It appears the fine, upstanding protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement—the same people who want to abolish capitalism and redistribute all wealth from producers to those who won’t work—are prime targets to be recruited to oppose fracking. Birds of a feather…
Read More “Occupy Wall Street Protesters Recruited to Oppose Fracking”
While it would be unfair to say that support or opposition to shale gas drilling breaks strictly along political party lines, it is not unfair to point out this observation: Those who oppose drilling are mostly Democrats, while those who support drilling are mostly Republican. MDN has seen it again and again in public opinion polling data, and in news stories. Here’s the latest news story, this one from Ohio, which further supports MDN’s observation:
Central and northwest Pennsylvania saw record-breaking amounts of rainfall from Tropical Storm Lee, and massive flooding along with it. It brought devastation to a wide area of Pennsylvania. Although some accuse the Marcellus drilling industry of only being in it for the buck, a number of drillers stepped up to the plate to help with flood relief.
Read More “Energy Companies Big Help with Flood Relief in PA”
A list of 250+ physicians and other health care professionals, along with the usual group of opposition groups, sent a letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday requesting more study of shale gas drilling’s affects on health before approving new regulations and issuing permits to drill. A copy of their letter is embedded below.
A copy of the list of “health care professionals” which includes doctors, nurses, psychologists, veterinarians, dentists, professors, students and others is listed below in case those who support drilling might want to re-think whether or not they continue using the services of these people given their activist stance against drilling.
Read More “List of Health Care Pros Who Oppose Gas Drilling in NY”
Comments from a recent interview with Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and member of President Obama’s energy subcommittee examining shale gas (see MDN’s previous article about Yergin).
Mr. Yergin was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and had these observations:
Read More “Prize-Winning Author Says Fossil Fuels Not Going Away Soon”
Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and member of President Obama’s energy subcommittee examining shale gas, says the debate about whether or not to drill for shale gas is already over and decided—shall gas drilling is here to stay.
Read More “Obama Advisor Says Shale Gas Drilling is Here to Stay”
Hey, it’s another week, so that must mean it’s time for another New York opinion poll. We can’t seem to let a week go by without taking the temperature of the Empire State on the issue of hydraulic fracturing. This poll is an ongoing monthly poll done by Siena College. The actual questions and percentage responses are embedded below.
Read More “Siena College Poll: NYers Still Closely Divided on Fracking”
Another week, another public opinion poll in New York about whether or not residents support Marcellus Shale drilling. This one is a regular poll done by Quinnipiac University and has trending details, showing previous vs current opinion. Bottom line from this poll: Residents remain split about evenly about whether or not drilling should be allowed, with a slight majority in favor. The full questions and responses, by category, is embedded below.
Read More “New Quinnipiac Poll Shows NY Remains Split on Gas Drilling”
Arguing that existing federal and state regulations are sufficient, a diverse group of organizations sent a letter to President Obama yesterday asking him to not impose new regulations on hydraulic fracturing and instead to support it. The 119 organizations signing the letter included bankers, bowlers, grocers, the energy industry and many others. The full text of the letter and the groups signing is embedded below.
Several thousand residents of Peters Township, a small township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, are attempting to force a ban of all natural gas drilling in the township by amending the township’s charter. It’s not clear whether or not the town council will allow a vote on the proposed measure:
Read More “Western PA Township Residents Try to Ban Gas Drilling”
Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, PA) conducted a statewide poll of 525 Pennsylvania residents in late August. Among the questions asked were a series of questions about Marcellus Shale drilling. The vast majority of Pennsylvanians support gas drilling in the state (66%). A slight majority believes the economic benefits of drilling outweigh the potential environmental impacts, and most think that opening more state forest land for drilling should not be done. The full questions and responses are listed below.
Read More “PA Poll Shows Most Residents Support Marcellus Drilling”
Yet another opinion poll of New York State residents on the issue of drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus (and Utica) Shale. This is the third statewide poll in a month. Like the two polls before it, this one found those those who support drilling, and those who oppose it, are just about evenly split. This most recent poll was done by Marist College and of the three polls, the questions in this one are the most flawed. It’s more like a push-poll—a poll that seeks to push a political message—rather than a poll which seeks to understand public opinion. The exact wording of the four questions asked are listed below, along with MDN commentary. The entire detailed breakout of how various groups responded to each question is embedded at the bottom.
Read More “Marist Releases Dubious NY Opinion Poll on Fracking”
Contrary to media reports which make it appear that an overwhelming majority of people oppose Marcellus drilling, not “everyone” is opposed. Case in point: Local citizens in Lancaster Township (Butler County), PA turned out to support drilling in their community in two separate meetings:
Read More “Community Supports 11 New Marcellus Wells in Butler County”
Quinnipiac University of Hamden, CT just completed a new statewide public opinion poll in New York which shows some interesting results about New Yorker’s attitudes toward drilling. Overall, more New Yorker’s favor drilling in the Marcellus Shale than oppose it. Hydraulic fracturing, the method used by drillers to free the gas, has been so misrepresented by those opposed to drilling that New Yorkers are still leery of it, even though most don’t even understand what it is and how it works. Overall 52 percent of New Yorkers believe fracking will damage the environment, but nearly half, 47 percent, believe the economic benefits are worth the risk.
Read More “Quinnipiac Poll Shows NYers Support Fracking Despite Concerns”
Just an observation, but you know the New York Times is in trouble when political blog sites like the Politico, a popular (and leftist) website has to write puff pieces to prop up the journalistic malpractice being printed by the Times against the natural gas industry. Case in point:
Politico: New York Times vs. natural gas industry
Don’t forget to vote in this week’s MDN poll, which asks the question:
With respect to shale gas drilling, is the New York Times a reliable source of information?
The poll is found on the right-hand side of any page on the MDN website.
Canadian Stephen Murgatroyd has penned a sterling guest column in the Ponoka News (Alberta, Canada) on the subject of oil, natural gas and renewable energy. The column refutes the notion that fossil fuels, in particular oil, have reached their “peak”—the idea that we have reached a situation where we are using more oil and natural gas in the world than can be found in new reserves—and that we will run low or run out in the not-too-distant future (perhaps a generation or two from now).
Mr. Murgatroyd turns the table and makes the case that renewable sources of energy, like wind, solar, biomass and hydro instead are facing a “peak” in their use as the environmental problems with these technologies become more evident, and as their high costs become unacceptable due to subsidies being phased out by governments that can no longer afford to prop them up as they have done to date.