Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
In Ohio, Thousands Protest New Hydrofracking Laws
Thousands rallied here June 17 to protest hydrofracking, or hydraulic fracturing, the destructive new process for gas extraction from underground shale beds. They marched to the statehouse and held a People’s Assembly to map a fight back against laws enacted by Republican Gov. John Kasich giving the industry a green light.
Fracking in Colorado Uses a City’s Worth of Water, Enviro Report Says
The amount of water used each year for hydraulic fracturing at Colorado oil and gas drilling sites is enough to supply 166,000 to 296,000 people for a year for household use, according to a report released Wednesday by Western Resource Advocates , a Boulder environmental group.
Drill Sergeant: Josh Fox’s Anti-Fracking Crusade
Since college, Brooklyn-based activist Josh Fox, 39, had run a politically oriented theater company. But when oil and gas companies started poking, literally, around the land near his family’s house in Pennsylvania, he learned more about the widespread process and attendant risks of hydraulic fracking — drilling for natural shale gas — and began toting a video camera.
Fracking: How It Works, Where It’s Done
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, forces natural gas and crude oil out of shale buried deep below the earth by using highly pressurized and treated water.
BP OIL SPILL:
BP Wins Oil Leases in U.S. Gulf of Mexico Near Spill Site
BP Plc (BP/) was the high bidder on 43 leases to drill in the central Gulf of Mexico where two years ago its Macondo well exploded, causing the largest U.S. offshore oil spill. The U.S. auction raised $1.7 billion.
Study: Job Growth if BP Fines Used for Coast
A study commissioned by two nonprofit groups says thousands of jobs would be created along the Gulf Coast if money from BP oil spill penalties and other sources were dedicated to coastal restoration.
US Opens New Areas of Gulf of Mexico to Drilling
The US government offered up new areas of the central Gulf of Mexico for drilling for the first time since the 2010 BP oil spill and received $1.7 billion in winning bids, officials said Wednesday.
No Deal Has Been Struck on Sending BP Oil Spill Fines to Gulf Coast
With time running out, House-Senate negotiators still haven’t reached a deal on a transportation spending bill that Louisiana lawmakers hope will designate 80 percent of BP oil spill fines to the Gulf Coast. Both House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered a bit of bipartisan advice this week to the negotiators: Come up with a compromise.
RADIATION:
ANALYSIS: Concerned About Fukushima Compensation, TEPCO Passes the Buck
Tokyo Electric Power Co. admitted it wasn’t prepared for the size of the tsunami last year. But it blamed the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency for failing to give instructions to reinforce the now-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
