Important shale drilling news

The recent news is coming too fast for me to keep up so here is an aggregation.

From the Department of MUST READ:
You must read the new report from DeSmogBlog. Fracking the Future: How Unconventional Gas Threatens our Water, Health and Climate.

From the Department of No Duh:
Scientists have contacted congress saying fracking needs study.

Scientists to Congress: Fracking studies needed
Cornell University and Ithaca College scientists briefed congressional aides Friday on lack of research on health and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing

From the department of I’ll Believe it When I see it:
UT is supposed to take a “close” look at fracking. UT is myopic from all the oil and gas money they have received over the years so color me highly skeptical. UT Arlington is unwilling to consider the impact drilling has on Arlington neighbors because their royalties are too great. For example, check out this home video. And, never forget the UT Legacy in West Texas.

From the department of About Damn Time:
People in Midland are suing Schlumberger for contaminating their water. I’ve blogged about this tragic case of widespread aquifer contamination a few times. Scroll through some of the posts for background.

“Defendants’ wrongful conduct was purposeful and deliberate, and defendants acted with conscious and reckless disregard of the hazards and threats to plaintiffs,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendants’ conduct was and is outrageous, willful, malicious and intentional.”

From the department of Wait Just a Dang Minute:
DOE Secretary Steven Chu has assembled a group of “experts” to make recommendations to “improve the safety and environmental performance” of fracking. The group of “experts” is alarmingly industry friendly and does not include one single individual from the gas patch. And, NO, the industry friendly environmental group EDF does not count as impacted citizen representation.

News from Europe:
Frack and ruin: the rise of hydraulic fracturing

A blog in France is trying to educate the French on the inevitable damage to agriculture from shale gas drilling. Quel peut être l’impact des gaz de schiste sur les activités agricoles, pastorales et forestières? Vive la France! Watch this video to see how quickly the gas companies can destroy your beautiful countryside.

France is waiting on a resolution from Parliament this week AGAINST shale gas but it won’t end there because they have elections coming up. Americans know too well what happens when the Big Gas Mafia buys our politicians. The Big Gas Mafia is lobbying so the French public must stay vigilant!

News from South Africa:
ALL THE ‘FRACKING’ FACTS @ SCIFEST AFRICA 2011
The definitive scientific facts about fracking are just one in a series of public lectures by South African and international scientists at Scifest Africa this year!

Proff. Anthony Ingraffea, from Cornell University in the USA is just one of almost twenty worldwide experts on the Scifest public lecture programme. But what makes his presentation so special is not just that fracking is such a topical and hotly debated issue right now. Proff. Ingraffea will be the first person ever to give a Skype-facilitated public lecture in the fifteen year history of Scifest! And it promises to be a spectacular eye-opener, because of Proff. Ingraffea’s world renowned expertise!