Ithaca, NY – This Earth Day the City of Ithaca, NY has become the first east coast city, and second city in the world to agree to divest its financial holdings in fossil fuels. Ithaca follows the City of Seattle, which agreed to divest earlier this year. Ithaca City Mayor, Svante Myrick, joined forces with student organizers of the Youth Power Summit 2013, a climate justice convergence for over 100 young people ages 16-23 from Tompkins County. On Friday, April 19, 2013 Mayor Myrick met with students to discuss divestment, and agreed to issue a statement from the city on Monday, April 22, 2013 Earth Day.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 EPA wants State Dept. to rework analysis of Keystone XL pipeline The Washington Post Lenny Bernstein and Juliet Eilperin The Environmental Protection Agency objected Monday to the State Department’s latest review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, suggesting that more work must be done before the Obama administration can determine whether to approve the 1,179-mile northern leg of the project. The EPA recommended that State reassess the amount of greenhouse gas that would be emitted by the development of oil sands in Alberta, Canada, as a result of construction of the pipeline, which eventually could transport as much as 830,000 barrels of diluted bitumen crude to refineries in Texas.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 All Eyes on Fort Collins Fracking Ban Vote EcoWatch On April 23, the Fort Collins City Council will once again discuss, and potentially vote on, the extremely controversial issue of banning fracking in Fort Collins. In March, the city council passed a ban on fracking that grandfathered in the one driller that currently operates on eight well pads in northern Fort Collins. But three weeks later, in a quiet vote with no public input by citizens or the city’s boards and commissions, the city council passed an “agreement” with that driller allowing the company to drill and frack on two new square miles of land surrounding the Budweiser brewery in North Fort Collins. Councilman Gerry Horak, who has been at the center of the fracking controversy, has flip-flopped his votes, voting for the ban and then voting for the agreement that effectively negated the ban. Now, the council is deliberating on a second reading of an ordinance to lift the moratorium and allow the driller to begin drilling and fracking in the expanded areas in northern Fort Collins. Horak also voted “yes” on the first reading to lift the moratorium.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 The Facts on Fracking Truth-Out Julia Conley and John Light, Moyers & Co Hydraulic fracturing or fracking — a method of extracting natural gas from underground shale formations — has become a contentious issue across America, especially in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, states that sit on top of the Marcellus Shale, the largest known deposit of shale gas in America. The shale formation could contain nearly 500 trillion cubic feet of gas — enough to power all American homes for 50 years. Oil and mining companies want to get the gas out, but environmentalist groups say the process is not safe. Here are the facts: ...The New York State debate Of the states over the Marcellus Shale formation, fracking is already underway in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Fracking is also being used to reach gas in states beyond the Marcellus deposit, notably North Dakota and Texas. But New York state policymakers have not yet decided whether fracking should be allowed in their state. In September 2011, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released its recommendations for how the state can allow fracking without endangering New Yorkers with contaminated drinking water. The DEC recommended that fracking not take place within 2,000 feet of public drinking supplies or within 500 feet of private wells, unless approved of by the landowner. The proposed rules would also ban fracking within the New York City and Syracuse watersheds. In March 2013, the Democrat-dominated State Assembly approved a two-year moratorium on fracking from the state’s southern border with Pennsylvania to the Catskills until there is “conclusive scientific evidence” on possible health and environmental risks. Conventional drilling, which uses shallower wells and far less water than high-volume fracking, has gone on for decades in New York.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Interior chief Jewell: 'One size doesn't fit all' on fracking The Hill Zack Colman Newly minted Interior Department Secretary Sally Jewell gave a nod Monday to oil-and-gas industry concerns about pending federal rules on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. In speaking about those rules, which she said would come “fairly soon,” the former chief executive for outdoor gear retailer noted, “One thing that’s clear to me from my own experiences is that one size doesn’t fit all.”   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Fracking a watershed moment for California Gov. Jerry Brown Akron Beacon Journal Jim Mackinnon--blog California may turn to fracking its vast shale reserves to rescue the troubled state, says Joel Kotkin at the website Newgeography. Kotkin: "The recent announcement that Jerry Brown is studying "fracking" in California, suggests that our governor may be waking up to the long-term reality facing our state. It demonstrates that, despite the almost embarrassing praise from East Coast media about his energy and green policies, Brown likely knows full well that the state's current course, to use the most overused term, is simply not politically and economically sustainable.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 My View: Orange County needs stronger ban on fracking waste Times Herald-Record Deborah Kopald--Opinion Recently, some counties surrounding Orange passed legislation protecting their residents' health by banning the disposal within their borders of gas-drilling waste, which contains radioactive and other carcinogenic materials. Even if hydrofracking is never permitted in New York, Pennsylvania's drill cuttings can (and do) get dumped in landfills; leachate and unprocessed wastewater from any type of gas drilling could wind up in wastewater treatment facilities; and toxic chemicals have turned up in winter sanding and summer dust-control materials and then onto roads, since the state Department of Environmental Conservation permits all of this waste to be disposed of in our state.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Members of Seneca Lake 12 Spend Earth Day Jailed for Blockade Wall Street Journal Press Release NEW YORK, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Businesswoman Melissa Chipman, farm owner Michael Dineen, and Author, Biologist, and Heinz Award Recipient Sandra Steingraber, PhD, refused to pay their fines and were sentenced to fifteen days in jail by Reading Court Justice, Raymond H. Berry. Steingraber is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Ithaca College and a prominent critic of fracking. The three peaceful protesters were arrested as part of a civil disobedience blockade of Inergy's salt cavern gas storage facility in Reading, NY, just north of Watkins Glen.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Getty Images HBO's "Gasland Part II" Premiere At Tribeca Film Festival google Mark von Holden NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 21: Founder of Artist Against Fracking, Yoko Ono attends the HBO's "Gasland Part II" premiere at Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Getty Images for HBO)  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Protesters Fight Planned Plant Councilwoman among opposition of development Intelligencer Casey Junkins WHEELING - About 50 self-proclaimed "water warriors" flowed into Warwood Garden Park Sunday to protest GreenHunter Water's plans to build a natural gas frack water recycling plant on North 28th Street. "Whether you are opposed to fracking or not, you should take a close look at this. It is just too close to our water plant," said Wheeling resident Deborah Sinclair. "They are saying this plant will be the first of its kind. How do they know it is safe?" Sinclair referenced comments by John Jack, GreenHunter vice president in the Appalachian region. He said the "facility will be 'first-of-its-kind' in the country once we complete construction" during the company's announcement of the project last month.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Josh Fox's 'Gasland' Sequel Opens, a Tour Through a Land of Abandoned Homes and Broken Promises AlterNet Alison Rose Levy Gasland Part II, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, takes us deep into the heartland of America, a land overtaken by gas extraction via fracking. The iconic and recurring depictions of water-on-fire seen in the first Gasland, in the new film serve as postcards from a travelogue through a land of broken promises, abandoned homes, and extinguished rights. The first Gasland, (which was released in 2010 and nominated for a 2011 Academy Award) became this country’s wake-up call about fracking, the first prod for millions to look beyond the industry-engineered PR facade. Banjo music played throughout the soundtrack revealed director Josh Fox’s chosen musical instrument. But Fox became a kind of Pied Piper for a growing grass roots movement that questioned the need for fracking. Challenging the inroads claimed by the multinational gas and oil industry, fractivism is a popular and youth-driven pushback that these powerful industries are neither accustomed nor equipped to deal with.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 EPA Again Questions Keystone XL Pipeline The New York Times Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency again is raising objections to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from western Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast. The EPA said that despite more than four years of study, the State Department still has not done sufficient analysis of the project's environmental impact In a letter to the State Department on Monday, the EPA urged State to conduct a more thorough analysis of oil spill risks and alternative pipeline routes, as well as greenhouse gas emissions associated with the pipeline.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Protesters occupy DEP's Washington Landing office Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Don Hopey Dozens of demonstrators came by boat and bike trail to Washington's Landing in the Allegheny River today, loudly marching to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection offices. They were there to protest what they say is a failure to adequately regulate the Marcellus Shale gas and coal industries or to develop renewable energy technologies. The march and rally, which was billed as an "Earth Day Protest Against Fracking," ended with most of the 75 participants crowded into the lobby of the DEP's southwest regional office on the island.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 STRONG GROWTH FOR RENEWABLES EXPECTED THROUGH TO 2030 Bloomberg Improvements in cost-competitiveness means that renewables will account for between 69% and 74% of new power capacity added by 2030 worldwide, despite current difficult market conditions London and New York, 22 April 2013 – New research by analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance show that annual investment in new renewable power capacity is set to rise by anywhere from two and a half times to more than four and a half times between now and 2030. The likeliest scenario implies a jump of 230%, to $630bn per year by 2030, driven by further improvements in the cost-competitiveness of wind and solar technologies relative to fossil fuel alternatives, as well as an increase in the roll-out of non-intermittent clean energy sources like hydro, geothermal and biomass. This is the message of new research published today by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The findings will be unveiled to delegates this afternoon at the analysis company’s sixth annual Summit, in New York. Further information on the Summit can be found at http://about.bnef.com/summit/.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 California fracking update Shale Reporter Miranda C. Spencer Much has happened on California’s fracking scene since I first reported about it last October. As I wrote this (April 19), public comments were being taken at a workshop on the “discussion draft” fracking regulations released in December by the state’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. These pre-proposed regs would make DOGGR fracking’s overseer. Among other things, they’d require: pre-fracturing testing of cement well casings, advance notice to the government of intent to frack, and environmental and technical monitoring during and after the process. Last Friday’s feedback forum (the fourth of five scheduled) was only a warm-up for the glacial formal rulemaking process. As a Bakersfield Californian editorial put it, “We may see the dawning of the next ice age before those recommendations are released.”  