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New Report Reveals Toxic Air Near Natural Gas Operations
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 12 Jul '11

12 Jul '11

http://wv4mom.org/content/new-report-reveals-toxic-air-near-natural-gas-ope… -Jonathan

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Fwd: FW: Teleconference - Drilling in an Abandoned Field: Hydrofracking in the Absence of Federal Regulation, Thurs. July 14
by Paul Wilson 12 Jul '11

12 Jul '11

fyi, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: DAVID E ORTMAN <deortman(a)msn.com> Date: Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 12:40 AM Subject: FW: Teleconference - Drilling in an Abandoned Field: Hydrofracking in the Absence of Federal Regulation, Thurs. July 14 To: COAL-CAMPAIGN-ALERTS(a)lists.sierraclub.org FR: David E. Ortman, Seattle, WA While NG fracking is not exactly coal, members on this listserve or others may be interested in this ABA program on Thursday. It doesn't specifically say you have to be an attorney or a member of the ABA to listen in. ------------------------------ To: deortman(a)MSN.COM Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:30:00 -0500 From: irr(a)americanbar.org Subject: Teleconference - Drilling in an Abandoned Field: Hydrofracking in the Absence of Federal Regulation, Thurs. July 14 - Section Home <http://www.americanbar.org/groups/individual_rights.html> • - Contact Us<http://www.americanbar.org/groups/individual_rights/contact_us.html> Drilling in an Abandoned Field: Hydrofracking in the Absence of Federal Regulation This panel will consider the legal landscape and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing ("hydrofracking"), the use of horizontal drilling and high-volume fluid injection to free up natural gas found in shale and other deposits. The process makes drilling in places such as the Marcellus shale region feasible but introduces a number of regulatory challenges. For the process to work, millions of gallons of water must be piped or transported to well sites. Similar amounts of wastewater, containing hydrocarbons and proprietary chemicals, must be handled. Much of the wastewater remains below the surface where it can migrate into aquifers. Residents must endure noise, vibrations, lower property values, and air pollution from gas leaks, flaring, and truck exhaust. Hydrofracking is largely exempt from federal environmental laws, leaving the states to fend for themselves. This panel, composed of experts with many years of experience regulating and litigating hydrofracking-related issues, will discuss the New York and Pennsylvania experiences with this form of natural gas extraction. We will draw lessons from their struggles with environmental review, zoning, preemption, enforcement, and other practices. Their experience will be of use to environmental attorneys working in any of a growing number of states that has decided to consider or approve the use of hydrofracking in local communities. Speakers include: - *Al Appleton<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/appleto…> *, Senior Advisor, The Cooper Union<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/appleto…> - *Kate Hudson<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/hudson_…> *, Watershed Program Director, Riverkeeper, Inc.<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/hudson_…> - *Gregg Macey<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/macey_b…> *, Brooklyn Law School<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/macey_b…> - *Jeff Zimmerman<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/zimmerm…> *, Zimmerman & Associates<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/individual_rights/zimmerm…> THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011 2:00 P.M. Eastern ** To join the 90 minute call please dial 1-877-317-0419 and reference the "Hydraulic Fracturing Call" or "Conference ID 80530313" ** The ABA is not seeking CLE credit for this program, you will not receive CLE credit for listening to this program. This message was sent to deortman(a)msn.com. Your e-mail address will only be used within the ABA and its entities. We do not sell or rent e-mail addresses to anyone outside the ABA. Update your profile<http://apps.americanbar.org/abanet/common/MyABA/home.cfm>| Unsubscribe<http://apps.americanbar.org/unsubscribe.shtml?email=deortman@msn.com>| Privacy Policy <http://www.americanbar.org/utility/privacy.html> American Bar Association | 321 N Clark | Chicago, IL 60654 | 1-800-285-2221 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the COAL-CAMPAIGN-ALERTS list, send any message to: COAL-CAMPAIGN-ALERTS-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Re: [EC] Interim Committee meetings
by DSGJr＠aol.com 09 Jul '11

09 Jul '11

Here is the agenda as I know it from staff. Meeting begins Tuesday evening at 6 PM and will go as long as they can. Then will continue on Wednesday at noon. 1. Presentation on tax revenues from Marcellus by Mark Muchow of Dept. of Revenue 2. Presentation on economic benefits of a cracker plant by Keith Buredette of Econ Development Office 3. Standard presentation on horizontal drilling and fracking by someone from WVU 4. Presentation by Don Garvin (whoever he is) 5. Presentation by two Morgantown city council members 6. Presentation by Dave McMahon And, yes, Sconyers, you are always paranoid. But that's not a bad thing! don garvin In a message dated 7/9/2011 3:22:33 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, jimscon(a)gmail.com writes: Am I paranoid? Neither meeting of the Marcellus select committee has an agenda posted. On Sat, Jul 9, 2011 at 1:21 PM, James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu> wrote: > The Interim Committee schedule is out. Looks like some meetings start as early as 9 AM Monday. > > The Select Committee on Marcellus is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 6 PM, and again Wednesday at noon. > > Others of interest include > > Monday > 10 AM. Joint Commission on Economic Development. Update on Marcellus gas "cracker" plants. House Gov Org. Room 215 E > > 11 AM. Joint Commission on Water Resources. Senate Judiciary Room. 208 W. The agenda posted is from 2010, but I expect it may be worth covering. > > 2 PM. Finance Sub Committee B. Senate Finance room. Funding Issues Regarding Marcellus Shale. > > 3 PM. Judiciary Subcommittee C. Senate Judiciary Room Revision of rule-making procedures. > > Tuesday > 6 PM. Select Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary > > Wednesday > 10 AM Legislative Rule-Making Review. Senate Judiciary. No on-line agenda yet, the posted one is from January. > 11 AM. Joint Judiciary Committee. House Chamber. Review of Supreme Court election finance decision. > 12:00 Noon. elect Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary > > There may be other interesting things happening, but these ought to be a good start. > > JBK > > > > > _______________________________________________ > EC mailing list > EC(a)osenergy.org > http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec > -- Jim Sconyers jimscon(a)gmail.com 304.698.9628 Remember, Mother Nature bats last.

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Interim Committee meetings
by James Kotcon 09 Jul '11

09 Jul '11

The Interim Committee schedule is out. Looks like some meetings start as early as 9 AM Monday. The Select Committee on Marcellus is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 6 PM, and again Wednesday at noon. Others of interest include Monday 10 AM. Joint Commission on Economic Development. Update on Marcellus gas "cracker" plants. House Gov Org. Room 215 E 11 AM. Joint Commission on Water Resources. Senate Judiciary Room. 208 W. The agenda posted is from 2010, but I expect it may be worth covering. 2 PM. Finance Sub Committee B. Senate Finance room. Funding Issues Regarding Marcellus Shale. 3 PM. Judiciary Subcommittee C. Senate Judiciary Room Revision of rule-making procedures. Tuesday 6 PM. Select Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary Wednesday 10 AM Legislative Rule-Making Review. Senate Judiciary. No on-line agenda yet, the posted one is from January. 11 AM. Joint Judiciary Committee. House Chamber. Review of Supreme Court election finance decision. 12:00 Noon. elect Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary There may be other interesting things happening, but these ought to be a good start. JBK

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Re: [EC] Interim Committee meetings
by DSGJr＠aol.com 09 Jul '11

09 Jul '11

Don't forget the air rules, Jim. "The public hearing for all air quality rules will take place at 6 p.m. on July 11 in the Dolly Sods Room at DEP’s Charleston headquarters, 601 57th Street S.E., Charleston, WV 25304. The comment period will begin on June 10 and end at the conclusion of the hearing." don In a message dated 7/9/2011 12:21:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, jkotcon(a)wvu.edu writes: The Interim Committee schedule is out. Looks like some meetings start as early as 9 AM Monday. The Select Committee on Marcellus is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 6 PM, and again Wednesday at noon. Others of interest include Monday 10 AM. Joint Commission on Economic Development. Update on Marcellus gas "cracker" plants. House Gov Org. Room 215 E 11 AM. Joint Commission on Water Resources. Senate Judiciary Room. 208 W. The agenda posted is from 2010, but I expect it may be worth covering. 2 PM. Finance Sub Committee B. Senate Finance room. Funding Issues Regarding Marcellus Shale. 3 PM. Judiciary Subcommittee C. Senate Judiciary Room Revision of rule-making procedures. Tuesday 6 PM. Select Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary Wednesday 10 AM Legislative Rule-Making Review. Senate Judiciary. No on-line agenda yet, the posted one is from January. 11 AM. Joint Judiciary Committee. House Chamber. Review of Supreme Court election finance decision. 12:00 Noon. elect Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary There may be other interesting things happening, but these ought to be a good start. JBK

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Re: [EC] Interim Committee meetings
by DSGJr＠aol.com 09 Jul '11

09 Jul '11

I always attend the Forest Management Review meeting -- it's Monday at 9 AM. The Water Resources Meeting at 11 AM Monday has been canceled and rolled into the Select Committee meetings. don In a message dated 7/9/2011 12:21:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, jkotcon(a)wvu.edu writes: The Interim Committee schedule is out. Looks like some meetings start as early as 9 AM Monday. The Select Committee on Marcellus is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 6 PM, and again Wednesday at noon. Others of interest include Monday 10 AM. Joint Commission on Economic Development. Update on Marcellus gas "cracker" plants. House Gov Org. Room 215 E 11 AM. Joint Commission on Water Resources. Senate Judiciary Room. 208 W. The agenda posted is from 2010, but I expect it may be worth covering. 2 PM. Finance Sub Committee B. Senate Finance room. Funding Issues Regarding Marcellus Shale. 3 PM. Judiciary Subcommittee C. Senate Judiciary Room Revision of rule-making procedures. Tuesday 6 PM. Select Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary Wednesday 10 AM Legislative Rule-Making Review. Senate Judiciary. No on-line agenda yet, the posted one is from January. 11 AM. Joint Judiciary Committee. House Chamber. Review of Supreme Court election finance decision. 12:00 Noon. elect Committee on Marcellus. Senate Judiciary There may be other interesting things happening, but these ought to be a good start. JBK

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Fwd: The Pulse: Global warming worsens asthma and respiratory illnesses
by James Kotcon 08 Jul '11

