Marcellus Drilling News

Earthquakes | Industrywide Issues

Science Magazine Article on Fracking & Earthquakes: Nothing New
July 12, 2013July 15, 2013

Major…media…is…breathless…… Fracking causes earthquakes! A single article by a single author published in Science magazine means it must be so, right? Wrong. Here’s what you need to know about the new article called, “Injection-Induced Earthquakes,” released yesterday on the Science website but containing a publish date of today: The article (from what we can tell by the abstract and media synopses of it), tells us nothing we don’t already know.

What do we know? Injecting any kind of fluid under pressure–fracking fluid, nasty waste chemicals, or even water itself–will cause an earthquake if enough fluid is injected near a seismic fault. We already know that. What you won’t see in major media accounts of the story is any kind of context, which MDN provides for you below…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lehigh County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Dems Beat the ‘Ban Shale Drilling’ Drum, Voices Grow Louder
July 12, 2013July 12, 2013

A few weeks ago MDN was one of (perhaps the only) media outlet of any kind to call attention to the insanity of the Democrat party in Pennsylvania in casting a vote at their statewide convention calling for an immediate moratorium on all fracking in the state (see PA Democrat Party Votes to End Marcellus Shale Drilling Statewide). Seems that major media just wants to ignore this story, perhaps thinking no one will notice that the inmates now run the asylum in the PA Democrat party.

However, the crazies will not be silent. A group of Democrat protesters gathered in Allentown yesterday to encourage/cajole/agitate PA Senator Pat Browne (Republican) to support their call for a moratorium on fracking. It was one of 10 such “rallies” held yesterday. Warning to all PA residents: if you elect a Democrat legislature and governor in the next election cycle, you run the very real risk of shutting down the only thing that keeps the PA economy from being 10 times worse than it is: shale drilling. Look for the Dems to become more vociferous against fracking as the election season heats up. This is just the beginning…
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Electrical Generation | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

DOE: Climate Change Affects Fracking & NatGas Too
July 12, 2013July 12, 2013

The climate, it’s a changin’. Ought to be a song. Yesterday, the Obama Dept. of Energy (DOE) released a new report on American energy sector “vulnerabilities” that come from mythical man-made global warming (euphemistically renamed “climate change”). The new report is titled, “U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather” (full copy embedded below). It says that unconventional shale drilling either is, or soon will be, affected by global warming from lack of water supplies to use in fracking. It also asserts that as temps rise, less natural gas (and oil) will be used for heating, but more electricity will be used for cooling.

Here’s the DOE press release announcing the study:
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

United Church of Christ Votes to Divest from Fossil Fuel Companies
July 12, 2013July 12, 2013

As a practicing Christian, there’s nothing quite so repugnant to MDN editor Jim Willis as a religious denomination claiming God is against something He never said He was–like fossil fuels. Yet that’s what the entire United Church of Christ denomination, from Christianity’s “left wing,” has just done. UCC has just voted to divest any investments they have in “fossil fuel” companies. It’s an utterly stupid move. Why stop there?

Why not divest from companies that use fossil fuels? Or divest from companies that sell goods and services to nasty, evil fossil fuel companies? Heck, why not divest from your own congregations–they all use fossil fuels to heat and keep the lights on!…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Better Check Your Ramsbottom, It May Get Fracked!
July 12, 2013July 12, 2013

Say ain’t so! MDN saw the following headline and it gave us a smile, so we thought we would share it with you. For your Friday entertainment. The headline is this:

Controversial fracking technique could be used in Ramsbottom

Who, or more properly where, is Ramsbottom? And why will it get fracked? Read on, dear reader…
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Controversial fracking technique could be used in Ramsbottom