water pollution
December 20, 2012 -
Bill Ritter, who led a revamp of Colorado's fracking regulations and is now being considered to head the U.S. Department of Energy, visited North Carolina this week to share his thoughts with the state's fracking commission. With controversy over the risky practice roiling his home state, Ritter emphasized the need for drillers to obtain what he called a "social license" to operate.
December 12, 2012 -
A professor involved in a scientific conflict of interest scandal at the University of Texas has moved to a Louisiana coastal research nonprofit -- where he continues to be less than upfront about his oil and gas industry connections.
December 3, 2012 -
High-profile disasters like the BP spill aren't the only way the oil industry is harming the health of Louisiana residents. A new report finds that toxic pollution from refinery accidents is increasing and urges action by companies and regulators.
November 13, 2012 -
Properties that draw their drinking water from wells lose as much as a quarter of their value when natural gas drilling takes place within a mile. The finding has important implications for North Carolina, where fracking may be coming soon to rural communities that rely on well water.
November 1, 2012 -
The Kansas-based oil and chemical conglomerate headed by billionaire financiers of the anti-regulatory right has dramatically increased its contributions to North Carolina politics as the state grapples with fracking and other key energy issues.
October 22, 2012 -
As protestors in East Texas continue to fight construction of a pipeline originally proposed to carry dirty tar sands oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries, builder TransCanada has threatened them with a type of lawsuit designed to stifle citizens' right to assemble and freedom of expression.
October 18, 2012 -
An analysis by the environmental watchdog group SkyTruth has found that drilling companies are continuing to violate the Safe Drinking Water Act by using diesel fuels when fracking for natural gas.