Shale gas – Mar 15

March 15, 2012

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EPA’s Proposed Fracking Rules Seen Cutting Gas Drilling

Mark Drajem, Bloomberg
Regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on air pollution would reduce drilling for natural gas using hydraulic fracturing by as much as 52 percent, the American Petroleum Institute said.

The industry-backed group, in a report today on the process, called fracking, urged the Obama administration to scale-back the rules before they are issued in final form next month. The EPA’s proposal is being reviewed at the White House, and President Barack Obama has made production of natural gas from shale a key part of his energy strategy…
(15 March 2012)


As NY Turns to Fracking, Farmers Cash In

Tara MacIsaac, Epoch Times
Leasing consultant James Leonard tells a tragic story, but it’s also a cautionary tale. Leonard warned a room full of upstate farmers considering leasing their land to gas companies for fracking: “You’re signing not only on behalf of you, but also on behalf of your kids, your grandkids.”

“Three years ago or so, a young fellow came to me, in his 30s or so,” began Leonard. “He signed his lease, got his bonus money—about $2,500 an acre—which gave him a little over $500,000. This guy had never had money in his life. With $500,000 he did what any red-blooded American would do: He went out and spent a hundred grand on all the toys—the pickup truck, the ATVs [all-terrain vehicles], the snowmobiles, and all that good stuff.”

“So, he had $400,000 left and he invested all of it in late summer of 2008. And what happened after that? He lost half; he came in, had to do his tax returns, and I had to sit there and look him in the eye and tell him the taxes on $500,000 were $200,000.”

“He’s got nothing left,” concluded Leonard…
(11 March 2012)


Sierra Club Spurns $30 Million Gift as Fracking Turns Toxic

Mark Drajem, Bloomberg
Environmental and health groups are calling for tougher U.S. regulation of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, turning on a one-time donor to their causes: Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK)

The Sierra Club, the largest U.S. environmental group, is rethinking early support of natural-gas development after activists and scientists linked the drilling to tainted water and increased air emissions, Executive Director Michael Brune said yesterday in an interview. The group turned down $30 million from Chesapeake after he took over in 2010, he said.

“Five years ago most environmental groups thought of gas as a clean but flawed alternative” to coal, Brune said at a Bloomberg Government breakfast with reporters and editors in Washington. “The more we heard from people” with water issues “the more we realized that there were more problems with gas than we thought.”

The American Lung Association, which like the Sierra Club got donations from Chesapeake, is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to force gas drillers to cut down on methane emissions, calling for tougher rules even as industry asks to weaken the standards. Those EPA rules are now being reviewed by the White House…
(14 March 2012)


Tags: Energy Policy, Fossil Fuels, Industry, Media & Communications, Natural Gas, Politics