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Air pollution persists ....
by Duane330＠aol.com 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

Air Pollution: Taking the Sting Out of Acid Rain David Malakoff* .............. Science magazine, November 12, 2010. As many prepare to toast the success of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the U.S. acid rain program is facing turmoil and uncertainty. Its once high-flying emissions-trading market has collapsed in the wake of a complex court ruling, legislative gridlock—and its own success. Industry analysts say the collapse could create a perverse incentive for utilities to ease up, at least temporarily, on cutting emissions while the government works on new rules. Researchers, meanwhile, warn that the problem isn't going away. Acid deposition continues to threaten many sensitive ecosystems, and analysts say deeper emissions cuts are needed to prevent future pollution from undoing the gains of the past 20 years. * David Malakoff is a writer in Alexandria, Virginia. Full story at _http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/330/6006/910?sa_campaign=Email/… (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/330/6006/910?sa_campaign=Email/s… mber-2010/10.1126/science.330.6006.910) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> _National Geographic News_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/) Marianne Lavelle, Published October 17, 2010 _SPECIAL REPORT: THE GREAT SHALE GAS RUSH_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2010/10/101022-energy-marcel…) Exploring the promise and challenge of a new energy supply. Chris and Stephanie Hallowich say they tried to choose carefully when they were seeking out their dream home in southwestern Pennsylvania. Thinking of their two young children, the high school history teacher and his wife, an accountant, rejected one property when they learned it had once been the site of a strip mine for coal. They settled instead on 10 acres of long-fallow farmland for $20,000, and began to build. The Hallowiches’ yellow, two-story home in Mount Pleasant Township, about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh in Washington County, was completed in November 2007. Nestled on a wooded hill far from the main roadway, it has a swing set and a garden on rolling land where the children could run. But even as they were building, the bucolic view was being replaced by an industrial panorama. Four natural gas wells, a gas processing plant, a compressor station, buried pipelines, a three-acre plastic-lined holding pond, and a gravel road with heavy truck traffic surround them. Instead of the sound of bird calls and the scent of new-mown grass, the Hallowiches listen to the wheeze of tractor-trailer brakes and and breathe diesel fumes—and worse. “It’s ruined our lives. That’s what it comes down to,” says Chris. “It’ s ruined our plans that we had for the kids. It’s ruined what we thought was our perfect ten acres.” Life in the Midst of a Boom Thanks mainly to deals struck by the previous owner of their property—the extent of which they say they did not understand at the time of their purchase—the Hallowiches now live on a hillside hub of the Marcellus shale boom. (See Photos: "_A Changed Environment_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/photogalleries/101022-energ…) ") Even though they receive some recompense—a monthly royalty check of a few hundred dollars—they say it doesn’t compensate for the money they’ve been spending to have fresh water delivered and stored at their home. They found pollutants in their well water, and although the extent and source are much in dispute, they refuse to drink, cook, or bathe with it. They say they fear that they and their children, now 6 and 9, face health risks from both polluted drinking water and air. And beyond that, they worry that the rural way of life here is being obliterated by an industry that, to them, seems to operate with little oversight or control. It’s hard to dispute that the Hallowich land sits on one of the most active plots in the 95,000-square-mile (246,000-square-kilometer) Marcellus shale, the rock formation extending from West Virginia to New York that the energy industry is tapping, with a combination of technological innovations, to produce huge quantities of natural gas. And it is true that the Hallowiches cope with noisy permanent installations like the compressor station and gas processing plant that have disrupted their lives. But gas producers say the site should be seen as an anomaly, not as a sign of what’s to come. Short-Term Disruptions? “From a nuisance perspective, I will tell you they have a legitimate concern,” says Matt Pitzarella, spokesman for Range Resources, the company that drilled the well that produces gas beneath the Hallowich site. His gas company and others say the bulk of their operations—the well sites themselves— are short-term disruptions and that the land is restored, as the state of Pennsylvania requires, within nine months after drilling is complete. The water impoundments serve many wells and can be around longer—the one behind the Hallowich house has been there since July 2007—but gas producers also say these man-made, plastic-lined lakes are temporary. The land will be restored when the water holding area is no longer needed. “It is an industrial process and we're honest, open, and transparent about that,” says Pitzarella. In most cases, he says, “There are lights, some noises, some road dust, but within a year it's all gone and everything is put back together.” In particular, Range and other companies cite numerous steps they take, such as construction of steel and concrete well casings, to protect groundwater. Still, the Hallowich case is one of a number of bitterly contested water disputes that have erupted since the industry began to spread out across Pennsylvania, one of the few states _without any private well regulation_ (http://www.rural.palegislature.us/drinking_water_quality.pdf) . There is no definitive proof where the pollution in the Hallowich well water came from. A Question of Oversight Oversight of these disputes, along with other regulation of the shale gas industry here, is the responsibility of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which has more than doubled its staff to handle the job. DEP has conducted more than 3,400 inspections of more than 1,400 well sites so far this year. It requires reams of paperwork for every drill, water site, and waste discharge, and it mandates site restoration and regrading of any hills that are flattened for well pads. With more than 2,100 Marcellus wells drilled in Pennsylvania since 2007, DEP has found more than 500 violations of state environmental regulations and more than 1,000 administrative violations, such as failure to keep drilling logs on site. Although DEP does not have an exact figure for fines paid by the Marcellus industry, the agency says its operations were the target of the majority of $1.8 million in oil and gas industry fines it has levied so far this year. DEP also temporarily curtailed operations of two of the nearly 70 natural gas companies working in the Marcellus. Even industry supporters, who cheer the arrival of a cleaner fuel source to replace coal and oil, say there have been too many accidents and too much mistrust sown by industry secrecy and resistance to further oversight. “This gas industry has a great product, but how they drill it and how they produce it is going to go a long way to deciding whether the American people embrace it or actually reject it,” says Pennsylvania DEP Secretary John Hanger, the state’s chief industry regulator. Safe Process, but Risky Execution? Both Hanger’s office and the gas industry maintain that if the process is done properly, there is no threat to drinking water when chemically treated water and sand are blasted underground to fracture shale to produce gas. (Related: “_Forcing Gas Out of Rock With Water_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101022-energy-marcellus-sha… ter/) ”) The hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid, about 4 million gallons (15 million liters) per well, is released into the shale layer at a depth of 4,000 to 8,500 feet (1,220 to 2,590 meters). (Related interactive: "_Breaking Fuel From the Rock_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101022-breaking-fuel-from-t…) ") That means that there is about a mile or more of rock between the shale and underground water sources used for drinking water. About _1 million Pennsylvania households_ (http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/watermgt/wc/subjects/SrceProt/well/…) , nearly 20 percent of residences in the state, draw their water from private wells that are relatively shallow. Wells in the western half of the state, for instance, would likely be drilled to depths of less than 150 feet (46 meters), according to the Pennsylvania Geological Survey. The potential for contamination of drinking water aquifers is a major concern in the Keystone State, which has more people served by well water than any state but Michigan, according to a 2009 _analysis_ (http://www.rural.palegislature.us/drinking_water_quality.pdf) year prepared for the state legislature. The chief bulwark against water pollution is a separating wall—a casing made of tons of steel and cement—built in each gas well not only to protect the environment, but also to ensure the valuable gas doesn’t escape. Hanger says there hasn’t been a single confirmed case of frack fluid migrating from the shale layer deep underground to the shallow drinking water supplies in Pennsylvania. However, about 20 to 50 percent of the drilling liquid flows back to the surface, most of it right after the well is completed. And that’s when proven trouble can occur. “It’s Not Water of Any Kind” This “produced water,” which includes the frack chemicals, is a super-salty brine, prone to bacterial growth, and potentially contaminated with heavy metals. “It smells like turpentine,” says Conrad Dan Volz, director of the _Center for Healthy Environments and Communities_ (http://www.chec.pitt.edu/) at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, who has been researching the environmental impact. “It’s not water of any kind.” State regulations say the frack fluid has to be collected and disposed of as an industrial waste, or it can be treated and reused to drill more wells, a practice pioneered in Pennsylvania within the past year. (Related: “ _Forcing Gas Out of Rock With Water_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101022-energy-marcellus-sha…) ”) Hanger says the water reuse is in no small measure a