New genus of bacteria found living inside hydraulic fracturing wells

'Frackibacter' one of dozens of microbes forming sustainable ecosystems there, study finds

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Ohio State University researchers and their colleagues have identified a new genus of bacteria living inside hydraulic fracturing wells. These jars contain samples of "produced water fluids" -- the fluid that is collected at the surface of a hydraulic fracturing well after fracturing -- from wells in Marcellus and Utica shale formations. The fluids are orange because they contain large amounts of iron that oxidizes when the fluids are brought to the surface. By analyzing the genomes of microbes in the water, the researchers are piecing together the existence of microbial communities inside the wells. 

CREDIT: Photo by Rebecca Daly, courtesy of The Ohio State University.

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Researchers analyzing the genomes of microorganisms living in shale oil and gas wells have found evidence of sustainable ecosystems taking hold there--populated in part by a never-before-seen genus of bacteria they have dubbed "Frackibacter."

The new genus is one of the 31 microbial members found living inside two separate fracturing wells, Ohio State University researchers and their colleagues report in the Sept. 5 online edition of the journal Nature Microbiology.

Even though the wells were hundreds of miles apart and drilled in different kinds of shale formations, the microbial communities inside them were nearly identical, the researchers discovered.

Almost all the microbes they found had been seen elsewhere before, and many likely came from the surface ponds that energy companies draw on to fill the wells. But that's not the case with the newly identified Candidatus Frackibacter, which may be unique to hydraulic fracturing sites, said Kelly Wrighton, assistant professor of microbiology and biophysics at Ohio State.

In biological nomenclature, "Candidatus" indicates that a new organism is being studied for the first time using a genomic approach, not an isolated organism in a lab culture. The researchers chose to name the genus "Frackibacter" as a play on the word "fracking," shorthand for "hydraulic fracturing."

Candidatus Frackibacter prospered alongside the microbes that came from the surface, forming communities in both wells which so far have lasted for nearly a year.

"We think that the microbes in each well may form a self-sustaining ecosystem where they provide their own food sources," Wrighton explained. "Drilling the well and pumping in fracturing fluid creates the ecosystem, but the microbes adapt to their new environment in a way to sustain the system over long periods."

By sampling fluids taken from the two wells over 328 days, the researchers reconstructed the genomes of bacteria and archaea living in the shale. To the researchers' surprise, both wells--one drilled in Utica shale and the other drilled in Marcellus shale--developed nearly identical microbial communities.

In addition, the two wells are each owned by different energy companies that utilized different fracturing techniques. The two types of shale exist more than a mile and a half below ground, were formed millions of years apart, and contained different forms of fossil fuel. Yet one bacterium, Halanaerobium, emerged to dominate communities in both wells.

"We thought we might get some of the same types of bacteria, but the level of similarity was so high it was striking. That suggests that whatever's happening in these ecosystems is more influenced by the fracturing than the inherent differences in the shale," Wrighton said.

Wrighton and her team are still not 100 percent sure of the microbes' origins. Some almost undoubtedly came from the ponds that provide water to the wells, she said. But other bacteria and archaea could have been living in the rock before drilling began, Candidatus Frackibacter among them.

Shale energy companies typically formulate their own proprietary recipes for the fluid they pump into wells to break up the rock and release oil or gas, explained Rebecca Daly, research associate in microbiology at Ohio State and lead author of the Nature Microbiology paper. They all start with water and add other chemicals. Once the fluid is inside a well, salt within the shale leaches into it, making it briny.

The microorganisms living in the shale must tolerate high temperature, pressure and salinity, but this study suggests that salinity is likely the most important stressor on the microbes' survival. Salinity forces the microbes to synthesize organic compounds called osmoprotectants to keep themselves from bursting. When the cells die, the osmoprotectants are released into the water, where other microbes can use them for protection themselves or eat them as food. In that way, salinity forced the microbes to generate a sustainable food source.

In addition to the physical constraints in the environment, the microbes also must protect themselves from viruses. The researchers reconstructed the genomes of viruses living inside the wells, and found genetic evidence that some bacteria were indeed falling prey to viruses, dying, and releasing osmoprotectants into the water.

By examining the genomes of the different microbes, the researchers found that the osmoprotectants were being eaten by Halanaerobium and Candidatus Frackibacter. In turn, these bacteria provided food for other microbes called methanogens, which ultimately produced methane.

To validate their findings from the field, the researchers grew the same microbes in the lab under similar conditions. The lab-grown microbes also produced osmoprotectants that were converted into methane--a confirmation that the researchers are on the right track to understanding what's happening inside the wells.

One implication of the study is that methane produced by microbes living in shale wells could possibly supplement the wells' energy output.

Wrighton and Daly described the amount of methane produced by the microbes as likely minuscule compared to the amount of oil and gas harvested from the shale even a year after initial fracturing. But, they point out, there is a precedent in a related industry, that of coal-bed methane, to use microbes to greater advantage.

"In coal-bed systems they've shown that they can facilitate microbial life and increase methane yields," Wrighton said. "As the system shifts over time to being less productive, the contribution of biogenic methane could become significantly higher in shale wells. We haven't gotten to that point yet, but it's a possibility."

In the meantime, research led by co-author Michael Wilkins, assistant professor of earth sciences and microbiology, has used genomics information to grow Candidatus Frackibacter in the lab and is further testing its ability to handle high pressure and salinity.

###

This work is funded by the National Science Foundation's Dimensions of Biodiversity program, the Department of Energy and the Deep Carbon Observatory.

Among the study's co-authors from Ohio State is Paula Mouser, principal investigator on the Dimensions of Biodiversity grant. Other co-principal investigators and co-authors include Wrighton; Michael Wilkins, assistant professor of earth sciences and microbiology; and David Cole, professor of earth sciences and Ohio Research Scholar. Co-author David Hoyt of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory analyzed the compounds in the fluids that provided evidence of microbial metabolism.

Contact: Kelly Wrighton, 614-688-2189; Wrighton.1@osu.edu

Written by Pam Frost Gorder, 614-292-9475; Gorder.1@osu.edu

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

ORIGINAL: EurekAlert
by Pam Frost Gorder
 5-SEP-2016

Extracted Oil And Gas Wastewater Causing Earthquakes?

