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HBO to Premiere Explosive Natural Gas Documentary
“Gasland” Exposes Unchecked Drilling’s Threat to Health and the Environment
WASHINGTON
Film director Josh Fox grew up in rural Pennsylvania on the Delaware
River, which sits above the natural gas-rich Marcellus shale formation
deep underground. When he was offered $100,000 to lease his property
for natural gas exploration, Fox decided to chronicle drilling's impact
on the American landscape and its people.
On Monday, June 21 at 9:00 p.m. EDT, Home Box Office (HBO) will
premiere "Gasland," Fox's documentary on the dangers of natural gas
exploration. Writing in Variety, the entertainment industry
publication, critic Robert Koehler said, "If a film can ever enact
social change, which is rare, the potency of "Gasland" suggests that
this may be that film." Gasland has won acclaim on the independent film
festival circuit, including taking home the Special Jury prize at the
2010 Sundance Film Festival.
"Gasland's message is invaluable to our work educating lawmakers and
the public on the dangers that unregulated natural gas drilling poses
to public health and the environment," said Dusty Horwitt, senior
counsel at Environmental Working Group (EWG). "Mr. Fox's film is
particularly relevant in its depiction of the impact that unchecked gas
drilling has had on the health of rural American families and the
callous attitude of industry representatives."
"I leaned heavily on EWG's research on natural gas extraction
techniques as source material for Gasland," said Fox. "EWG's advocacy
for safer drilling brings heft to arguments urging lawmakers at the
local and national level to address the astounding lack of regulation
of natural gas drilling," Fox said.
EWG is hosting a live chat with Fox following the HBO premiere on Tuesday June 22nd at https://www.enviroblog.org/2010/06/fracking-live-chat-with-ewg-gasland-di...
Natural gas companies have industrialized the Western landscape,
punching thousands of wells into pristine lands, injecting toxic
chemicals, consuming millions of gallons of water, digging pits for
hazardous waste and carving out sprawling road networks. Yet almost
uniquely among U.S. industries, oil and gas drillers are exempt from
regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the
Clean Air Act and other federal environmental laws.
With the discovery of large natural gas reserves in the Marcellus
shale, New York, Pennsylvania and other eastern states are now in line
to experience similar devastation. As "Gasland" documents, residents of
Pennsylvania have already had their drinking water contaminated in
areas where drilling took place.
Recent research by EWG has focused on a process known as horizontal
drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing, which has enabled gas
companies to unlock huge new deposits of gas buried in deep shale
formations. Known as "fracking," the process shatters the rock to allow
captive gas and oil to flow to the surface. Fracking is used in 90
percent of the nation's natural gas and oil wells.
In "Drilling Around the Law," https://www.ewg.org/drillingaroundthelaw,
EWG showed that drilling companies are skirting federal law and
injecting toxic petroleum distillates into thousands of wells,
threatening drinking water supplies from Pennsylvania to Wyoming.
Federal and state regulators, meanwhile, largely look the other way.
A report titled "Free Pass for Oil and Gas in the American West,"
documented that the boom in unregulated oil and natural gas exploration
across the West poses a threat to public health and the environment.
Exclusive EWG maps detailed drilling activity county by county.
EWG Safe Drinking Water Fact Sheet Produced in Conjunction with Earthworks - https://www.ewg.org/Safe-Drinking-Water-Act-Should-Cover-Hydraulic-Fractu...
Key findings of EWG's reports included:
* Drilling companies are using dozens of petroleum distillates in
their hydraulic fracturing fluids. These distillates, including
kerosene, mineral spirits and diesel fuel, contain high levels of the
so-called BTEX chemicals benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene,
which are toxic in water at minuscule levels. Benzene is of particular
concern because it is a known human carcinogen in water at
concentrations higher than five parts per billion.
* In a worst-case scenario, petroleum distillates used to
hydraulically fracture a single well could contain enough benzene to
contaminate more than 100 billion gallons of drinking water to unsafe
levels, according to drilling company disclosures in New York and
published studies. That's more than then times the water used by the
state of New York every day.
* In using petroleum distillates, companies are skirting the federal
Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires a permit for fracturing with
diesel fuel (itself a petroleum distillate). In 2004, the EPA concluded
that the use of diesel fuel in fracturing poses "the greatest potential
threat to [underground sources of drinking water] because the BTEX
constituents in diesel fuel exceed the [maximum contaminant level] at
the point-of-injection." EWG found that other petroleum distillates
used in fracking can contain even higher levels of benzene but do not
require a permit.
* Regulators in four states (New York, Pennsylvania, Montana and
Texas) told EWG that they do not check to determine whether drilling
companies are using diesel or other petroleum distillates. Regulators
in these states and Wyoming said they do not issue permits for
fracturing. A Wyoming official who asked not to be named said companies
there commonly fractured with diesel.