08 Jul '11

Some fascinating tidbits from The Union of Concerned Scientists. I am especially intrigued by their approach to the questions of whether the floods, tornados and other severe storms are caused by Global Warming. While one can never ascribe single weather events, or even a single year of weather, to "climate" change, the models all predict, and the weather trends all show, that increasingly severe storms are coming. The powerful storms of 2011 are "the new normal", and it is going to keep getting worse. JBK >>> Union of Concerned Scientists <action(a)ucsusa.org> 7/7/2011 6:33 PM >>> ***************************** Union of Concerned Scientists The Pulse: Facts You Need from Experts You Trust http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=0GQWYnO4d3TK4Nu6BRZ0_g.. ***************************** Dear James, A new UCS report reveals that global warming threatens public health and increases health care costs by exacerbating ground-level ozone--the primary component of smog. "Climate Change and Your Health: Rising Temperatures, Worsening Ozone Pollution," explains how climate change-induced ozone increases are likely to result in millions of additional respiratory illnesses and thousands of more hospitalizations due to serious breathing problems in 2020. And what will all these health-related impacts cost? Approximately $5.4 billion. The good news is that both ozone pollution and climate change are fundamentally caused by the same activities--human beings burning fossil fuels--and we have ready-to-roll solutions for this problem. To check out our new report online, visit: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=jSKHvaaOe4IV5Z54-Ee3wA.. -Karla SCIENCE IN ACTION Tell Congress: Global warming could take our breath away. Unchecked global warming could lead to more serious respiratory illnesses like asthma and cost us billions in health costs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working right now to draft new regulations that would help protect us from the dangerous effects of global warming. Send a message to your members of Congress today urging them to let the EPA protect our health and save us money by reducing global warming emissions. Click Here to Take Action: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=GWvmnyyVs21uz9lafdi9GQ.. LINKS FOR YOU: :: UCS ticker shows the enormous amount of money the Clean Air Act has saved the country from 1970 through today. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=3ggdhWSDKi8tDUTDqYMz2w.. :: USA today: UCS warns climate change could increase breathing problems and health costs. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=sK-Pk6aQr8oVo3vOyzXWog.. :: New Climate Hot Map shows effects of global warming around the world. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=dNQ9d7U9xDDkCvSsq3lq-A.. :: Don't miss your chance to win a carbon-neutral trip for two to research climate change in Brazil! Embark on our Climate Hot Map Scavenger Hunt today. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=n-f4DpSedy8G8liT_eGo4A.. ASK THE SCIENTIST: How much ozone depletion has occurred over the past two decades, and to what degree are more harmful UV rays now reaching Earth? --K. Roumph, Fremont, NE. Answered by Peter Frumhoff, Ph.D., Director of Science & Policy Earth's ozone layer, high in the atmosphere, which had thinned significantly by the 1980s and early 1990s, has actually stabilized over the past two decades. Its recovery is uneven and complicated by global warming, but overall, a scientific and political success story averted a much more serious threat from ultraviolet radiation, or UV rays. When ozone is created near Earth's surface, however, it's called ground-level ozone and this type of ozone is a human health irritant and component of smog. Unfortunately, warmer temperatures increase ground-level ozone. Therefore, unlike its high-flying counterpart, ground-level ozone is cause for mounting concern. MORE: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=wCmsNt8XyW6Dki7E8ajnOg.. Do you have a question for UCS scientists? Submit your question today: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=-xTWrNlMu6qgDymCIV2qnA.. THIS JUST IN Reality in a warming world: Powerful storms become the new normal. This past spring, the United States experienced some of the worst extreme weather ever-and its effects were devastating for communities across the country: Massive flooding, monster wildfires, severe drought, and historic tornadoes. How much of this can be attributed to global warming? A lot of it, but not all of it, according to UCS climate scientists. MORE: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=WrZBoKj0oL66dMo_5mp2Xg.. GREENTIPS For many, reducing environmental harm is a guiding principle in life. But what about in death? Since green burial practices are not yet widespread, here are factors to consider when looking for a suitable final resting place. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=K4Psf6w9FYP1R1BuFO8XTQ.. FEED: THE FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT ELECTRONIC DIGEST :: UCS joins lawsuit against the FDA on antibiotics. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=BHQ5cyrbpJlHc5MuEysf6w.. :: New report says we waste one third of our food! http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=iCXYAxgIaChBhxNVgLaNWA.. :: Antibiotic-resistant superbug pops up in British milk. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=6R5B_3iVPRnX8HTIjtALaQ.. :: Farmers markets beat grocery stores on organic prices http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=-JtJJn8oFNkiUfK74TpG5Q.. MORE: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=_zUpfyv7fNKHbXy91vx5Ng.. DRIVING CHANGE NETWORK: :: 2011 UCS Hybrid Scorecard just released! http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=rMelBrAutX0o0rN5Bps7Ug.. :: Secretary of Transportation responds to UCS activists. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=kc7hpda9_TfuSmIsr5f_4Q.. :: Google estimates 90 percent of vehicles on the road by 2030 could be hybrids or EVs. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=EU0-M7wvg4cScsozhS5umQ.. MORE: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=KAFOaKWCaA92XNpVVcS4hQ.. THANK YOU Your commitment as a member of UCS ensures that scientific facts inform decisions that affect our environment, our health, and our security. Make a Donation: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=1yno6ScFwow655CLMmOPTw.. STAY CONNECTED TO UCS: You Tube: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=hU1G7UmDO-U1Yc99Frg2Ew.. RSS FEED: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=q7eEjwFG5RP1KuS7cnukNg.. Facebook: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=oJn3dRK5I7lG19JNvq1xTw.. Twitter: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=2YyhAQRZjSOpO64OrYjQLw.. MySpace: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=x5kzKbC8WDTdJlAKgz6eKA.. ****************************** The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS is a 501(c)(3) organization. All gifts are tax deductible. You can be confident your donations to UCS are spent wisely. http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=K4Zj08I9wL9gRy6AJht3kg.. Union of Concerned Scientists 2 Brattle Square Cambridge, MA 02138-3780 Phone: 800-666-8276 Fax: 617-864-9405 Email: ucsaction(a)ucsusa.org www.ucsusa.org Forward this email: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=aZTccRvyTyzYwxhlzYzkdw.. Sign up: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=z77y9Xea2VNEX6JMLvXrxQ.. About UCS: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=hvnBFX7ok3Z6jXAmgneJPA.. Privacy policy http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=2dzam12DKIuwmkt_9ouo0Q.. Unsubscribe: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/CO?i=0i09s49kwMqqRUL9C8jGYL9DrUlF8wDR&cid=1786 Update your profile: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=wVMKlMQNFB23f-elOtF_vA.. Add UCS to your address book: http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=0Kvz4azgCRDb1sizukjO_w..

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Fwd: Fracking fluids foul national forest
by Paul Wilson 07 Jul '11

07 Jul '11

fyi, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Bruce Hamilton <Bruce.Hamilton(a)sierraclub.org> Date: Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 12:14 PM Subject: Fracking fluids foul national forest To: CONS-AWL-RESILIENT-HABITATS(a)lists.sierraclub.org *Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility News Release (** www.peer.org* <http://www.peer.org/>*)* For Immediate Release: July 6, 2011 Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337 *FRACKING FLUIDS POISON A NATIONAL FOREST *— New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastation of Trees and Plants Washington, DC — A new study has found that wastewater from natural gas hydrofracturing in a West Virginia national forest quickly wiped out all ground plants, killed more than half of the trees and caused radical changes in soil chemistry. These results argue for much tighter control over disposal of these “fracking fluids,” contends Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The new study by Mary Beth Adams, a U.S. Forest Service researcher, appears in the July-August issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Environmental Quality. She looked at the effects of land application of fracking fluids on a quarter-acre section of the Fernow Experimental Forest within the Monongahela National Forest. More than 75,000 gallons of fracking fluids, which are injected deep underground to free shale gas and then return to the surface, were applied to the assigned plot over a two day period during June 2008. The following effects were reported in the study: - Within two days all ground plants were dead; - Within 10 days, leaves of trees began to turn brown. Within two years more than half of the approximately 150 trees were dead; and - “Surface soil concentrations of sodium and chloride increased 50-fold as a result of the land application of hydrofracturing fluids…” These elevated levels eventually declined as chemical leached off-site. The exact chemical composition of these fluids is not known because the chemical formula is classified as confidential proprietary information. “The explosion of shale gas drilling in the East has the potential to turn large stretches of public lands into lifeless moonscapes,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that land disposal of fracking fluids is common and in the case of the Fernow was done pursuant to a state permit. “This study suggests that these fluids should be treated as toxic waste.” For the past twenty-five years, the Forest Service has not applied any environmental restrictions on private extraction efforts, even in wilderness areas. As a result, forests, like the Monongahela, which sits astride the huge Marcellus Shale gas formation, have struggled with many adverse impacts of widespread drilling. By contrast, the nearby George Washington National Forest (NF) has recently proposed to ban horizontal drilling, a practice associated with hydrofracking, due to concern about both the ecosystem damage and also the huge amount of water required for the fracking process. Two subcommittees of the House of Representatives will hold a joint hearing this Friday to examine the George Washington NF’s singular pro-conservation stance. “Unfortunately, the Forest Service has drilled its head deeply into the sand on oil and gas operations harming forest assets,” Ruch added, noting the National Wildlife Refuges also lack regulations to minimize drilling impacts. “The Forest Service needs to develop a broader approach than asking each forest supervisor to cast a lone profile in courage or cowardice.” -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Oil and Hydraulic Fracking
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 05 Jul '11

05 Jul '11

Argentina Hopes for a Big Payoff in Its Shale Oil Field Discovery By CLIFFORD KRAUSS<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/clifford_kraus…> Published: July 4, 2011 Just east of Argentina’s Andean foothills, an oil<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/oil-petroleu…>field called the Vaca Muerta — “dead cow” in English — has finally come to life. Michael Stravato for The New York Times Extracting oil from shale formations in South Texas. Enlarge This Image An oil field called Vaca Muerta came to life. In May, the Argentine oil company YPF announced that it had found 150 million barrels of oil in the Patagonian field, and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner rushed onto national television to praise the discovery as something that could give new impetus to the country’s long-stagnant economy. “The importance of this discovery goes well beyond the volume,” said Sebastián Eskenazi, YPF’s chief executive, as he announced the find. “The important thing is it is something new: new energy, a new future, new expectations.” Although there are significant hurdles, geologists say that the Vaca Muerta is a harbinger of a possible major expansion of global petroleum supplies over the next two decades as the industry uses advanced techniques to extract oil from shale and other tightly packed rocks. Exploration of similar shale fields has already begun in Australia, Canada, Poland and France. Indian and Chinese oil companies are investing in pilot projects that, if successful, could make their countries significant oil producers, possibly reshaping energy geopolitics and stemming future price rises. Ukraine and Russia are also thought to have sizable shale fields of oil and gas, as do many North African and Middle Eastern countries. “The potential is huge, on the order of hundreds of billions of barrels of recoverable reserves,” said Michael C. Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research, a consulting firm, who is preparing a report on global shale oil. Similar fields in North Dakota and Texas are already beginning to gush oil. The techniques used to extract it include hydraulic fracturing, in which high-pressure fluids are used to break up shale rock to release the oil, and horizontal drilling, which allows drillers to tap thin layers of oil-filled shale that are sandwiched between layers of other rock. Oil experts caution that geologists have only just begun to study shale fields in much of the world, and thus can only guess at their potential. Little seismic work has been completed, and core samples need to be retrieved from thousands of feet below the surface to judge how much oil or gas can be retrieved. Skeptics also say that even if oil is found in many of these fields, some may not be recoverable using current technology. Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, has drawn significant opposition in the United States and France because of concerns that the fluids used can pollute groundwater. Also, the process requires vast amounts of water, a problem since many of the fields are in dry regions. Another barrier to widespread exploitation of oil shale is that few companies have the expertise and experience to do the work. Chinese and Indian oil companies are investing in joint shale ventures in the United States and other countries in part so they can learn the new exploration and drilling techniques. The search for oil in tight rocks began in the United States about three years ago, and the potential for oil has been found from Texas to Michigan, California to Ohio. Domestic oil production from shale has grown to more than half a million barrels a day since 2009 and could reach three million barrels a day by 2020. Oil companies are speculating that the early successes in the United States can be duplicated around the world. Exploration for gas from shale began a couple of years ago in China and around Europe, particularly Poland, and experts say some of those fields have oil potential as well. “It could potentially be a game changer,” said Fadel Gheit, a managing director and senior oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Company. “We are going to see much wider distribution of oil reserves, to the benefit of the whole world. It could rerank countries, in which the very needy might become self-sufficient. Countries like Canada and Australia could potentially become the new Saudi Arabia for energy.” Argentina certainly has high hopes for shale oil from the southern Patagonian province of Neuquén. The 150 million barrels of recoverable shale oil found in the Vaca Muerta represents an increase of 8 percent in Argentina’s reserves, and the find was the biggest discovery of oil in the country since the late 1980s. Oil experts say the Vaca Muerta is probably just a start for Argentina, long a middle-ranked oil producer. Mr. Lynch noted that YPF had explored only 100 square miles out of 5,000 square miles in the whole shale deposit, and other oil companies working in the area had not announced any discoveries yet. Argentina has long struggled to meet its own oil and gas needs, and energy price controls and other economic policies have dissuaded oil companies from making major investments there. That is now changing, with the French oil company Total and the American companies Apache, Exxon Mobil and EOG Resources making major investments in Argentine shale fields. “Argentina certainly has the chance of becoming a significant oil exporter,” said Mark G. Papa, chief executive of EOG, which pioneered oil shale drilling in the United States and recently acquired access to 100,000 acres of Argentine shale. So far, nearly all of the oil exploration in the shale fields in Argentina and elsewhere has been pursued with traditional vertical wells. Plans are just beginning for horizontal drilling. Some experts caution that the fast advance of oil production from shale in the United States is no guarantee of similar successes abroad, at least not in the near future. Aubrey K. McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, a major domestic shale oil and gas producer, said that production would be constrained by the small number of companies with shale expertise and limits on access imposed by some countries. “I am pretty confident that during the next 10 years the best oil volume growth story in the world will be the U.S.,” he said in an e-mail message. But he added, “I believe there’s shale oil and tight sand oil to be found all over the world.” One of the big potential winners is China, which has at least two shale pilot projects exploring for oil and gas. BP and Royal Dutch Shell are already working with the Chinese, and several other international companies are seeking shale opportunities in the country. The Chinese are working alone on some projects. “China will probably be able to grow fast because of the single ownership of the resources,” said Bob Fryklund, vice president for global exploration and production analysis at IHS Cera, an energy consultant firm. Mr. Fryklund said it was still early to know how big global oil production from shale would become. But he noted that oil companies had already taken the potential seriously enough to invest billions of dollars in initial exploration projects. “Tight oil is the new revolution in oil production, and it’s not just the U.S.,” Mr. Fryklund said. “It’s worldwide.” -- William V. DePaulo, Esq. 179 Summers Street, Suite 232 Charleston, WV 25301-2163 Tel 304-342-5588 Fax 304-342-5505 william.depaulo(a)gmail.com www.passeggiata.com

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Is gas the new "Nuclear"?
by James Kotcon 05 Jul '11

05 Jul '11

>>> Betty Wiley <betty.w304(a)gmail.com> 6/25/2011 9:47 PM >>> Web pressure on gas By Mike Benard (guest columnist) Published: June 24, 2011 Mike Benard, founder of Spectra Energy Watch, is a former gas leaseholder in Bedford County. Technology and the Internet are doing to the energy industry what they did to the music and photo industries. They are collapsing the status quo and the industry is rattled by what it understands is a shift in power. At a natural gas industry symposium, GasMart 2011, worried voices were reported by an industry publication, NGI's Shale Daily. David Ciarlone of Alcoa said: "I clearly remember how a promising energy technology, the nuclear industry, lost the confidence of the public and billions of dollars that had been invested were abandoned. Without significant changes, shale gas, like nuclear power, could be more remembered for promises made than hopes realized." Three indicators characterize this shift: n Rise of public opinion via a global "neighborhood watch" - It isn't just the energy industry that is global. Property owners and citizens worldwide know about "gaz de schiste" in France and the National Assembly vote there to prohibit hydraulic fracturing. Australia's Frackman has his own Facebook page. n Rise of the transparent culture - It is increasingly damaging to corporate brands for gas/oil companies to pretend the industry's drilling, storage and pipeline practices have no adverse affects on health, environment and the communities in which they operate. n It's personal - Every student of social media knows that "authenticity" is the watchword. Today's global, wired challenge to the energy industry is motivated by personal testimony. The Times-Tribune account of Bradford County resident Crystal Stroud's compelling testimony about the adverse health effects of drilling is but the latest example. And such personal testimony is much more credible than slick TV ads sponsored by the industry. While the energy industry ramps up spending for more lobbying and legal firewalls, it struggles to understand why the status quo is collapsing. There are three reasons: n The energy industry speaks in absolutes that were not seriously challenged until recently. n The industry characterizes citizen opposition as left-wing environmental wackos and even extremists. It ignores its trampling on property rights, which offends conservatives. n The industry demonstrates it is not capable of living up to its own published principles such as environmental protection, accountability and transparency. (After seven months, the Marcellus Shale Coalition cannot explain what its second guiding principle means it will do at the well site.) Even Texas is no longer a sanctuary for the energy industry. The Dallas Morning News recently editorialized: "Local governments across North Texas are sounding alarms about the possibility of increased air pollution, groundwater contamination, noise and declining property values coinciding with drilling companies' push into urban areas. "These concerns are not overblown. ... But the industry's tendency has too often been to deny, deflect and use judicial bullying to get its way." To return to the comparison with the nuclear industry, the shale gas fracking industry is radioactive in terms of public trust. And it achieved this distinction the old fashioned way - it "earned" it. Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/editorials-columns/guest-columnists/web…

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Fwd: Republican Bill Maloney urges Marcellus shale regulations - Charleston Daily Mail
by James Kotcon 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

>>> Mark Blumenstein <markb(a)mountain.net> 7/4/2011 8:26 AM >>> July 4, 2011 8:23:53 AM EDT - Republican Bill Maloney urges Marcellus shale regulations by Ry Rivard Daily Mail Capitol Reporter CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Maloney said West Virginia's leaders need to pass new Marcellus shale regulations to protect communities, state roads and the environment and to give legal certainty to the industry. "We need to come up with the exact rules and do it because there's a lot of investment being held back right now," Maloney said in a Friday telephone interview. He provided his first extensive comments on one of the state's most pressing issues. Maloney said he supports raising permit fees for Marcellus well sites so the Department of Environmental Protection has enough money to hire the oil and gas inspectors it needs. He also said the state can do more to make sure communities near gas wells benefit from severance taxes, something he feels has not happened enough in the coalfields. State lawmakers have tried and failed to come up with regulations for what many expect will be a natural gas boom in West Virginia. Maloney wasn't too critical of the Legislature, although he said it might have lost an opportunity to pass regulations sooner because of "the inactivity of all parties involved." He said there was a lack of leadership by acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, the Democrat Maloney faces in the Oct. 4 general election. "I got to give Joe Manchin credit, at least he would lead on something like this," Maloney said. Tomblin began acting as governor by virtue of being president of the state Senate in mid-November, following former Gov. Manchin's departure for the U.S. Senate. Maloney said there's already a "great blueprint" for a new law in a recent deal that gas company Northeast Energy struck with the Morgantown Utility Board. City officials were concerned because Northeast's well is near a public water supply. To get gas from the Marcellus, companies use a water-intensive technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to free gas from shale rocks. In a three-page memo to assuage the city's worries, Northeast promised to pressure-test wells to prevent blowouts and to take extra steps to prevent spills of frack water, which is laced with chemicals. The company also promised to detail how it disposed of the frack fluid that returns to the surface after it has been shot deep into the earth. But the City Council remained concerned and - mostly because officials in Charleston had repeatedly failed to act - voted last month to ban fracking in and around Morgantown. Maloney said the city's total ban was "driving him crazy." "People are afraid to work with anybody from Morgantown because of that deal," he said. Maloney earned his fortune in the coal mineshaft drilling business. He also has drilled water wells and invests in oil and gas interests. He said he is not invested in Marcellus shale wells. "We need to protect property owners, we need to protect residents, we need to protect health and safety, we need to protect communities - but you need to do it in a logical manner," Maloney said. He said there are valid concerns about dangers to the environment, but "if the well is constructed properly, there's never been a case of contamination." "The real environmental concern is when you pump in all this frack fluid and they then flow back like two-thirds of that, and when they're flowing back, you've just got to avoid spills and make sure it's contained," Maloney said. "You've got to have controls in place to make sure that water wasn't dumped in a creek or isn't being taken somewhere it's not supposed to be taken." He also said any rules should make sure gas rigs or trucks hauling water aren't allowed to tear up state roads without the state being reimbursed. He said there could be some limits on how loud operations can be within earshot of communities. "You don't want to see roads ruined by all the truck traffic, the dust, the noise," Maloney said. He said it's probably not wise to burden Marcellus shale regulations with anything about the controversial practice known as "forced pooling," which lets companies extract gas from beneath a large tract of land even if they can't agree to a lease with all of the mineral rights owners. Wrangling over a forced pooling provision stalled gas regulations earlier this year in the state House of Delegates. More Articles in State News 1 | 2 | Next Page »

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Fwd: NEWS ADVISORY: Milestone Passed - Renewable Energy Overtakes Nuclear Power
by James Kotcon 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

This is great news! JBK >>> Kenneth Bossong <sustainableenergy_news(a)yahoo.com> 7/3/2011 10:38 AM >>> SUN DAY CAMPAIGN 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite #340; Takoma Park, MD 20912 301-270-6477 x.11 sun-day-campaign(a)hotmail.com News Advisory RENEWABLE ENERGY REACHES MILESTONE DOMESTIC PRODUCTION SURPASSES NUCLEAR AND CLOSES IN ON OIL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY EXPANDS BY 26% REACHES 13% OF NET U.S. ELECTRICAL GENERATION For Immediate Release: Tuesday - July 5, 2011 Contact: Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.11 Washington DC – According to the most recent issue of the "Monthly Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy has passed a milestone as domestic production is now greater than that of nuclear power and is closing in on oil. During the first quarter of 2011, renewable energy sources (biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, wind) provided 2.245 quadrillion Btus of energy or 11.73% of U.S. energy production. More significantly, energy production from renewable energy sources in 2011 was 5.65% more than that from nuclear power, which provided 2.125 quadrillion Btus and has remained largely unchanged in recent years. Energy from renewable sources is now 77.15% of that from domestic crude oil production, with the gap closing rapidly. Looking at all energy sectors (e.g., electricity, transportation, thermal), production of renewable energy, including hydropower, has increased by 15.07% compared to the first quarter of 2010, and by 25.07% when compared to the first quarter of 2009. Among the renewable energy sources, biomass/biofuels accounted for 48.06%, hydropower for 35.41%, wind for 12.87%, geothermal for 2.45%, and solar for 1.16%. Looking at just the electricity sector, according to the latest issue of EIA’s "Electric Power Monthly," for the first quarter of 2011, renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) accounted for 12.94% of net U.S. electrical generation - up from 10.31% during the same period in 2010. Non-hydro renewables accounted for 4.74% of net U.S. electrical generation. In terms of actual production, renewable electrical output increased by 25.82% in the first three months of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010. Solar-generated electricity increased by 104.8%, wind-generated electricity rose by 40.3%, hydropower output expanded by 28.7%, and geothermal electrical generation rose by 5.8%. Only electricity from biomass sources dropped - by 4.8%. By comparison, natural gas electrical output rose by 1.8% and nuclear-generated electricity increased by only 0.4% while coal-generated electricity dropped by 5.7%. “Notwithstanding the recent nuclear accident in Japan, among many others, and the rapid growth in energy and electricity from renewable sources, congressional Republicans continue to press for more nuclear energy funding while seeking deep cuts in renewable energy investments,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “One has to wonder ‘what are these people thinking?’” # # # # # # # # The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent "Monthly Energy Review" on June 28, 2011. It can be found at: http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly. The relevant charts from which the data above are extrapolated are Tables 1.2 and 10.1. EIA released its most recent "Electric Power Monthly" on June 9, 2011; see: http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html. The relevant charts are Tables ES1.B, and 1.1.A. ======================= The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1993 to promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.

