Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, May 25, 2012

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

Those idiots at Greenpeace and shale gas
Anorak
What has been the effect of the American rush for shale gas then? ‘The shale gas boom in the US has led to a big drop in its carbon emissions, as power generators switch from coal to cheap gas. According to the International Energy Agency, US energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, fell by 450m tonnes over the past five years – the largest drop among all countries surveyed.’

Pa. considers leasing university, prison land for drilling
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
A state House panel on Wednesday tweaked a measure that could expand gas drilling on state-owned lands, including on the campuses of the State System of Higher Education colleges. The proposal from Republican Sen. Don White, which passed the state Senate overwhelmingly last fall, would authorize state officials to lease rights to the oil, gas and coal beneath certain state lands.

Why Investors Are Selling Chesapeake Like Crazy
Seeking Alpha
Chesapeake (CHK) is an undervalued and risky investment for those looking into the energy industry. The low stock price for the second largest producer of natural gas in America is certainly appealing, but there a number of factors that make Chesapeake an extremely risky investment.

Chesapeake Conflict Of Interest Seen In Thunder Playoffs
Bloomberg
Chesapeake Energy Corp., whose top executive invested in the Oklahoma City Thunder, almost doubled its spending on the professional basketball team during the past four years buying tickets, luxury box seats and naming rights for the home arena.

Marcellus Shale Economics 101, More Than Art
Energy in Depth – NMI
When discussing natural gas, the critics of its development tend to dismiss its economic contributions as temporary, as art economist Jannette Barth did in this recent report for Catskill Citizens.  However, the economics of shale gas are neither temporary, nor ephemeral, as she asserts in this latest epistle.

Urbina Wheels His Way into Trouble with Latest Shale Story
Energy in Depth – NMI
Last week Ian Urbina came out with the latest in his series of hit pieces on the shale gas industry, otherwise known as his Drilling Down series in the New York Times. Each successive article seems to require a slightly longer reach than the one preceding it, as Urbina grasps for new material to please his audience.

Let N.Y. lead shale gas revolution
Albany Times Union
For decades, New York was the undisputed leader of America’s industrial and technological revolution. Our state prospered because of its abundant resources, none more important than the water and waterways that furnished drinking water, irrigation, transportation and hydropower.

Local deep-shale story has multiple twists, turns
Athens NEWS
The local "fracking" story is getting mighty complicated, and apparently has shifted into another active period after a brief pause. And unlike other continuing news stories that reveal themselves gradually as time passes, the local deep-shale drilling story gets more opaque and inscrutable as each day passes.

Forum looks at energy’s future
Canton Repository
The Utica shale is the most talked-about segment of Ohio’s energy future, but it’s just part of the puzzle, one expert told a Walsh University crowd Wednesday night.

Organization criticizes DEP over shale drilling violations
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
An environmental group is questioning whether the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Gov. Tom Corbett has been tough enough over the past year in its enforcement against Marcellus Shale drillers who commit violations.

Managing Marcellus: A Journalists’ Forum
WITF.org
Journalists from southwestern Pennsylvania and elsewhere will gather at WQED-TV to talk about their experiences covering Marcellus Shale – what they’ve seen, who’ve they’ve talked to, the events they’ve witnessed, and the facts as they’ve gathered them on Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania.