Fracking Pollution Sickens Pennsylvania Families, Environmental Group Says

Posted: 10/18/2012 6:26 pm EDT Updated: 10/18/2012 8:04 pm EDT

The McIntyres of Butler County, Pa., no longer drink the water piped into their home. They no longer brush their teeth with it, shower or do laundry with it.

"We use water for nothing other than flushing the commode," said Janet McIntyre, after describing her family's wide-ranging health problems -- from projectile vomiting to skin rashes -- that she attributed to the water.

McIntyre and her husband, Fred, were among more than 100 people recently surveyed by the Oil and Gas Accountability Project at Earthworks, an environmental and public health advocacy group based in Washington, for a report published on Thursday, which suggests that widespread contamination of air and water by natural gas drillers in Pennsylvania has triggered an array of health problems, including sinus, respiratory and mood problems.

"We have a serious timing problem," Nadia Steinzor, of Earthworks, said during a press call on Thursday. "Natural gas development is accelerating rapidly, but knowledge about its impacts on the environment and people is coming much slower."

To read the entire article go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/fracking-pollution-pennsylvania_n_1982320.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

Fracking banned in Connecticut — the word, not the deed

By Susie Cagle

Original source: http://grist.org/news/fracking-banned-in-connecticut-the-word-not-the-deed/

They’re not the first to call fracking dirty, but they may be the most vulgar by our count.

A producer at the Hearst Connecticut Media Group, which owns The Stamford Advocate, delivered the bad news that the company has been “forced to block” the word from comments to deter wily readers who might “exploit” it as a euphemism for “its more vulgar cousin.”

(Those nasty readers might be vintage Battlestar Galactica enthusiasts, as the show switched to the clearly more modern “frak” for the new series. No word on whether fans of the Hungarian animated series Frakk, a macskák réme may still express their less-than-vulgar feelings for that loveable orange dog who stumbled his way into all of our hearts in the late ’70s.)

For its part, The Stamford Advocate reported on a pro-fracking demo in New York this week, with fracking in scare quotes (to preserve its purity, obvs).

Texas anti-fracking activist Sharon Wilson railed against the fracking ban on her blog.

Fracking is a real word. It is used by real — often angry — people to describe impacts to their vital natural resources, health and long-term well-being. … Banning all comments using the word fracking effectively prevents a large segment of the populace from exercising their First Amendment right.

Well, shale.

The truth about oil and gas production on public land

By Juliet Eilperin , Updated: October 16, 2012

Is Gov. Mitt Romney telling the truth when he says oil and gas production is down on public land?

Contrary to President Obama’s assertions, Romney’s telling the truth when he says, “Production of oil on public land is down 14 percent and production of gas on public land is down 9 percent.”

To read the entire article go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/16/the-truth-about-oil-and-gas-production-on-public-land/

One Last Energy Fact From the Presidential Debate

By JOHN M. BRODER

October 17, 2012, 2:40 pm

One assertion by President Obama about energy achievements in Tuesday night’s campaign debate drew little notice. Refuting Mr. Romney’s charge that he had jeopardized American energy security by vetoing the Keystone XL pipeline for carrying crude oil from Canada, the president said: “And with respect to this pipeline that Governor Romney keeps on talking about, we’ve — we’ve built enough pipeline to wrap around the entire earth once. So I’m all for pipelines; I’m all for oil production.”

According to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2011 the United States added a little more than 43,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines – considerably more than the circumference of the earth, which is 24,901 miles. The pipeline statistics are here.

But, as Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post and a few others noted, most of those were natural gas distribution lines to homes, offices and factories, not new pipelines to carry crude oil and natural gas from production fields.

To read the entire article go to: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/one-last-energy-fact-from-the-presidential-debate/

The whole story on the Keystone pipeline

By Juliet Eilperin , Updated: October 16, 2012

In his remarks, Gov. Mitt Romney implied that President Obama has blocked the Keystone XL pipeline extension from being built. But it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Referring to the project which aims to ship heavy crude extracted from Alberta’s oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast, Romney said, “Why the president said no to this pipeline, I will never know.”

In January, Obama did reject a presidential permit which would have allowed the pipeline to cross the U.S-Canada border, arguing his administration could not do the sufficient environmental and regulatory review in order to meet a congressionally-mandated Feb. 22 deadline.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/16/the-whole-story-on-the-keystone-pipeline/

Former Suncor CEO says B.C. pipelines a matter of Canadian sovereignty

By Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press October 15, 2012

CALGARY - Building pipelines to connect Alberta crude to West Coast ports is a matter of Canadian sovereignty, says the former CEO of Canada's biggest oil company.

Rick George, who retired from the top job at Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) in May following a two-decade tenure, makes the argument in his newly released book "Sun Rise: Suncor, the Oil Sands and the Future of Energy."

George was born and raised in Brush, Colo. — "population around 5,000 people with maybe an equal number of cattle and horses" — but he has long called Calgary home and considers himself a "Canadian nationalist."

Currently, the United States buys virtually all of Canada's energy exports — and that gives our southern neighbour too much power, writes George.

"It's not inconceivable to imagine the United States insisting that Canada alter various standards to match its own," he writes.

"Why would we let another country dictate environmental policy and commercial terms to us? That's what happens where energy is concerned, and it's a breach of Canada's sovereignty when it occurs."

To read the entire article go to: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Former+Suncor+says+pipelines+matter+Canadian+sovereignty/7391165/story.html

What’s really keeping coal back

Posted by Juliet Eilperin on October 16, 2012 at 9:35 pm

Gov. Mitt Romney accused EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson of blocking new coal plant construction in the United States, saying, “The head of the EPA said you can’t build a coal plant. It’s virtually impossible given the regulations.”

There’s no question that new EPA regulations, including limits on mercury and other toxic emissions, and a proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions on new power plants have made it harder to build new coal-fired power plants.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/16/whats-really-keeping-coal-back/

Environmental groups petition N.C. over coal ash near Duke Energy plant

Bruce Henderson | The Charlotte Observer

last updated: October 11, 2012 11:07:36 AM   Posted on Thu, Oct. 11, 2012

Four environmental groups have asked North Carolina's Environmental Management Commission for a ruling that would force Duke Energy to clean up groundwater contamination near ash ponds at 14 coal-fired power plants.

The power plants where contamination has been found include Duke’s Riverbend and Allen plants on the Catawba River west of Charlotte, and its Marshall plant on Lake Norman.

State officials say contamination has been found at all 14 plants, and that they are working to trace its sources. Coal ash contains metals that can be toxic in high concentrations, but some also occur naturally in soil.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/10/11/171218/environmental-groups-petition.html