DeSmogBlog

Clearing the PR Pollution That Clouds Climate Science

[desmogblog]

California Oilfield Operators Refuse To Report Water Usage, In Violation Of The Law

How much water does California’s oil and gas industry actually use? We still don’t know, despite a 2014 law signed by Governor Jerry Brown that went into effect this year requiring companies to report on all water produced, used and disposed of by oilfield operations.

[desmogblog]

New Records Show More US Involvement in Mexico Oil, Gas Privatization Efforts as Mexican Government Says "100%" Its Idea

New records obtained by DeSmog shed further light on the role the U.S. government has played to help implement the privatization of Mexico's oil and gas industry, opening it up to international firms beyond state-owned company PEMEX (Petroleos Mexicanos).

[desmogblog]

July 2015 is Officially Hottest Month on Record. Ever.

Raging wildfires and apocalyptic smoke. Huge algal blooms visible from space turn seafood on the Pacific Northwest toxic. California’s drought. Alberta’s drought. Alberta’s floods.

[desmogblog]

Texas Family's Water Well Explodes, Burns 4-Year Old, Father and Grandfather -- and Fracking to Blame, Lawsuit Alleges

A family in Texas, including a four-year old, her parents and her grandfather, were severely burned when their water well ignited into a massive fireball after methane from nearby fracked wells contaminated their water supply, a newly filed lawsuit against EOG Resources and several related companies

[desmogblog]

Radioactivity Found in Pennsylvania Creek, Illegal Fracking Waste Dumping Suspected

Recently released testing results in western Pennsylvania, upstream from Pittsburgh, reveal evidence of radioactive contamination in water flowing from an abandoned mine. Experts say that the radioactive materials may have come from illegal dumping of shale fracking wastewater.

[desmogblog]

Islamic Leaders Join Growing Chorus Of Religious Voices Making Moral Case For Climate Action

A symposium of Islamic leaders from 20 different countries meeting in Istanbul today released a Climate Change Declaration that presents the moral case for the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims to “tackle habits, mindsets, and the root causes of climate change, environmental degradation and the loss of

[desmogblog]

This Veteran Climate Scientist Advised Three Australian Prime Ministers. What Would He Say To Tony Abbott?

Scientist Dr Graeme Pearman knows more than most about the responsibilities and the perils that come with communicating climate change to the highest authorities.

[desmogblog]

Man Who Broke Economy Says 'Trust Me Our Ecology Is Just Fine’

This DeSmog UK epic history post explains how neoliberalism almost broke capitalism (and what this might tell us about free markets and the environment).

[desmogblog]

Filmmaker Jon Bowermaster Fights for the Environment From the Hudson to Antarctica

Jon Bowermaster spent ten years kayaking oceans and waterways all around the globe in an effort to document and understand the relationship between humans and the oceans for a National Geographic project. Understandably, he has a lot of stories to tell and shared many when DeSmog recently sat down

[desmogblog]

California Distributed Energy Incentive Program Disproportionately Benefiting Fossil Fuels, Regulators OK With That

A California program designed to spur innovation in technologies for distributed generation of low-emission energy is disproportionately benefiting fossil fuels projects, primarily natural gas — and a new proposal to update the emissions threshold that determines which projects are eligible will not

[desmogblog]

Lifting Ban On U.S. Crude Oil Export Would Enable Massive Fracking Expansion

In a recent Washington Post editorial supporting oil industry efforts to lift the existing ban on exporting crude oil produced in America, the editors stated:

[desmogblog]

Are US Regulators Trying to Cover Up Influence Of Lobbyists On New Oil-By-Rail Regulations?

It’s no secret that the oil and rail industries lobbied the Obama Administration heavily during the creation of new oil-by-rail regulations released this past May, with lobbyists reportedly not even taking a break the day after a major oil train accident.

[desmogblog]

Whitewater, Colorado Residents Continue to Suffer Stench of Frackwater Ponds

Residents of Whitewater, Colorado, continue to suffer with noxious odors from the nearby Deer Creek frackwater disposal facility, despite ongoing efforts by owner Alanco Energy Services over many months to stop the stink emanating from their wastewater ponds. Alanco has tried dredging the

[desmogblog]

Keystone XL Permit Hearing Concludes After Nine Contentious Days in South Dakota

TransCanada’s days of having its pipeline permit requests rubber-stamped are long over. A nine-day hearing to reconsider its Keystone XL permit through South Dakota proved that.

[desmogblog]

Big Oil Can Survive Low Prices, The Climate Can’t

This is a guest post by Lukas Ross from Friends of the Earth.

Last week seemed like a bad time to be Big Oil.

As the world’s biggest energy companies announced their quarterly results, billions in profits still managed to disappoint shareholders. ExxonMobil and Chevron both missed their targets, Shell prepared for steep spending cuts, and BP took a well-deserved hosing on news of its latest Deepwater Horizon penalty.

The price of crude, half of what it was a year ago, definitely made for some lower numbers. But does bad news for the oil industry mean good news for the climate? Absolutely not.

[desmogblog]

How Shell Lobbied to Stop EU Renewable Energy Targets

This has been cross-posted from Energydesk.

[desmogblog]

Key Greenhouse Gas Study May Have "Systematically Understated" Methane Leaks, New Research Shows

A widely cited study on the amount of methane leaking from oil and gas sites, including fracked wells, shows signs of a major flaw, a newly published peer-reviewed paper concludes.