ORIGINAL: The Energy Colective

Joseph Romm

March 29, 2013

A 2011 magnitude 5.7 quake in OK, linked to wastewater injection, buckled US Highway 62. (Credit: John Leeman)

After pulling massive amounts of fossil fuels out of the Earth’s crust so we can burn it up into our atmosphere, we have a good sense of where the stuff goes. Our oceans. A global greenhouse. Our lungs. But what happens to the ground formerly occupied by those fossil fuels?

It’s becoming increasingly clear that oil and gas extraction processes are actually weakening the structural integrity of the Earth’s crust just enough to cause more frequent earthquakes, in places not used to them.

Oklahoma, for instance, is not known for earthquakes. Yet the central U.S. has seen an elevenfold jump in recent years, including the Sooner State’s largest earthquake on record. This 5.7-magnitude quake occurred on November 6, 2011 near Prague, Oklahoma. And research published yesterday in Geology from the University of Oklahoma, Columbia University, and the U.S. Geological Survey has made a direct connection to the disposal of wastewater from conventional oil production:

A new study in the journal Geology is the latest to tie a string of unusual earthquakes, in this case, in central Oklahoma, to the injection of wastewater deep underground. Researchers now say that the magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Okla., on Nov. 6, 2011, may also be the largest ever linked to wastewater injection. Felt as far away as Milwaukee, more than 800 miles away, the quake — the biggest ever recorded in Oklahoma — destroyed 14 homes, buckled a federal highway and left two people injured. Small earthquakes continue to be recorded in the area.

The recent boom in U.S. energy production has produced massive amounts of wastewater. The water is used both in hydrofracking, which cracks open rocks to release natural gas, and in coaxing petroleum out of conventional oil wells. In both cases, the brine and chemical-laced water has to be disposed of, often by injecting it back underground elsewhere, where it has the potential to trigger earthquakes. The water linked to the Prague quakes was a byproduct of oil extraction at one set of oil wells, and was pumped into another set of depleted oil wells targeted for waste storage.

As Climate Progress has written before, this practice of disposing chemical-laced water generated during the extraction of oil and gas has far-reaching effects. Drillers have been doing this for more than a decade, and the researchers note that the Oklahoma quake did not actually require very much wastewater. In fact, because we have been doing this for so long, the built-up pressure in the Earth’s crust changes the criteria of how quakes happen. The study’s abstract notes:

Significantly, this case indicates that decades-long lags between the commencement of fluid injection and the onset of induced earthquakes are possible, and modifies our common criteria for fluid-induced events.

So we could be paying for more than a decade of wastewater injection and fracking for quite some time with earthquakes. There’s not much more room 9,000 feet down. Wellhead records indicate that pressure in these areas underground increased by a factor of ten from 2001 to 2006.

Fracking usually receives more attention for seismic activity than wastewater injection. Ohio banned fracking “to stop the ground from shaking.” But it’s the whole process of drilling (oil and gas), fracking, and then disposal that contributes to the problem.

A tanker truck prepares to leave OH Water plant that removes metals and chemicals from fracking wastewater. (Photo: Scott Galvin)

Can we stop doing this? Recycling the wastewater is cheaper, and more and more gas companies have started contracting out to do just that. But as Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials note, it’s hard to track where this water goes because it is not regulated. This is rather important because the water is laced with toxic metals, dangerous chemicals, and radium. Recycling companies say the waste ends up in landfills.

So the two options are to either inject it back down in the ground where it lubricates fault lines enough to cause earthquakes in Oklahoma and Ohio, or hope that radium doesn’t leak out of landfills.

Renewable fuels sound better and better the more we learn about enhanced drilling for unconventional oil and gas.

Authored by:

Joseph Romm

Joe Romm is a Fellow at American Progress and is the editor of Climate Progress, which New York Times columnist Tom Friedman called "the indispensable blog" and Time magazine named one of the 25 "Best Blogs of 2010." In 2009, Rolling Stone put Romm #88 on its list of 100 "people who are reinventing America." Time named him a "Hero of the Environment″ and “The Web’s most influential ...

‘Fracking’ for Natural Gas Is Linked With Earthquakes

ORIGINAL: Smithsonian

August 6, 2012

Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas may increase the risk of earthquake, a new study finds. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Richard Bartz

Hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. “fracking”) recovery techniques for oil and natural gas are a controversial business. The practice—in which a mix of water, sand and chemicals is injected deep into bedrock at high pressure to create fractures, allowing gas and oil to flow upward—was developed in the late 1990s and has become more and more common across the United States over the past few years, opening up geologic areas such as the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia to dramatic increases in gas production.

On the one hand, proponents argue that hydraulic fracturing increases the amount of energy that can be economically produced in the United States, making oil and gas cheaper and reducing our dependency on foreign imports. Opponents, though, note that fracking causes dangerous chemicals to leach into groundwater, releases known carcinogens into the air and increases our contribution to climate change.

Alongside these observed problems, though, a different sort of worry has emerged: the idea that hydraulic fracturing can trigger an earthquake. Scientists have known for decades that injecting fluids into the earth could cause quakes, but we were uncertain just how much of an increase widespread fracking might cause. This past spring, USGS scientists decided that the recent dramatic increase in the number of small quakes in the United States is “almost certainly manmade,” but were unable to conclusively tie it to this particular activity.

Now, the evidence is starting to pile up. A study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds a correlation between dozens of small earthquakes in Texas’ Barnett Shale region—the site of intensive hydraulic fracturing activity—and the locations of injection wells used to dispose of the wastes of this process. ”You can’t prove that any one earthquake was caused by an injection well,” says Cliff Frohlich, the University of Texas geologist who conducted the study, “but it’s obvious that wells are enhancing the probability that earthquakes will occur.”

To come to the finding, Frohlich analyzed two years’ worth of data from a network of extremely sensitive seismographs that was installed in the region in 2009. He discovered dozens of small earthquakes that had not been previously reported—and found that all 24 of the quakes for which he was able to establish an accurate epicenter occurred within two miles of an injection well.

One important distinction is that these wells were the disposal sites for waste fluids that had already used to fracture rock, rather than the original wells used to extract the gas. Although the actual gas extraction wells cause many microearthquakes by their very nature (they literally crack the bedrock to release gas and oil), these are far too small to be felt by humans or cause any damage. The fluid disposal wells, though, are more likely to cause earthquakes of significance, because they are sites of injection for a longer duration over time.

