Opponents to Fracking Disclosure Take Big Money From Industry

No Fracking Way in NC

Opponents to Fracking Disclosure Take Big Money From Industry

by Abrahm Lustgarten | ProPublica, Jan. 14, 2011, 2:46 p.m.

5:28 p.m.: This post has been corrected [1].

Congress isn’t going to regulate hydraulic fracturing any time soon. But the Department of Interior might. [2] For starters, Interior is mulling whether it should require drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use to frack wells drilled on public lands, and already the suggestion has earned Interior Secretary Ken Salazar an earful.

On January 5, a bipartisan group of 32 members of Congress, who belong to the Natural Gas Caucus, sent Salazar a letter imploring [3] him to resist a hasty decision because more regulations would increase energy costs for consumers, suppress job creation in a promising energy sector, and hinder our nation2019s ability to become more energy independent.

A week later, 46 House Democrats followed up by signing a letter to Salazar [4] urging him to at least adopt the disclosure requirement because, as Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., said, communities across America have seen their water contaminated by the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process.

“The public has a right to know what toxins might be going into the ground near their communities, and what might be leaking into their drinking water,” said the letter [4], which was sent by the three initial sponsors of now-stalled legislation to regulate fracturing, Hinchey, Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.

In the context of todays roiling political and energy debates, its not at all clear who will win. But if money is an indicator, the anti-regulatory group has the upper hand.

A back-of-the-envelope analysis of campaign finance dollars contributed to the members of Congress who are speaking out on the issue shows that the Natural Gas Caucus received 19 times more money from the oil and gas industry between 2009 and 2010 [5] than the group who signed Rep. Hinchey’s letter. According to data from Open Secrets, the 32 members against disclosure received $1,742,572. The average contribution from the oil and gas sector to individuals from that group was $54,455. Oklahoma Democrat Dan Boren, who co-chairs the caucus, personally received more than $202,000, including almost $15,000 from Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest natural gas producers in the United States.

By comparison, the Hinchey-DeGette-Polis group which has 14 more people than the Natural Gas Caucus received $91,212 from the industry [6]. The average contribution to those members was $1,982, 1/27th the amount donated to members of the Natural Gas Caucus.

Requiring disclosure of the chemicals used to drill on federal lands would affect only a small proportion of gas wells drilled in the country each year roughly 11 percent, by the Department of Interior’s estimates. In 2009, 19,000 new gas wells were drilled, adding to the 493,000 gas wells already producing in the United States. According to Hinchey’s office, disclosure on federal lands would set an important precedent, because that information would become part of the public record and, when combined with state-based disclosure rules, would provide a great deal of useful information for those concerned with the risks these chemicals may pose.

Traditionally, the exact recipes of chemicals used in the fracturing process have been kept secret by the companies to protect their competitive advantage, and the fracturing process itself is exempt from federal regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The disclosure issue has become a rallying point against natural gas development in the United States because scientists have repeatedly said that they can’t thoroughly examine water contamination cases for links to drilling because they don’t know what to test for.

At least four states have already mandated some degree of disclosure of fracking chemicals: Wyoming, New York, Pennsylvania and Colorado. If federal lands are added to those states, then public disclosure of fracking chemicals would be required on roughly 40 percent of the gas wells in the United States. (It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact percentage because federal statistics don’t distinguish between oil and gas wells.)

The resistance to disclosure mandates on federal lands contradicts the public position of many of the oil and gas companies involved. Chesapeake Energy, the company that contributed so heavily to Rep. Boren, has repeatedly stated that it supports more transparency and believes the chemicals used in fracturing should be disclosed.

Nicholas Kusnetz contributed to this report.

Correction: The original version of this story represented a statement made by Rep. Maurice Hinchey about the letter he sent to the Department of Interior as a quotation from the letter itself. The story has been revised to make the distinction between his statement, and the letter.

Campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, 2009-2010

Source: Open Secrets [7]

To the: Natural Gas Caucus

Tim Murphy (R-PA)Co-Chair, Natural Gas Caucus	$202,500
Dan Boren (D-OK)Co-Chair, Natural Gas Caucus	$96,350
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)	$57,500
Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)	$0
John Shadegg (R-AZ)	$12,400
Lee Terry (R-NE)	$52,650
Dan Burton (R-IN)	$2,600
Frank Lucas (R-OK)	$48,350
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)	$19,500
Jim Costa (D-CA)	$59,900
Christopher Lee (R-NY)	$16,650
Jason Altmire (D-PA)	$10,450
Kevin Brady (R-TX)	$91,400
John Fleming (R-LA)	$121,650
John Sullivan (R-OK)	$124,800
Bill Shuster (R-PA)	$25,000
Sue Myrick (R-NC)	$21,000
Rob Bishop (R-UT)	$17,750
Glenn Thompson (R-PA)	$55,072
Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)	$89,550
Mark Critz (D-PA)	$0
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)	$7,000
Thaddeus McCotter(R-MI)	$3,000
Denny Rehberg (R-MT)	$35,550
Mike Conaway (R-TX)	$132,100
Tom Cole (R-OK)	$80,500
Gene Green (D-TX)	$83,600
Wally Herger (R-CA)	$7,000
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)	$49,900
Mike Coffman (R-CO)	$44,250
Ralph Hall (R-TX)	$48,750
Mike Ross (D-AR)	$125,850
Total	$1,742,572

Campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, 2009-2010

Source: Open Secrets [7]

To the: Hinchey-DeGette-Polis group

Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)	$0
Diana DeGette (D-CO)	$2,750
Jared Polis (D-CO)	$0
Gary Ackerman (D-NY)	$5,800
Barbara Lee (D-CA)	$3,250
Howard L. Berman (D-CA)	$0
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)	$6,062
Lois Capps (D-CA)	$0
William Lacy Clay (D-MO)	$0
Steve Cohen (D-TN)	$0
Gerald Connolly (D-VA)	$4,500
Keith Ellison (D-MN)	$1,750
Eliot L. Engel (D-NY)	$0
Sam Farr (D-CA)	$0
Barney Frank (D-MA)	$0
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)	$2,500
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)	$4,000
Rush D. Holt (D-NJ)	$0
Michael M. Honda (D-CA)	$1,000
Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH)	$0
James R. Langevin (D-RI)	$0
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)	$2,500
Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)	$7,700
Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)	$9,500
Betty McCollum (D-MN)	$0
Mike Thompson (D-MS)	$5,250
James P. Moran (D-VA)	$1,500
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)	$15,100
John W. Olver (D-MA)	$3,000
William L. Owens (D-NY)	$0
John P. Sarbanes (D-MD)	$4,050
Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL)	$0
Jose Serrano (D-NY)	$0
Jackie Speier (D-CA)	$0
Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA)	$0
Paul Tonko (D-NY)	$4,000
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)	$6,000
Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA)	$0
Mike Quigley (D-IL)	$0
Chellie Pingree (D-ME)	$0
Jay Inslee (D-WA)	$0
Bob Filner (D-CA)	$0
Dale E. Kildee (D-MI)	$0
Donna F. Edwards (D-TX)	$1,000
Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ)	$0
Adam Smith (D-WA)	$0
Total	$91,212

Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time today

A Message To Sarah Palin from Media Matters CEO David Brock

Truer words were never spoken……..

Source: Media Matters| David Brock

TRANSCRIPT:

BROCK: This morning you released a video condemning your critics for highlighting the danger posed by the Right’s stoking of anti-government anger and violence. You attacked those who, like me, are concerned that irresponsible rhetoric could motivate troubled people to do the unthinkable. In your video you accused your critics of engaging in “blood libel” and inciting violence simply by speaking out against it.

I agree with you that the “monstrous act of criminality” committed this past weekend in Arizona stands on its own and that we as Americans are better than mindless finger-pointing in the tragedy’s wake. I also endorse your purported desire to “peacefully engage in the great debates of our time.”

Since early 2009, when the Right ratcheted up its attacks on President Obama and progressive policies, I have warned about the very real dangers of extreme anti-government rhetoric. Last October, I said on national television that the use of violent imagery creates a climate of fear, suspicion and paranoia that could lead to another Oklahoma City.

During the culture wars of the 1990s, right-wing extremists killed 168 people in Oklahoma City and terrorized hundreds of others in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park and at abortion clinics in the South.

On May 6, 1995, after the bombing, President Clinton said, “There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country.”

This fall I was especially concerned with three assassination attempts directly linked to your ally and fellow Fox News contributor Glenn Beck.

Soon after, Beck poisoned Nancy Pelosi in effigy on his set, a man threatened to firebomb Pelosi’s San Francisco residence. The man’s mother said her son got all his ideas from Fox News.

In March, Senator Patty Murray received a death threat after voting to reform our nation’s health care system. The potential assassin said she had a target on her back and it would only take one bullet to accomplish his objective. Charles Wilson was arrested and convicted for repeatedly threatening to kill Murray. During the sentencing phase of his trial, Wilson’s cousin submitted a memo to the court arguing for leniency.

The cousin wrote:

“What happened later with Charlie is something I think I can understand. He became basically housebound due to illness and his small world became even smaller. His brother got him a computer and he was able to stay connected with family. And he watched television and found Glenn Beck…I found Glenn Beck about the same time that Charlie did and I understand how his fears were grown and fostered by Mr. Beck’s persuasive personality…While his actions were undeniably wrong and his choices terrible, in part they were the actions of others played out against a very gullible Charlie. He was under the spell that Glenn Beck cast, aided by the turbulent times in our economy.”

