Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jun 19, 2012

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

U.N. sees natural gas a key to forests, helping poor
Reuters
Natural gas, including non-traditional shale gas, should play a major role in cutting greenhouse gases, protecting forests and improving the health and living standards of the world’s poor, the co-head of a U.N. sustainable energy program said on Monday.

‘Clean energy’ is money wasted
The Washington Post
In blackjack, doubling down is a high-risk, high-reward move. If you think you can win, based on the first two cards dealt, you bet 100 percent more — but you also pay for the privilege by agreeing to take one, and only one, additional card. Doubling down is also the semi-official metaphor of President Obama’s energy strategy, as we know from his speech in Cleveland last week.

Prepare for the summer of hydrofracking news conferences
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
A plan floated by Cuomo administration insiders last week has stirred up the base of supporters on both sides of the natural-gas-drilling debate, all but cementing the expected Summer of Hydrofracking Protests at the state Capitol.

Will Railroads Get a Boost From Natural Gas?
The Motley Fool
The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which industrials editor/analyst Isaac Pino discusses topics around the investing world. In today’s edition, Isaac talks transportation. Specifically, he’s focusing on the natural gas revolution and how it could boost the railroad industry.

Energy Policy *IS* Grassroots Politics
RedState
Compare and contrast these maps. First, the "undervote" by county in the recent Pennsylvania Democratic Presidential primary. The numbers in each county represent the proportion of voters in a Democratic primary who selected “no candidate” rather than vote for the incumbent, Barack Obama.

Questions remain about geologist’s removal
Athens NEWS
Did State Geologist Larry Wickstrom, fired in early May from that position, get hoist from his own petard? State personnel records and quotes in a recent Columbus Dispatch article suggest this might well be the case.