The energy industry does not want us to focus on fossil fuel-induced global warming. They want us to perceive it as a distant and equivocal risk. But we should be alarmed by evidence like this:
The NASA climate spiral visualization with labels in English and Celsius.
The data shows us that global warming is real and is accelerating. Many things contribute to this vicious cycle, but one thing is certain: Abundant and cheap fossil energy is not helping. The invisible hand of the market place favors renewables only when renewables are cheaper than fossil fuel. (Read More)
Here’s the abstract of a study summarizing the reliability of findings concerning induced earthquakes. The evidence is credible.
Claims of industrially induced seismicity vary from indisputable to unpersuasive and yet the veracity of industrial induction is vital for regulatory and operational practice. Assessment schemes have been developed in response to this need. We report here an initial assessment of the reliability of all globally known cases of proposed human-induced earthquakes and invite specialists on particular cases to refine these results. 1235 cases were assessed, requiring over 1000 h of work. From the 881 cases for which scorable evidence is available, we class 87% as ‘Confidently Induced’, 10% as ‘Probably Induced’, 2% as ‘Equivocal’ and < 1% as ‘Confidently Natural’. The most seismogenic activities are fracking, research, geothermal, water reservoir impoundment, conventional oil and gas. Least seismogenic activities are construction, deep penetrating bombs, coal bed methane. 354 cases (29%) lack enough information to be assessable. Future work could include applying data mining techniques including natural language processing and AI to uncover new evidence. Future best practice for rapid assessment of cases would ideally involve an independent panel of scientists who rapidly apply a questionnaire scheme, reach consensus, and inform a response.
If you are the scholarly type, here is the PDF of the study from Nature.com.
New York State is trying to put the externalized costs of fossil fuel back on fossil energy producers. I don’t know if this legislation will be effective, but it sure focuses attention on the fact that “cheap” fossil energy is not truly cheap when the consequences of burning such fuels are considered.
Pennsylvania, are you listening? A lot of people think fracking is a bad idea.
Governor Hochul Signs Landmark Legislation Creating New Climate Superfund
Governor Hochul signed legislation to require large fossil fuel companies to pay for projects that protect and restore the environment.
Forbs Magazine is not known for its advocacy of the common good. MediaBiasFactCheck.com says, “We … rate them Mostly Factual in reporting rather than High due to some misleading or false stories related to climate science.” So, we have some skepticism when a feature article suggests that the health problems attributed to fracking may be offset by the generalized benefits of fracking to local economies. It is a sorry state of affairs when the marginal economic benefit of fracking to locals is sufficient to improve their lives enough to show up as more and healthier babies.
Nevertheless, here’s the story. You decide if this report is propaganda or a genuine reason to relax prohibitions on fracking.
Pennsylvanians Struggle To Strike Balance On Fracking Regulations
On November 11, the Board of Supervisors of Cecil Township in Western PA increased the setback distance for fracking operations to 2,500 ft. from protected structures.
Gutsy Greenpeace protesters in small craft blocked the way to port for a liquid natural gas tanker because the US producer uses fracking. Direct action like this is risky both physically and legally. The rest of us are heartened to see so many people organizing to make our world survivable in the long term and more healthy near-term.
Greenpeace Activists Block U.S. LNG Tanker In Germany To Stop Fossil Fuel Imports
Phys.com, a site that reports science news, spun the finding that earthquakes caused by fracking could be mitigated as “Good News.” This would only be something to celebrate if fracking, or removing fossil fuels from the earth’s crust, was a good and desirable thing. It is not. We are killing the planet.
Those earthquakes that require mitigation are caused by a drilling process that the government permits, knowing that there will be collateral damage to people and the environment. We’d be better off not drilling in the first place.
Good fracking news
Hydraulic fracturing gave the petroleum industry access to ground resources that were previously inaccessible, along with side effects including air emissions, groundwater contamination, adverse health effects and the honestly astonishing phenomenon of human-induced earthquakes.
The magnitudes of many of these quakes are too small for humans to detect, but a number have been directly reported by affected populations, with damage including broken home foundations. Over the last two decades in Oklahoma, there has been a dramatic rise in seismic activity associated with fracking.
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey are reporting that regulatory efforts to backfill injection wells with cement and reduce injection volumes have lowered Oklahoma’s induced seismic activity rate. The finding suggests that reducing the depth of wastewater injection could also control seismic activity in other states.
“Each basin is different, but we’ve repeatedly seen the connection between injection depth and the likelihood of inducing earthquakes across the country,” says Robert Skoumal of the U.S. Geological Survey.
“Twenty years after the first gas well was fracked on the Renz farm in Mount Pleasant Township, Washington County, a body of evidence points to the possible correlation between the drilling technique and health harms, ranging from cancers, respiratory ailments, lower birth weights, and cardiovascular disease.”
20 years on, fracking’s potential health impacts eyed
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories reflecting on 20 years of gas drilling in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Twenty years after the first gas well was fracked on the Renz farm in Mount Pleasant Township, Washington County, a body of evidence points to the possible correlation between the drilling technique and health […]
Our politicians evade the issue because there is a lot of money in play. They don’t want to draw fire from special interests when elections are close. We ignore the fracking danger at our own peril.
Those dismissing the environmental impacts of fossil energy want us to ignore the enormous future costs. We must not burn fossil fuels because the damage they cause will show up decades later. This video shows visual simulations of the future flooding caused by sea level rise. Places my grandchildren are living now will not be habitable in their lifetimes: Wilmington, NC; and Key West, FL.
The Energy Industry influence on politics is reminiscent of the tobacco lobby and the gun lobby. Politicians fear opposing them. Voters must discern which candidates are least likely to allow more damage to be done by the “drill baby, drill” crowd.
Fracking still stains Dimock as candidates spar over gas drilling
Susquehanna County environmental activists hope new environmental research center will controversial technology’s future use
