Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
•China cracks down on emissions to combat choking smog •China’s first coal-to-gas plant soon to pump gas to Beijing •China’s smog reduction plan could add to water stress and boost emissions •China Faces Gas Shortage after Cutting Coal Consumption •China’s oil demand to 2020 •Beijing slashes car sales quota in anti-pollution drive •Shale Gas Revolution Not Coming To China Anytime Soon •China faces a long battle for blue skies
Despite growing concern over the last two decades about the low-oxygen “dead zone” that emerges each summer in the fisheries-rich Gulf of Mexico, the nitrate pollution at the root of the problem continues to rise.
•New York Shale Play Gets Major Downgrade •America’s natural gas revolution isn’t all it’s ‘fracked’ up to be •Scientists Wary of Shale Oil and Gas as U.S. Energy Salvation •Shale gas firms to be brought under ‘robust’ new EU law •Lock the Gate Webisodes •Hundreds of North Dakota spills went unreported •Underground Truths: Shale Won’t Save Us •Romanian farmers choose subsistence over shale gas
Globalization has largely been seen in the context of the outsourcing of information technologies. But the larger outsourcing that globalization is leading to is the outsourcing of pollution and the energy-intensive production of goods.
Why has there been such a massive grassroots backlash against fracking? In this chapter, we’ll look at the evidence for fracking’s impacts on water, air, land, and climate. Reader warning: it ain’t pretty.
•Shale miracle is surprisingly unprofitable •France’s Fracking Ban ‘Absolute’ After Court Upholds Law •Duke Study: Fracking Is Leaving Radioactive Pollution In Pennsylvania Rivers •Montana Towns Struggle With Oil Boom Cost as Dollars Flee
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico briefly focused attention on how the oil and gas industry exploits public resources with little or no accountability.
“I don’t believe for one minute that all Albertans believe that oil and gas is the only way to live in this province,” says Ronalie Campbell. “Alberta wasn’t built on oil and gas,” says Shawn, “Alberta was built on agriculture. Alberta was started with a plow, and horseback, and cattle.
•Boulder County activists concerned about flooded oil, gas wells •U-M technical reports examine hydraulic fracturing in Michigan •Shale Energy No Quick Solution •Never-Released Energy Department Report Predicts Increasing Domestic Conflicts over Water, Energy
•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
A weekly review including: Oil and the Global Economy, The Middle East & North Africa, China, Quote of the Week, The Briefs
This conversation with reporters covering fracking in California and in the US highlights the dangers and potential of the natural gas bonanza.
