Where You Stand Depends On Where You Frack

by EarthDesk | May 23, 2013 | Corporate Responsibility, Economics, Energy, Fracking, Pollution, Technology, Water | 0 comments

©2010 MARQUIL, empirewire.com

The Department of Interior’s latest proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing on public lands could set a precedent for how fracking is regulated on private lands nationally and by individual states. Judging from online reactions, the agency may well believe it has done something right because almost everyone thinks it has done something wrong. (The ever perky Bloomberg News being an exception. )

SustainableBusiness.com framed it this way: “A second round of draft regulations . . . are much weaker than the previous version. But they are still stronger than what the industry wants, which are no federal regulations.” EarthDesk will be covering the story in more depth in the days ahead. For now, the linked online headlines below illustrate the spectrum of reactions. (Note how vocabulary and sources match.)

EcoWatch:
Breaking: Interior Department Bows to Pressure from Oil and Gas Industry, Weakens Fracking Rules

U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
U.S. Chamber’s Energy Institute: BLM Fracking Rules “A Solution in Search of a Problem”

SustainableBusiness.com:
Interior Disappoints With Proposed Fracking Rules

Bloomberg News:
Scaled-Back U.S. Fracking Rule Draws Qualified Praise

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

EarthDesk, published regularly during the academic year, is the online journal of the Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment (DCISE) at Pace University. John Cronin, editor.

Environmental Policy Clinic Students at Work.

Preparing oyster shells for tagging at the Billion Oyster Project, Governor's Island.

Preparing oyster shells for tagging at the Billion Oyster Project, Governor's Island.

Environmental Policy Clinic Team with Senator Terrence Murphy in Albany.

With New York State Senator Terrence Murphy (center) in Albany to discuss state policy regarding mistreatment of elephants in circuses.

Investigating turtle mortality on a Putnam County highway in Cold Spring, NY with county legislator Barbara Scuccimarra (L.).

Investigating turtle mortality on a Putnam County highway in Cold Spring, NY with county legislator Barbara Scuccimarra (L.).

Aquaculture at the New York Harbor School.

Learning the fundamentals of aquaculture at the New York Harbor School.

Demonstrating against the use of elephants in circuses.

Demonstrating against the use of elephants in circuses, Hanneford Circus, White Plains, NY.

Discussing oyster regulation with Debbie Mans, NY-NJ Baykeeper at Pace, NYC.

Crafting oyster regulation policy with Debbie Mans, NY-NJ Baykeeper, Pace, NYC. (L.).

Ready to dig into wood chip pile to feed campus composter, Pace, Pleasantville.

Ready to dig into wood chip pile to feed campus composter, Pace, Pleasantville.

DCISE Twitter Feed Tweets by @DysonEnv

Featured Faculty:

Dr. E. Melanie Dupuis

dangerous digestion

Inspired by new scientific studies of the human body as a metabiome, Dr. E. Melanie Dupuis, Professor and chair, Department of Environmental Science and Studies, reimagines the American body politic through a new metaphor — digestion — opening social transformations to ideas of mixing, fermentation, and collaboration. In doing so, she explores how social activists can rethink politics as inclusive processes that involve the inherently risky mixing of cultures, standpoints, and ideas. Dangerous Digestion at Amazon.