Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Fracking of Wells Puts Big Demand On Colorado Water
Oil and gas drillers have bought at least 500 million gallons of water this year from cities for use in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” along Colorado’s Front Range. Now they need more. It’s the only way they’ll be able to sink thousands of new wells into the Niobrara formation that — if announcements last week by Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are correct — contains about 1 billion barrels of oil.
Go slow. That’s my advice to North Carolina legislators on the controversial practice of fracking, after I listened recently to two Pennsylvania dairy farmers who shared their stories, and read up on the issue.
Environmental Groups And Communities Criticize Proposed Ohio Gas Drilling Standards
Proponents and industry groups say proposed new regulations on gas and oil drilling in the state would be some of the toughest in the nation if adopted, but environmentalists and local officials complain they don’t go far enough, especially in protecting public health.
In the past few years, protesters who have opposed Marcellus Shale activities have focused on the detrimental effects that they believe drilling for natural gas could have on the water, and air, and ultimately everyone’s health.
BP OIL SPILL:
Ethan Hawke Opposes St. Lawrence Offshore Drilling Plans
A Hollywood heavyweight who routinely seeks refuge from the limelight on Canada’s East Coast is calling on the country’s energy industry to abandon its plans to drill for oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
State Rep Pushes to Resolve Unsettled Claims
A local lawmaker is asking Gov. Bobby Jindal to pressure attorneys handling unsettled oil-spill claims to mediate with BP and the Gulf Coast Claims facility so struggling fishermen can get paid and get back to work.
Chevron Oil Spill Fallout Still Being Assessed-Experts
Chevron Corp’s (CVX.N) efforts to contain an oil spill at its prospect offshore Brazil appear to have worked, but it is too early to say whether the accident is a major setback for offshore producers that push technological limits to tap crude, experts said.
Legislator Blasts Seafood Marketing Board
Louisiana’s legislative auditor is examining the board in command of spending $30 million in BP-appropriated funds to promote and market Louisiana’s seafood, the auditor’s office confirmed Monday.
RADIATION:
Fukushima Closes In On Cold Shutdown
Over the past few days there’s been buzz around whether the melted-down reactors at Fukushima Daiichi are near “cold shutdown”. Since the nuclear crisis began, achieving cold shutdown has been the major goal of the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the plant. Loosely speaking, it would mean that the stricken reactors at the plant no longer require active cooling and that the immediate nuclear crisis is more or less over.
