Jesse Jenkins of the Energy Collective ponders the question. He reports as follows: According to the US Energy Information Administration 27,000 new gas wells were completed in the U.S. in 2011, many of which were horizontal wells implementing hydraulic fracturing. Each well consumes 5 million gallons of water per well for fracking and completion. He… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Environmental Policy
Subscribe to Environmental Policy RSS FeedA Look at Two Approaches to Oil and Gas Regulation
Posted in Energy Policy, Environmental Policy, Hydraulic FracturingThis is a tale of two regulatory schemes. First, there is the federal way, and I’m not making this up: In my last post we learned that if the BLM, when preparing its PRMP/FEIS (which in some incomprehensible way is different from a PRMP/EIS, but which nevertheless includes an RFD) which is issued by an EA and adopted… Continue Reading
Fracking Stymied on Federal Lands in California
Posted in Environmental Policy, Hydraulic FracturingIn an opinion with as many acronyms as the Dallas Cowboys have draft-pick detractors, a California federal court in Center For Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Land Management, held that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act in its assessment of oil and gas leases on federal lands in California. A “FONSI” – a Finding of No Significant Impact… Continue Reading
HOW MUCH CONSENSUS IS THERE ON GLOBAL WARMING?
Posted in Energy Policy, Environmental PolicyThis post is not from a global warming denier. But I do appreciate even-handed assessments of the situation. Here are two reports that fit the bill. In the London Telegraph, Geoffrey Lean says that recent research suggests climate change might not be as catastrophic as the gloomiest forecasts. But he warns that it will be decades, if not centuries,… Continue Reading
Louisiana Surface Owner Can Sue Servitude Owner for Pollution
Posted in Environmental Policy, PollutionIt’s Mardi Gras. If you see my college-student daughter chasing beads, dubloons and coconuts, tell her to get back to the library where she said she was going. In Walton vs. Burns, another legacy pollution case, a Louisiana court of appeal ruled, among other things, that a surface owner has the right to assert a claim… Continue Reading
What Can the Energy Industry Expect from Obama’s Second Term?
Posted in Energy Policy, Environmental Policy“It is better to stop a bad law than pass a good one.” Calvin Coolidge. Is anybody in Washington listening to Silent Cal? What can the energy industry (oil and gas in particular) expect from the Administration in its second term? Let’s gaze into the crystal ball: Carbon Tax The National Center for Policy Analysis predicts… Continue Reading
“I’m From the Guvment . . .
Posted in Energy Policy, Environmental Policy. . . and I’m here to enforce the law and protect your natural resources . . . as long as it doesn’t interfere with my other agenda. My October 10 post focused on criminal prosecutions and convictions of oil and gas operators in several states for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It appears that enforcement… Continue Reading
What is the Best Way to Fight Rising Sea Levels?
Posted in Energy Policy, Environmental PolicyFor the purposes of this conversation let’s agree that global warming exists, and let’s not argue about whether it is, as those who use big words say, “anthropomorphic” “anthropogenic” or, as you and I might say, “man made”. Bjorn Lomborg doesn’t focus so much on the causes of rising sea levels; he proposes alternative ways to address the effects. In… Continue Reading
What Can the Energy Industry Expect from the President’s Second Term?
Posted in Energy Policy, Environmental PolicyIt is better to stop a bad law than pass a good one. Calvin Coolidge. IsWashingtonlistening to Silent Cal? This post is about what the energy industry- oil and gas in particular -might expect from the Administration in its second term. Disclaimer: I dont sponsor any of these predictions. The authorsknow more about these subjects… Continue Reading