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…

Bush Era Recession Cost the US $14 Trillion Dollars! Any Visitors For The Bush Library?

Enjoy while the caffeine kicks-in!!!! How about some Bush Era economic policy and the cost of the Great Recession to go along with your afternoon Sumatra,  Kopi Luwak Indonesian, Kenya AA, Tanzanian, French Roast, Kona Coast, ‘Black Ivory’ [Thai Elephant Dong],  Jamaica Blue Mountain, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Costa Rican, Espresso,  Moyobama Peruvian Organic, Indonesian Blend, Coffee Latte, Kauai Blend (often bitter), Colombian Red Lips, or your Folgers 100% Colombian? Coffees of the World

Mark Gongloff of the Huffington Post published a piece about the ‘real’ impact of the Bush Great recession.  We are certain most people will never read Gongloff’s piece, nor will they see and hear about the ‘real’ cost of the Great Recession on cable news.  It is not a pretty picture and many us denizens would rather not hear the truth.  It is a cliche, but totally relevant in this case “The truth hurts.”

If your read the Gongloff piece, you may want to preempt your reaction with Ibuprofen.  It is ‘ugly’  If you voted for Bush/Cheney twice, use something much stronger; maybe Morphine! Careful don’t over-dose! We hope all Americans consider the Dallas Federal Reserve data before the journey to Southern Methodist University to visit the Bush Library.

Gonglolff, Huff Post.

Mark Gongloff

mark.gongloff@huffingtonpost.com

The Financial Crisis Cost More Than $14 Trillion: Dallas Fed Study

Posted: 07/30/2013 11:14 am EDT  |  Updated: 07/31/2013 11:03 am EDT

on Money, Business News

The financial crisis likely cost at least a year’s worth of U.S. economic output, a new Fed study finds. Worse, it’s hurting the economy even now and will hurt it for years to come. 

That is the cheerful conclusion of a new study by economists at the Dallas Federal Reserve, entitled “How Bad Was It? The Costs and Consequences of the 2007–09 Financial Crisis.“ 

So how bad was it? Really, really bad: The economists say a “conservative” estimate of the damage is $14 trillion, or roughly one year’s U.S. gross domestic product. This is based on how much output was lost during the crisis and Great Recession, along with all the damage done to potential future economic growth.

Read more 

Did I recently read that Bush’s approval ratings are rising?  The American public never really learns, “If we forget the past we are doomed to relive it.”  And, yes 47% of the 60% of voters in the Fall 2012 General Elections voted for Romney/Ryan!

Iraq Re-Construction Study, Dissed By All Major Networks Except MSNBC and NPR

www.willamettelive.com

On March 7h, we published a piece related to the unfathomable waste associated with the reconstruction of post war Iraq.  We remind the Iraq War was a war this nation should not have perpetrated. There is evidence it was a war of desire by George W. Bush and further evidence it was perpetrated via historic levels of malfeasance and hubris (MSNBC video).

www.veteranstoday.com

The Iraq War, war in Afghanistan and Bush Era tax cuts will build the Bush Legacy as surely as this.  More evidence of historical archives here “…… (on bin Laden) And he could be hiding in some cave, we have not heard from him in a long time…“. (Really, he was in a well constructed compound snuggled up with a supposed ally.) Of course, all leading to this, a ‘resilient US economy.

The US was not only ill prepared (budget and rationale) for Bush’s personal crusade, our  leaders (Bush/Cheney/Rice/ Rumsfeld/Tenet) had no plans to remove the nation from the war. Literally, they had no “end-game” strategy. Of course, that should not have surprised anyone, as Bush’s reasons for crusader against Saddam was without serious and contemplative thought, so (end-game) strategy was not possible.

Before we move-on we must state, “Had McCain/Palin won in 2008, we would still be mired in Iraq with all associated deaths, maiming and cost to taxpayers.”  Cost to taxpayers continued well after President Obama withdrew our troops form Iraq, and post-war costs continue today. 

The recently released Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), released a report (and linked in the first paragraph above) extensively details the extent of wasted funds on Iraq reconstruction.

Two critical points remain related to post war Iraq. First, by listening to Dick Cheney over the past month, I get the impression he would not change a thing about perpetration of the Iraq War. Second, we remain in a sanitized world regarding the war. While most know the nation lost 4,500 plus troops and reports are Iraq suffered over 100,000 dead, most people in the US a know nothing of the SIGIR report and post war cost (that we have born and continue to bare).

Why is that?

The answer is simply: no media coverage of the SIGIR investigation and the subsequent exhaustive report.

Media Matters published a story yesterday that should send shivers down the spines of the American public. Basically, no major news electronic media gave the SIGIR story any appreciable airtime. 

  

Media Matters

BLACKOUT: Networks Ignore Report Finding Massive Waste In Iraq Reconstruction

Take a look at a graph from the Media Matters piece.

We feel that Media Matters charts indicates the power of electronic media. How could media executives so blatantly ignore stories that relate so deeply to all US citizens. We are taxpayers, we are voters, we are still suffering from Bush/Cheney malfeasance, and we are looking at cutting programs for the less “well-off” in part based on the Iraq War.  Is it possible the reconstruction cost from the Iraq War at over $60 billion dollars not newsworthy?  We posit that is not possible!

Do you remember any of the following. (Exhibits only, the video  posted for full viewing)

CNN Breaking News video 

ABC video

NBC video

Fox News video

CBS video

Was “Shock and Awe” so attractive to the nation?  Did it remind us of a ‘fireworks’ display, or did it appeal to a more jingoist paradigm that may infest many of us.  Was the start of the war so exciting, that all after the first few days melts into the “forget it file”.   Shouldn’t all matters related to such a dark time (unparalleled actually) in US history, receive full coverage? If our media is truly about the business of ‘news, current events, and “informing” how could so many networks give the SIGIR research so little air-time. According to Media Matters, CNN gave the SIGIR study “NO” airtime.  CNN covered the opening of the war far more than any network!


The graph above clearly shows the extent to which network news producers and managers influence what we know and when we know it.  One can make the case the media, despite opportunistic angst of “liberal media or mainstream media”, is an information entity that often fails us.  During times of heated and consistent political bickering and child’s play,w have media that does not point to issue of critical importance.

Maybe, one day someone might think, “wait a minute  look back at Viet Nam and Iraq wars, did we accomplish any real mission and at what cost. If we do not have information, will live in a information-ally deprived reality. Information is critical as it educates.   Elections are influenced by information.  Should we not have the full picture on the Bush/Cheney war?

“If we forget our past, we are doomed to relive it”.  Yes, and 47% of voters voted for Mitt Romney.  

Now take a look at the graph above, if you need another look.  I am thankful my news watching is almost exclusively MSNBC, when driving NPR, and other wise articles posted in social media and lined to credible new sources.  Suppose your news source is is CNN, or for that matter Fox News?  

Yet, there is on problem with my premise. I presuppose that you even care about issues left form Bush/Cheney.