Search Results for: Neil Zusman

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Search Results for: Neil Zusman

Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining

Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining

Mountaintop removal and slickwater drilling for natural gas both have been challenged by experts for the environmental damages that occur. The pollution has been well documented in public testimony and observation and has proceeded without input from peer-reviewed scientific studies, making the people who live near these extraction processes human experiments in methods unproven to be safe in the long term. (Neil Zusman, 2010-11-10.)

Source: Yale Environment 360 (2009) Read More

Drill, Baby, Drill!: The chant of the political naif

Drill, Baby, Drill!: The chant of the political naif

Numerous complainants petitioned the USA government to get the EPA to review the earlier decision on hydraulic fracking. One of them, from Neil Zusman, Ithaca, NY, is particularly poignant: I have read widely on this topic and it is of personal interest to me. I am not a scientist. I observe the events along the historical timeline that includes civil rights, anti-war protest, and the environmental movement….

Source: Magiric (2011) Read More

Lenape Resources, Inc.

Lenape Resources, Inc.

Lenape Resources operated in upstate New York, exploring gas prospects amid a regulatory landscape that remained uncertain. Smaller operators often navigated tighter margins and local scrutiny, their ambitions tied closely to state permitting decisions.

Source: Lenape Resources, Inc. (2010) Read More

Exxon-Xto Deal Forces Congress to Reconsider Natural Gas

Exxon-Xto Deal Forces Congress to Reconsider Natural Gas

Rex Tillerson — a former tuba player in the University of Texas Longhorn Band who once supplied the band’s bottom register — would later rise to become ExxonMobil’s CEO. In global energy markets, he built a reputation as a disciplined negotiator, forging high-level relationships including with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. When Exxon moved to acquire XTO Energy, doubling down on U.S. shale, the scale of the bet drew renewed congressional attention to natural gas policy and market concentration. When a supermajor commits billions, energy independence narratives and oversight frameworks shift with it. Scale reshapes politics.

Source: The New York Times : Climatewire (2010) Read More

Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Tennessee Gas Pipeline

The Tennessee Gas Pipeline system connects production fields to distant markets, underscoring that extraction is only part of the equation. Pipelines determine where gas flows — and which communities host compressor stations and right-of-way corridors. Infrastructure redraws maps.

Source: Tennessee Gas Pipeline (2010) Read More

Schlumberger

Schlumberger

Meet the oil world’s most secretive operator: Schlumberger. It’s ubiquitous in fossil fuel operations across the world, has more staff than Google, turns over more than Goldman Sachs, and is worth more than McDonald’s — yet you won’t have heard of it. Operating largely behind the public face of oil and gas producers, the company supplies the technical backbone of hydraulic fracturing across shale basins. State regulators have cited the firm for environmental violations in certain jurisdictions, including improper waste handling and permit noncompliance. Even the most expansive service companies accumulate a regulatory record as drilling scales.

Source: Schlumberger (2010) Read More

Marcellus Shale Coalition

Marcellus Shale Coalition

The Marcellus Shale Coalition emerged as the industry’s collective voice in Pennsylvania, promoting well-paying jobs, economic growth, regulatory consistency, and expanded development. Representing major operators and service firms, the coalition shaped public messaging and policy advocacy as drilling accelerated across the region. Critics argue that independent analyses have challenged some of the coalition’s economic claims and questioned whether projected benefits outweigh environmental and climate risks — debates that continue to shape responsible energy policy.

Source: Marcellus Shale Coalition (2010) Read More

Energy & Commerce Committee Investigates Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing

Energy & Commerce Committee Investigates Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing

A report linking the fracking industry to violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act put some of the biggest names in shale on the defensive. The House Energy & Commerce Committee launched inquiries, demanding data and calling executives to testify. Senator Barbara Boxer announced hearings and press conferences. In Washington, oversight begins with microphones — and can end with subpoenas.

Source: U.S. Congress. Committee On Energy and Commerce (2010) Read More

Delaware Riverkeeper Network

Delaware Riverkeeper Network

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network focused on protecting a watershed supplying drinking water to more than 15 million people across four states. As shale proposals edged toward the Delaware Basin, the organization challenged permits and pushed for basin-wide oversight. When water serves entire metropolitan regions, local drilling becomes a regional calculation.

Source: Delaware Riverkeeper Network (2009) Read More

New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD)

New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD)

NYRAD organized statewide resistance to high-volume hydraulic fracturing, rallying residents concerned about water, health, and rural character. Through protests, teach-ins, and policy advocacy, the group turned a regulatory decision into a grassroots movement. As Albany deliberated, public pressure intensified.

Source: New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) (2010) Read More

Splashdown!

Splashdown!

