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Obama admin’s new fracking rules are just too weak, enviros say
Posted by Grist: John Light on March 20th, 2015
Grist: The Obama administration rolled out fracking rules today that will regulate about 100,000 oil and gas wells on public and tribal lands. The rules come after a long process, initiated in Obama’s first term, to regulate the now-booming industry, and attracted more than 1.5 million comments from the public and interested groups.
The new regulations, which were issued by the Department of the Interior, will go into effect in 90 days, and are aimed at wells spread over 750 million acres of public and...
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How dry California? So dry taps might actually stop delivering
Posted by Grist: John Light on March 18th, 2015
Grist: Could California really run dry? "It often seems impossible to imagine, but tap water shortages are a distinct possibility if mitigation efforts aren`t embraced and droughts become more frequent and intense in the coming years," meteorologist Steve Bowen of reinsurance firm Aon Benfield told USA Today.
California’s rainy season is drawing to a close -- without the rain its residents had been waiting for. Though some climatologists hoped this year’s El Niño system would make a difference, the state...
Natural gas drilling is causing earthquakes in Europe too
Posted by Grist: John Light on February 19th, 2015
Grist: Shell and ExxonMobil, as well as the Dutch government, ignored for decades that drilling in Europe’s largest gas field was causing earthquakes that put human lives and property at risk. That’s the takeaway of a new report out this week from an independent group advising the Dutch government.
As the natural gas beneath the Netherlands has dwindled in recent years, residents of Groningen County have experienced an increasing number of earthquakes. Last year, the area was hit with 84. The New York...