Natural Gas MAGIC SHOW-A must see CARTOON

A friend of mine sent me the above cartoon on fracking...

It says SO MUCH about the vile industry that is bent on destroying our lands, poisoning our drinking water in the name of profits, while at the same time wrongly playing on peoples hopes, dreams and patriotism to get their signature on a lease.  Lets dispel some of the myths the industry puts out to us.

1.  Natural Gas is clean and green...it is not.  Over a 20 year period, Natural Gas is perhaps dirtier than coal, but more importantly, the methane makes it a larger contributor to GREEN HOUSE GASES that cause Global Warming/Climate Change.

2.  Natural Gas Fracking will not poison your water, there has never been one case of ground water being damaged by fracking...this is not true, or at best a HALF TRUTH.  Fracking STARTS THE CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT WILL POISON YOUR WATER.  If you are hit by a bus, but die from internal bleeding, the Natural Gas folks would have you believe that a BUS CANNOT KILL YOU.

Look for more of these smaller articles in the says and weeks to come...please link to them, or put them on your own ANTI FRACK SITES.

What a NG Investment INSIDER Has to Say! MUST READ.

I have cut and pasted some salient remarks below from an article written by someone that can only be described as an INDUSTRY INSIDER and seriously encourage ALL THOSE IN THE ANTI FRACKING movement to read this article.  Some of the things this insider has to say are breath taking in their scope, and really confirm our WORST FEARS.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Poised to Take Control of Regulating and Banning Hydraulic Fracturing "Fracking"

March 3, 2011 (Investorideas Newswire) - Mr. Miller is part of many industry and governmental working groups regarding the Oil and Natural Gas Oversight and Regulation. 

 

It has not become a foregone conclusion that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be given full authority and mandate to regulate any and all activities surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing, to include an imminent ban on the injection of all toxic chemicals into the ground, imposition of major fines for violations of the Clean Water Act, and designation of De-facto superfund/clean up sites in major drilling areas already seriously contaminated by the Natural Gas and Drilling Producers.

The future of Hydraulic Fracturing "Fracking" in the Continental U.S. is very much at risk given the undeniable facts that the process can't be conducted without the use of toxic chemicals, contamination of water tables, use of known carcinogens known to be harmful to humans and violation of the U.S. Clean Water Act.

Mr. Miller is a major supporter and advocate for the environmentally responsible development and production of Oil and Natural Gas in the U.S.

According to Mr. Miller:

• The Oil and Natural Gas industry has brought a critical self inflicted crisis upon itself by failing to act in an environmentally responsible manner regarding the use of hydraulic fracturing. In one fell sweep, the industry has become the primary target of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), State and Federal lawmakers, and most importantly, the general public.

• The injection of toxic chemicals in to Oil and Natural Gas wells, many chemicals which are clearly known to be harmful to the environment, water tables, and human beings represents a catastrophic failure of the Oil and Natural Gas producers in the U.S.
• Given the continued abuse by the natural Oil and Natural Gas and mounting incidents of water table contamination, fires and other drilling related problems in high and low density populated areas, and the pending law that will in essence "kill fracking" by virtue of eliminating the use of toxic chemicals in production wells, leads to the conclusion that the States and Federal Government will in unison and individually start to ban fracking operations across the U.S.
• The first permanent drilling bans will occur in the Eastern U.S. in the Marcellus Shale formation in New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. This geographic area has already been severely damaged by Natural Gas Fracking and substantial legal actions are pending and many more are forthcoming against production companies.

There does not appear to be any way for the Oil and Natural Gas industry to lobby itself out of this critical problem, which many industry experts consider a death nail to many natural gas producers. Public opinion is overwhelmingly now against "Hydraulic Fracking" and we see the momentum to ban the practice outright in a majority of the U.S. as irreversible.

: Stocks: CHK, DVN, EOG, APA, SWN, SD, APC, BP, OXY, CVX, XTO, XOM

Ohio State Parks Too Play Host To Shale Gas Drilling?