Finally, in a jailhouse interview this summer, California gunman Byron Williams said he was inspired by Beck — whom he called his “schoolteacher on TV” — to try to assassinate the staff of a liberal philanthropic foundation in San Francisco.

When I publicly called on you to use your leadership position to tone down the rhetoric of Beck, Tea Party leaders and other right-wing radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, I also noted your use of phrases on the campaign trail such as “Don’t Retreat, Instead RELOAD.”

In response to my request, you made a deliberate decision to align yourself with Beck — you went on his radio show and said “I stand with you, Glenn” — and took no responsibility for your own words and actions.

Congresswoman Giffords, who is clinging to life in an Arizona hospital as I speak, did have something to say about your actions.

GIFFORDS (video clip): For example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list. But the thing is, the way she has it depicted has the cross-hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that action.

Gabby voted for the three cornerstones of the Obama Presidency: the economic stimulus program, the health care legislation, and caps on carbon emissions. She opposed the draconian Arizona law aimed at illegal immigrants. Her opponent Jesse Kelly was a Tea Party extremist who said things like “we’re going to show them what a mob looks like.” Karl Rove and his allies ran hundreds of thousands of dollars in TV commercials to elect him and defeat Gabby.

In your video, you predictably blame the media for libeling you. My view is you and your right-wing conspirators have gotten off easy. Most in the press dismiss the import of your words as careless constructions or run-of-the mill political phrases, presuming you do not understand or mean what you say and do.

But I know what you do. We are just off a campaign cycle in which you and the Republican candidates you supported raised the prospect of armed revolt if Washington did not change its ways. Much of your message centered — like the Tea Party moniker itself — on imagery of armed revolution and existential clashes in which the freedom of our country is at stake. This is a lie.

You and Beck and Limbaugh pander to the margin of the margins, employing whatever words win you contributions or ratings, the consequences be damned.

Promoting anti-government extremism is your business. Without it you are nothing. And you know it.

Instead of posting videos in the dark of night, I challenge you to have the peaceful debate you say you want — with me — at the time and place and in the venue of your choosing.

Governor Palin, at this time of national mourning, you owe the American people a more honest explanation of your words and actions than the one you issued today.

Maybe then you could stop dwelling over your own PR troubles and join me in trying to prevent such a tragedy like this from ever happening again.

Truck Dumping Frack Fluid Caught on Film!

About The Video:

Source: LewisforWV

Caught this guy dumping Frac Fluid on Rt 19 approximately 4 miles north of Washington, PA. He was parked and out of the truck with water running when I drove by. I had my video camera because I was on my way to my son’s hockey game at Bethel Park. When he saw me stop and search for my camera, he shut the water off, got in his truck and drove away. This was Sunday morning around 9:39 am on the 5th of December 2010. I called the PA DEP and registered a complaint.

“They wonder why we don’t trust them to do the right thing”

Un-Fracking-believable! Be sure to check out all of my previous stories on Fracking

Raw Foods Raid – Fight For the Right To Eat What You Want

Read the complete article here

CBS 60 Minutes Segment: Shaleionares

Source: by Jennifer Mueller | Causes

This weekend 60 Minutes aired an investigative story about the dangers of a largely-unregulated method of extracting natural gas from shale miles below the Earth’s surface – known as “fracking” – and the dangers it poses to drinking water, our health, and the environment.

If the BP spill taught us anything, it’s that exploring for energy has safety risks, but that can get lost in all the excitement,” begins Lesley Stahl of CBS’s “60 minutes” in her segment. Stahl explores the controversies surrounding this new drilling method, from the undisclosed toxic chemicals pumped into the ground to the extract the gas to the safety record of the industry. It’s not pretty.

Take Action: Support a repeal of the natural gas industry exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Secrecy and Toxins in Shale-Gas Extraction
“The industry doesn’t have to disclose what’s in the tens of thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals they use when they fracture the shale because of the so-called ‘Halliburton loophole’,” explained Stahl.

“The 2005 energy bill completely exempted the natural gas industry and fracking technology under the Safe Drinking Water Act. It’s an outrage!” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. “The first thing the industry should do is disclose what chemicals are being used in fracking and then limit the toxic chemicals to the point of zero,” urged Brune.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has just begun to study the effect of fracking chemicals on groundwater. They have requested that the major natural gas companies disclose their fracking fluid formulas; all but Halliburton complied. So last week, EPA was forced to subpoena the information.

Related Reading: 9 Out of 10 Natural Gas Wells Use Unregulated, Polluting Drilling Method

Take Action: The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act
Very simply, S.1215 and H.R. 2766, The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act, would repeal the industry’s exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Use this Sierra Club online action form email your member of Congress in support of the bill.

Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight!

Heads-up folks the Leonid’s are here, don’t know where to look? View  sky-map here

Video below has some historical background on the Leonids:

Even more here and Happy watching!