Image via Wikimedia Commons/Mike Norton

The waste fluids may trigger earthquakes by acting as lubricants in pre-existing faults deep underground, allowing masses of rock to slide past each other more easily and relieve built-up pressure. All of the wells that Frohlich found correlated with quakes were home to high rates of injection (more than 150,000 barrels of fluid per month). However, there were other wells in the area with similar rates of injection that did not correlate with increased seismic activity. ”It might be that an injection can only trigger an earthquake if injected fluids reach and relieve friction on a nearby fault that is already ready to slip,” explains Frohlich.

The good news is that all of these earthquakes were still relatively small, with magnitudes of less than 3.0 on the Richter scale, unlikely to cause any damage on the surface. Seismologists, though, are concerned that fluid injection could cause larger quakes if the fluid migrates into older, deeper rock formations beyond the local shale, which are home to larger fault lines. A number of earthquakes that occurred in Ohio last year, including one with a 4.0 magnitude, were linked to disposal of fracking fluids.

Frohlich notes that much more research is needed to help us understand exactly why some wells are more likely to cause earthquakes than others. For those already concerned about fracking, though, his new research adds another major concern to a growing list.

SED

¿Puede ser limpia la fractura hidráulica? (Fracking)

ORIGINAL: Technology Review

POR Kevin Bullis

Traducción Lía Moya (Opinno)

7 de Junio de 2012

La Agencia Internacional de la Energía afirma que sí, pero hará falta una legislación más estricta para obligar a los productores a adoptar las últimas tecnologías.

La fractura hidráulica, un proceso para liberar gas natural atrapado en los depósitos de pizarra que también se conoce por su término inglés, fracking, ha provocado un boom en la producción de gas natural en Estados Unidos. Pero a algunos expertos les preocupa que esta práctica contamine el agua potable y libere metano, lo que ha llevado a algunas localidades a limitar la producción de gas de pizarra.

Zona de fractura: Camiones en un pozo de Pennsylvania (EE.UU.) bombeando líquido de fracturación a alta presión en un pozo para liberar el gas natural de la formación de pizarra que se encuentra a gran profundidad. Fuente: Les Stone/ Corbis

Un nuevo estudio llevado a cabo por la Agencia Internacional de la Energía afirma que existen (o se están desarrollando) tecnologías que podrían dar respuesta a estas preocupaciones. Si se adoptaran, gobiernos de todo el mundo estarían más dispuestos a aceptar el proceso de fractura hidráulica, lo que conllevaría menos emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y energía más barata. Si no se adoptan, los gobiernos podrían mostrarse reacios a este tipo de extracción y el carbón mantendría su posición dominante en la generación de electricidad. 

El problema más conocido relacionado con la fractura hidráulica es el consumo de agua y la contaminación de la misma. La fractura hidráulica consume grandes cantidades de ella: se envían unos 20 millones de litros a alta presión por cada pozo para crear las fracturas en la roca que liberarán el gas natural. El uso de agua es un grave problema en lugares como Texas o algunas zonas de China que tienen grandes recursos de gas de pizarra pero también sufren sequías.

Cómo deshacerse del agua utilizada en el proceso es otra de las preocupaciones. La fractura hidráulica también podría contaminar las reservas de agua potable y aumentar la contaminación del aire. Y existe la preocupación de que aumente la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero debido a los escapes de metano.

Pero el estudio de la AIE concluye que el proceso de fractura hidráulica, al igual que muchas otras prácticas de industrias que tienen que ver con productos químicos peligrosos, puede ser relativamente seguro si se legisla adecuadamente. La AIE calcula que las medidas necesarias para conseguir que el proceso sea más seguro aumentarían en un 7 por ciento el coste de un pozo medio.

Se han hallado niveles significativos de metano, el principal componente del gas natural, en reservas de agua potable situadas cerca de algunos sitios donde se extrae mediante fractura hidráulica. Hay defensores del medio ambiente que sugieren que este proceso, que crea fracturas en la pizarra, podría abrir un camino para que el gas natural y otros químicos alcancen acuíferos y se mezclen con el agua potable. 

Pero según el estudio de la AIE, en la mayoría de los casos ése no es el problema. La fractura hidráulica suele tener lugar a cientos de metros por debajo de los acuíferos y es fácil detener la propagación de las fracturas. Para romper la roca hacen falta altas presiones. Si se deja de aplicar presión, la fracturación se detiene. Aún así, hay algunas explotaciones mediante fractura hidráulica que están relativamente cerca del nivel del agua potable y la AIE sugiere que tendría sentido prohibir el método en dichos lugares.

La AIE afirma que es más probable que la contaminación del agua se deba a que las empresas extractoras construyen pozos inadecuados para conducir el gas natural. Los pozos van forrados con cemento y metal para impedir que el gas natural contamine los acuíferos. Pero en algunos casos este encofrado está mal hecho y se abren canales. “En los casos en los que ha habido escapes de gas, ha sido porque el cemento no estaba bien colocado”, afirma Franz-Josef Ulm, profesor de ingeniería civil y medioambiental del Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (MIT en sus siglas en inglés). Ese problema se podría resolver haciendo el encofrado correctamente y haciendo un cuidadoso seguimiento de la integridad del pozo. “Respecto a la fabricación del encofrado de cemento, existen soluciones. La pregunta es si se están usando o no”, afirma Ulm.

Según Ulm existen nuevas tecnologías que pueden reducir muchísimo la cantidad de presión necesaria para llevar a cabo la fractura hidráulica, por lo que sería mucho más fácil construir pozos seguros. Los investigadores están aprendiendo que la pizarra es especialmente resistente a la fractura por la presencia de una pequeña cantidad de materia orgánica que liga las partículas inorgánicas. Atacar específicamente estos materiales aplicando un solvente especial puede debilitar la pizarra y hacer que sea mucho más fácil liberar el gas natural.

También existe la posibilidad de reducir el consumo de agua usando otros líquidos, como el propano (lo que genera sus propios retos medioambientales) o mezclando dióxido de carbono o nitrógeno con agua para crear espumas. Es posible que con el tiempo se puedan mezclar pequeñas cantidades de agua con partículas sólidas diseñadas para fluir fácilmente, según Ulm.

Otro temor a la contaminación surge del uso de productos químicos junto con el agua por parte las empresas de extracción mediante fractura hidráulica. La mayor preocupación no son los propios productos químicos ya mezclados, pues están muy diluidos, sino el manejo de los mismos en su forma concentrada. Vertidos en la superficie podrían empapar el suelo y contaminar el agua potable. La solución es forrar con plástico la zona en la que se maneja los químicos y vigilar por si se produce algún escape. Los investigadores también están desarrollando productos químicos menos tóxicos o técnicas que eliminan la necesidad de usarlos.