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Foreign Investors Help Fuel U.S. Shale Boom Bloomberg Businessweek Christina Larson China has about twice the estimated shale gas reserves as the U.S., but commercial production has been slow to ramp up on the mainland—because of a combination of challenging geology and an inflexible industry structure. Analysts predict it will be anywhere from three years to two decades before China’s commercial shale gas boom arrives. In the meantime, Chinese companies have invested $5.5 billion in U.S. tight oil and shale gas through joint-venture deals, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (The figures do not include other Chinese investments in Canada.) “They are not after developing the gas for profit, but after the idea of learning the technology,” says EIA energy economist Aloulou Fawzi. “They want to learn the technology and have a partner that may help them later to develop their own [domestic] shale resources.”   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Why is Spain Pushing Back on Shale? Forbes Christopher Coats Spain pushed back against European shale with a local vote in the northern region of Cantabria mounted a vote against the practice of hydraulic fracking amid mounting concerns about its environmental impact. While the vote is only a local effort, the region possesses the largest potential reserve of shale gas in the country, effectively removing the Spain’s surest bet for domestic production and outside investment from the table. In addition to hosting the largest potential reserves in Spain, Cantabria benefits from easy access to water resources in a country often struggling with shortages – vital component of any shale extraction effort.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Oil and gas industry emerges as centrepiece issue in B.C. elections The Vancouver Sun PETER O'NEIL B.C. New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix’s criticism Monday of Kinder Morgan’s proposed $5.4-billion oil pipeline marks the latest twist in an election campaign that, for the first time in B.C.’s modern history, has the oil-and-gas industry emerging as a centrepiece issue. Dix, already opposed to Enbridge’s $6.5-billion pipeline to Kitimat, stopped just short of condemning the Kinder Morgan plan to twin its existing line from Alberta to Burnaby. He has been under considerable pressure from the environmental movement to take a stand on the project. Elections fought on oil and gas were once confined almost exclusively to B.C.’s next-door neighbour. But the B.C. Liberals sought to make sure the industry would be top-of-mind when its throne speech and subsequent budget made clear they are betting their political survival on a rosy scenario created by $1 trillion in natural gas riches that the government says could be generated over 30 years.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Solar jobs outnumber ranchers in Texas, actors in California CNNMoney Steve Hargreaves There are more solar energy workers in Texas than there are ranchers. In California, they outnumber actors, and nationwide, America has more solar workers than coal miners. Those stats come from solar research group The Solar Foundation, which rolled out a map last week showing which states have the most solar jobs. Unsurprisingly, sunny states like California and Arizona are near the top of the list. But some Northern states like New Jersey and Michigan -- not known for their splendid weather -- also show a high number of solar jobs.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 EPA wants State Dept. to rework analysis of Keystone XL pipeline The Washington Post Lenny Bernstein and Juliet Eilperin he Environmental Protection Agency objected Monday to the State Department’s latest review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, suggesting that more work must be done before the Obama administration can determine whether to approve the 1,179-mile northern leg of the project. The EPA recommended that State reassess the amount of greenhouse gas that would be emitted by the development of oil sands in Alberta, Canada, as a result of construction of the pipeline, which eventually could transport as much as 830,000 barrels of diluted bitumen crude to refineries in Texas  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Will Europe increase fracking? Salon PAUL AMES BRUSSELS, Belgium — It’s been more than 20 years since the last coal was dug out of the ground by the once-thriving mining communities of Belgium’s Campine region. Now there’s hope of new riches beneath the area’s sandy heathland. The Campine is one of dozens of regions across Europe believed to be sitting on significant reserves of shale gas — the underground fuel that has revolutionized energy supply in the United States over the past decade. “The potential in Europe could be huge,” says Professor Richard Davies, a specialist at Britain‘s Durham University and advisor to the industry. “We’ve got all the right sort of rocks.”  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Gov scared frackless New York Post FREDRIC U. DICKER Gov. Cuomo has come up with yet another excuse for delaying a decision on allowing fracking for natural gas in New York’s Southern Tier: He’s afraid the Legislature will stop him, The Post has learned. At least that’s what Cuomo told a high-level meeting of state business leaders at the Executive Mansion just a few weeks ago, when he was pressed on why he wouldn’t green-light a process that even his own state Health Department said was safe and that his Environmental Conservation Department said will create tens of thousands of jobs in one of the poorest areas of the state.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Fracking 'unlikely to give UK cheap gas', report says The International TOM BAWDEN George Osborne's plan to deliver cheap energy by fostering a fracking revolution has been dealt a severe blow after an influential cross-party group of experts said any boom in shale gas production would be "unlikely to give the UK cheap gas". A nine-month inquiry chaired by former energy minister Charles Hendry, concludes that it is far too early to estimate the volume of shale gas contained in UK rocks and harder still to know how much of that it will be commercially viable to extract. Further complicating the picture, developers in densely populated Britain could find it difficult to secure planning permission to extract the gas, which is produced using the environmentally unpopular practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 All Eyes on Fort Collins Fracking Ban Vote EcoWatch Clean Water Action On April 23, the Fort Collins City Council will once again discuss, and potentially vote on, the extremely controversial issue of banning fracking in Fort Collins. In March, the city council passed a ban on fracking that grandfathered in the one driller that currently operates on eight well pads in northern Fort Collins. But three weeks later, in a quiet vote with no public input by citizens or the city’s boards and commissions, the city council passed an “agreement” with that driller allowing the company to drill and frack on two new square miles of land surrounding the Budweiser brewery in North Fort Collins.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Earth Day - Letters from the Chemung County Jail The Marcellus Effect Today is Earth Day. For most of us it is no different from any other day: we go to work, fix meals for the kids, rake the leaves and maybe – if the soil is warm enough – plant a few seeds. For Sandra Steingraber, this Earth Day is a time for pause, for reflection because, when you’re separated from the earth by steel bars, there’s not much else to do. Sandra was arrested for trespass during a protest of Inergy’s gas storage facility on Senaca Lake. She is a passionate advocate for protecting the earth for our children and their children. And, from what I hear of the jail, it is enough to test anyone’s resolution. This is the first of her letters from the Chemung County Jail in Elmira, NY.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Protesters to rally outside DEP office Citizens Voice Elizabeth Skrapits To mark Earth Day, various environmental organizations led by the Pennsylvania Green Party are scheduling demonstrations in front of Department of Environmental Protection regional offices throughout Pennsylvania today to protest the agency's oil and natural gas drilling policies. Local groups such as the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, Citizens for Clean Water and Frack Mountain plan to participate in a protest from noon to 2 p.m. on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, across the street from DEP's northeast regional headquarters. The northeast region covers Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Fracking for Natural Gas Fuels Health Worries Womens E News Molly M. Ginty (WOMENSENEWS)-- Creeping over the darkened hills of Concord Township, Ohio, past oak and maple trees and through an open window, the intruder entered Kari Matsko's home without a sound. "It was only when I woke the next morning that I realized something had changed," says Matsko. "I had unexplained muscle spasms and terrible neck pain. I saw three doctors, and spent four months recovering. Then a neighbor told me about the 3 a.m. hydrogen sulfide gas leak from a nearby fracking operation that sent her whole family to the emergency room with aches and pains the same day I got sick in 2006." Now heading a grassroots group called The People's Oil and Gas Collaborative of Ohio, Matsko is among the growing number of women who are fighting health problems associated with hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," a drilling process that harvests natural gas from rock.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 ExxonMobil Aims to Prove Gas is Cleaner Than Coal Triple Pundit Tina Casey ExxonMobil has had a horrible four-week run in the aftermath of its Pegasus pipeline break in Arkansas, but a just-published greenhouse gas emissions study by the company’s research arm could provide a bit of a bright spot amidst the gloom. The new ExxonMobil study looks at the total lifecycle of natural gas from drilling to power generation, and concludes that its carbon footprint can be significantly lower than coal. Lifecycle emissions are a huge issue for ExxonMobil and the natural gas industry. Natural gas emits far less greenhouse gases than coal when burned at power plants, but evidence has been emerging that this benefit could be completely wiped out by methane leakage at gas drilling fields and other earlier points in the lifecycle. So, before the cheering starts around the water coolers over at ExxonMobil or anywhere else, let’s take a closer look at the new study.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 It's Time For Politics To Legalize Economics Gilmer Mirror Robert Bradley, Jr. President Obama recently nominated Sally Jewell to head the Department of Interior. Her bona fides include growing Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) to nearly $2 billion in revenue last year. But in her new job, the question is whether she'll grow America's untapped energy resources. Jewell is now at the gulf between what is and what could be. The Interior Department is responsible for oil and natural gas drilling off our coast - or rather, the absence of new drilling. Read more: The Gilmer Mirror - It s Time For Politics To Legalize Economics   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Michael Klare, The Coming Global Explosion TomDispatch Michael Klare In his pathbreaking 2001 book Resource Wars, Michael Klare wrote: “Natural resources are the building blocks of civilization and an essential requirement of daily existence. The inhabitants of planet Earth have been blessed with a vast supply of most basic materials. But we are placing increased pressure on those supplies, and in some cases we face, in our lifetimes, or those of our children, the prospect of severe resource depletion.” More than ever, as he points out today, this remains a planetary reality with which we have still not truly come to grips. Since the beginning of this new century, however, climate change has joined resource scarcity in a way that will make for a far more combustible and explosive reality in the coming decades. As John Vidal reported recently in the British Observer, leading scientists now believe that, by 2050, the pressures of climate change -- of record floods, intensifying extreme heat, and droughts -- could change the face of farming on this planet and lead to a doubling of prices for food staples, the very basics of life, as populations continue to rise. This, in turn, will undoubtedly mean destitution or worse for millions of the poor, particularly in Africa and Asia.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 House approves gas tax credit bills Citizens Voice Robert Swift HARRISBURG - A House vote last week approving bills providing millions of dollars of state tax credits to develop natural gas markets followed a debate over whether it would promote sound economic policies for Pennsylvania. The House approved three bills to authorize $25 million in tax credits for companies to convert their vehicle fleets to natural gas, $30 million in tax credits for individuals who purchase large natural gas vehicles and $5 million in tax credits to companies that build natural gas fueling stations along designated corridors, including Interstates 80 and 81.