result of the DEP’s tough stance on wastewater handling. But in at least 130 cases documented since 2008 by the DEP, drilling wastewater has spilled into creeks and tributaries due to holding pond overflows, pump failures, and other errors. There have been at least two small fish kills. One occurred in October 2009, soon after Range started its program to reuse frack fluid: about 10,500 gallons (40,000 liters/250 barrels) leaked from a _broken pipeline joint_ (http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/regional_news/1429…) and killed about 170 creek chubs, blacknose dace, and other small fish, along with some salamanders and frogs in Brush Run, 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Range says the fish killed collectively weighed about a pound. The company suspects vandalism, because bolts had been removed from the pipe connection. But no perpetrators have been tracked down, and the company was fined $140,000 for polluting a high-quality waterway. (Range since has switched to using unbolted high-density polyethylene pipeline to transfer its drilling fluid, Pitzarella says.) In another _case_ (http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=…) , involving East Resources* in north-central Pennsylvania, the state quarantined cattle exposed to wastewater that leaked from a containment pond and killed grass over 1,200 square feet on a farm. State agriculture officials said they acted to prevent contaminated beef from entering the food chain, since the water contained the heavy metal strontium, a substance especially toxic to children and one that lingers long in an animal’s system. In a case that echoed the BP oil spill, although the results certainly weren’t as severe, an EOG Resources well blew out on June 3, with natural gas and frack fluid spewing for 16 hours from the gas well on hunting club land inside the Moshannon State Forest in central Pennsylvania. (Related: “ _Parks, Forests Eyed for the Fuel Beneath_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101022-energy-marcellus-sha…) ”) There should have been at least two pressure barriers or blowout preventers in the underground piping to prevent contaminated fluid from flowing to the surface, but only one barrier was in place, and it was damaged, the DEP’s investigation showed. EOG was hit with the harshest punishment to date by Pennsylvania ’s shale regulators—a fine of $353,000 and temporary suspension from drilling. The Dimock Case But perhaps the most notorious Pennsylvania contamination case was in the northeastern part of the state, in rural Dimock Township, where natural gas was found in early 2009 to have contaminated the drinking water wells of 14 homes. Investigators were able to do a kind of “fingerprinting” to determine the source, and concluded the gas did not come from the Marcellus shale. But the state DEP contends that faulty well casing set into the ground by Cabot Oil & Gas as it drilled into the deep Marcellus allowed gas to migrate from more shallow geological formations into the groundwater. Dimock’s woes were recounted in the award-winning documentary film Gasland, forever linking the image of flammable drinking water to the Marcellus shale (even though the man who memorably set fire to his tap water in the film was in Colorado). Now the dispute in Dimock has escalated, with the state DEP announcing in September that it would seek to recover from Cabot the $11.8 million cost of building a line to hook the affected homes to a public water system, bypassing the natural gas pollution in their aquifer. Cabot, which originally signed consent orders with the state DEP agreeing to plug three of its wells, to pay at least $240,000 in fines and to provide water treatment systems for the affected homes, began to publicly and aggressively fight the state. Cabot contends that the natural gas was naturally occurring in the area’s water, and on a “_Clearing the Air_ (http://www.cabotog.com/comm_susquehanna.html) ” web site the company has posted affidavits of four longtime residents saying the area’s water was always known to be flammable. The truth of the Dimock situation appears destined to be hashed out in the court system; in addition to the state DEP’s legal action, Cabot documents also say there is a pending suit by residents. But the issue of faulty well construction is a concern for the regulators that goes beyond Dimock. In addition to the Cabot case, the DEP has cited companies nearly 50 times since 2008 for faulty well casing that posed a risk to groundwater. And in September, the DEP requested that one of the largest gas producers, Chesapeake Energy_, inspect 171 well casings_ (http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=… 1) in northeastern Pennsylvania because natural gas had been found in six private water wells. Also, the state is in the final stages of approving more stringent well cementing and casing requirements for all drillers that Hanger says will be “as strong as any in the country.” “They Need to See Every Spill . . . as Unacceptable” To oversee the oil and gas industry, the Pennsylvania DEP has enlarged its staff from 88 people to nearly 200, paid for by a significant hike in the cost of drilling permits that increased fee revenue from $700,000 per year to more than $10 million. But Hanger says that the gas industry has to do its part. “What we’ve been absolutely focused on is trying to build a culture of safety, by enforcing real rules,” he says. “Because at the end of the day, these companies are the only folks who are there pretty much all the time. We will never have an inspector at every well site every minute of every day. “So these companies are creating what I describe as the bed in which they will lie with the public,” Hanger says. “They need to see every spill and every leak as unacceptable. They need to see every blowout as unacceptable, every gas migration case as completely unacceptable.” Public and Private Battles Although the industry maintains that the majority of wells have been drilled safely, and that companies have paid for the damage they’ve done in isolated cases, the industry is clearly on the defensive. No drilling is currently permitted in Pennsylvania’s easternmost counties. That’s by decision of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), a federal-multistate compact agency that governs water use in the environmentally sensitive watershed on Pennsylvania’s border with New Jersey and New York, which provides water to 17 million people. The DRBC decided on June 14 to halt all natural gas drilling _in its region_ (http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/naturalgas.htm) while it writes new environmental rules. In New York, where the Marcellus underlies the Catskill Mountains region that provides New York City with its drinking water—in one of the largest unfiltered water systems in the world—gas drilling has been on _hold_ (http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/newsrel_naturalgas050610.htm) , in effect, since 2008. On September 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked _nine natural gas service companies_ (http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/e…) to submit information on the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing— indicating the agency will use its legal authority to compel disclosure of the information if the companies do not comply. EPA is in the midst of a _study of the safety_ (http://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/class2/hydraulicfracturing/index.…) of fracking, for which it held packed meetings in Pennsylvania and New York. Leading energy industry analysts believe that in whatever energy bill Congress passes next, there will be both a new federal requirement on frack chemical disclosure and an amendment to assure that fracking is regulated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). (In its 2005 energy bill, Congress included an exemption from SDWA oversight for the water put into the ground for hydraulic fracturing—a provision that has come to be known as the “Halliburton loophole” after the oil and gas industry service company that is active in the shale industry.) In addition to increasing official scrutiny, the Marcellus gas industry is embroiled in private battles like the one with the Hallowich family. Ironically, because of a lease signed by the previous owner of their property before they purchased it, the Hallowiches get a royalty check from Range Resources every month, typically between $300 and $400, for natural gas produced from under their land. That previous owner would have been due those royalties, and actually tried to back out of the sales agreement with the Hallowiches before closing in 2006. But they took her to court and forced the sale. The Hallowiches said they did not understand the lease was for gas drilling; they say they were told at closing that the lease was for work on a pipeline at the other end of the farm. Tracking the Source of the Pollution Now, the Hallowiches are suing Range and others; they say all the royalty money they earn goes to fighting pollution woes. But how much pollution they face, and where it comes from, are subjects steeped in acrimony; successive rounds of water testing by different parties have only made the matter murkier. Since June 2009, the Hallowiches say, they have spent more than $5,000 to have water for drinking, cooking, and bathing delivered and stored in a 1,500-gallon (5,700-liter) rented tank in their garage, filled every three weeks, and pumped through the house. State DEP testing conducted in May 2009 showed that their well water had levels of the mineral manganese, a potential neurotoxin, more than three times higher than the state water quality standard. The state DEP said in an August 2009 letter to the Hallowiches that the manganese was a common problem in southwestern Pennsylvania, and could be naturally occurring. But the Hallowiches had follow-up tests done by two private labs. One of these detected acrylonitrile, a chemical used to make a wide variety of plastics; it can affect the central nervous system, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The same lab’s testing showed trace levels of other toxic chemicals. The state DEP said in its August 2009 letter to the Hallowiches that the only contaminant in the water that consistently exceeded state standards for drinking water was manganese. The DEP noted that the testing by the other private lab hired by the Hallowiches did not detect any acrylonitrile, and the DEP suggested that the compound could have come from the plastic decorative rock the Hallowiches used over their well. The Hallowiches, who obtained a letter