Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Bill To Ban Fracking in California Goes Before State Senate
Legislation that would ban the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” in California goes before a state Senate committee Tuesday. The process involves injecting a mixture of water and chemicals into underground wells to extract oil and gas.
OSHA and NIOSH Tackle Fracking Hazards for Workers
OSHA and NIOSH have issued a hazard alert to ensure workers in hydraulic fracturing operations have appropriate protections from silica exposure. The hazard alert was created following consultation with stakeholders, including industry representatives.
Poll Shows Most Americans are Unfamiliar with Hydraulic Fracturing
Take nothing for granted. That is the most important thing to remember when communicating with the public — or the media or any other group for that matter. Readers of Climate Progress are immersed in the details of climate science and energy policy, but the vast majority of people aren’t.
Silica a Hazard at Fracking Sites, Report Says
After testing air samples from 11 fracking sites in Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas, CDC’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found silica levels above defined exposure limits, it said in a hazard alert posted on the Department of Labor’s OSHA website.
BP OIL SPILL:
The Top Censored Environmental Story of 2012?
Missing from Natural Resources Secretary John Laird’s comments and the mostly fawning corporate media “coverage” of the completion of the “nation’s first statewide open coast system of marine protected areas” was any mention of the key fact that Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), served as the Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force that created the “marine protected areas” on the South Coast.
Oil in the Bahamas – Potential Replay of BP/Gulf of Mexico?
Mention the Bahamas to most people and you’ll get a sigh, followed by imagined images of a tropical paradise surrounded by azure waters.
Oil Drilling in Arctic to Resume in Shell Project
A new chapter in U.S. oil exploration could open within days as Royal Dutch Shell sails into seas north of Alaska, hoping to tap into a potential 90 billion barrels of crude that have beckoned for decades.
BP Cash to Revamp Beach Dunes and Boat Ramps
Two years after the BP oil slicked local beaches and ruined tourism, construction is set to begin on the first of two major projects in Escambia County to help restore the environment and provide access to waterways.
RADIATION:
Japan Sells First Fukushima Seafood Since Nuclear Crisis
Seafood caught off the coast of Japan’s Fukushima region has been put on sale for the first time since last year’s nuclear crisis.
