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Fracking is about to change, and almost no one is happy about it
Posted by PRI: None Given on April 13th, 2015
PRI: The Obama administration recently announced new rules to regulate fracking. But no one, it seems, is entirely happy with them.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of drilling and injecting fluids into the ground at high pressure to break up shale rock formations and release natural gas that's trapped inside. The practice has helped make the United States the world’s top producer of oil and gas, and has spurred an economic boom in places like North Dakota. But it’s also become a prime...
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Mexicans are dealing with the same drought as their northern neighbors, but with less water
Posted by PRI: None Given on May 26th, 2014
PRI: Ruth Valenzuela lifts a plastic sheet off the top of a small water barrel on her tiny back patio. She fills it up -- along with the washing machine when possible -- on the rare days that her taps flow.
She says the family has running water maybe two days a week. And when there is water, it’s usually just a trickle, not even enough for a shower.
Valenzuela lives in the port city of Ensenada in the Mexican state of Baja California. It’s a fast-growing place that’s popular with tourists and American...
UN scientists tell us, ready or not, here comes climate change
Posted by PRI: None Given on March 31st, 2014
PRI: That's one way to summarize the latest message from the world's largest group of climate change scientists.
A new report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is out and makes it clearer than ever that global warming is already changing the world and affecting our lives, and that the impacts are only going to get worse. The report contains a litany of sobering impacts, from too much water some places, to too little water elsewhere, shifting disease risks, failing infrastructure...
In France, fracking ban faces constitutional test
Posted by PRI: None Given on September 25th, 2013
PRI: Forever is a long time. Definitely way too long for opponents of France’s first-in-the-world ban on hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. Back when it was passed in 2011, many thought the ban would be the final word on fracking in France. The controversial method of injecting water, chemicals and sand deep underground to produce shale gas and oil would never be used here. Instead, shale gas, or gaz de schiste, is still a hot topic, in large part because an American drilling company is...