August 2013 - EC - lists.bikelover.org

FW: WV Coal Association Chairman Files for Chapter 11 for Coal Company and Longview Power Plant
by Frank Young 31 Aug '13

31 Aug '13

_____ From: The Power Line [mailto:comment-reply@wordpress.com] Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 12:05 PM To: fyoung(a)mountain.net Subject: [New post] WV Coal Association Chairman Files for Chapter 11 for Coal Company and Longview Power Plant Bill posted: "I don't usually post about the WV coal industry, unless there is a connection to electricity issues. In the past week, just such a story dropped into my lap. WV Coal Association Chairman James Laurita, Morgantown coal baron, filed for Chapter 11 reorgan" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on The Power Line <http://s.wordpress.com/i/emails/blavatar-default.png> <http://calhounpowerline.com/author/ourlinksblog/> <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/> WV Coal Association Chairman Files for Chapter 11 for Coal Company and Longview Power Plant by <http://calhounpowerline.com/author/ourlinksblog/> Bill I don't usually post about the WV coal industry, unless there is a connection to electricity issues. In the past week, just such a story dropped into my lap. WV Coal Association Chairman James Laurita, Morgantown coal baron, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in federal bankruptcy court. <http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file- for-bankruptcy/> Here is a link to Ken Ward's post about the situation, including some very interesting links to the bankruptcy filing, in particular <https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/782015/keffer-affid avit.pdf> an affidavit filed by Longview CEO Jeffery Keffer. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the situation after you read Mr. Keffer's affidavit. To me, the whole Longview project looks like one big charlie foxtrot from start to finish. Laurita is the current scion of the family that has owned MEPCo, a coal company that operates in the Morgantown area. It appears that MEPCo had no experience with operating a coal-fired power plant, but that is just what they contracted for in the 2000s. Remember that the 2000s were the go-go years of deregulated electricity. Suckers were pulled into the market by hucksters like Enron's Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. It appears that the Laurita family took the bait and ventured into a quagmire. They contracted with Siemans and Foster Wheeler, to international power plant giants, to build them a $2 billion plant with a rated capacity of only 695 megawatts. Those number alone indicate how crazy the scheme must have been. Laurita, of course, blames the contractors for all his problems. But that is just like a coal industry executive. And now everyone is suing everyone else. Throughout the bankruptcy filing, Laurita continues to claim that if the plant were working perfectly, his companies would be making money. Meanwhile, here in the real world, things are different. Here's how Mr. Keffer explains the current situation: 31. The Debtors' ability to manage through the challenges arising from the Contractors' Failures have also been affected by the current economic environment. Wholesale electricity prices have fallen significantly since construction on the Power Facility began in 2007 as a result of, among other things, the broader recession that commenced around that time, resulting in reduced electricity demand and substantial reductions in natural gas prices. Lower natural gas prices have been caused, at least in part, by the rapid expansion of natural gas production and natural gas inventories arising from the discovery of new shale deposits and the development of new extraction techniques. The presence of low-price natural gas reduces the variable costs of natural-gas fired power facilities and reduces the wholesale market price for all generators. Year-to-date, the average price per megawatt for electricity sold into the PJM on a day-ahead basis was approximately $33 per megawatt-hour-approximately 52 percent of the average power price forecasted for 2013 when construction began on the Power Facility in 2007. 32. Wholesale coal prices have also continued to fall as global markets face oversupply and as U.S. power generators have continued to shift away from coal fired technologies. The Debtors believe this shift results from, among other things, increased costs associated with environmental and regulatory compliance and pressures resulting from fierce industry competition with natural gas-fired power facilities. The coal industry as a whole has idled mines and reduced production in order to compete. 33. Moreover, the power generation and coal production industries are highly competitive on both a regional and national level. For example, Mepco does not compete solely with other regional mines, but also competes against national and international competitors that transport coal into the region. Similarly, Longview Power competes to deliver electricity to PJM against other coal-fired power generation stations as well as natural gas-fired power, nuclear power, and renewable energy, among other sources. This competitive environment has added anadditional layer of complexity to the Debtors' existing challenges. Translation: "We drank the kool-aid in the early 2000s and thought that Cheney would kill renewable power forever and that the Cheney administration would create the perfect environment for coal-fired generation." Instead of taking responsibility for making a $2 billion mistake, Keffer starts the next paragraph this way: 34. The Debtors, however, believe they can compete effectively once they are no longer hamstrung by the Contractors' Failures. As noted above, the Power Facility uses designs, equipment, processes, and technology that have made it one of the most efficient coal-fired power plants in the country-when the Power Facility can operate at full capacity. Note that "when" in the last sentence. That should be an "if." And we know that "if" is fantasy. The drop in demand is not the result of "the recession," but a long term trend, something acknowledged by everyone in the electricity business (except Mr. Laurita and Mr. Keffer). Early in his affidavit, Mr. Keffer states: "the Power Facility has only had a capacity factor of 68 percent since Longview Power took possession [in December 2011]." Hey, compared with other coal fired merchant plants in PJM, that 68% capacity factor looks pretty good. The current capacity factor for "steam" generators, almost entirely coal fired plants, in the most recent quarterly report by the PJM market monitor is 48.5%. The market monitor lists the Jan-June 2012 capacity factor for PJM steam generators at 41.4%. If Longview can't make money with a capacity factor significantly higher than other coal fired generators, their prospects for the future look grim, contractor problems or not. <http://calhounpowerline.com/author/ourlinksblog/> Bill | August 31, 2013 at 12:05 pm | Tags: <http://calhounpowerline.com/?tag=falling-demand> Falling Demand | Categories: <http://calhounpowerline.com/?cat=1> Uncategorized | URL: <http://wp.me/piwFb-1Tj> http://wp.me/piwFb-1Tj <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/#respond> Comment <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/#comments> See all comments Unsubscribe or change your email settings at <https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=973223b16743effc39ef5047389b30e8&email =fyoung%40mountain.net> Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/> http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-fo r-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/ <http://wordpress.com> Thanks for flying with WordPress.com <http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=calhounpowerline.wordpress.com&blog=4 415465&post=7273&subd=calhounpowerline&ref=&email=1&email_o=wpcom>

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Fwd: Longview tumbling
by James Kotcon 30 Aug '13

30 Aug '13

FYI. JBK Begin forwarded message: From: Bill Bishop <bbish(a)austin.rr.com> Date: August 30, 2013, 9:32:27 AM CDT To: Oliver Bernstein <oliver.bernstein(a)gmail.com> Subject: tumbling Longview Power, MEPCO file for bankruptcyAugust 30, 2013 by Ken Ward Jr. ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/files/2013/08/longview.jpg ) Here’s today’s news from Longview Power and MEPCO: Longview Power, LLC today announced that it and certain of its affiliates, including Mepco Holdings, LLC and its affiliates, commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Both Longview and Mepco intend to operate their businesses as they continue to negotiate a chapter 11 plan with their lenders to de-risk their balance sheet. Longview ( http://www.longviewpower.com/ ), of course, operates a fairly new coal-fired power plant outside of Morgantown. And MEPCO’s CEO is James Laurita Jr., the chairman of the West Virginia Coal Association. There’s more background here ( http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/19/idUSWNA950020120619 ). Here’s the rest of their press release: When able to operate at full capacity, Longview’s 700 megawatt supercritical coal fired power generation facility is one of the most efficient coal-fired power plants in the country and has one of the lowest air emissions profiles of any such power plant. Construction failures and defects have prevented the power plant from operating reliably at its designed capacity. Longview’s Mepco affiliate and its predecessors have engaged in coal mining and processing operations in and around West Virginia for more than 50 years. Currently, Mepco owns or operates three active underground coal mines and one active surface mine located in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. “After careful consideration of available alternatives, the Company determined that filing for Chapter 11 was a necessary and prudent step that allows us to strengthen and operate our businesses without interruption while continuing to restructure the Company’s balance sheet,” said Jeffery Keffer, CEO of Longview Power. “The Company has been in consensual negotiations with our senior lenders toward a Chapter 11 plan to maximize value; those negotiations remain ongoing. We remain confident that the Company and our lenders will reach an agreement on the terms of a Chapter 11 plan in the near term.” “I want to make clear that we will continue to conduct business as usual and our operations and employees will not be affected by the Chapter 11 filing,” Jim Laurita, Jr., CEO of Mepco added. “We will continue to provide our customers with the level of service they have come to expect from this great company and its employees. This is the best option the Company has to negotiate its balance sheet with the Company’s lenders.” The Company has filed customary, so-called “first day” motions to ensure the Company obtains the benefits of the Chapter 11 filing and continues to operate its business in the ordinary course and without interruption. The Company expects that these motions will be heard by the Court immediately after Labor Day and will continue to operate in the ordinary course in the meantime. Employees should expect that all payroll and benefits will continue as they have without interruption. The Company has engaged Lazard as its investment banker and Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC as its restructuring advisor. The Company is represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, as primary restructuring counsel, and Dentons US LLP for all issues related to Longview’s pending arbitration proceedings. More Sharing ServicesShare ( http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300&username=xa-4d2b47597ad291fb )|Share on print ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… )Share on facebook ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… )Share on twitter ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… )Share on email ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ) This entry was posted on Friday, August 30, 2013 at 9:19 am and is filed under Business ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/category/business/ ), Uncategorized ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/category/uncategorized/ ). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ) feed. You can leave a response ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ), or trackback ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ) from your own site Bill Bishop 1415 Alameda Dr. Austin, TX 78704 512.428.9067 ( tel:512.428.9067 ) 512.636.9057 ( tel:512.636.9057 ) mobile www.dailyyonder.com -- Eitan Bencuya National Communications Strategist Sierra Club 202-495-3047 ( tel:202-495-3047 ) o 415-255-5521 ( tel:415-255-5521 ) m eitan.bencuya(a)sierraclub.org -- Kim Teplitzky Deputy Press Secretary, Northeast & Mid-Atlantic Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Pittsburgh, Pa 412-802-6161 (o) 267-307-4707 (c) skype: kim.teplitzky @kim_t

