Archive | The Marcellus Shale Documentary Project
April 20, 2013
China’s toxic harvest: A “cancer village” rises in protest | Marketplace.org
April 18, 2013
China’s toxic harvest: A “cancer village” rises in protest | Marketplace.org.
A hill of phosphogypsum rises above the village of Liuchong, in Hubei province. Dasheng chemical dumps the substance, a byproduct of phosphate fertilizer that contains cancer-causing chemicals like arsenic, chromium-6, and cadmium, above the river that feeds the village.
Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues – Congressional Research Service
April 5, 2013
Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues. Jan. 24, 2013
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhobnobblog.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F03%2FR42611_2013_02_21_61p.pdf Keystone XL update Feb. 21, 2013
CRS Sees Bigger GHG Impacts From Tar Sands Than Draft Keystone Study By State Department
Handing environmentalists and congressional opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline a new tool to fight the project, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) is estimating significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions from the project than the State Department found in its recently issued draft analysis.
Environmental advocates are already pointing to the March 15 CRS report as being more “balanced” than the department’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS). Environmentalists welcome the research service’s methodology because, unlike the State Department, it does not assume that the oil sands will be developed regardless of whether the pipeline is built to transport the crude from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast.
But industry advocates of the pipeline say the CRS report is flawed compared with the draft EIS because of this assumption, suggesting they will push back on any effort to use the study to argue against Keystone.
The dispute over the study all but ensures the CRS report will play a role in renewed debate over the pipeline once Congress returns April 8. The House Energy & Commerce Committee has scheduled an April 10 hearing in the power subcommittee to discuss H.R. 3, a bill that would approve the pipeline and limit legal challenges.
Meanwhile, Senate environment committee ranking member David Vitter (R-LA) and Sens. James Inhofe (R-OK), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) are urging EPA to fight any effort by environmentalists to force a settlement setting binding deadlines for the agency to craft greenhouse gas trading rules should environmentalists sue over a lack of a response to their petition asking EPA to use various Clean Air Act powers to create climate trading programs.
Film Screening “Drill Baby Drill” by Lech Kowalski
March 23, 2013
Film Screening “Drill Baby Drill” by Lech Kowalski | shaleshock.org.
Comment by Mary Menapace:
My (amateur) review and impressions.Attended the American premiere of Drill Baby Drill in Utica this afternoon. Shaleshock blurb on it here. http://shaleshock.org/2013/03/film-screening-drill-baby-drill-by-lech-kowalski/
The director Lech Kowalski.ski was there to answer questions afterwards.
almost three hundred people, theater was near full.The film beautifully lays out the ugly issues, mainly the way they operate as if exempt from any oversight or laws. As they are. Voice over narration by Lech. Polish farmers live simply on beautiful land, produce their own food, milk and eggs each even. Subtitled, their language direct, simple, logic irrefutable. The gathering and swift direct action respectful, effective, inspiring. Interesting that the leader was a woman (familiar?) she spokesperson but the room and fields were filled with mostly men on film anyway. Lech was asked, on film, many times to stop filming, by gov. and Chevron. As he commented afterwards, he coulda made an entire movie of being told not to be filming. To see the same issues laid out across the sea opens up the perspective.
Pennsylvania portion has familiar faces, Carol French piece opens the film. Was good to see her farm, heartbreaking to see her cows. Very powerful was a truck driver, Ray, who quit, his testimony on the status quo of how it all works and home water situation straight up bad. He was present at the screening. So was a psychologist who on film talks about the sand importing facility next door to a day care center in wyalusing. She was to speak afterwards about her work with Fracking victims but disappointingly there was not time.
Afterwards, there was good discussion about the larger picture of corporate power being the enemy, not Fracking. Local county legislator spoke, another truck driver who quit spoke, his story confirming Rachel’s testimony of woodchips being added to liquid for import to Seneca landfill and other NY landfills. He hauled the waste to NY working thirteen hour days and other lawbreaking policies he ultimately could not abide, echoing the driver in the film.
So the film bore good discussion. The distribution will be film festivals and will be available on VOD which I am assuming is video on demand, and Lech is looking to have a tour of dozens of locales across the northeast. He will be figuring out dates sometime shortly.
GDACC 