Aunque se resuelva el problema de los productos químicos, las aguas residuales siguen planteando un reto. El agua que vuelve a la superficie está contaminada no solo con los productos químicos que se le añadieron antes de bombearla, sino también con químicos, metales pesados y, en algunos casos, materiales radioactivos naturales sacados de las profundidades.

Cuando el agua vuelve a la superficie, el gas natural y otros hidrocarburos liberados por el proceso de fractura hidráulica salen con ella. En muchos casos se permite que se gas se libere en la atmósfera hasta que el agua deja de fluir. El principal componente del gas natural –el metano- es un gas de efecto invernadero mucho más potente que el dióxido de carbono, así pues esta practica podría contrarrestar cualquier reducción en la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero derivada de quemar gas natural y no carbón. Y sin embargo existe una tecnología sencilla para capturar el gas natural en esa fase.

Poner en marcha estas tecnologías requerirá una legislación específica. “No podemos confiar en que las empresas adopten buenas prácticas, porque solo parte de los extractores lo hará”, afirma Mark Boling, presidente de V+ Development Solutions, que forma parte de Southwestern Energy, empresa productora de gas natural. “Hay que llegar hasta el final y aprobar leyes para que haya igualdad de condiciones y a todo el mundo se le exija lo mismo”.

Bien hecha, esa legislación podría fomentar la innovación al crear un mercado para las nuevas tecnologías. Ulm recomienda limitaciones a las emisiones, lo que da a las empresas flexibilidad para escoger la mejor tecnología. La AIE recomienda una combinación de esas limitaciones y en algunos casos algunos requisitos tecnológicos específicos. “Con este tipo de legislación se podría obligar a implantar innovaciones rápidamente. Para que el gas de pizarra sea una fuente de energía sostenible, hace falta tecnología”, afirma Ulm.

Chevron CEO tells critics they are wrong

ORIGINAL: Fuel Fix

by David R. Baker

May 30, 2012

San Ramon — Chevron Corp. CEO John Watson faced some of his company’s sharpest critics Wednesday during the oil giant’s annual shareholders meeting and politely told them they were wrong.

Wrong about Chevron’s record on environmental protection. Wrong about the company’s impact on the countries where it pumps oil.

And wrong about a high-profile pollution lawsuit in Ecuador that led to an $18 billion judgment against Chevron, a verdict the company continues to fight.

“Whatever we do, we’ll do safely or not at all,” Watson told Chevron executives, investors and critics packed into a conference room at the company’s San Ramon headquarters.

Activists who had come from around the world to confront Watson, however, weren’t giving ground.

One castigated Chevron for an explosion in January at a natural gas platform off the coast of Nigeria, a blast that killed two people. Another critic, from Angola, complained about frequent, fish-killing oil spills.

And in perhaps the most heated exchange, one of the Ecuadorans suing Chevron pressed Watson to accept responsibility for oil-field contamination in her country.

“I have come to say that Chevron needs to put on its pants and act like men and own up to the damage you have caused,” said Luz Trinidad Andrea Cusangua, speaking in Spanish with a translator at her side.

Chevron considers the Ecuadoran lawsuit a shakedown and has filed a racketeering case against the lawyers pursuing it. Facing Cusangua across the crowded room, Watson said the attorneys had misled her.

“I understand you’ve been lead to believe by plaintiffs’ lawyers and others that Chevron is responsible,” he said, with his own translator repeating his comments. “What’s been made clear by the mountain of evidence we’ve produced over the last several years is that Chevron is not responsible.”

Chevron shareholder meetings, sometimes held in San Ramon and sometimes in Houston, have for years attracted critics. Wednesday’s meeting brought an estimated 150 protesters to the company’s gate, while some of their colleagues who own shares in Chevron ventured inside to address the meeting. Security was tight both inside and outside the conference room, with investors passing through several checkpoints to enter.

Watson’s predecessor, David O’Reilly, sometimes turned combative during the annual meetings, especially when pressed on Ecuador. In contrast, Watson, who took Chevron’s helm in 2009, favors a more soft-spoken approach. On Wednesday, he frequently told critics that he agreed with them — to a point.

Despite the difference in style, Watson is no less adamant than O’Reilly about defending the company’s policies and operations. He expressed regret for the Nigeria explosion, for example, but told shareholders that the blast had not damaged the environment. He denied that Chevron suffered frequent spills in Angola.

He also said the company took responsibility for an oil spill off the Brazilian coast in November. But he defended Chevron’s handling of the incident, which has triggered fines and a criminal investigation in Brazil.

“We feel very good about our initial response to that,” he said. “We acted in textbook fashion to stop the spill in four days.”

A representative of Brazil’s United Federation of Oil Workers – a union that is trying to have Chevron barred from working in Brazil as a result of the spill — was denied entry to the shareholders meeting Wednesday. Watson said the representative, João Antonio de Moraes, lacked proper documentation to enter.

While many speakers at the meeting addressed Chevron’s operations in other countries, some focused on domestic issues, particularly fracking.

The practice, properly known as hydraulic fracturing, has led to a boom in natural gas production within the United States but also has prompted fears that it could contaminate water supplies. A shareholder proposal, voted on Wednesday, would have required Chevron management to report on the financial risks posed by proposed fracking regulations and moratoria in some communities.

But Watson argued that environmental concerns about fracturing can be addressed, a point he repeated after the meeting, in a brief conference with reporters.

“It’s a once-in-a-generation benefit for the country, and we should take advantage of that, with the proper precautions,” he said.

About 73 percent of Chevron shareholders voting Wednesday rejected the fracturing proposal, according to the company’s preliminary count. Shareholders also rejected proposals to place on Chevron’s board an independent director with environmental expertise and split the jobs of board chairman and CEO.

1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling

ORIGINAL: Biological Diversity.org

 Photo & Quote http://spilltechnology.com/arctic.html

Shell is getting ready to Drill in the Arctic and assures us not to worry as it can capture 95 % of the oil when it Spills. How will an Oil Spill effect Arctic Wildlife? "The impact of even a small oil spill will be devastating." Click LIKE if u agree > 95% Shell? Really? NOT!