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Natural gas prices set to jump with exports
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 04 Jul '11

04 Jul '11

Interesting article. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_741745.html

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Fwd: Statewide Antifracking rally--July 11, Charleston
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 02 Jul '11

02 Jul '11

Everyone from around the state is invited to attend this event. Goal is 1000 people strong. Mt Party candidate Bob Baber will be attending. FB event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=250055288343466 -Jonathan -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Statewide Antifracking rally--July 11, Charleston Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 22:53:42 -0400 From: Nancy Ganz <suncrestna(a)gmail.com> To: nbandana(a)aol.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *South Park Association of Neighbors MorgantownWV* <spanwv(a)yahoo.com <mailto:spanwv@yahoo.com>> Date: Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 4:29 PM Subject: Fw: Statewide Antifracking rally--July 11, Charleston To: spanwv(a)yahoo.com <mailto:spanwv@yahoo.com> FYI --- On *Wed, 6/29/11, Candace Jordan /<44ace(a)live.com <mailto:44ace@live.com>>/* wrote: From: Candace Jordan <44ace(a)live.com <mailto:44ace@live.com>> Subject: Statewide Antifracking rally--July 11, Charleston To: "Candace" <44ace(a)live.com <mailto:44ace@live.com>> Cc: cashkathy(a)gmail.com <mailto:cashkathy@gmail.com> Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 7:46 PM Hello. I am writing on behalf of WV4MoM (West Virginia for a Moratorium on Marcellus). We are having a statewide rally in Charleston on July 11 around the topic of Marcellus Shale drilling and fracking in West Virginia. We hope that in addition to sending representatives to this very important demonstration, your organization will spread the word to your community members and encourage them to attend. We are at a crucial turning point in the battle against Marcellus, and your presence on July 11 is critical, as the interim legislature will meet that day. We need to send them a strong message that this a statewide concern. Please share the information below with all of your contacts and your social media pages. I have attached a Word document that can be printed and used as a flyer. We will be sending further information regarding speakers, agenda, and transportation over the next few days. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at frackinquestions(a)gmail.com <mailto:frackinquestions@gmail.com> We also have a Facebook group called Stop the Fracking in Morgantown Industrial Park. Please address questions about carpooling to wv4momcarpool(a)gmail.com <mailto:wv4momcarpool@gmail.com> Thank you in advance for your support, and we hope to see you at the Capitol! Best, Candace Jordan WV4MoM Morgantown IT’S TIME TO STAND TOGETHER AND LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD! COME TO A STATEWIDE RALLY TO SUPPORT *MORATORIUM ON MARCELLUS (MOM)* Date: Monday, July 11, 2011 Time: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Where: Charleston, West Virginia, State Capitol Building Why: We are at a crucial turning point in the battle against Marcellus. Our presence on July 11 is critical, as the interim legislature will meet that day. If you can do only one thing to stop the Marcellus madness, show up at this rally. Contact your representatives and make appointments to see them that day, and make July 11 a day to lobby againstMarcellus. *EVERYONE IS WELCOME! HELP MOM!* We’ll have speakers, music, and a chance to meet others throughout West Virginia who want to stop Marcellus drilling and fracking. *SPEAK UP FOR MOM!* *This event is sponsored by WV4MOM (West Virginia for a Moratorium on Marcellus). *More messages about an agenda, speakers, transportation, and parking will follow this one. For more information contact frackinquestions(a)gmail.com <http://us.mc1616.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=frackinquestions@gmail.com>

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FW: [MarcellusGasInfo] NJ Assembly and Senate ban fracking
by Beth Little 30 Jun '11

30 Jun '11

Easy for them to do - they don't have any Marcellus shale. From: marcellusgasinfo(a)googlegroups.com [mailto:marcellusgasinfo@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kim Knight Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 10:45 PM To: ShaleShock; shaleshockcny CNY; marcellusgasinfo(a)googlegroups.com Subject: [MarcellusGasInfo] NJ Assembly and Senate ban fracking The NJ Senate banned fracking with a vote of 33-1 and the NJ Assembly banned it with a vote of 58-11. It is now down to whether the governor, Chris Christie, will sign it. Article: http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/nj-lawmakers-pass-ban-on-gas-drilli ng-technique-1.2994891 Kim -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MarcellusGasInfo" group. To post to this group, send email to marcellusgasinfo(a)googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to marcellusgasinfo+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/marcellusgasinfo?hl=en This listserv is managed and owned by the Binghamton Regional Sustainabiliy Coalition (BRSC) For our email list policy, visit For BRSC email list policy, visit http://groups.google.com/group/marcellusgasinfo/files _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1388 / Virus Database: 1516/3735 - Release Date: 06/30/11

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Re: [EC] [wvec-board] E-Council Green Jam-Tues. Oct. 4th
by Frank Young 30 Jun '11

30 Jun '11

Thank you for the notice, Greg. That is the evening of special election day- October 4th. We could look at it as a victory party, or as an occasion to cry in our beer- whichever the election returns indicate. Frank ----- Original Message ----- From: Carroll, Greg B To: dsgjr(a)aol.com ; clrank2(a)gmail.com ; fyoung(a)mountain.net Cc: wvec-board(a)yahoogroups.com ; ec(a)osenergy.org ; wyro(a)appalight.com ; djsoeder(a)yahoo.com Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 10:55 AM Subject: [wvec-board] E-Council Green Jam-Tues. Oct. 4th Dear Folks , I wanted to make sure I got the right date out. NOT the 2nd but the 4th of Oct. That’s a Tuesday evening. The benefit will be at the Empty Glass in Charleston, Food –Music-Fun…after work from 6 to 10…..many local musicians! Please pass the word. Long time away but good to start in advance. Greg From: wvec-board(a)yahoogroups.com [mailto:wvec-board@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of dsgjr(a)aol.com Sent: Friday, June 24, 2011 3:10 PM To: clrank2(a)gmail.com; fyoung(a)mountain.net Cc: wvec-board(a)yahoogroups.com; ec(a)osenergy.org; wyro(a)appalight.com; djsoeder(a)yahoo.com Subject: Re: [wvec-board] Gas drilling hazardous waste landfill in Preston County? Actually, I have heard rumors that the other landfills in the area that DEP has authorized to receive this waste are none to happy about this new proposed landfill -- They don't want the competition! Like everything else in this world, it's all about the money. Don Garvin In a message dated 6/24/2011 12:15:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, clrank2(a)gmail.com writes: Yes, Frank. This has been and is a hot button issue for Friends of Cheat, the PA-WV watershed COMPACT, Upper Mon River Assoc. and all the Dunkard Creek, Sierra and other folks in northern WV where the bulk of the horizontal marcellus drilling is happening -- especially the two in Morgantown near the water intake... and the two in the Dunkard Creek watershed.... Chesapeake and others have already reduced or eliminated entirely the drilling pits and have been catching the drilling muds, etc in open truck beds (don't know the official terminology for them) and taking them to other already existing landfills ----- ... Dan may be aware of the attitudes of these landfill operators, but with the growing amount of waste generated by the drilling in these northern WV Counties i'm sure they can see their projected capacity quickly being stressed or stretched to the limits and welcome this new project to relieve pressure on their limits. .... Needless to say others in the communities are none too happy... Cindy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 12:36 PM, Frank Young <fyoung(a)mountain.net> wrote: This would seem to indicate public acknowledgement of serious waste disposal issues related to the by-products of shale gas drilling. ----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Buckley To: Frank Young ; Gordon Jones ; gary singleton ; John Gorrell ; Mike Reese Cc: Rick Buckley Sent: Friday, June 24, 2011 11:30 AM Subject: Landfill in Preston County I guess this issue did not go away. This is what I had mentioned last evening regarding creating a landfill in Preston County related to Marcellus drilling. (see attached) __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: Visit Your Group MARKETPLACE Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now. Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use. __,_._,___

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Re: [EC] ash for Thursday
by Jim Sconyers 28 Jun '11