“Splashdown!” chronicled moments when drilling runoff, wastewater disputes, or regulatory failures collided visibly with water systems. Whether metaphorical or literal, the title captured the fear that contamination travels downhill. In boom regions, disposal sites and treatment facilities multiplied. The concern wasn’t theoretical chemistry — it was whether what went into holding ponds might eventually reach rivers.

Source: Splashdown! (2010) Read More

Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP America)

Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP America)

Republicans for Environmental Protection challenged the idea that conservation belonged to one party. As shale politics hardened along partisan lines, REP argued for water safeguards and responsible oversight grounded in stewardship, not ideology. Their presence complicated the narrative: support for environmental protection did not neatly map onto party identity — even in energy-producing states.

Source: Republicans for Environmental Protection (2010) Read More

Perryman Group, Texas

Perryman Group, Texas

The Perryman Group released economic impact studies projecting job growth and billions in revenue from shale development in Texas. Industry advocates cited the reports as evidence of transformative potential. Critics scrutinized assumptions behind the forecasts. In boom regions, dueling spreadsheets became weapons in the public debate.

Source: The Perryman Group (2007) Read More

Residents near gas leak still live in fear

Residents near gas leak still live in fear

Long after the headlines fade, the anxiety lingers. Families living near gas infrastructure describe ongoing health worries, property concerns, and distrust of official reassurances. The story underscores how the costs of extraction are often borne by communities far from corporate boardrooms.

Source: Chagrin Valley Times, The Solon Times, The Geauga Times Courier (2009) Read More

Environmental Advocates New York

Environmental Advocates New York

The New York Water Rangers, launched by Environmental Advocates of New York, mobilized residents to defend state waters from hazardous fracking waste. Through legislative advocacy, coalition organizing, and narrative strategy developed with SmartMeme Studios, the campaign pushed to close loopholes in state law, extend moratorium protections, and require independent health impact assessments before permitting high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York.

Source: Environmental Advocates New York (2011) Read More

Gas Drillers Plead Guilty to Felony Dumping Violations

Gas Drillers Plead Guilty to Felony Dumping Violations

Two operators associated with Swamp Angel Energy pleaded guilty to felony violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act after unlawfully injecting 200,000 gallons of brine into an abandoned well near the Allegheny National Forest. The case marked a rare instance of criminal enforcement in the fracking boom, underscoring concerns that routine fines often failed to deter serious contamination risks linked to oil and gas wastewater disposal.

Source: ProPublica (2010) Read More

Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience

The Thoreau Reader, curated by Richard Lenat in cooperation with the Thoreau Society, presents annotated editions of Henry David Thoreau’s works including Civil Disobedience and Walden. Thoreau’s refusal to pay taxes in protest of slavery and the U.S. war with Mexico later influenced figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., whose philosophy of nonviolent resistance drew upon Thoreau’s assertion that when government becomes destructive of human rights, individuals may have a moral duty to resist unjust law.

Source: Thoreau eServer by Richard Lenat (2002) Read More

Chevron Human Energy Stories | Addressing Climate Change

Chevron Human Energy Stories | Addressing Climate Change

Jonathan McIntoshs’ Remix Video is a critical and transformative work that constitutes a Fair Use in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Source footage from Chevron TV ads, US Army ad, BBC News, Future Weapons, CSI and several other short clips recorded off television.

Source: YouTube (2009) Read More

The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels

The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels

This post explores Thomas Gold’s controversial abiogenic theory of petroleum formation, which argues that hydrocarbons originate deep within the Earth rather than from compressed biological matter. While climate policy debates focus on fossil fuel scarcity and carbon removal, the article raises concerns about methane emissions from gas flaring and questions assumptions embedded in mainstream energy narratives. Gold’s “deep hot biosphere” hypothesis challenges conventional geology and reframes discussions about resource limits, earthquakes, and even the origins of life.

Source: Springer | Copernicus (1998) Read More

YES! Magazine | Partners

YES! Magazine | Partners

YES! Magazine reframes the biggest problems of our time in terms of their solutions. Online and in print, we outline a path forward with in-depth analysis, tools for citizen engagement, and stories about real people working for a better world.

Source: YES! Magazine (2010) Read More

BARDs “Big Mule” Drummond Coal Sued–Part II

BARDs “Big Mule” Drummond Coal Sued–Part II

On Martin Luther King Day (MLK Day Jan. 17, 2011), America deserves to be reminded that hard on the trail of King’s Civil Rights legacy in Alabama is the way Alabama’s poor have been victimized by negligent environmental law. The daily posts of Max Shelby and his group, blogging in Alabama about the environment, politics, big business and corruption, are some of the boldest independent voices writing in the U.S. on environmental justice today.

Source: Vincent Alabama Confidential (2010) Read More

Poison Fire

Poison Fire

If you plan to stop by these woods on a snowy evening bring some marshmallows and expect an evening sunburn. There’s a chance your treats will be toxic.