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Ark. Oil Spill Probe Falls to Understaffed Agency With Close Industry Ties Inside Climate News Katherine Bagley Underfunded agency faces the challenge of finding answers to key questions: When did Exxon's pipeline rupture and when did the company learn of the spill? Just a day after roughly one million gallons of heavy Canadian crude oil spilled into Michigan's Kalamazoo River in 2010, the National Transportation Safety Board announced it was launching a formal investigation into the incident. It quickly set up shop in a local hotel and conducted dozens of interviews with pipeline workers, local officials and residents. It did field and laboratory analysis of the ruptured pipeline in its own labs. And its investigators pored over the responsible company’s records to recreate what happened. After two years of work, the agency released the results of its investigation: The spill was caused by major lapses in safety by Enbridge Inc., the pipeline's owner and operator, and by "weak regulations" for the entire U.S. pipeline network.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 WNEP Apps Stay up to date on the go with our WNEP news and weather apps. Protest Against Fracking WNEP WILLIAMSPORT — Protestors stood outside the Department Of Environmental Protection regional office in Williamsport Monday afternoon. The group against “fracking,” a process used in drilling for natural gas, held signs demanding that the state agency protect the land, air and water. The protesters said the natural gas industry influenced the DEP to the point where it’s no longer effective. “We don’t feel protected by DEP today. By the laws, as the gas industry says, as per Pennsylvania law, this is what we have to do. PA law, we’ve realized now, does not protect citizens in PA,” said Jeffrey Richardson of Tioga County  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Let's Give Clean Water a Chance Huffington Post Yoko Ono I was proud to be a part of the gathering of hundreds of clean water supporters at the recent Riverkeeper's Fishermen's Ball. It was a true celebration of the power of the grassroots movement for clean water and sustainable energy. Through this event and my involvement with the fight against fracking in New York, I've seen once again that change is possible from strength. The strength that comes from people banding together can stop the injustices to our environment that fracking and other dirty energy production causes. We can do it. We can create a healthy land, which will be good for all of us and the future world. Together, day and night, we are making our best effort to communicate the truth of what threatens our environment and threatens the health of our families, the safety and economic prosperity of our communities, and our quality of life.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Obama Administration Says No to Full Environmental Study of LNG Exports DC Bureau Peter Mantius The Obama Administration is blocking a comprehensive environmental study on the impact of exporting massive quantities of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, on the grounds that new gas drilling induced by the exports is not “reasonably foreseeable.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy is resisting calls by Dow Chemical and other manufacturers for a more clearly defined and transparent DOE process for determining whether proposed LNG export projects serve the “public interest.” Both the DOE and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission face mounting pressure to evaluate the economic and environmental consequences of licensing LNG export facilities. Since the agencies licensed an LNG export terminal in Sabine Pass, La., in 2011, 19 other applicants have lined up with licensing requests.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Josh Fox's Gasland Part II Faces Aggressive Oil and Gas Public Relations Campaign DeSmogBlog Sharon Kelly “It’s coming,” a baritone voice warns as images of a fiery hellscape flash across the screen. “Lies. Deception,” someone whispers, just before the narrator launches into a diatribe about Josh Fox’s new documentary, Gasland Part II, in a youtube clip whose esthetic falls somewhere between b-horror movie and election season attack ad. It’s the sort of video that might be campy if it wasn’t made with an actual budget. Posted last November under the account energyforamerica, the faux trailer is one of the first hits in a Gasland 2 youtube search. “I think it’s kinda unprecedented,” Mr. Fox said after the mock trailer appeared on youtube five months ago. “I don’t know of any other trailer that has attacked a film before even the actual trailer of the film has come out.”  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Dimock, Penn. Center of Heated Fracking Debate UD Review Jack Fisher The image of a tractor trailer hauling a disassembled wind turbine along a rural Pennsylvania highway captures the main point of journalist Tom Wilber’s most recent novel, “Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes, and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale.” That message: Pennsylvania is a pioneer in energy resource development. In his work, Wilber comprehensively documents a once long-standing law suit between five families of Dimock, Pa, and natural gas giant Cabot Oil & Gas Co due to the company’s hydraulic fracturing and the practice’s contamination of the water wells.   [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Freeport LNG Is Months Away From U.S. Export Approval, Take The Plunge Seeking Alpha Stephan Dube According to the head of Baker Botts LLP's LNG on April 15, Freeport LNG may get expanded approval from the U.S. Energy Department to export liquefied natural gas in the next quarter or two.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 State-hired fracking consultant listed as IOGA member (UPDATED) Capitol Confidential Jon Campbell Updated throughout with reaction, DEC comment. A consultant hired by the state to assess the impacts of shale-gas drilling is a member of one of New York’s largest gas-industry groups, according to a letter posted by the trade organization Monday. Ecology and Environment Inc., an Erie County-based environmental consulting firm, was one of about 200 groups listed as a member on a message sent by the Independent Oil and Gas Association to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday morning. The letter—you can read it here—calls on Cuomo to allow large-scale hydraulic fracturing in New York as other states have, citing various studies and government officials who have vouched for its safety. It was written “on behalf of IOGA of NY’s members”—a list that includes Ecology and Environment, according to the letter.  [Full Story] Apr 22, 2013 Natural Gas Boom's Top 3 LNG Exporters: 3rd Promising Player, Chevron Seeking Alpha Stephan Dube Within the last few years, natural gas production (UNG) has increased significantly in the U.S. As a matter of fact, this source of energy is now more accessible and cheaper than 30 years ago with the profusion of shale gas that has been discovered throughout North America and with a relatively new technology, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling which improved significantly the performance and efficiency of recovered gas. The abundance and the increasing demand for this resource caused the commodity price to go down as a result. New applications for natural gas appeared, assuring a more constant demand. Actually, natural gas is cheaper in the U.S. than in much of the rest of the world. Emerging markets are in great need of energy to sustain its swift growth and natural gas represents an alternative to oil. For more information about the shale gas revolution, please take a moment to read my article discussing about the possible greatest boom ever for the U.S. economy here.  [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 Resource Shock: How Resource Scarcity and Climate Change Could Produce a Global Explosion Whether you know it or not, you’re on a new planet, a resource-shock world of a sort humanity has never before experienced. Alter Net Brace yourself. You may not be able to tell yet, but according to global experts and the U.S. intelligence community, the earth is already shifting under you. Whether you know it or not, you’re on a new planet, a resource-shock world of a sort humanity has never before experienced. Two nightmare scenarios -- a global scarcity of vital resources and the onset of extreme climate change -- are already beginning to converge and in the coming decades are likely to produce a tidal wave of unrest, rebellion, competition, and conflict. Just what this tsunami of disaster will look like may, as yet, be hard to discern, but experts warn of “water wars” over contested river systems, global food riots sparked by soaring prices for life’s basics, mass migrations of climate refugees (with resulting anti-migrant violence), and the breakdown of social order or the collapse of states. At first, such mayhem is likely to arise largely in Africa, Central Asia, and other areas of the underdeveloped South, but in time all regions of the planet will be affected.  [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 Tim DeChristopher’s Peaceful Uprising EcoWatch At a time when the debate over climate change is finally gaining post-election traction and hot topics such as fracking and the Keystone XL pipeline have captured public attention, the documentary Bidder 70 is poised to showcase a movement that has steadily gathered force, particularly among millenials, who harbor grave concerns for the increasingly perilous future. The feature-length documentary chronicles how renowned activist Tim DeChristopher’s civil disobedience blazed new opportunities for the climate justice movement.  [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 California is new fracking battleground Politico Talia Buford The home of the Hollywood liberals is the nation’s newest battleground on fracking. California is the latest state to embark on a fierce debate over whether and how to regulate the oil- and gas-extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing — a controversy already roiling politics in rural Pennsylvania and inspiring an endless soap opera in New York state.   [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 A tale of two Earth Day heroes: Tim DeChristopher and Sandra Steingraber Grist Bill McKibben Earth Day, oddly, has never been a huge deal for me. I’m just a little too young to really remember its remarkable debut in 1970, when one American in 10 went out in the streets to demand action on clean air and water. That unprecedented activism laid the groundwork for the swift passage of legislation, and the almost-as-swift rehabilitation of lakes and rivers. But in the years after, many Earth Day celebrations drifted in a slightly more corporate direction; there wasn’t anything wrong with them, but they didn’t seem to be helping arrest environmentalism’s slide into relative impotence. This year, however, the holiday really resonates, because there are two heroes reminding us of the sacrifices they’ve made to move the fight forward, and the way the rest of us need to step up our game.   [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 Safety issues feared as natural gas industry takes off Courier-Post Jim Walsh Some New Jersey utilities are looking to a bright future, one illuminated by the glow of plentiful and low-priced natural gas. But environmentalists see a more murky picture, saying an increased role for the fuel could lead to cleaner air — or might backfire if safety measures are ignored. “Gas production is a major industrial activity, and if it’s done poorly there are real risks,” said Mark Brownstein at the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. “On the question of whether the gas is being produced safely, the jury is still out.”   [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 When will New York officials finally decide on hydraulic fracturing? After many wrong predictions, no one ventures a guess Star Gazette Jon Campbell ALBANY — When state Health Commissioner Nirav Shah announced in early March that his much-anticipated review of shale gas drilling would be finished in “the next few weeks,” Stephen Herz was skeptical. He had reason to be. Herz and everyone following the debate on hydraulic fracturing had heard it from Shah before. Twice, in fact — once in January and again in February.  [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 Remembering Earth Day.... The Marcellus Effect Many years ago - back in the last century millennium we gathered in great number and pushed our government to protect our air and water. The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970. Later that year, on December 31, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon (R) signed the Clean Air Act and at the same created the Environmental Protection Agency to create and enforce regulations to protect people from air pollution hazardous to our health - specifically sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulates, ozone and lead. Two years later Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding Nixon's veto, and in 1974 the Safe Drinking Water Act was signed.  [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 Decision on fracking is anyone's guess Poughkeepsie Journal Jon Campbell ALBANY — When state Health Commissioner Nirav Shah announced in early March that his much-anticipated review of shale-gas drilling would be finished in “the next few weeks,” Stephen Herz was skeptical. He had reason to be. Herz and everyone following the debate on hydraulic fracturing had heard it from Shah before, twice — once in January and again in February. At various times since 2008, New York regulators have taken their best guess at when the state would decide on whether to allow large-scale fracking, the much-debated technique used to unlock gas from the Marcellus Shale. Each time, they’ve been off.  [Full Story] Apr 21, 2013 Legislators Trying to Temporarily Stall California Fracking Lawyers and Settlements Gordon Gibb Sacramento, CA: A California fracking lawsuit initiated at the beginning of the year seeks enforcement of existing California laws that require oversight of an increasingly controversial method of oil and gas extraction. The lawsuit, filed January 24 in Alameda County Superior Court, suggests the required oversight is not happening and that existing laws are not properly enforced.  [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Empire eyes $43M pipeline in Steuben County The Corning Leader Derrick Ek LINDLEY — A company wants to build a new natural gas pipeline through Steuben County. Empire Pipeline’s proposed $43 million, 18-mile pipeline would run through the towns of Tuscarorara, Lindley and Caton.  [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Fracking drives potentially explosive demand for potentially explosive ammonia factories Grist John Upton The U.S. could soon be home to a lot more ammonia factories — not a comforting thought after a deadly explosion at an ammonia fertilizer plant in Texas on Wednesday evening. You can blame the fracking boom. Ammonia is used to produce fertilizer, industrial explosives (like those used in mining), plastics, and other products. It’s becoming cheaper to produce in the U.S. because one of its main feedstocks is natural gas, and natural gas, in case you haven’t heard, is being fracked here at a breakneck pace and sold for bargain-basement prices.   [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Firm ordered to remove shale-site explosives Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Don Hopey A seismic blasting company gathering geological information for Marcellus Shale gas drilling has been ordered by federal and state agencies to remove 136 explosive charges from holes it drilled on an active mine reclamation site along the Monongahela River in Fayette County. The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered CGGVeritas Land Inc., which holds a valid state blasting permit, to remove the explosives because such blasting activity is prohibited on mine reclamation sites.   [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Bill Moyers: A Mother's War Against Toxic Trespassers AlterNet Bill Moyers, Sandra Steingraber BILL MOYERS: Welcome.This week in the streets of Boston, we were reminded once again that civilization is too often a thin veneer stretched across the passions of the human heart, with those who would commit acts of violence trying to disrupt and even destroy the fragile commons we call society. Fortunately, there are people who will not be deterred from the work of civilization, who will even from time to time go up against authority in peaceful disobedience, taking a nonviolent stand for a greater good. People like Sandra Steingraber, my guest. SANDRA STEINGRABER: Fight! Fight! Fight! BILL MOYERS: We met for this conversation the day before she was to be sentenced to jail. It's quite a story. At the age of 20, Sandra Steingraber was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Several other family members also had the disease, but it couldn't be genetic because she’s adopted. So Steingraber suspected something toxic in her Illinois hometown’s drinking water and that led to an unusual wager. She talked about it in this 2010 documentary:   [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Sunday Dialogue: Gas Drilling and Our Energy Future The New York Times Letters Readers React Mr. Poeton asks the wrong question. The issue is not what we can do “to permit fracking but also assure the public of its safety.” The issue is rather whether fracking can be done safely at all. In framing the question as he does, Mr. Poeton pre-emptively rules out a growing body of evidence that there may be no such thing as safe fracking. Research by Prof. Robert Howarth and colleagues at Cornell finds that fugitive methane emissions from natural gas production, almost impossible to eliminate, may be a worse greenhouse gas problem than carbon dioxide, and may even lead to runaway global warming. This is only the most ominous finding that suggests it is foolish to presume that this dangerous procedure can be done safely. ADRIAN KUZMINSKI Fly Creek, N.Y., April 17, 2013 The writer is the founder of Sustainable Otsego, an advocacy group. Fracking for gas has not reduced America’s dependence on foreign oil as we don’t use natural gas in our cars or oil to produce electricity. This common and incorrect assertion is a window into other false propaganda claims about fracking for gas. The gas companies continue to deny that there has been even one instance of groundwater contamination from fracking — despite multiple proofs of this happening in Texas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and other states. The claim that fracking for gas is better for the climate is also proving false as so much methane leaks from the wells, pipelines and the fracking process itself that it negates any climate advantage over coal. Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide for decades. Most of all, industry and Pennsylvania state studies prove that these wells leak and crack — 6 percent of them immediately, and more than 50 percent over time. This cannot be prevented by regulation or fixed after it occurs. America should reject these false claims for fracking and pursue energy efficiency and clean energy instead. MARK RUFFALO New York, April 18, 2013 Mr. Ruffalo, the actor, is writing on behalf of Artists Against Fracking. Mr. Poeton addresses only the immediate problem of fracking and water safety, without mentioning the many other problems associated with fracking. Should fracking come to our town in the Catskills, for example, a rural area will be transformed into an industrial site. Hundreds of trucks will continuously travel back and forth, 24 hours a day, on what are currently lightly traveled small town and county roads (whose maintenance is paid for by town and county taxes). For the drilling itself, millions of gallons of water will be drawn from our rivers and aquifers. Anyone who assumes that natural gas is “clean” and comes without a price has been sold a bill of goods by the gas industry. Moreover, for many of us who own homes near well sites or the roads to and from them, property values will decline precipitously. Once the wells run dry and the drillers depart — the inevitable endgame of this boom-and-bust industry — lingering fear about the safety of the land and water will make it unlikely that anyone would want to purchase homes or property anywhere near previous well sites. Is this really where we want to go? LAURIE FENDRICH Callicoon Center, N.Y., April 17, 2013   [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 The kind of people we 'antis' are The Daily Star Ron Bishop In the controversy over the extraction of petroleum resources from shale, people who oppose this energy industry expansion have been called hypocrites. Claims have been made that practically every dollar diverted from petroleum development defaults to coal, and those who try to promote renewable energy resources wind up assisting that default. I am writing, not to dispute these allegations, but to lament them. We are hopelessly addicted to cheap energy. Any action that might drive up the cost of driving to work, heating the house, growing food or manufacturing wares is out of the question. We’ve never really regulated the energy industry, and we aren’t going to start now, all empty promises aside. If we make coal, oil and gas companies bear the costs to clean up their messes and make full restitution to people they’ve harmed, then coal, oil and gas will become a lot more expensive.  [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Coal-backed research takes on mining health studies CHARLESTON GAZETTE Ken Ward Jr. CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Scientists backed by a $15 million industry-funded research project are picking apart -- and trying to disprove -- a series of studies that found coalfield residents near mountaintop-removal mining operations face greater risks of serious illness and premature death. Five papers on the issue were presented last week during a meeting hosted by the Appalachian Research Initiative for Environmental Science, or ARIES, an industry-funded program based at Virginia Tech. Industry groups, including the National Mining Association, have previously funded work aimed at questioning the mountaintop-removal health studies produced by West Virginia University researcher Michael Hendryx and a variety of co-authors.  [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Tim DeChristopher, Imprisoned For Nearly Two Years, To Be Released On Earth Day DeSmogBlog Laurel Whitney Climate activist Tim DeChristopher is set to be released from prison on Earth Day, this Sunday April 21st, since being incarcerated on July 26, 2011. Tim DeChristopher created quite a ripple in the activist community when he tried to buy millions of dollars of land in December of 2008 in order to stop the oil and gas industry from snatching it up at an illegitimate auction put on by the outgoing Bush administration. While the incoming Obama administration cancelled the auction, Tim was caught in the fallout, while the rest of the auctioneers presumably roam free.   [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Disputes over natural gas royalty payments becoming more common Star-Telegram JIM FUQUAY Charles and Robert Warren didn't know quite what to think when the sales prices for natural gas listed on their Chesapeake Energy royalty statements were far less than prices listed by XTO Energy on statements for production on another property. "At first, the difference was small," said Charles Warren, a Dallas attorney, referring to checks sent by the producers for natural gas wells drilled separately on hundreds of acres in Johnson County. But the disparity grew and grew until "it was not a small amount," with the difference in total payments amounting to a six-figure amount, he said. In August 2011, Chesapeake had sent letters to royalty owners in the Barnett Shale explaining that the company would begin deducting "post-production costs" from the natural gas sales prices used to calculate royalty payments. At the time, the company said royalty owners whose leases prohibited those charges -- which represent the expense of gathering, compressing and treating gas so it can be sold -- would not see the costs deducted. The Warrens' lease prohibits such charges, but Chesapeake began deducting the costs anyway, according to a lawsuit filed last year by the Warrens and another Johnson County couple. Post-production costs can amount to roughly 80 cents to $1 per 1,000 cubic feet (mcf) -- a big slice when gas prices dip below $2 an mcf, as they did last year.   [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Explosion at Wyoming natural gas plan is still burning The Salt Lake Tribune Michael McFall A natural gas storage facility is on fire near Evanston, Wyo. On Saturday afternoon, crews responded to a report of an explosion at a natural gas facility north of Evanston, in the area of Whitney Canyon, according to Uinta, Wyo., County Fire and Ambulance.  [Full Story] Apr 20, 2013 Natural gas prices rise from historic lows The Advocate Kevin Begos, AP PITTSBURGH — Wholesale natural gas prices have doubled during the past year, and that’s bringing sighs of relief from an unusual variety of interests. Soaring production and an unusually warm winter sent prices plunging to less than $2 per thousand cubic feet last spring, prompting some to wonder whether the natural gas boom would kill demand for both coal and new renewable energy. But natural gas is now just over $4 per thousand cubic feet. Energy experts say prices in the $4 or $5 range won’t affect the increasing use of the fuel by consumers and industry since the price was $8 just a few years ago.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 When Will The Carbon Bubble Pop, Costing Fossil Fuel Investors $6 Trillion? Think Progress Ryan Koronowski A new study said fossil fuel investors could face a $6 trillion “bubble” as nations begin to regulate carbon pollution. [Bloomberg] Investors in carbon-intensive business could see $6 trillion wasted as policies limiting global warming stop them from exploiting their coal, oil and gas reserves, according to a report. The top 200 oil, gas and mining companies spent $674 billion last year finding and developing fossil fuel resources, according to research by the Carbon Tracker Initiative and a climate-change research unit at the London School of Economics. If this rate continues for the next decade some $6 trillion risks being wasted on “unburnable” or stranded assets, according to the report, released today.