28 Jun '11

OK - How about instead I make up a handout: Coal Ash Top Ten Toxics Arsenic Selenium Cadmium Lead Mercury Jim et al - next five please. We have that for the media and to present to McKinley, along with a statement of our concerns...? Also - I'll have several signs for folks - unless you want to make your own. On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 10:18 AM, Petra&John Wood <pbjmwood(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Jim - as I said in my earlier email, I have no access to getting fly > ash. sorry - petra > > > On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 10:09 AM, Jim Sconyers <jimscon(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Hi Petra - can you get some actual ash for the Thursday event please? >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Jim Sconyers <jimscon(a)gmail.com> >> Date: Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 10:07 AM >> Subject: Re: [EC] Fwd: Tr-Ash Talk: W.V. Rep. McKinley Sells Out >> Constituents >> To: Jim Sconyers <jim_scon(a)yahoo.com> >> Cc: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu>, ec(a)osenergy.org, Nicole Good >> <nicolegood.wv(a)gmail.com>, Gwen Jones <gwenjones23(a)yahoo.com>, >> Petra&John Wood <pbjmwood(a)gmail.com> >> >> >> Folks - >> >> We're on for Thursday at 11:00 AM. >> Basic outline: >> Picket on sidewalk in front of the building, work with media if they >> come, then go inside to give our gifts of real coal ash to Congressman >> McKinley. We'll be sending a media alert later today - it is attached. >> >> Come on down - it'll be fun! >> >> <Sally - the time is now definite, so please send the request to Mon >> Group for folks to participate whenever you're ready - thanks.> >> >> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 7:40 PM, Jim Sconyers <jim_scon(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> > Can you join us for this on Thursday? We need numbers - you can speak if >> > you >> > like, but that is not required. Hold a sign, be one of the number >> > distressed >> > about McKinley on coal ash protection. >> > >> > Jim Sconyers >> > jim_scon(a)yahoo.com >> > 304.698.9628 >> > >> > Remember: Mother Nature bats last. >> > >> > ________________________________ >> > From: Jim Sconyers <jimscon(a)gmail.com> >> > To: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu> >> > Cc: ec(a)osenergy.org; Nicole Good <nicolegood.wv(a)gmail.com>; Gwen Jones >> > <gwenjones23(a)yahoo.com>; Petra&John Wood <pbjmwood(a)gmail.com> >> > Sent: Mon, June 20, 2011 4:56:57 PM >> > Subject: Re: [EC] Fwd: Tr-Ash Talk: W.V. Rep. McKinley Sells Out >> > Constituents >> > >> > Does 11:00 Tursday work? Or do we need to move to 10:00? >> > >> > On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 4:23 PM, James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu> wrote: >> >> I agree tomorrow is too short notice. I have one meeting Thursday >> >> afternoon, but could possibly do things in the morning or at noon. >> >> >> >> JBK >> >> >> >>>>> Jim Sconyers <jimscon(a)gmail.com> 6/20/2011 4:15 PM >>> >> >> Folks - I don't see how we can do this tomorrow - haven't sent >> >> anything to media yet, they need at least 24 hours. >> >> >> >> How about we set it for Thurs 11:00? I know the mark-up may have >> >> already happened by then - or it may not. If not, we're fine. If it >> >> has, we blast him for what he did, not for what he's about to do. >> >> >> >> Feedback? >> >> >> >> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 3:50 PM, Jim Sconyers <jimscon(a)gmail.com> >> >> wrote: >> >>> Here's what I think we need if we want to make this happen. >> >>> People - critical mass would be 4 - 5, more is good. >> >>> Signs - I can make 2 - "McKinley to Citizens: Kiss My Ash" "Coal Ash >> >>> in Our Air and Water - What the Health?" >> >>> Baggie of coal ash for each person >> >>> >> >>> A "plan" >> >>> The Morgantown office is staffed 9 - 5 M - F. >> >>> We go there, picket in front of the building (can anyone describe >> >> it, >> >>> location, sidewalk, etc.?) >> >>> Meet media in front if they show. I would say 11 AM - -? >> >>> Talk to media - what happened (is about to happen), why we're >> >>> concerned, story line being northern WV is epicenter of massive ash >> >>> dumping, yet McKinley wants to stop the EPA from protecting or >> >> health >> >>> through commonsense - or ANY - regulation of toxic coal ash. Who is >> >>> McKinley serving in Washington? Sure isn't the people of his >> >> district. >> >>> >> >>> Media alert - needs to go out within an hour or two of now. >> >>> >> >>> Can at least 4 - 5 commit to doing this? >> >>> >> >>> I can. >> >>> >> >>> Please use reply all..... >> >>> >> >>> Sally = please forward to Mon Group. >> >>> >> >>> 709 Beechurst Ave., Suite 14B >> >>> Morgantown, WV 26505 >> >>> Phone: 304.284.8506 >> >>> Hours: M-F: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m >> >>> >> >>> On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 3:31 PM, James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu> >> >> wrote: >> >>>> Note: The markup (on McKinley's bill) was rescheduled for next >> >> Tuesday, >> >>>> June 21 at 4 p.m. Actions Tuesday morning? >> >>>> >> >>>> JBK >> >>>> >> >>>>>>> Jim Sconyers <jimscon(a)gmail.com> 6/17/2011 3:24 PM >>> >> >>>> Jim - >> >>>> I think we need to do something. This worthless SOB needs some >> >>>> consequences. What can we do? How about picketing his Morgantown >> >>>> office and getting media there? Or.......? >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> >>>> From: Raviya Ismail <rismail(a)earthjustice.org> >> >>>> Date: Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 9:13 AM >> >>>> Subject: Tr-Ash Talk: W.V. Rep. McKinley Sells Out Constituents >> >>>> To: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE(a)lists.sierraclub.org >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> Here is our latest Tr-Ash Talk blog: >> >>>> >> >> >> >> >> >> http://earthjustice.org/blog/2011-june/tr-ash-talk-w-v-rep-mckinley-sells-o… >> >> >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> Emily Enderle >> >>>> Tr-Ash Talk: W.V. Rep. McKinley Sells Out Constituents >> >>>> Congressman’s district is home to largest coal ash pond >> >>>> >> >>>> Here we go again. >> >>>> >> >>>> Some of our elected leaders are once more maneuvering to block >> >>>> much-needed health protections against coal ash. Rep. David >> >> McKinley >> >>>> (R-WV) has sponsored a bill that would broadly remove federal >> >>>> authority for any regulation of coal ash ever. This bill, if >> >> enacted, >> >>>> also would conveniently protect his business interests. In April, >> >>>> Politico exposed Rep. McKinley’s business interest in ensuring >> >> that >> >>>> coal ash is not regulated. Rep McKinley owns the largest >> >> engineering >> >>>> firm in West Virginia and his company uses coal ash in concrete, as >> >>>> fill for roads and other uses. >> >>>> >> >>>> Rep. McKinley also represents a district that has the largest coal >> >> ash >> >>>> pond in the nation, and his bill goes against what he promised West >> >>>> Virginian Curt Havens, veteran and constituent. Havens was at the >> >>>> Energy and Commerce hearing in April, when Rep. McKinley said, >> >> about >> >>>> prior coal ash threats, "I want to make sure that never happens >> >> again >> >>>> to another family in America." (Those comments start at minute >> >> marker >> >>>> 2:26:26.) Again, business interests are coming before the interest >> >> of >> >>>> protecting public health. >> >>>> >> >>>> During the House budget negotiations February frenzy, Rep. McKinley >> >>>> sponsored amendment 217 that would have prohibited the EPA from >> >> using >> >>>> any of their funds to move forward with the health protective >> >> Subtitle >> >>>> C regulation. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) introduced amendment 10, >> >>>> trying to achieve the same thing. It’s no surprise that both >> >>>> congressmen are heavily supported by the energy sector. >> >>>> >> >>>> During his 2010 campaign Rep. McKinley received $43,300 from energy >> >>>> companies, and $22,751 of that came from mining interests, >> >> according >> >>>> to the Center for Responsive Politics. >> >>>> Rep. McKinley’s current effort to stop the regulation of this >> >> potent >> >>>> waste, H.R. 1391, would “amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to >> >>>> exempt >> >>>> fly ash waste, bottom ash waste, slag waste and flue gas emission >> >>>> control waste generated primarily from the combustion of coal or >> >> other >> >>>> fossil fuels from regulation as hazardous waste under such Act.” >> >>>> >> >>>> H.R. 1391 was scheduled to be marked up in the Environment and >> >> Economy >> >>>> subcommittee of Energy and Commerce this morning. The markup had to >> >> be >> >>>> rescheduled for next Tuesday, June 21 at 4 p.m. due to a drafting >> >>>> error. The bill, as written, couldn’t have been much worse and >> >>>> it’s >> >>>> doubtful there will be any improvements as they fix the drafting >> >>>> error. >> >>>> >> >>>> Rep. McKinley and the bill supporters will continue to put public >> >>>> health at risk. Further, they will undermine the public coal ash >> >>>> rulemaking currently underway that generated a record-breaking >> >> 450,000 >> >>>> comments. This is a tragic example of how some elected officials >> >> bow >> >>>> to dirty polluters rather than heeding the concerns of their >> >>>> constituents. >> >>>> >> >>>> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To >> >>>> unsubscribe from the COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE list, send any message >> >> to: >> >>>> COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check >> >> out >> >>>> our Listserv Lists support site for more information: >> >>>> http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> -- >> >>>> Jim Sconyers >> >>>> jimscon(a)gmail.com >> >>>> 304.698.9628 >> >>>> >> >>>> _______________________________________________ >> >>>> EC mailing list >> >>>> EC(a)osenergy.org >> >>>> http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> -- >> >>> Jim Sconyers >> >>> jimscon(a)gmail.com >> >>> 304.698.9628 >> >>> >> >>> Remember, Mother Nature bats last. >> >>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Jim Sconyers >> >> jimscon(a)gmail.com >> >> 304.698.9628 >> >> >> >> Remember, Mother Nature bats last. >> >> >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Jim Sconyers >> > jimscon(a)gmail.com >> > 304.698.9628 >> > >> > Remember, Mother Nature bats last. >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > EC mailing list >> > EC(a)osenergy.org >> > http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> Jim Sconyers >> jimscon(a)gmail.com >> 304.698.9628 >> >> Remember, Mother Nature bats last. >> >> >> >> -- >> Jim Sconyers >> jimscon(a)gmail.com >> 304.698.9628 >> >> Remember, Mother Nature bats last. > > -- Jim Sconyers jimscon(a)gmail.com 304.698.9628 Remember, Mother Nature bats last.

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Fwd: Hydrofracked: One man's quest for answers about natural gas drilling
by Paul Wilson 28 Jun '11

28 Jun '11

fyi, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: High Country News <enewsletter(a)hcn.org> Date: Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 4:29 PM Subject: Hydrofracked: One man's quest for answers about natural gas drilling To: pjgrunt(a)gmail.com View in a browser window<http://whatcounts.com/dm?id=E61606FADDB7639A154B815D5C014BF6B42BD6281DE2FE61> [image: High Country News Commons] Subscribe to the Magazine<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FED:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Renew<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FEE:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Donate Now<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FEF:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Feedback<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF0:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> [image: Better World Club - Get 6 Months Membership FREE]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF1:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…><http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FED:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> The Magazine<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF2:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Topics<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF3:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Blogs & Opinion<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF4:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Jobs & Classifieds<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF5:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Conferences<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF6:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Hydrofracked: One man seeks answers [image: Hydrofracked: One man's quest for answers about natural gas drilling and water contamination]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF7:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> In many ways, it's a sad story: The groundwater a Wyoming couple relies on to sustain their little farm suddenly turns foul. So landowner Louis Meeks embarks on a six-year crusade to discover how it happened, suspecting that nearby natural gas wells are somehow involved. He battles corporations and federal and local governments and alienates many of his neighbors, yet today his water is still contaminated. There's no justice in sight. But Meeks has accomplished something important: He and other activists have drawn attention to the possible risks of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." When a gas or oil well is fracked, chemicals and water are injected deep underground to fracture rock formations and release gas and oil. The industry insists that fracking is safe. But some of the chemicals used in the process are carcinogenic. And though fracking is used in many thousands of gas and oil wells from the Southwest to New York state, there's never been a comprehensive scientific study of its possible impacts on drinking water. That is now changing, thanks to people like Meeks and determined staffers within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is finally launching the first real study of the risks posed by fracking. So the saga of Louis Meeks is not just sad; it also offers hope. Determined citizens can make a difference. Read about Meeks' quest for justice<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF7:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…>in a *High Country News* collaboration with the nonprofit news organization * ProPublica*<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF8:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> . *FEATURES* [image: Encountering a California condor takes one writer back in time]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF9:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Encountering a California condor takes one writer back in time<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF9:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> An interaction with a rare vulture sparks reflections on dinosaurs and extinction. [image: States work conservation into trust lands management]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFA:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> States work conservation into trust lands management <http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFA:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Urban sprawl helps spur new efforts at compromise in managing state trust lands. View the latest issue »<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFB:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> [image: RSS]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFC:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> RSS »<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFC:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> <http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFD:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Listen to* ProPublica* reporter Abrahm Lustgarten discuss new research into the relationship between fracking and water contamination in our latest *High Country Views*<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFE:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…>podcast . [image: High Country Views]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFE:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Also available via our RSS feed<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FFF:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…>and through iTunes<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778000:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> . *WRITERS ON THE RANGE* [image: Why the Southwest is burning]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778001:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Why the Southwest is burning<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778001:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> This season's wildfires are caused by three things: Climate change-induced drought, bureaucratic blindness and old-fashioned human folly. [image: Subscribers only]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778001:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> [image: ORV riding needs on-the-ground enforcement]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778002:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> ORV riding needs on-the-ground enforcement<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778002:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Reckless, illegal off-road vehicle riding is a serious problem, but better law enforcement -- rather than road closures -- is the way to solve it. [image: Monster wildfires have become the new normal]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778003:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Monster wildfires have become the new normal<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778003:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Wildfires cannot be entirely prevented by logging or anything else, but small-scale prescribed burns can help make them less destructive. [image: Subscribers only]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778003:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> More Writers on the Range »<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778004:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> [image: Blog RSS]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778005:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> RSS »<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778005:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> *BOOK REVIEWS* [image: A review of Permanent Vacation]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778006:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> It's not just a job, it's an adventure: A review of *Permanent Vacation*<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778007:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> The 20 essays in this collection take us into the wacky and wonderful lives of some of the many people who work in the country's national parks. [image: A land of subtle beauty: A review of Llano Estacado] <http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778006:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> A land of subtle beauty: A review of *Llano Estacado*<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778006:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> The photos and essays gathered in this collection of photographs and essays celebrate the austere beauty of a vast dry landscape. More Book Reviews »<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778008:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> *FROM THE BLOGS* The GOAT Blog The wacky world of immigration<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778009:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Reform still distant but the debate seems at least a little more human The Range Blog Throw away the old playbook<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800A:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Tribes and counties are better off working together as neighbors. The GOAT Blog Spotties get a new plan<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800B:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> The feds draft a new recovery plan for the Mexican spotted owl. The Range Blog To Drill or Not to Drill is Not the Only Question<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800C:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> We may worship the derrick less than polls and reporting suggest More from the blogs »<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800D:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> [image: Blog RSS]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800E:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> RSS »<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800E:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> [image: Follow us on Tumblr]<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800F:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Follow *High Country News *images and musings on Tumblr<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=377800F:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> . *Comment of the week* Big surprise. This guy makes money as a consultant from dam owners and those proposing new dams. More dams are not the answer, at least not main stem dams. *Matt S.* on Siltation expert: we need more dams<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778010:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> *FEATURED SPONSORS* San Francisco Herb and Natural Food Co.<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778011:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> Herbs, spices and tea blends both bulk and packaged www,herbsspicetea.com.com<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3778011:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…> High Country News 119 Grand Avenue PO Box 1090 Paonia, CO 81428 We appreciate your feedback! Please, send us your comments and suggestions<http://wc4.net/t?r=1873&c=2631826&l=58707&ctl=3777FF0:E61606FADDB7639A154B8…>. Want off the list? remove me from the list<http://wc4.net/u?id=E61606FADDB7639A154B815D5C014BF6B42BD6281DE2FE61> This email was sent to: pjgrunt(a)gmail.com ©2011 High Country News. Feel free to forward this newsletter. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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LOE: Natural Gas and Greenhouse Gasses
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

