A new study from the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin has found “no evidence” of hydraulic fracturing leading to groundwater contamination. As lead author Charles Groat said: “We found no direct evidence that hydraulic fracturing itself — the practice of fracturing the rocks — had contaminated shallow groundwater.”
Last week, ProPublica posted a big fancy chart about hydraulic fracturing on its website. So, we decided to make our own timeline to provide everyone with a little more context (and facts)…
We all know that responsible oil and natural gas production has been an economic boon to regions across the country, and as the Wall Street Journal highlights this week, the economic growth emanating from developing natural gas from shale is not limited solely to those areas lucky enough to have the formations underneath them.
Intuitively, it’s always made sense that states that actively and responsibly develop their homegrown energy resources tend to do a bit better economically than states that, for reasons of either geology or politics, do not. But a new study released this week and reported on by the Wall Street Journal suggests that the gap between the two is fairly extraordinary – and widening, thanks in large part to the serious boost that shale development is providing to states and their citizens that would otherwise be high and dry because of this economy.
During yesterday’s House Energy and Environment Subcommittee hearing on EPA’s draft Pavillion report, things got off to a circus-like start when New York filmmaker and Gasland producer Josh Fox deliberately violated committee rules to get himself arrested. But there’s another story involving Mr. Fox and the Gasland crew that suggests his PR stunt may have involved something deeper and more disturbing…
After a theatrical start to a hearing inside the stuffy walls of the Rayburn House Office Building, witnesses testified today about EPA’s recent draft report on water quality in Pavillion, Wyo. The report, which attempts to link hydraulic fracturing technology to groundwater contamination, has been widely criticized…
If you had the ability to have clean, reliable energy delivered to your house at an affordable price, would you do so? Of course you would. And the good news for millions of Americans who use natural gas is that their monthly bills are about to get even easier to pay…
According to most geologists, shale has been a natural geological feature of the earth’s outermost crust for about two billion years now, give or take a couple hundred million. But would you believe it? In all that time, the word “shale” had never been mentioned in a State of the Union address…
Set aside all the stage props, backdrops and inflatable scenery deployed as part of the continuing saga known as Dimock, and you’re left with a pretty basic question – albeit one to which very few outside media have gone out of their way to find a legitimate, science-based answer. Quite simply: Is the water up there safe?
