Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Oh, Canada’s Become a Home for Record Fracking
Early last year, deep in the forests of northern British Columbia, workers for Apache Corp. performed what the company proclaimed was the biggest hydraulic fracturing operation ever.
Dangers of Fracking Still Becoming Clear
The word “fracking” may sound funny, but it describes a drilling practice that has created a serious boom in natural gas production in Texas and elsewhere, and with the boom has come serious worries about fracking’s effects on the environment.
Does Fracking Cause Earthquakes?
2011 might go down as the Year of the Earthquake — primarily, perhaps, due to the massive 9.0-magnitude Tohoku earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan in March and caused 15,000 deaths, widespread destruction, a tsunami and multiple meltdowns at a the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.
Documentary On Fracking A Must-Watch
About a year ago, a friend of mine lent me a copy of the documentary “Gasland,” which is about hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, and the hazards associated with it.
BP OIL SPILL:
U.S. Judge Rejects Attempt to Revoke BP’s Probation for Oil Spill, Lifts Company’s Restrictions
A U.S. district judge has dismissed the federal government’s request to revoke a BP subsidiary’s probation for a 2009 oil spill on Alaska’s North Slope. Judge Ralph Beistline also lifted BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.’s probation altogether in a written order issued Tuesday.
As BP, the British energy giant, back-peddles on its global solar energy initiatives, Tata Power, its Indian partner, is only too happy to buy out its 51 per cent stake in their 22-year old joint venture, Tata BP Solar.
Shell Bonga Oil Spill Off the Nigerian Coast Sparks Environmental Concern
On December 20, a leak was discovered in one of the lines of the Royal Dutch Shell-operated Bonga offshore oil field, located off of the Nigerian Coast. While Shell contends that the oil spill has been contained, close to 40,000 barrels — or 1.68 million gallons — of crude oil have leaked out into approximately 350 square miles of ocean. Although not as bad as the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill in the Gulf Coast, the risk that comes to the surrounding environment and people is still abhorent.
BP Ad Shows Protesters During National Shrimp Festival in Alabama
BP launched its new television advertising campaign this week touting its commitment to the Gulf Coast’s post-oil spill recovery, and a small group of anti-BP protesters are enjoying some extra exposure.
RADIATION:
Hot Particles Bombarded U.S. West Coast, Contaminated Food, Worst Arriving
Residents on the west coast of the US and Canada were bombarded with radioactive hot particles that have also contaminated farms and some food sources in the U.S. said Fairewinds Energy Education’s Arnie Gundersen Monday as the Fukushima government cover up continues to violate health rights in Japan and the U.S.