The quick: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=11-P13-00025&segmentID=4 <http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=11-P13-00025&segmentID=4> The long ..... In the Stop the Fracking in Morgantown Industrial Park Facebook Group Jeff Young initiated a discussion about the recent MIT report, http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/studies/natural-gas-2011.shtml . He said, This is important reading for anyone who wants a serious, broader view of the environmental implications of the gas boom. Key findings are that we could cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector by 20% simply by switching from coal to existing natural gas plants. There would also be enormous benefits in reducing mercury, SOx, NOx and other pollutants. As one could easily predict, the discussion became very long, and Jeff recently deleted it. Early in the discussion I introduced him to the Tyndall Study, http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/shalegasreport to provide another perspective. And this is the result: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=11-P13-00025&segmentID=5 <http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=11-P13-00025&segmentID=5> On a side note: Some of you probably remember how in the past I have spoken about the MIT report, John Deutch, the DOE, and Cheniere. :) Note: In the same LOE show there is also a discussion about injection induced earthquakes: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=11-P13-00025&segmentID=4 <http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=11-P13-00025&segmentID=4> -Jonathan

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Low hanging fruit in energy conservation = to all electric use of state of MD for one year.....year in and year out
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 26 Jun '11

26 Jun '11

Atop TV Sets, a Power Drain That Runs Nonstop By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/elisabeth_rose…> Published: June 25, 2011 Those little boxes that usher cable signals and digital recording capacity into televisions have become the single largest electricity drain in many American homes, with some typical home entertainment configurations eating more power than a new refrigerator and even some central air-conditioning systems. Todd Heisler/The New York Times A new study has found that some home entertainment systems eat more energy than refrigerators or central air-conditioning systems. Multimedia Comparing Energy Use - Green: A Blog About Energy and the Environment<http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/?ref=us> There are 160 million so-called set-top boxes in the United States, one for every two people, and that number is rising. Many homes now have one or more basic cable boxes as well as add-on DVRs, or digital video recorders, which use 40 percent more power than the set-top box. One high-definition DVR and one high-definition cable box use an average of 446 kilowatt hours a year, about 10 percent more than a 21-cubic-foot energy-efficient refrigerator, a recent study found. These set-top boxes are energy hogs mostly because their drives, tuners and other components are generally running full tilt, or nearly so, 24 hours a day, even when not in active use. The recent study, by the Natural Resources Defense Council <http://www.nrdc.org/energy/files/settopboxes.pdf>, concluded that the boxes consumed $3 billion in electricity per year in the United States — and that 66 percent of that power is wasted when no one is watching and shows are not being recorded. That is more power than the state of Maryland uses over 12 months. “People in the energy efficiency community worry a lot about these boxes, since they will make it more difficult to lower home energy use,” said John Wilson, a former member of the California Energy Commission who is now with the San Francisco-based Energy Foundation. “Companies say it can’t be done or it’s too expensive. But in my experience, neither one is true. It can be done, and it often doesn’t cost much, if anything.” The perpetually “powered on” state is largely a function of design and programming choices made by electronics companies and cable and Internet providers, which are related to the way cable networks function in the United States. Fixes exist, but they are not currently being mandated or deployed in the United States, critics say. Similar devices in some European countries, for example, can automatically go into standby mode when not in use, cutting power drawn by half. They can also go into an optional “deep sleep,” which can reduce energy consumption by about 95 percent compared with when the machine is active. One British company, Pace <http://www.pace.com/global/>, sells such boxes to American providers, who do not take advantage of the reduced energy options because of worries that the lowest energy states could disrupt service. Cable companies say customers will not tolerate the time it takes to reboot the system once the system has been shut down or put to sleep. “The issue of having more efficient equipment is of interest to us,” said Justin Venech, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable. But, he added, “when we purchase the equipment, functionality and cost are the primary considerations.” But energy efficiency experts say that technical fixes could eliminate or minimize the waiting time and inconvenience, some at little expense. Low-energy European systems reboot from deep sleep in one to two minutes. Alan Meier, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said of the industry in the United States, “I don’t want to use the word ‘lazy,’ but they have had different priorities, and saving energy is not one of them.” The Environmental Protection Agency has established Energy Star standards<http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGr…>for set-top boxes and has plans to tighten them significantly by 2013, said Ann Bailey, director of Energy Star product labeling, in an e-mail. The voluntary seal indicates products that use energy efficiently. But today, there are many boxes on the list of products that meet the Energy Star standard<http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/prod_lists/set_top_boxes_prod_list.pdf>that do not offer an automatic standby or sleep mode. “If you hit the on/off button it only dims the clock, it doesn’t significantly reduce power use,” said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the natural resources council. Energy efficiency is a function of hardware, software, the cable network and how a customer uses the service, said Robert Turner, an engineer at Pace, which makes set-top boxes that can operate using less power while not in active use. Sometimes energy efficiency can be vastly improved by remotely adjusting software over a cable, Mr. Turner said. In this way, Pace reduced the energy consumption of some of its older boxes by half. Cable boxes are not designed to be turned completely off, and even when in deep sleep mode, it takes time to reconnect and “talk” with their cable or satellite network, though that time is highly variable depending on the technology. Mr. Wilson said he routinely unplugged his set-top boxes at night and waited only 45 seconds for television in the morning. But Dr. Meier said that when he tried to power down his home system at night, it took “hours” to reboot because the provider “downloaded the programming guide in a very inefficient way.” Cable providers and box manufacturers like Cisco Systems, Samsung and Motorola currently do not feel consumer pressure to improve box efficiency. Customers are generally unaware of the problem — they do not know to blame the unobtrusive little device for the rise in their electricity bills, and do not choose their boxes anyway. Those devices may cause an increase of as little as a few dollars a month or well over $10 for a home with many devices. In Europe, electricity rates are often double those in the United States, providing greater financial motivation to conserve. Cisco Systems, one of the largest makers of set-top boxes, said in an e-mail that they would offer some new models this year that would cut consumption by 25 percent “through reduced power used in ‘on’ and standby states.” There will be no deep sleep or fully “off” setting. But Cisco said that taking advantage of the potential energy savings for a box would also depend on “how it is operated by the service provider.” Cable and satellite providers will have to decide whether the boxes can automatically go to standby, for example, and whether customers will be able to adjust their own settings. Currently, providers often do system maintenance and download information at night over the cable, so an ever-at-the ready cable box is more convenient for them. Cable companies can become Energy Star “partners” if they agree to install or upgrade boxes so that 25 percent to 50 percent of the homes they serve have “energy star qualified” equipment. The E.P.A. merely encourages providers to use units that can automatically power down at least partly when not in use. But as of Sept. 1, typical electricity consumption of Energy Star qualified products would drop to 97 kilowatt hours a year from an average of 138; and then by the middle of 2013, they must drop again to 29 kilowatt hours a year. Companies have fought the placement of the “Energy Star” seal on products and the new ambitious requirements, which may still be modified before enacted. Mr. Wilson recalled that when he was on the California Energy Commission, he asked box makers why the hard drives were on all the time, using so much power. The answer: “Nobody asked us to use less.” The biggest challenge in reducing energy use is maintaining the rapid response time now expected of home entertainment systems, Mr. Turner said. “People are used to the idea that computers take some time to boot up,” he said, “but they expect the TV to turn on instantly.” -- William V. DePaulo, Esq. 179 Summers Street, Suite 232 Charleston, WV 25301-2163 Tel 304-342-5588 Fax 304-342-5505 william.depaulo(a)gmail.com www.passeggiata.com

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Natural Gas Industry Doubts About Shale Gas
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 26 Jun '11