from the decorative rock company and material data safety sheets stating there was no acrylonitrile in the plastic fixture, are convinced that the chemicals migrated from the natural gas drilling operations. Because acrylonitrile is in so many plastics, they maintain that a probable source is one of the plastic liners—either in the fresh water impoundment or in one of the drilling waste pits buried on site. But Range, which has publicly disclosed its fracking chemicals since this summer, says acrylonitrile is not used in its processes or in its plastic liners. As in Dimock Township, it appears it will be up to the courts to decide the truth. Complicating matters is the fact that the Hallowiches have no definitive proof on any of the pollution issues. Because they did not test their water for chemicals before drilling began, they have no baseline against which to compare any current readings. In fact, the Hallowiches did not test their water, except for the bacteria, until a year and a half after gas drilling ended. That omission is important, because by Pennsylvania law, an oil or gas company is presumed to be responsible for pollution if a well is drilled within 1,000 feet of a water supply (as is the Range Resources well next door to the Hallowiches) but only if it can be shown that the pollution occurred within six months of drilling. Because of the liability potential, Range and most other companies routinely do a pre-drilling analysis of water wells within 1,000 feet of a planned oil or gas well. But the Hallowich site fell between the cracks in the law. The family didn’t tap their underground water until three months after gas drilling began in July 2007. The Hallowiches said they were never notified or warned to have their water tested, as they believe they should have been. And Stephanie says she was not originally worried about the gas operations. “Just water and sand,” she says, is all she understood to be used in the shale gas process. But as the gas operations encroached, Stephanie contacted groups opposed to natural gas drilling elsewhere in the state, including activists who organized not far from trouble-ridden Dimock. They are the ones, Stephanie says, who urged that the couple do their own water testing for a range of chemicals they say they never would have considered if they had collected a sample before the gas drilling began. After all that she has since learned, from the activists and her own exhaustive research, Stephanie is convinced that drilling is rife with hazards. “It’s just like a big chemistry experiment in the ground,” she says. Worries, Too, About the Air The Hallowiches also have fears about the air, after suffering burning eyes, sore throats and other symptoms when gas was released several times during apparent equipment malfunctions. A windsock now tells the Hallowiches when air is blowing from the direction of the gas facilities, so they can keep the children indoors. University of Pittsburgh environmental researcher Conrad Dan Volz, whose center, along with the University of Washington, Seattle, is researching the Hallowiches’ case as part of a larger study on the industry impact, believes the Marcellus air pollution risk is largely being overlooked. Air pollution is one of Volz’s areas of focus in a $1.8 million, three-year project funded by the Heinz Endowments, which includes the launch of a web site called _FracTracker_ (http://www.fractracker.org/) , to be used by citizens, community groups, government agencies, and public health officials. Information, he says, has been as dispersed as the industry. “If any new industry moved into an area and essentially wanted to build a factory, they would have to submit all these environmental plans,” he says. “This industry, because it’s more diffuse over such a large geographic area, has avoided getting that kind of scrutiny. The [federal] Clean Air Act is very much devised to regulate the largest industrial processors, not necessarily an industrial process spread through an entire region.” Although the individual gas plants do have to obtain Clean Air Act permits, and their emissions are regulated, it is the cumulative impact of numerous facilities that has caused a problem for the Hallowiches. The Dispute Goes to Court Pitzarella says that Range has offered to buy the Hallowich property, while leaving them the mineral rights, for around $200,000. Pitzarella says the offer—which was made verbally, not in writing—was based on a real estate agent’s assessment of the fair market value of the property. But the Hallowiches, who have put their house on the market for close to $500,000, say they never received either a verbal or written offer from Range, although the company invited them to talk. They say that Range asked what they wanted; t hey replied that they wanted the company to buy their house, reimburse them for water, pay their legal fees, and create an escrow account for medical monitoring for the family. The two sides disagree on exactly when negotiations broke down, but the Hallowiches say they did not want to sign away their right to sue because their problems, they say, are bigger than polluted well water and go beyond their issues with Range. Stephanie Hallowich points out that their lives also have been disrupted by two big facilities built by other companies the year after they moved into their home: a gas compressor station 580 yards (530 meters) away, operated by MarkWest Energy Partners of Denver and a gas conditioning facility 340 yards (310 meters) away operated by a subsidiary of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Williams Company. “Would you want to buy my house?” asks Stephanie. “Our house and property are worth nothing. Even if we found somebody who’d be willing to buy it, there’s probably not a bank that would finance it.” So the Hallowiches have filed a notice of intent to sue Range, MarkWest, and Williams Company, as well as the Pennsylvania DEP, which they blame for failing to enforce the law. DEP spokesman John Repetz says that the agency’ s investigation into the Hallowich situation is continuing. But he said the agency could say little more about the case while it was in litigation. MarkWest and Williams also said they did not comment on matters in litigation. Range’s Pitzarella says that because Pennsylvania never has required homeowners to test their private drinking water wells, the potential is great for clashes between residents and the new gas industry. In regions where chemicals and minerals entered aquifers long ago from both farming and coal mining, Pitzarella says, the gas industry is being blamed unfairly for pollutants that were in the groundwater long before its arrival. “Oftentimes, when we do our pre-drilling analysis, we’ll find there are people that have bacteria, agricultural runoff, and sediment in their water supplies,” he says. “We’ve had some landowners that have water wells drilled into old mine pools that they’ve been drinking out of for years. It’s a problem in Pennsylvania.” ‘An Absolutely Unique Situation’ As for the Hallowich property, Pitzarella says, the conflict escalated because it involved one of the first sites ever drilled in the Marcellus shale— three of the wells there were experimental. He says in both the siting of facilities and communication with residents, his company has worked harder since then to be a good neighbor. “They are in an absolutely unique situation,” he says. “Not only will you not see it in the future, you won’t see it now, and you won’t see it since then.” He points to the more than 2,100 Marcellus wells drilled in Pennsylvania so far and the thousands of landowners across the state who have signed leases allowing gas companies to produce on or under their properties. “ If this were the norm, there would be tens of thousands of people saying, ‘ It’s happening everywhere. I can’t get away from it.’” Pitzarella says he can show many Range sites in southwestern Pennsylvania where there is little remaining sign of any drilling operation—just a low, green pipe and valve structure, commonly called a “Christmas tree,” fenced off from surrounding land. There also are numerous happy landowners among the hundreds of Range leaseholders in Washington County. Some Embrace the Industry Typical is Beverly Romanetti, whose family lives just over a mile from the Hallowich place. “We have not had a problem at all,” she says about the gas well, which takes up three to five acres of their approximately 150-acre cattle farm. “They are very polite, and try to please,” she says of the gas company. "It definitely has changed our way of living in this county,” Romanetti concedes. “We're used to no traffic, and now you have the big trucks.” But, she says, “what they have given back to every inch of this county is amazing." Romanetti mentions the lease money that has allowed farmers to stay on their land and not sell or subdivide, the donations that the companies have made to local charities and the student agricultural group, 4-H, and the road repairs that Range has made to make up for the damage done by its trucks. “People should embrace them,” she says. (Related: “_A Drive for Jobs Through Energy_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101022-energy-marcellus-sha…) ”) In July, Range, which was the first company to drill in the Marcellus, also became the first shale company to voluntarily _disclose the chemicals_ (http://www.rangeresources.com/Operations/Marcellus-Division.aspx) it uses at each frack site, and as of late last year it has aimed to reuse 100 percent of its drilling wastewater. “This is far too important and too great of an opportunity to not get it right,” Pitzarella says. “I'll be the first to tell you that we're not perfect and we may make some mistakes—poor communication with a landowner, choosing a bad location for an access road, things like that. But if we make a mistake we own up to it and make it right.” Evidence on the dispute with the Hallowiches is now being gathered in Washington County court. The Hallowiches are giving up their dream of ten acres and a home in the country for now. They are planning to rent a place in the Pittsburgh suburbs. * Most of East Resources assets have since been acquired by Royal Dutch Shell, which is sponsor of the National Geographic initiative _The Great Energy Challenge_ (http://www.greatenergychallenge.com/) . This report is produced as a part of that initiative, in which National Geographic maintains autonomy over content. Read the entire special report, with photos, interactive map and illustration of the process, at _THE GREAT SHALE GAS RUSH_ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2010/10/101022-energy-marcel…) .

