Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Govt Delays Energy Rights Auction on Alabama Forest Land
The U.S. Forest Service said o n Friday it is delaying a controversial auction of energy exploration leases in the Talladega National Forest after protests by environmental groups and local officials.
State Seeks to Withhold Wastewater Treatment From Hydraulic Fracturing Sites
The state is moving to ban wastewater treatment plants in New Jersey from accepting waste from natural gas drilling operations, a move critics fear could harm drinking water supplies.
Fracking Billionaire Faces Shareholder Anger
Aubrey McClendon, the founder and CEO of Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy, who championed natural gas to the extent of paying environmental groups to oppose coal, is facing angry shareholders for his profligate ways. Chesapeake is one of the leading users of fracking – an environmentally questionable method of extracting natural gas by injecting fluids underground at high pressure.
As Fracking Debate Heats Up, Broadview Heights Already Shows Strains of Oil, Gas Well Drilling
Susan Fowler’s Georgian colonial has been on the market for two-and-a-half years. The four-bedroom house sits on a wooded lot on a quiet cul-de-sac in Broadview Heights, where home values are among the highest in Cuyahoga County cities. Fowler’s house lists at $250,999 — knocked down from $389,000.
BP OIL SPILL:
Yet Another Alberta Oil Spill Raises Questions About Keystone Plan
An estimated 1,000 to 3,000 barrels — or 160,000 to 475,000 litres — of oil spilled from a pipeline. The damage is expected to be significant, especially with the Red Deer River currently flooding and likely to speed up the spread of oil.
Oil Exploration in Talladega National Forest is a Bad Idea
Many people believe this country needs more prisons. They say that, of course, until one is proposed near where they live. And many people believe this country needs to be less dependent on foreign energy sources. They say that, of course, until the search for domestic energy sources hones in on where they like to play — places such as the Talladega National Forest.
Ala. Researchers Get $12.3M From BP Settlement
Two Alabama researchers are getting $12.3 million in grant money from the BP oil spill court settlement and will use the money to improve health outreach programs on the Gulf Coast.
Desert Cactus Has Secret Talent for Purifying Water
The solution for cleaning up the next big oil spill could come from an unlikely place: the desert.
RADIATION:
Fukushima Residents Call for Criminal Charges Against Nuclear Officials
The executives of the Japanese utility that owns the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and a number of the country’s government officials should go to jail, according to a complaint filed by more than 1,000 local residents on Monday.