26 Jun '11

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/us/26gas.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&gwh=D91… Drilling Down Insiders Sound an Alarm Amid a Natural Gas Rush Jennifer Pitts/The Journal Record, via Associated Press, left; Mark Peristein for The New York Times “It's time to get bullish on natural gas," said Aubrey K. McClendon, left, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy. "This could have profound consequences for our local economy," said Deborah Rogers, a committee member at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. By IAN URBINA<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/u/ian_urbina/ind…> Published: June 25, 2011 - - Natural gas companies have been placing enormous bets on the wells they are drilling, saying they will deliver big profits and provide a vast new source of energy for the United States. Multimedia Interactive Feature <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…> Documents: Leaked Industry E-Mails and Reports<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…> Graphic Overestimating Natural Gas Production Graphic Sweet Spots, but Not Many Drilling Down *Natural Gas Investments* Articles in this series will examine the risks of natural-gas drilling and efforts to regulate this rapidly growing industry. Complete Series »<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/us/series/drilling_down/index.html> Enlarge This Image Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times Ministers, pastors and deacons of Fort Worth churches. Dozens of black churches in Fort Worth signed gas leases. But the gas may not be as easy and cheap to extract from shale formations deep underground as the companies are saying, according to hundreds of industry e-mails and internal documents<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>and an analysis of data from thousands of wells. In the e-mails, energy executives, industry lawyers, state geologists and market analysts voice skepticism about lofty forecasts and question whether companies are intentionally, and even illegally, overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves. Many of these e-mails also suggest a view that is in stark contrast to more bullish public comments made by the industry, in much the same way that insiders have raised doubts about previous financial bubbles. “Money is pouring in” from investors even though shale gas is “inherently unprofitable,” an analyst from PNC Wealth Management, an investment company, wrote to a contractor in a February e-mail<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>. “Reminds you of dot-coms.” “The word in the world of independents is that the shale plays are just giant Ponzi schemes and the economics just do not work,” an analyst from IHS Drilling Data, an energy research company, wrote in an e-mail on Aug. 28, 2009<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>. Company data for more than 10,000 wells in three major shale gas formations raise further questions about the industry’s prospects. There is undoubtedly a vast amount of gas in the formations. The question remains how affordably it can be extracted. The data show that while there are some very active wells, they are often surrounded by vast zones of less-productive wells that in some cases cost more to drill and operate than the gas they produce is worth. Also, the amount of gas produced by many of the successful wells is falling much faster than initially predicted by energy companies, making it more difficult for them to turn a profit over the long run. If the industry does not live up to expectations, the impact will be felt widely. Federal and state lawmakers are considering drastically increasing subsidies for the natural gas business in the hope that it will provide low-cost energy for decades to come. But if natural gas ultimately proves more expensive to extract from the ground than has been predicted, landowners, investors and lenders could see their investments falter, while consumers will pay a price in higher electricity and home heating bills. There are implications for the environment, too. The technology used to get gas flowing out of the ground — called hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking — can require over a million gallons of water per well, and some of that water must be disposed of because it becomes contaminated by the process. If shale gas wells fade faster than expected, energy companies will have to drill more wells or hydrofrack them more often, resulting in more toxic waste. The e-mails were obtained through open-records requests or provided to The New York Times by industry consultants and analysts who say they believe that the public perception of shale gas does not match reality; names and identifying information were redacted to protect these people, who were not authorized to communicate publicly. In the e-mails, some people within the industry voice grave concerns. “And now these corporate giants are having an Enron moment,” a retired geologist from a major oil and gas company wrote in a February e-mail<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>about other companies invested in shale gas. “They want to bend light to hide the truth.” Others within the industry remain optimistic. They argue that shale gas economics will improve as the price of gas rises, technology evolves and demand for gas grows with help from increased federal subsidies being considered by Congress. “Shale gas supply is only going to increase,” Steven C. Dixon, executive vice president of Chesapeake Energy, said at an energy industry conference in April in response to skepticism about well performance. *Studying the Data* “I think we have a big problem.” Deborah Rogers, a member of the advisory committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, recalled saying that in a May 2010 telephone call to a senior economist at the Reserve, Mine K. Yucel. “We need to take a close look at this right away,” she added. A former stockbroker with Merrill Lynch, Ms. Rogers said she started studying well data from shale companies in October 2009 after attending a speech by the chief executive of Chesapeake, Aubrey K. McClendon. The math was not adding up, Ms. Rogers said. Her research showed that wells were petering out faster than expected. “These wells are depleting so quickly that the operators are in an expensive game of ‘catch-up,’ ” Ms. Rogers wrote in an e-mail on Nov. 17, 2009, to a petroleum geologist in Houston, who wrote back that he agreed. “This could have profound consequences for our local economy,” she explained in the e-mail. Fort Worth residents were already reeling from the sudden reversal of fortune for the natural gas industry. In early 2008, energy companies were scrambling in Fort Worth to get residents to lease their land for drilling as they searched for so-called monster wells. Billboards along the highways stoked the boom-time excitement: “If you don’t have a gas lease, get one!” Oil and gas companies were in a fierce bidding war for drilling rights, offering people bonuses as high as $27,500 per acre for signing leases. The actor Tommy Lee Jones signed on as a pitchman for Chesapeake, one of the largest shale gas companies. “The extremely long-term benefits include new jobs and capital investment and royalties and revenues that pay for public roads, schools and parks,” he said in one television advertisement about drilling in the Barnett shale in and around Fort Worth. To investors, shale companies had a more sophisticated pitch<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>. With better technology, they had refined a “manufacturing model,” they said, that would allow them to drop a well virtually anywhere in certain parts of a shale formation and expect long-lasting returns. For Wall Street, this was the holy grail: a low-risk and high-profit proposition. But by late 2008, the recession took hold and the price of natural gas plunged<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>by nearly two-thirds, throwing the drilling companies’ business model into a tailspin. In Texas, the advertisements featuring Mr. Jones disappeared. Energy companies rescinded high-priced lease offers to thousands of residents, which prompted class-action lawsuits. Royalty checks dwindled. Tax receipts fell. The impact of the downturn was immediate for many. “Ruinous, that’s how I’d describe it,” said the Rev. Kyev Tatum, president of the Fort Worth chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Mr. Tatum explained that dozens of black churches in Fort Worth signed leases on the promise of big money. Instead, some churches were told that their land may no longer be tax exempt even though they had yet to make any royalties on the wells, he said. That boom-and-bust volatility had raised eyebrows among people like Ms. Rogers, as well as energy analysts and geologists, who started looking closely at the data on wells’ performance.* * In May 2010, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas called a meeting to discuss the matter after prodding from Ms. Rogers. One speaker was Kenneth B. Medlock III, an energy expert at Rice University, who described a promising future for the shale gas industry in the United States. When he was done, Ms. Rogers peppered him with questions. Might growing environmental concerns raise the cost of doing business? If wells were dying off faster than predicted, how many new wells would need to be drilled to meet projections? Mr. Medlock conceded that production in the Barnett shale formation — or “play,” in industry jargon — was indeed flat and would probably soon decline. “Activity will shift toward other plays because the returns there are higher,” he predicted. Ms. Rogers turned to the other commissioners to see if they shared her skepticism, but she said she saw only blank stares. *Bubbling Doubts* Some doubts about the industry are being raised by people who work inside energy companies, too. “Our engineers here project these wells out to 20-30 years of production and in my mind that has yet to be proven as viable,” wrote a geologist at Chesapeake in a March 17 e-mail<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>to a federal energy analyst. “In fact I’m quite skeptical of it myself when you see the % decline in the first year of production.” “In these shale gas plays no well is really economic right now,” the geologist said in a previous e-mail to the same official on March 16<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>. “They are all losing a little money or only making a little bit of money.” Around the same time the geologist sent the e-mail, Mr. McClendon, Chesapeake’s chief executive, told investors, “It’s time to get bullish on natural gas.” In September 2009, a geologist from ConocoPhillips, one of the largest producers of natural gas in the Barnett shale, warned in an e-mail to a colleague<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>that shale gas might end up as “the world’s largest uneconomic field.” About six months later, the company’s chief executive, James J. Mulva, described natural gas as “nature’s gift,” adding that “rather than being expensive, shale gas is often the low-cost source.” Asked about the e-mail, John C. Roper, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips, said he absolutely believed that shale gas is economically viable. A big attraction for investors is the increasing size of the gas reserves that some companies are reporting. Reserves — in effect, the amount of gas that a company says it can feasibly access from its wells — are important because they are a central measure of an oil and gas company’s value. Forecasting these reserves is a tricky science. Early predictions are sometimes lowered because of drops in gas prices, as happened in 2008. Intentionally overbooking reserves, however, is illegal because it misleads investors. Industry e-mails, mostly from 2009 and later, include language from oil and gas executives questioning whether other energy companies are doing just that. The e-mails do not explicitly accuse any companies of breaking the law. But the number of e-mails, the seniority of the people writing them, the variety of positions they hold and the language they use — including comparisons to Ponzi schemes and attempts to “con” Wall Street — suggest that questions about the shale gas industry exist in many corners. “Do you think that there may be something suspicious going with the public companies in regard to booking shale reserves?” a senior official from Ivy Energy, an investment firm specializing in the energy sector, wrote in a2009 e-mail<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>. A former Enron executive wrote in 2009<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>while working at an energy company: “I wonder when they will start telling people these wells are just not what they thought they were going to be?” He added that the behavior of shale gas companies reminded him of what he saw when he worked at Enron. Production data, provided by companies to state regulators and reviewed by The Times, show that many wells are not performing as the industry expected. In three major shale formations — the Barnett in Texas, the Haynesville in East Texas and Louisiana and the Fayetteville, across Arkansas — less than 20 percent of the area heralded by companies as productive is emerging as likely to be profitable under current market conditions, according to the data and industry analysts. Richard K. Stoneburner, president and chief operating officer of Petrohawk Energy, said that looking at entire shale formations was misleading because some companies drilled only in the best areas or had lower costs. “Outside those areas, you can drill a lot of wells that will never live up to expectations,” he added. Although energy companies routinely project that shale gas wells will produce gas at a reasonable rate for anywhere from 20 to 65 years, these companies have been making such predictions based on limited data and a certain amount of guesswork, since shale drilling is a relatively new practice. Most gas companies claim that production will drop sharply after the first few years but then level off, allowing most wells to produce gas for decades. Gas production data reviewed by The Times suggest that many wells in shale gas fields do not level off the way many companies predict but instead decline steadily. “This kind of data is making it harder and harder to deny that the shale gas revolution is being oversold,” said Art Berman, a Houston-based geologist who worked for two decades at Amoco and has been one of the most vocal skeptics of shale gas economics. The Barnett shale, which has the longest production history, provides the most reliable case study for predicting future shale gas potential. The data suggest that if the wells’ production continues to decline in the current manner, many will become financially unviable within 10 to 15 years. A review of more than 9,000 wells, using data from 2003 to 2009, shows that — based on widely used industry assumptions about the market price of gas and the cost of drilling and operating a well — less than 10 percent of the wells had recouped their estimated costs by the time they were seven years old. Terry Engelder, a professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, said the debate over long-term well performance was far from resolved. The Haynesville shale has not lived up to early expectations, he said, but industry projections have become more accurate and some wells in the Marcellus shale, which stretches from Virginia to New York, are outperforming expectations. *A Sense of Confidence* Many people within the industry remain confident. “I wouldn’t worry about these shale companies,” said T. Boone Pickens, the oil and gas industry executive, adding that he believes that if prices rise, shale gas companies will make good money. Mr. Pickens said that technological improvements — including hydrofracking wells more than once — are already making production more cost-effective, which is why some major companies like ExxonMobil have recently bought into shale gas. Shale companies are also adjusting their strategies to make money by focusing on shale wells that produce lucrative liquids, like propane and butane, in addition to natural gas. Asked about the e-mails from the Chesapeake geologist casting doubt on company projections, a Chesapeake spokesman, Jim Gipson, said the company was fully confident that a majority of wells would be productive for 30 years or more. David Pendery, a spokesman for IHS, added that though shale gas prospects had previously been debated by many analysts, in more recent years costs had fallen and technology had improved. Still, in private exchanges, many industry insiders are skeptical, even cynical, about the industry’s pronouncements. “All about making money,” an official from Schlumberger, an oil and gas services company, wrote in aJuly 2010 e-mail<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>to a former federal regulator about drilling a well in Europe, where some United States shale companies are hunting for better market opportunities. “Looks like crap,” the Schlumberger official wrote about the well’s performance, according to the regulator, “but operator will flip it based on ‘potential’ and make some money on it.” “Always a greater sucker,” the e-mail<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/natural-gas-drilling-down-documents-4…>concluded. Robbie Brown contributed reporting from Atlanta. A version of this article appeared in print on June 26, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Insiders Sound an Alarm Amid a Natural Gas Rush. -- William V. DePaulo, Esq. 179 Summers Street, Suite 232 Charleston, WV 25301-2163 Tel 304-342-5588 Fax 304-342-5505 william.depaulo(a)gmail.com www.passeggiata.com

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Conrad Volz on the problems of extraction for energy
by Beth Little 25 Jun '11

25 Jun '11

This starts out as an exposure of contamination of water with drilling waste, but toward the end, he indicts mtr and talks about environmental justice and how WV is paying the cost of providing energy for everyone else. It is long, but extremely moving in its depth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWwjWFcCIgY <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWwjWFcCIgY&feature=youtube_gdata_player> &feature=youtube_gdata_player

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FYI - China blends Imported coal to meet local environmental standards....A Green Solution, or the Dark Side to Cleaner Coal?
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 25 Jun '11