Join over 50,000 Sign PETITION to Stop SHELL 

http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/o/2167/t/5243/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9641

"The oil will accumulate between and under ice floes where sea mammals must pass in order to reach air. Even a very small patch of oil on the fur of a polar bear will poison it by destroying its liver when the oil is ingested while grooming fur. Oil will blind Arctic animals and kill by hypothermia even if only a small patch of fur or feathers are oiled. These are sentient creatures suffering agonizing deaths inflicted by industrial activity."

Article On Action Questioning Shell's safety Claims! 

http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/05/13/environment-shells-readiness-on-arctic-drilling-challenged/

Shell in Nigeria: "I want to make an appeal to the World. We've no water no hospital no electricity, but Shell keep telling the world that they done so much. Tell the World We are suffering.." WATCH New Video 'Its WORSE Than Bad' http://worsethanbad.org/

'Shell is the vortex destroying the Delta. The vortex will continue until enough pressure is put on Shell to clean up its mess.' Click LIKE if you agree that SHELL should clean UP! But Most of all Sign the Petition to Put PRESSURE on Shell.

PETITION http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/shell-own-pay-clean

Article http://priceofoil.org/2012/05/09/shell-in-nigeria-its-worse-than-bad/

Though Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill; the US and Europe ignore it http://eternian.wordpress.com/tag/map-of-nigerias-oil-refineries/

Game over will be the end of the discussion. 

Says NASA Goddard Institute director James Hansen, "If Canada proceeds, and we do nothing, it will be game over for the climate. Canada’s tar sands, deposits of sand saturated with bitumen, contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history. If we were to fully exploit this new oil source, and continue to burn our conventional oil, gas and coal supplies, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere eventually would reach levels higher than in the Pliocene era, more than 2.5 million years ago, when sea level was at least 50 feet higher than it is now."

Click 'LIKE' if you and your family a) would rather not be 50 feet under water and b) will do your best to prevent it from happening.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html

“We know that pumping oil out of the ground does not create many jobs. It does not foster an entrepreneurial spirit, nor does it sharpen critical faculties.” -- Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi 

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is ambitiously planning to source 41,000 Megawatts of solar projects over the next two decades to support one third of its electricity production by 2032. Solar will be directly replacing the oil used by desalination plants and reduce domestic consumption of oil by 520,000 barrels per day.

The plan is part of a larger strategy to scale up various sources of renewable energy, build a new domestic industry, and reduce oil consumption. The $100 Billion program aims to “catapult Saudi Arabia into the group of global leaders in renewable-energy development.”

If the world's largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia can do it, why not the world's largest importer?

[M] 

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/11/482660/saudi-arabia-unveils-100-billion-plan-to-make-solar-a-driver-for-domestic-energy-for-years-to-come/

The Energy Revolution is not just coming, it's here: California alone currently has 524 solar projects over 1 megawatt (MW) — and an incredible 17,707 such solar projects will be on the grid by 2017 (3,373 now under construction, plus 14,334 in the approval process). The latest update from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) counts an extraordinary 17,298 MW of just solar projects on public lands. The growth rate is simply staggering. Let's keep it that way !

Read more here:

http://theenergycollective.com/namarchetti/84381/renewable-revolution-don-t-worry-it-s-coming?

[M] 

ALERT!> While the Energy revolution is coming there are some that would like to Stop it. Today ALEC Brings Lawmakers from 15 States & Big Oil Together To Undermine Clean Energy Initiatives in the US!

"Today, behind CLOSED doors in Charlotte NC, legislators from 15 states will meet with the oil & gas industry to discuss “model legislation” as part of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The result could be laws that handicap renewable energy targets — while creating Loopholes for fossil fuels, written directly by the oil and gas industry itself." Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and BP, are part of ALEC. (Never hear of ALEC? No surprise "ALEC has attracted a wide range of (corporate) supporters in part because it’s done its work behind closed doors. Membership lists were secret. The origins of the bills were secret." Bloomberg)

Brilliant--RFKJr On ALEC & Saving Our Democracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsU1tODEOcA&feature=youtu.be

Click >>LIKE<< if you AGREE that there be a separation of OIL & State- Naysayers need to get out of the way- and Let the Energy (R)Evolution Happen!

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/11/482422/today-alec-brings-lawmakers-and-big-oil-together-to-undermine-clean-energy/?mobile=nc

Bloomberg article http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-04-24/clean-energy-requirements-targeted-by-alec-norquist.html

"Leave us in peace. We want to live free, breathe pure air. The Creator made this land here so we could live peacefully." -- Pitiur Unti Saant, Achuar elder and leader

Disrespecting local indigenous peoples two North American companies are drilling exploratory wells in the Peruvian Amazon, one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems and home to a number of indigenous tribes - who don't want any of the oil contaminating their lands and hence the companies to leave.

Wouldn't you want the same for your clean home?

Support the campaigns against drilling by

ConocoPhillips and Canada's Talisman Energy corporation:

http://bit.ly/IWCaA9

http://amazonwatch.org/work/achuar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY5xID2t2zQ

[M] 

Indep. Sen. Bernie Sanders has stayed true to his word and just Launched a bill to END FOSSIL FUEL Subsidies with a new legislation that would repeal $113 BILLION of tax-breaks, & handouts for the fossil fuel industry over the next 10 yrs..

The fossil fuel industry is the RICHEST corporate industry on planet Earth, and yet the US tax payer is handing them hefty checks each year...The fossil fuel industry is going to fight back hard using their big $$$. ALL hands on deck! Click LIKE and Share if you agree that Enough is Enough! AND JOIN IN with others to Voice your support:

watch video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-d-0OSnoU

sign--via 350.org http://act.350.org/sign/

sign --via Bernie Sanders http://www.sanders.senate.gov/

Fracking? Nein, danke (No, thanks) !

Germany has put the brakes on plans to use hydraulic fracturing, a.k.a. fracking, to extract natural gas in places where it is difficult to access, such as shale or coal beds. Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen and Economy Minister Philipp Rösler have agreed to oppose the controversial process for the time being. Local environmental groups in the affected regions fear that the fracking chemicals will pollute the local groundwater and have already set up citizens' initiatives to collect signatures for petitions and organize protests in a bid to block the fracking plans.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-rejects-fracking-to-tap-natural-gas-a-831764.html

News- Another Ocean being open for Deep Sea Drilling. China Begins First Deep Sea Drilling in South China Sea. Philippines claims territorial rights to areas as well.