Ok...something just seems so wrong here...State and Federal Park Lands were made into parks to protect their natural beauty, were SET ASIDE LANDS that were/are supposed to be PRESERVED...many of these beautiful lands, their waterways and scenic vistas have been protected not just for decades, but in many cases for generations as families down through time have enjoyed, used and taken advantage of lands acquired and set aside with the help, they set asides and the maintaining of them paid for with our own tax dollars, and various fees we pay to use certain aspects of said parks, such as camping.  So imagine my surprise yesterday to read a twitter from a woman, where in she stated a certain segment of a particular hiking trail  in a Pennsylvania Park was being rerouted around a Shale Gas Drill (FRACKING) site on these public lands.  She found out from her husband who was planning out the Scout Troops annual 50 mile hiking adventure.  I tweeted about it, provided a link for those wishing to verify the information being provided.

Now tonight, again on Twitter, I stumble upon a link (from the opposition) which led me to an article wherein the primary focus was the state of Ohio's plan to sell (un)Natural Gas Leases inside the boundaries of Ohio's State Parks...we are not just talking one lease, but untold HUNDREDS of leases if one is willing to just read between the lines a tiny bit.  The basic strategy apparently, is to use the money from this despoiling of the Parks to maintain and beautify them...EXCUSE ME?  Isn't a great deal of the beauty of the parks lost when you have contaminated water ponds, ground water contamination, scarred land, and loud trucks rumbling back and forth all day through the once quite rural park lands?

Can someone please tell me what I am missing here?  Surely this is one of the most ruthless rapes of our Park System ever stumbled upon?  Surely, the governor of the Great state of Ohio is being very shorted sighted when he is willing to permanently and forever destroy vast stretches of our Park system to address short term budget shortfalls?  Furthermore, is it just me, but if the state is supposed to be regulating these companies, protecting our environment, making sure the tenants of the Clean Water Act are adhered too, does the sale of such leases by the states create a HUGE CONFLICT OF INTEREST...after all, would not the sale of such leases, put one in bed with the very people they are supposed too be protecting us against?

Companies Like Chesapeake Energy Spend MILLIONS on Propanganda

If you go visit some of Chesapeake Energy's propaganda sites, read their so called FACT SHEETS you soon realize how easily those within the Nature Gas industry come to lying...or who knows, maybe they are so blinded by their quests for huge profits that they are truly blind to the damage FRACKING has done and will do to our environment.  Sure Chesapeake Energy wants to race forward in mock outrage at such an allegation, but some simple Google Searches quickly prove the point that they hold the environment, and average citizens in high disdain.

Google Chesapeake Energy Environmental Violations, and you find FIFTEEN THOUSAND hits...that number in and of itself should give every American cause for concern, should see us doubting any study, any fact sheet bearing their company name.  In the past three years the Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Dept. has cited 47 well operators more than 900 times for "environmental health and safety" violations with Chesapeake Energy LEADING THE PACK...even worse, in some cases, they just simply IGNORED THE REGULATIONS, did what they wanted to do.

After a routine site inspection March 8 and a March 10 meeting with Chesapeake, DEP issued a notice of violation for several infractions of the Clean Streams Law and Oil and Gas Act. The company did not respond to the notice. During follow-up inspections March 21 and 22, staff discovered the additional violations and impacts that resulted in the March 22 order.

It is sorely tempting in the case of Chesapeake Energy and its various subsidiary holdings to use the word thugs...in part because they seem fond of using fear, intimidation and  law suits to get their way...one such case they filed was against a county clerk FOR DOING HER JOB.  When the recorders office protocols did not allow Chesapeake Energy to file gas drilling leases fast enough (this clerk's office has approved over 5,000 of their leases, the company MARCHED INTO COURT asking a judge to have her policies deemed unlawful.  This blogs guess...for Chesapeake Energy, it is not a matter of right or wrong, it is about bleeding a county's treasury down to force them to give into Chesapeake's preferred means of doing business...which one could suggest is unethical, if not unlawful...any one looked into a RICO case?

Apparently, a part of Chesapeake Energy's business model seems to be violate laws, regulations and contracts down, and negotiate out a fine later.  One such example of this, is their violation of a water agreement in Pennsylvania wherein they violated the agreed upon contract FORTY SEVEN TIMES in just a one year period, withdrawing more water from local water supplies than their maximum allowed daily amount.  Sure their paltry $20,000 fine for FORTY SEVEN VIOLATIONS was a bargain for them, and it makes you wonder just how many local politicians they own.

Chesapeake Energy, and other companies in the natural gas mix in a big way all seem to follow this same business model, and one would be well served to take their supposed FACT SHEETS and view them for what they are...not worth the paper they are printed on.