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Fwd: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Background: How Solar and EVs Will Kill the Last of the Industry Dinosaurs
by James Kotcon 29 Aug '13

29 Aug '13

I have been saying this for a year, now it looks like experts are saying it too. JBK ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Edward Mainland <emainland(a)comcast.net> Date: Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 6:27 PM Subject: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Background: How Solar and EVs Will Kill the Last of the Industry Dinosaurs To: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS(a)lists.sierraclub.org How solar and EVs will kill the last of the industry dinosaurs ( http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/how-solar-and-evs-will-kill-last-of-industr… ) By Giles Parkinson August 23, 2013 >From ReNewEconomy Several years ago, Tony Seba, an energy expert from Stanford University, published a book called Solar Trillions, predicting how solar technologies would redefine the world’s energy markets and create an investment opportunity worth tens of trillions of dollars. Most people looked at him, he says, as if he had three heads. That was possibly because the book was written before the recent plunge in the cost of solar modules had taken effect, and before most incumbent utilities had woken up to the fact that solar – even with minor penetration levels – was turning their business models upside down. Seba is now working on a new book, with even more dramatic forecasts than his first. His new prediction is that by 2030, solar will make the fossil fuel industry more or less redundant. Even more striking is his forecast that electric vehicles will do the same thing to the oil industry by around the same date. The predictions are made on the basis that the cost of solar and EV batteries will continue to fall, while the cost to consumers of sourcing energy from fossil fuels through the grid or liquid fuels will continue to rise. Before the decade is out, Seba says, both technologies will pass a tipping point that will eventually sweep the incumbents aside, just as technology and cost developments have done in the computer, internet, media, photographic and telecommunications industries. “I am incredibly optimistic that by 2030, nuclear, coal, gas, big hydro, and oil will be all but obsolete,” Seba told RenewEconomy in an interview in San Francisco last month. “The world will be mostly powered by solar and wind, and most new vehicles will be electric. The architecture of energy markets is going from centralized to distributed – in liquids and the electric market.” The working title for the book is “Disrupting energy – how Silicon Valley is making coal, nuclear, oil and gas obsolete.” It is pinned on the theme that decentralised generation and storage will replace the centralised, hub and spoke model that has prevailed for the last century. The impact of decentralised generation is already being felt. The striking part of Seba’s prediction is the speed with which it will happen. First, on the technology cost issue. For EVs, Seba says the success of Tesla – in sales and in reputation – has changed the conversation around EVs, particularly after it won the 2013 Car of the Year award. “Basically, EVs were supposed to be expensive and underpowered and weak and 50 years away. Tesla showed all that was wrong. The EV will do to oil what solar will do to coal, nuclear and gas. EVs are a disruptive technology, there is no doubt about that. “The propaganda says that it is too expensive and has little range. But if you look at the cost curve of batteries, even Detroit is saying that by 2020 lithium-ion batteries will be at $US200/kWh. “The tipping point for the mass market to move from internal combustion engines to EVs is between $US250 and $US300/kWh. Once it gets to $US100/kWh, it is all over. I think we will get to $US250/kWh by 2020. By 2030, when batteries are at $100/kWh, gasoline vehicles will be obsolete. Not on their way out, obsolete.” Seba thinks that mass migration will start around 2018 to 2020. On solar it is a similar story. “When I wrote my first book, a lot of people looked at me like I had three heads,” Seba says. “They thought I was way too optimistic because the conversation then was about grid parity for solar in 2060, or 2070. “And what you hear is the same thing we heard 20 years ago, that this is not going to happen, that it is difficult, that power needs specialised scale, that it can only be done like this. When in fact, over the last few years, a country like Germany has pioneered the move from a few dozen central power plants to more than a million producers. “Australia has done the same thing. Bangladesh has a million solar installations. So the poorest people in one of the poorest countries are adopting solar unsubsidised. Solar is already cheaper than grid – what people are paying for electricity – in dozens of countries already. And that is despite huge fossil fuel subsidies. “The sun is more democratic than any other source of energy. Coal is in pockets, gas is in pockets, oil is in pockets. The sun shines a little bit more in some places than others, but everyone gets sunshine. And the thing about solar, is that it can be built on a distributed basis.” Can solar really be built on a scale that would meet the bulk of the world’s electricity needs? Seba points to the computer industry, where he worked in the 1990s, and to the internet and telecommunications. All three were dominated by huge, centralised technologies. All three industries have been turned upside down by new “distributed”, or hand-held devices. He says the same thing will happen in electricity. “This is not in the future. We are going from big centralised power plants to decentralised generation, to decentralised storage, and to decentralised distribution. “It is just a matter of policy makers understanding this and making regulations appropriately. In India, about $30-40 billion goes to subsidise diesel. The grid there is already obsolete. It went down and 500 million people didn’t notice, because they are not on the grid. “If they stop subsidising diesel and put it into solar, they could bring 100 million people a year into solar. If all you do is stop subsidising diesel, you can, in five years, bring solar electricity to 500 million people who are not on the grid today. The biggest threat from all this radical change is to the traditional utility model, Seba says. “Utilities as we know them are over. They are the land line telephone companies of 20, 30 years ago. We will start using them as back-up, as world goes distributed and every house has solar, and factories do the same, and they are stuck with these stranded investments. “What they will try to do is to keep jacking up prices – which makes solar even more affordable. It will be this death spiral. You will see bankruptcies. Finally, it will not make sense. He says markets will be redesigned, and there will be huge opportunities for new companies – he dubs them the Ebays of the electricity world – that can aggregate and trade distributed production, and that can manage the process. “You will need a market, but instead of assuming 10 or 100 producers, you will need market that assumes million or tens of millions of power producers. So you will need some companies that can do that. Markets will get interesting – storing, trading etc. there will be huge opportunities for innovative companies. “And then you need to know how to manage energy without thinking about it. Most of us don’t know enough. We don’t know enough about cars. Why ask same of consumers for electricity. “So companies will do that – they will do that better than utilities do. The Nests, the Apples, Googles, Sungevity, and Suncity, are getting into the home, and getting trust of consumer. “Most consumers don’t trust utilities, but utilities don’t understand this, because they treat consumers like ratepayers. When you buy a car, or a shirt you are treated well. But in the electricity industry, you are not. “The big conversation is about solar panels, and storage and EVs, but that is just beginning of the conversation. We have so many other technologies that will change the way electricity is traded, used, stored. Utilities have no idea about that.” So, what could possibly go wrong? Well, policy will be critical, and right now the conservative right is lined up against renewable and disruptive technologies, and firmly on the side of the incumbents. Seba doesn’t understand why. “In ideological terms, there is no more libertarian energy source than solar. Why do libertarians, at least in the US, align themselves with conservative parties? “Why are they supporting coal and big refineries and power generation? Ideologically it makes no sense. Part of what is going on is an information war. $8 trillion can buy you a lot of information, and can help you spread a lot of misinformation. “ __._,_.___ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS list, send any message to: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp

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Check this out
by Beth Little 29 Aug '13

29 Aug '13

This is an old ad from when Exxon was Humble Oil (which became Standard Oil in the interim) - actually BRAGGING about melting glaciers. http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/what-would-the-humble-oil -ad-look-like-today.html

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Fwd: [fom] FW:] MANCHIN TO CHAIR CONGRESSIONAL FIELD HEARING ON THE FUTURE OF THE COAL INDUSTRY
by James Kotcon 28 Aug '13

28 Aug '13

Is anyone interested in organizing something? I'm available! JBK >>> Bill Price <bill.price(a)sierraclub.org> 8/28/2013 3:00 PM >>> Jim, See below. Maybe some activists can show up. Bill Price, Organizing Representative >>>>> >From Senator Manchin’s office: August 27, 2013 Contact: Jonathan Kott 202-228-1810 ( tel:202-228-1810 ) MANCHIN TO CHAIR CONGRESSIONAL FIELD HEARING ON THE FUTURE OF THE COAL INDUSTRY Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will host a Congressional field hearing in Morgantown, WV to examine the current state of coal-generated electricity in U.S. power markets and the challenges and opportunities the coal industry faces in the future. Senator Manchin serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. A list of witnesses will be available later in the week. Senator Manchin will be available before the hearing to speak with members of the media. WEDNESDAY, September 4 Participate in Press Opportunity before the Energy Field Hearing When: 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Where: West Virginia University’s Erickson Alumni Center, Kennedy Club Room (Room 102), One Alumni Drive, Morgantown. What: Senator Manchin will deliver remarks and take questions from the media regarding energy policy during this press opportunity. PLEASE NOTE: Members of the media who wish to cover this event, must RSVP to Deputy State Director Sara Payne Scarbro at sara_payne(a)manchin.senate.gov. Email Subject Line: FIELD HEARING. Will Host ENR Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Public Field Hearing _______________________________________________ CCC.justice mailing list CCC.justice(a)lists.citizenscoalcouncil.org http://lists.citizenscoalcouncil.org/listinfo.cgi/ccc.justice-citizenscoalc… -- Debbie Jarrell Co-Director Coal River Mountain Watch The outcome is the action as well as inaction of us all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SLu4FyUQjsQ

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from High Country News: New tech to trace fracking fluid could mean more accountability
by Paul Wilson 27 Aug '13

27 Aug '13

New tech to trace fracking fluid could mean more accountability Document Actions - Share this: - Like<http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-…> - Tweet<http://twitter.com/home?source=highcountrynews&status=New+tech+to+trace+fra…> - Tip Jar<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-technology-oil-and-gas-drilling-regu…> - Email<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-technology-oil-and-gas-drilling-regu…> - Print this - Comments (4)<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-technology-oil-and-gas-drilling-regu…> Tay Wiles<http://www.hcn.org/@@search?portal_type%3Alist=Blog+Post&Creator=taywiles@h…> | Aug 22, 2013 02:55 PM <http://www.hcn.org/@@search?portal_type%3Alist=Blog+Post&Creator=taywiles@h…> As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency comes under fire for abandoning studies that linked contaminated water to hydraulic fracturing, and oil and gas companies consider how to fix their public image around<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/can-the-oil-and-gas-industry-fix-its-public-i…> the issue, states<http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovHickenlooper/CBON/1251611065764> are trying to figure out how much transparency to demand from the industry. Meanwhile, researchers are racing to find the most effective tracer to mix with fracking fluid that could dramatically change how the industry works. This fall, a company founded by scientists from Rice University in Houston will conduct a field test of a tracer made with what chemistry and materials science professor Andrew Barron believes is the key ingredient to success: nano rust. Barron and other researchers hope this tracer will settle once and for all whether oil and gas companies are damaging drinking water, and, in the event of contamination, allow communities to determine who – or what – is at fault. [image: pavilion.jpg] <http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/images-2/pavilion.jpg>A hydraulic fracturing site near Platteville, Colorado. “People (with contaminated wells) usually say (I know it was fracking) ‘because I’ve got methane in my water,’” Barron said. “(But) it’s difficult to discern whether it’s from one source or another.” With new tracer technology to help narrow it down, “It may turn out it was Halliburton that contaminated your water, and in another case, it may turn out it’s the municipal dump that’s dumping into a stream that has ground water close to it.” For their field test, Barron’s company will mix nano rust particles into at least two million gallons of fracking fluid before pumping it into the ground for hydraulic fracturing <http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing> (a process that uses pressurized water, sand and chemicals<http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Hyd…> to break up rock and release gas underground). Texas-based Southwestern Energy will host the testing at one of their wells and has also funded some of Barron’s tracer research. When asked if that’s a conflict of interest, Barron asks where else he might be able to test his technology in the field. “It’s not going to be the EPA (to fund us). And I haven’t noticed Matt Damon giving me a research check recently,” he jests, referring to the actor-screenwriter whose so-so 2012 film*Promised Land* made Damon a target<http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/matt-damon-called-liar-by-pro-frackin…> for industry criticism. Barron, and FracEnsure, anticipate they may publish results from the field test in a Society of Petroleum Engineers<http://www.spe.org/unitedstates/> journal. Tracers that can already be used in fracking fluid today usually either dilute too quickly or rely on radioactive material, which isn’t a great way to test for contaminated water without contaminating it in the process. Barron says his nano rust solution is harmless, detectable at low concentrations and also lasts at least several weeks, and possibly more, making it easier to detect a slow-moving problem. Depending on the results, Barron hopes to have the nano rust tracer on the market within a year. He and his colleagues launched a company in 2011, FracEnsure, to use the nano rust product to provide a service for companies, state governments or individuals, in which they test water for contamination upon request. As far as costs go, that will depend on the market. “It’s not the dollar amount; it’s what percentage of the total cost of the well it is. We’re aiming that (the price for our tracer) should be far less than 10 percent of (the cost of) the chemicals" that the drilling company is already using. A second tracer company, BaceTrace, which popped up last year, is FracEnsure’s biggest competition so far. BaceTrace began as a research project out of Duke University, with grant money from the school, and also hopes to complete a field test before the end of the year. When CEO Justine Chow combined her biology undergraduate work with her curiosity to find a fracking fluid tracer during her graduate work, she came up with what she says may be the perfect solution: artificial deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. Just a thimbleful amount is needed for 7 million gallons, or 11 Olympic-sized swimming pools, of fracking fluid. BaceTrace Chief Technology Officer Jake Rudulph holds a small amount of DNA tracer. Photo by Jake Rudulph. Each tracer is a unique sequence, and each well will be assigned its own tracer, which allows a precise accounting of where the contamination came from. If a tracer assigned to well A shows up in an aquifer, that’s evidence that that well or a fracture in the rock linked to it is connected to that aquifer. If multiple DNA-based tracers come up in one sample of flowback water, or one aquifer, that means there’s an underground connection in the fractures between the wells in which the injection fluid for each gets mixed. “It would be interesting for the company to know that,” Chow says. “They’d probably be more productive if they didn’t spread fractures out so far.” The Duke team has already had several oil and gas companies express interest in the DNA tracer when it’s available. This interest raises the question: If these tracers have the potential to show that a project is contaminating a community’s drinking water, then why are these companies chomping at the bit to try it out? “This technology is another way for our industry to add a level of transparency to what we do and gain the public’s trust,” Christina Fowler, a spokesperson for Southwestern Energy writes in an email. Where lawsuits arise over contamination, the tracers will help plaintiffs support claims that their water has in fact been contaminated by local oil and gas development as opposed to other causes, and on the flip side, would help defendants – which Southwestern has been in the past<http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/new-lawsuit-filed-in-fracking-cou…> on this issue – prove they’re not the source of the pollution, Fowler says. In line with improving public trust, the new technology could help regulators sidestep trying to require companies togive away the specific ingredients<http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2013/03/21/legislation-would-have-fracking…> in their fracking fluid, which the industry often regards as proprietary information. There’s a chance company leaders may be more willing to let an outside party trace their fluid than they are to give away their specific formula for fracking fluid. Yet whether these new technologies will ultimately be useful in holding the oil and gas industry to a higher standard of accountability hinges on whether tracer tests have adequate safeguards to ensure companies do not manipulate results. Both FracEnsure and BaceTrace are working out the kinks and considering applications outside the oil and gas industry. It takes a couple of days to test water samples in a lab to determine whether they contain a tracer, Chow says; she’s hoping to develop the technology to be instantaneously detectable in the field. And water management and the agriculture industry might also benefit from a reliable tracer technology, in order to better understand how various water sources interact underground. “If the general public and the states have the information, then you can make a decision,” about whether to continue or begin drilling in certain locations, Barron said. “Irrespective of which direction you come from, the information is important.” *Tay Wiles is the online editor of *High Country News. *Follow her on Twitter @taywiles. Platteville, Colorado photo from Mark Udall Flickr.* -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Fwd: more on frack win
by Paul Wilson 26 Aug '13

