France Becomes First Nation to Ban Fracking

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By Gina-Marie Cheeseman
Care2.com

France became the first nation to ban the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking in drilling for natural gas and oil on June 30 when French senators voted to ban the practice. Oil and gas companies operating in France with fracking permits will have them revoked according to the legislation passed by a 176 to 151 vote. The bill passed the National Assembly on June 21.

Ohio House passes bill to open parks to fracking: Stop it in the Senate

By Alex Beauchamp
Food & Water Watch

Last week the Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, in our state parks. This risky drilling process will turn our pristine state parks into industrial parks, but we’ve got a chance to stop it in the state Senate. Can you contact your state senator today?

What will drilling in state parks mean for you? It could be devastating for Ohio’s drinking water.

Fracking the life out of Arkansas and beyond

By Rady Ananda

(Updated below.) The last four months of 2010, nearly 500 earthquakes rattled Guy, Arkansas. [1] The entire state experienced 38 quakes in 2009. [2] The spike in quake frequency precedes and coincides with the 100,000 dead fish on a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River that included Roseville Township on December 30. The next night, 5,000 red-winged blackbirds and starlings dropped dead out of the sky in Beebe. [3] Hydraulic fracturing is the most likely culprit for all three events, as it causes earthquakes with a resultant release of toxins into the environment. [4]

Big Energy wins big in NY: Fracking ban vetoed. Thanks, David!

Profits vs. People

By Wenonah Hauter
Food & Water Watch

This weekend, despite the wishes of the New York State Legislature, New York Governor David Paterson vetoed legislation that would have put a moratorium on vertical and horizontal hydraulic drilling, a controversial practice known as fracking. Bowing to industry interests, the governor instead issued an executive order placing a weaker moratorium on horizontal fracking alone.

Fracking PA for Halliburton: Exempt from Clean Water Act

By Jesse Freeston and Malak Behrouznami
The Real News Network (15 min. video)

On the day after the midterm elections, when Republican Tom Corbett won the governorship, the outline of Pennsylvania’s next battleground was clearly drawn. Pittsburgh hosted the largest conference of companies interested in the massive Marcellus Shale gas deposit, thought to hold enough gas to power the entire US for anywhere from two to 30 years. Drilling communities around the country report serious environmental and public health concerns. Pittsburgh itself already has gas development surrounding it, and hundreds marched to the conference to show their objection.

Watch Gasland online

Intro by Top Documentary Films

Gasland Josh Fox cataloged what is happening across America as gas drilling has embraced hydraulic fracturing, developed by Halliburton. Tap water ignites, people get sick, plants and animals die. Support the FRAC Act: Write Congress (2010, 103 mins)