shutterstock_30322192.jpg Most people think of downtown Houston, Texas as ground zero for the oil and gas industry. Houston, after all, serves as home base for corporate headquarters of oil and gas giants, including the likes of BP America, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Oil Company, to name a few. Comparably speaking, few would think of Wilmington,
Continue readingTag: Marcellus shale
DeSmogBlog: Exposed: Pennsylvania Act 13 Overturned by Supreme Court, Originally an ALEC Model Bill
alec-exposed-600×400.jpeg On July 26, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled PA Act 13 unconstitutional. The bill would have stripped away local zoning laws, eliminated the legal concept of a Home Rule Charter, limited private property rights, and in the process, completely disempowered town, city, municipal and county governments, particularly when it comes to shale gas
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking Industry’s Answer to “Gasland”: Devised by Astroturf Lobbying Group and Political Ad Agency
This is a guest post by Ben Nelson from Public Accountability Initiative that originally appeared on LittleSis. Truthland, a 35-minute compilation of interviews with fracking proponents, is being promoted by the oil and natural gas industry’s PR arm, Energy In Depth, as an answer to the 2010 anti-fracking film Gasland.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Was Andrew Cuomo’s NY Fracking "Sacrifice Zone" Plan Hatched by NRDC?
shutterstock_15465343 (2).jpg Has New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just made the southern tier of the state a "sacrifice zone," as alleged by award-winning author and "fracktivist," Sandra Steingraber? Was it a plot hatched by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)? The signs pointing to both possibilities are troublesome, to say
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Chesapeake Energy And Other Fracking Companies Squatting On New York Citizens’ Land
chesapeake-energy-logo.jpg New York landowners are having a hard time evicting an unwanted tenant, it seems. That's why over 200 people residing in the Marcellus Shale are suing energy companies such as Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Inflection Energy, arguing that the land leases they originally signed with the companies over 5
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rendell and Ridge: From "Militant" Labelers to Terrorist Enablers
Ed Rendell MEK.jpg A new chapter has been added to the shale gas industry's eco-terrorism, counterinsurgency and psychological operations saga. In March, NBC News investigative reporter Michael Isikoff revealed that many prominent U.S. public officials are on the payroll of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), a group labeled by the U.S. State Department as a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Exposing the Gas Industry’s Myth of ‘Recycled Water’
fracking-photo-drink.jpg Reposted with permission from EcoWatch.org (a fantastic site that you should bookmark and visit often) Authored by Mackenzie Schoonmaker and Mike Dulong from Riverkeeper Every time the gas industry fracks, the public loses. We forfeit an enormous amount of fresh water from our rivers, lakes and streams, and we get
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Farce Of The "Golden Age Of Gas"
Oil and gas industry insiders revealed earlier this year the high probability that we're headed into a shale gas bubble. But that's not what the industry's CEOs and PR departments want you to hear. "The reality of at least 100 years’ worth of shale gas abundance has been supported by
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fracking: Ohio Establishes Tough Regulations After Disposal Wells Cause 12 Earthquakes
earthquake.jpg State officials have determined that at least 12 earthquakes that occurred in Ohio last December were caused by the injection of brine into hydraulic fracturing disposal wells. As a result of its findings [pdf], the state has established the nation's "toughest regulations" for the fracking disposal wells. Brine is a
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Radionuclides Tied To Shale Gas Fracking Can’t Be Ignored As Possible Health Hazard
minor-radiation-leak.jpg Comic books tell us that it's cool to be a superhero. Sometimes those superheroes started out as everyday citizens that became irradiated and suddenly transformed into epic, superhuman, ninja-fighting dynamos with abilities and powers that far outweigh regular human abilities, such as remembering anniversaries, calculating your own taxes, being
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Fracking
Earthjustice-Fracking.jpg The practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has taken center stage this year as one of the most important environmental threats facing North America (and increasingly in other parts of the world). Thanks to inadequate state oversight and Dick Cheney's hamstringing of EPA oversight with the Halliburton Loophole, fracking has
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: "Raising Elijah": An Interview With Ecologist and Author Sandra Steingraber
Raising Elijah.jpg Q: In light of your new book Raising Elijah: Protecting Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, which raises the specter of raising children in troubled times, both environmentally and ecologically, are you surprised that natural gas corporations have been producing public relations and propaganda materials like coloring books
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: To Understand What’s Happening with Fracking Decisions in New York, Follow the Money
Money.jpg In a November 25 article titled, "Millions Spent in Albany Fight to Drill for Gas," The New York Times reported: Companies that drill for natural gas have spent more than $3.2 million lobbying state government since the beginning of last year, according to a review of public records. The broader natural
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Food and Water Watch Report Exposes Lies About Oil and Gas Industry Jobs Claims
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A report released today by Food and Water Watch (FWW) titled, "Exposing the Oil and Gas Industry’s False Jobs Promise for Shale Gas Development: How Methodologic…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Natural Gas Gold Rush, Utica Shale Edition Courtesy of John Kasich
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Yesterday, the Ohio Governor's 21st Century and Economic Summit began, hosted by the controversial union-busting Governor John Kasich (R-OH), coming on the heels of …
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: Fracking’s ‘Ominous’ Cost To New York’s Roads
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A draft discussion paper [pdf] from the New York State Department Of Transportation (NYSDOT) projects costs that unconventional gas and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) will…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: Stephen Colbert Skewers Talisman Energy Over Gas Fracking Coloring Book
Stephen Colbert devoted a must-see segment of The Colbert Report last night to the subject of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), mocking gas company Talisman Terry for its coloring book propaganda, “Talisman Terry’s Energy Adventure” [PDF] and generally …
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: Economic Benefits of Unconventional Gas Drilling Overblown by Industry PR
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A new poll suggests that Pennsylvanians are supportive of unconventional gas drilling in their state. Not because it is safe, but because they are convin…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: Talisman Energy Targets Children with "Friendly Fracosaurus" Gas Coloring Book
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“Hello, my name is Talisman Terry, your friendly Fracosaurus. I am here to teach you about a clean energy source called Natural Gas.”
In…