Don't Get Fracked: NRDC Has New Website For Citizens

Click on the map to enlarge

NRDC is very pleased to announce the launch of Don't Get Fracked, a toolkit for citizens around the country looking for sources of information on the permitting and drilling processes, legal rights, environmental information, health resources, local organizations working on these issues, and more.

From the Overview of the toolkit:

Drilling for natural gas is growing across the United States. The use of hydraulic fracturing has opened up gas shale resources in many parts of the country where drilling was not previously occurring. Although drilling can create jobs and income, many fear the effects of drilling on their health, land and quality of life. Current laws need to be changed to catch up with the drilling explosion.

In the meantime, you can act now to protect yourself and your family. These pages provide tools to learn about

• The drilling planned for your community
• The harm drilling can cause
• Steps you can take to limit the dangers to yourself and your family
• Resources in each state in which drilling is or is likely to occur.

Here are the categories in the Toolkit:

• Overview
• Health Effects
• Your Rights
• Environmental Impacts
• Pollution
• Resources by State

This website is worth a look.  Amy Mall of NRDC asks that people send information as well so that everyone can benefit from the experiences of others.

Don't Get Fracked!

Natural Gas: A Giant Ponzi Scheme?

A well head

According to the New York Times article published June 25th,  the gas industry may be overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves.  Are gas wells just a giant Ponzi scheme? Do the economics work?  Read more...

This article is a show stopper.  It brings up questions like:  Do wells produce for 30-50 years?  Now it looks like pure speculation.  The most gas is extracted in the first year.  Will lease holders experience a reversal of fortune? This is a boom-and-bust scenario. Are investors being misled?  Will this end up being an Enron moment?  A former Enron executive wrote in 2009 while working at an energy company:

I wonder when they will start telling people these wells are just not what they thought they were going to be?

In Texas where the Barnett Shale has been drilled for ten plus years, a review of more than 9,000 wells (2003-2009) shows that less than 10% of the wells had recouped their estimated costs by the time they were seven years old.