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70 megawatt Italian solar plant for $330 million
by Duane330＠aol.com 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

First Reserve Corporation reaches financial close for euro 276 million funding for Rovigo solar PV plant in Italy First Reserve Corporation (Greenwich, Connecticut, US) , a world leading private equity firm in the energy industry, on November 2, 2010 announced that it has entered into a euro 276 million project financing facilities agreement for the Rovigo solar plant in Northeast Italy. First Reserve acquired the 70 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) power plant from Sun Edison LLC, a division of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. in September 2010, which when completed later this year is expected to be the largest operating solar power plant in Europe. The lenders participating with First Reserve on the financing agreement include Banco Santander, Unicredit Corporate Banking, Crédit Agricole, Dexia Crediop, Natixis and Société Générale. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> UTILITY-SCALE PROJECTS OPERATING IN U.S.: Concentrating Solar Power Total (MW) = 433, Photovoltaics Total (MW) = 168, Total Projects in Operation (MW) = 601 Utility-Scale Projects Under Construction: Concentrating Solar Power Total (MW) = 77, Photovoltaics Total (MW) = 115, Total Under Construction (MW) = 192 Utility-Scale Projects Under Development: Concentrating Solar Power Total (MW) = 10,261; Photovoltaics Total (MW) = 13,199; Total Under Development (MW) = 23,460.

