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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As Regulators Weigh Drilling in Marcellus Shale, EPA Opens Public Hearings on Health and Environmental Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing

The Environmental Protection Agency has begun public hearings in Binghamton, New York on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a controversial technique that mining companies use to extract natural gas from rock formations thousands of feet underground. The hearings are part of a broad investigation by the EPA into the human health and environmental effects of fracking. We speak to Josh Fox, director of the Sundance award-winning documentary...
Sep 14, 2010 | Story
BP Oil Spill Worsens with No Solution in Sight, 210,000 Gallons a Day Spew into Gulf of Mexico

Federal authorities have banned commercial and recreational fishing in a large stretch of water in the Gulf of Mexico due to the massive oil spill caused by a BP-operated rig that exploded nearly two weeks ago. An estimated 210,000 gallons of oil a day is pouring into the Gulf in what might turn out to be the worst industrial environmental disaster in US history. We speak with Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist and a former commercial salmon fisherma’am...
May 03, 2010 | Story
World-Renowned Scientist Dr. Theo Colborn on the Health Effects of Water Contamination from Fracking

The Environmental Protection Agency has begun a review of how the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," can affect drinking water quality. We speak to Dr. Theo Colborn, the president of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange and one of the foremost experts on the health and environmental effects of the toxic chemicals used in fracking. [includes rush transcript]
Apr 14, 2010 | Story
"Cracking Down on Fracking." By Amy Goodman

Mike Markham of Colorado has an explosive problem: His tap water catches fire.
Feb 24, 2010 | Columns & Articles
Congress to Investigate Safety of Natural Gas Drilling Practice Known as Hydraulic Fracturing

The top Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have asked eight oil-field companies to disclose the chemicals they’ve used and the wells they’ve drilled in over the past four years. Last week, Waxman also revealed two of the largest gas drilling companies have pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel-based fluids into the ground in violation of a voluntary agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency....
Feb 23, 2010 | Story
From Fracking to Freedom Riders, Documentaries at Sundance Take on Wide Range of Human Rights & Social Justice Issues

As we broadcast from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, we look at its documentary film program that focuses on stories of human rights, social justice, civil liberties and freedom of expression. This year the festival includes twenty-eight feature-length documentaries from the United States and around the world. They feature a wide range of subjects, including an abortion clinic in Florida, Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard, natural...
Jan 29, 2010 | Story
The Fight Against Hydraulic Fracturing is Heating Up in New York State

Dozens of New York State and City legislators and environmental activists gathered on the steps of City Hall on Monday to urge Governor Paterson to step back from the Department of Environmental Conservation’s "Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement" (SGEIS), otherwise known as the state’s proposal to drill upstate. Some participants called for a statewide ban, while others called for additional investigations.
Jan 05, 2010 | Web Exclusive
Watchdog: New York State Regulation of Natural Gas Wells Has Been "Woefully Insufficient for Decades."

The New York-based Toxics Targeting went through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s own database of hazardous substances spills over the past thirty years. They found 270 cases documenting fires, explosions, wastewater spills, well contamination and ecological damage related to gas drilling. Many of the cases remain unresolved. The findings are contrary to repeated government assurances that existing natural gas well regulations...
Nov 10, 2009 | Story
Environmental Battle Brews in New York over Natural Gas Drilling

Last week, government regulators opened the door to natural gas drilling inside the Marcellus Shale watershed, which supplies drinking water to some 15 million people, including nine million New Yorkers. Stretching from New York to Kentucky, the shale is believed to hold some of the world’s largest deposits of natural gas. Proponents say the drilling will boost the nation’s economic recovery and reduce dependence on foreign oil. But...
Oct 06, 2009 | Story
Fracking and the Environment: Natural Gas Drilling, Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Contamination

Gas drilling companies such as Halliburton say the gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," is safe, but opponents contend it pollutes groundwater with dangerous substances. Now, new evidence has emerged possibly linking natural gas drilling to groundwater contamination. ProPublica journalist Abrahm Lustgarten reports federal officials in Wyoming have found that at least three water wells contain chemicals...
Sep 03, 2009 | Story