26 Aug '13

not sure how this might relate to WV fracking..... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Edward M Dobson <edobson(a)iglide.net> Date: Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 9:09 PM Subject: more on frack win To: CONS-AWL-RESILIENT-HABITATS(a)lists.sierraclub.org *Excerpt: * * * *“[Winning bidder company] **currently holds no legal interest in the properties.” * ** *Interesting setback for industry. Tim DeChristopher must be talking to his publisher.* ** * - Ed* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-AWL-RESILIENT-HABITATS list, send any message to: CONS-AWL-RESILIENT-HABITATS-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Fwd: Lead Debate vs. Fracking Debate
by Paul Wilson 22 Aug '13

22 Aug '13

fyi, looks like it might be helpful for the Fracking folks and should be linked on the WV-fracking website. best, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 8:13 AM Subject: Fwd: Lead Debate vs. Fracking Debate Remember when the oil industry was forced to phase out leaded gasoline? Until that time in the early-1970s, oil companies spent decades denying that lead was harmful and attacked the researcher who probed it to be a harmful neurotoxin. Sound familiar? See this terrific piece in The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/19/fracking-debate-lead-pet… - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM list, send any message to: CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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from ScienceDAily e-newsletter: How shale fracking led to an Ohio town's first 100 earthquakes
by Paul Wilson 20 Aug '13

20 Aug '13

How shale fracking led to an Ohio town's first 100 earthquakes<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/WDM…> Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT Since records began in 1776, the people of Youngstown, Ohio had never experienced an earthquake. However, from January 2011, 109 tremors were recorded and new research reveals how this may be the result of shale fracking. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Colbert on Gag Oder
by James Kotcon 19 Aug '13

19 Aug '13

----- Original Message ----- From: dsborowiec(a)aol.com To: dsborowiec(a)aol.com Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 12:58 PM Subject: Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert Report: Hallowich family story about fracking makes national news If you have not seen this, it is worth a look. If you have, pass it on. JBK ----- Original Message ----- From: dsborowiec(a)aol.com To: dsborowiec(a)aol.com Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 12:58 PM Subject: Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert Report: Hallowich family story about fracking makes national news Hyperlink below is a wonderful and hilarious blasting of Range Resources, and support for the Hallowich family ordeal, on the Colbert Report. If you have not seen this, prepare to laugh as Stephen Colbert makes fun of fracking and Range Resources. Using humor to show what a bully Range Resources is to local residents who oppose them. http://m.comedycentral.com/colbertnation_video.rbml?id=the-word---gag-gift&… ----- Original Message ----- From: dsborowiec(a)aol.com To: dsborowiec(a)aol.com Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 1:29 PM Subject: use THIS link for the Colbert Report on the fracking "Gag Gift" - Hallowich gag order settlement sorry, the other link isn't working properly today.. this one loads correctly.... http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/428642/august-15-201…

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The Social Cost of Carbon
by James Kotcon 18 Aug '13

18 Aug '13

Here are some economics on the "Social Cost of Carbon" which is what the emissions of carbon dioxide actually cost us. As explained in the link below, EPA already uses these numbers as part of their estimates of the costs and benefits of various energy regulations. (Would WV ever consider doing so?) Also, the "cost" is not a specific number, but one that varies largely depending on two factors: 1) the year in which emissions occur; and 2) the "discount rate" (roughly analogous to the interest rate or rate of inflation predicted to occur in the future, i.e., the future value of a dollar). EPA uses a range of rates to provide a range of predicted values for the benefits of damages avoided for a given amount of carbon emissions reductions. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/EPAactivities/economics/scc.html The Union of Concerned Scientists has a recent editorial explaining some of the rationale and issues regarding the recent update to the SCC. http://blog.ucsusa.org/the-social-cost-of-carbon-setting-the-record-straigh… Compared to the values used by AEP and FE during the power plant transfer cases, these values from EPA are much higher. Enjoy. JBK

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Pipeline Break in Wetzel County
by James Kotcon 18 Aug '13

18 Aug '13

Is it just me, or do we see an unusual streak of candor in DEP admitting that they won't go in to sample until pollution levels have already dissipated? JBK http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201308170011#.UhC4bMv5reg.email --- This message was sent by jkotcon(a)wvu.edu via http://addthis.com. Please note that AddThis does not verify email addresses. To stop receiving any emails from AddThis, please visit: http://www.addthis.com/privacy/email-opt-out?e=blcTCRYWGg0XIg4UDEwcBgw

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from ScienceDaily e-newsletter; Mountaintop mining pollution has distinct chemical signatures
by Paul Wilson 16 Aug '13

16 Aug '13

Mountaintop mining pollution has distinct chemical signatures<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/Nt-…> Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:36 AM PDT Three elements commonly found at elevated levels in an Appalachian river polluted by runoff from mountaintop coal mining have distinctive chemistries that can be traced back to their source, according to a new study. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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FirstEnergy's EE practices
by James Kotcon 13 Aug '13