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11,000 solar panels for 3 megawatts in York, PA
by Duane330＠aol.com 03 Nov '10

03 Nov '10

3 MW Solar Installation Begins in PA October 28, 2010. Installation on the largest rooftop solar array in North America. York, Pennsylvania, USA – One segment of the US solar market that hasn't been growing as fast as the residential and utility-scale markets is the commercial market, that is, installations ranging from 1 MW to 10 MW in size that are usually installed on commercial businesses. A groundbreaking today is bucking that trend. Today, Pennsylvania-based GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK) will begin installing what it says is North America’s largest rooftop solar array at its Northeast Regional Distribution Center (RDC) in York, Pa. At its completion, the 3-MW installation will consist of nearly 11,000 solar panels that will cover an area on the roof about the size of seven American football fields. Nearly 100 workers will spend the next two months hoisting the panels to the roof with a crane, securing them into place and networking them into the power system. _American Capital Energy_ (http://www.americancapitalenergy.com/) , the company responsible for the project, plans to install about 500 panels per day. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare received government funding and solar incentives to help finance the project. A $1 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Financing Authority and $4.1 million in federal tax credits will help pay for the project. GSK will also utilize energy savings and Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC) to offset costs.

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<GASP> Air pollution from Marcellus operations
by Duane330＠aol.com 01 Nov '10