“The South China Sea has the potential to become the world’s fourth-largest deep-water drilling region, after the so-called ‘GOLDEN Triangle’ of the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil & West Africa,” said a member of Chinese Acad. of Engineering.'

Stay TUNED... Territorial Conflicts? Accidents? the fight for scarcer fossil fuel escalates while the dangers of deep sea drilling rise. Click LIKE if you agree that Drilling for Yet More OIL is NOT the Solution!

http://www.thechinatimes.com/online/2012/05/3404.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-09/cnooc-deploys-oil-rig-as-weapon-to-assert-south-china-sea-claims.html

At this very moment Shell's Fleet of Oil Rigs -Ships are on their way to the ARCTIC to begin drilling in July. Shell's Response plan? Calling in the Oil sniffing DOGS!

"This is an ex. of how we do not have adequate technology to drill in the icey Arctic Ocean - " says Heiman, US Arctic Programme "It is embarrassing that using dogs to sniff out oil is the best technology we have to track oil under ice. Industry needs to invest in research, as well as significantly improve spill response capability in ice, before allowed to drill in ice conditions."

Click LIKE if you agree -- that Big Oil should not EVEN be thinking about drilling in the Arctic while their answer is to call Upon Dogs & sniff tests! AND since-- it seems this is impossible --demand Big Oil forgo drilling in the Arctic all together!

Action- Please sign the petition to demand that legislature be passed by Congress that mandates enforceable regulation on response and safety plan to prevent the BP disaster from happening again in the Arctic!!

www.change.org/petitions/prevent-the-bp-oil-disaster

Action-- letter to Pres Obama-- Stop! http://www.audubonaction.org/

Arcticle- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/

UK taking steps to meet its Renewable Energy Goal of producing 20 % of electricity via Renewables-by 2020 The government has approved plans for the largest onshore windfarm in England and Wales. With 76 turbines is expected to produce enough energy to power 206,000 homes a year.

What has the US done lately to meet its Renewable Energy Goals? The US has NO official Renewable Energy Goals.

Click>> LIKE<< if you agree that its high time the US join other developed countries in articulating a Renewable Energy Policy with Clearly Set Goals!

"The UK Energy Minister Hendry said "Onshore wind plays an important role in enhancing our energy security. It is the cheapest form of renewable energy and reduces our reliance on foreign fuel. This project will generate homegrown renewable electricity & provide a significant benefits package for the local community,"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/

UK Energy Policy-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_policy_UK

Call to Action: NEW YORKERS AGAINST FRACKING

Rally and All-Star Concert in Albany, NY on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 4:00pm until 7:00pm

Hosted by Oscar-winner Melissa Leo and "The Avengers" star Mark Ruffalo. Official Facebook event and RSVP:

www.facebook.com/events/410718712291328/

Rally at 4:30pm - West Capitol Lawn

Concert at 7pm- The Egg 

A stunning image from a multi-institutional study led by Eric Kort of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows methane, a greenhouse gas 20+ times more potent than CO2, seeping in between the melting Arctic ice cap. Three huge reservoirs of methane hide in the sea, in its marine sediments and in the Arctic tundra. As Earth’s climate warms, all this methane will increasingly be released into the atmosphere. No Wall Street investments, no drilling scheme, no gating of one's community will then be able to save us and future generations: the positive feedback loops triggered will make Earth's climate, biological systems and, way before that, financial markets, completely spin out of control.

The writing is on the wall. Click 'LIKE' if you'd rather see it and act towards its reversal by going for renewables, energy efficiency, and environmental restoration.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD

“Oregon and Washington leaders are faced with a choice between healthy communities with a clean energy future or becoming tied to trafficking coal, the most toxic fuel on earth.”-- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

According to Power Past Coal, Oregon and Washington could become the largest coal traffickers in North America with 150 million tons of coal per year passing through the Pacific Northwest for shipment to Asia. One proposal would send a dozen dirty coal trains through Portland neighborhoods each day. The Columbia River Gorge alone faces up to 30 dirty coal trains per day. Proposed coal export terminals include: Boardman, Clatskanie and Coos Bay in Oregon, and Longview, Grays Harbor and Bellingham in Washington, as well as Alaska.

Click 'LIKE' if you don't think that that 'clean' and 'coal' are compatible.

http://ecowatch.org/2012/hundreds-protest-coal-exporting

Exxon--A Kingdom & ‘PRIVATE Empire’ within the United States. A Biography of “A Corporate state within the American state"

'It's not an understatement to describe EXXON as an INDEPENDENT sovereign" ..It has to a large extent become a finance arm of the Republican Party.."When it wants something from the American govt, it asks, cajoles, bullies, and THREATENS."

But its A US Company right??-- CEO doesnt seem to think so--- CEO Raymond was once asked whether Exxon would build more domestic refineries to protect the U.S. from shortages. “Why would I want to do that?” he said. “I’m not a U.S. company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.”

Great Video Interview Dem. Now
 http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/7/exxonmobils_dirty_secrets_from_indonesia_to

Book Review http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/06/steve-coll-on-exxonmobil

The Fate of the BP OIL???A STAGGERING amount of BP Oil- SIXTY % --remains unaccounted for says M. Huettel,a benthic ecologist at FLA State Univ.

"It's still just a lot of arm-waving, unfortunately, at this point," Heuttel said "That oil is SOMEWHERE, but nobody knows where, and nobody knows how much has settled on the SEAFLOOR. We really only know the oil we have in hand, that 17 % captured at the wellhead....All the other categories—like oil burned, skimmed, chemically dispersed, or evaporated—are guesses that could change by a factor or two or even more in some cases."

news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/03/120322-gulf-oil-spill-tar-balls

It can be done! - The first trip around the world powered entirely by solar energy was completed on Saturday. No oil needed nor spilled (a.k.a. "operational discharge") . [M]

https://www.facebook.com/PlanetSolar

http://oils.gpa.unep.org/

Q: What is the biggest company pushing for more and unregulated fracking in the U.S. ???

A: ExxonMobil, which in 2010 bought XTO, the largest natural gas company engaged in fracking in the U.S. for $40 billion. Now the biggest player in the industry, EM is seeking to control the emerging regulatory regime for fracking.

