Skirting Cuomo’s fracking ban, N.Y. group files proposal
BARTON , N.Y. – A proposal to frack for natural gas using gelled propane and sand was announced Wednesday morning at Barton Town Hall in Tioga County. Snyder Farm Group spokesman Kevin “Cub” Frisbie said an application was filed Tuesday with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The move comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration officially banned large-scale hydraulic fracturing on June 29. The state announcement ended a seven-year review process that drew hundreds of thousands of public comments and sharply divided the general public. “We are outside of the state’s ban,” Tioga Energy Partners, LLC legal counsel Adam Schultz said. “The state banned high-volume hydraulic fracturing, but that’s not what we’re doing.” Tioga Energy Partners is the contracting company working with the Snyder Farm Group on the drilling application. The Snyder group is a collection of five Tioga County farm families who have leased land for natural gas development. The group is seeking to develop a 53-acre natural gas well in Halsey Valley, which is in the Town of Barton, Tioga County — about 25 miles south of Ithaca and 30 miles east of Elmira.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/08/tioga-county-fracking-proposal/29890337/
LPG opponents, Reading officials clash at meeting
TOWN OF READING – More than two dozen local governments have taken up a fight against a plan to store pressurized gas under the banks of Seneca Lake, although those living closest to the project say they have been left out of the discussion. group of residents from the Town of Reading — in a unique position to block the $40 million proposal by Crestwood Midstream Partners — brought this message to their elected leaders Wednesday night: Speak up on our behalf or we will bypass you. But, in a tense moment at Wednesday’s town board meeting, Supervisor Marvin Switzer answered by slamming his gavel and forbidding discussion of the issue during a time reserved for public comment. The group, Concerned Reading Residents, have been pressing the town board to acknowledge concerns that the project will pose safety and environmental hazards and detract from the quality of life in an area that is central to a multibillion tourism industry. At past meetings, they presented the board with names of more than 230 residents — more than 60 percent of the town’s active voters — opposed to the plan. “As Town of Reading residents, we want everyone, everywhere to know that we are not in support of this gas storage project,” said Tamra Jankowski, a town resident who spoke in front of a group gathered outside the town hall on County Route 28 Wednesday night. “We will not be silenced.”
http://www.stargazette.com/story/news/local/2015/07/08/liquid-gas-storage-showdown-expected-reading-meeting/29867287/
Local lawyer suing NY over frack ban
A local lawyer has filed a lawsuit against New York state over a recent ban on hydraulic fracturing or fracking, the method of using water under high pressure to drill through rocks to find natural gas. When putting the ban in place, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said current safety measures weren’t enough to keep our environment protected. Attorney David Morabito is representing himself in what appears to be the first and only lawsuit filed against the state over fracking. “I just wanted to be able to have the option to be able to address the possibilities of hydrofracking on my property,” said Morabito. Morabito, a criminal defense attorney from East Rochester, owns considerable acreage in Allegany County . In January, he requested a permit to conduct fracking on his own land. That permit was denied by the state. Morabito calls the decision arbitrary and capricious. The state has spent seven years studying the controversial issue.
http://www.henriettapost.com/article/20150708/NEWS/150709711
River basin watchdogs OK pipeline permits
The Constitution Pipeline company has cleared another significant hurdle in the regulatory review process, getting approval from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to withdraw millions of gallons of water needed to pressure-test the 124-mile pipeline once it is installed. The planned withdrawals include two from the local region — up to 4 million gallons from the Charlotte Creek in Davenport and up to 9.4 million gallons from the Ouleout Creek in the town of Sidney . SRBC officials said in the permit approvals that “no adverse impacts are anticipated by the operation of this project.” The approvals were noted in a project update the company sent Tuesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that is overseeing the federal licensing of the $683 million project that would send shale gas harvested in Pennsylvania to a compressor station in the Schoharie County town of Wright .
Texas: Oil and gas industry may one day reap a fracking whirlwind
The battle has begun to restore Texas communities’ right to decide whether and how hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells should occur within their boundaries. Ironically, the battle’s beginning is signaled by the city of Denton ’s repeal of its fracking ban. Denton voters passed a fracking ban ballot initiative last November with overwhelming majorities of both Republicans and Democrats. It passed only after Denton residents and the city government tried for years, unsuccessfully, to work with industry and state government to clean up fracking-related development within city limits. The Denton fracking ban frightened the oil and gas industry. If the city where fracking was invented could reject it, where they’d lived with hundreds of fracked wells for years and knew it best, any city could. Acting from fear and using its typical bullying arrogance, the oil and gas industry — aided and abetted by the Texas Legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott with the passage of House Bill 40 — made illegal almost all community attempts to hold the industry accountable. Because of HB40, attempts to defend the Denton ban in court would have been worse than futile. Not only would we have lost, but in the process the court likely would have set a legal precedent that would make restoring community oversight of oil and gas development much, much harder. Instead, we are moving forward with overturning HB40 by beating the oil and gas industry at its own game, in the Legislature. Written by the oil and gas industry, for the oil and gas industry, HB40 makes that industry its own worst enemy. HB40 leaves Texas communities completely dependent for protection upon state regulators, the Railroad Commission and the Commission on Environmental Quality. With each new well blowout in our back yards, with each new confession by state regulators that they can’t be bothered to protect us, with each new frackquake, with each new scientific study showing fracking pollutes our air and water and harms our health, Texans’ patience with an oil and gas industry run amok is coming to an end. As the state, now with sole responsibility for protecting communities from the oil and gas industry, confirms with its actions and inactions that it is unable or unwilling to do so, pressure builds to restore local control. It’s already happening. University of Texas polling from earlier this year showed the majority of Texans support community control of fracking. Almost all major newspapers in the state editorialized against HB40 and for local control.
http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article26819407.html
Ohio communities want control over fracking
More than 100 local officials asked Gov. John Kasich for the authority to ban or regulate oil and gas drilling after several courts said they had little power. A recent Ohio Supreme Court decision said state officials, not local ones, have the power to approve the location of wells used in the oil and gas drilling process called fracking. The case started when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources allowed a company to drill in an Akron suburb without city officials’ approval. Since then, Cuyahoga County and Athens County courts ruled that charter cities, like Broadview Heights and Athens , don’t have the power to ban fracking. That could be a problem for cities like Mansfield , where officials have said their charter status protects them from the state supreme court decision. City and county leaders say they should have more control over potentially dangerous chemicals introduced into their air and water. They asked Kasich in a letter to “stand up for the right of all communities to determine whether, where, and how this dirty drilling is conducted within their own borders.”
