Search results for 'fracking'
Texas is blessed with vast deposits of oil and gas, and has enjoyed several drilling booms over the years. The lastest boom began just a few years ago, with the rapid expansion of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” that opened up reserves of fossil fuels trapped in rock shales deep underground. The Barnett Shale in Forth […]
The Texas Department of Transportation regulates all things road related and then some. The department’s been around since 1917, and over the years, it’s taken aviation, railways, and public transportation under its wings. In the upcoming legislative session, the department has to tackle some challenges: primarily, what to do about fracking-damaged roads.
The Barnett Shale is a geological formation and rich source of natural gas located in the Fort Worth Basin in Northeast Texas. The shale consists of sedimentary rock made of clay and quartz and spans 5,000 square miles, beneath about 18 North Texas counties. The productive portion of the rock formation is located directly beneath […]
Rick Perry is the current governor of Texas, and was a candidate in the Republican primaries before the 2012 presidential election. He entered the campaign in August 2011 and dropped out shortly before the South Carolina primary on January 19, 2012. Rick Perry’s energy policy in many ways reflects the energy makeup of the state […]
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a nonprofit environmental advocacy group that first organized in 1967 after the pesticide DDT was discovered to be threatening wildlife on Long Island, New York. The group is known for its work on issues such as global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans and human health. It is a nonpartisan organization, […]
When a Dallas jury awarded a North Texas family $3 million for damages from natural gas drilling near their property last week, the Internet went wild. Opponents of hydraulic fracturing called it a landmark, a game changer, the first “anti-fracking” lawsuit to result in a jury award. In truth, the case involved not just fracking, but all the […]
A Texas family sued a drilling company was awarded close to three million dollars this week by a Dallas County jury. The decision is being called a landmark one by people opposed to hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” and touted as a first by the plaintiffs’ legal team. “The fracking industry has really just taken off in the […]
Come elections in November, the city of Denton could be split between two very different futures. The Denton Drilling Awareness Group (DAG) recently got enough signatures on a petition to place an ordinance banning fracking within city limits on local ballots. Though other communities in Texas have passed restrictions on fracking, a moratorium on drilling […]
By Alex Dropkin and Terrence Henry Come elections in November, the city of Denton could be split between two very different futures. The Denton Drilling Awareness Group (DAG) got enough signatures on a petition this year to place an ordinance banning fracking within city limits on local ballots this fall. Though other communities in Texas have passed restrictions on fracking, a […]
From ProPublica: For years, environmentalists and the gas drilling industry have been in a pitched battle over the possible health implications of hydro fracking. But to a great extent, the debate — as well as the emerging lawsuits and the various proposed regulations in numerous states — has been hampered by a shortage of science. […]
If you know what the water in your wells was like before drilling started on your land, you have a better understanding of whether drilling has changed the water. That’s the basic idea behind “baseline testing” of groundwater before drilling starts. That’s also one reason why some states, like Wyoming, have enacted rules based on recommendations […]
While fracking and other drilling techniques have opened up large reserves of oil and natural gas in Texas, they’ve also caused literal headaches, traffic jams and fatal accidents, and strains on water supplies. As a result, some Texas communities are pushing back: Dallas has passed strict limits on drilling; citizens in Denton are working a ban on drilling […]
Fracking The Eagle Ford Shale: Big Oil And Bad Air On The Texas Prairie from Weather Films on Vimeo. A new joint investigation out this week on air quality in the Eagle Ford Shale has brought up troubling questions about the effect fracking in South Texas is having on the health of residents. Inside Climate […]
The fracking boom that has brought jobs and money to rural parts of South Texas has also brought potentially life-threatening air pollution. That’s according to a joint investigation out today from the Center for Public Integrity, the Weather Channel and Inside Climate News. The report found that toxic chemicals like benzene and hydrogen sulfide are being […]
Read about the history of oil drilling in Texas and you’ll find references to how wildcatters would pour barrels of hydrochloric acid into their wells. The acid would eat through underground rock formations and allow more oil to flow up the well. That was decades ago. While a lot has changed in the drilling industry […]
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