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Archive for November 22nd, 2013
Majority of Americans Uninformed About Fracking, Survey Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 22nd, 2013
Yale Environment 360: Most Americans are uninformed and lack opinions on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process used to extract oil and gas from rock formations, a new survey says. Fifty-eight percent of people surveyed specifically reported that they knew nothing at all about fracking, and the same percentage said they didn't know whether they supported fracking or opposed it. Seven percent said they were aware of some of the process's environmental impacts, and 3 percent said they knew of positive economic and...
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Satellites reveal browning mountain forests
Posted by Mongabay: Tiffany Roufs on November 22nd, 2013
Mongabay: In a dramatic response to global warming, tropical forests in the high elevation areas of five continents have been "browning" since the 1990s. They have been steadily losing foliage, and showing less photosynthetic activity.
Scientists analyzed the forest cover by using satellites to measure sunlight bouncing off the surface of the earth, then determining the different surface types via reflection patterns. Areas with lush foliage where photosynthetic rates are high appear green, and areas with...
Fracking boom is fueling a plastics boom
Posted by Grist: John Upton on November 22nd, 2013
Grist: Plastic crap that Americans are accustomed to importing from Asia is increasingly being manufactured right here in the U.S. -- all thanks to the country’s crappy fracking boom.
Chemical and plastics companies use natural gas as a raw material, and now they can get it cheaply in the U.S. As Living on Earth reports, "The fracking boom has led to renaissance for the chemical industry, particularly for plastics makers in Louisiana, where the plants are major employers."
Other states are seeing...
Tar Sands Industry Eyes Great Lakes for Cheap Shipping
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on November 22nd, 2013
EcoWatch: As tar sands extraction continues and proposals for expanded pipelines from Canada into the U.S. form a backdrop, the Great Lakes themselves could become the next frontier for moving crude oil to a vast Midwest refinery network.
The region faces a critical choice about whether the Great Lakes should become a thoroughfare for tar sands crude shipping, a new report from Alliance for the Great Lakes warns. The report, Oil and Water: Tar Sands Crude Shipping Meets Great Lakes?, finds that neither...
Wyoming’s Strong Fracking Rules May Be a Model
Posted by New York Times: KATE GALBRAITH on November 22nd, 2013
New York Times: In energy-friendly Wyoming, oil and gas companies are getting a clear message: Drill, baby, drill — but carefully. Last week, state regulators approved one of the nation’s strongest requirements for testing water wells near drilling sites. The measure is intended to address concerns that groundwater can become contaminated from drilling activities. It is the latest of several groundbreaking regulations related to energy production issued by Wyoming, which in 2010 became the first state to require...
Working Around Keystone XL, Suncor Energy Steps Up Oil Production in Canada
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 22nd, 2013
New York Times: Suncor Energy, Canada's top petroleum producer, announced on Thursday that it would expand its oil production in 2014 by 10 percent in another sign that the Obama administration's delay in approving the Keystone XL pipeline extension is not holding back growth in the western Canadian oil sands fields.
"We're set for a strong year of continued production," Suncor's chief executive, Steven W. Williams, said. The company announced a capital spending program of $7.45 billion for 2014, $477 million...