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Elmira faces ups and downs of gas business:LISTEN Innovation Trail Matt Richmond The City of Elmira is just seven miles from the Pennsylvania border. And for four years, the natural gas boom in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier crossed over the border and boosted Elmira’s economy. But that boom has slowed down. During the peak of activity, between 2008 and 2011, Chemung County had a median income growth of 27%, according to county executive Tom Santulli. The slowdown began in 2012, leading to a $3 million decline in sales tax revenue. Santulli says the growth and last year’s decline were mainly driven by the natural gas industry across the border.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Silly New York town board drops ban on talking about fracking Grist John Upton No, you crazy members of the town board of Sanford, N.Y. No, you cannot ban people from asking you to ban fracking during town board meetings. The board members grew weary of constantly hearing from constituents on the controversial practice of hydrofracking for natural gas. Fracking is not currently allowed in New York, but if that changes, residents of the town, which is near the border of the heavily fracked state of Pennsylvania, fear that their community would be one of the first fracked and their water supply one of the first poisoned.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Anti-frackers score victory on upstate NY home front... Town of Sanford board forced to repeal fracking gag law Shale Gas Review Tom Wilber Under legal pressure from anti-fracking groups, the Town of Sanford has repealed a law that prohibits people from publically discussing fracking at town meetings. With the repeal, officials from The National Resources Defense Council announced this week they are dropping their case against the town. In September, members of the Sanford Town Board passed a resolution banning the discussion of fracking during the public comment period at town meetings. The NRDC filed the lawsuit in February with the Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy in the U.S. Court of the Northern District of New York. The Town of Sanford resolution is unconstitutional, according to the complaint, because it bans speech at public meetings “about a matter of substantial public interest that has generated significant political activity.”   [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Nightly Vigils Support Activists Jailed for Protesting Corporation's 'Toxic Trespass' Common Dreams Andrea Germanos Nightly vigils began Thursday in support of three activists serving 15-day jail sentences for their act of civil disobedience against the "toxic trespass" of hazardous chemicals by an energy company. The jailed upstate New York activists/community members, biology professor, author and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber along with Melissa Chipman and Michael Dineen, the Ithaca Journal reports, were among a dozen people, dubbed the “Seneca Lake 12,” who were arrested for trespassing at the Inergy natural gas storage facility on state Route 14 in Reading. The 12, along with another dozen people, blocked the gates to protest Inergy’s plan to store natural gas and propane in salt caverns under Seneca Lake and what they see as the company’s plan to turn the region into a transportation hub for natural gas and propane shipments.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Study: $6 Trillion "Carbon Bubble" Will Burn Investors and Planet Earth Common Dreams Lauren McCauley We are facing a $6 trillion carbon "bubble" over the next decade unless regulators, governments and investors re-evaluate our carbon-dependent energy business model and, finally, take seriously the great climate threat, says a new report published Friday. According to the report—"Unburnable Carbon 2013: Wasted Capital and Stranded Assets (pdf)— researched and presented by the nonprofit Carbon Tracker and the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, at least two-thirds of the world's estimated coal, oil and gas reserves have to remain underground if the international community hopes to keep global warming beneath the 2C degree goal and avoid the threshold for "dangerous" climate change.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Leaking Gas Well Capped in Denton NBCDFW Greg Janda A leaking pipeline at a gas well in Denton prompted evactuations and restricted the airspace over the municipal airport for several hours Friday. The leak was in an industrial area with a few homes, four of which were evacuated. Additionally, Jim Christal Road was shut down eastbound at Masch Branch Road and westbound at Western Boulevard, according to a tweet by the Denton Police Department. A Denton Public Information officer said a gas pipe had separated from the well and that fracking water and natural gas was rising into the air directly around the well site.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Yoko Ono's fight against fracking gets help from famous friends Adrian Grenier and Susan Sarandon The Guardian TESS EYRICH Yoko Ono recruited the help of some powerful industry pals at an anti-fracking event in New York City on Friday. Backed by Adrian Grenier, Susan Sarandon and Rufus Wainwright, Ono unveiled her Imagine No Fracking campaign at ABC Carpet and Home in Manhattan. The 80-year-old activist has prioritized environmentalism for decades.   [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Pa. firm opens new plant to treat Marcellus waste Corning Leader Associated Press TIOGA, PA. — A Pennsylvania firm has opened a new plant to treat and recycle wastewater generated by Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling. Aquatech International Corp., which is based in Canonsburg, says the new plant opened in Tioga County on Wednesday. That’s in northeast Pennsylvania near the New York border. The company says the Tioga facility has a central treatment plant that uses a combination of technologies to treat drilling fluids, the highly salty brine that flows back from wells, and other oil and natural gas wastewaters. Critics of gas drilling, or fracking, are concerned about the huge amounts of wastewater generated by a recent drilling boom. Treated wastewater can be reused in other wells, thus reducing the amount of fresh water that drillers use to fracture, or stimulate, well production.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Update on Arkansas oil spill: Exxon rejects AG request to pay for investigation, offers residents $10,000 and sends damaged pipeline off for study Treehugger Chris Tackett Today marks the fourth week of the cleanup in Mayflower, Arkansas, after the Exxon Mobil Pegasus pipeline ruptured spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into a neighborhood and wetland. Here's a collection of news related to the spill from the past week. On Monday, a 52 foot piece of the pipeline was removed, including the section where the 22 foot gash that was the source of the leak. KATV has video: There has been debate and confusion about whether the oil that spilled was tar sands oil or conventional crude. Maria Gallucci at InsideClimate News has a good post on what exactly spill out of the Exxon pipeline. Exxon has been careful to not call the oil dilbit or tar sands oil, instead calling it heavy crude. Gallucci explains it is nasty stuff whatever you call it: Like the other dilbits, Wabasca Heavy contains bitumen blended with a hydrocarbon diluent, usually natural gas liquids; benzene, a known human carcinogen; and hydrogen sulfide, a corrosive and poisonous chemical compound, according to the Cenovus MSDS. Wabasca Heavy also contains at least eight other hazardous constituents, including N-hexane and naphthalene, according to a separate data sheet that Exxon provided to cleanup workers in Arkansas. Following the spill, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel launched an investigation and requested that Exxon Mobil pay $4 million for the cost of the investigation. Exxon has rejected that request.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 New York’s New Abolitionists: The Fight to Stop Fracking EcoWatch Ellen Cantarow High-volume hydraulic fracturing—the high-pressure propulsion of chemical-and-sand-laced water into deep shale formations to force out methane—is an act of industrial violence that upends half a billion years of safe storage of the gas. But what happens after the drilling, makes this industry perhaps the most invasive in human history. Vast architectures of production and processing have fanned out from shale-gas wells to penetrate once-tranquil rural American regions. The infrastructures include thousands of miles of pipelines, compressor stations that compact shale gas for transport, millions of diesel trucks that service the industry and salt caverns. Repeat: salt caverns. For millennia, salt has been mined for consumption and food preservation. The caverns, or disused mines, located a thousand feet and more beneath ground and water, are now being used for unconventional oil and gas storage, with catastrophic results. In Louisiana, the collapse of salt caverns used this way has resulted in massive seepage of gas and oil into surface and groundwater, necessitating the evacuation of whole communities. According to a report this past January, in 2002 salt caverns constituted only seven percent of the U.S.’s 407 underground gas storage sites. But between 1972 and 2004 they were responsible for all 10 of the catastrophic accidents involving gas storage. For the past several years one of New York’s grassroots anti-fracking groups, Gas Free Seneca, has been trying to draw public attention to plans by a Missouri-based corporation, Inergy, LP, the U.S.’s largest energy storage and transportation corporation, to use two salt caverns located beside the lake for storing millions of gallons of unconventional gas. This would transform a New York State wonder, the historic Finger Lakes region, into the Northeast’s biggest gas storage and transportation hub, endangering the area’s ecology and the lives of residents.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 The Power of Protest Huffington Post Maya K Van Rossum Clean water, clean air, and healthy food grown in healthy soils are fundamental human rights. And yet, those rights are being taken from us in service to the greed and power of the energy industry. Politicians benefitting from high-value campaign contributions are laying this country bare to old-money energy sources dependent on fracking, drilling, mountaintop removal, and ever-increasing toxic contamination that are polluting our bodies, our drinking water, air, and food supply. These extreme energy practices are transforming our once-safe residential communities and public lands into unhealthy and polluted industrial landscapes that make our daily lives fraught with increasing peril. (Have you seen the pictures of the oil spill that recently consumed a residential community in Arkansas?) We have a moral obligation to do what we can to keep our natural environment healthy for generations to enjoy. Are we doing all we can? Across the nation, communities concerned about the health of our environment and the ramifications of global climate change are feeling disenfranchised, undermined, and betrayed by elected officials at every level of government. The increasing loyalty to the energy industry demonstrated by politicians is causing a rise in public dissent. After repeated and fruitless efforts to wade through the approved bureaucratic channels and have their voices heard regarding our energy future, people of all walks of life are turning to their last option: protest. Protests, sit-ins, blockades, and street theater are among the methods being used to demand a sustainable energy path that rejects fracking, drilling, and other extreme forms of energy extraction. In 2013 we have already seen a variety of actions:  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Supporters of anti-fracking amendment unveil 2 billboards Vindy.com David Skolnick Supporters of an anti-fracking charter amendment in the city unveiled two billboards in their campaign to persuade voters to cast ballots May 7 for the issue. Members of Frack Free Youngs-town also urged registered voters in the city to cast ballots early for the “community bill of rights.” “We have to protect ourselves,” said Lynn Anderson, a Frack Free member, Thursday in front of one of the billboards on South Avenue, near Dewey Avenue in the parking lot of Crim’s Corners South Avenue Gas Mart.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 The Facts on Fracking Moyers & Company Julia Conley and John Light Hydraulic fracturing or fracking — a method of extracting natural gas from underground shale formations — has become a contentious issue across America, especially in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, states that sit on top of the Marcellus Shale, the largest known deposit of shale gas in America. The shale formation could contain nearly 500 trillion cubic feet of gas — enough to power all American homes for 50 years. Oil and mining companies want to get the gas out, but environmentalist groups say the process is not safe. Here are the facts:  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Could Fracking Fizzle On Its Own? Columbia University Sustainabile Business Could natural gas fracking fizzle out on its own? We've reported on studies that show that fracking is likely to become a bubble - that the industry has been far over-shooting the amount of natural gas that's available or that can be extracted cost effectively. It looks more and more like that's the case.   [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Groups want to know, what's in fracking fluid? Wyoming Tribune Eagle Trevor Brown CHEYENNE -- A lawsuit seeking to force oil and gas companies to disclose the chemicals they use during hydraulic fracturing is being appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court. A coalition of environmental and public interest groups is challenging last month’s district court ruling that affirmed the state’s hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, policy. The rule requires companies to submit the list of chemicals they use in the drilling process to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Cuomo: Nothing new on fracking decision Lower Hudson Blog Jon Campbell The latest on New York’s ongoing hydrofracking decision-making process? There’s nothing new, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday. Cuomo, appearing on public-radio program “The Capitol Pressroom,” said he’s waiting on the Department of Health to complete its review of fracking before a decision is made. He offered no timeline on when that review may be completed.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Silly New York town board drops ban on talking about fracking Grist John Upton No, you crazy members of the town board of Sanford, N.Y. No, you cannot ban people from asking you to ban fracking during town board meetings. The board members grew weary of constantly hearing from constituents on the controversial practice of hydrofracking for natural gas. Fracking is not currently allowed in New York, but if that changes, residents of the town, which is near the border of the heavily fracked state of Pennsylvania, fear that their community would be one of the first fracked and their water supply one of the first poisoned.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Open house on 'fracking' in national forest set for April 25 The Daily Home Shane Dunaway The National Forests in Alabama and the Southeastern States Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management will host a public open house meeting April 25 from 5-8 p.m. The open house, held at the Gateway Park Lodge in Montgomery, will provide an opportunity for citizens to learn about the development and processing of oil and natural gas on national forest system lands.   [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Cuomo: Nothing new on fracking decision The Journal News Jon Campbell The latest on New York’s ongoing hydrofracking decision-making process? There’s nothing new, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday. Cuomo, appearing on public-radio program “The Capitol Pressroom,” said he’s waiting on the Department of Health to complete its review of fracking before a decision is made. He offered no timeline on when that review may be completed. “There is nothing new there,” Cuomo said. “We’re still waiting for the Department of Health to make their decision.”  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Cornell Employee Jailed After Environmental Protest The Cornell Daily Sun Kritika Oberoi Three anti-fracking activists — including a Cornell employee — who protested against a company’s plans to build gas storage facilities in the Finger Lakes last month received a 15-day jail sentence Wednesday. Melissa Chipman, Michael Dineen, a research support specialist at Cornell, and Sandra Steingraber were part of a group called the Seneca Lake 12, which protested the plans of Inergy, a propane supplier, to create natural gas storage facilities in underground salt caverns under and around Seneca Lake. The protesters blockaded Inergy’s gas compressor station site at the southwest end of Seneca Lake on March 18, keeping the company’s trucks out for an hour before being arrested for refusing to disband, according to Reed Steberger ’13.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Chris Abruzzo Takes Over As Interim DEP Secretary PA Environment Digest E. Christopher Abruzzo, Deputy Chief of Staff for Gov. Tom Corbett, took over this week as Acting Secretary for the Department of Environmental Protection. He is expected to hold the position until Gov. Corbett names a new Secretary. In his inaugural note to DEP employees, Abruzzo said Wednesday-- “I want to take a moment to express how pleased I am to have joined the DEP team. As a deputy chief of staff to the Governor, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Secretary Krancer and many at DEP over the last two years on a significant number of issues and initiatives. I fully appreciate the great work being done by the DEP team each and every day, and I am honored to have been asked to serve as Acting Secretary. Having worked in the Office of Attorney General for 15 years, I understand the culture of an agency filled with dedicated professionals who could work anywhere, but choose to do the work they love protecting the Commonwealth and its citizens.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 DEP Advisory Committee To Consider New Drilling Reg Draft, Revised Permit Fees PA Environment Digest DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board will meet on April 23 to consider a new draft of the Chapter 78 drilling regulation changes required by Act 13 of last year and a new proposal to change the drilling permit fees proposed by the department. The new draft of the Chapter 78 regulation changes is dated April 2 which supercedes the January 22 draft the Board had been working to review. The draft changes in drilling permit fees would eliminate calculating the permit fee by the depth of the well and replaces it with a flat fee of $4,200 for a vertical unconventional (Marcellus) well and $5,000 for a nonvertical Marcellus Shale well. Under the old fee calculation, the highest fee for wells of up to 12,000 feet in depth would have been $3,000, plus $100 for every 500 feet after that.  [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Chesapeake founder to get $11 million as he builds new company Fuel Fix Bradley Olson and Jim Polson Chesapeake Energy Corp. will pay $11.1 million in cash to former Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon under a termination agreement as he seeks to build a new energy explorer. The terms of the agreement entitle him to a 28.125 percent interest in a Citation X aircraft through the end of 2016, the Oklahoma City-based company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. McClendon also retains the right to entertain friends and clients in the company-owned suite during Oklahoma City Thunder professional basketball games and exercise at the health club on the company’s campus.   [Full Story] Apr 19, 2013 Weak Fracking Market Could Deflate Halliburton's Earnings Forbes Trefis Team Halliburton, the world’s second largest oil field services firm, will release its Q1 2013 earnings on April 22. Over the last year, the company’s performance has been impacted by weak North American land-based drilling and higher raw material costs while being offset by a better international performance and a stronger performance in the U.S. offshore market.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 PVR Disappoints As Natural Gas Operating Costs Rise Forbes With rising costs and declining commodity prices, PVR Partners (PVR), a natural gas master limited partnership (MLP) has been disappointing the investors with sub-par results. In view of the cloudy outlook, investors should avoid this Zacks Rank # 5 (Strong Sell) stock for the time being. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, PVR Partners owns and operates a network of natural gas midstream pipelines and processing plants, and owns and manages coal and natural resource properties. PVR operates in two segments: coal and natural resource management, and natural gas midstream.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Is there fracking fraud and lease flipping in Kasich’s Ohio? The Free Press Bob Fitrakis The FBI and the state Inspector General’s office are investigating mineral rights lease flipping and falsification of public records in Noble County. Environmentalists claim this is a precursor to massive fracking planned in the rural Ohio area. One family affected by this are the Bonds. They charge that state officials are harassing them and covering up the theft of gas and mineral leases at the behest of Ohio Governor John Kasich and his quest unleash the forces of fracking on rural Ohio. The investigation focuses on Form 7, a public record that is filed with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to identify who actually owns the mineral rights under the surface land. Each Form 7 is supposed to be accompanied by a mineral lease recorded at the County Recorder’s office.   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Citing fracking concerns, environmentists sue to stop oil leases on 17,000 acres in California The Republic Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Two environmental groups are suing the federal government over the December auction of nearly 18,000 acres of oil leases on prime public lands in Central California. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit on Thursday alleging that the Bureau of Land Management auctioned off the rights to drill for oil and gas without adequately considering the potential risks to the region's water supply, wildlife and air posed by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Sanford Rescinds Fracking Order Channel 34 Local and regional fractivists are celebrating a victory as the Broome County Town of Sanford has rescinded a rule that banned public discussion of fracking at town board meetings. The Natural Resources Defense Council had filed a lawsuit against the town after it prohibited people from speaking about the controversial drilling technique during the meeting's public comment period. Previously, an attorney for Sanford told NewsChannel 34 that the board was beseiged by lengthy and repetitious comments about the drilling process, especially by people opposed to fracking. It offered instead that residents could submit their views in writing to the town clerk for review.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Sanford Fracking Gag Order Lifted Fox 40 WICZ The Town of Sanford has done an about-face when it comes to public comment on fracking this in the face of a lawsuit. Sanford had prohibited verbal public comment on the topic, instead limiting comment to written submissions to the town board. The Natural Resources Defense Council and Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy brought suit as a result, saying the prohibition violated the right to free speech. Sanford passed an ordinance last week allowing spoken comment and Thursday the two environmental groups dropped their lawsuit. "You can talk about barking dogs but you can not speak about fracking. And that was very unsettling to us. So we are just delighted that now perhaps we can return to open government and have a discussion on the real facts," said Sanford resident Mary Colvard. Al Millius, an attorney who represented Sanford, said the town decided the cost of fighting the suit outweighed the benefit. The new ordinance does give the board the option of limiting comment from any person to three minutes.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Sanford residents drop lawsuit as fracking "gag order" ends BNG Matt Porter Binghamton, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Residents of the town of Sanford and their attorney ended a lawsuit against the town claiming victory. The town board issued a 'gag order' on public comment on hydraulic fracturing last September.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Lawsuit dropped against Town of Sanford YNN Melissa Kakareka Residents in the Town of Sanford can once again comment on hydrofracking at Town Board meetings. The town has overturned a resolution banning discussion of the controversial procedure, preventing a First Amendment lawsuit from moving forward. Our Melissa Kakareka has the details. TOWN OF SANFORD, N.Y. -- Last August, residents in the Town of Sanford presented a petition to the Town Board asking for moratorium on hydrofracking. The debate over the controversial issue became so heated, that the Town Board passed a resolution in September barring residents from speaking about hydrofracking during town meetings. "We were basically told, 'you have no right to talk about fracking. You can talk about barking dogs, but you cannot speak about fracking,'" said resident Mary Colvard.   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Pa. firm opens new plant to treat Marcellus Shale wastewater The Republic Associated Press TIOGA, Pennsylvania — A Pennsylvania firm has opened a new plant to treat and recycle wastewater generated by Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling. Aquatech International Corp., which is based in Canonsburg, says the new plant opened in Tioga County on Wednesday. That's in northeast Pennsylvania near the New York border. The company says the Tioga facility has a central treatment plant that uses a combination of technologies to treat drilling fluids, the highly salty brine that flows back from wells, and other oil and natural gas wastewaters.