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.
What is ALEC? How Model Legislation is Written by Corporations
Founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich and other conservative activists frustrated by recent electoral setbacks, ALEC is a critical arm of the right-wing network of policy shops that, with infusions of corporate cash, has evolved to shape American politics. Inspired by Milton Friedman’s call for conservatives to “develop alternatives to existing policies [and] keep them alive and available,” ALEC’s model legislation reflects long-term goals: downsizing government, removing regulations on corporations and making it harder to hold the economically and politically powerful to account.
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.
Investigations of the Month: July 2011
A compilation of video investigations gathered by The Erie Wire week-to-week every month. For more information on online investigative reports look to our “Investigative Newswire” feed uploaded in real-time on the bottom left of every page. If you have a story to contribute to these reports; please use the author’s email in the right column.
Art: Brian Brown Exhibition in Pittsburgh
I’m fascinated by the notion of “possessions”. Not like the Demonic kind, but the kind that you keep. I’ll buy a chair at an antique store because I don’t like the chairs at IKEA. I have to have the right chair because it’s mine after I buy it, and if I like it then it’s something close to me. “Mine” is what you call yourself to others. After a few years I’ll have a room full of things that are me.
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.
VIDEO INVESTIGATION: Gas Well Flaring in the Marcellus Shale
“Flaring” is a term used to describe the burning of natural gas from a well that has not yet been linked to a pipeline. When a well is “flared,”a huge flame lights up the sky, reaching higher than tree tops, accompanied by a noise similar to a 757 jet engine. The sight and sound of a flaring well are quite intimidating, but the practice is not a risk to public health according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP.
Air Pollution from Gas Drilling a ‘Huge Problem’
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a press release in May regarding an “air quality study near Marcellus Shale natural gas operations in Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, and Tioga counties.” Eight sites were sampled over three five-day periods to determine if specific pollutants were a threat to anyones air quality in acute amounts.
*Accepting cases in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
