Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
EPA to Set Standards for Fracking Emissions
New standards for air pollution caused by natural gas development – including standards for the process known as hydraulic fracturing (fracking) – are scheduled to be released next week by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The industry claims fracking has minimal environmental impacts, but a study by the Colorado School of Public Health has found that health risks from cancers and asthma are higher than normal for people living near fracking sites in the state.
Catskill Mountains Town Bans Natural Gas Fracking
The Town of Olive in the Catskill Mountains is the latest community in New York to ban to natural gas drilling using high-volume hydraulic fracturing.
New Homes Sold Without Underground Rights Spur Fracking Fears
Bert Garrido, a Florida transplant who bought a $400,000 home last year in upper Chatham County, is already having neighbor tensions in his newly adopted state. His concerns are of the sort that have never been experienced in North Carolina, and dovetail with this state’s contentious debate about fracking.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is the process of extracting natural gas from layers of shale rock, 5,000-8,000 feet underground, using millions of gallons of water mixed with hundreds of potentially harmful carcinogenic and volatile chemicals.
BP OIL SPILL:
Texas Invests Oil Spill Settlement into Habitat Conservation
Texas is the first state affected by the BP oil spill to use settlement money from a BP investor for habitat conservation efforts, leading to more coastal restoration attempts in the future.
US to Give BP Evidence on Gulf Oil Spill
BP has agreed to settle lawsuits from thousands of fishermen who lost work and others who claimed they were harmed by the oil giant’s 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster.
Shell Shares Fall on Gulf of Mexico Spill Fears
Shares in Royal Dutch Shell fell on Thursday as the company stepped up efforts to monitor an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in a market still jittery after BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Lessons of the BP Accident for Improving Offshore Drilling Safety Around the World
As the second anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon offshore platform accident approaches on April 20, the sky rocketing gasoline prices at the pumps have fueled calls of “drill, baby, drill” to increase domestic oil production. The prospect of extensive deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the Arctic waters, and elsewhere is now stronger than ever.
RADIATION:
Re-assessing Nuclear Destiny After Fukushima
The meltdown at Fukushima Dai-ichi facility’s three reactors had caused the world of nuclear power fall apart – once again.