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Police investigating remains of 2 small explosive devices at Shell’s Pa. gas drilling sites Washington Post Associated Press PITTSBURGH — State police say they’re investigating reports that remains of small explosive devices were found at two natural gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania. Shell Oil Co. spokeswoman Kelly OpDeWeegh says in an email Thursday that the company contacted state police on April 12 after “charred debris” was found at an inactive drill site in Tioga County. Shell also informed authorities of a possibly similar finding on a different pad on March 21.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Sandra Steingraber Issues Statement Before Being Led to Jail: "Act of Civil Disobedience Is a Last Resort for Me" AlterNet Alison Rose Levy In an act of civil disobedience which she called a “last resort” after having taken “every legal avenue to raise serious health, economic, and environmental concerns,” along with two others, the distinguished biologist, scholar, author and activist Sandra Steingraber, PhD was arrested and imprisoned just days after her appearance on Bill Moyers. On the Moyers show, she discussed the sense of responsibility, the scientific knowledge and the concerns she feels as a mother of two-—all of which underlie her activism. Steingraber, who used a grant she received from the Heinz Foundation to launch New Yorkers Against Fracking, a coalition of fractivist grass roots groups, which was instrumental in urging the New State Department of Environmental Conservation to delay the decision to issue licenses to frack New York State, resides with her family in the Seneca Lake area of New York. Steingraber and others oppose the industrialization of the pristine Finger Lakes region, a magnet for tourism, known for its beauty, serenity, vineyards, lakes, and farms. Missouri-based Inergy, LLP, has built a compressor station, (a gas storage and transportation project) located in the Town of Reading. The facility is on Seneca Lake, which supplies water to 100,000 people. On March 18th, Steingraber and 11 others who became known as the “Seneca Lake 12” blockaded access to the Inergy compressor station site and were arrested.   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Mexico Lacks Water to Frack for Shale Gas Inter Press Service Emilio Godoy Mexico plans to expand shale gas exploration this year, but it could run into a shortage of water, which is essential to hydraulic fracturing or fracking, the method used to capture natural gas from shale rocks. “In Mexico there isn’t enough water. Where are they going to get it to extract shale gas?” Professor Miriam Grunstein at the Centre for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) remarked in an interview with IPS. She is opposed to the involvement of PEMEX, Mexico’s state-run oil company, in fracking, and recommends that it instead focus on higher priority sectors. In 2012, a lengthy drought especially affected a large part of central and northern Mexico, with a heavy impact on agriculture and livestock, and on living conditions in dozens of rural villages. And the forecast for this year is not much different.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 LETTER FROM CHEMUNG COUNTY JAIL, PART 1 Sandra Steingrabber Letter When Henry David Thoreau spend a night in jail for civil disobedience–defining the term in the process–he was served chocolate and brown bread for breakfast. The tray that was slid under my bars at 5:00 am. this morning contained nothing as tasty. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to say what the ingredients were. Packets of instant hot coca (artificial) are available from the commissary for a price–along with ramen noodles, decaf coffee, Jolly Rogers, shampoo, pencils, envelopes and paper. There is no window in my cell. The lights are on all night. The television is on all day. Through the bars that make up the fourth wall of my new living quarters, I have a view of the catwalk, which is patrolled by guards, and then another wall of bars, and beyond those bars is a window made up of small panes of opaque glass. At about seven o’clock, one of the inmates asked for fresh air, and the guard, whom everyone calls Murphy’s Law, cranked open the grid of panes, just a little. Now, I can stand at my own bard, and move my head in different directions–jumping up and down works the best–and see through the scrims of multiple layers of bars– a glimpse of the outside world. There are row houses with windows and no bars–which fact suddenly seems miraculous–and I thought I saw a bird fly by. No trees through; only slinky–like concertina wire. Somewhere, beyond the shouting of the television, there are church bells. Thoreau said, about his own experience with incarceration, that the confinement of his physical self was inconsequential; the freedom was a state of mind. Or something like that. I have neither the book, nor Google, to help me fact--check. But I am very aware of my physical self, and sense that my biological life in jail is part of my message. Even though I am entirely cut off from everything, I know and love my children and my husband, the April return of birdsong and wildflowers and pollination and photosynthesis. I believe this is the place to speak about fossil fuel extraction in general and fracking infrastructure in specific.-2- I now inhabit an ugly, miserable, loud and ungraceful world. There are no flowers; no local, delicious food; no tranquil landscapes; and not even coffee or tea. If we do not want New York to become a prison of wellheads, pipelines and compressor stations; if we do not want the violence of climate change instability and mass species extinction; if we do not want to leave our children a diminished world bereft of frog song, bees, coral reefs, sea ice; then coming to a place as far removed from the rhythms of the natural world as a jail cell is not an inappropriate place to say so   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Natural gas price doubles in past year Scranton Times-Tribune Kevin Begos PITTSBURGH - Wholesale natural gas prices have doubled during the past year, and that's bringing sighs of relief from an unusual variety of interests. Soaring production and an unusually warm winter sent prices plunging to under $2 per thousand cubic feet last spring, prompting some to wonder whether the natural gas boom would kill demand for both coal and new renewable energy. But natural gas is now just over $4 per thousand cubic feet. Energy experts say prices in the $4 or $5 range won't affect the increasing use of the fuel by consumers and industry since the price was $8 just a few years ago. In Europe and Asia prices are even higher - $10 to $14.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 3 of the Seneca 12 protesters plead guilty, choose jail Steingraber, 2 others get 15 days each Odessa File READING CENTER, April 18 -- Three of the "Seneca 12" protesters arrested last month for trespassing on Inergy property pleaded guilty and refused to pay their fines Wednesday night in Town of Reading Court. As a result, each was sentenced to 15 days in jail and taken into custody. Noted environmental activist Sandra Steingraber, who that afternoon had given a fiery speech at a Seneca Harbor Park rally (pictured at right), read a similar but subdued version of the same speech in court before being sentenced by Town Justice Raymond H. Berry. Steingraber became emotional about halfway through her lengthy court statement, prompting tears among some of the onlookers -- mostly supporters who filled the courtroom to its 49-person capacity.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Carbon bubble will plunge the world into another financial crisis – report The Guardian Damian Carrington The world could be heading for a major economic crisis as stock markets inflate an investment bubble in fossil fuels to the tune of trillions of dollars, according to leading economists. "The financial crisis has shown what happens when risks accumulate unnoticed," said Lord (Nicholas) Stern, a professor at the London School of Economics. He said the risk was "very big indeed" and that almost all investors and regulators were failing to address it. The so-called "carbon bubble" is the result of an over-valuation of oil, coal and gas reserves held by fossil fuel companies. According to a report published on Friday, at least two-thirds of these reserves will have to remain underground if the world is to meet existing internationally agreed targets to avoid the threshold for "dangerous" climate change. If the agreements hold, these reserves will be in effect unburnable and so worthless – leading to massive market losses. But the stock markets are betting on countries' inaction on climate change. The stark report is by Stern and the thinktank Carbon Tracker. Their warning is supported by organisations including HSBC, Citi, Standard and Poor's and the International Energy Agency. The Bank of England has also recognised that a collapse in the value of oil, gas and coal assets as nations tackle global warming is a potential systemic risk to the economy, with London being particularly at risk owing to its huge listings of coal.   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Fracking’s sand man Shale Reporter Kimberley Sirk Oil and gas drilling is a physically demanding, dirty occupation. Getting the job done takes a lot of heavy equipment and protective gear. But according to recent studies, the protective gear isn't protecting workers as well as one would hope. Aside from toxic fumes produced above ground during fracking, clouds of dust also result. They cake on roads. They settle on drilling sites. And they also settle in the lungs of workers.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 New York becomes yogurt capital, passing California in production The Post-Standard Glenn Coin New York has become the yogurt capital of the United States, beating California in production in 2012 thanks to the Greek yogurt boom. According to a news release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office, New York produced 692 million pounds of all kinds of yogurt last year. California, which has more cows than any other state and has led for years in yogurt production, produced 587 million pounds. The 2012 numbers were a big turnaround from the year before, when California produced 627 million pounds and New York produced 554 million pounds. New York’s yogurt plants have nearly tripled in production in the past five years, the news release said. That includes all kinds of yogurt, but the state has particularly cultivated the high-protein Greek yogurt boom, led in New York by the Chobani Greek Yogurt plant in Chenango County.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Q Poll: Voters still split on fracking Politics on the Hudson Jon Campbell Stop me if you’ve heard this before—New York voters are pretty much split on hydrofracking, a poll released Thursday found. Quinnipiac University found 46 percent of state voters oppose drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. That number is unchanged from March, though support for drilling increased from 39 percent (an all-time low for Quinnipiac) to 42 percent. And the regional split is fairly consistent with what Quinnipiac has shown in the past. Opposition to drilling is highest in New York City—47 percent—while the city’s suburbs and upstate are both split.   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Three Arrested at Court Appearance for Protesting Fracking Infrastructure Storage Site EcoWatch More than 150 people packed the Town of Reading Court in New York on April 17 to witness what they believe is a shocking miscarriage of justice. Three members of a group dubbed the “Seneca Lake 12”—massage therapist Melissa Chipman of Schuyler County, farm owner Michael Dineen of Seneca County and Sandra Steingraber, PhD, author, biologist and distinguished scholar at Ithaca College—were sentenced to jail terms for their resistance to the heavy industrialization of the peaceful rural region they call home.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 NY town rescinds fracking 'gag order' after sued Bloomberg Businessweek Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Environmental groups have filed to dismiss a federal free speech lawsuit against an upstate New York town after the town board rescinded its ban on discussion of natural gas drilling at meetings. The town board in Sanford, in Broome County, passed a resolution in September saying no further discussion of gas drilling and fracking would be allowed because the emotional debate was disruptive and repetitive. The Natural Resources Defense Council and Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in February on behalf of town residents who opposed the so-called "gag order."  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 NY Remains Split On Fracking, But Knowledge Of Issue Is Growing YNN Capitol Tonight Nick Reisman New York voters remain divided over whether to allow the controversial natural gas drilling method known as hydrofracking should be allowed, but their knowledge of the issue has reached its highest point in two years, a Quinnipiac poll released this morning found. The poll found that 42 percent support drilling for the possible economic benefits, while 46 percent votes do not back hydrofracking over environmental concerns. “Fracking continues to divide the state by party, region and gender. The thumbs-down we found last time is moving back into a grey area. Voters still think it will bring new jobs – and some environmental damage,” said Mickey Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac Univerity Polling Institute.