Got Gas? Try Fracking

Full Article: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/new-lawsuit-filed-in-fracking-country/?src=twt&twt=nytenvironment


Families in Susquehanna County do, and it's making them sick. Over a dozen of families have filed lawsuits againt Southwestern Energy Production Comapny ( SEPCO) claiming that “releases, spills, and discharges of combustible gases, hazardous chemicals, and industrial wastes” have contaminated their drikning water and have made it unsafe to drink. SEPCO has made no statements in its defense insofar, and is apparently sticking by their claim that their methods of garnering natural gas are safe and secure.

Environmentalists say otherwise.

This is a picture of a process called Hydraulic Fracturing, also called "Fracking". It is a method that has long been used for drilling for natural gas deposits, and some serious light is now being shed on it, as it is being used widely n newly available natural gas deposits in Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Ohio, and New York.

Basically, SEPCO uses high-pressure water to shoot at sand deposits to release the natural gas for collection. They have long claimed that Fracking is not harmful to the people's supply of drinking water, but there is evidence out there that suggests otherwise.

One such piece of evidence is a Youtube video that shows the effect of fracking on water.

This is the evidence that the families are using in the court, and it appears that the judges are buying it.

Are the companies truly evil? Or is this just another coax from the crazy hippies?

You decide.

Sorry. I Couldn't Think of a Title Really

I apologize for anyone that decides to read this. Yes, the title was funny, but unfirtunately the blog is not. Anyway, here it is.
I like to play guitar, and sometimes play drums and keyboard. I also sing, but mostly in the shower. Despite my being a man with long hair and the stereotypes that go with it, (most of which I've proven to be true) I do have a job.  But seriously, I do care about the environment. I believe that the only barrier between Americans and alternative forms of energy and waste disposal is corporate greed. The corporations provide the convinience and the incentive for people to continue using their products and filling their land with trash. They utilize the fullest extent of their power to frustrate anyone seeking alternative energy for their own and others' use. Just like how tobacco companies denied even the potential that cigarettes can kill, oil companies have coaxed us into their fuel, claiming it has no harm on the environment and that we would never run out.
They have also put taboo on other sources of energy and products that are environment friendly that may put them out of business because of todays growing urgency to go green. A case and point example would be the prohibition of hemp, not marijuana, but hemp, as a result of the collaborative effort of textiles owner and yellow journalist, William Randolph Hearst, and racist federal officer, Terry J. Anslinger.
Honestly, the only reason I'm in Environmental Science is because I was placed there. I didn't even really choose to be. But I suppose it would be nice to actually know a thing or two about the environment before I start protesting and go on hunger strikes in front of oil companies. The more I stay in the class, the more I find it to be interesting, probably because MR. Suter rants about some pretty funny things in class. But, at least half the time he really does have a point, and that's why I haven't switched classes.

Guns Don't Kill People: Corporations Kill People

Full News Article: (http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/protest-shuts-down-oil-rig-off-greenland/?src=twt&twt=nytenvironment)

Classic scenario between stereotyped activists and profited oil corporations, this time in the Arctic. While commencing exploratory drilling 100 miles off the coast of Greenland, a group of apparent enironmental activists protested by scaling an offshore rig and remaining there for several days. They claim the drilling in the arctic will lead to a surge of oil profiteers digging up what was once forbidden ground. Sim McKenna, one of the Greenpeace protesters, claims that an oil rush would "...pose a huge threat to the climate and put [the] fragile climate at risk."
In the past, the area was largely left alone due to the abundance ice surrounding the area. Now that the vast majority of it has melted, supposedly because of global warming, drilling has become more profitable.
This comes in the mail as a Golden Ticket for Greenland, as last year it declared independence from Denmark, and it is also widely believed that there are billions of gallons of oil surrounding its coastline.
The majority of Greenland's leaders are all for the drilling and digging of their coastline. Sure, why not? It'll put money in our wallets, gas in the Americans' cars, and CO2 emissions in our atmosphere.
Their Prime Minister, Kuupik Kleist, denounced the oil protesters, claiming that their protests are "openly illegal acts".

Police and the Danish Navy claim that they will arrest the protesters of Greenpeace after they have run out of food and are forced to come down from the rig. Quite a future to look forward to. After all, Greenpeace is only wasting money from the oil companies that already take in billions of dollars for the good of the environment. No good deed goes unpunished.
So, despite their efforts, oil drilling will continue in order to add to our oil supply, allowing us as Americans to procrastinate our efforts to design and utilize alternative fuel sources, while simeltaneously destroying our atmosphere in the same way that the nuclear bomb allowed us to end WWII and kill almost 300,000 Japanese citizens at the same time. It just goes to show: Guns Don't Kill People, Corporations Kill People.