01 Nov '10

GASPalerts Action and News from Group Against Smog and Pollution (http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1102402694952) (mip://03689f58/default.html#LETTER.BLOCK30) (mip://03689f58/default.html#LETTER.BLOCK32) (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103857027392&s=244&e=0010CtDcvO… r6g52EJB1E3PuCpLCGkV9iQvVKXugpZYU194dk80fZjL09FIB4mjnkqGQbLZ43X4NrrMyTeA==) (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103857027392&s=244&e=0010CtDcvO… NRcOrKthk1ALaCFOgHxWBTCA_m43zRC7h7JA==) November 1, 2010 Will Marcellus Shale Coalition Trick or Treat Us? Southwestern Pennsylvania continues to be carefully observed by environmentalists and energy industries around the world as Marcellus gas drilling continues. Our region's gas is "wet," which means along with the methane gas, it holds high levels of valuable liquid hydrocarbons, such as butane and propane. Even if low gas prices slow down drilling elsewhere, our region should continue to see increased operations because of these other products. (Click _here_ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103857027392&s=244&e=0010CtDcvO… yLGuEjmwSWZukEEOzFEsooq1dNtE8q-oEP304iDbFWFh3vy04-77DQ6q1FTqYUWc-qPA2I2Hgc6h x6jlw8wZeO01XyieiASPZtnlWyQv2BnPnHWqHSnw==) to read how one company is selling properties in Texas so they can buy more here.) These operations will have an impact on our air quality. Click _here_ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103857027392&s=244&e=0010CtDcvO… l0FklvOu31fBmI-0fckzS-gXyKISgHs1ATmPSAOGKW7r4TQLw72kOiJFz_UlV6mr_FeyiGhyj627 l9uF0Rxec3VvAdQ0l3mwOsZuMx45WIZtZbLlwmajjiCt9JDwu8dXvtIMKIy7YuROHErVsVdLL) to read GASP's article in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It explains how the gas industry can mitigate the damage done to our air--and make more money at the same time. Get a ground-level perspective on the controversy as a new wave of resource extraction blows through the Commonwealth by joining Marcellus Protest on November 3rd, when concerned citizens march from the North Shore to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center where the gas industry is holding a large 3-day conference. The marchers should arrive at the Convention Center just as Karl Rove is speaking. Maybe he'll step out and say a few words to the crowd? Click _here_ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103857027392&s=244&e=0010CtDcvO… qKTFhI9eYdoKyc0_ys19dukgIn_5YnVzr4qs6Gu4_nD7PusRwxJfjZdKiDw==) for more information. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Shale gas can pollute the air, too .................... But Marcellus companies might even profit from preventive measures. Monday, November 01, 2010, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, By Joe Osborne The Marcellus Shale Coalition says it's committed to protecting our communities and our environment. Here's how it can prove it. Earlier this month, the coalition -- a business association representing many of the natural gas companies operating in the Marcellus Shale region -- released a document titled "Guiding Principles: Our Commitment to the Community." It consists of a list of promises, including promises to provide safe work sites, operate transparently, "implement state-of-the-art environmental protection" and be "responsible members of the communities in which we work." Drilling opponents and supporters can all agree that if Marcellus Shale development proceeds, it should happen in a manner that protects workers, the environment and communities. Another belief we all share is a healthy skepticism for vaguely worded, feel-good public relations campaigns like the coalition's "Guiding Principles." If the coalition's commitment is genuine, and I'd like very much to think that it is, the coalition can begin to demonstrate its sincerity by reducing air pollution emissions from Marcellus Shale operations. We hear a lot about the threat this industry poses to our water. Though it receives less attention, the threat to our air quality is just as significant. Compressor engine exhaust, offgassing from storage tanks and raw natural gas emissions during well completions are just a few of the many sources of air pollution associated with natural-gas production. The total air pollution created by this industry is astounding: • In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, located in the Barnett Shale gas play, annual emissions of smog-forming pollutants from the oil and gas sector exceed emissions from motor vehicles. • A 2008 analysis by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment concluded that smog-forming emissions from Colorado's oil and gas operations exceed motor vehicle emissions for the entire state. • Wyoming recently failed to meet federal health-based standards for air pollution for the first time in the state's history. According to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, emissions from the state's growing oil and gas sector are to blame. Natural-gas operations in the Marcellus Shale are expanding at a breakneck pace. Texas, Wyoming and Colorado offer a preview of what's to come if we don't address this problem now. Fortunately, effective control technologies exist to reduce air pollution from natural-gas operations. Better yet, because most of them reduce emissions by increasing the amount of methane and other hydrocarbons that are captured rather than entering the atmosphere, they are not just cheap, they actually can pay for themselves in short order -- often a year or less. Utilizing these technologies makes so much sense from both an environmental and economic standpoint that the federal Environmental Protection Agency has partnered with industry to create the Natural Gas STAR program, which promotes voluntary adoption of these cost-effective pollution-control technologies. While several of the Marcellus Shale Coalition members are members of the Gas STAR program, most aren't. If the Marcellus Shale Coalition wants to show its "Guiding Principles" are more than just words, it should require coalition members to participate in Gas STAR. Every year, program participants must document their emission reduction activities in a report to the EPA. Consistent with the coalition's commitment to operate transparently, the coalition could make these annual reports available to the public. This would allow Pennsylvanians to draw their own conclusions about whether the industry is minimizing its impact on human health and the environment and generally living up to its "Guiding Principles." These recommendations would dramatically reduce air pollution while increasing industry profits. If the Marcellus Shale Coalition members implement them, we'd give them due credit and recognition. If they don't, how could the public expect this industry to live up to the coalition's "Guiding Principles" when what's good for the industry's bottom line and what's good for the rest of us don't match up so conveniently? Joe Osborne is legal director of the Group Against Smog and Pollution (_www.gasp-pgh.org_ (http://www.gasp-pgh.org/) ). First published on November 1, 2010 at 12:00 am Read more: _http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10305/1099670-109.stm#ixzz143cDSbad_ (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10305/1099670-109.stm#ixzz143cDSbad)

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<GASP> Group Against Smog and Pollution
by Duane330＠aol.com 22 Oct '10

22 Oct '10

_www.gasp-pgh.org_ (http://www.gasp-pgh.org) October 21, 2010 GASP Drills Down on Marcellus Shale As Marcellus Shale drilling operations spread all around us, GASP's work spreads as well. We are busy dealing with these new challenges and are fighting on many fronts. * Last Tuesday, GASP appealed a West Virginia DEP permit for a large, and growing, Marcellus Shale operation in Wetzel County (The Intelligencer article _here_ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103806677180&s=244&e=001Tdl8k_f… uR2d3ykibIvwXu7JSbcPatr1uvsDwQ2Zc-Xi8SR0tyc38TDWgnaSrEh54ktOfff5AnqlgQg11XEO mjj-g85j0omVdViyo4plBGzoSTQSvycso9SmCVzkkxbTBQgXsYomS4fVu0AZv9BYdd_O6ohXrJW8 Lzbded) ) in hopes of getting more stringent air pollution controls applied. * The PA DEP recently asked for comments on new well casing regulations that they were proposing. Casing failures are one of the primary causes of groundwater contamination from natural gas drilling. GASP is pleased to announce that many of our comments were incorporated into the new regulations. Well design requirements have been strengthened by adding provisions demanding use of higher quality cement and centralizers to ensure proper casing placement, among other provisions. * GASP asked the Allegheny County Air Pollution Control Advisory Committee Tuesday night to develop better county regulations to rein in the air pollution from natural gas operations (Pgh Tribune-Review article _here_ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103806677180&s=244&e=001Tdl8k_f kEvQlVpjg-h1uT1oSc9qzQee2Do-1pIM19-V7MHxWIn5ZXVHUBiOVlRtHKvWnguaPeZ0mIQLVau_ MeqIb86Yzu6LD2V41hd9gDSu8UYFxtO0PvOGYUGsEd1aQ5Eu8CyPDrMgd80ixpeC7gyBLmyrjMQ_ Tolz5NNNt8lIucj5SoOg9MA==) ). GASP will continue to monitor Marcellus news, speak out about the dangers that drilling poses to our air, and push for strong regulations and effective enforcement of the regulations we have already. To jump right into the fight, join Marcellus Protest on November 3rd as they march from the North Shore to the David L. Lawrence Center where the gas industry is holding a 2-day conference. Click _here_ (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=izlefwcab&et=1103806677180&s=244&e=001Tdl8k_f… NbOVzgT4fxYFMVy2cXrF2KpYXELWd-rewlHl8OInqnUP4RbIhzXu3OK4JK_RHJf8j47YdNNNNUrN CtCDFQHvekmGbA==) for more information. www.gasp-pgh.org

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Prof. Tony Ingraffea does research on Fracture in Rock Mechanics
by Duane330＠aol.com 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