* In February, the House Energy and Commerce Committee reported that
two companies, B.J. Services and Halliburton, had injected diesel in
hydraulic fracturing operations in at least 15 states from 2005 through
2007. At least some of these injections occurred on or after Aug. 8,
2005, when the Energy Policy Act of 2005 became law. This law exempted
hydraulic fracturing from the Underground Injection Control permitting
requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act except when diesel is used,
so the two companies may have broken the law if they fractured with
diesel without a permit. The committee did not disclose where the
injections occurred.
* The committee also found that B.J. Services violated a non-binding
2003 agreement with EPA not to inject diesel fuel directly into
underground sources of drinking water in coal bed methane formations.
* Companies have sought to drill for natural gas in the watershed
that provides New York City's drinking water. The city has strongly
opposed such drilling.
* Industry often claims there is no evidence that hydraulic
fracturing has ever contaminated drinking water, but people from
Pennsylvania to Wyoming have clearly documented that their water was
affected.
The Environmental Working Group is a community 30 million strong, working to protect our environmental health by changing industry standards.
(202) 667-6982LATEST NEWS
Democratic Senators Rip Corporate Lobby for 'Cheerleading' GOP Default Threat and Tax Cuts
"The American people deserve to understand why you are supporting even more deficit-busting tax giveaways for giant corporations, while also cheerleading Republican demands to inflict painful, job-killing austerity on everyone else."
May 27, 2023
The Republican Party's debt-ceiling hostage scheme has benefited from the support of the United States' largest corporate lobbying organization, which has given its stamp of approval to the GOP's push for major federal spending cuts, punitive new work requirements for aid programs, and permitting changes sought by the fossil fuel industry.
While House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office has reportedly not met with representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during the debt ceiling standoff, a representative of the powerful business group said earlier this week that such a meeting would be pointless given that the Chamber and the GOP are so closely aligned.
Neil Bradley, the Chamber's chief policy officer, toldPolitico earlier this week that a meeting with McCarthy would be a "cheerleading session."
"I see the relationship as respectful, so I'm not worried about wasting his time to come in and say, 'Look how much I agree with you,'" said Bradley, who previously served as McCarthy's deputy chief of staff.
In a letter to the Chamber's chief executive on Friday, a trio of Democratic senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) slammed Bradley's remarks and demanded to know "how the Chamber justifies supporting the Republican agenda of continued tax cuts for the wealthy, while cheerleading for threats to impose a default and austerity for everyone else."
"Instead of pressing the speaker to drop his radical demands and pass a clean debt limit increase, Bradley noted that the Chamber has pressed the White House to come to a bipartisan agreement with McCarthy," the letter reads. "Indeed, Bradley noted that the Chamber is aligned with House Republicans on their debt ceiling demands, including on spending caps, work requirements, and energy permitting."
Warren, joined by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), accused the Chamber of fully backing the GOP's "shameless hypocrisy" by lobbying for tax breaks that Republicans are expected to include in a tax cut package coming sometime next month.
"The American people deserve to understand why you are supporting even more deficit-busting tax giveaways for giant corporations, while also cheerleading Republican demands to inflict painful, job-killing austerity on everyone else in a pretense of 'fiscal responsibility,'" the senators wrote, demanding to know how much the Chamber has spent on tax-related lobbying this year and what discussions the group has had with Republicans on the House's tax-writing committee.
According to OpenSecrets, the Chamber has spent more than $19 million total on federal lobbying so far this year—the most of any organization. The Chamber says it has met with more than 150 Republican and Democratic lawmakers throughout the debt ceiling fight, which GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) publicly described as a hostage situation.
The Democratic senators' letter came as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the federal government will run out of money to meet its obligations by June 5 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling.
The Washington Postreported Friday that White House and GOP negotiators are "closing in on an agreement that would raise the debt ceiling by two years—a key priority of the Biden administration—while also essentially freezing government spending on domestic programs and slightly increasing funding for the military and veterans affairs."
When accounting for inflation, keeping non-military spending flat would mean potentially significant real-term cuts to key aid programs, from nutrition assistance to housing.
The Chamber has openly endorsed the GOP push for spending caps and warned President Joe Biden against using his 14th Amendment authority to unilaterally prevent a default, claiming such a move would be "as economically calamitous as a default."
On Friday, a top Treasury Department official said the White House will not invoke its 14th Amendment authority to continue paying the nation's bills.
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Yellen Says US Will Run Out of Money to Pay Bills on June 5 Absent Debt Limit Deal
The treasury secretary's warning came as a Biden administration official said the president won't invoke the 14th Amendment in order to avoid a first-ever U.S. default.
May 26, 2023
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday warned Congress that the United States government will run out of money to pay its bills on June 5 if lawmakers don't reach an agreement to raise the nation's debt ceiling.
"Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have insufficient resources to satisfy the government's obligations if Congress has not raised or suspended the debt limit by June 5," Yellen wrote in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
"We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States," Yellen noted. "In fact, we have already seen Treasury's borrowing costs increase substantially for securities maturing in early June."
