BREAKING NEWS
"The Great Lakes, drinking water source for over 40 million North Americans, could be the next target on tar sands marketers' bullseye according to a major new report out by the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes.
The 24-page report, "Oil and Water: Tar Sands Crude Shipping Meets the Great Lakes?"unpacks a new looming threat to the Great Lakes in the form of barges transporting tar sands along the Great Lakes to targeted midwestern refinery markets. As the report suggests, it's a threat made worse by an accompanying "Wild West"-like regulatory framework.
"The prospect of tar sands shipping on the Great Lakes gives rise to fundamental social and economic questions about whether moving crude oil by vessel across the world’s single largest surface freshwater system is a venture this region wants to embrace, despite the known risks," the report says early on.
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP is one of the major corporations hedging its bets on moving tar sands along the Great Lakes — and oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") from North Dakota's Bakken Shale basin — and may begin doing so as early as 2015." Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog (full story here.) If you don't know much about tar sands, check out the 17 minute "TED Talk" by Garth Lenz: Images of Devastation and Beauty
The 24-page report, "Oil and Water: Tar Sands Crude Shipping Meets the Great Lakes?"unpacks a new looming threat to the Great Lakes in the form of barges transporting tar sands along the Great Lakes to targeted midwestern refinery markets. As the report suggests, it's a threat made worse by an accompanying "Wild West"-like regulatory framework.
"The prospect of tar sands shipping on the Great Lakes gives rise to fundamental social and economic questions about whether moving crude oil by vessel across the world’s single largest surface freshwater system is a venture this region wants to embrace, despite the known risks," the report says early on.
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP is one of the major corporations hedging its bets on moving tar sands along the Great Lakes — and oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") from North Dakota's Bakken Shale basin — and may begin doing so as early as 2015." Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog (full story here.) If you don't know much about tar sands, check out the 17 minute "TED Talk" by Garth Lenz: Images of Devastation and Beauty
"Wind, water and solar technologies can provide 100 percent of the world’s energy, eliminating all fossil fuels. HERE’S HOW. . . .a 2009 StanfordUniversity study ranked energy systems according to their impacts on global warming, pollution, water supply, land use, wildlife and other concerns. The very best options were wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and hydroelectric power--all of which are driven by wind, water or sunlight (referred to as WWS). Nuclear power, coal with carbon capture, and ethanol were all poorer options, as were oil and natural gas. The study also found that battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles recharged by WWS options would largely eliminate pollution
from the transportation sector."
While this is, in some sense not 'breaking news' (because this issue of Scientific American is four years old), it is news that needs to be known more widely, examined, discussed, and acted on. Read More.
from the transportation sector."
While this is, in some sense not 'breaking news' (because this issue of Scientific American is four years old), it is news that needs to be known more widely, examined, discussed, and acted on. Read More.
UPDATE: This bill passed in the House on November 20, 2013 and goes to the Senate next for consideration.PROGRESSIntroducedMay 14, 2013Referred to CommitteeMay 14, 2013Reported by CommitteeJul 24, 2013On House ScheduleNov 13, 2013Passed HouseNov 20, 2013Passed Senate...Signed by the President...VOTES
House Vote on Passage
Nov 20, 2013 2:41 p.m.
Passed 228/192 Read more about the update.
The Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act, introduced by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), is broad legislation designed to make it much easier for oil and gas companies to obtain permission to drill on public lands. If signed into law, the legislation would automatically approve onshore drilling permits if the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) failed to act on them in 60 days.
If an individual does not like a proposed drilling project and wanted to oppose it, he or she would have to pay a $5,000 fee to file an official protest. [Italics and color added.]
In addition, Lamborn’s proposed bill would direct the DOI to begin commercial leasing for the development of oil shale, acontroversial type of production that has been largely banned by the United States since President Herbert Hoover prohibited the leasing of federal lands for oil shale. Oil shale — which should not be confused with the more common “shale oil” — is a type of rock that needs to be heated to nearly 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit to produce crude oil, which then has to be refined.
