hydraulic fracturing
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Surprise! Fracking fluid kills trees
Not that this is a big surprise or anything, but a new study shows that disposing of fracking fluid can do a number on local trees. One perfectly legal dump of used fracking fluid in West Virginia ended up killing more than half of the trees in the affected area.
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Too little, too late? Some Democrats seek investigations of gas industry claims
A group of energy companies -- like, say, the natural gas industry -- would never, ever mislead the public and politicians about how profitable it could be over the long-term. Obviously, we should just believe the natural gas industry's financial projections, which promise that any negative environmental impacts will be worth the jobs, the profits, and the energy security that come with the promised national gas boom.
That's basically been the stance of most legislators in Washington when it comes to natural gas. The picture the industry painted of huge supplies of low-carbon fuel proved really compelling. But now a few lawmakers are starting to worry that the government hasn't really looked into the reality of the situation. And they're asking agencies like the Security and Exchange Commission, the Energy Information Administration, and the Government Accountability Office to check up on the industry's claims about profitability and supply. -
Critical List: New York could approve fracking; animals get stoned
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to open up private land in the state to hydrofracking.
Children living near Fukushima tested positively for radiation exposure.
Want to get all riled up before the weekend? Get your fix of climate skepticism here. -
In the worst drought in Texas history, 13.5 billion gallons of water used for fracking
Texas is experiencing the driest eight-month period in its recorded history. But in 2010, natural gas companies used 13.5 billion gallons of fresh water for hydraulic fracturing, and that could more than double by 2020. Where's all this water coming from? Oh, it was just lying around, in these aquifers! You guys weren't using it to drink or irrigate or anything, right? Guys?
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Natural gas, war of words
Citizens blocked a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on tribal land in Maine, but the battle isn't over yet.
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Critical List: ‘Irrational exuberance’ about shale gas; doubling fuel economy in the U.S
The New York Times obtained government documents that call natural gas companies' enthusiasm about shale gas and hydrofracking "irrational exuberance.”
That exuberance has convinced some lawmakers, though. Nine of them are writing to President Obama to ask him to push for more gas drilling.
In other technology-that’s-not-actually-going-to-save-us news, China's building a $1.5 billion clean coal plant, the first commercial clean coal plant of this size. -
Critical List: Oil prices drop; Soros invests in energy efficiency
Oil prices went down -- for about a minute, before they started climbing again -- after the International Energy Agency announced the release of emergency supplies.
The Department of Energy is backing the $2.6 billion Project Amp, which will install 733 megawatts of solar -- as much as was installed in all of 2010 -- in 28 states over four years.
To make it even clearer that the the vast liberal conspiracy has it in for dirty energy: The right wing’s favorite bogeyman George Soros joined forces with Google to invest $25 million in an energy efficiency company called Transphorm. (Don't worry, conspiracy theorists, it's only $25 million! They can't be that serious about this.) -
Drilling company's coloring book sells fracking to kids
Kids! Are you worried about natural gas companies pumping mysterious chemicals into the rocks near your house, leaking methane gas, poisoning cattle, and making your water flammable? Well, don't be! A coloring book from Talisman Energy says everything will be fine, and afterwards there will be deer and rainbows.
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Rick Perry signs weirdly reasonable fracking disclosure law
Rick Perry must have a secret plan to recapture George W. Bush's long-squandered image as an aisle-crossing Texas governor and run for president to the left of the Tea Party-addled Republican field. Or maybe he just decided to something right for a change. Whatever his motivation, the Texas guv signed into law a bill that requires natural gas drillers to disclose the chemicals they're pumping into ground during hydrofracking.