UK - Independent fracking report asserts that benefits are outstripped by the risks

We do seriously wonder if any member of the current UK government is even aware of the existence of the report.

Read the report here: http://www.medact.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/medact_fracking-report_WEB3.pdf

French lobby group claim they are not lobbying.

There is not the slightest doubt that when a right-wing administration is eventually returned to the Elysée Palace the battle against shale gas exploitation will re-commence. Even now,the newly formed CHNC ( Centre Hydrocarbures Non Conventionnels ) group is preparing the ground. They claim to be providing factual ( which facts will they leave out? ), accurate (by whose validation? ), and 'sophisticated' scientific arguments in support of hydraulic fracturation 'en France'. The group chairman/director Jean-Louis Schilanski says that the group aims to be 'objective' in its reporting ( M.Schilanski is the former CEO of the French Union of Petroleum Industries or UFIP ). It would seem that messrs Total, Arkema and Technip are at the heart of this excercise although we understand that certain environmental groups are to be involved.

No comment. Ed.


"The costs are a thousand times worse than the benefits," said Benoit Hartmann, spokesman for France Nature Environment, an umbrella organization of environmental groups. "In Texas, you do digging, and it's culturally accepted. But here it's not like this. People say, 'It's our land; it's our richness.''

Read an article here from the Los Angeles Times published in June 2014: http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-france-fracking-20140622-story.html#page=1

UK - Now to get a 'Bespoke fracking regulator'. Don't ask.................

Former Environment Secretary Chris Smith is concerned that the public simply do not have confidence in the current regulatory framework for fracking. Not surprising really when one considers that his government have sacked half those employed in that area of expertise. Marry that to the fact that the navel-gazing debates which seem to recur again and again on for instance the BBC, continue to deal with flaming taps, earthquakes and other issues long since settled in the US and it,s hardly surprising is it.

Read more here: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32041168

Squealing 'Petrolier's or Furious Frackers - Angry with Obama.

After the announcement of a tight regulatory framework ( long overdue ) by the Obama administration our friends in the oil and gas industry have been busy reacting..................

Read more here...................

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-20/u-s-sets-first-fracking-rules-since-process-fueled-energy-boom

Of course, when the cowboys re-occupy the White House again in due course no doubt they will reverse all the President's good work. Just like France? Hopefully, by then the appalling track record of fracking will have grown to such an extent that it will be all but non-viable.Ed.

Fracking - Safe as houses...................?

Fracking is safe, according to David Cameron. What would he know? Tell that to millions of Americans living in close proximity ( 15 million to be exact ) to fracking activity...........http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07/halliburton-ohio-river-spill-fracking

200 Energy companies hold humanity's future in their hands. Please sign petition.

Exceptionally, we provide a link to The Guardian's ambitous Climate Change Project which aims to educate but also encourage disinvestment in fossil fuels.

Read more and please consider signing the petition here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/mar/16/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign It matters - a lot. Ed.

Things not going at all well in Algeria. Oh dear.

Things not going quite as planned in Algeria it would seem.............................

 

Environmental movement blocks fracking in Algeria’s remote south

An unprecedented environmental protest movement in a remote part of Algeria has disrupted the country’s multibillion-dollar shale programme and is making political waves across the north African nation and the wider region.

Since the start of January, thousands of protesters have turned up daily in the rural town of Ain Salah, in the heart of the Sahara, to take part in increasingly raucous rallies against a $70bn hydraulic fracturing project they say will pollute the groundwater and disturb the environment.

US - Lunacy in Florida.

An unwritten State law/guideline banning employees from using the terms global warming or climate change has led to the suspension of one individual who has challenged the ruling after being suspended and sent for 'mental evaluation'. Don't believe it?

Read more here:http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/19/florida-employee-forced-on-leave-climate-change?CMP=share_btn_link

Florida is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as 80% of the state’s residents live or work near the coasts and damage from recent storms, including hurricane Wilma, has caused billions of dollars in damage since 2005. Is there any hope? Ed.

Fossil Fuels - Leave them in the ground.

First responsible, global call to LEAVE FOSSIL FUELS in the ground......................

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/16/argument-divesting-fossil-fuels-overwhelming-climate-change

Please sign the petition and circulate widely.

