Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
•Pennsylvania Fracking Study Preliminary Results Released •Democrats will soon have a big, fat fight over fracking •The Darker Shades Of Shale •Ukraine region rejects shale gas project •Estonia becomes self-sufficient on shale gas boom
In his new book Snake Oil, Richard Heinberg takes on overblown claims from both the oil and gas industry’s salesmen–its top executives, industry trade groups and PR firms–and its shills–fake think tanks, paid consultants, and captive analysts who are often quoted and interviewed (mistakenly) as independent experts.
Energy round-up: breaking through the government’s fracking mantra
Heinberg makes four points in the book, each of which could usefully be put on the business end of a branding iron and applied to the tender backsides of pundits and politicians alike.
I have a love-hate relationship with hydraulic fracturing, but my affection for the drilling method has nothing to do with its so-called benefits.
Does a new extractive technology arrive before or after limits to growth in resource throughput are in place?
•A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water •Fracking company wants to build new pipeline — for water •A New California Oil Boom? Drilling the Monterey Shale •Greenwashing Concerns Mount as Evidence of Fracking’s Climate Impact Grows •Fracking firm scaling back operation at Balcombe •Unfair Share: How Oil and Gas Drillers Avoid Paying Royalties
When it comes to the health impacts of fracking and drilling in California, there are more questions than answers.
This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with Heinberg about his book, titled Snake Oil: How Fracking’s False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future, and delve into the economic and environmental factors behind the natural gas boom, which to some is an important bridge fuel and to others is fool’s gold.
Production from shale oil plays has been impressive and has taken the national energy dialogue by storm.
"We’re concerned about the future, we’re concerned about the Earth — seven generations hence — and the conduct of people," Oren says.
In the early 2000s, fracking was mostly confined to the Southwest and seemed little more than a crazy, expensive, last-ditch effort to squeeze the last bits of gas out of old fields.
