Category Archives: Fracking

Chaco Canyon saved from fracking

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The people can win over fossil fuel corporate greed.

Jeremy Nichols wrote for WildEarth Guardians 31 January 2014, Cultural Gem of Southwest Spared,

Dear Guardian,

For Chaco Canyon, this is a win to remember.

In early 2013, the Bureau of Land Management, buckling to the demands of the oil and gas industry, proposed to lease more than 16,000 acres for drilling and fracking right at the doorstep of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico.

We pushed back however, and together with our allies mounted an all-out defense of this cultural treasure.

The efforts culminated last September when Guardians, joined by archaeological groups, the Chaco Alliance, and the San Juan Citizens Alliance, petitioned the Bureau of Land Management to protect 1.1 million acres as the “Greater Chaco Landscape Area of Critical Environmental Concern.”

Today, it’s official: we won.

In response to our efforts, the Bureau of Land Management officially decided to take “No Action.”

In other words, no oil and gas leases will be sold around Chaco Canyon, giving this landscape new hope for more lasting protection.

This victory is a testament to our dogged persistence and commitment not only to safeguarding the climate from fossil fuels, but also safeguarding the West’s irreplaceable natural values.

To be sure, we still have work to do. The Greater Chaco Landscape is still in need of full protection and the rush to frack in the American West remains the most significant threat to the land, wildlife, our water and our clean air.

Guardians is keeping Chaco safe from fracking, but our aim is a frack-free West. One victory at a time, we’re doing it.

For the Wild,

Jeremy Nichols
Climate and Energy Program Director
WildEarth Guardians
jnichols@wildearthguardians.org

Watch Osceola County Commission live at 1:30 PM today

Alabama, Colquitt County, Economy, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Gilchrist County, Hazards, Health, Lee County, Lowndes County, Osceola County, Safety, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you can’t get to Kissimmee today, you can watch it live on the Osceola County Commission’s website. And if you can’t get to that one, the pipelines are coming up at four other county commission meetings in Georgia and Florida from today through next week.

In addition to local landowner Monica Martin, she says the local Thai temple will also speak, Wat Florida Dhammaram, Theravāda Buddhist Temple.

And that’s not all:

Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines, because of water, safety, health, fracking, property values, and other issues, and even county commissions in all three directly affected states (Lee County, Alabama started way back in May 2014) are having to respond to citizen concerns about unnecessary, environmentally damaging, and property-taking methane pipelines. Let’s go straight to solar and wind power!

-jsq

Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines

Alabama, Economy, Florida, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, Health, Martin County, Orange County, Osceola County, Safety, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FPL and Spectra could lose, because many organizations and individuals don’t want dirty methane pipelines when we can go straight to conservation, efficiency, and solar and wind power.

Kevin Spear wrote for the Orlando Sentinel 19 January 2014 Pipeline to bring natural gas to state,

Florida Power & Light Co. is on the cusp of getting the pipeline it has long wanted to carry natural gas from elsewhere in the nation to Central and South Florida to run the utility’s power plants.

But the proposed $3.6 billion project, which FPL hopes to start using in 2017, has drawn mixed responses from even groups that are usually allies.

Among them, Audubon Florida lauds natural gas as cleaner than coal when burned by power plants, while Sierra Club Florida opposes the line as likely to ensure that the state becomes further addicted to the fuel at the expense of developing solar power.

Other negative reactions include:

  • Contention by many environmentalists that the use of natural gas on the whole — from drilling to consuming — is as damaging to the environment as the use of coal.
  • Concerns that the route of the proposed pipeline is potentially harmful to Florida wetlands and aquifers.
  • Criticism from some environmental groups that Continue reading Even many FPL allies oppose new methane pipelines →

The Big Picture

Colquitt County, Economy, Environment, FERC, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, Law, Safety, Solar, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A followup to discussions in Moultrie, GA, 27 January 2014.