Earlier this month, Yellen said that the so-called "X-date"—the day on which the first-ever U.S. default will occur—could come as early as June 1.
"If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests," she stressed in Friday's letter.
\u201cJanet Yellen updates the X date\u2026 it is now next Monday, June 5.\n\nLetter to Congress:\u201d— Julie Tsirkin (@Julie Tsirkin) 1685132574
As The New York Timesnotes:
Ms. Yellen's letter comes as the White House and House Republicans have been racing to agree on a deal that would lift the nation's $31.4 trillion borrowing cap and prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt. The Treasury Department hit the debt limit on January 19 and has since been employing accounting maneuvers to ensure the United States can continue paying its bills on time...
On Friday, she detailed that the federal government is due to make more than $130 billion in scheduled payments during the first two days of June—including payments to veterans and Social Security and Medicare recipients—leaving the Treasury Department with "an extremely low level of resources"...
While negotiators have been in round-the-clock talks, no deal has been announced. Still, the contours of an agreement between the White House and Republicans are taking shape. That deal would raise the debt limit for two years while imposing strict caps on discretionary spending not related to the military or veterans for the same period.
Biden administration officials and congressional Democrats have accused Republicans of "hostage-taking" during the debt limit standoff, an allegation embraced by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) earlier this week.
Scores of Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocates have called on President Joe Biden to exercise his constitutional authority and invoke the 14th Amendment—which states in part that "the validity of the public debt of the United States... shall not be questioned."
However, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said Friday that Biden will not invoke the 14th Amendment.
"The 14th Amendment can't solve our challenges," Adeyemo asserted on CNN. "Now, ultimately, the only thing that can do that is Congress doing what it's done 78 other times, raising the debt limit."
"We don't have a Plan B that allows us to meet the commitments that we've made to our creditors, to our seniors, to our veterans, to the American people," Adeyemo added ominously.
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Congressman Proposes Bill to Block GOP States' Property Ownership Bans
"Banning buying homes based on citizenship and registering your property did not bode well in history," said one lawmaker. "This is the Republicans rewriting the Chinese Exclusion Act."
May 26, 2023
Days after a group of Chinese citizens sued Florida's government over its new law restricting Chinese citizens from purchasing property in the state, U.S. Rep. Al Green this week warned of a "proliferation" of such bans and unveiled federal legislation to prohibit them.
The proposal would affirm that federal law, such as the Fair Housing Act, takes precedence over state bans restricting who can and cannot legally purchase real estate or farmland. It would also allow people to sue in federal court and have a right to court-ordered relief including an injunction if they've been harmed by bans like the one approved by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Fair Housing Act explicitly prohibits discrimination in housing based on national origin, race, sex, gender identity, religion, and disability.
Despite the long-standing law, Florida this month became the latest state to pass restrictions on property ownership, targeting Chinese, Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Cuban, Venezuelan, and North Korean citizens. DeSantis claimed Chinese people have been "gobbling up" land in the state and said the law is intended to stop the Chinese Communist Party from gaining influence and spying in the state.
"That is not in the best interests of Florida to have the Chinese Communist Party owning farmland, owning land close to military bases," said the governor, who announced his 2024 presidential campaign this week.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, also a Republican, signed a ban on Chinese companies buying property in March, and the Texas Legislature had advanced a similar bill targeting companies and government entities headquartered in China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
According to the National Agricultural Law Center, 21 states have laws restricting foreign ownership of farmland. More than 30 states have drafted or advanced legislation to either tighten those restrictions or introduce new ones.
"I don't think we ought to allow 50 states to have the opportunity to pass laws that can impact foreign affairs, which really is the province of the executive branch of the federal government," Green told HuffPost on Thursday. "I don't think we should wait until we get 30, 50, whatever number of different laws to act."
The measures have drawn comparisons to the so-called "alien land laws" that were in place in the early 20th century before being struck down by courts and state legislatures. The laws prohibited Chinese and Japanese immigrants from owning land and "severely exacerbated violence and discrimination against Asian communities," according to the ACLU, which is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in Florida this week.
"Banning buying homes based on citizenship and registering your property did not bode well in history... This is the Republicans rewriting the Chinese Exclusion Act," said Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) this week, referring to the 1882 law that banned Chinese workers from immigrating to the United States.
\u201c\u2026when you ask me why we worry about anti-China rhetoric\u2026 many people can\u2019t differentiate between someone who works for the CCP from an average Chinese American. These laws will increase anti Asian suspicion & hate. https://t.co/z7j9TuyfA3\u201d— Grace Meng (@Grace Meng) 1684285341
Contrary to DeSantis' claim that Chinese citizens are buying large amounts of property across Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency, foreigners owned only 3.1% of farmland at the end of 2021, and about a third of that land was owned by Canadians. Less than 1% of the land—0.03% of all farmland in the U.S.—was owned by Chinese citizens or entities.
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