“I haven’t seen an issue that’s affected so many people in so many places,” Doug Shields, former member of the Pittsburgh City Council, remarked at Stop the Frack Attack rally last Saturday. And indeed, the thousands assembled on the lawn of the US Capitol Building reflected this truth. From as far as California and even … Read More
Slowly but surely the evidence is growing against fracking, as the authorities struggle to protect public health and drinking water. A report published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Duke University professors found that there could be natural paths in the rock that connects the frack zone with drinking water. … Read More
The energy revolution sweeping the United States is now taking up serious column inches in the nation’s papers. Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran with with the headline: “Expanded Oil Drilling Helps U.S. Wean Itself From Mideast.” The next day it was “U.S. Wakes Up to North American Oil Abundance.” There is no doubt … Read More
In the rush to frack America nothing, it seems, is sacred. Not content with fracking in forests, farmland, backyards, playgrounds and parks, energy companies are looking to frack in cemeteries. Now it is not just going to be your water supply that is going to be disturbed. Fracking has already raised huge questions about its … Read More
The leader of Canada’s opposition party, the NDP, Tom Mulcair has accused one of Canada’s leading oil and gas lobby organisations of “pulling a con job” whilst trying to promote fracking. Out political campaigning over the weekend, Mulcair slammed the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) for “deceiving the public when it says there are … Read More
The oil & gas industry has once again bought favor from Congress. The Fracturing Regulations are Effective in State Hands (FRESH) Act will remove the federal government’s authority to regulate the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Introduced in the Senate in March 2012 by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and in the House by Representative … Read More
Sorry to hark on about this – but proponents of fracking keep on saying it is a precise science that is safe, which will not contaminate water supplies. But we know that is not true. We also know the technique is still essentially in its infancy and the science and detailed surveys into the controversial … Read More
Some good news: The Environmental Protection Agency issued important rules to address air pollution from natural gas drilling, primarily fracking. Less good news: Bending to pressure from Big Oil, the measures won’t go into effect until 2015. The regulations will require that new wells capture certain smog-forming compounds, as well as methane, which is a … Read More
An independent report commissioned by the British government has confirmed that the controversial drill technique known as fracking did cause two small earthquakes, near Lancaster in North West England last year. The company concerned, Cuadrilla, halted fracking after two minor quakes were recorded in April and May, with magnitudes of 2.3 and 1.5 respectively. The … Read More
In a decision that will both dismay and worry environmental campaigners and communities facing fracking across Europe, the European commission has concluded that existing laws are adequate to cover the controversial drilling technique. A new report undertaken for the Commission by the Belgian law firm Philippe & Partners, argues that there is no need for … Read More
