January 8, 2013
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
Promised Land -- everyone in the fracking world is talking about this new film. Almost as much as people were talking about the new season of Downton Abbey. As my colleague Kate Sinding blogged: "Promised Land" powerfully highlights what's at stake for communities in...
December 28, 2012
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
In addition to the environmental impacts of oil and gas production, including dangerous air and water contamination and destruction of wildlife habitat, NRDC is concerned about other impacts to communities that have been documented, such as increased crime, infrastructure burdens that require massive repair, and the growing demand for social and...
November 1, 2012
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
There is a new National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)* working paper, from researchers at Resources for the Future and Duke University, on the effect that proximity to a shale gas well can have on property values. The researchers looked at more than 19,000 properties sold over a five year period in Washington County, Pennsylvania,...
October 29, 2012
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
Here in Washington, D.C. the winds are fast, furious, and loud as we await the brunt of Hurricane Sandy. Winds have been clocked up to 90 mph as the storm hits land with the lowest pressure ever recorded in the northeast. Images of a crane dangling off a Manhattan skyscraper are as scary as the reports that flooding will occur as far north as Vermont and New Hampshire.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and eastern...
October 25, 2012
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued two comprehensive reports:Oil and Gas: Information on Shale Resources, Development, and Environmental and Public Health Risks (GAO-12-732); and Unconventional Oil and Gas Development: Key Environmental and Public Health Requirements (GAO-12-874...
October 12, 2012
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
A new analysis from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of two counties in Pennsylvania found that natural gas extraction creates "potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape." Wellpads, roads, pipelines and waste pits are clearcuts in forests. Cumulatively they are very destructive to the natural ecosystem.
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September 17, 2012
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
It's been a while since I've blogged, and a lot of new information about fracking and its risks has surfaced during that time. I can't blog about it all to the extent it really deserves, but I wanted to start to get the latest headlines posted. Here are some top stories from the last month:
- Two regional health care systems in Pennsylvania think the...
