We know from the 1973 movie that Soylent Green is People, and we know from various US Supreme Court decisions that Corporations are people.   However, many people maintain that they will believe corporations are people when Texas executes one. Nonetheless, a piece of paper establishing a corporate entity does have constitutional rights. Just when you thought corporations as people has reached it limits, guess what……   In Pennsylvania, Natural Gas and Oil operations are people too or will be if a bill introduced by Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R- Butler) is passed. Hutchinson has submitted a bill to the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.   One will prevent Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from installing and monitoring video cameras at gas & oil well pads. “It is important that the department […]

So that fracking is not mentioned in science textbooks. Because that might give fracking a bad name. Or, for that matter, any name at all. Read on about this new form of fracking ban – or more precisely,  censorship. http://tfninsider.org/2013/11/21/oil-and-gas-industry-advocates-launch-surprise-attack-on-texas-environmental-science-textbook/ Oil and Gas Industry Advocates Launch Surprise Attack on Texas Environmental Science Textbook By Dan | Published November 21, 2013 When the State Board of Education‘s public hearing on new science textbooks for Texas public schools finally began late Wednesdaynight, it became clear that creationists were unable to mount a real attack on the biology textbooks. So all looked to be going well — until it became equally clear that oil and gas industry interests had decided to attack the only environmental science textbook up for adoption by the state board. The last person to testify, Becky […]

Some states, including New Mexico all land use ordinances at the county level – as well as the town or city level. This is because in some western states, there are few towns or cities – just the county. So some of those counties, notably Santa Fe, have adopted land use ordinances to address drilling. Since the frackers want to be able to frack anywhere without regard to surface land uses, they have challenged one of those county ordinances. http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Oil-and-gas-ban-spurs-lawsuit-in-NM-county-4981018.php Oil and gas ban spurs lawsuit in NM county By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press Updated 2:07 pm, Wednesday, November 13, 2013 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A decision by one northern New Mexico county to prohibit oil and natural gas development has prompted a statewide industry group and three landowners to […]

At Vatican City anyway, which has had “home rule” for about a thousand years. And maybe elsewhere too – where the locals don’t want to get fracked six ways to Sunday. Maybe electing a Jesuit pope was not such a bad idea after all. They’re not overly fond of dipping into Holy Water laced with radium 226, arsenic, and benzene. And the Jesuits are the kind of crew that would be inclined to do something about it. Meet the Newest Anti-Fracking Activist: Pope Francis Posted By Katelyn Fossett  Wednesday, November 13, 2013 – 1:32 PM  Share Pope Francis has already become a favorite of progressives with his fairly open-minded statements on homosexuality and birth control. But that adoration may go into overdrive, now that the Pope has adopted a new role as an environmental crusader, too. On Monday, the Pope […]

Could have described The Sandra a bit more more artfully, but it captures the essence. Good profile in Outside Magazine How Sandra Steingraber is Leading the War Against Hydraulic Fracking http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/science/Sandra-Steingraber-Fracking-Expert-Activist.html?230526731&utm_campaign=googlenews&utm_source=googlenews&utm_medium=xmlfeed Steingraber is hardly a newcomer to the environmental scene: people have been comparing the former biology professor to Rachel Carson since 1997, when she publishedLiving Downstream. The book examines how illness is linked to pollution, and it grew out of Steingraber’s experiences battling a form of bladder cancer that may have been caused by industrial runoff. But over the past three years, Steingraber, 54, has emerged as one of the country’s top experts on the hot-button issue of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. And here’s the really surprising thing: at a time when everyone from big green groups like the Natural Resources […]

In Cooperstown, all of Otsego County, 90% of Chenango County and all of Schoharie County. Plus about 85% of the rest of Upstate New York.  This leaves some third rate frak flaks, the odd frackademic, and a couple of local shale shysters to lay down a smoke screen to cover the frackers retreat. This Power Point explains why: New York Shale Gas overview The Freeman’s Journal gets the scoop in today’s edition.  http://allotsego.homestead.com/ Issues now on the news stands. Get your souvenir copy and I will sign it for a 4 pack of Ommegang. FRACKING IMPOSSIBLE LOCALLY, DATA SHOWS Two of the most expert and eloquent local opponents of fracking, Lou Allstadt and Chip Northrup of Cooperstown, have concluded there is too little natural gas under Otsego County to ever warrant development.  For […]