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/07/08/ohio-communities-want-control-fracking/29876557/
Ohio: Group seeks to block fracking-ban amendment
YOUNGSTOWN , Ohio (WKBN) – A group of labor leaders and business owners wants to see an end to ballot issues trying to ban hydraulic fracturing in Youngstown . The group is calling themselves “Voters for Ballot Integrity.” They believe local elected leaders should be able to keep fracking opponents from going back to the ballot for a fifth time after four previous attempts to amend Youngstown ’s charter failed.
Members of the group claim thousands in tax dollars are being wasted every time groups like Frack Free Mahoning Valley mount another effort. “Why do we have to put up this fight? You know, for something that the voters have clearly four times said we don’t want. It is bad legislation. But here we are again, looking at it in November. We have better things to spend our time on, like our schools,” Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO member Bill Padisak said. Padisak and the others say since the state controls oil and natural gas drilling, any attempt to ban fracking at the local level can’t be enforced even if it is approved.
http://wkbn.com/2015/07/08/group-seeks-to-block-fracking-ban-amendment/
PA: Newtown Township supervisors try to calm fracking fears
We’re on the same side, all five Newtown Township supervisors told residents who came out in force at Wednesday night’s meeting to express concerns about a joint fracking ordinance being circulated among officials in Newtown Township , Wrightstown and Upper Makefield . The ordinance, if eventually enacted, would regulate fracking in all three townships. If passed, it might never come into play because there are no known deposits of natural gas or oil in any of the three townships. Also, there are two moratoriums on fracking in the area that include the three municipalities. A state-imposed moratorium prohibits the practice until 2018, and a Delaware River Basin Commission moratorium is indefinite. Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is a method for extracting natural gas or oil by injecting fluid under high pressure into cracks or fissures in underground rock formations.Wednesday night, Newtown Township supervisors Ryan Gallagher, Phil Calabro, Mike Gallagher, Jennifer Dix and Kyle Davis all said they didn’t want fracking in any of the three townships and would research whether it was possible just to enact a total ban. If not, the supervisors assured residents that they would do their best to see that any ordinance enacted would offer the maximum protection. An ordinance regulating fracking in the three townships might eventually be necessary, some of the supervisors said.
http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/local/newtown-township-supervisors-try-to-calm-fracking-fears/article_513ed1e6-c5d1-5d4c-9905-4e0c63bd15b9.html
Methane Emissions in Texas Fracking Region 50% Higher Than EPA Estimates
Environmental Defense Fund-backed studies of 30,000 Barnett Shale wells shows the EPA has vastly underestimated emissions.
The release of 11 research papers Tuesday marked another milestone in the Environmental Defense Fund’s ongoing effort to understand the natural gas industry’s carbon footprint. Overall, the studies found that emissions of methane––a greenhouse gas at least 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide––in the Texas Barnett Shale were 50 percent higher than estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EDF-sponsored research adds to a growing body of work on the amount of methane leaking from natural gas operations, and the results are crucial for understanding whether natural gas will accelerate or delay the effects of climate change as it’s increasingly used in place of coal. Dozens of scientists from 20 universities and private research firms contributed to the 11 studies, collectively called the “Barnett Coordinated Campaign.” Twelve research teams took measurements over an area that included 30,000 oil and gas wells, 275 compressor stations and 40 processing plants. All of the studies were published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology. Another study that synthesizes the papers’ results will be published later.
CO: Aurorans near fracking sites seek better representation on O&G committee
For months Aurora City Council has grappled with how to make the committee more balanced. In a June 29 study session, some council members said they took issue with a proposal that would shake up committee membership to include two appointees from the two neighborhoods most affected by drilling. AURORA | The city’s advisory oil and gas committee is hitting a snag when it come its members, with some residents upset that the committee does not include people who live near fracking wells. “Currently it’s made up of pro-fracking members,” said Nicole Johnston, a resident of Aurora ’s Adonea subdivision near E-470 and Sixth Avenue Parkway where numerous well sites are being drilled by ConocoPhillips. Johnston has even organized a forum for the city’s at-large candidates in September because she said she wants residents to know where candidates stand on the issue, adding that she believes the city has not adequately addressed residents’ concerns about the hazards of nearby wells.
California Lets in Light on Fracking
SACRAMENTO (CN) - California’s water regulator on Tuesday announced new reporting and public disclosure requirements for fracking operators, to protect the state’s dwindling groundwater supply. For the first time, fracking operators will have to report on the condition of the groundwater near their wells, and make the information public. The reporting requirements will be the strictest in nation, said State Water Board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus. “The goal is to prevent pollution of water that can be used for drinking water, agriculture and other beneficial uses,” Marcus said in statement. “And if we then find threats to our groundwater, these rules will allow us to quickly identify and help trace the cause to require those responsible to clean it up.” Frackers will have to submit groundwater monitoring plans to the water board for approval and the regulator will review the plans on a regional basis. California is the third-largest oil producing state. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is becoming more frequent, particularly in the Central Valley . About 300 wells are being added per month in California , most of them involving fracking. As California struggles through a historic drought, now in its fourth year, environmentalists wants fracking operations held accountable for contributing to the state’s shrinking groundwater supply and decreased water quality. http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/07/08/california-lets-in-light-on-fracking.htm
What’s NORMal for Fracking? Estimating Total Radioactivity of Produced Fluids
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) found in liquid wastes from hydraulic fracturing are an emerging environmental health concern. The heavily drilled Marcellus Shale, for example, contains isotopes of radium, polonium, and lead. However, the few studies that have focused on NORM in fracking wastewater (produced fluids) have reported on a single element—radium. In this issue of EHP, researchers estimate total reactivity for a mixture of isotopes present in liquid fracking waste from the Marcellus Shale. For the study, researchers at the University of Iowa modeled how concentrations of radionuclides in fracking waste, and thus levels of radioactivity, would change over time. The researchers obtained a sample of fracking wastewater collected from the Marcellus Shale region in 2012 and sealed in a 200-liter drum. They used gamma and alpha spectrometry to measure existing levels of radionuclides in the sealed sample. Using models to account for radioactive decay and ingrowth (increasing concentrations of decay products), the researchers estimated how the total radioactivity concentration of the produced fluids would change in the foreseeable future.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/123-a186/
Mexico: The Next Fracking Boom May Be Closer Than You Think
Even as the fallout from the Greek debacle continues to hammer oil prices, investors need to be on the lookout for future opportunities in the industry. One country that has generated a lot of interest among energy companies and investors is Mexico . Now, as America ’s southern neighbor moves to reinvigorate its energy industry, U.S technological advances seem to be moving south. Recent reports suggest that fracking is beginning to take hold in Mexico with numerous wells being drilled. Unsurprisingly given the state of oil prices and the resources Mexico has available, thus far the fracking appears concentrated on natural gas, rather than oil. The important point though is that the use of the technology on a broad scale suggests a new opportunity for investors. Fracking requires a very specialized set of skills and consistently significant capex given the substantial decline rates in those wells. This combined with the new infrastructure needs creates some intriguing possibilities for profits at firms in the space. Fracking in Mexico is very controversial, just as the energy sector overhaul in the country itself is. Water scarcity in Mexico for instance may limit the country’s ability to engage in long-term fracking the way the U.S has. In many respects, these challenges create opportunities for companies like Haliburton and Schlumberger which have technical advantages over smaller operators. Similarly opportunities for fracking offshore in the Gulf of Mexico , a technologically challenging feat, offers new business opportunities for the major servicing companies as well.
Britain: Cheshire fracking report ‘possibly doctored’ by Labour, Tories claim
Labour may have “doctored” a report on fracking, Conservatives have claimed. A draft paper for Cheshire West & Chester councillors said there was a “lack of scientific information” on the controversial gas extraction process. But the Conservative councillor who chaired the committee examining the issue said it was “possible” that the report had been “doctored” by the council’s new ruling Labour group. Labour MP Justin Madders described the “outrageous” allegation as “absurd”. An initial version of the council’s Unconventional Gas & Oil Extraction Working Group report said councillors were “frustrated” at not being able to find “credible science-based evidence” on fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-33419065
NY farmer group proposes gas well fracking using …
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A group of five farm families is seeking a state permit for a natural gas well using gelled propane instead of water for fracking, thus skirting New York’s ban on high-volume..
Luzerne County activist dropped from pipeline tas…
Luzerne County natural gas activist Scott Cannon received an email June 30 saying he was chosen to be part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s pipeline task force. Two days later, he was out. “After further…
Fish, other marine life die in Stoney Creek fuel leak. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said hundreds of fish and other marine life are dead after a diesel fuel tank leaked into Stoney Creek Tuesday afternoon. Delaware County Daily Times, Pennsylvania. 9 July 2015.
Gilpin supervisors on July 20 are expected to decide whether a natural gas compressor station can be built on farmland near Route 66. Columbia Midstream Group wants to build the station on 104 acres,…
Fracking protesters at Champlain Bridge are arres…
A coalition of social and environmental activist groups on Tuesday conducted a coordinated series of separate protests against fracked natural gas across the Champlain Valley. Nine people were arrested. In Williston, members of the activist group Rising Tide Vermont handcuffed themselves to construction equipment at 7:30 a.m. to disrupt construction of the Vermont Gas pipeline extension into Addison County. Four people were arrested. “We need to stop expansion of the fossil fuel economy and demand a rapid and just transition away from the current system based on exploitation,” said Will Bennington, one of the protesters involved in the action. Later in the day, another group of activists held a 47-minute sit-in on railroad tracks in Ticonderoga, N.Y. This action was intended to mark the second anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic oil-by-rail disaster, during which a train carrying oil exploded and killed 47 people in Québec. Rising Tide Vermont was represented, as were national activist groups including Earth First! and Greenpeace, according to a news release issued by Rising Tide.
The Obama administration moved Wednesday to significantly expand a requirement for utilities to install inexpensive safety valves on natural gas lines across the U.S. to reduce the risk of deadly explosions. The Transportation Department proposal would cover new or replaced gas lines serving multi-family dwellings, small businesses and homes not already covered under a 2009 mandate. The National Transportation Safety Board and other safety advocates have pressed for years to broaden requirements for so-called excess flow valves. They cost about $30 apiece and are designed to automatically shut off the flow of gas when a line is ruptured.
Are Michigan’s pristine lakes at risk from aging pipelines? In Michigan, two aging pipelines carry 20 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas a day under some of the most pristine water in the country. An oil spill would be devastating to the Great Lakes, which provide drinking water to 30 million people. PBS NewsHour. 9 July 2015.
