FRACKING And Man-made Earthquakes

Image: The Equation

FRACKING

Hydraulic fracturing involves the injection of fluids including toxic chemicals into oil or gas wells at very high pressure  Other forms of underground injection are regulated to protect drinking water, but in 2005 Congress created exemptions for hydraulic fracturing to benefit Halliburton and other oil and gas companies The Safe Drinking Water Act excludes Fracking See it in the ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005.  Go to Page 102, Section 322. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.  SEC. 322. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING. Paragraph (1) of section 1421(d) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(d)) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘(1) UNDERGROUND INJECTION.—The term ‘underground injection’— ‘‘(A) means the subsurface emplacement of fluids by well injection; and ‘‘(B) EXCLUDES— ‘‘(i) the underground injection of natural gas for purposes of storage; and ‘‘(ii) the underground injection of fluids or propping agents (other than diesel fuels) pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities.’’ The Clean Water Act changes the definition of pollutant The word “Pollutant.”  What it means.  And what it does NOT mean. (6) The term “pollutant” means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water. This TERM DOES NOT MEAN (A) “sewage from vessels” within the meaning of section 312 of this Act; or (B) water, gas, or other material which is injected into a well to facilitate production of oil or gas, or water derived in association with oil or gas production and disposed of in a well, if the well used either to facilitate production or for disposal purposes is approved by authority of the State in which the well is located, and if such State determines that such injection or disposal will not result in the degradation of ground or surface water resources.  See it in the Clean Water Act. SEC. 502 [33 U.S.C. 1362] General Definitions

Would it surprise you to know that the Bush Administration in 2005 facilitated a loophole in a clean water bill that would allow Halliburton new technology exclusive rights to Hydraulic Fracturing? Of course that doesn’t surprise you; you are a person who maintains a level of knowledge that insulates you from a paradigm that is engulfing millions. Millions of our fellow citizens have become unquestioning zombie-like (Do what you wish, we trust you or we do not care) enablers of all things big business, all things uber wealthy and all things plutocrat.

Since, you were not at all surprised that Bush/Cheney gave the nation “FRACKING”, you certainly know the Hydraulic Fracturing patent gave Cheney’s former employer a lucrative financial windfall.

Now, where else have we heard Halliburton “exclusives?” Think in terms of the War in Iraq (Hint: No Bid contracts).

And, of course, you know that as a former CEO Cheney couldn’t avoid personal financial windfall from both FRACKING and the Iraq War No Bid contracts. Do you think he would have expended any energy attempt to avoid such financial gains? 

If there is a person reading this piece who spent 1999 through 2009 on a mission in outer space, the person may not know Cheney was Bush’s Vice-President during the periods of FRACKING approval and Halliburton’s No Bid Iraq War contracts.

We do not hear President Obama often speak about US energy production (Oil and Natural Gas). Maybe, the good Democratic is a bit reticent in waving the world energy leader flag when the status is based on US FRACKING. And, yes, due to the South Dakota oil fields. 

SLATE October 2013

And let’s face it: No matter which side you’re on, if someone had told you when Obama took office that the United States would substantially ramp up its oil and gas production while substantially reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, you probably would have scoffed. But here we are, poised to produce more oil than Saudi Arabia while cutting carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020. Not bad, eh? Not bad.  Oil, gas production chart: United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia The United States has surged past Russia in recent years to lead the world in oil and gas production. (SLATE image would not embed properly) dailyreckoning.com Source: United States Energy Information Administration

“Facts are pesky things.” The quote for some is without question “point-on.” As is often the case such bountiful availability has a back-end that is far less desirable than the prevailing bounty.

Fracking is contributing to man-made earthquakes.

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The Raw Story

U.S. Geological Survey confirms: Human activity caused 5.7 quake in Oklahoma (via Raw Story )

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued a press release yesterday indicating that the magnitude 5.7 earthquake that struck Prague, Oklahoma in 2011 was unintentionally human-induced. The USGS claims that the magnitude 5.0 earthquake triggered…

Dick Cheney: Irrelevant, But He And Fox News Don’t Yet Know It

 

It isn’t unusual for Right-wing zealots and war-mongers like Dick Cheney to rise to any occasion (self perceived opportunity) for a bit of Obama Derangement Bashing. Yet, Cheney’s insanity of late is a bit unusual. His use of SNAP benefits for political rhetoric is shameful. Fox News and Cheney joined this week to take political shots at the Obama Administration while ignoring the benefit of SNAP benefits for segments of the population that include military families.

 

Cheney has again come-out of obscurity to lead the insanity after Secretary of Defense Hagel mentioned Obama Administration intent to trim the nation’s defense budget. MSNBC’s Ari Melber filling-in for Melissa Harris-Perry broadcast a segment befitting Cheney’s penchant for speaking out after sensing the ‘red meat’ opportunity.  

We offer a few visual perspectives of Dick Cheney as fallacy. The following represent a few points for clear delineation.

Dick Cheney….

…. was as active as anyone in the fabrication of WMD to facilitate the charge into Iraq. 

….is a former CEO of Halliburton (and an inevitable high-level benefactor of the billions you and I spent to perpetrate that war). 

…. was without doubt an conspirator in the first time eve outing of a US CIA agent as retribution against her husband (who would not support lies about Uranium foe WMD form Niger: Joe Wilson). 

…. never spoke out once about GOP cuts to the SNAP program while lower rank military families in the thousands derive life-sustaining benefit from Food Stamps.

Media Matters illustrates the insanity of Dick Cheney and the network that allows him to call-in for spewing anti-Obama drivel while using food stamps as a prop.

 

February 12th, 2013 excerpt

The U.S. spends more on defense than the next 12 top-spending countries combined. PolitiFact examined data by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), both “considered to be leading authorities on worldwide military spending numbers,” and determined that, “In 2011 — the most recent year available — the United States led the world in military spending at $711 billion … The next top 12 spending nations accounted for a combined total of $670.9 billion.” IISS data discovered that the U.S spends $252.6 billion more on defense than the next top nine nations.

SIPRI also foundthat U.S. military spending accounted for 41 percent of the world’s total military spending in 2011. The U.S.’s expenditure is about five times more than the second-highest spender, China, which accounted for 8.2 percent of the world total. Russia’s military spending is in third place with 4.1 percent. 

The United States’ defense spending compared to the rest of the world looks something like this, from George Washington University’s School of Media Public Affairs:

Now for a quick visuals that place defense spending in perspective.

Defense Spending as a percent of US Discretionary Spending (2013)

A closer look at how our tax dollars are used to fund the military industrial complex.

 

WHERE YOUR INCOME TAX MONEY REALLY GOES 5 1% T O WA R HUMAN

WHERE YOUR INCOME TAX MONEY REALLY GOES 5 1 T O WA R HUMAN”

“WHERE YOUR INCOME TAX MONEY REALLY GOES 5 1 T O WA R HUMAN”;

How about a little something from the Daily Kos

Click here for interactive chart.

Cheney and the spoils of war

Ari Melber  http://on.msnbc.com/1eM79b5

Dick Cheney’s national approval rating only slightly higher than the ratings of the US Congress. Yet for sake of propaganda Fox News provides the Cheney a platform.