From: John S. Quarterman <jsqferc@quarterman.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:29:54 -0500
cc: John S. Quarterman <jsqferc@quarterman.org>
To: John Peconom <john.peconom@ferc.gov>
Subject: Re: Contact and the Big Picture

Howdy, and it was good to meet you in Moultrie.

I look forward to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission taking into account the whole big picture, and not just believing assertions by applicant companies without critical review.

Thanks for sending me this boilerplate, which I see appears in many FERC documents:

Any state or local permits issued with respect to the jurisdictional facilities authorized herein must be consistent with the conditions of this certificate. The Commission encourages cooperation between interstate pipelines and local authorities. However, this does not mean that state and local agencies, through application of state or local laws, may prohibit or unreasonably delay the construction of facilities approved by this Commission.

There was no source cited in the boilerplate, does it refer to this? Continue reading The Big Picture →

Fracking unsafe in at least four states

Fracking, Hazards, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, , , , , , , , , ,

If it’s so safe, why is it so hard to find out how safe it is? And why did injecting toxic chemicals into ground water ever get approved? Since methane leaks out of pipelines and compressor stations, as well as wells, it’s time to stop fracking and pipelines and get on with solar and wind power.

Kevin Begos wrote for AP 5:20 p.m. EST January 5, 2014, 4 states confirm water pollution from drilling

PITTSBURGH (AP) — In at least four states that have nurtured the nation’s energy boom, hundreds of complaints have been made about well-water contamination from oil or gas drilling, and pollution was confirmed in a number of them, according to a review that casts doubt on industry suggestions that such problems rarely happen.

The Associated Press requested data on drilling-related complaints in Continue reading Fracking unsafe in at least four states →

Disney backs off fracking

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Andrew Morris posted yesterday for the organization started by Lois Gibbs of Love Canal fame, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), Disney Finally Backs Down from Pro-fracking Collabertation with Oil and Gas Industry,

Radio Disney finally backed down from its pro-fracking school tour this week after a petition on CREDO Mobilize reached its goal of 75,000 signatures calling on Disney to cease its public support of the fracking industry. Pressure on Disney also came from groups like the Sierra Club, which called on its supporters to create mash-ups of Disney movies with oil and gas jargon.

In a statement to the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Disney said: Continue reading Disney backs off fracking →

Local governments can restrict pipelines –Penn. Supreme Court

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Alabama, Georgia, and Florida probably don’t even have a restrictive law like the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just struck down, so local governments in the states along the proposed Sabal Trail, Florida Southeast Connection, and Transco Hillabee Expansion Project pipelines apparently can pass restrictions on pipelines. As can state legislatures.

Mark Scolforo and Marc Levy wrote for Associated Press 20 December 2013, Pa. Gas Drilling Decision Leaves Future Uncertain,

The energy industry and policy makers in Pennsylvania, the heart of the nation’s gas drilling boom, are thinking about their next moves after the state’s highest court threw out significant portions of a law that limited the power of cities and counties to regulate the industry.

The state Supreme Court voted 4-2 on Thursday to strike down portions of a 2012 law that had been crafted by Gov. Tom Corbett and his industry-friendly allies in the Legislature.

The article talks about corporate “need”: Continue reading Local governments can restrict pipelines –Penn. Supreme Court →

Respect the rights of citizens and landowners –Danielle Jordan to FERC

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Filed with FERC 24 November 2013:

Danielle Jordan, Valdosta, GA.

The proposal to build a natural gas pipeline by Sabal Trail/Spectra Energy is unnecessary and, undoubtedly, not in the best interest of the citizens living along its path. Not only will the construction of this pipeline create safety issues and devalue the property of affected landowners, it also serves as an extension of the fracking industry responsible for contaminated groundwater in drilling areas. The externalized costs of the natural gas industry are far too detrimental to public health for this to be considered when the potential for solar power in our region remains largely untapped.

