Fracking

Gov. Andrew Cuomo finally made a decision—make it permanent in 2015. Fracking foes won an important battle as the Empire State has massive natural gas reserves in the Marcellus shale play. In the end, health issues trumped economics.

December 18, 2014 - Vox

American motorists are enjoying the lowest gasoline prices in five years because OPEC chose not to reduce oil output in the hopes that decreased oil prices will be lower than the cost needed to frack oil from shale.

December 2, 2014 - Vox

San Benito and Santa Barbara County voters will decide on fracking ban measures on Tuesday that go beyond the controversial extraction technology by including acidization and "steam flooding." Mendocino County will also have a fracking ban measure.

November 4, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

Ben Adler of Grist writes how falling oil prices will affect climate change. Cheaper gas prices may encourage more driving and more truck sales at the expense of hybrid, electric, and fuel efficient cars, but the news may not be all bad.

October 31, 2014 - Grist

The worthy foe is not environmental regulations nor the the government or public demanding fracking moratoriums and bans. It is the falling global price of oil. Two radio reports explore how the global glut of oil affects U.S. shale oil production.

October 16, 2014 - NPR

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, toxic wastewater from oil industry fracking operations has been illegally injected into Central Valley disposal sites, posing a threat to water supplies of nearby residents.

October 9, 2014 - DeSmogBlog.com

The Wall Street Journal re-examines the doomsday scenarios of Peak Oil now that fracking has pushed oil production to record levels.

September 30, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

Self-reported respiratory problems and skin irritations were significantly greater for those living near natural gas fracking wells in southwestern Pennsylvania than those living more than two kilometers away, according to a Yale University survey.

September 11, 2014 - USA Today

Youngstown had been one of those Rust Belt, "shrinking" cities long noted in Planetizen, but thanks in part to fracking and its location on the Utica shale formation, manufacturing has returned and unemployment has dropped by half since 2010.

September 9, 2014 - The New York Times - Business Day

The Bureau of Land Management will resume oil and gas leasing in California after a report by a scientific research organization established by the state legislature showed no correlation between fracking and groundwater pollution.

September 3, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Until recently, California's Monterey Shale was estimated to have the nation's highest amount of recoverable oil. Then the Energy Department revised their estimates, lowering it 96%, which turned out to be bad news for fracking moratorium advocates.

August 21, 2014 - Governing

When we last reported, two anti-fracking initiatives were circulating. Since then, two industry backed, pro-fracking initiatives were set to join them on the November ballot. Gov. John Hickenlooper struck an agreement to remove all four measures.

August 12, 2014 - The Denver Post

Inadequate state enforcement of protected underground aquifers led to a group of emergency cease and desist orders. The failure of regulators is "especially disturbing" in a state stricken by a historic, economy- and life-threatening drought.

July 29, 2014 - Pacific Standard

Organizers for a statewide measure to allow cities to ban fracking admitted to having insufficient signatures for placement on the November ballot. They will try again for 2016. Organizers hope to qualify two other initiatives to restrict fracking.

July 20, 2014 - The Colorado Observer

In a huge victory for fracking opponents and a major blow to the shale gas drilling industry, the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest, ruled on June 30 that municipalities can use zoning laws to enact fracking bans or moratoria.

July 4, 2014 - USA Today

Loveland became the first city in Colorado to reject a voter-imposed moratorium on gas and oil hydraulic fracturing. Voters in five cities have approved moratoriums since 2012 though they are being contested by energy companies and the state.

June 30, 2014 - The Coloradoan

An energy policy developed during the 1983 Arab oil embargo is loosening thanks to an order by the Commerce Department, though not as much as oil companies would like. Will gas prices rise? No, they will fall, argues energy expert Daniel Yergin.

June 25, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

A high profile bill championed by California's environmental community that would have placed a moratorium on fracking and other well stimulation treatment and would have allowed more local control failed to get off the Senate floor on May 29 and 30.

June 2, 2014 - Daily Breeze

A California legislator warns that if the Keystone XL pipeline is rejected, expect tar sands to be transported by rail to Calif. refineries and ports. Increasing oil production would reduce oil imports, but a fracking moratorium bill has advanced.

April 22, 2014 - Engineering News Record

Several earthquakes in March in Ohio's Poland Township have been linked to shale fracking, resulting in suspension of oil and gill drilling at seven wells near the quakes. Previous Ohio earthquakes were linked to disposal of wastewater from fracking.

April 14, 2014 - The New York Times