The Pipe is a documentary telling the story of the Rossport community in Ireland which has taken on the might of Shell Oil and the Irish State. The discovery of gas off this remote coastal village has led to the most dramatic clash of cultures in modern Ireland. The rights of farmers over their fields, [...]
From 2008 – 2010 “ExxonMobil reported $9,910 million in pretax U.S. profits. But it enjoyed so many tax subsidies that its federal income tax bill was only $39 million, a tax rate of only 0.4 percent.” Yes, you read that right — a tax rate of only 0.4%, says Citizens for Tax Justice (PDF). I [...]
Dear EarthTalk: What is “tar sands oil” and what is the controversy over possibly building a pipeline for it from Canada into the United States? Tar sands oil (or “tar sands”) is slang for bituminous sand, a mixture of sand, clay, water and an extremely gooey form of petroleum known as bitumen, which resembles tar [...]
As we approach the one year anniversary of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf on April 20th, the NRDC wants to remind us that life along the Gulf of Mexico has not returned to normal, that the oil keeps rolling in with the tide, and the damage done continues undercutting people”™s lives. By partnering [...]
Dear EarthTalk: I heard someone say that the environmental benefits of natural gas for electricity generation were overstated and that it is not as green-friendly as the industry would have us believe. What is your take on this? In our increasingly carbon-constrained world, natural gas (also known as methane) does keep coming up as a [...]
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood thinks so, and I agree 100%. I have been a rail cheerleader for years and even traveled via Amtrak this year across the country once again. But while our rail system is adequate for a country this size, we cannot expect people to willingly get out out of their [...]
Dear EarthTalk: an you explain what fracking is with regard to natural gas exploration and why it is controversial? Fracking is shorthand within the oil and gas industry for hydraulic fracturing, a process in which drillers blast millions of gallons of water, sand and hazardous chemicals at high-pressure into sub-surface rock formations to create fractures [...]