25 Jun '11

[image: The New York Times] June 14, 2011 A Green Solution, or the Dark Side to Cleaner Coal? By KEITH BRADSHER<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/keith_bradsher…> LIANYUNGANG, CHINA — The six massive silos standing beside this industrial port in northeastern China hold seemingly contradictory promises: They could help improve the quality of China’s polluted air, but they might also contribute to faster global warming<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?…>. The silos, which are scheduled to start operation in July, are designed to blend cleaner-burning imported coal<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/coal/index.h…>with China’s own high-polluting domestic coal, which is contaminated with sulfur and dust. Coal blending will produce a mixture that will help electric utilities meet China’s steadily tightening environmental regulations. It will also increase the efficiency of coal-fired plants by slightly reducing the quantity of coal needed. Burning less coal means less greenhouse gases emitted. But critics argue there is a darker side to cleaner coal. “Anything that makes coal more cost effective, like blending, which is only enabling China to burn more coal, is bad news for the global struggle against carbon emissions,” said Orville Schell, the Arthur Ross director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York. The Chinese government’s decision this month to import more coal in order to lessen power outages — and control rising coal prices — ensures that blending will increase rapidly. Industry executives are quick to tout the practice’s environmental benefits. Blending “is a sound solution to reducing greenhouse gas and pollutants emissions from coal-fired power plants,” said Howard Au, the director and chairman of Petrocom Energy Ltd., which owns the blending facility here. But environmentalists worry that by reducing the amount of sulfur and dust emitted from burning coal, blending makes coal more acceptable in the short-term and stalls the conversion to cleaner or renewable fuels. They say coal blending strengthens the case for companies — and countries — that want to continue to rely on coal for decades. “Does it help with acid rain? Yes,” said Allen Hershkowitz, a specialist in Appalachian coal fields at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group based in New York. “It hurts us when it comes to global warming.” Coal remains a particularly dirty form of electricity generation when it comes to producing climate-changing gases. The global warming calculus for coal blending is less clear. Blending makes it easier to feed a power plant with exactly the right coal mixture at which its boilers work most efficiently. This means the plant can burn less coal and emit less greenhouse gas. How much less — and how does that improvement compare with switching to other fuels — varies a lot depending on the power plant and the coal it burns without blending. Better operating efficiency at the power plant helps offset the cost of blending, which can add up to 4 percent to the price tag of the coal. China does not just have an ancient civilization, it also has a lot of very old coal. Much of it has been tightly compressed over millions of years. That has pluses and minuses. Chinese coal releases a lot of heat when burned and has very little moisture left, two very desirable features, according to coal traders. But Chinese coal deposits also contain a lot of sulfur as well as so-called fly ash — dust that is not combustible and contributes to particulate air pollution. China also has some deposits of young coal which has fairly low heat content and requires blending before it can be burned. China has the third-largest coal reserves, after the United States and Russia, and consumes more coal than any other country. It accounted for nearly half the 7.3 billion metric tons burned around the world last year. Four-fifths of China’s reserves, however, do not comply with the country’s standards for industrial use, according to the government-run China Coal Research Institute. Complicating matters, the China’s environmental regulators have signaled plans to reduce further the allowable levels of sulfur. China led the world last year in clean energy investments, with $54.4 billion, according to a study by the Pew Charitable Trusts. But coal is still China’s dominant energy source, accounting for 73 percent of electricity capacity. Because coal-fired plants run day and night — while alternatives like wind turbines<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/w/wind_power/i…>and hydroelectric<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hydroelectri…>dams only run when enough wind or water is available — coal accounted for 83 percent of electricity generation last year. China has led the world in recent years in the construction of high-efficiency coal-fired power plants. These plants heat water to higher temperatures and pressures than earlier designs, so that less coal is burned to produce the same kilowatt-hours of electricity. But the newer power plants need coal of a precise makeup, making it even harder for China to rely exclusively on domestic coal fields. To meet the needs of the new plants, China has gone on a twin binge of importing coal and buying coal mines abroad. Wood Mackenzie, the global energy consulting company, predicts that Indonesia will be the world’s fastest-growing exporter of coal in the next five years because of Chinese demand. While coal blending facilities may provide a short-term environmental benefit, they also make it possible for countries like China to plan on consuming a lot more coal for decades into the future. People have been blending coal for more than a century, often in surprisingly simple ways. Richard Elman, the chairman of the Noble Group, one of the world’s largest commodity companies, is skeptical of newer blending technologies. He says bulldozers have been roughly mixing different grades of coal at power plants and mines for years. A single coal mine may have different qualities of coal in different seams, and will often stir them together with bulldozers before shipment so as to provide a mixture that better meets the customer’s specifications, he said. In the United States, big engineering companies like Bechtel and the Roberts & Schaefer subsidiary of KBR have been designing elaborate systems of conveyer belts that take coal arriving by rail and barge and distribute it to various stockpiles, blending it along the way. The most elaborate approach, developed in Europe and put into effect here, is to build a series of silos, each containing a different grade of coal. A large conveyor belt and scales are mounted underneath the silos. Coal from each silo is sprinkled onto the conveyor belt, then the mixture is dropped into rail cars, ships or a storage yard. “It’s not easy for this new technology to be accepted, so I’m using my network because I believe this would be good for the country,” said Li Anqing, the retired top administrator of Lianyungang’s big coal port, who is now the general manager of the operation here. Bob Williams Jr., the vice president for sales and marketing at Roberts & Schaefer, said that using specially built silos for blending coal is an unusually expensive approach, and would barely be considered except at large coal ports. But Mr. Au said that the blending cost per ton using silos, about $5, had not changed for the last several years. By contrast, coal prices have doubled in the past five years, to $130 a ton in China for coal with high heat content. So blending costs have halved as a percentage of the overall cost of coal. That reduction in relative costs, combined with tighter regulations in China aimed at reducing acid rain, have increased its attractiveness. “Blending didn’t make sense prior to 2003 as prices of coal were low,” Mr. Au said. But now, Petrocom is making plans for dozens of coal-blending facilities in China, to accommodate a flood of imports that could last for decades.

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Fw: Cumulative impacts, aggregation for Marcellus pipelines
by James Kotcon 25 Jun '11

25 Jun '11

This is a pretty major issue, and I think the Army Corps is on the right track. JBK >>> "Donald C. Strimbeck" <dcsoinks(a)comcast.net> 6/25/2011 4:23 AM >>> Army Corps of Engineers, Marcellus Shale firms spar Marcellus companies worry new permitting rules may delay pipeline projects Premium content from Pittsburgh Business Times - by Anya Litvak Date: Friday, June 24, 2011, 6:00am EDT The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is butting heads with some Marcellus Shale companies who say the agency’s latest permit rules will delay pipeline projects. The federal agency, which regulates construction that involves dredging or filling of U.S. waters, has issued a clarification on how projects, such as pipelines that cross such waters, should be evaluated on their environmental impacts. The Corps says the clarification, which defines what constitutes a single project big enough to require the agency’s approval, won’t have an impact on how the Corps functions and is meant to be a guide to applicants. Yet, some in the Marcellus Shale industry are convinced the agency’s approach will mean more projects will fall under its scope and more of them will be delayed because of it. “Under the new (standard) they’re saying everything from the wellhead to the transmission line is a single project,” said Rob McHale, manager of environmental regulatory affairs at MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources LLC, a division of Denver-based MarkWest Energy Partners LP. McHale said the staffing constraints at the Corps and at other agencies required to review pipeline projects, such as the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission, will mean, “the timing (of permits) will slow significantly.” But Wade Chandler, Pennsylvania permits chief for the Corps’ Baltimore District, which processes two-thirds of Marcellus activity applications in the state, cautions that if there are more permits coming his way, it’s because there’s simply more activity in the Marcellus shale. “Our scopes are limited to our permit areas,” which have not changed, Wade said. “We’re not expanding anything else.” WHAT MAKES A PROJECT Since 1988, the Army Corps, which regulates impacts to rivers, streams and wetlands, has allowed the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to unilaterally issue permits for projects whose impact to such waters is limited to less than 250 feet. If the impact is more than that, the application must be sent to the Corps for approval before the DEP can permit it. This program, which is revised every five years, is starting a new iteration July 1, with the definition of what constitutes a single project now spelled out in a newly added definitions section to make sure each permittee and regulatory agency is administering the law the same way. Whether a gas pipe will be judged as a single and complete project depends on the Corps’ new standard of whether it has independent utility: That is, would it be built even if other pipelines around it weren’t? According to Mark Haibach, vice president of ecological services with Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc., some Corps districts considered each stream crossing as a single and complete project, so a pipeline crossing five streams would be counted as five projects, with each one’s impact judged against the 250-foot threshold. Other districts, especially those in the area of the Marcellus within the past year, have treated all five crossings as part of a single project, summing up impacts and thereby making more projects fall under the Corps’ domain. The Army Corps’ new guidance makes it clear that regulators should consider as a single project all stream crossings that fit into a single pipeline project. INDUSTRY CONCERNS Currently, MarkWest’s stream crossing projects that don’t reach the 250-foot threshold get a DEP permit within 45 to 60 days, according to McHale. Those that need Army Corps approval take 60 to 75 days for MarkWest, though McHale said other companies have complained of longer waiting periods. MarkWest has had only a handful of projects go through the Corps review thus far, but McHale expects that number to jump once everything is consistently evaluated as a combined impact. For CONSOL Energy, getting a pipeline permit takes between nine months to a year, according to Katharine Fredriksen, vice president for environmental strategy and regulatory affairs, because many of its projects go through exceptional quality waters and require a more in-depth review. “Right now, pipelines are really the biggest bottleneck to actually getting Marcellus gas to market,” she said. The increased activity in general and what Fredriksen described as the Corps’ “expanded role” in pipeline projects will cause further delays, she said. Last year, testifying before the state’s House Republican Policy Committee, Ted Wurfel, Chief Oil & Gas’ environmental, safety and regulatory affairs manager, spoke on behalf of the industry, saying the “Marcellus Shale Coalition believes the DEP should return to … considering individual stream crossings as single and complete projects consistent with the applicable regulations.” “There’s always some difference in the way individual Corps districts will implement regulations,” Haibach said. But if the new permit program will cause the Corps to review more projects, it will be following a trend already in motion, he said. “For the last year, the Corps kind of reacted to the Marcellus Shale activity and the increase in project activity by increasing their scrutiny of projects,” he said. “Especially on pipeline projects, they’ve been opting to review projects more frequently.” Not everyone is convinced the Corps’ regulation will cause problems. The issue may be less about the actual permitting time lines than a general “sense that this is an attempt to federalize gas collection projects,” said Tom Johnston, assistant VP for environmental services with Harrisburg-based engineering group Skelly and Loy Inc., who dismissed the sentiment. “I don’t know that this is going to add as much burden to the gas companies as the gas companies think it is,” he said.

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Fwd: US House committee delays markup on coal ash bill to seek more support
by Jim Sconyers 24 Jun '11

24 Jun '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Blair John <ecoserve1(a)aol.com> Date: Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 11:37 AM Subject: US House committee delays markup on coal ash bill to seek more support To: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE(a)lists.sierraclub.org US House committee delays markup on *coal* ash bill to seek more support<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/…> Platts Introduced by David McKinley, a West Virginia Republican, the bill would require EPA to conform to its 2000 finding that *coal combustion* residuals, commonly called *coal* ash, do not warrant regulation as a hazardous substance under subtitle C of the*...* See all stories on this topic »<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://news.google.com/news/story%3Fncl%3D…> Check out the Valley Watch website at: *http://valleywatch.net*<http://valleywatch.net/> *John Blair* "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Mahatma Gandhi *800 Adams Avenue* *Evansville, IN 47713* *812-464-5663* *** In accordance with title 17 U. S. Code, Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes. * * * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE list, send any message to: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp -- Jim Sconyers jimscon(a)gmail.com 304.698.9628 Remember, Mother Nature bats last.

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