Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Why has there been such a massive grassroots backlash against fracking? In this chapter, we’ll look at the evidence for fracking’s impacts on water, air, land, and climate. Reader warning: it ain’t pretty.
•Shale miracle is surprisingly unprofitable •France’s Fracking Ban ‘Absolute’ After Court Upholds Law •Duke Study: Fracking Is Leaving Radioactive Pollution In Pennsylvania Rivers •Montana Towns Struggle With Oil Boom Cost as Dollars Flee
Hughes notes that individual shale gas well decline rates range from 80–95% after 36 months, in the top five US plays.
Suppose you want to get in on the fracking game. Here’s a short instruction manual to get you going.
It’s election time in Germany and energy policy is high on the agenda. The country’s Energiewende, a real energy revolution, is playing havoc with traditional utilities
The notion that fossil fuels are supply-constrained has gone from being generally dismissed, to being partially accepted, to being vociferously dismissed. Who are the players in this game, and who’s winning?
•Boulder County activists concerned about flooded oil, gas wells •U-M technical reports examine hydraulic fracturing in Michigan •Shale Energy No Quick Solution •Never-Released Energy Department Report Predicts Increasing Domestic Conflicts over Water, Energy
Interview with Richard Heinberg, author of Snake Oil: How Fracking’s Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future, with a California focus.
•More Fracking Headaches As Earthquake Evidence Grows •"Frackademia" By Law: Section 999 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 Exposed •’Baseless economics’: Lord Stern on David Cameron’s claims that a UK fracking boom can bring down price of gas •Fracking brings climate debate closer to home •U.K.’s Davey Warns of Hype Over Shale Gas Benefits, Times Says
In his new book Snake Oil, Richard Heinberg takes on overblown claims from both the oil and gas industry’s salesmen–its top executives, industry trade groups and PR firms–and its shills–fake think tanks, paid consultants, and captive analysts who are often quoted and interviewed (mistakenly) as independent experts.
What would you expect them to say? That’s the question you should ask whenever spokespersons for the oil and gas industry (or fake think tanks funded by the industry or analysts whose bread is buttered by the industry) announce a new find that is going to be a "game-changer.”
•A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water •Fracking company wants to build new pipeline — for water •A New California Oil Boom? Drilling the Monterey Shale •Greenwashing Concerns Mount as Evidence of Fracking’s Climate Impact Grows •Fracking firm scaling back operation at Balcombe •Unfair Share: How Oil and Gas Drillers Avoid Paying Royalties