Jessica Goad, research manager of the Center for American Progress’ Public Lands Project has said the process of producing oil shale “takes a large amount of energy and money, as well as 3-5 barrels of water per barrel of oil produced, a dangerous issue in the parched West.” The Natural Resources Defense Council calls it “the dirtiest fuel on the planet.”
Nonetheless, the largest deposits of oil shale in the world are in the United States in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming — 70 percent of which is on land owned by the federal government. Under Lamborn’s bill, the government would be required to offer 10 leases on federal lands in 2014 for oil shale research and demonstration projects. And before 2016, the government must hold at least 5 commercial lease sales of federal lands for oil shale development, each no less than 25,000 acres. Read More.
House Vote on Passage
Nov 20, 2013 2:41 p.m.
Passed 228/192 Read more about the update.
The Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act, introduced by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), is broad legislation designed to make it much easier for oil and gas companies to obtain permission to drill on public lands. If signed into law, the legislation would automatically approve onshore drilling permits if the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) failed to act on them in 60 days.
If an individual does not like a proposed drilling project and wanted to oppose it, he or she would have to pay a $5,000 fee to file an official protest. [Italics and color added.]
In addition, Lamborn’s proposed bill would direct the DOI to begin commercial leasing for the development of oil shale, acontroversial type of production that has been largely banned by the United States since President Herbert Hoover prohibited the leasing of federal lands for oil shale. Oil shale — which should not be confused with the more common “shale oil” — is a type of rock that needs to be heated to nearly 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit to produce crude oil, which then has to be refined.
Jessica Goad, research manager of the Center for American Progress’ Public Lands Project has said the process of producing oil shale “takes a large amount of energy and money, as well as 3-5 barrels of water per barrel of oil produced, a dangerous issue in the parched West.” The Natural Resources Defense Council calls it “the dirtiest fuel on the planet.”
Nonetheless, the largest deposits of oil shale in the world are in the United States in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming — 70 percent of which is on land owned by the federal government. Under Lamborn’s bill, the government would be required to offer 10 leases on federal lands in 2014 for oil shale research and demonstration projects. And before 2016, the government must hold at least 5 commercial lease sales of federal lands for oil shale development, each no less than 25,000 acres. Read More.
Groundbreaking Scientific Reports on "Fracking"
Two groundbreaking scientific reports on fracking have just been released. One is from Duke University that found dangerous levels of radioactivity at a fracking waste site. And the second report is titled Fracking by the Numbers: Key Impacts of Dirty Drilling at the State and National Level. This is the first report to measure the damaging footprint of fracking to date. . . .the Duke study outlines that from January to June 2013, most of the millions of barrels of waste from unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania is disposed of within Pennsylvania. But some of it also went to other states, like Ohio and New York, despite being a moratorium on shale gas exploration in those states. And in July, a treatment company in New York State pleaded guilty to falsifying more than 3,000 water tests.. . . .one of the greatest dangers of fracking, this new expansion drilling, is political pollution, not just groundwater pollution. The 2005 Clean Water Act was meant to make sure that we don't drink sludge, crud, poisons . . . .Halliburton spent something like $25 million in lobbying to get hydraulic fracking, fracking excluded from the Clean Water Act. Read More or listen to the interview. The Duke University Study, click here.
Two groundbreaking scientific reports on fracking have just been released. One is from Duke University that found dangerous levels of radioactivity at a fracking waste site. And the second report is titled Fracking by the Numbers: Key Impacts of Dirty Drilling at the State and National Level. This is the first report to measure the damaging footprint of fracking to date. . . .the Duke study outlines that from January to June 2013, most of the millions of barrels of waste from unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania is disposed of within Pennsylvania. But some of it also went to other states, like Ohio and New York, despite being a moratorium on shale gas exploration in those states. And in July, a treatment company in New York State pleaded guilty to falsifying more than 3,000 water tests.. . . .one of the greatest dangers of fracking, this new expansion drilling, is political pollution, not just groundwater pollution. The 2005 Clean Water Act was meant to make sure that we don't drink sludge, crud, poisons . . . .Halliburton spent something like $25 million in lobbying to get hydraulic fracking, fracking excluded from the Clean Water Act. Read More or listen to the interview. The Duke University Study, click here.