(Reuters) - A hazardous materials leak in South Choctaw, Baton Rouge in Louisiana led to evacuations of businesses in the area on Tuesday morning, according to a report on the KPLC TV news website. Workers of Royal Dutch Shell shut down the pipeline following the leak, which created a cloud of petroleum, the local media report quoted the Baton Rouge Fire Department as saying. It was not clear which company owned the pipeline and Shell was not immediately available for comment.
W.Va. gov forms panel to study oil, gas workplace…
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has formed a commission to study workplace safety regulations for the oil and gas industry and to recommend improvements. Tomblin issued an executive…
Stillwater council advances new oil and gas ordin…
The ordinance, which passed a procedural hurdle Monday evening, will be voted on a final time at the July 20 council meeting. Monday’s vote was 4-0, with one council member absent. The action comes…
In oil-friendly Oklahoma, Gov. Fallin moved slowly on ‘awkward’ issue of quakes. Oil and gas has been Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s biggest financial backer, and it’s the most prominent industry in the state. But scientists say oil and gas activities have caused hundreds of earthquakes, rattling her constituents and their homes. EnergyWire. 9 July 2015.
They’re all about free-market competition — unless it hurts the power companies. Let me see if I have this straight: The attorney general and Florida’s Chamber of Commerce have both joined with mega utility companies to fight a constitutional amendment on solar power that embraces a competitive marketplace. Tampa Bay Times, Florida. Opinion, 9 July 2015.
Montana tribe breaks off talks over drilling on s…
… the U.S. government over a longstanding proposal by a Louisiana company to drill for natural gas on land considered sacred by the Blackfeet people. Tribal leaders said after three…
The bifurcation of science and values continues to implicate Colorado’s natural resource extraction policies and procedures. Historically, top-down legalism has governed regulatory processes in…
Texas is suing the EPA — again. Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday filed a lawsuit over the agency’s rejection of parts of a Texas clean air program, launching the state’s second battle against EPA regulations in less than two weeks. Texas has sued the agency 21 times since President Obama took office in 2009. Texas Tribune, Texas. 9 July 2015.
Fracking study says disposal of wastewater poses …
SACRAMENTO — State agencies should promptly begin testing water discharged from oil wells into percolation pits to determine whether it contains hazardous amounts of chemicals used in hydraulic.
SAN FRANCISCO – A new study says California has yet to get a handle on any potential health impacts of the oilfield fracking boom. The study was released Thursday by the California Council on Science…
BP could get billions in tax breaks on oil spill settlement. Damage payments - such as money paid for coastal restoration - can be treated as a business expense. New Orleans Times-Picayune, Louisiana. 9 July 2015.
In early May, with its legal options dwindling and investors impatient, BP Plc saw a chance to negotiate what became a $18.7 billion settlement that ended five years of litigation over the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. An unexpected opportunity to secure a global deal that would wipe the slate clean of hundreds of claims and untold billions of dollar in penalties opened up when Chief Executive Bob Dudley met with Patrick Juneau, the lifelong Louisiana litigator who BP had panned for handing out “absurd” sums of money as part of a class settlement in 2012.
Shell U.S. Unit Name May Drop ‘Oil’ as Alternatives Proliferate
The U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc may soon drop the word “oil” from its name in…
Shell Sees Signal of Renewable Energy Transition: Odum
Marvin Odum, who directs Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Upstream Americas unit, talks…
Shell Continues With Arctic Drilling Plan Despite…
Since at least 2012, multinational oil and gas company Shell has been trying to drill off the coast of Alaska in the Chukchi Sea. And since then, the multibillion-dollar company has encountered…
We initiated coverage on WPX Energy (WPX), a company that is continuing to in
House Committee subpoenas John Kerry’s Keystone XL documents. Oversight chairman says State Department has been “uncooperative” in probe into pipeline. National Journal. 9 July 2015.
EPA is underestimating methane emissions from the Barnett Shale - study. Federal tracking underestimates emissions of methane, which is the primary component of natural gas, in at least one major natural-gas-producing region in the United States: the Barnett Shale in the Dallas-Forth Worth area of Texas. ClimateWire. 9 July 2015.
Methane leaks raise new questions about natural gas sites. Some natural gas operations in the Barnett Shale leaked more methane than previously thought, underscoring the need for better and more frequent monitoring and repair of equipment, new studies by the Environmental Defense Fund found. Houston Chronicle, Texas. 9 July 2015.
Diversification isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
My last column three weeks ago told people they were about to get a great opportunity to buy natural-gas stocks. That index is down over 10% in the last few weeks. It was down about 60% the…
Pacific NorthWest LNG, have joined forces to assess the environmental impact of B.C. liquefied natural gas exports proposed for the Prince Rupert region. The Metlakatla, Kitselas, Gitxaala,…
Propane facility in the works
Several companies have expressed great interest in building a propane processing facility in the region. The Industrial Heartland holds massive supplies of propane that can be converted into higher…
Alberta’s oil and gas reserves will remain “wide open for investment,” pledged Premier Rachel Notley as a new study finds the NDP government risks investor flight with its forthcoming royalty…
Fremont firm to build huge solar plant at Oman oil field. Solar power and fossil fuels tend to be viewed as natural enemies. But on Wednesday, a Fremont company signed a deal to build a massive solar power plant in the Omani desert, creating steam to squeeze petroleum out of an aging oil field. San Francisco Chronicle, California. 9 July 2015.
Welby fears for Arctic as oil giants move in to drill. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who worked in the oil industry before he was ordained, said that he was concerned by how difficult it would be to contain and clean up an oil spill should there be an accident in the Arctic. Times of London, United Kingdom. 9 July 2015.
MOSCOW / MILAN — Russia’s plans to drop Ukraine eventually as a route for piping its natural gas to Europe have hit a snag after Russian gas exporter Gazprom called off a deal with Italy’s Saipem to.