Furthermore, natural gas has been marketed as Continue reading Respect the rights of citizens and landowners –Danielle Jordan to FERC →

Solar learns faster than any other energy source –Citi GPS

Economy, Fracking, Hazards, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just as natural gas has beaten coal in less than five years, solar power is already beating gas, so betting on LNG exports or even fracked methane for domestic power is a bad investment. These are some implications of a new Citi GPS report.

The switch from gas to solar is already happening in Germany and in the U.S., according to Citi GPS in Energy Darwinism: The Evolution of the Energy Industry, October 2013, page 9:

…moreover, solar steals the most valuable part of electricity generation at the peak of the day when prices are highest. This effect has already caused the German utilities to release profit warnings, with some gas power plants in Germany running for less than 10 days in 2012, all of which makes some utilities reluctant to build new gas plants given fears over long term utilisation rates and hence returns.

And not just in Germany; see page 84:

This is not a ‘tomorrow’ story, as we are already seeing utilities altering investment plans, even in the shale-driven U.S., with examples of utilities switching plans for peak-shaving gas plants, and installing solar farms in their stead.

Wind is also beating coal; page 9 again:

Wind is already overshadowing coal in the second quartile. While wind’s intermittency is an issue, with more widespread national adoption it begins to exhibit more baseload characteristics (i.e. it runs more continuously on an aggregated basis). Hence it becomes a viable option, without the risk of low utilisation rates in developed markets, commodity price risk or associated cost of carbon risks.

By no “commodity price risk” they allude to wind requiring no fuel. And that’s also true of solar, as they spell out on page 90: Continue reading Solar learns faster than any other energy source –Citi GPS →

FERC Commissioner pushes LNG exports to House Subcommitee

FERC, Fracking, Safety, , , , , , , , , , ,

Commissioner Tony Clark’s LNG export comments are the pullquote in the U.S. House Committee’s own writeup. His testimony says a surplus of fracked gas in the U.S. is driving both LNG exports and new pipelines. Not customer demand in Florida: producer demand for new markets. Do we want a pipeline through our lands to profit fat cats in Houston?

Given Clark’s background as a public service commissioner in fracking North Dakota, he seems likely to be a fracking, LNG export, and gas pipeline advocate. New FERC Acting Chair Cheryl A. LaFleur’s testimony set the stage for Clark’s remarks:

Increased availability of domestic natural gas and its growing use in power generation also has implications for natural gas infrastructure, which Commissioner Clark will touch on in his testimony.

FERC Commissioner Phillip D. Moeller’s testimony included this Orwellian remark:
Over the last 22 months, the Commission has undertaken significant efforts to address the growing convergence of the natural gas and electric industries through seven technical conferences and regular updates. In November the Commission issued its final rule relating to communications regarding sensitive system information in an effort to open communication channels between interstate natural gas pipelines and operators of wholesale electric markets.

So we should pave the way for natural gas plowing through our property by making communications about it federally sensitive?

Written Testimony of Commissioner Tony Clark
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Before the Committee on Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Energy and Power
United States House of Representatives
Hearing on
Evaluating the Role of FERC in a Changing Energy Landscape
December 5, 2013

The large amount of natural gas in the U.S. is also creating an impetus for something that was nearly unimaginable ten or fifteen year ago, LNG export, as opposed to import terminals. This is an area of significant workload increase for the Commission.

Presently, the FERC has thirteen proposed LNG export terminals and three LNG import terminals in some phase of the permitting process. As you would expect, the reviews that entail safely siting large multi-billion dollar energy projects such as these are extensive.

Note he doesn’t say anything about deciding whether to site LNG export terminals, just doing it “safely”. So this FERC Commissioner seems in favor of what another House subcommittee is also pushing: LNG exports.

But what about pipelines? Those are also driven by fossil fuel company fracked shale gas gluts, not by customer demand:

As you might expect, the shale revolution in both liquids and natural gas production is having a tremendous impact on the work of the FERC. We see this Continue reading FERC Commissioner pushes LNG exports to House Subcommitee →