Green war brewing over ‘fracking’ for gas
JUSTINE HUNTER
British Columbia’s next “war in the woods” could be fought over gas deposits buried far below the thinly populated ranchlands of the Peace River region.
The province’s two Independent MLAs are urging the B.C. government to investigate fracking – a technique for extracting unconventional gas deposits. Launching a probe now, they argue, could head off an environmental campaign that may put B.C. in an unflattering international spotlight, as the harvesting of old-growth forests did almost 20 years ago. (Globe and Mail)
EPA Administrator Confirms: No fracking water contamination
At a U.S. House Oversight Committee hearing yesterday, President Barack Obama’s EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, admitted the environmental risk of hydraulic fracturing is practically nonexistent.
“I’m not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water, although there are investigations ongoing,” she said.
Sen. James Inhofe, ranking member on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, commended Jackson’s honesty.
“I have great respect for Lisa Jackson and I always appreciate her honesty,” he said in a statement. “Although we disagree on most issues, when you ask her a question she gives you an honest answer. Over the past two years, I have asked various Obama Administration officials if they know of a single confirmed case of groundwater contamination from these fracked formations and every time the answer is no. Lisa Jackson’s statement today that she does not know of any proven case of water contamination further demonstrates that States are regulating hydraulic fracturing effectively and efficiently, and there is no need for the federal government to step in.” (Hot Air)