UK Environment Agency - Fit for it's purpose?

Make up your own mind after reading this report from the excellent talkfracking.org site....

http://www.talkfracking.org/news/is-the-environment-agency-fit-for-purpose/

Los Angeles officials admit to failing to protect water sources

But then things would be so much more rigorously controlled in the UK. Like hell.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-fracking-water-20150311-story.html

UK - Tim Yeo declares fracking to be - safe.

Former Thatcher minister Tim Yeo has suggested that 'Shale Gas should be at the centre of the next Government's policy programme' and has declared the process safe.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/12/shale-should-be-the-centrepiece-of-next-governments-energy-policy-tim-yeo

You leave us speechless Mr Yeo. Ed.

California - State officals order oil companies to shut 12 more wells.

Twelve more wells that is that have leaked dangerous chemicals into aquafers in drought stricken areas of California. Nice.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/State-shuts-12-oil-company-wells-that-pumped-6112846.php?t=7324655d23&cmpid=email-premium

Lovely people in the oil and gas industry are they not. No known as the 'dirt' industry for nothing. Ed.

UK - Government redacted fracking report.

Really?! Crikey. Soon they may have to reveal to what extent they misled the public.............

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2399002/greenpeace-appeals-to-information-commissioner-over-redacted-fracking-report

Meanwhile in the good 'ole UK.........................

Some think that the prospects for fracking in Grande Bretagne are looking bleaker with each passing day............................

http://www.leftfutures.org/2015/03/fracking-in-the-uk-is-out-for-the-foreseeable-future/

But we wouldn't bank on it. Ed.

France - It most certainly ain't over here yet.

If you read French this will alarm you................................
http://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/gaz-schiste-hydrocarbures-permis-bloques-renouvellement-vermilion-24021.php4

Translate in Google Translate if not.

All warming up for the inevitable change of government here. Ed.

Algerian protests

We note the current unrest in Algeria close to the town of Salah where the population are protesting against the planned fracking activity just a few kilometres away. Residents are concerned about the risk to health and likely contamination of water sources on the edge of the Sahara. Heavy-handed policing and the isolation of the community by cutting off internet and mobile access are all signs of a desperate regime. Many police have been injured, some seriously as have members of the government's opposition. With oil exports seriously dented by the recent dramatic fall in prices the moves smack of panic. Ed.

Algeria - Violent protests against shale gas extraction continue.

In images.......................................

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=algerian+protests+against+shale+gas&biw=1024&bih=688&tbm=isch&imgil=8pD3HMCP-ac9pM%253A%253Bce4v7styxZ5R7M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fnews.xinhuanet.com%25252Fenglish%25252Fphoto%25252F2015-02%25252F25%25252Fc_134015249.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=8pD3HMCP-ac9pM%253A%252Cce4v7styxZ5R7M%252C_&usg=__scWlNSyExIge3tyllZOHrymXFEc%3D&ved=0CCoQyjc&ei=SWf9VLCeKMmtafDsgig#imgrc=8pD3HMCP-ac9pM%253A%3Bce4v7styxZ5R7M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fnews.xinhuanet.com%252Fenglish%252Fphoto%252F2015-02%252F25%252F134015249_14248218994821n.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fnews.xinhuanet.com%252Fenglish%252Fphoto%252F2015-02%252F25%252Fc_134015249.htm%3B900%3B598

A film that the UK Government does not want you to see.

First in Yorkshire and then...................?
https://www.facebook.com/britainandirelandfrackfree/photos/a.450730781619619.127432.412063865486311/1085617648130926/?type=1&theater

France - UMP still trying to bend their own law.

Fortunately, the French Senate is not having any of it.............................
http://lenergiedavancer.com/des-senateurs-ump-relancent-le-debat-sur-le-gaz-de-schiste/2015/02/24/

Poland - It's all over now - baby.

Another misadventure....................

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/12/polands-shale-gas-revolution-evaporates-in-face-of-environmental-protests

Algeria doesn't like fracking much either.

Algeria: Violence Erupts at Protest Over Shale Gas Drilling Project

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/world/africa/algeria-violence-erupts-at-protest-over-shale-gas-drilling-project.html?_r=0