Fracking By the Numbers
"As fracking expands rapidly across the country, there are a growing number of documented cases of drinking water contamination and illness among nearby residents. Yet it has often been difficult for the public to grasp the scale and scope of these and other fracking threats. Fracking is already underway in 17 states, with more than 80,000 wells drilled or permitted since 2005. . . .In New Mexico alone, waste pits from all oil and gas drilling have contaminated groundwater on more than 400 occasions. . . .Infrastructure to support fracking has damaged 360,000 acres of land for drilling sites, roads and pipelines since 2005. Forests and farmland have been replaced by well pads, roads, pipelines and other gas infrastruc- ture, resulting in the loss of wildlife habitat and fragmentation of remaining wild areas. Read more.
"As fracking expands rapidly across the country, there are a growing number of documented cases of drinking water contamination and illness among nearby residents. Yet it has often been difficult for the public to grasp the scale and scope of these and other fracking threats. Fracking is already underway in 17 states, with more than 80,000 wells drilled or permitted since 2005. . . .In New Mexico alone, waste pits from all oil and gas drilling have contaminated groundwater on more than 400 occasions. . . .Infrastructure to support fracking has damaged 360,000 acres of land for drilling sites, roads and pipelines since 2005. Forests and farmland have been replaced by well pads, roads, pipelines and other gas infrastruc- ture, resulting in the loss of wildlife habitat and fragmentation of remaining wild areas. Read more.
Marcellus gas leases pushing impact fees on landowners
In PA, there's a question about the legality of "the words 'impact fee' in Chesapeake Energy's oil and gas leases. The Oklahoma-based company wanted landowners to agree that Pennsylvania impact fees would be deducted from their royalty payments in proportion to their interest. So if landowners agreed to a 15 percent royalty, they'd be responsible for 15 percent of the impact fee." What does this mean? If the drilling company causes damage, the landowner is partly responsible. Read more
In PA, there's a question about the legality of "the words 'impact fee' in Chesapeake Energy's oil and gas leases. The Oklahoma-based company wanted landowners to agree that Pennsylvania impact fees would be deducted from their royalty payments in proportion to their interest. So if landowners agreed to a 15 percent royalty, they'd be responsible for 15 percent of the impact fee." What does this mean? If the drilling company causes damage, the landowner is partly responsible. Read more
150 Coal Plants Retired in Major Milestone Towards a Clean Energy Future
The Sierra Club and a growing coalition of local, regional and national allies announced yesterday the retirement of its 150th coal plant—a significant milestone in the ongoing campaign to move the country beyond coal no later than 2030. With the announcement that the Brayton Point Power Station in Massachusetts would retire by 2017, the campaign officially marked 150 coal plants that have announced plans to retire since 2010, spurring record increases in clean energy. Read More and click to enlarge image.
The Sierra Club and a growing coalition of local, regional and national allies announced yesterday the retirement of its 150th coal plant—a significant milestone in the ongoing campaign to move the country beyond coal no later than 2030. With the announcement that the Brayton Point Power Station in Massachusetts would retire by 2017, the campaign officially marked 150 coal plants that have announced plans to retire since 2010, spurring record increases in clean energy. Read More and click to enlarge image.