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Going Behind Bars to Protest Fracking Moyers & Company Biologist and activist Sandra Steingraber explains why she and others illegally blocked the driveway of natural gas company Inergy in upstate New York , a crime for which she went to jail on Wednesday, April 17 — a day after her interview with Bill Moyers for Moyers & Company. The protesters, known as the Seneca Lake 12, were demonstrating against fracking and Inergy’s plans to store millions of barrels of highly-pressurized gas in abandoned salt mines. Steingraber is serving a 15-day sentence. “I believe, as do many of my colleagues in the sciences, that it’s not safe to compress explosive gases and store them underneath and beside a lake that serves as the drinking water for a hundred thousand people,” she tells Bill. “From my point of view as a biologist and a mother, this out-of-state company… is trespassing in our community.”  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Anti-Fracking Activist Sandra Steingraber’s Pursuit of a Healthy Environment EcoWatch EcoWatch Sandra Steingraber PhD, the acclaimed author and ecologist, is determined to stop natural gas companies from ever conducting hydraulic fracturing in her upstate New York community. She was raised in a family whose members did not close their eyes to the horrors around them.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Ernest Moniz Nomination For Energy Secretary Approved By Senate Committee Huffington Post WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary nominee Ernest Moniz easily cleared his first hurdle in the Senate on Thursday, securing nearly unanimous support from the chamber's energy committee. With a vote of 21 to 1 in favor of the pick, Moniz's nomination will move on for consideration by the full Senate. It is unclear when that will take place, but Moniz is widely expected to be confirmed. Moniz, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would replace Energy Secretary Steven Chu who announced earlier this year that he was stepping down.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Three NY senators gearing up for Pennsylvania fracking trip The Journal News Jon Campbell A trio of New York state senators are planning a visit to Pennsylvania next week, where they’ll tour one of the state’s most-active counties when it comes to natural-gas drilling. Sens. David Carlucci, Cecilia Tkaczyk and Bill Perkins are all scheduled to take part in the trip, Carlucci said today. They’ll be in Susquehanna County—south of Binghamton—all day April 26. The trip is being organized by Citizens for Clean Water, a Pennsylvania-based group vocally opposed to hydrofracking. The senators—all Democrats, though Carlucci belongs to the Independent Democratic Conference—are scheduled to visit gas wells, pipelines, compressor stations and homes nearby. “I think it’s really important that we drill down to the facts and the science and get emotion out of the debate,” Carlucci said. “That’s why it’s important that we go down there and see it first hand.” Pennsylvania has had large-scale fracking in its state since 2007, while New York has kept it on hold. Carlucci, D-Clarkstown, Rockland County, has sponsored a bill that would place a two-year moratorium on hydrofracking, though it would also tie it to the completion of a pair of outside studies. He said he wants to meet with gas companies in the region, as well. “It’s really to see it first hand and hopefully share stories with (state Health Commissioner Nirav Shah),” Carlucci said. “Because I believe we are getting down to maybe some of our last chances to make sure that the science and not only the environment but the impact on human health are taken into the equation.” A decision on whether to allow large-scale fracking in New York currently awaits a report from Shah. There’s no timetable on when Shah’s report will be finished, though he said in January and March it was a “few weeks” away.   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Energy official: LNG export decisions coming soon Fuel Fix Jennifer A. Dlouhy The Energy Department is poised to start making decisions on exporting more domestic natural gas within months, a top Obama administration official told Congress on Thursday. The timetable — slightly faster than some analysts have predicted — comes as the Energy Department faces 20 applications to export some 26 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to countries that do not have free-trade agreements with the United States. But first, the Energy Department must finish wading through nearly 200,000 comments filed on the issue and a study that last year concluded more exports would translate to net economic benefits for the U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman told a Senate committee that staffers are “working through (the comments) as quickly as they responsibly can” and “very soon are going to be in a position to start making decisions on the record.”   [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Greenwashing from Coast to Coast Counterpunch SASHA ROSS So, when Wyden’s top aid of 18 years goes to work with Exxon a matter of weeks after the Pegasus Pipeline disaster—arguably Exxon’s worst spill in the lower 48—it does not spread shockwaves through the environmental community. Not only does it reveal the insufficiency of the Stop KXL movement, but it also reveals the extent of greenwashing that Exxon seeks to push with the $13 million that they spend on lobbying every year. Exxon is spending their money where it matters: cleaning up their image in DC. On Thursday March 28, the day before the Pegasus spill, Exxon officials hunkered down with the White House Office of Management and Budget to talk about fracking regulations. Only a few weeks later, Wyden would make similar overtures in a speech to Georgetown, which would “discuss his plans for transitioning to a lower-carbon economy, and include some thoughts about pros and cons of the administration’s ENR budget.” There is an eerie convergence between Exxon, the Senate’s ENR Council, and the national budget, which is elucidated with further insight into the “low carbon economy” that everyone seems to be talking about.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Natural Gas Drilling Harms Eyes, Causes Tumors, Destroys Air: The Ugly Truth Behind the 'Natural' Energy Source Discovery Health Rachel Cernansky With exemptions from the most fundamental environmental protections including the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water Acts, the oil and gas industry has been able to get away with polluting land, air, and public drinking water supplies — and with getting people sick every step of the way. The industry, which relies on a method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to access most of the gas reserves underground, is not required to disclose the types or amounts of chemicals used while drilling, which makes it hard even for chemical scientists to study their impact on the environment and on human health, because they literally do not know what they are looking for. As a result, people living near drilling sites have been suffering—some with rare but extremely serious conditions, the most well-known case probably being that of Laura Amos, who was diagnosed with an adrenal tumor—with insufficient medical attention or knowledge, and no evidence to prove fracking as the cause. And absolutely no recourse, because technically, the companies are not (usually) doing anything illegal.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Fracking licences on hold until after study Independent.ie Fionnan Sheahan THE Government has put a hold on granting any more licences for drilling by controversial hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, for two years. But Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte said the Government would be considering the "economics" as well as the environmental, geological and technological considerations in deciding future policy. The minister said there was "considerable genuine concern" about the potential environmental and health considerations related to the activity. He said no new licences would be granted until the completion of an All-Ireland scientific study of the process by the Environmental Protection Agency. But Mr Rabbitte also said the economic issues had to be taken into account.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Fracking trade secrets case headed to Wyoming Supreme Court Casper Star-Tribune ADAM VOGE A coalition of environmental and landowner groups on Wednesday appealed a Casper judge’s decision that individual ingredients used in hydraulic fracturing can be protected under Wyoming’s trade secrets law. The group, which includes the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Wyoming Outdoor Council, appealed the decision by Natrona County District Judge Catherine Wilking to the Wyoming Supreme Court. “Groundwater belongs to the people of Wyoming,” Outdoor Council attorney Bruce Pendery said in a prepared statement. “While water rights can be granted for its use, we all have an interest — and a responsibility — to ensure that groundwater is protected and kept clean not only for those of us living here today but for the people who might need it after we’re gone.” Bob King, the interim supervisor of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which determined the ingredients are not subject to public disclosure, didn’t return a call seeking comment Wednesday. A similar request to Halliburton, an oil field services company that intervened in the case, also went unreturned.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Sandra Steingraber, Others Get 15 Days in Jail for Civil Disobedience Against Gas Co. Common Dreams Jon Queally Three upstate New York community members-cum-activists, charged with criminal trespass for blockading a gas company installation last month, were sentenced to 15 days in jail on Wednesday by a local judge in an upstate courthouse. Among those sentenced was university biology professor and author Sandra Steingraber, who delivered an impassioned statement ahead of the sentencing explaining why she was compelled to civil disobedience and why she would refuse to pay the fine levied by the judge. "My small, non-violent act of trespass," said Steingraber to the crowd, "is set against a larger, more violent one: the trespass of hazardous chemicals into water and air and thereby into our bodies. This is a form of toxic trespass." Speaking with journalist Bill Moyers just one day prior to the sentencing, Steingraber explained why she and other community members felt in necessary to protest "plans to store millions of barrels of highly-pressurized liquid propane and butane — gases produced in the controversial process of fracking — in [local] salt caverns."  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 WATCH: Sandra Steingraber on Going Behind Bars to Protest Fracking Huffington Post (blog) Bill Moyers In the clip below, biologist and activist Sandra Steingraber explains why she and others illegally blocked the driveway of natural gas company Inergy in upstate New York , a crime for which she went to jail on Wednesday, April 17 -- a day after her interview with me for Moyers & Company. The protesters, known as the Seneca Lake 12, were demonstrating against fracking and Inergy's plans to store millions of barrels of highly-pressurized gas in abandoned salt mines. Steingraber is serving a 15-day sentence. "I believe, as do many of my colleagues in the sciences, that it's not safe to compress explosive gases and store them underneath and beside a lake that serves as the drinking water for a hundred thousand people," she says. "From my point of view as a biologist and a mother, this out-of-state company... is trespassing in our community."  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Plans suspended for 120-mile gas pipeline in Pa. WTRF-TV The Associated Press WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - The developers of a planned 120-mile natural gas pipeline in eastern Pennsylvania say the project is being suspended indefinitely. The proposed Commonwealth Pipeline would carry natural gas from a deposit in the Marcellus Shale in Lycoming County. It would travel through Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Berks counties on its way to Chester County. The groups behind the project have announced on their website that the project is being suspended. No reason is being given, but the group says it will provide updates at a later time. The pipeline was supported by three major partners: Inergy Midstream LP, UGI Energy Services Inc., and WGL Holdings Inc. The developers had said they hoped to have the pipeline in service by 2015.  [Full Story] Apr 18, 2013 Vigils planned in Elmira, Watkins Glen for jailed activists Ithaca Journal Staff Environmental activists said they will kick off a series of vigils Thursday night in Elmira and Watkins Glen in support of three area residents given 15-day jail sentences Wednesday night. The three pleaded guilty to trespassing for blocking the gates of a Schuyler County natural gas facility during a March 18 protest, but refused to pay $375 fines so Reading Town Justice Raymond H. Berry sent them immediat