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NEWS ABOUT: fracking

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Colorado Gov. Says He Drank Fracking Fluid

On purpose, to prove it was safe

(Newser) - John Hickenlooper thinks fracking is environmentally safe—and he's willing to put his stomach where his mouth is. The Colorado governor actually downed a glass of Halliburton's fracking fluid to prove it was non-toxic, he revealed yesterday. "You can drink it. We did drink it around the... More »

US Will Be World's Top Oil Producer by 2020: Report

And green energy could surpass fossil fuels by 2035

(Newser) - Hello, energy independence: The US will become the world's top oil producer by 2020 and require almost no foreign energy by 2035, according to a new International Energy Agency report. The agency bases its daring prediction on the rise in output caused by new technologies like fracking, the LA ... More »

Halliburton Finds Radioactive Rod Lost in Texas

Crew used it to find fracking sites in the desert

(Newser) - Halliburton finally tracked down the radioactive rod it lost in Texas about a month ago, ending fears that someone might discover it and suffer permanent injury, the Guardian reports. A three-man company crew lost the rod while identifying possible fracking sites between Pecos and Odessa on Sept. 11. Since then,... More »

Frackers Battle Farmers for Water Amid Drought

Gas companies scrambling to buy up supplies for drilling

(Newser) - The drought ravaging the heartland has thrown into stark relief an ongoing battle between farmers and energy companies for that most fundamental of resources: water. As the name implies, hydrofracking requires water, and lots of it—one well can use up to 5 million gallons—so gas companies are storming... More »

Don't Let Fracking Destroy My Home

Sean Lennon warns of the environmental dangers of fracking

(Newser) - In the 1970s, John Lennon and Yoko Ono bought a beautiful farm in an idyllic spot in Delaware County, NY. Now some gas companies intend to "tear through our wilderness" to make room for a hydraulic fracking pipeline, their son Sean writes in the New York Times . "Natural... More »

US CO2 Emissions Dive to 20-Year Low

Cheap natural gas has made a huge difference

(Newser) - America's carbon emissions have, amazingly, dropped to levels near where they would be in an alternate reality where President Al Gore signed the Kyoto Protocol. Emissions of the greenhouse gas are at their lowest in 20 years and government officials say the dramatic fall is thanks to cheap natural... More »

Fracking's Unlikely Beneficiary: India's Farmers

Tiny bean brings success to one of the world's poorest regions

(Newser) - Talk about a magic bean. Guar, a tiny, durable legume grown in Rajasthan, one of the poorest regions of India, has proven to be a moneymaker thanks to the fracking boom in the US. Indian farmers in the arid region who once grew the bean to help feed their families... More »

New Concern: Fracking Under ... Graveyards?

But some families eager to cash in: gas firms

(Newser) - Activists are already furious about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing; now some are adding spiritual concerns to their list of grievances. Energy companies are extracting gas from deep below US cemeteries from Texas to Pennsylvania. The fracking occurs far below ground, with companies citing depths of 7,000 to... More »

Lawmaker Hits Wrong Button, Advances Fracking

North Carolina Democrat mistakenly joins Republicans on gas exploration

(Newser) - Democracy is a messy thing sometimes: A North Carolina lawmaker hit the wrong button last night while voting and accidentally approved a measure to advance fracking in the state, reports the News & Observer . Becky Carney, a 67-year-old Democrat, pushed the green "aye" button instead of the red "... More »

Sand Mining Craze Stirs Up Health Fears

But fracking companies love the tiny particles

(Newser) - The upper Midwest is home to the latest craze in American mining: sand. Mining companies are knocking on doors in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and nearby states to dig up tons of the stuff so oil and gas producers can inject it into the ground in a process known as fracking. Sand... More »

Vermont First to Ban Fracking

...Not that there was any fracking going on

(Newser) - Vermont became the first state in the union to ban fracking yesterday, in what would be a landmark moment if any fracking were actually going on there. There was no drilling taking place in Vermont, no plans to drill, and no indication that there was even gas to drill for,... More »

Matt Damon Confronts Fracking in New Film

John Krasinski, Frances McDormand also join 'The Promised Land'

(Newser) - Matt Damon fans, rejoice: The heartthrob has agreed to star in an anti-fracking movie called The Promised Land, the Huffington Post reports. Damon and actor John Krasinski, the film's co-writers, will star as rival executives involved in drilling for natural gas in a small town. Gus Van Sant is... More »

Gasland Director Arrested for Crashing House Hearing

Josh Fox allegedly refused to leave

(Newser) - Josh Fox, Oscar-nominated director of the documentary Gasland, was arrested by Capitol Police this morning when he refused to leave a House hearing. Fox, whose film about natural gas "fracking" has already stirred up quite a bit of drama , was attempting to film a House Science Committee hearing on... More »

Fracking Quakes Could Be Avoided ... for $10M Per Well

And it's $10M the energy industry doesn't want to pay

(Newser) - Scientists say there's a simple way to minimize the risk that the natural gas extraction technique known as "fracking" will cause earthquakes—like the one that hit Ohio on New Year's . But there’s a catch: It costs $10 million per injection well, a price the energy... More »

Fracking Blamed for Ohio Quakes

Expert says quakes caused by injection well could continue for a year

(Newser) - Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—recently hailed as the solution to Youngstown's economic woes —now appears to have left the Ohio city with a big problem. Wastewater from oil and gas drilling is almost certainly behind a series of 11 quakes that have occurred in the area since last... More »

Did Drilling Cause Oklahoma's Quakes?

Some blame fracking, amid sketchy evidence

(Newser) - Scientists aren’t entirely sure what caused the earthquakes that rocked Oklahoma last week , but many in the state are wondering whether it might have something to do with the oil wells and fracking operations that dot the state, the LA Times reports. Oil companies scoff at the notion—“... More »

Please, US, Don't Blow It on Shale Gas

'Fracking' can be an energy revolution: David Brooks

(Newser) - David Brooks jumps on the the "fracking" bandwagon in a big way today, writing in the New York Times that "it would be a crime if we squandered this blessing." Fracking is the controversial method of extracting natural gas from shale. As Brooks sees it, the US... More »

Battered Ohio Town Finds Hope in Fracking

Rust Belt steelmaking rebounds thanks to controversial gas extraction technique

(Newser) - The Rust Belt has suffered through decades of decline and job losses, but now a $650 million steel plant, bringing 350 new jobs, is going up in Youngstown, Ohio—and you can thank fracking for the revival, reports the Wall Street Journal . The rise of hydraulic fracturing—the process of... More »

France Bans Fracking; New York Set to Un-Ban It

Controversial process extracts natural gas from ground

(Newser) - France became the first country to ban fracking yesterday—even as reports surfaced that New York was about to lift its de facto moratorium on the controversial practice of extracting natural gas from the earth. The French vote split along party lines, but the opposition largely came from the Socialist... More »

Texas 1st to Pass Fracking Law

Drillers must disclose the chemicals they use starting July 2012

(AP) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry has signed a bill requiring drillers to publicly disclose the chemicals they use when extracting oil and gas from dense rock formations, the first state to pass such a law. Several other state agencies have passed regulations forcing some disclosure, but none have made it a... More »

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