Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
DEC Gives Edge to Gas Drill Lobby
Emails obtained from the state Department of Environmental Conservation by an environmental group show state officials gave details of a proposed permit and regulations for natural gas hydraulic fracturing to industry representatives before making them public.
Council of Canadians Calls on Premiers to Take Vermont’s Lead and Ban Fracking
Following Vermont’s ban on hydraulic fracturing last month, the Council of Canadians has written to the premiers of the provinces and territories across Canada asking that they follow suit. “Last month, the state of Vermont took action to protect water sources and to curb demands on fossil fuels. Provincial governments should do the same thing,” said Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians.
Josh Fox Skewers Governor Cuomo’s Fracking Proposal
Josh Fox’s 2010 documentary Gasland is an extraordinarily important film. Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance, where it premiered, Gasland, virtually on its own, helped expose an imminent threat to our drinking water and local environments. Detailing the gripping and awful story of how fracking became the dominant technology in US gas production, the film does an excellent job explaining exactly what hydraulic fracturing is and why it’s such a mortal threat.
100 Demonstrate Against Fracking Outside Talisman Energy in Big Flats
About 100 opponents of hydraulic fracturing by the gas industry turned out for a protest Wednesday morning outside the front door of Talisman Energy on Daniel Zenker Drive in Big Flats.
BP OIL SPILL:
More than two years after the BP oil spill ravaged the Gulf Coast, lawmakers reached a deal Wednesday that could spend billions to boost the region’s economy and restore its environment.
First Of Oil Spill Restoration Projects In Line For Start This Year
The first phase of an $11 million oyster cultch restoration project, which is part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process stemming from the BP oil spill, is slated to be done by the fall oyster season, said a state official.
BP Fines for Gulf States Included in Highway Bill
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu says a transportation bill that Congress is close to approving includes a provision to steer 80 percent of the fines BP PLC is expected to pay in water pollution penalties stemming from the Gulf oil spill to pay for restoration in five Gulf states.
Oil Doubles Rate of Loss in Louisiana Marshes
The economic impacts of the 2010 oil spill at BP’s Deepwater Horizon have still yet to to be understood, much less the extent of the environmental damage. But PhysOrg reports a new study from the University of Florida offers an analysis of the impact the spill had on the region’s crucial marshes.
RADIATION:
Fukushima Watch: Are the Oi Reactors as Safe from Earthquakes as the Government Says?
The two nuclear reactors Japan is preparing to restart weren’t vetted for safety as thoroughly as they should have been — at least from the standpoint of earthquake safety, two prominent seismologists say.
