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Three Bills Seek to Halt California Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 25th, 2013
EcoWatch: Three California assembly members have introduced bills to halt hydraulic fracturing in the state and mandate review of the threats the practice poses to the environment and public health. Fracking uses huge volumes of water mixed with sand and dangerous chemicals to blast open rock formations and extract oil and gas. The controversial technique--currently unregulated and unmonitored by state officials--has been used in hundreds and perhaps thousands of California oil and gas wells.
Reflecting...
Senate Votes in Favor of Dirty Tar Sands Pipeline
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 23rd, 2013
EcoWatch: Full production of the oil from tar sands in Canada would add 240 billion tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, severely hampering any efforts to tackle global warming.
The U.S. Senate voted in support of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on Friday, which would deepen our dependence on tar sands oil from Canada. The measure, introduced by Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), signifies yet another attempt by Republicans to pressure President Obama to approve the TransCanada permit for the construction...
New Fracking Standards Not Supported by Environmental Organizations
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 23rd, 2013
EcoWatch: Environmental organizations are objecting to a misleading announcement coming from the oil and gas industry that says they have “made peace” with environmentalists by agreeing to voluntary fracking standards.
According to the announcement made, the oil and gas industry believes the new standards “could ease or avert some of the ferocious battles over fracking that have been waged in statehouses and city halls.” They’re wrong. In fact, the anti-fracking movement is large and getting larger as evidence...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on New Fracking Standards Not Supported by Environmental OrganizationsOregon Residents Sound the Alarm on Pending Coal Export Permit
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 16th, 2013
EcoWatch: More than 450 Oregon residents and a diverse group of local leaders flooded the steps of Oregon’s Capitol Wednesday morning to call on Governor Kitzhaber to deny Ambre Energy a dredging permit at the Port of Morrow.
Many community leaders and residents feel they can’t trust the Australian-based coal company which in 2011 lied to the community of Longview about its plans to expand from annual coal shipments of 5 million tons to as much as 80 million tons--15 times the amount claimed on its application....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oregon Residents Sound the Alarm on Pending Coal Export Permit350 Action Endorses Markey for U.S. Senate for His Opposition to Keystone XL
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 13th, 2013
EcoWatch: 350 Action, the political arm of 350.org, today announced that they will endorse Rep. Ed Markey for U.S. Senate in Massachusettes. This marks the first time that 350 Action has endorsed a candidate for office.
“Rep. Markey is the only candidate in this race who is taking a principled stand on the dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline,” said 350 Action executive director May Boeve. “In Congress, each candidate had his shot at opposing this boondoggle of a project, which, if approved, would mean...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 350 Action Endorses Markey for U.S. Senate for His Opposition to Keystone XLBan on Radioactive Fracking Waste Passed by Putnam County, NY Legislators
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 7th, 2013
EcoWatch: A coalition of health and environmental groups gathered in Carmel, New York yesterday following the meeting of the Putnam County Board of Legislators to congratulate the legislators for voting to prohibit the sale, application and disposal of waste products in the County from natural gas drilling operations.
Advocates working together with Putnam County legislators to address the dangerous exposures associated with radioactive toxic waste pause for a photo with Putnam County legislators who unanimously...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ban on Radioactive Fracking Waste Passed by Putnam County, NY LegislatorsOhioans Lobby for Support of Proposed Fracking Legislation at Statehouse Protest
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 6th, 2013
EcoWatch: Citizens from across the state converged on the Ohio Statehouse today to lobby for legislator support of proposed legislation that would protect Ohioans from the effects of hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
Organized as part of Legislator Accountability Day, the action was sponsored by Buckeye Forest Council, Frack Free Ohio, Food & Water Watch, Center for Heath, Environment & Justice and Ohio Sierra Club. The groups called for a return of local municipal control over oil and gas activities,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ohioans Lobby for Support of Proposed Fracking Legislation at Statehouse ProtestFracking Ban Final in Fort Collins
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 6th, 2013
EcoWatch: The Fort Collins City Council, on a second reading Tuesday night, voted to uphold the fracking ban within city limits by a vote of 5-2. The ban is now final. This vote defies the governor and other state authorities who say local governments have no right to regulate the oil and gas industry. The state and Colorado Oil and Gas Association threatened lawsuits if Fort Collins’ ban on fracking became final. “The Fort Collins City Council stood up to the bullies—Governor Hickenlooper and the Big Oil...
A Must Read Account of Fracking Colorado
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 5th, 2013
EcoWatch: I went to a meeting earlier this winter in the Colorado Governor`s Office. I’m not a regular.
The Governor, John Hickenlooper, Hick to his friends, had called the meeting with Boulder County Commissioners to discuss the county’s draft regulations governing the recovery of oil and gas found in the county’s deep underground shale formations. The fact is that most of the state is underlain by these ancient and organically rich seabeds. All are ripe for exploitation through the use of the industry’s...
U.S. Marine Battles TransCanada in Court over Eminent Domain for Keystone XL
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 5th, 2013
EcoWatch: [Editor's note: Thanks to Michael Bishop for providing EcoWatch this firsthand account of what happens when a company like TransCanada claims eminent domain on one's property and begins building a tar sands pipeline--the southern leg of the Keystone XL. Unfortunately, this is one of many examples of corporations putting profits before human health and the environment in pursuit of extreme fossil fuel extraction. The good news is that people like Michael Bishop are fighting back. This is the second...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. Marine Battles TransCanada in Court over Eminent Domain for Keystone XL