13 Aug '13

I just ran across this article in an e-mail from last week. I had heard some of this before, but putting it all together like this is pretty interesting. Would it be a good idea to start highlighting how bad First Energy is at efficiency, and urge the PSC to get independent contractors to do EE? This may be useful in both preventing a repeat of these kinds of problems, as well as creating the perception that some type of EE program is inevitable. This may all be moot if some kind of settlement gets agreed to, or we might apply it to the EE Stakeholder/Phase II process, which would be going forward in either case. Perhaps something like this could turn into a WVNS story? Whaddya Tink? Jim Kotcon On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 1:26 PM, Vanessa Pierce <vanessa.pierce(a)sierraclub.org> wrote: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-a-utilitys-shady-business-o… How a Utility’s Sketchy Efficiency Practices Could Be Costing Ratepayers More Than $400M Is FirstEnergy “hiding” efficiency on its books to the detriment of ratepayers?ADAM JAMES: JULY 12, 2013 FirstEnergy is one of the nation’s biggest investor-owned utilities, and it has a big problem. Efficiency investments, required by statute in the state of Ohio since 2008, mandate that utilities such as FirstEnergy make investments in saving energy. These efficiency targets are good for customers, who will save billions ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-efficiency-target-could-… ) of dollars over the lifetime of the investments. However, these same investments could hurt the bottom lines of vertically integrated utilities, which profit from selling electrons and building new electrical infrastructure as customers use more energy, instead of less. Efficiency programs are a clear example of the tension between what’s good for customers and what’s good for utilities. In some cases, utilities are adjusting their business models to account for these changing market dynamics. However, there are still companies that are engaging in business practices to avoid or mismanage efficiency investments. These practices have a real price tag, to the tune of millions of dollars, as customers miss out on opportunities to save energy and lower their bills. Exploiting Loophole Savings: $368 Million In 2008, a law was passed requiring FirstEnergy to help customers save energy. FirstEnergy still had no efficiency programs lined up ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=bbf7c580-3147-42d3-a94…. ) by the middle of 2009, so in a scramble to meet its end-of-year goals, it proposed ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=e9546cf4-f4b7-420b-8fb… ) purchasing and hand-delivering 3.75 million 100-watt equivalent compact florescent light bulbs, two per customer in their territory, for a cost of $21 per customer. This is about three times what those bulbs would cost ( http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/firstenergy_light_bulbs… ) at a retail store such as Home Depot. Despite opposition from interested stakeholders, the commission approved ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=5ffa3899-2740-4cae-975… ) the programbefore ( http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2009/10/10/Concerns-voiced-over-mercury-i… ) public backlash ( http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/light_bulbs.htm ) derailed ( http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20091007/FREE/910079967 ) it. FirstEnergy later sold the bulbs at a discount through retailers. Again behind on implementing an industrial efficiency program in 2011, FirstEnergy created ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=0d57b475-28de-4088-807… )an incentive program for its industrial customers. These overly lucrative incentives led to the three-year budget for the program being depleted ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/CaseRecord.aspx?Caseno=09-1947&link=DIVA ) in less than eight months as many projects went forward that perhaps shouldn’t have, before the company finally lowered incentives. These actions stranded contractors ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=410b8b5a-c8d8-401b-a71… ) who had lined up to complete these projects across the state. "Going in, of course, we couldn’t predict how popular the program would be, but its success did not diminish opportunities for our customers to participate in other energy efficiency programs. We did not turn projects away based on savings achieved through the mercantile program," said FirstEnergy's senior spokesman Christopher Eck. Overall, FirstEnergy has invested less in efficiency than other utilities. A good example: FirstEnergy invested approximately as much in helping residential customers save energy between 2009 and 2012 as Dayton Power & Light, a utility that is one-quarter ( http://www.puco.ohio.gov/emplibrary/files/util/MktMonitoringElecCustSwitchR… ) the size of FirstEnergy. In addition, FirstEnergy has shown compliance by relying heavily on a loophole that allows it to count existing efficiency projects at large consumer facilities toward its total. These “loophole savings” accounted for over 50 percent of its total claimed savings, compared to18 percent ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=55b65ebb-0700-492a-bb8… ) from American Electric Power and 18 percent ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=267ab02e-5247-47b9-b04… ) from Dayton Power & Light and Duke. FirstEnergy’s reliance on loophole savings between 2009 and 2012 displaced new energy efficiency projects that would have reduced customer energy bills $253 million over time -- instead raising customers’ energy bills by at least $115 million by offsetting new energy-efficiency projects. “If we could truly implement these programs in the way that they were meant to, electricity prices would fall and homes and businesses would receive some much-needed financial relief," said Dan Sawmiller, senior campaign representative with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Weak Capacity Market Bids: $39 Million Every year, PJM holds a ( https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/fecorp/about.html )capacity auction ( http://www.pjm.com/~/media/markets-ops/rpm/rpm-auction-info/2016-2017-base-… ) to secure enough resources to meet electricity demand three years in advance. The payments that all the generators receive are based on the capacity price, which is set by the most expensive marginal resource needed to meet demand. FirstEnergy ( https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/fecorp/about.html ) witnessed a stunning 56 percent decrease in capacity prices in the PJM auction ( http://www.pjm.com/~/media/about-pjm/newsroom/2013-releases/20130524-pjm-ca… ). The next day, FirstEnergy’s share price dropped 6.5 percent. As a utility with 20,000 megawatts of generating capacity, FirstEnergy benefits from higher capacity prices. Every megawatt of capacity clearing in the auction creates more revenue for the company, and the more expensive the last marginal generating unit is, the more it gets back across its whole portfolio. This year, the clearing price in its territory fell from $357 per megawatt-day to $114 per megawatt-day, which translated to a massive financial hit to the company. On the other hand, lower capacity prices were good for customers, who are paying less to have their electricity needs met. FirstEnergy was partially responsible for the lower prices that hurt them. The company bid in 75 percent of the projected energy savings it will achieve before the delivery year, which applied downward pressure on capacity prices in the auction. In other words, since total demand was lower, more expensive generators were edged out, making the clearing price that is paid to all the resources lower as well. So while FirstEnergy stands to collect $6.9 million on efficiency from the auction, it will likely lose quite a bit more than that on other generators in its portfolio. FirstEnergy didn’t bid the energy efficiency into the market voluntarily. It was required by the Public Utility Commission to do so, in part to help “lock in” commitments, since making the bids into capacity markets requires delivery or a risk of being fined. The end result was good for customers, but not great for FirstEnergy. Remarkably, the story took another turn last month, as a last-minute amendment by Senator Seitz (R-Green Township) in the Ohio statehouse would have required the state public utilities commission to renegotiate the terms of the efficiency commitments with FirstEnergy. If FirstEnergy succeeded in lowering its efficiency requirements during the negotiations, the company could risk being hit with a fine by PJM for reneging on its auction bid -- with the bill ultimately being footed by FirstEnergy’s customers. The amendment did not pass. This isn’t the first time the capacity markets have been home to some shady business. Last year, FirstEnergy’s Ohio distribution utilities could have bid around 360 megawatts of energy efficiency into the 2015/2016 auction. Instead, they only bid one-fifth or one-sixth of that, and ultimately only 36 megawatts cleared in the auction. This could potentially hurt customers in three ways. First, they missed out on the payments from efficiency bids that could be used to offset the costs of making the investments, which in this case would have amounted to $39 million in additional revenues going toward paying off the efficiency upgrades. Second, consumers could be forced to pay for power plants they do not need, since demand is lower but the market has no way to recognize it. Third, in some cases this can lead the overall clearing price to be much higher than it could have been -- and customers will pay those extra costs. Fortunately, because the marginal unit in that auction wouldn’t have been displaced with a full efficiency bid, these last two outcomes didn’t materialize. But that will not always be the case. Upon reaching out to FirstEnergy, the utility correctly pointed out that this analysis assumes that all 360 megawatts would be eligible in the PJM region and that it owned the resources. "It would have been irresponsible for the company to bid projected savings into the auction for years in which it had no approval to run energy efficiency programs. If we had we done so and the savings had not materialized, the price our customers would have paid for generation service could have been much higher. The savings we bid into the auction reflected actual savings that had already been installed and that the company owned," said FirstEnergy's Eck. However, FirstEnergy did not take any steps to ensure that it had ownership of the resources, and there were a significant amount of credits it left on the table. "Our PUCO-approved program met all applicable laws and regulations and we’re proud of its success," said FirstEnergy's Eck. Former Commissioner Cheryl Roberto’s dissenting opinion ( http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/TiffToPDf/A1001001A12G18B41251E34808.pdf ) points this out, stating that “the burden is on the Companies [FirstEnergy] to demonstrate that its actions are aligned with both its own interests and those of its customers. [...] The information in our record is insufficient to find that the Companies dedicated sufficient resources to reliability.” In fact, this is one reason that the Commission ordered FirstEnergy to require ownership as a condition of participating in its programs the following year. Electricity prices have fallen in Ohio by 1.4 percent since passing efficiency standards. But that's just a small portion of what could be realized if utilities offered up the full amount of energy efficiency on their books. *** GTM Editor Stephen Lacey contributed to this story. Adam James is a Research Assistant for Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress and the Executive Director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute ( http://cleanenergyleaders.org/ ). You can email him at ajames(a)americanprogress.org and follow him on Twitter @adam_s_james. Tags: capacity market ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/capacity+market ), energy efficiency ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/energy+efficiency ), firstenergy ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/firstenergy ), ohio ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/ohio ), ratepayers ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/ratepayers ), utilities ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/utilities ) Vanessa Pierce Eastern Regional Director, Beyond Coal Campaign Sierra Club | 50 F Street NW | Washington DC 20001 Tel: 202-675-6691 (w) 801-652-5151 (c)

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Fwd: Study Finds High Levels Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Fracking Sites
by Paul Wilson 10 Aug '13

10 Aug '13

This is from the Huffington Post. Click on the photo or articles title. fyi, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: David Dow <ddow420(a)comcast.net> Date: Sat, Aug 10, 2013 at 7:15 AM Subject: Fwd: Study Finds High Levels Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Fracking Sites To: Alison Robb <nature(a)cape.com>, Paul Wilson <pjgrunt(a)gmail.com>, Becky Bartovics <bartovi(a)earthlink.net> fyi Begin forwarded message: *From: *Patricia Matejcek <patachek3(a)gmail.com> *Date: *August 10, 2013 12:14:12 AM EDT *To: *CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG *Subject: **Fwd: Study Finds High Levels Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Fracking Sites* * * ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: HuffPost Green <dailybrief(a)huffingtonpost.com> Date: Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 3:43 PM Subject: Study Finds High Levels Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Fracking Sites ** Study Finds High Levels Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Fracking Sites GREEN <http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/URGdfSuomE…> [image: Study Finds High Levels Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Fracking Sites]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: t]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> [image: f]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> Study Finds High Levels Of Arsenic In Groundwater Near Fracking Sites<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: A Growing Sense of Urgency]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: t]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> [image: f]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> A Growing Sense of Urgency<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: Is The Antarctic Ozone Hole Causing Warming?]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: t]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> [image: f]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> Is The Antarctic Ozone Hole Causing Warming?<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> ------------------------------ Creationists, Climate Change Deniers Rebuffed In Kentucky<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: t]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> [image: f]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> Continue reading<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> Raging Wildfire Forces 1,800 To Evacuate<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: t]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> [image: f]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> Continue reading<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> <http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> <http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> <http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> ------------------------------ [image: A Reality Show With Depth: Live Ocean Exploration]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> A Reality Show With Depth: Live Ocean Exploration<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: t]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> [image: f]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> Continue reading<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> ------------------------------ [image: Philippe Cousteau And Others Push Major Marine Initiative]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> Philippe Cousteau And Others Push Major Marine Initiative<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> [image: t]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> [image: f]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVwKcJSYX…> Continue reading<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> ------------------------------ [image: Advertisement]<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/UgVvwuYQyd…> ------------------------------ Received this from a friend? Sign Up<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/Tn0BZ78g-_…>for alerts from The Huffington Post Forward<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/forward/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/bd…> • Unsubscribe<http://link.huffingtonpost.com/oc/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/5bc6d74…> Huffington Post, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 <http://link.huffingtonpost.com/51d26d8465dfa34d7a8a5e2c13tm8.mep/TKnXbiKfgo…> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM list, send any message to: CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Royal Dutch Shell: They've Really Got a Friend in Pennsylvania
by Beth Little 10 Aug '13