The climate deception dossiers: internal fossil f…
… confusion and block policies designed to reduce the heat-trapping emissions that cause global warming. Fossil fuel company leaders knew that their products were harmful to people and the…
… was seeking to develop the Natuna gas field off Indonesia. This is an immense reserve of natural gas, but it is 70% CO2. That CO2 would have to be separated to make the natural gas usable….
Did oil giant ExxonMobil know about climate change in 1981? The biggest oil company in the world, ExxonMobil, suspected fossil fuels might be involved in climate change as early as 1981 – seven years before the issue hit the headlines, the firm’s former climate expert has revealed. The Independent, United Kingdom. 9 July 2015.
An Exxon scientist says the company knew about climate change in 1981—and still funded deniers - Quartz An Exxon scientist says the company knew about climate change in 1981—and still funded…
Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, email says - but kept funding deniers. ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil company, knew as early as 1981 of climate change— but spent millions over the next 27 years to promote climate denial. The Guardian. 9 July 2015.
Big Oil’s decades of deception: Report reveals that Exxon’s known the truth about climate science since 1981. The oil industry has been spreading climate denial for years - and there’s proof it knew better. Salon. 9 July 2015.
EU politicians back carbon market 2019 reform start. The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a proposal to begin reform of the world’s biggest carbon market in 2019, clearing the last major hurdle before the plan can become law. Reuters. 9 July 2015.
How can we make people care about climate change? Norwegian psychologist Per Espen Stoknes has studied why so many people have remained unconcerned about climate change. Yale Environment 360. 9 July 2015.
In parallel, the scientific community’s focus will be on using and creating practical solutions to complex climate challenges. This week, scientists are gathering in France for a conference hosted by…
Pope Francis’ carbon footprint: Does he practice …
Pope Francis last month attracted international attention with the release of his environmental encyclical, in which he described climate change as “a global problem with grave implications” that…
From Pope Francis to Green Muslims, faith groups steadfast in push for clean energy. Protecting the environment has long been a tenet of many faiths, from indigenous spiritual practices around the globe to the world’s major organized religions. Midwest Energy News, United States. 9 July 2015.
For years Catholics and evangelical Protestants have found common cause especially in opposing abortion and homosexual practice, including gay marriage and challenges…The fact is that for all their passion for upholding a cluster of personal, sexual morals, evangelicals ignore or reject almost every element of Francis’ agenda. Economic and political justice are not on the evangelical radar screen in any way that reflects Francis’ positions. Climate change is a non-starter topic in nearly all their churches. Human rights, except for Christian rights, have no priority. To most evangelicals, wealth never reaches unethical levels, nor does nationalism or the income gap.
Pope inspires Catholic investors to press environmental concerns. Institutions and religious orders reassess fossil-fuel exposure, push companies to address climate-change risks. Wall Street Journal. 9 July 2015.
Pope’s climate-change message converting Catholic…
The pope’s call to action on global warming is unleashing a new wave of shareholder activism by Roman Catholic investors. This spring, as Pope Francis prepared his 183-page encyclical calling for a…
Jerry Brown will visit Vatican for climate change…
Gov. Jerry Brown, a longtime champion of environmental causes and one-time seminarian, will travel to Vatican City this month to meet with Pope Francis and attend gathering of local officials on…
Jerry Brown aims to lead a climate change revolution. Governor Brown believes much can be accomplished by creating a coalition of sub-national entities that get out ahead of recalcitrant national politicians. Los Angeles Times. 9 July 2015.
World is on a collision course with fossil fuels, Gov. Jerry Brown says. Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday took aim at “troglodytes” who deny the threat of climate change and warned that sweeping changes will be necessary to slow the rise of global temperatures. Los Angeles Times. 9 July 2015.
Ellen Cantarow, Paradise Lost — or Found?
In September 2014, there was a massive climate change march, estimated at 400,000 people, in New York City and I was there with my family. It was so jam-packed that, as I wrote at the time, it took my…
Can we save the world?
Recently I was speaking to someone who worked for a large asphalt manufacturing company. He said the guys he was working with were joking about making up hats and T-shirts with what they thought the…
Stephen Hawking’s catastrophic end for Planet Ear…
Overpowering opposition. So go work for the opposition? For someone we’re blaming as the cause of global warming. Yes, join and change their culture from the inside: Big Oil, Big Ag, the GOP, Koch…
Fighting climate change will cause massive economic growth, lifting the world out of poverty and erasing the lingering troubles of the Great Recession. That was the message from former U.S. vice..
Global warming skeptics cite personal weather obs…
The number of Americans who believe there is evidence of global warming rose to 63 percent after a memorable winter that included record cold and snow in the Northeast and historic warmth and drought…
House GOP takes on Obama environmental agenda
Management from enforcing new rules governing the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and natural gas from BLM lands. Republicans said the rules create a duplicative compliance system in.
The most important bill for 2016
The House on Wednesday arguably passed a bill that will have the most impact on the GOP presidential.
Ryan said that senate Democrats’ efforts to filibuster a fiscal 2016 defense appropriations bill that exceeds legal caps by $38 billion are problematic and could provoke another government-wide spending crisis.
The fight between President Obama and GOP lawmakers over defense funding is boiling over as Congress returns to work this week. Unless a compromise can be worked out soon, the political conflict could paralyze the fiscal 2016 spending process this summer and once again raise the specter of a partial government shutdown. Obama has threatened to veto the congressional defense appropriations bill unless GOP leaders agree to lift spending caps on domestic programs as well as defense. The president and the Democrats also are insisting that GOP leaders abandon a budget gimmick designed to funnel an additional $38 billion into the Pentagon’s base operating budget through an emergency contingency account meant primarily to fund U.S. war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
IF the 2016 presidential race eventually boils down to another Bush versus another Clinton, the two top contenders will have more in common than a famous last name and close relatives who have also sat in the Oval Office. As has been extensively documented in the case of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and was revealed Tuesday in the release of three decades of tax returns filed by former Florida governor Jeb Bush, both candidates engaged in the activity that seems to occupy many people who leave public office: amassing a vast personal fortune.