We will finish putting the Power Points online then focus on scheduling a repeat of the Cornell presentations Panel of Experts: Little Marcellus Gas Potential in New York State By Bill Chaisson Marcellus Shale Gas potential   Systems engineer Jerry Acton, geologist Brian Brock, former Mobil executive Louis Allstadt, and former ARCO executive Chip Northrup at Hollister Hall. Posted: Wednesday, November 6, 2013 12:00 am By Bill Chaisson | On Wednesday, Oct. 30 at a symposium hosted by Cornell engineering professor Tony Ingraffea at Hollister Hall, a geologist, a systems engineer, and two former energy company executives discussed the potential of the Marcellus Formation in New York State to produce shale gas. Their conclusion was that only a small portion of the southern parts of Broome and Tioga counties are likely to […]

Big wins in Colorado where voters tell frackers to take a fracking hike  Huge Election Victories for Colorado’s Anti-Fracking Movement EcoWatch |November 6, 2013 9:33 am | Comments 15 0Share0 4 38 Yesterday’s election brought huge results for anti-fracking voters in Fort Collins, Boulder and Lafayette where all measures were approved that will either ban or pause the practice of hydraulic fracturing. Initial results show Broomfield with a tally so close—13 votes—that it will force a recount. “With wins in Boulder, Lafayette and Fort Collins—and a partial-victory in Broomfield—this election sends a huge wake-up call to Governor Hickenlooper that the people of Colorado do not want to be fracked,” said Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action. ”Fort Collins’ vote is especially revealing—a decisive 10 point win in a swing county while being outspent 40 to 1. The oil and gas industry […]

With the lingering, question – just who were the University of Buffalo Frackademics trying to fool ? When the only gas anywhere near Buffalo is likely to be at the Dinosaur Barbeque ? New York Marcellus Gas Potential Explained by Buck Quigley - posted 11:43 am, November 5, 2013 Filed under: Energy, Environmental, State Politics Tags: Jerry Acton, Norse Energy USA, UB Shale Resources and Society Institute Click here to watch a presentation by retired systems engineer / systems architect Jerry Acton that should help you understand why companies like Norse Energy were doomed to fail. Not because New York State is unfriendly to the natural gas industry; but rather because the cold, hard facts of geology contradict the gaseous hyperbole spouted by pro-frackers. There likely just ain’t so much gas in them thar hills of our southern tier. Makes you wonder […]

Tompkins County Council Event to Address Economic Potential for Shale Gas in NY Story Tompkins County Council Event to Address Economic Potential for … Comments Posted: Thursday, October 24, 2013 9:02 am By Staff Reports | 0 comments ITHACA — Lou Allstadt and Chip Northrup, analysts of drilling technologies and the economics of the gas industry, along with Jerry Acton, a systems engineer, and geologist Brian Brock, will give a free presentation on assessing the potential for shale gas drilling in New York State. Having studied 5 years of shale gas production records from Pennsylvania and test wells in N.Y., they have compiled enough information from public and industry sources to confidently address where the Marcellus and Utica could be productive for drilling in New York, given current technology and economic conditions.  And just as […]

It can get pretty testy. Encana fracked somebody else’s well – in yet another case of “involuntary stimulation” ( COUNSELORS, N.M. (KRQE) – More than 200 barrels of fracking fluid, oil and water blew out of a traditional oil well on BLM land in the San Juan Basin in late September raising questions about who is responsible for the spill. State regulators say the blowout on a Parko Oil well happened because of pressure from nearby fracking operations run by Encana Oil. Fracking–short for horizontal fracturing–is a controversial practice that uses chemicals pumped under pressure to break up underground layers of shale to release oil and natural gas. “The spill has been contained,” said Jim Winchester, spokesperson for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, which houses the state […]