Source: YouTube (2008) Read More

Climate Co-benefits and Child Mortality Wedges

Climate Co-benefits and Child Mortality Wedges

Climate change issues bring into greater prominence that all the world’s people are linked together and that we all have a stake in creating a sustainable path for the planet and no such path can allow for 10 million avoidable child deaths each year.

Source: Wellcome Trust Frontiers Meeting (2008) Read More

Gasland vs Big Oil and Gas

Gasland vs Big Oil and Gas

This works because people that see this movie are touched. They are touched because they have been directly affected by hydraulic fracturing or they want to be a voice for those that have been and don’t want to become a silent statistic as well.

Source: Lovesocial Communications (2011) Read More

E.P.A. Proposes New Emission Standards for Power Plants

E.P.A. Proposes New Emission Standards for Power Plants

The Environmental Protection Agency (archived) on Wednesday (2011-03-16) proposed the first national standard (archived) for emissions of mercury and other pollutants from coal (archived) -burning power plants, a rule that could lead to the early closing of a number of older plants and one that is certain to be challenged by the some utilities and Republicans in Congress.

Source: The New York Times (2011) Read More

Global Warning | The environment and national security

Global Warning | The environment and national security

Fracking is being rushed. it’s going full tilt without the scientific, objective regulation, and analysis that important security issues warrant, even though industry experts have known about the many risks it poses to the environment and our health for years.

Source: Global Warning (2011) Read More

Hydrofracking in New York State: Poll Shows No Consensus

Hydrofracking in New York State: Poll Shows No Consensus

According to this NY1/YNN-Marist Poll, New Yorkers divide on the issue. 41% oppose hydrofracking while 38% support it. A notable 21% are unsure. Similar proportions of registered voters statewide share these views.

Source: Home of the Marist Poll: Pebbles and Pundits (2011) Read More

Property Rights and Drilling

Property Rights and Drilling

Slottje warned municipal officials to avoid getting trapped into thinking they have to provide road use agreements. The biggest problem Slottje sees facing municipalities is the increased erosion of enforcement of environmental regulations. “So we’re swinging back to protecting the environment through property rights and home rule,” she said.

Source: Tompkins Weekly (2011) Read More

Getting drillers to respect the environment

Getting drillers to respect the environment

“Our quality of life has an unquenchable thirst for energy. Offshore drilling and production helps to satisfy this thirst.” — Richard Haut. Extracting energy requires trade-offs. “We want clean air, but we also like the convenience of electricity,” said Richard Haut during a lunch-hour seminar last Tuesday. Haut, founder and senior research scientist at Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), visited Cornell to promote what he calls “environ – mentally friendly drilling systems.”

Source: The Tompkins County Weekly (2011) Read More

Cornell 2011 Energy Conference

Cornell 2011 Energy Conference

The Cornell University Law School – 2011 Energy Conference (March 31-April 2, 2011) explored, among other topics, the legal issues associated with natural gas drilling and energy policy, different scientific perspectives on how clean and sustainable natural gas is, alternative clean energy sources, and the potential risks and benefits of shale gas development in Upstate New York.

Source: YouTube (2011) Read More

Under the surface: fracking, fortunes and the fate of the Marcellus Shale

Under the surface: fracking, fortunes and the fate of the Marcellus Shale

Hydrofracking’s proposed a massive industrial transformation on a huge swath of rural Northeastern U.S. It has divided communities and sparked an intense public debate about science, economics, law making and enforcement. Under the Surface tells the story of the Marcellus Gas Rush and is written by Tom Wilber, a newspaper reporter who covered the environmental beat for Binghamton, N.Y.’s Press & Sun Bulletin. Recommended!

Source: Cornell University Press (2012) Read More

Chu Names Panel to Study Fracking

Chu Names Panel to Study Fracking

Broder’s piece goes on to offer a smokescreen of protest by the right, but according to Dusty Horwitt of the Environmental Working Group (archived), “An industry insider like John Deutch is completely unacceptable to lead this panel…It looks as if the Obama Administration has already reached the conclusion that fracking is safe.”

Source: NYTimes.com: Green | A Blog About the Environment (2011) Read More

FracFocus Chemical Disclosure Registry

FracFocus Chemical Disclosure Registry

Of all the lobbyists bringing their issues to Capitol Hill, the Groundwater Protection Council (archived) is one of the smaller players. I have to wonder, reading the rankings on Open Secrets, “Lobbying Spending Database: Environment, 2009”, why this groundwater organization spends less on its annual lobbying than “Fur Wraps the Hill” or the “Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy”? Groundwater is a hot button national issue, affecting both the urban and agricultural sectors.

Source: Frac Focus (2011) Read More