Jeb Bush: People Need to Work Longer Hours
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Wednesday that in order to grow the economy “people should work longer hours” — a comment that the Bush campaign argues was a reference to under…
10 reasons Jeb Bush is on the upswing
Jeb Bush announces his campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination at a rally last month in Miami. (Joe Skipper/Reuters) Politico reports, “[Jeb] Bush has jumped from 10.8 percent on June 15,..
Trump Won’t Tone It Down: He Doubles Down on Insults
Real estate mogul and master of outrageous soundbites Donald Trump can’t seem to stay out of the news these days as he continues his quest to win the 2016 Republican…
He’s said dumb things about climate change, ignorant things about women and even worse things about immigration. Let’s take a look back at the best of his worst. You Might Also Like All Share..
It has been amusing to watch the brands — the PGA, NBC, Macy’s, NASCAR, Univision, Serta — flee Donald Trump after his xenophobic remarks. Who even knew the Donald had a line of mattresses featuring…
According to Bloomberg News, Serta, the largest mattress company in the U.S., announced the decision in an email that said, in part, “Serta values diversity and does not agree with nor endorse the recent statements made by Mr. Trump.” The company said it is “in the process of unwinding our relationship.” Serta joins a movement launched by Spanish-language television giant Univision, which announced last week that it would no longer carry the Miss Universe pageant, which Trump partially owns.
The wasted gift of Trump
… rant about immigrants, which he has since amplified, was another squandered moment. Chris Christie could have made good on his boasts about always telling it like it is and being…
Taking on Trump may be a crucial step in getting …
No matter how glittering the political resume, getting elected U.S. president remains one of the great challenges on the planet. As Bill Clinton explains it, presidential candidates must not only make…
… Republican candidates were asked to weigh in. On Monday, Fox News host Bill Hemmer asked Chris Christie for his take. The New Jersey governor denounced Trump’s views before taking an…
Another day, another Republican enters the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. There are now so many – a baker’s dozen, perhaps more if another has entered the race while you’ve been…
Washington (CNN)Four weeks from Thursday night, a group of at least 10 Republican candidates for president will take the debate stage in Cleveland, Ohio, with polling playing a major role in…
GOP Presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail
Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, center, tries his hand at the pitching cage while participating in the Fourth of July parade festivities in Amherst, N.H., Saturday,…
In this key northeast state, Bobby Jindal seen as…
Rochester, N.H.— New Hampshire is a lovely place to visit in the summer. The landscape is lush, and even on humid days, cool breezes often break up the misery. For Gov. Bobby Jindal, who this week…
Walker should present those ‘big and bold’ ideas
… already set out to define their own big ideas. In a way, focusing on Wisconsin (as Gov. Chris Christie did on New Jersey) would seem like a step back for Walker, who has recently been more…
Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin (R) met with billionaire hedge fund manager Dan Loeb on Wednesday, Business Insider has learned. Walker was seeking Loeb’s key financial support ahead of his…
The secret summer camp for billionaires
Jack Dorsey, Sheryl Sandberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Other bigwigs include New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Universal Studios chairman Ron Meyer, Michael Bloomberg, Sony Entertainment chief…
WASHINGTON — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) appears likely to veto a package of election reforms aimed at improving the state’s sparse voter turnout that was passed out of the Democrat-controlled…
How Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis Could Hurt the GOP
With one of the Republican Party’s leading candidates for president busy offending Hispanic voters every time he comes near a microphone, the last thing the GOP…
Overflowing GOP presidential field has Fox News in demand
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s the stuff of Republican nightmares: Fox News runs out of advertising time.
Surprising questions people are asking about pres…
We are getting close to the first big national political debate in the Race for the White House. Republican candidates will square off in Cleveland on Aug. 6. We wanted to know what questions you’re…
The two biggest stories of the day in presidential politics are so obvious that I only wish I had bothered to predict them. Mike Littwin, Colorado syndicated columnist One, Bernie Sanders as Liberal..
3 presidential candidates say ‘no’ to fossil fuel funding. Three of the candidates in the 2016 presidential race have pledged to shun campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry. Huffington Post. 9 July 2015.
WASHINGTON — Democrat Martin O’Malley is making tougher oversight of Wall Street a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, outlining steps to bring more regulations to large banks and tax…
Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley sprint to Hillary Clinton’s left on climate. Sanders signaled that he will promote the movement to dump stocks in the fossil-fuel industry. National Journal. 9 July 2015.
… in the Congress.” — 2012 Senate speech challenging Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, who dismissed global warming as a “hoax.” “You know, I think many people have the mistaken impression that…
BrasscheckTV Report
What happens when the CIA partners with right wingers and organized crime to enforce its vision of the New World Order on other countries -
Mayhem.
A global divestment movement looking for companies to move away from fossil fuels and invest in a low carbon economy recently got its 100th signatory – with leaders hoping to double this number before…
Summer forecast for Lake Erie: Another big algae outbreak
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Lake Erie will see one of the most severe toxic algae outbreaks in recent years this summer,
Pollution drops near Hong Kong container port as ships switch to cleaner fuel, green group says. Sulphur pollution fell markedly in the first week of this month as a result of new regulations mandating ocean-going vessels switch to cleaner fuel, according to the Clean Air Network. South China Morning Post, China. 9 July 2015.
‘Safer’ plastics linked to health problems in kids. Two chemicals commonly used in products such as plastic wrap are linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure and other health problems in children and teens, according to new research. LiveScience. 9 July 2015.
These plastic chemicals may be just as dangerous as what they replace. About a decade ago, manufacturers began to replace a chemical known as DEHP—a probable human carcinogen—from their products. Now, new research suggests that replacement chemicals may have some of the same negative health effects as DEHP. Time Magazine. 9 July 2015.