Solar Heating and Cooling Could Save $61B, Create 50,250 Jobs By 2050 October 7, 2013
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) believes the nation could save $61 billion in energy costs by 2050, creating 50,250 jobs along the way. The U.S. could achieve those goals by vastly expanding the solar heating and cooling capacity (SHC) across the country, according to a SEIA report, Solar Heating & Cooling: Energy for a Secure Future, released this month. Installing 100 million new SHC panels nationwide would increase SHC capacity from nine gigawatts (GW) to 300 GW in the next 37 years, according to the report prepared by Boston-based BEAM Engineering. Read more.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) believes the nation could save $61 billion in energy costs by 2050, creating 50,250 jobs along the way. The U.S. could achieve those goals by vastly expanding the solar heating and cooling capacity (SHC) across the country, according to a SEIA report, Solar Heating & Cooling: Energy for a Secure Future, released this month. Installing 100 million new SHC panels nationwide would increase SHC capacity from nine gigawatts (GW) to 300 GW in the next 37 years, according to the report prepared by Boston-based BEAM Engineering. Read more.
Pipeline Safety Chief Says His Regulatory Process Is 'Kind of Dying' Sep 11, 2013. "Jeffrey Wiese, the nation's top oil and gas pipeline safety official [said]. . . the regulatory process he oversees is "kind of dying." Wiese told several hundred oil and gas pipeline compliance officers that his agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA), has "very few tools to work with" in enforcing safety rules even after Congress in 2011 allowed it to impose higher fines on companies that cause major accidents. "Do I think I can hurt a major international corporation with a $2 million civil penalty? No," he said. . . .The ongoing clean-up of . . . one spill has already cost more than $1 billion. . . .Wiese, as head of PHMSA's Office of Pipeline Safety, is the federal official most directly charged with preventing these types of accidents. But [the]. . . pipeline safety budget. . . has remained flat at about $108 million for the past three years, despite the construction of thousands of miles of new pipeline. Most of that money comes from industry user fees and an oil spill liability trust fund. Taxpayers pay just $1 million a year toward the safety program." Read more.
ALL THAT INFRASTRUCTURE AND LESS AND LESS GAS TO PROCESS. For Figures from the PA DEP production reports, scroll down the Marcellus-shale/Bigley-Unit page.
In Deborah Rogers' Report, Shale and Wall Street: Was the Decline in Natural Gas Prices Orchestrated? Executive Summary: In 2011, shale mergers and acquisitions (M&A) accounted for $46.5B in deals and became one of the largest profit centers for some Wall Street investment banks. This anomaly bears scrutiny since shale wells were considerably underperforming in dollar terms during this time. Analysts and investment bankers, nevertheless, emerged as some of the most vocal proponents of shale exploitation. By ensuring that production continued at a frenzied pace, in spite of poor well performance (in dollar terms), a glut in the market for natural gas resulted and prices were driven to new lows. In 2011, U.S. demand for natural gas was exceeded by supply by a factor of four. It is highly unlikely that market-savvy bankers did not recognize that by overproducing natural gas a glut would occur with a concomitant severe price decline. This price decline, however, opened the door for significant transactional deals worth billions of dollars and thereby secured further large fees for the investment banks involved. In fact, shales became one of the largest profit centers within these banks in their energy M&A portfolios since 2010. The recent natural gas market glut was largely effected through overproduction of natural gas in order to meet financial analyst’s production targets and to provide cash flow to support operators’ imprudent leverage positions. Read More
If the hype about 100 years of unconventional shale gas and oil is a bubble----when it's over, we'll be left with all the pipelines, well pads, compressor stations.
In Deborah Rogers' Report, Shale and Wall Street: Was the Decline in Natural Gas Prices Orchestrated? Executive Summary: In 2011, shale mergers and acquisitions (M&A) accounted for $46.5B in deals and became one of the largest profit centers for some Wall Street investment banks. This anomaly bears scrutiny since shale wells were considerably underperforming in dollar terms during this time. Analysts and investment bankers, nevertheless, emerged as some of the most vocal proponents of shale exploitation. By ensuring that production continued at a frenzied pace, in spite of poor well performance (in dollar terms), a glut in the market for natural gas resulted and prices were driven to new lows. In 2011, U.S. demand for natural gas was exceeded by supply by a factor of four. It is highly unlikely that market-savvy bankers did not recognize that by overproducing natural gas a glut would occur with a concomitant severe price decline. This price decline, however, opened the door for significant transactional deals worth billions of dollars and thereby secured further large fees for the investment banks involved. In fact, shales became one of the largest profit centers within these banks in their energy M&A portfolios since 2010. The recent natural gas market glut was largely effected through overproduction of natural gas in order to meet financial analyst’s production targets and to provide cash flow to support operators’ imprudent leverage positions. Read More
If the hype about 100 years of unconventional shale gas and oil is a bubble----when it's over, we'll be left with all the pipelines, well pads, compressor stations.