10 Aug '13

Here's a sterling example of corporate/political corruption in fracking. Royal Dutch Shell: They've Really Got a Friend in Pennsylvania By Walter Brasch <http://thedemocraticdaily.com/author/brasch/> | <http://thedemocraticdaily.com/2013/08/10/royal-dutch-shell-theyve-friend-pe nnsylvania/> August 10, 2013 - 7:55 am | by Walter Brasch Royal Dutch Shell, which owns or leases <http://www.shell.us/aboutshell/projects-locations/appalachia.html> about 900,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale, had a great idea. It wanted to frack the Ukraine. But, there was opposition. So, Royal Dutch Shell decided to create a junket for some of the Ukrainians opposed to fracking to show them just how wonderful fracking is. They were going to bring the Ukrainians to northeastern Pennsylvania, and give them an all-expenses-paid four day tour. The tour was to begin at the end of July. Other shale gas corporations have created press junkets, where they lay out a nice day or two of activities, complete with handouts, trinkets, meals, and lodging. Members of the establishment press often go on these junkets. Some take what they're told, rework it, and put it into print or on the air. Now, the people of the Ukraine anti-fracking movement aren't idiots. They weren't just going to take whatever they were shown and told. So, they contacted the state's leading fractivists and anti-fracking organizations. They wanted to learn all the facts-not just what was spoon-fed to them. They were willing to talk to anti-fracking activists when there were no other scheduled activities. But Royal Dutch Shell was monitoring FaceBook and the Internet, and saw that the Ukrainians were trying to talk to the grassroots movement in Pennsylvania to get all sides of the issue. What a company with solid PR would do would be to just deal with it-and hope that its side could be presented, and the people would make reasonable decisions. But, Royal Dutch Shell, apparently, has some rather lame six-figure income PR people and administrators. Royal Dutch Shell decided it didn't want to deal with having any opposition to its PR tour. So, the company that has about $360 billion in assets-and made about a $27 billion profit last year, placing it No. 1 on the Fortune 500 list-cancelled the tour less than a week before it was to begin. But the story doesn't end with a cancelled press junket. Royal Dutch Shell is embedded into Pennsylvania politics. The foreign-owned company was thinking about building an ethane cracker plant about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. A cracker plant takes natural gas and breaks it up to create ethylene, primarily used in plastics. Royal Dutch Shell considered placing the plant beside the Ohio River in Pennsylvania, Ohio, or West Virginia. All three states were interested, but Pennsylvania held out the most lucrative corporate welfare check for the company, which had spent <http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=e01&year=2012> $14.5 million in lobbying during 2012, about 10 percent of all lobbying costs for all gas and oil corporations. The Pennsylvania legislature handed over a 15 year exemption from local and state taxes, apparently without consulting local officials <http://publicsource.org/investigations/potter-township-forgotten-player-bri nging-shell-oil-pa> in Beaver County's Potter and Center townships. Tom Corbett, who never met a gas driller he didn't like, then approved a $1.65 billion tax credit over 25 years, tweeting <http://triblive.com/news/2008446-74/jobs-state-plant-permanent-shell-indust ry-corbett-numbers-tax-billion#axzz2DbxQ6ptB> , "A crackerplant would create up to 20,000 permanent jobs in Southwest PA." The reality is considerably lower. Shell stated it planned to hire only 400 to 600 persons; because of the location, many new employees would probably be Ohio and West Virginia residents. Even if all possible indirect jobs-including more low-wage clerks at local fast food restaurants-were added, the most would be about 6,000-7,000 employees. Pennsylvania may have been able to attract the plant without giving up so much corporate welfare. A Shell news release <http://www.shell.us/home/content/usa/aboutshell/media_center/news_and_press _releases/2012/03152012_pennsylvania.html> stated the company "looked at various factors to select the preferred site, including good access to liquids rich natural gas resources, water, road and rail transportation infrastructure, power grids, economics, and sufficient acreage to accommodate facilities for a world scale petrochemical complex and potential future expansions." Even then, Shell said it could be "several years" before construction would begin. At the proposed location, the Horsehead Corp., which signed an agreement with Shell to sell the land, has until April 30, 2014, before Shell could begin construction. Corbett may have believed that extending corporate welfare to Royal Dutch Shell was just good business, and would spur job creation and the economy. But, there is another probability for his generosity, and it's both personal and political. Dory Hippauf's "Connecting the Dots" series <http://commonsense2.com/2011/12/naturalgasdrilling/connecting-the-dots-the- marcellus-natural-gas-play-players-part-1/> explains why Corbett may have been so generous with extending tax credits and subsidies, and it begins with billionaire Terrance (Terry) Pegula, who sold <http://www.forbes.com/profile/terrence-pegula/> East Resources to Royal Dutch Shell in 2010 for $4.7 billion. East Resources, according to <http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article326485.ece> reporting in the Buffalo News, had "a less-than-stellar track record in the environmental dicey business of drilling for natural gas." Terry and Kim Pegula donated <http://marcellusmoney.org/company/shell> $280,000, and Shell donated <http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor_details.phtm l?&c=123883&i=33&s=PA&y=2010&summ> about $358,000, to Corbett's political campaign for governor. As governor, Corbett appointed Pegula in March 2011 to the newly-formed Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, which was loaded with pro-fracking energy company executives prior to being disbanded after fulfilling Corbett's vision to produce a pro-industry report. The story continues at Penn State, where the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR) announced that with funding provided by General Electric and ExxonMobil-which donated a combined $2 million to Penn State, the University of Texas, and the Colorado School of Mines-it would offer a <http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/gas_drilling_industry_pa ying_p.html> "Shale Gas Regulators Training Program." The Center had previously said it wasn't taking funding from private industry. However, the Center's objectivity may have already been influenced by two people-Tom Corbett, who sits on the university's board of trustees, and Terry Pegula. Hippauf made a few more connections. Pegula, a Penn State graduate, is full owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Penn State had Division II ice hockey teams that played in a 1,350 seat stadium. That would change. In September 2010, Penn State announced that Pegula and his wife, Kim, donated $88 million, the largest individual gift in Penn State's history, to fund a world-class 6,000-seat ice hockey arena; the men's and women's ice hockey teams would now become Division I athletics; the arena will be completed this Fall. While understanding a person's motives is difficult, it's possible the Pegulas wanted to do something nice for Penn State. It's also possible they saw Penn State as a feeder school to the NHL, especially the Sabres. There is also another possibility. On the day Pegula gave the money to Penn State, he said <http://onwardstate.com/2010/09/18/pegula-marcellus-shale-development-good-f or-students/> , "[T]his contribution could be just the tip of the iceberg, the first of many such gifts, if the development of the Marcellus Shale is allowed to proceed." So, now we have connections between Penn State, a billionaire with connections to Penn State and Pennsylvania's governor, and the world's largest gas and oil multi-nation corporation, which has substantial holdings in Pennsylvania-and is afraid to allow Ukrainians to hear about the negative effects of shale gas drilling. [Dr. Brasch's latest book is Fracking Pennsylvania <http://www.greeleyandstone.com/mediaroombooks/frackingpennsylvania.html> , an in-depth look at the effects of fracking upon health, the environment, and the economy; he also discusses the politics of fracking. The book is available at www.greeleyandstone.com <http://www.greeleyandstone.com/> , amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and your local bookstore.] http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/10/1230262/-Royal-Dutch-Shell-They-ve- Really-Got-a-Friend-in-Pennsylvania# <http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/10/1230262/-Royal-Dutch-Shell-They-ve -Really-Got-a-Friend-in-Pennsylvania> http://themoderatevoice.com/185340/royal-dutch-shell-theyve-really-got-a-fri end-in-pennsylvania/comment-page-1/ http://thedemocraticdaily.com/2013/08/10/royal-dutch-shell-theyve-friend-pen nsylvania/ http://www.laprogressive.com/royal-dutch-shell-fracking/