Chemicals used in plastics linked to increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes in children and adolescents. The two compounds, both in a class of chemicals known as phthalates, are used during manufacturing to strengthen plastic wrap, soap, cosmetics, and processed food containers. News-Medical.net. 9 July 2015.
Menards joins other retailers in dropping products with toxic chemical. Menards said it planned to stop selling any products containing phthalates at its home improvement stores by the end of year. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin. 9 July 2015.
Judge rules against DuPont in Ohio exposure case. Plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against DuPont will not be required to prove their individual level of exposure to a chemical linked to illnesses, the judge ruled. Wilmington News Journal, Delaware. 9 July 2015.
Environmental groups say Dominion coal ash pond closure plans inadequate. Dominion Virginia Power’s plan to close its 11 coal ash ponds at four power plants doesn’t do enough to keep toxic pollutants from seeping into the James and Potomac rivers, environmental groups say. Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia. 9 July 2015.
Minnesota doles out $3.6M for pollution cleanup and redevelopment projects. Thirteen polluted sites across Minnesota will be investigated or cleaned up thanks to $3.57 million in grants from the state’s economic development agency. Minneapolis - St Paul Biz Journal, Minnesota. 9 July 2015.
Mountaintop coal falls as renewables, natural gas rise. Mountaintop removal coal mining has declined 62 percent since 2008, new U.S. Energy Information Administration data show. It is being displaced by natural gas, wind and solar power and other renewables that are becoming the favored choices for electric power generation. Climate Central. 9 July 2015.
Noose Tightening On Coal Industry
As electricity generation in the U.S. continues to favor natural gas and renewables,
A Colorado coal mining town struggles to define its future. Tighter regulations, environmental lawsuits and a pivot toward cleaner-burning natural gas have knocked communities like Somerset, Colorado, on their heels. New York Times. 9 July 2015.
Study finds that future deployment of distributed…
… report, which uses a solar deployment model originally developed at the National renewable energy Laboratory, also examines PV deployment levels under broad adoption of time-of-use..
BMW puts a 40-ton electric truck on the road
In a step towards greener goods transportation, BMW and Scherm put a 40-ton electric freight truck in operation in Munich.
What Could Elon Musk’s SolarCity Be Hiding? Having filed several ‘confidential treatment orders’ with the SEC, what is SolarCity…
During Japan’s boom years, golf courses spread like a rash across the country, but when the bubble burst, many were unable to keep up with the huge costs associated with running a golf course on one…
Giant solar farm near Shifnal gets the go-ahead «…
Planning officers at Shropshire Council used delegated powers to grant planning permission for the development on 42 acres of farmland at Sheriffhales. It comes just months after the planning…
Acadia Center said it assessed the grid and “societal value” of six solar photovoltaic systems to understand the value that they provide to the grid. It found that the value of solar to the grid –
Wave energy device is watched for clean power in …
… A key factor, among any other challenge, is cost. Wind and solar have grabbed most of the renewable energy headlines in recent years as they got cheaper but, said Matt Dozier, Office of…
MECO makes better use of wind
MECO filed its report on wind power use June 29 with the Public Utilities Commission, which has been critical of the utility in the past for amounts of wind power curtailed or unused. In the first few..
… green targets, but warned that “Facebook still faces significant challenges securing renewable energy for its first two data centres in North Carolina and Oregon”. Google and Apple…
Facebook cuts the guff with a data centre powered…
Forest City, Lulea and Altoona. The site has been chosen to allow it to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy. 200MW will be supplied to the local grid from a 1,700-acre site in Clay County,…
Published at 14:57, Thursday, 09 July 2015 CONTROVERSIAL plans for two 110m high wind turbines near Sellafield should be rejected by the Government, urged Copeland Council’s planning…
There are secret underwater gardens off the coast of Italy where diver-farmers are growing vegetables. Nemo’s Garden is experimenting with an entirely new—and surprisingly successful—type of agriculture. Fast Company. 9 July 2015.
… give scientists a much better understanding of how global food crops are responding to climate change. The principle at work is actually very old, which connects specific wavelengths of…
Community gardens or toxic fields? Phoenix plan faces criticism. The City of Phoenix is using an EPA grant to identify polluted vacant lots that could become community gardens, but at least one local environmentalist says it’s a potentially hazardous idea. KPHO Phoenix, Arizona. 9 July 2015.
California farms are using drilling wastewater to grow crops. California’s epic drought is pushing Big Oil to solve a problem it’s struggled with for decades: what to do with the billions of gallons of wastewater that gush out of wells every year. Bloomberg News. 9 July 2015.
Evil Almonds? California’s Drought Villain Is a Climate Change Hero
More than half a million acres of California farmland will be left bare this year, a vast expanse of arid dirt that is both a…
ProPublica documents the West’s water crisis in ‘Killing the Colorado.’ Renee Montagne talks to Propublica’s Abrahm Lustgarten about the Colorado River’s falling water levels, and how flawed water policies and mismanagement are to blame — in addition to the drought. Morning Edition, NPR. 9 July 2015.
Water wars-Part 3
… example the high demand for bottled water and products dependent on the extraction of oil and gas, which can be water-intensive. Has Ventura County reached its carrying capacity? The Surfrider…
Record warmth continues to bake US West. Latest temperature updates were released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Climate Central. 9 July 2015.
It’s warming faster in cities - but there are cooling solutions, scientists say. The world is steadily heating up as the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases accumulate. But cities are heating up even faster, which could have serious consequences for city dwellers in upcoming years. Athens Banner-Herald, Georgia. 9 July 2015.
Why so warm the last 24 months? Is a slow global rise in average temperature responsible for the hotter-than-normal weather the Central Valley has had over the last 17 months? Hanford Sentinel, California. 9 July 2015.
