Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
EU Green Energy Drive Says No To Shale Gas, Looks Towards More Renewable Power Sources
Europe has been unable to repeat the shale gas revolution that has swept the United States, and that could prove to be the unlikely saviour of long-term EU efforts to spur renewables and curb greenhouse gases.
Celebrities Join to Oppose Upstate Gas Drilling
More than 140 artists and celebrities, including Lady Gaga and Paul McCartney, have signed on to a coalition to try to persuade Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to ban the use of hydraulic fracturing — also known as hydrofracking or fracking — to extract natural gas in parts of New York State.
Australia’s Victoria State Bans Coal Seam Gas “Fracking”
Australia’s southeastern state of Victoria on Friday put a hold on hydraulic fracturing, a technique used to produce hard-to-reach gas deposits, and a halt on new coal seam gas exploration licenses.
Law Prohibits Fracking Brine in Ulster County
Ulster County Executive Mike Hein met with county legislators in New Paltz Thursday to sign a Hydraulic Fracturing Brine Prohibition Act. It’s a local law prohibiting the use of fracking brine on property and roads within the county.
BP OIL SPILL:
America’s Most Hated Industries — #1 Oil and Gas Industry
Americans are not happy with the government. But for the first time in a long while, it is not the most hated industry in the country. That honor now belongs to the oil and gas industry as a result of climbing prices at the pumps and the BP oil spill still fresh in many people’s minds.
Hotel Owners’ Anger Flares Over Oil Spill Deal
The Asian American Hotel Owners Association says the settlement between BP and a committee representing claimants sets arbitrary geographic boundaries including the entire coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, but only portions of the Texas and Florida Gulf coasts.
Lawyers Chosen by City of New Orleans Will Represent Wisner Trust in BP Suit, Federal Judge Rules
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has agreed to allow attorneys representing the city of New Orleans to also represent the Edward Wisner Donation Trust in their damage lawsuits against BP involving the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In an order issued Thursday, Barbier agreed with attorney Basile Uddo that the team could represent both the city and the trust without running into a conflict of interest.
Lawyer at Center of the Case Against BP Holds 57 World Records
For as long as there have been high-pressure jobs, those in them have found ways to blow off steam.
RADIATION:
All Fukushima Rice to be Checked for Radiation
With early rice harvests under way in Fukushima Prefecture, farmers are keeping their fingers crossed that this year’s crop passes government radiation checks.