Watch the interview with Steve Coll, Pulitzer prize winning journalist and author of "Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power". All you will hear from EM is "No Comment". [M]

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/7/exxonmobils_dirty_secrets

http://www.eany.org/images/Reports/outofsight_finalweb.pdf

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/

Breaking! Not pertaining to Off-shore drilling-- but rather In-land drilling----Fracking and Drilling for Gas. Vermont did Not just vote for a Moratorium-- it voted for a BAN! (pending approval of the Gov of Vermont) If Vermont can do it-- Can and Will other States follow? " Click LIKE if you agree that until proven SAFE - fracking should not be allowed.... or in other words >>Banned!

"Fracking has caused water and air pollution in other states, Lyons a Vermonter said. She says the Vermont ban could be lifted someday if studies show fracking is safe. "But right now the industry is not forthcoming with the process and the chemicals that are used. So until we have total knowledge, I think we ought to err on the side of caution," Sounds reasonable.

current.com/technology/93766544_vermont-to-ban-fracking.htm

ecowatch.org/2012/vermont-votes-in-favor-of-fracking-ban-while-blm-falters/

vtdigger.org/2012/05/04/vermont-to-ban-fracking-for-oil-and-gas/ local VT analysis.. 

BP & the Govt have been hiding the truth about the Deepwater Horizon Disaster in the Gulf. Unpublished BP Oil disaster Images Reveal Destruction- Come to Light--- BP needs to be held accountable for the ONGOING death of marine life in the Gulf---over 100 endangered turtles stranded since January 2012 in the state of Mississippi alone! Where the Media?

Click LIKE if you are tired of the Cover up -and SHARE to help continue to expose the truth of the BP oil Disaster in the Gulf.

Click on link 2 c PHOTOS-- www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/07/bp-oil-spill-photos

New rules on procedures of the fracking industry and oversight on public lands were proposed by the Obama administration. Environmental groups say that, unfortunately, outdated regulations have been replaced with 'out of touch' regulations, failing to protect communities and their water from toxic pollution.

For example, companies would get approval before fracking, and be required to reveal the chemicals they use, however, only AFTER they are done. Also, the rules only apply to public lands and would not affect drilling on private land, where the vast bulk of fracking occurs.

Click 'LIKE' if you think the Dept. of the Interior could do much better. [M]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/04-6

"Connect the Dots" happened yesterday - and the pictures are in! The creativity of thousands of fellow human beings addressing the serious issue of climate change is truly amazing. Take a look at the image gallery for yourselves here: http://www.climatedots.org/.

"Connect the Dots" will keep going and photos be accepted continually:
http://connect.climatedots.org/. [M] 

Off Shore Drilling Cuba--100 miles south of the Florida KEYS 

'A giant floating rig hunting for OIL north of CUBA is now farther west to dig an exploratory well closer to the Gulf Stream that rushes along the S. Florida coast, which would carry an oil slick toward the Keys & Florida's beachfront raising alarms of a threat to Florida's delicate environment & $60-billion tourism industry.' 

But Don't Worry NOAA-and the Coast Guard know all about it and are "Getting Ready for Offshore Oil Drilling in Cuba and the Bahamas" (See NOAA link) Click>> LIKE<< if you are more than a little WORRIED!

response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/getting-ready-offshore-oil-drilling-cuba

Article articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-05-03/news/fl-cuba-oil-drilling-turns-west-

www.energydigital.com/oil_gas/tension-exploratory-drilling-in-cuban-waters

Japan says SAYONARA to Nuclear! Click>> LIKE <<if you wish Japan a Successful Journey Towards a SAFE Clean Renewable energy future!! 

May 5th.... "Thousands of Japanese marched to CELEBRATE the switching OFF of the last of Japan's FIFTY nuclear reactors, waving banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol.... the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe shattered plans & forced the government to rethink its energy policy, now that the public has become well AWARE of the hazards of atomic power."

www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hundreds-march-in-japan-against-nuclear-power

www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/world/asia/last-reactor-of-50-in-japan-is-shut-down

ECOCIDE--There is a growing Movement to Consider Destroying an Ecosystem a Crime. "The Earth Needs a Good Lawyer...the Earth Must have the right to Life --to Well being...." says Polly Higgins. a UK Lawyer who has devoted her life to Make Ecocide a Crime. "If Genocide is a Crime-- Why isn't Ecocide?" She asks. 

Watch Intriguing Ted Talk by Higgins where she proposes a new Legal framework to holdCorporations, Govts & those in Decision Making Positions Accountable...

Click >>LIKE<< if you agree that Wiping Out or Severely Damaging an Ecosystem (Ecocide) should have Potent Legal Consequences- Beyond a Fine!

POLLY HIGGINS-- TED TALK ON ECOCIDE. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EuxYzQ65H4

FaceBook page to like and follow>>> https://www.facebook.com/Ecocide

More info-- http://www.thisisecocide.com/

Jobs, jobs, jobs? It turns out that counties with high levels of land conservation create way more jobs than those without. In the last four decades Western non-metro counties with more than 30% of lands federally protected increased jobs by 344%, compared to 80% in counties without. This data contradicts the false assertion of many Western Republican lawmakers that protected public lands are “locked up” by the government and have no value - except for mining, fracking, and clearcutting.

Click 'LIKE' if you support protection of public lands for all of us and future generations to enjoy.

thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/04/476620/jobs-in-rural-western-counties-with-more-than-30-protected-public-lands-increased

“In the North Sea alone we have a potential to economically exploit the offshore resources to cover seven times Europe’s total energy consumption. We wouldn’t have to import fuel if we can tap into that.” No, this statement did not come from an oil 'n gas executive, but from Christian Kjaer, chief executive at European Wind Energy Association. Yes, we can do it - if we insist on change that's good for us, future generations, and the Planet's biosphere!! [M]

articles.marketwatch.com/2012-05-02/industries/31525657_1_offshore-wind-wind-industry-global-wind-energy-council

http://www.ewea.org/

Amory Lovins, energy pioneer and president of the Rocky Mountain Institute (rmi.org) wants us to "Reinvent Fire". The technology for a clean energy future already exists, but its implementation cannot be left to those benefitting from the old system. Listen to his fascinating TED talk and then join the conversation and action. [M]

www.ted.com/talks/amory_lovins_a_50_year_plan_for_energy.html

Fact- There WERE Tens of thousands of People marching down Broadway in NYC, on May Day! 