Smoke from hundreds of North American wildfires is taking a toll on US air quality. There are hundreds of active wildfires burning in Canada and Alaska this week in what has been a horrible fire season so far. Unfortunately, the jet stream has been ushering it straight into the U.S. for days. Washington Post. 9 July 2015.
Navigating newly hazardous air. With forest fires in the province’s north pumping a sometimes apocalyptic-looking haze of smoke across Saskatchewan, both healthy people and those with chronic conditions are wondering how to cope. Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Saskatchewan. 9 July 2015.
Alaska’s on fire and it may make climate change even worse. The real problem is that the fires could accelerate the melting of permafrost, one of Earth’s great storehouses of carbon. Wired. 9 July 2015.
Climate change in Newtok, Alaska (26 photos)
Newtok, Alaska, has a population of approximately of 375 ethnically Yupik people and was established along the shores of the Ninglick River, near where the river empties into the Bering Sea, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1959. The Yupik people have lived on…
Catastrophic Chinese floods triggered by air pollution. Authors of a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters find soot in particular contributed to catastrophic flooding in the Sichuan province in 2013. Science. 9 July 2015.
Researchers find mechanism that ties human-caused…
The 2013 Sichuan Flood in China killed up to 200 people with hundreds more missing. It was a 50-year event with up to 17 inches of rain from July 8-13, causing mudslides and disrupting the lives of…
Torrential rains increasing in warming world: Study. Torrential rains have become more frequent worldwide since 1980, with Southeast Asia getting the biggest increase in downpours, a scientific study said on Tuesday. Reuters. 9 July 2015.
… since 1980, is being linked to global warming caused by “human-induced greenhouse gases”. A team of scientists from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found that the…
Rushing flood repairs could cost you thousands of…
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (July 8, 2015) – If you are one of the many in Central Indiana impacted by heavy flooding, you may be in a rush to renovate and fix up what the flood waters ripped apart. But…
Red River to rise by this weekend
A stationary front with passing weather disturbances plus copious amounts of heat and moisture allowed for several inches of rain in Oklahoma and Arkansas during the past few days (Figure 1). As a…
Second flooding in Douglas County after disaster …
MINDEN, Nev. — Another Flash Flood Warning is in effect over parts of Douglas County as residents of the Johnson Lane area in Minden are experiencing a second round of flooding…
Vista Northbound Closed at Baring Because of Floo…
RENO, NV - For yet another day, Extreme Weather is moving through northern Nevada. In Sparks, Vista Boulevard northbound is closed at Baring Boulevard because of flooding and debris. We’ve attached…
Brown County: Sand Bags and Emergency Shelters
(BROWNWOOD, TX) - Some Brownwood residents are being evacuated due to rising flood waters. According to the Brown County Water Improvement District, the water is.
Billions of dollars of Pacific infrastructure at risk from climate Heavy rain and high tides has damaged causeways connecting islets in Tarawa, Kiribati.(Source: Plan International…
OSLO (Reuters) - Sea levels could rise by at least six meters (20 feet) in the long term, swamping coasts from Florida to Bangladesh, even if governments achieve their goals for curbing global warming, according to a study published on Thursday.
Global sea levels have risen six meters or more w…
… Andrea Dutton of the University of Florida, summarized more than 30 years of research on past changes in ice sheets and sea level. It shows that changes in Earth’s climate and sea level are…
The world’s fourth smallest country is worried it’s going to disappear off the face of the Earth. The prime minister of the world’s fourth smallest nation has appealed for help from European leaders to stop it disappearing from the face of the Earth. The Independent, United Kingdom. 9 July 2015.
Volcanoes cooled Earth in the past, constrain warming from excess CO2. A study more precisely detailing how volcanoes affected climate in the past sheds light on how much CO2 will change climate. ClimateWire. 9 July 2015.
There is still a snow pile in Boston after city’s wicked bad winter Pile of trash and snow is in city’s Seaport District and Mayor Marty Walsh started contest to guess when it will melt It was one…
Technical solutions alone can’t fix climate change: Scientists. Dealing with climate change and its risks will require not only technical responses like drought-resilient crops and higher sea walls but also reshaping economic and political incentives that are driving global warming, scientists said on Wednesday. Reuters. 9 July 2015.
Buzz the alarm: Climate change puts squeeze on bu…
global warming is putting the squeeze on bumblebees. In the most comprehensive study ever conducted of the impacts of climate change on these critical pollinators, scientists have discovered that..
Stop blaming the deer. Lyme disease is spreading faster than ever and humans are partly to blame…Each year, 300,000 US residents contract Lyme, estimates the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). And given how inconsistently the condition is diagnosed and reported, it could be far more—as many as 3 million cases a year, says Keith Clay, professor of biology at Indiana University. The official number of new US cases—the only available proxy for overall cases—has been growing at double-digit rates…
Pop music might overuse sunny skies and rainy days. But it’s also the artform most suited for making the natural world seem alive. erhaps it was a dark and stormy night when six academics set out to study weather’s role in pop music lyrics, or maybe it was one fine morning. It doesn’t really matter, does it? Someone using a..
Weather Channel wants to attract Weather Undergro…
The Weather Channel is looking to get its geek on. The cable channel will soon announce the mid-August launch of a daily two-hour live show that taps into the resources and quirky spirit of Weather…
Sea surface temperature anomalies showing the telltale sign of an El Nino in the tropical Pacific. El Niño conditions are intensifying in the tropical Pacific Ocean, potentially leading…
… of drought. Also keep in mind that our drought is a result of several seasons of deficit. Does El Niño have anything to do with climate change? No, it is a naturally occurring phenome…
Where does water go when it doesn’t flow?
This view of Henry’s Lake in Utah’s Uinta Mountains shows several ways water on land reaches the atmosphere: It evaporates from lake waters, streams and soils and also is transpired or “exhaled” by…
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