Prof. Ingraffea’s 9-Point Letter from the Marcellus Shale Industry If the Marcellus gas industry did everything it should to make sure natural gas development is "done right," that still would not be good enough for Cornell Professor Dr. Anthony Ingraffea. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Letter I Wish Had Been Written July 1, 2007 To: The Citizens of States Over the Marcellus From: The Natural Gas Industry We are writing to ask your permission to develop shale gas in your states using high-volume, slickwater, hydraulic fracturing from long horizontal well legs (HVSHF). Although you have allowed us to produce oil and gas from thousands of wells over many years, we recognize that we are now asking you to allow us to do much more intense development than ever before, using a technology never before used in your area. We acknowledge our development plan for your states might eventually involve over 400,000 Marcellus wells alone, with thousands more in other shales, and be valued in the trillions of dollars, over decades to come. We have seen how such intense development with this technology has caused problems where we are using it already in gas shales. We have listened closely to your concerns about these problems, and others on the horizon, so we are writing you now to make a compact with you. We understand that you are granting us a privilege, that, collectively, all of you have to give us the right to develop your gas, because, quite honestly, our plans will significantly affect all of you, not just landowners with whom we might have a business relationship. Therefore, if you give us the permission we seek, here are our promises to you: 1. Since we will not be developing in your area for another 2-3 years, we have time to help you prepare for our arrival: * We will immediately fund appropriate training programs in your community colleges to produce homegrown workers for our industry. We will subsidize tuition for the students who commit to work in our industry. Those workers will get right-of-first-refusal on our job openings. * We will immediately fund appropriate training programs for your emergency response teams--fire, police, medical, and spill hazards--and we will equip them at our expense. * We recognize that our heavy equipment will damage many of your roads and bridges. We will start now to pay to upgrade these so that they all remain usable not just by our equipment, but by you, too, throughout the development process. This will be a "stimulus" to help your unemployment situation now. When development is complete in an area, we will pay for final repairs necessary to leave all impacted roads and bridges in state-of-the-art condition. This will be a legacy gift to you from our industry. * We will fund the construction or upgrading of regional industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities with adequate capacity to process safely all of the solid and liquid wastes we produce. We will not truck your wastes to other states. 2. We will be transparent about our entire plan for development: * We will tell you as soon as practicable, but no later than 1 year before start of activity, where and when we will drill, and what pipelines and compressor stations will be needed where and by when. * We will publish gas and waste production figures from every well, accurately, and on-time. * We will tell you where your gas is going to market. We will not sell your gas to a foreign market. * We will disclose, completely, all chemicals and other substances we use. 3. We will accept, without debate, all new regulations that might be proposed by your regulatory agencies: your existing regulations are inadequate to cover the new technologies and cumulative impact of HVSHF. We will offer your agencies suggestions for continuous evolution of the regulations as a result of lessons we are learning. 4. With respect to your natural environment legacy: * For every tree we uproot, we will plant at least 1 replacement. We will reforest all access roads as quickly as we can, and minimize the width of all forest cuts. * We will pay a fair price for the water we extract from your lakes and rivers, which will average several million gallons per gas well. * Whatever we break, despoil, or pollute, we will repair, replace, or remediate, at our expense. 5. We will safely dispose of all liquid and solid wastes from our development: * We will never store any flowback fluids or produced water in open pits. All such fluids will be recycled to the highest extent possible by existing technologies, regardless of increase in cost to us. * All liquid and solid wastes remaining from recycling will be treated at the above-mentioned industrial waste treatment plants. We will provide radiation monitoring equipment on every well pad: any materials, including drill cuttings, leaving a well pad that trigger an alarm will be sent to a licensed radioactive waste disposal facility. 6. We will not cause an increase in any tax levy on your citizens. * We will agree to a substantial increase in permit fees to reflect the expected 4-fold increase in person-time we expect you to spend on review of permits for HVSHF. * We will agree to a state severance tax, the level of which will be floating, according to an accurate accounting of all costs to the state and municipalities. 7. We will practice what we preach about clean fuels and emissions: * Every truck, every generator, every pump, every compressor will run on natural gas--no diesel, no gasoline engines. * We will not allow uncaptured gaseous emissions from any of our processes: no evaporation from open pits, no pressure releases from compressor stations or condensate tanks. 8. We will be sensitive to noise and light pollution, even if a community does not have zoning restrictions in place to regulate such: * All of our pads and compressor stations will have sound/light suppression measures in place before startup. * Site drill pads, compressor stations, and pipelines in collaboration with the community. 9. We will not unduly stress any of your communities: * We will never experiment with drilling many wells in a small area over a brief period of time. * We will abide by all area and time restrictions on permitting. * We will never contest loss of well water use by any citizen. If a well is lost, we will replace it with whatever type of supply is requested by its owner at our expense. * We will never require a citizen harmed by our development to promise silence in return for remediation. * Finally, and humbly, we note that even our best plans and efforts will come up short, sometime, someplace, somehow. Therefore, in addition to all the contributions noted above, we also pledge to establish an escrow account which will receive 1% of the value of all gas produced from shale gas wells using HVSHF each year. This account will be administered by an independent 3rd party, advised by an independent panel you select, and will be used as an emergency fund to compensate those financially or physically harmed by our development in your state. Thank you for your attention to our request. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Letter I Hope Will Be Written July 1, 2011 To: The Natural Gas Industry From: The Citizens of States Over the Marcellus We have observed, calculated, thought, done the science, and we have concluded that even “doing it right” is wrong. No thanks. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Presented at the 2010 Rachel Carson Legacy Conference in Pittsburgh, PA on September 24, 2010 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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GASLAND movie screenings: Oct 3, 11 & 12
by Duane330＠aol.com 30 Sep '10

30 Sep '10

GASLAND Movie Showings: No admission charges at any of the three locations below. Sunday, October 3rd, Uniontown State Theater, 37 East Main Street, Uniontown, PA. Two showings: 1 pm and 3 pm. Monday, October 11th, Ohio County Public Library, 5 16th St, Wheeling, WV 26003. (304) 232-0244. One Showing: Noon. Tuesday, October 12th, College of Law, WVU, off University Ave., Morgantown, WV. Time: 6:30 pm. "Green Tables" for information distribution. [Questions: _justpeace(a)yahoo.com_ (mailto:justpeace@yahoo.com) ] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For Background Information See: _http://gaslandthemovie.com/_ (http://gaslandthemovie.com/) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> GasLands-- The Documentary. 1 hour and 43 minutes. GasLand Exposes The Dangers Of Natural Gas Drilling Called Hydraulic Fracturing - The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a “Saudia Arabia of natural gas” just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NOTE: While not every detail reported in the movie is portrayed accurately, the issues covered and the information presented are much more than thought provoking and challenging. And, in my opinion, the alternative explanations that have been offered for some details also represent problems for our region, that is for the exploration, development, production and transmission of natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation. Duane G. Nichols, Co-Chair, WV/PA Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact.