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Fwd: [Coal Volunteers List] TIME highlights Beyond Coal in article on climate change as a public health issue
by Paul Wilson 09 Aug '13

09 Aug '13

fyi, for those of you who are not on this SC list. paul w ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mary Anne Hitt <maryanne.hitt(a)sierraclub.org> Date: Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 9:08 PM Subject: [Coal Volunteers List] TIME highlights Beyond Coal in article on climate change as a public health issue To: #Coal <coal-list(a)sierraclub.org>, coal-volunteers-list(a)sierraclub.org Greetings Beyond Coal team, Check this out - TIME has a new article about the power of focusing on the public health impacts of climate change, and they cite the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign as the prime example of the environmental movement doing it right. This is a testament to the great work you've all been doing, and to your efforts nationally and locally to build meaningful partnerships with health professionals. Kudos! Mary Anne http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public… Public Health <http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/public-health/> Rebranding Climate Change as a Public Health Issue Why medical professionals may be the best messengers for global warning right now By Courtney Subramanian<http://healthland.time.com/author/courtneysubramanian/> @cmsub <http://www.twitter.com/cmsub>Aug. 08, 20135 Comments<http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public…> - - - - - - inShare1 - Read Later<http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public…> To most people, climate change <http://topics.time.com/climate-change/> means melting snowcaps and helpless polar bears sweltering under escalating temperatures. But most of the world’s populations aren’t likely to see an iceberg in their lifetimes, much less a stranded polar bear in the wild. Which explains why the dangers of these environmental changes haven’t exactly earned high priority on most people’s list of attention-worthy crises. (Does anyone remember Al Gore <http://topics.time.com/al-gore/>’s $300 million We Campaign<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1837761,00.html>?) The politicization of climate change — the never-ending debate over whether it exists, for example, and the ensuing back-and-forth over its causes, its implications and potential solutions — further discourages the public from action. But what if climate change were instead about an increase in childhood asthma, or a surge in infectious diseases, or even an influx of heat-induced heart attacks? Would that hold more resonance for the average citizen of the world? That’s what some climate change experts are hoping, as they steer the conversation about global warming<http://topics.time.com/global-warming/> toward the public health issues it raises. Last week, the journal *Science* featured a special <http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/climate2013/> issue <http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/climate2013/> on climate change and included a study on the complex yet growing connection between global warming and infectious diseases. *MORE:* Infectious Disease Could Become More Common In a Warmer World—Especially for Plants and Animals<http://science.time.com/2013/08/02/infectious-disease-could-be-more-common-…> According to a recent study<http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10584-012-0513-6.pdf>, framing global warming as a public health issue rather than as an environmental or national security one produces the most emotionally compelling response among people, since it focuses on the immediate implications a warmer climate could have on people’s lives. This strategy also has the benefit of providing a sense of hope that the problems can be addressed and avoided, if people take action early enough. Matthew Nesbit, co-author of the study, says such positive actions are critical for communicating the importance of climate change to a broader and more diverse proportion of Americans who may not care about environmental issues. “It’s easy to become fatalistic about the problem,” he says. “You have to give them a sense of hope that they can become part of something that addresses the problem.” For example, tying the frequency of extreme weather events, such as last year’s devastating Hurricane Sandy, widespread wildfires or the recent summer heat waves to global climate change can help people to appreciate the immediacy of the problem. As people deal with the public health consequences of such events — from floods to contaminated water to heat-related illnesses — the impact that environmental events have on health starts to hit home. To exploit this potential, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a Climate and Health Program in 2009, and associate director George Luber has been advising 16 states as well as New York City and San Francisco officials, on regional climate change problems and the public health issues they entail. (*MORE: *States Show Improvements but Remain Unprepared for Public-Health Emergencies<http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/27/states-show-improvements-but-remain-u…> ) The Obama administration also seems to be getting the message. In an energy speech in June at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the President laid out his plans for climate change. Speaking in the midst of a blistering heat wave that was roasting the Northeast, Obama called on policymakers to readdress global warming and implement new pollution standards. And he emphasized that such action was necessary not only to preserve the planet, but also our health. “Don’t tell folks that we have to choose between the health of our economy or the health of our children,” he said as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. “By simply having him put those two words in his speech makes an enormous difference in people recognizing that it’s a public health problem,” says Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association (APHA). By re-branding global warming as a health issue, the administration is hoping to bypass the political quagmire that has kept climate change initiatives such as regulating greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants or passing renewable energy standards from being implemented. Earlier this month, the White House chose to honor medical and environmental professionals in its Champions of Change<http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/12/protecting-human-health-changing-…> program, for their efforts in “protecting public health in a changing climate.” (*MORE: *Fighting Climate Change by Not Focusing on Climate Change<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2085220,00.html#ixzz2bEErBpj2> ) But even Champion of Change recipient Gary Cohen, co-founder and president of global non-profit Healthcare Without Harm <http://www.noharm.org/>, says that the re-branding will require the backing of medical professionals, who serve as the hubs of education for raising community awareness about the health consequences of climate change. That’s why Healthcare Without Harm, for example, is trying to transform the healthcare industry into a greener sector — encouraging hospitals to adopt more environmentally friendly energy resources and waste management practices — and informing medical professionals about the close connection between climate change and medicine. “Healing is their core mission,” Cohen says. “It’s the one sector of the economy that has an ethical framework that underpins it.” Sabrina Mccormick, an environmental documentary filmmaker and sociologist at George Washington University, agrees that doctors have a unique role that can transcend political differences. “[The public is] kind of attuned to their expertise and we really care about what they say,” McCormick says. “They have a potential for an impact that scientists may not have.” Indeed, a 2012 Gallup poll<http://www.gallup.com/poll/159035/congress-retains-low-honesty-rating.aspx> found that the American public ranked nurses with the highest honesty rating (85%) while doctors placed third with 70%. That’s why anti-smoking advocates, for instance, focused on educating medical professionals to quit smoking first before addressing the greater public. Cohen believes doctors can do the same for climate change as long as they are prepared and educated to lead by example as environmentally responsible stewards. And they have reason to be hopeful. The environmental group Sierra Club was successful in doing just that with its “Beyond Coal<http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/>” campaign, which shut down coal power plants in several states by eliciting the help of local stakeholders, including physicians, who informed local residents about the respiratory problems that the plants triggered among its workers and children in the area. (*MORE:* ’Coal Kills Every Day’: Michael Bloomberg Pledges $50 Million to Fight the Coal Industry<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2084476,00.html> ) It’s also encouraging that more physicians, particularly newly minted ones, are inclined to join in the climate change conversation. The American Medical Association has hosted state-based courses on climate change since 2011 <http://www.amednews.com/article/20110404/opinion/304049959/4/>, educating doctors about how to prepare for and respond to climate-related illnesses and injuries. In May 2011, the journal* Lancet* hosted a worldwide symposium on climate change and health concerns, drawing international experts to discuss the health implications of a changing climate while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has since shifted its efforts to focusing on the health concerns emerging from global warming after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for its 2007 report<http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessmen…> . Such efforts to embed awareness into medical training are important, says Nesbit and other experts, since the re-branding is not about spin as much as it is about changing the type of dialogue people have about climate change. “You’re creating the context and the relationship around which people are discussing, interacting and bumping into information about climate change,” he says. For instance, he says pediatricians may start to explain how higher regional pollen counts, which may be contributing to their patients’ asthma and allergies, could be due in part to changing climates that boost pollen production of trees. And the timing may also be right for such conversations as well. With unemployment now below 7%, coupled with the frequency in extreme weather, people may be more inclined to accept public health efforts aimed at reducing their exposure to potentially costly health problems that might be emerging from changing patterns in the global climate. Among young voters, a new poll found<http://www.lcv.org/issues/polling/recent-polling-on-youth.pdf> that 79% were more likely to vote for a candidate who supports taking action on the issue, regardless of the candidate’s party. (*MORE:* Dengue Fever Creeps Back Into the U.S. — and Climate Change Isn’t Helping<http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/10/dengue-fever-creeps-back-into-the-u-s…> ) The hope is that seeing climate change as a health issue will spur more people into pushing for environmental reforms, but that’s still a big ‘if.’ “My biggest concern is that like many things in prevention, people might want to put it off,” says Benjamin. “We don’t have 20 years to wait like the tobacco campaign. Every year we wait puts us behind the eight ball, and I think it’s important to move that message.” Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/08/rebranding-climate-change-as-a-public… -- Mary Anne Hitt Director, Beyond Coal Campaign Sierra Club Twitter <http://twitter.com/#!/maryannehitt> | Blog<http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/coal-director/> 304-876-7064 (w) | 540-239-0073 (c) www.beyondcoal.org -- To access the Beyond Coal Campaign Resource Portal, go to: https://sites.google.com/a/sierraclub.org/beyond-coal-resource-portal/ To sign up for this list, email becki.clayborn(a)sierraclub.org with the subject and message "SUBSCRIBE #coal-volunteer" --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "#Coal-Volunteers" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coal-volunteers-list+unsubscribe(a)sierraclub.org. To post to this group, send email to coal-volunteers-list(a)sierraclub.org. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Fwd: EPA Fracking Cover Up?
by Paul Wilson 06 Aug '13

