EPA Finds Compound Used in Fracking in Wyoming Aquifer After years of complaints from residents about foul water and health concerns, government investigators have found chemical compounds consistent with those used in natural gas fracking. Pavilion, Wyo. (Abrahm Lustgarten/ProPublica) As the country awaits results from a nationwide safety study on the natural gas drilling process of fracking, a separate government investigation into contamination in a place where residents have long complained [1] that drilling fouled their water has turned up alarming levels of underground pollution. A pair of environmental monitoring wells drilled deep into an aquifer in Pavillion, Wyo., contain high levels of cancer-causing compounds and at least one chemical commonly used in hydraulic fracturing, according to new water test results [2] released yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Pavillion area has been drilled extensively for natural gas over the last two decades and is home to hundreds of gas wells.
FrackAction.com | SkyTruth: l’anti-Yann Arthus Bertrand Depuis 2001, John Amos déploie ses compétences d'analyste d'imagerie satellitaire pour évaluer l'impact environnemental réel des activités humaines. Interview avec celui qui espère faire de SkyTruth un modèle de vérification des données écologiques. Lancée en 2001, l’ONG SkyTruth a décodé des centaines d’images satellitaires de toute une panoplie de désastres provoqués par les activités industrielles, agricoles ou immobilières : nappes de pétrole, déforestation, glissement de terrain et autres inondations. Loin de l’imagerie esthétisante de Yann Artus Bertrand ou de Nicolas Hulot, John Amos livre en Creative Commons des clichés expertisés à destination du public. Comment vous est venue l’idée de SkyTruth ? L’idée m’est venue au milieu des années 1990 : à l’époque, j’étais géologue consultant pour deux sociétés de conseil en imagerie satellitaire qui décryptaient des photos pour le compte de compagnies pétrolières, minières ou d’agences gouvernementales. A qui s’adresse votre travail ?
Split Estate - the documentary An Abundance Of Extreme Weather Has Many On Edge Hide caption People in Takoma Park, Md., walk toward a fallen telephone pole on June 30 after heavy overnight thunderstorms devastated the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The line of storms known as a derecho left over 1 million people without power. Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Landov Hide caption Rain clouds move over the remnants of parched cornstalks on Aug. 22 near Wiley, Colo. A summer storm came too late to help farmers whose crops were decimated in the wide zone of exceptional drought in Colorado's eastern plains. John Moore/Getty Images Hide caption Waves crash over Winthrop Shore Drive in Winthrop as Hurricane Sandy comes up the Massachusetts coast on Oct. 29. Hide caption Rob Kohler, an electrical-line worker, clears snow-laden power lines on Oct. 31 in Terra Alta, W.Va. Opinion polls show 2012's extreme weather — producing wildfires, floods and drought — has more people making a connection with climate change. "I've never seen anything like that," she says. Paul Sancya/AP
Rien n’est joué pour le gaz de schiste Par Sylvie simon La question est importante car les bruits les plus divers courent à ce sujet et peu de gens sont au courant de la vérité. La majeure partie de la population, « n’a jamais entendu parler des gaz de schiste », d’autres sont inquiets, et d’autres, bien plus nombreux, croient savoir qu’à présent « le risque est écarté » car le Gouvernement a interdit la fracturation il y a plusieurs mois et « ce fut une belle victoire écologique ». Mais la vérité est bien différente. Controversée par une partie infime mais agissante de la population, la technique d’exploitation du gaz de schiste par la fracturation hydraulique a bien été interdite en France en juin 2011, mais elle ne concerne que l’exploration et l’exploitation des hydrocarbures par « la fracturation hydraulique » et ne vise explicitement que cette fracturation et non l’exploitation des gaz et huiles de schiste. Le même résultat de la fracturation a été constaté au Nord-Ouest de l’Angleterre. Répondre à cet article
Pennsylvania Limits Authority of Oil and Gas Inspectors | Marcellus Shale Protest by Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica, March 30, 2011 Oil and gas inspectors policing Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania will no longer be able to issue violations to the drilling companies they regulate without first getting the approval of top officials. That’s according to a directive laid out in a series of emails received by the Department of Environmental Protection staff last week and leaked to ProPublica. The emails [1] say [2] the new edict applies only to enforcement actions related to Marcellus Shale drilling and that failure to seek prior approval “will not be acceptable.” The memos require that each of the hundreds of enforcement actions taken routinely against oil and gas operators in Pennsylvania each month now be approved by the department’s executive deputy secretary, John Hines. “It’s on its face really breathtaking and it is profoundly unwise. “It isn’t meant to be an interference,” Gresh said. “I do not believe this is coming from John Hines,” Hanger continued.
{sciences²} Colloque bruxelles poster Hier, aujourd'hui et demain se tient à Bruxelles et Paris le colloque international Controverses climatiques - sciences et politique. Organisé par l'Université Libre de Bruxelles (faculté des sciences, IGEAT) et l'Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales (Iddri, Sciences Po Paris), il veut «fournir un éclairage objectif à la fois sur le fond, la forme et les acteurs des controverses climatiques». Controverses qui «sont devenues de plus en plus virulentes, tant sur le terrain scientifique que sur la scène médiatique», soulignent les organisateurs. Ces derniers m'ont invité à participer à un débat public, hier soir, et à faire une communication aujourd'hui, lors de la session "Communication et médiatisation". Voici quelques extraits de la présentation du colloque par ses organisateurs. Une attention particulière sera également portée au rôle du GIEC. Voici la communication que je vais présenter cet après-midi, en version intégrale pdf.
N.C. sits on trove of natural gas - Local/State North Carolina could become the next hot spot in the nation's natural gas bonanza. Natural gas deposits, trapped in prehistoric geological formations, lie buried less than a mile deep throughout parts of Lee, Chatham, Durham, Wake and Orange counties. Geologists estimate the formations cover nearly 1,400 square miles and could contain enough natural gas to supply the state's energy needs for about 40 years at current levels of usage. North Carolina relies heavily on natural gas to run electric power plants, to fuel industrial operations and to heat homes and offices. "We think it's commercially significant," said James Simons, the state geologist. The more natural gas is confirmed, the more frenzied the scramble to cash in. For the time being, state laws that prohibit certain types of drilling as well as uncertainty about the size of the deposits have limited industry interest in North Carolina. Right now, Perkins said, the state is in "the wildcat phase" of exploration. The environment
Project on Climate Change Communication April 09 2014 | Research Reports New Commentary Urges Climate Scientists to “Set the Record Straight” We just published a commentary in Earth’s Future, a new online, open-access journal published by the American Geophysical Union. The commentary is entitled: “Climate Scientists Need to Set the Record Straight: There is a scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is happening.” In the commentary, we argue that the climate science community needs to do more to communicate the scientific consensus because: (a) most Americans don’t know there is a scientific consensus on this point; (b) this lack of awareness undermines people’s engagement in the issue; and (c) research by our team – and others – has shown that simple messages that communicate this basic scientific conclusion are highly effective, especially with political conservatives. We encourage you to download the commentary and join the effort to set the record straight. Continue reading Continue reading Continue reading Topics