Natural Gas & Oil Drilling Topics

Democracy Now! reports on natural gas and oil drilling, with a focus on the environmental and human health effects.

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  • Doug_shields-fracking

    Pittsburgh Ban on Natural Gas Fracking Faces Challenge from State Authorities

    In 2010, Pittsburgh adopted a first-in-the-nation ordinance banning corporations from extracting natural gas within the city using the controversial technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," over human health and environmental concerns. However, state officials now say the ban on fracking fails to comply with Pennsylvania law and has encroached on the state’s authority to create environmental regulations. We speak...
    Sep 14, 2012 | Story
  • Kumi_naidoo-greenpeace

    Greenpeace's Kumi Naidoo Live from Occupied Russian Arctic Oil Rig While Being Hit with Water Cannon

    Six activists with the environmentalist group Greenpeace International have occupied a Russian oil rig to protest drilling in the Arctic. The rig belongs to the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom, which is set to become the first company to produce Arctic oil through drilling operations in the Pechora Sea. We go to the rig to speak with Greenpeace’s executive director, Kumi Naidoo, just as he and other activists are being hosed by...
    Aug 24, 2012 | Story
  • Muller_global_warming

    Climate Skeptic, Koch-Funded Scientist Richard Muller Admits Global Warming Real & Humans the Cause

    After years of denying global warming, physicist Richard Muller now says "global warming is real and humans are almost entirely the cause." The admission by Muller, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and founder of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, has gained additional attention because some of his research has been funded by Charles Koch of the Koch brothers, the right-wing billionaire known...
    Aug 02, 2012 | Story
  • 2012-0720_polar_bear

    Subhankar Banerjee: Looming Deadline Creates Window for Protests to Stop Shell's Arctic Drilling

    As the oil giant Shell prepares to begin exploratory drilling in the Arctic, activists across the world have begun holding protests. The Obama administration has set a deadline for next month to decide on whether to grant the final drilling permits. Over the last decade, Arctic Alaska has become the most contested land in recent U.S. history. But in addition to oil, natural gas and coal, the Arctic is rich in biodiversity and has been home to...
    Jul 20, 2012 | Story
  • Steve_coll

    ExxonMobil's Dirty Secrets, from Indonesia to Nigeria to Washington: Steve Coll on “Private Empire”

    We continue our conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Steve Coll, author of the exhaustive book, "Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power." He examines the controversial role ExxonMobil has played in Afghanistan and Indonesia, where it operated lucrative gas fields amidst a bloody war for independence. Coll also discusses the corporate giant’s involvement in the controversial natural gas drilling process known as...
    May 07, 2012 | Story
  • Exxon2

    "Private Empire": Author Steve Coll on the State-Like Powers, Influence of Oil Giant ExxonMobil

    We look at one of the largest and most powerful corporations in the world: ExxonMobil. Last week, the corporate giant reported it earned $9.5 billion in profits in the first three months of this year — or almost $104 million per day. We speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Steve Coll, who pulls back the curtain on ExxonMobil in his exhaustive new book, "Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power." "ExxonMobil, I came...
    May 04, 2012 | Story
  • Button-oildestruction-2

    Gulf Oil Spill: BP Execs Escape Punishment as Fallout from Disaster Continues to Impact Sea Life

    Two years since the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, we look at its impact on the Gulf of Mexico’s residents and wildlife even as no BP officials have faced criminal prosecution for the disaster. Eleven workers died when the Deepwater Horizon well exploded, and almost five million barrels of crude oil leaked into the ocean before the well was plugged after 51 days. BP maintains the Gulf is rapidly recovering thanks to the company’s...
    Apr 23, 2012 | Story
  • Button-oil

    Michael Klare: GOP Promises of Lower Gas Costs Belied by Dwindling Supply of World's Oil

    We look at rising fuel costs, one of the major issues raised by the Republican contenders in the 2012 presidential campaign. Since the beginning of the year, the average of price of a gallon of regular gasoline has jumped 16 percent to more than $3.80. Earlier this week, President Obama partially blamed his Republican rivals, saying one reason for the increase is rumors of war with Iran. Meanwhile, Republican candidates have used the spike in...
    Mar 14, 2012 | Story
  • Gulfcleanup-1

    BP to Pay $7.8B to Settle Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Lawsuit. Is it a Bad Deal for Gulf Residents?

    Investigative journalists Greg Palast and Antonia Juhasz examine who wins and who loses in BP’s settlement. "[BP is] basically being told, if you’re like a bank robber, you put the money back in the vault, and everything’s forgiven," says Palast, who also investigated the Exxon Valdez settlement. Meanwhile, state and federal governments are still pursuing separate civil claims against BP for environmental damage. "That’s...
    Mar 05, 2012 | Story
  • Arrest-button

    "Gasland" Director Josh Fox Arrested at Congressional Hearing on Natural Gas Fracking

    The Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Josh Fox was handcuffed and arrested Wednesday as he attempted to film a congressional hearing on the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as fracking, which the Environmental Protection Agency recently reported caused water contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming. Fox directed the award-winning film, "Gasland," which documents the impact of fracking on communities across the United States,...
    Feb 02, 2012 | Story