06 Aug '13

somebody with Fracking experience want to check this out? David is a SC member in Massachusetts and this was posted to the Club's COAST-OCEAN-FORUM. best, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: David Dow <ddow420(a)comcast.net> Date: Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 8:11 AM Subject: Fwd: EPA Fracking Cover Up? To: Alison Robb <nature(a)cape.com>, Paul Wilson <pjgrunt(a)gmail.com> Cc: Dan Proctor <dproctor(a)post.harvard.edu>, "Woll Jr. Woll" < ewoll(a)sandw.com>, Becky Bartovics <bartovi(a)earthlink.net> fyi Begin forwarded message: *From: *Patricia Matejcek <patachek3(a)gmail.com> *Date: *August 6, 2013 3:51:58 AM EDT *To: *CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG *Subject: **Fwd: EPA Fracking Cover Up?* * * Wanted to make sure you saw this and signed ~ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sarah Alexander, Food & Water Watch <act(a)fwwatch.org> Date: Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 2:03 PM Subject: EPA Fracking Cover Up? Last week, there was breaking news from EPA whistle-blowers that in 2012 the EPA abandoned an investigation of fracking-related water contamination in Dimock, Pennsylvania after an EPA staff member raised the flag that it was likely caused by fracking¹. There's an unfortunate trend here, because they've also abandoned their fracking-related water contamination investigations in Pavillion, Wyoming² and Weatherford, Texas³. This is unbelievable, and totally unacceptable. Will you join me today in calling on President Obama and his new EPA administrator Gina McCarthy to immediately reopen these investigations and deliver safe drinking water to the residents of these communities while the investigations commence?<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=egZWsTPol7SnKCbtRCiDsQ> Thanks for taking action, Sarah Alexander Deputy Organizing Director Food & Water Watch act(at)fwwatch(dot)org ________________ 1. Internal EPA report highlights disputes over fracking and well water<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=EaDKPGChiqXx05jT7yJgbQ>. LA Times, July 27, 2013. 2. EPA Drops Fracking Probe in Wyoming<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=gapXuEGo-WOnCYNRITCTSg>. Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2013. 3. EPA halted 'fracking' case after gas company protested<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=K1kUzAAtToHJ1rIQ-l_x-Q>. USA Today, January 16, 2013. ------------------------------ *Sent by Food & Water Watch to patachek3(a)gmail.com * Donate: https://secure3.convio.net/fww/site/Donation2?df_id=1040&1040.donation=form1<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=qRRIdagK3zEA0t-AftwcQA> Contact us: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/about/contact-us/<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=NTulgC0n2nw_h04hUrJ2Gw> Visit us online: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/R?i=jplniXpIWoch-kELvUBjmQ> Unsubscribe: https://secure3.convio.net/fww/site/CO<http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/CO?i=fqOPrwbrMk2h6Fw1TSKntXj0EWbIp0Zi…> Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink. Food & Water Watch, 1616 P Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 683-2500 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM list, send any message to: CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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FW: DEP Public Notice - Comment period begins on draft TMDLs in Monongahela River Watershed
by Frank Young 02 Aug '13

02 Aug '13

-----Original Message----- From: dep.online(a)wv.gov [mailto:dep.online@wv.gov] Sent: Friday, August 02, 2013 4:55 PM To: fyoung(a)mountain.net Subject: DEP Public Notice - Comment period begins on draft TMDLs in Monongahela River Watershed The following was sent to you because you are a Member of the DEP Public Notice mailing list. =========================================================== Friday, August 2, 2013 @ 4:53 PM =========================================================== The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announces a comment period and public meeting on draft Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for impaired streams in the Monongahela River watershed. A Total Maximum Daily Load is a plan of action used to clean up streams not meeting water quality standards. Each of the streams under TMDL development has been identified as violating state water quality standards and the federal Clean Water Act requires TMDL development for them. The pollutants addressed in this project are acidity (pH), total iron, total manganese, total selenium, dissolved aluminum, chlorides and fecal coliform. After consideration of public comments, DEP will submit final draft TMDLs to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval. A public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., August 20, 2013 to present a general discussion of the TMDL development process and to answer questions regarding the proposed TMDLs. The meeting will be held at Fairmont State University in the Falcon Center, Conference Room 3, Room 303, 2101 Locust Ave., Fairmont, WV. Parking is available to guests on the third floor of the parking garage across from the Falcon Center. The DEP invites public comment on all aspects of the draft TMDLs. The comment period begins August 2, 2013 and extends through September 3, 2013. Written comments may be submitted by U.S. Mail, electronic mail, and fax. The preferred form for comment submissions is e-mail or disk in order to expedite the review and response process. Written comments should be postmarked no later than September 3, 2013. Comments should be sent to: Steve Young, ATTN: Monongahela River TMDL Comments West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection 601 57th Street Charleston, WV 25304 E-mail: stephen.a.young(a)wv.gov The TMDLs will be available for review by close of business August 2, 2013 on DEP's webpage: www.dep.wv.gov/tmdl CDs may also be obtained by calling Steve Young at (304) 926-0495, TTY 711 (304) 558-2751. =========================================================== To view past notices of open public comment periods or to unsubscribe from this Mailing List, login at: http://apps.dep.wv.gov//MLists2/

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West Virginia Seeks "Reset" on Coal With EPA
by Frank Young 02 Aug '13

02 Aug '13

West Virginia Seeks "Reset" on Coal With EPA Greg Stotelmyer , Public News Service-WV http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33778-1 Join the discussion: facebook.com/PublicNewsService <http://www.facebook.com/PublicNewsService> Twitter: @pns_news <http://twitter.com/#!/pns_news> @pns_WV <http://twitter.com/#!/pns_WV> Google+: plus.to/publicnewsservice <http://plus.google.com/106260479325451709866> (08/02/13) CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was briefed Thursday by a West Virginia delegation about the impact the agency's new policies could have on the state's coal industry. The Obama administration is moving to limit carbon emissions from new power plants. Politicians and industry leaders who attended the 45-minute meeting said EPA administrator Gina McCarthy was receptive to their concerns. "And, I really think that we are going to have the opportunity to hit the reset button and begin a dialogue that hopefully encourages coal to be a part of the president's energy plan going forward," said Tim Miley, the Democratic speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates. West Virginia is the third-largest energy producing state. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin also attended the meeting. He maintains the EPA's policies are overzealous and have led to the closing of coalmines and power plants. But environmental groups back the direction the EPA is heading. "We've never been entirely satisfied with the EPA," said John McFerrin, secretary of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. "But we're more satisfied now than at some times in the past. And, they certainly do not need to be reined in." U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia called the meeting a very respectful, direct and productive discussion about how the EPA's policies have hurt the coal industry. "If anything just trying to prohibit the use of the product we're depending on," he said. "That makes no sense whatsoever. And, I told them that the war on coal is not an optical illusion, it was real." Manchin said the delegation invited McCarthy, who is in her first week as administrator of the EPA, to come to West Virginia to see first hand the impact of the agency's decisions. McFerrin disagrees with how Manchin characterizes the situation. "By any meaningful definition, it isn't a war on coal," he said. "The proper way to look at it is, the dealings and industry that has gotten to do whatever it pleased for the last, oh, forever and if not getting to do everything that you want to do is your definition of war, then I suppose it is." Click <http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33778-1> here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33778-1 --- To be removed from this list please send an e-mail to remove(a)publicnewsservice.org <mailto:remove@publicnewsservice.org?subject=remove> and put the word "remove" in the subject line.

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EC August 2013