ENERGY: Living Off The Grid
Living “off the grid” may conjure images of counter-culture hippies or the old-fashioned ways of the Amish, but there’s a growing movement of people who generate their own electricity and live in the lap of luxury without ever paying a utility bill. Correspondent Patty Kim meets some of the estimated 180,000 families across North America using clean energy technology to become self-sufficient and enjoy all the comforts of modern life, off the grid.
Practiced Energy Solutions for Global Demand
Solutions by NOOR is the second part of our climate change project. We focused on human stories about alternative power sources, renewable energies, and attempts to alleviate, adjust or cope with the rise of global temperatures. [NOOR in this installation showcases the brilliant solutions being practiced globally to fuel energy demand.]
Haliburton Introduces ‘CleanStim’ Fracking Solution & Gas Worker Takes a Drink: Environmental Groups Weigh In
A liquid concoction, often laced with toxic chemicals, is a central villain in the controversy over extracting natural gas by fracturing rock beneath the earth’s surface. Opponents fear this fracking fluid may foul water supplies, endangering human health and the environment. Adapting, the industry is responding to public concern. Giant energy services company Halliburton, in a safety demonstration at an August 3 industry conference in Colorado, had an employee demonstrate just how palatable fracking fluid can be. He drank it.
Earthjustice Documents Coal Ash Health Problems in Moapa Reservation
Coal ash is the waste leftover at the end of the coal burning cycle. It’s laced with the same arsenic, mercury, lead and other toxics. It’s the second largest waste stream in America—15 billion tons of toxic sludge per year. And here’s the dirty little secret: it’s subject to less regulation than the garbage you take to the curb every week.
Why Canada & Summertime Control High Prices of Gasoline at the Pump
Immediately after the administration announced it was going to tap into the SPRO, oil prices dropped. But as you know from filling up your tank over the last few months, prices have been on a roller-coaster ride. In fact, gas price volatility has become such an issue, the Federal Trade Commission just launched an investigation into price manipulation of all aspects of gasoline production. That’s on top of an already existing Justice Department investigation into speculation and fraud.
1987 EPA Report Provides Evidence for Water Contamination from Fracking
In 2006 — according to a ProPublica report — a residential drinking water well in Garfield County, Colo., spewed gas and polluted water into the air after a nearby gas well was hydraulically fractured. Tests detected a chemical called 2-butoxyethanol (2-BE), commonly used in hydraulic fracturing, in the drinking water well. The EPA never studied the case, and Colorado officials did not pursue an in-depth investigation before the gas company reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the homeowner that included nondisclosure agreements.
VIDEO: The Pros and Cons of Natural Gas Development
In this special report, energyNOW! Chief Correspondent Tyler Suiters interviews residents of Bradford County in northern Pennsylvania, the heart of the Marcellus Shale. The residents blame nearby gas drilling for methane contamination in their water wells, while the energy companies say they aren’t responsible. One family tells Suiters they are ready to leave Pennsylvania for good because of their water problems. Suiters also meets a doctor from the University of Pennsylvania who is searching for potential links between gas drilling and health complaints.
Peru Oil Pipeline to Endanger “Uncontacted People” in “Most Biodiverse Area in South America”
On July 22, Peru’s Energy Ministry gave the green light to Anglo-French company Perenco to build a pipeline in a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon that was described by one US scientist as, “the most biodiverse area in South America.”Perenco is operating in an area between the Napo and Tigre rivers known as Lot 67, the first oil concession created in that region and initially licensed to US-based Advantage Resources in 1995.
Hydraulic Fracturing Disposal Wells Said to be Responsible for Over 1,000 Earthquakes in Arkansas
The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission placed a ban on fracking wastewater wells in the area yesterday. A moratorium on well activity had been in place for months as geologists investigated a possible link between fracking activity and the outbreak of more than 1,200 earthquakes that measured lower than 4.7 in magnitude.
EPA Proposes to Regulate Fracking Air Emissions After Favorable Ruling in Advocacy Lawsuit
The EPA proposal is the result of a successful 2009 lawsuit brought against the agency by WildEarth Guardians and another advocacy group alleging that the agency had not updated air-quality rules as required. The EPA is supposed to review such rules at least every eight years, but in some cases had not done so for 10 years or more.
*Accepting cases in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