Funny or Die: Anatomy of a Greenwash

This must be the same Ad firm T. Boone Pickins uses.

Two advertising geniuses come to help the Chevron executives plot to trick you into thinking they are going green when they are doing the exact opposite. 

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Funny or Die: Anatomy of a Greenwash , posted with vodpod

 

For more information please go to http://chevronthinkswerestupid.org/

Halliburton Releases Fracking Data on Microsite in response to EPA’s Subpoena

All but one of the hydraulic fracturing companies that received voluntary information requests in September have agreed to submit timely and complete information to help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conduct its study on hydraulic fracturing.

Halliburton is the only one that failed to provide EPA the information necessary to move forward with the study so the agency issued a subpoena for the information. One week after EPA announced the subpoena, Halliburton announced a new microsite that, among other things, discloses some information about the identity and common uses of the additives and constituents generally involved in the hydraulic fracturing process.

EPA’s congressionally mandated hydraulic fracturing study will look at the potential adverse impact of the practice on drinking water and public health. The agency is under a tight deadline to provide initial results by the end of 2012 and, according to the agency; the thoroughness of the study depends on timely access to detailed information about the methods used for fracturing.

EPA announced in March that it would conduct this study and solicit input from the public through a series of public meetings in major oil and gas production regions. The agency has completed the public meetings and thousands of Americans from across the country shared their views on the study and expressed full support for this effort.

On Sept. 9, EPA reached out to BJ Services, Complete Production Services, Halliburton, Key Energy Services, Patterson-UTI, RPC, Inc., Schlumberger, Superior Well Services, and Weatherford, seeking information on the chemical composition of fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing process, data on the impacts of the chemicals on human health and the environment, standard operating procedures at their hydraulic fracturing sites and the locations of sites where fracturing has been conducted. Eight of those companies have either fully complied with the request or made unconditional commitments to provide all the information on an expeditious schedule.

The microsite introduces a new fracture fluid system that uses materials sourced from the food industry. The company’s new service will use ultraviolet light instead of additives to control bacteria and another system will treat wastewater at the well site so that it can be reused.

“Halliburton has just made available new web pages to emphasize our forthright disclosure of the additives and constituents that are used for several typical wells in Pennsylvania. We believe this effort represents an important and substantive contribution to the broader long-term imperative of transparency,” said David Adams, vice president of Halliburton’s production enhancement product service line.

While the initial focus of the disclosure pages are limited to activities taking place in Pennsylvania, where development of the Marcellus Shale is already well under way, the company is committed to continuing to provide hydraulic fracturing fluid disclosure information for every U.S. state in which Halliburton’s fracture stimulation services are in use, the press release stated.

Source: Environmental Protection

Reader’s Comments to the NRC’s report on the NBAF, Was DHS’s SSRA an inside job?

Every once in a while a dialogue comes through (via comments) on a post that is worthy of further debate. Below is just the kind of dialogue I’m refering to. I hope you will agree.

 

Plum Island Animal Disease Center (Unedited) Satellite Image

 

Save_PIADC writes:

Thanks for your coverage.

The internal DHS Study Committee (SSRA) was about as close to an “inside job” as you could assemble and virtually all of the panelists had glaring conflicts of interest and personal stakes in seeing this project move forward.

Both of the USDA “independent experts” on the SSRA, Drs. Cyril Gay and Randall Leavings, were also members of the initial NBAF site visit team. Their efforts as site visit team members, largely informed the decision of siting NBAF in Kansas. They may have also met with Senator Pat Roberts during their 2007 site visits in Kansas.

SSRA members Steve Bennett, Dr. Michelle Colby, Dr. Bruce Harper and Dr. Joanne Jones-Meehan are all DHS employees. The notion that they would cast a skeptical eye towards a pet project of the DHS Secretary is laughable.

SSRA member Dr. David Brake is a contractor for DHS at Plum Island and his firm would have a vested financial stake in an expanded DHS countermeasure enterprise at NBAF.

SSRA member Dr. Josh Fine (SAIC) is also a contractor for DHS at Plum Island. His firm, SAIC, could potentially stand to gain a windfall if selected to provide SETA contract support at NBAF.

SSRA member Dr. Ted Schroeder is a professor at Kansas State. No conflict of interest there;) SSRA member Dr. Charles Hobbs is a “senior scientist emeritus” at the Lovelace Respiratory Reserach Institute. Lovelace’s President and CEO, Dr. Robert Rubin, was appointed in 2007 by then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius to serve on the “NBAF in Kansas Task Force.” Of course, there is no chance that Dr. Hobbs would come out against a major policy goal of his instiution’s President and CEO.

Other than the two HHS members, the SSRA panelists were riddled with ethical, professional, personal and financial conflicts of interest.