"A Corporate Trojan Horse": Obama Pushes Secretive TPP Trade Pact, Would Rewrite Swath of U.S. Laws. As the federal government shutdown continues, Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Asia for secret talks on a sweeping new trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP is often referred to by critics as "NAFTA on steroids," and would establish a free trade zone that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile, encompassing 800 million people — about a third of world trade and nearly 40 percent of the global economy. While the text of the treaty has been largely negotiated behind closed doors and, until June, kept secret from Congress, more than 600 corporate advisers reportedly have access to the measure, including employees of Halliburton and Monsanto. "This is not mainly about trade," says Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. "It is a corporate Trojan horse. The agreement has 29 chapters, and only five of them have to do with trade. The other 24 chapters either handcuff our domestic governments, limiting food safety, environmental standards, financial regulation, energy and climate policy, or establishing new powers for corporations." Read more.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources to allow "temporary" toxic waste dumps throughout Ohio. Maybe even in your backyard to encourage more shale gas extraction. Ohio regulators will soon approve and permit large, exposed centralized impoundments that hold fracking flowback water. These are used widely by oil and gas companies in other states to recycle the waste and serve multiple wells near one another . The impoundments, or pits, which sometimes exceed the size of a football field and can hold millions of gallons of water, are now banned in Ohio. But they’ve proved a useful asset to companies operating in other states such as Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The impoundments serve as water-transfer stations for multiple wells nearby, greatly reducing the amount of truck traffic and the water necessary to drill and frack those wells.. . . .In an examination of 15 well sites in the state, Quaranta and other WVU researchers found that some pits were poorly constructed, while the state inspectors sent to examine the sites had little or no structural knowledge of impoundments. Though netting is often placed above the impoundments to keep wildlife out, researchers also found garbage in some pits. . . .Rust-colored 'recycled' liquids in impoundments
are usually quite malodorous. Read more
are usually quite malodorous. Read more
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:
"One of the main IPCC activities is the preparation of comprehensive Assessment Reports about the state of scientific, technical and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its causes, potential impacts and response strategies."
"A total of 209 Lead Authors and 50 Review Editors from 39 countries and more than 600 Contributing Authors from 32 countries contributed to the preparation of Working Group I AR5 (Fifth Assessment Report). The top findings can be found here.
"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased. . . .Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850 . . . In the Northern Hemisphere, 1983–2012 was likely the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years. . . . The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide haveincreased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. CO2 concentrations have increased by 40% since pre-industrial times, primarily from fossil fuel emissions and secondarily from net land use change emissions. The ocean has absorbed about 30% of the emitted anthropogenic carbon dioxide, causing ocean acidification." Read more from the Approved Summary for Policy Makers.
"One of the main IPCC activities is the preparation of comprehensive Assessment Reports about the state of scientific, technical and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its causes, potential impacts and response strategies."
"A total of 209 Lead Authors and 50 Review Editors from 39 countries and more than 600 Contributing Authors from 32 countries contributed to the preparation of Working Group I AR5 (Fifth Assessment Report). The top findings can be found here.
"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased. . . .Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850 . . . In the Northern Hemisphere, 1983–2012 was likely the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years. . . . The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide haveincreased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. CO2 concentrations have increased by 40% since pre-industrial times, primarily from fossil fuel emissions and secondarily from net land use change emissions. The ocean has absorbed about 30% of the emitted anthropogenic carbon dioxide, causing ocean acidification." Read more from the Approved Summary for Policy Makers.
