TAG: fracking

Fracking – The Next Frontier for Offshore Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

August 29, 2014

Steve Horn, DeSmogBlog Waking Times In little-noticed news arising out of a recent Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas lease held by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the floodgates have opened for Gulf offshore hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). With 21.6 million acres auctioned off by the Obama Administration and 433,822 acres receiving bids, some press accounts have declared BP America …

Busting the Bureau of Land Management’s Frackopoly

August 14, 2014

Wenonah Hauter, EcoWatch Waking Times Even without looking at a photo album, I can picture in my mind’s eye a vacation photo from the gorgeous BLM-managed (Bureau of Land Management) land near Moab, Utah. That image of my family and friends on a bicycle trip in the red rock lands, perfectly faded by time, carefully preserved …

Fracking Is Making California’s Drought Worse

August 6, 2014

Mike G, DeSmogBlog Waking Times California is in the middle of an epic water shortage, with nearly 80% of the state experiencing “extreme or exceptional” drought conditions. Check out this animated map to get a sense of how extensively the drought has impacted the Golden State. Things have gotten so bad that California enlisted Lady …

Scientists Conclude that Fracking Contaminates Drinking Water

June 9, 2014

EcoWatch Waking Times Last week a Texas TV station broke the news that new independent scientific analysis refutes the claim by the oil and gas industry that “there’s never been a confirmed case of fracking polluting drinking water.” WFAA, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, reported that two independent scientists using data from Texas regulators confirmed fracking in Parker County, TX by Range Resources polluted resident Steve …

“No Turning Back:” Mexico’s Looming Fracking and Offshore Oil and Gas Bonanza

May 13, 2014

Ben Jervey & Steve Horn, DeSmogBlog Waking Times After generations of state control, Mexico’s vast oil and gas reserves will soon open for business to the international market. In December 2013, Mexico’s Congress voted to break up the longstanding monopoly held by the state-owned oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos — commonly called Pemex — and to open the nation’s …

Texas Family Awarded $3 Million in Nation’s First Fracking Trial

April 24, 2014

Brandon Baker, EcoWatch Waking Times It took three years, but a Texas family finally emerged victorious in a case that could long impact fracking companies and the impact they have on the communities in which they operate. A Dallas jury favored the Parr family, which sued Aruba Petroleum back in 2011 after experiencing an array of health …

5 Videos Showing How Fracking Can Make Water Flammable

April 8, 2014

Alex Pietrowski, Staff Writer Waking Times Public awareness of the risks and dangers of hydraulic gas-fracturing, or Fracking, is growing daily, but not nearly as fast as the practice itself is. Across the world, fracking is creating a massive new energy boom and investors are pouring money into energy companies who are setting up frack …

Fracking in Public Forests Leaves Long Trail of Damages

March 11, 2014

Sharon Kelly, DeSmogBlog Waking Times Last Wednesday, the Washington D.C. city council passed a resolution opposing fracking in the George Washington National Forest, making the nation’s capitol the third major U.S. city, after Los Angeles and Dallas, to decry the hazards of shale drilling in recent days. The D.C. council’s resolution called on the U.S. Forest Service to prohibit …

6 States Where Fracking Earthquakes are a New Feature of Reality

March 5, 2014

Alex Pietrowski, Staff Writer Waking Times The movement against hydraulic gas fracturing, or ‘fracking,’ is becoming mainstream as this toxic and rapidly expanding technique by the oil and gas industry affects more and more everyday people. Essentially, fracking is the process of forcefully injecting different blends of chemicals, fresh water, gasses, sands or other materials …

California Farmers Demand Fracking Moratorium in Worst Drought in History

February 28, 2014

Food & Water Watch Waking Times With drought jeopardizing California agriculture, farmers across the state urge Governor Brown to place a moratorium on water-intensive fracking. California farmers, grappling with a record drought that’s parching their fields and livelihoods, call on Governor Jerry Brown to place a moratorium on the water-intensive extreme oil and gas extraction …

Nobody Knows How Much Fracking is Happening Off California’s Coast

February 19, 2014

Mike G, DeSmogBlog Waking Times The modern environmental movement was born when a drilling platform blew out and some 100,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Santa Barbara Channel in 1969, polluting California’s famous coastline. Yet as the race to exploit the vast amount of oil in the Monterey Shale heats up, environmentalists are warning that the state …

Frackquakes: Public Opposition Builds As Property Rights Are Endangered in Texas

January 29, 2014

Sharon Wilson & Alan Septoff, Earth Island Journal Waking Times When Texans say “no” to oil and gas development, it’s a sign that times are a-changin’ The earthquakes you may have heard about — the 30 tremblors that have struck north central Texas since November 1 and have damaged many homes. The quakes are most likely being …

Tar Sands’ Next Frontier: Shipments on the Great Lakes

December 4, 2013

Steve Horn, DeSmogBlog Waking Times The Great Lakes, drinking water source for over 40 million North Americans, could be the next target on tar sands marketers’ bullseye according to a major new report out by the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes. The 24-page report, “Oil and Water: Tar Sands Crude Shipping Meets the Great Lakes?” unpacks a new looming threat …

Water Industry Admits Fracking Compromises UK’s Water Supply

November 28, 2013

Kaye Spector, EcoWatch Waking Times Today, two industry groups signed a Memorandum of Understanding stating that their members will minimize the impact of onshore oil and gas development in the UK on the country’s water resources.The memorandum accompanies a report released by Water UK. The report concludes that ”where water is in short supply there may not be enough available from …

House Passes Bill to Eliminate Fracking Regulations

November 23, 2013

Alisha Mims, Ring of Fire Waking Times On Wednesday, the House passed a bill that will block the Department of the Interior (DOI) from regulating fracking in states that already have regulations in place. The bill, H.R. 2728, passed the House in a 235 – 187 vote. Twelve Democrats voted in favor of the legislation …

Word Games are Misleading the American Public About Fracking

November 12, 2013

Sky Truth Waking Times “Half the truth is often a great lie.” – Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac – 1758 Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, and other drilling practices have unlocked previously inaccessible reserves of oil and gas across the United States and the world. However, some of the debate over fracking is distorting public …

Could California’s Shale Oil Boom Be Just a Mirage?

November 8, 2013

Sharon Kelly, DeSmogBlog Waking Times Since the shale rush took off starting in 2005 in Texas, drillers have sprinted from one state to the next, chasing the promise of cheaper, easier, more productive wells. This land rush was fueled by a wild spike in natural gas prices that helped make shale gas drilling attractive even though the …

Oil Industry Spending Big To Win Unfettered Fracking Rights In The Golden State

November 7, 2013

Mike G, DeSmogBlog Waking Times There’s a lot of money at stake for oil companies that want to frack California’s Monterey Shale, so it’s no wonder Big Oil is spending big to forestall any new environmental regulations from biting into profits. Here’s a particularly striking case in point: Just a week before the California State Senate …

Worldwide Protests Challenge Fracking Industry

October 22, 2013

Farron Cousins, De Smog Blog Waking Times On Saturday, October 19th, from Romania to Canada and beyond, protests of varying size took place all over the globe to bring attention to the dangers of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The events, part of a worldwide effort by Global Frackdown, are designed to raise public awareness about the environmental and health …

Fracking Coming to Washington D.C.’s Drinking Water?

October 21, 2013

Sharon Kelly, DeSmogBlog Waking Times Over the past several years, the battle over fracking has brought Congressional hearings, protests and huge industry money to Washington DC. But in recent months the topic has taken on a new, more local turn in the nation’s capital as oil and gas companies push to drill in a national …


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