hydraulic fracturing

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New York to Ban Fracking
 New York to Ban Fracking 

New York to Ban Fracking

State health official likens concerns to those over secondhand smoke

(Newser) - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration will ban fracking in the state, citing unresolved health issues and dubious economic benefits of the widely used gas-drilling technique. Environmental Commissioner Joe Martens said today that he was recommending a ban, and Cuomo said he would defer to Martens and Acting Health...

Last Night Saw a Bush Family First
 Last Night 
 Saw a Bush 
 Family First 
midterm elections

Last Night Saw a Bush Family First

George P. Bush is first in family to win his first election

(Newser) - For the first time ever, a member of the Bush family won his very first election . George P. Bush, Jeb Bush's son , was elected land commissioner in Texas last night, CBS Houston reports. "I could not be prouder of George. He ran a great campaign, built his own...

Oklahoma Hit by 11 Quakes—in 2 Days

Record number of temblors in Sooner State may be from wastewater from fracking

(Newser) - Something shook Oklahoma all night long over the weekend—and it wasn’t the neighbors playing AC/DC too loud. The US Geological Survey recorded 11 small earthquakes, most in the magnitude 2.6 to 2.9 range, over Saturday and yesterday, reports the AP ; Tulsa World has a list. The...

We Need to Make Fracking Companies Tell Us More
We Need to Make Fracking Companies Tell Us More
OPINION

We Need to Make Fracking Companies Tell Us More

Debate is too much in the dark: Gretchen Goldman

(Newser) - For as big a role as fracking plays in US energy production , the national conversation about it is sadly lacking, writes Gretchen Goldman at LiveScience . For that, blame the companies involved in the hunt for natural gas—along with inept government agencies, writes Goldman, an environmental engineer with the Union...

US Nearly World's New No. 1 Oil-and-Gas Producer

Combined output set to overtake Russia

(Newser) - The shale oil and gas boom has transformed energy markets so much that the US is on course to become the world's biggest combined oil-and-gas producer this year—if it hasn't already overtaken Russia. In July, America produced around 22 million barrels a day of oil, natural gas...

New Concern: Fracking Under ... Graveyards?

But some families eager to cash in: gas firms

(Newser) - Activists are already furious about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing; now some are adding spiritual concerns to their list of grievances. Energy companies are extracting gas from deep below US cemeteries from Texas to Pennsylvania. The fracking occurs far below ground, with companies citing depths of 7,000 to...

Americas Replacing Mideast as World's Oil Source

Production is up from Canada to the US to Brazil

(Newser) - Gas and oil production is booming from Canada to Argentina, and that shift away from the Middle East has the potential to change the United States' geopolitical calculations significantly, reports the Washington Post . Even the US has been able to boost its petroleum production by 1.7 million barrels per...

Fracking Blamed for Ohio Quakes

Expert says quakes caused by injection well could continue for a year

(Newser) - Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—recently hailed as the solution to Youngstown's economic woes —now appears to have left the Ohio city with a big problem. Wastewater from oil and gas drilling is almost certainly behind a series of 11 quakes that have occurred in the area since last...

Battered Ohio Town Finds Hope in Fracking

Rust Belt steelmaking rebounds thanks to controversial gas extraction technique

(Newser) - The Rust Belt has suffered through decades of decline and job losses, but now a $650 million steel plant, bringing 350 new jobs, is going up in Youngstown, Ohio—and you can thank fracking for the revival, reports the Wall Street Journal . The rise of hydraulic fracturing—the process of...

House Report: Fracking Uses 29 Carcinogens

Industry resists disclosure, saying chemicals don't affect people

(Newser) - Hydraulic fracturing blasts at least 29 carcinogens and other hazardous chemicals deep into the earth to break up shale formations and get at oil and natural gas, says a new report released yesterday by House Democrats. Known as fracking, the industry used 780 million gallons of drilling fluids between 2005...

Fracking Isn't Just a Battlestar Galactica Curse

Method of extracting natural gas may pose health risks

(Newser) - Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, a process used to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation found beneath parts of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. It involves forcing water, sand, and some not so nice chemicals under high pressure into the ground. Problem is that some...

11 Stories