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FW: National Solar Tour in Morgantown!
by Wonderlin, William 30 Sep '10

30 Sep '10

(from Megan Nedzinski) Please see the follow message regarding an event this weekend that might be of potential interest. Hope to see you there! American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Tour nationalsolartour.org<http://nationalsolartour.org/ is coming to Morgantown! Saturday, October 2nd from 12 until 4pm. (and it's FREE!) Saturday, October 2, 2010, will be Morgantown’s second participation in the national solar tour. Any people interested can find out more information at www.morgantowngreenteam.org/iebg.html,<http://www.morgantowngreenteam.org/iebg.html,> www.eco-mod-structure.com<http://www.eco-mod-structure.com/>, or by calling John Garlow at 304-276-3655. Most locations will be open from noon until 4 pm, but look for yard signs that say OPEN HOUSE for the Solar Tour. Please help us spread the word by sharing this notice with potentially interested parties (please forward responsibly). Or by posting the attached flyer and informational brochure at your workplace, on community bulletin boards, or at other places to encourage interest and participation. A version appropriate for web posting is also attached for your use with web postings. Thanks so much and we look forward to seeing you Saturday! -- Megan M. Nedzinski, Architect, LEED AP NEDZINSKI DESIGN COLLABORATIVE, LLC collaborative | responsible | appropriate | DESIGN megannedzinski.com Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can't prove that it will. -Michael Pollan

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VIRTUAL MARCH: Stop Global Warming
by Duane330＠aol.com 23 Sep '10

23 Sep '10

_Stop Global Warming Virtual March_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=u6kvatAlQZquRLIhZg4x…) 09/23/10 (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jjlENdeY2UuANIYGVSNO…) WAITING FOR SUPERMAN OPENS FRIDAY Developing critical thinking skills and an understanding of science are keys to solving the planet's future problems, including global warming, yet the United States continues to fall behind the rest of the world in the quality of public education. Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, director of "An Inconvenient Truth," takes on the task of dissecting the public education system in his film "_Waiting For Superman_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Gw+jLZyEATOr4c9ae2S3…) ," opening this Friday in select cities. The film will inspire Americans to take action, and you can help kick off the movement by seeing the film. Visit _waitingforsuperman.com_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=u5O0VsKrBJ2hn/TwmBMs…) to watch the trailer and learn more about what you can do. WORST SUMMER EVER? The summer of 2010 set temperature records across the country. Our partner _NRDC_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=tA8CUTZ67mrh96KGD0fR…) has published an analysis using data from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Nearly one in three U.S. weather stations recorded average temperatures among their five hottest on record. Even more telling is that nighttime lows were the hottest ever recorded at nearly one in four stations. Nighttime temperatures are more sensitive to the buildup of heat-trapping pollution in the atmosphere. More compelling evidence that things are getting worse. _Click here for the full report_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ueQtYsOjsQcF5hBNCOLW…) (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=pA3GfV5old5Oqb4ALlUT…) RECOMMENDED READING Since 1970, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has grown into an international powerhouse with 1.2 million members and a staff of scientists and lawyers whose mission is to safeguard the planet. NRDC founder (and SGW marcher) John H. Adams, a pioneer of environmental action, has written a new book entitled "_A Force for Nature_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction. org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ahheDzJ4ypGjjJyloDAhzvSQ8dGSzsx+) ." This inspiring memoir, written with with Patricia Adams and George Black, tells the story of the NRDC and the environmental movement it sparked. _Click here_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YpnHAc6KwJTF+LsTLQU5…) to buy the book. Also highly recommended is "_Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=piXLg87wVMh0+WUBCuih…) ," written by Cathryn Berger Kaye and Philippe Cousteau, grandson of the legendary Jacques Cousteau. The book educates young people about the earth's water crisis and gives them tools and inspiration to transform their ideas into action. _Click here to buy_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=mozPoHeadyzBrNCmobXi…) . CIRCLE THE DATE: 10/10/10 On 10/10/10, people all around the world will gather in their communities to do something to help deal with global warming. Politicians are invited to come and take notes. Author and activist Bill McKibben and 350.org are organizing a _Global Work Party_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=XFgLrpCqXrv+KIDBtNa5…) for the day, with emphasis on both 'work' and 'party'. In Idaho, people are getting together for a home weatherization raffle. In the Maldives, they're putting up solar panels on the President's office. Find out what's going on in your neck of the woods, or organize a work event yourself. With the might of our combined efforts, we'll be sending a message to our leaders: We're doing our part. Now get to work and do yours. Learn more and sign up at _350.org_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3bGT7SsBCzAujNiLeuGy…) . Keep Marching, Laurie David Founder _StopGlobalWarming.org_ (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ocGPhEqClE93ICobPhIw…)

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IPCC Climate Change Challenge
by Duane330＠aol.com 08 Sep '10

08 Sep '10

Climate Change: Panel Faults IPCC Leadership But Praises Its Conclusions, Science, September 3, 2010 <NOBR>Eli Ki The world's most authoritative climate science body has performed well enough so far, says a new independent review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But the report, from a panel convened by a coalition of national science academies, says the increased public scrutiny IPCC is facing and the growing importance of its work mean that it must do better than that. Full story at _http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/329/5996/1135?sa_campaign=Email… (http://www.info-aaas.org/l.jsp?d=5815.642330.654.9KE4V0Cwm6P73j0r502zg6A..A)

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