Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Fracking: Does it Help or Hurt President Obama’s Re-election Chances?
The role of oil and gas development and the boom associated with hydraulic fracturing could give President Obama a boost in at least one swing state, Ohio.
SUNY Has Questions on UB Shale Institute
State education leaders are stepping into the heated debate over hydraulic fracturing and the wrangling over the University at Buffalo’s new shale institute.
Group Protests Local Fracking Youngstown
Local people against fracking were encouraged at a rally Wednesday to get involved and pressure their politicians to take action on their behalf.
Anti-Fracking Groups Organize Nationwide Rallies
Anti-fracking groups across Ohio and 10 other states pitched tables and tents yesterday to try to persuade residents that hydraulic fracturing needs more government oversight.
BP OIL SPILL:
AU Researchers Link Tar Found On AL Beaches to BP Oil Spill
Scientific testing and researchers at Auburn University have confirmed a link between oil from the massive BP spill and tar balls found on Alabama beaches after Hurricane Isaac.
DOJ Language Crushes BP Oil Spill Settlement Hopes
Hopes BP can settle early out of court on liability for its 2010 U.S. Gulf oil spill looked forlorn on Wednesday after U.S. prosecutors laid out a legal case for gross negligence on which tens of billions of dollars hang.
Officials Seek Gulf Coast Restoration Help
The federal government should do more to finance and fast-track restoration projects on the Gulf Coast, where the ecosystem has been devastated by natural disasters and the 2010 BP oil spill, officials from the region said Wednesday.
BP Covered Up Oil, Swept Up Liability Exposed Prompt New Ad Blitz
Twenty-nine months after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, BP Plc.’s Macondo well oil polluting Louisiana’s shore is more obvious than ever since Hurricane Isaac churned and uncovered the carcinogens and the dispersant Corexit, prompting BP to launch another Gulf public relations campaign as the legal battle against it strengthens.
RADIATION:
Nuclear Sector Seeks to Regain Trust After Fukushima
The global nuclear industry, traumatized by Japan’s Fukushima accident 18 months ago, needs to redefine itself to regain public trust and better cooperate to improve safety, senior executives of the sector said on Thursday.
