B-CAUSE (Bucks Concerned About Unsafe Shale-gas Extraction)

Blog

  • Scary Video

    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)

    Let’s keep fossil fuels in the ground.

  • About those Fracking Earthquakes: It’s True

    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.

    s41598-024-81632-3Download

  • Consequences

    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.

  • Wastewater Pipelines Unregulated

    What could possibly be wrong with leaving the safe operation of fracking wastewater pipelines to the folks who produce this toxic pollutant? Of course, that question is facetious. Unaddressed leaks reduce the amount of toxic waste for disposal. Legal remedies for damage are costly to achieve. So, the downside risk is limited if nobody is actively policing the operation of the pipeline. But the expenses of inspection and maintenance come right off the profit line of the operator. What could go wrong indeed!

    Whistleblower Demands PA’s Gov. Fix ‘Completely Unregulated’ Fracking Wastewater Network
    A new lawsuit alleges toxic, radioactive waste leaked into a PA family’s water well, uncovering a regulatory abyss for miles of fracking pipelines in the state.

  • Yes, Ban It

    We are happy to discover some good news about fracking: New Your State has banned CO2 fracking. There’s grumbling about lost economic opportunity, but keep in mind that all of the long-term costs are deferred and externalized. So it’s “other people’s money” that must deal with the health effects, the pollution, and the long chain of expenses related to climate change. The economic opportunity is an illusion cultivated by the energy lobby.

    Unfortunately, Pennsylvania has not awakened to the realities. Taxpayers subsidize fracking in so many hidden ways. Fracking does nothing good for locals or the planet.

    Hochul signs bill expanding New York’s fracking ban
    The new legislation prohibits the use of carbon dioxide to extract gas from rock.

  • Economic Benefits = Better Health?

    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.

  • Push Back!

    The PR firms and energy lobby work relentlessly to promote fracking. They have outsized influence on legislators, particularly at the state and local levels. When the rest of us are disengaged or complacent, bad things happen. Consider Ohio . . .

    Huge majorities in Ohio oppose fracking our state parks, but state leaders just ignore all concerns • Ohio Capital Journal
    Who do Ohio lawmakers represent in the fracking free-for-all carving up acres of our state parks and public land for oil and gas money? They sure as heck don’t represent the people. Public resistance to fracking in Ohio State Parks is almost universal.

  • Seasonal Direct Action

    “Direct action” is the term that is used to describe protests. Some are benign, like the caroling against fracking described below. Others are disruptive and seek to get in the way of business as usual to bring attention to the issue being protested. Direct actions become more extreme when the stakes are high and civil remedies for injustice are frustrated. Let us hope that direct action, even benign protest, is not necessary to prevent the excesses of the energy industry.

    This group will be caroling — but with pointed anti-fracking lyrics.

    Commission to decide nominations for Salt Fork, Leesville, bids for Egypt Valley
    We need you, and we need your positive energy in person on Monday, December 9, 2024, at 12:15 p.m. at Ohio Department of Public SafetyCharles D. Shipley Building, Atrium1970 W. Broad Stre…
    Protesters rally against fracking near Ohio parks
    Protesters are gathering at the Columbus Public Safety Building today to voice opposition to plans that could expand fracking activities near the state’s parks. Participants are raising concerns over environmental and health risks, emphasizing the potential dangers to Ohio’s natural spaces. Jenny Morgan, a longtime activist and environmental advocate, highlighted the potential health hazards associated with fracking.…

  • Greenpeace Gets In the Way

    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
    Marine Insight – The maritime industry guide.

  • No, not “Good News”

    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.

    Source: Phys.org