"Our best hope for real change is a movement created by a fusion of people concerned about environment, social justice, true democracy, and peace into one powerful progressive force. We have to recognize that we are all communities of a shared fate...In the end, the most meaningful changes will almost certainly require a large-scale rebirth of marches, protests, demonstrations, direct action, and nonviolent civil disobedience. Protests are important to dramatize issues, show the depth of concern, raise public consciousness, and put issues on the agenda"

From great article America the Possible: A manifesto by J. G. Speth...link to read more:

www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6810

Chemicals from hydraulic fracturing a.k.a. “fracking” (some of them carcinogens and/or toxic) have contaminated groundwater in the U.S., 2 studies by the EPA and by an independent hydrology expert have shown. California Assembly Bill 591 would lay the groundwork for protecting Californians. As written, however, a huge loophole would allow the withholding of important information on the chemicals used arguing that such information constitutes a "trade secret."

Click 'LIKE' if you think your drinking water should not contain "trade secrets".

thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/01/474711/independent-analysis-confirms-that-hydraulic-fracturing-caused-drinking-water-contamination-in-wyoming/

www.gaslandthemovie.com/

action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action/public/

Big Profiteers Bribing Politicians and Bringing Pollution to Biosphere and People: Two years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP is reporting profits of $5.9 billion for the Q1 of 2012, 18.5% less than last year, however, a major reversal from 2010. BP has also returned to pre-disaster levels for campaign contributions, with $122,410 in political contributions so far this cycle, 65% of which has gone to Republicans. Its lobbying is much more expansive, with $8.1 million in 2011, and nearly $2.2 million so far this year.

Click 'LIKE' if you agree with Marcellus (in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet') that "something is rotten". [M]

Links:

thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/01/473172/bp-uses-quarterly-profits-for-lobbying

www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/apr/30/bp-new-gulf-mexico-oil-rigs

BREAKING NEWS: another spill in Louisiana, this time 80,000 gallons from one of ExxonMobile's crude oil pipelines. Meanwhile, Exxon posted first quarter profits of $9.45 billion. Any fine is going to be meaningless. [M]

www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/04/oil_pipeline_spills_80000_gall

"We will be known by the tracks we leave behind." 

-- Dakota proverb 

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE! 

Mayday! Dancing in the Streets! 

"Hundreds of thousands of people across the globe have taken to the streets to mark May Day...In Athens, Jakarta, Madrid, Tunis and beyond...." In the US too-- see below 4 Occupy places--times--4 Stories- to share your own! Click LIKE if you agree that the time is NOW! 

www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/01-2

occupywallst.org/

occupiedstories.com/may-day.html

grist.org/politics/turn-up-the-heat-environmentalists-should-join-occupy-on-may-day/

Are right whales starving? and hence not reproducing? The many possible effects of Climate change... 'The right whales in Cape Cod Bay show signs of malnourishment ...Aerial survey teams have counted only 6 new calves, including one that likely died, apparently from malnutrition. According to scientists, the disappointing numbers could be linked to changes in the animals’ northern feeding groundsbrought on by water that is warmer but also less salty because of melting Arctic sea ice."

The only way to stop these effects is to stop the use of fossil fuels and sprint towards changing to alternative renewable energy...Please Click LIKE if you agree.

www.washingtonpost.com/scientist-worry-that-warming-seas-may-be-harming-the-endangered-right-whale

'If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own.' -- Bay Area news commentator Wes Nisker

Chances are slim for Occupy May Day events, oil spills, and fracking protests to make it into the 22 SECONDS of real news submerged in the average 30 min. "news" show on the "mainstream media" (see link to Bill Moyers interview below).

Thus, make your own news tomorrow and share your photos and videos. Think random acts of kindness and butterfly effects. [M]

billmoyers.com/segment/marty-kaplan-on-big-moneys-effect-on-big-media/

"Why aren’t you young people out protesting the mess that’s being made of the planet?" asks 82 year old conservationist Wilson ...

“Why are you not repeating what was done in the ‘60s? (maybe referring to the 20 Million ppl that showed up for the first Earth Day) Why aren’t you in the streets? And what in the world has happened to the green movement that used to be on our minds and accompanied by outrage and high hopes? What went wrong?”

....Are we really going to let greed destroy the planet? Click LIKE if your answer is NO! See below for Occupy enviro and other actions tomorrow May first!

grist.org/article/e-o-wilson-wants-to-know-why-youre-not-protesting-in-the-streets/

www.care2.com/causes/ows-sustainability-to-host-may-day-teach-ins.html....

occupywallst.org/article/may-day/... 

May First--tomorrow--Occupy Wall Street is calling for a General Strike--no shopping- no working- no banking--- but rather a Day of Learning- and Sharing! OWS is concerned about the environment. There are workshops being organized in Sustainable living. Click >>LIKE<< if you agree that together we must and can find Solutions!

New Orleans- www.occupynola.net

www.care2.com/causes/ows-sustainability-to-host-may-day-teach-ins.html

occupywallst.org/

www.nycga.net/groups/sustainability/

Parts of the Gulf have been found to have eyeless shrimp with blackened gills.......Are they safe to eat?

they dont call oil compounds and chemicals carcinogenic or mutagenic for nothing.. Click LIKE if you think maybe the chief concern should be to find out why they are deformed in the first place... and for testing to be done esp on dispersants-- their effect on marine life BEFORE using them on massive levels. 

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/47127252#47127252 Dean Blanchard seafood processor in Gulf is interviewed.. 

Two Worldwatch Institute researchers advising the World Bank claim that 51% of global emissions are caused by meat production. They say that past United Nation's studies have severely underestimated the greenhouse gases caused by tens of billions of farm animals in three main areas: methane, land use and respiration." In the meantime, the number of farm animals has doubled between 1970 and 2010, and keeps growing!

Click 'LIKE' if you'd rather reduce your meat consumption than suffer extreme weather and ocean acidification. [M]

More info: www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/study-claims-meat-creates-half-of-all-greenhouse-gases

www.cafothebook.org/

vitalsigns.worldwatch.org/vs-trend/farm-animal-populations-continue-grow

Assemblyman John F. McKeon (D-Essex) is the first state lawmaker to publicly urge President Obama to call off his Administration's plans, announced in March 2010, to open up the Atlantic Ocean to offshore drilling and oil exploration.

""The Jersey shore is the lifeblood of our state's more than $2.5 billion tourism and recreation industry that generates about 72,000 jobs. Seismic surveys and the resultant offshore drilling in the Atlantic seaboard would put our coastal economy in peril."

Clicl 'LIKE' if you agree with assemblyman McKeon. [M]

More here:

www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/mckeon-to-obama-offshore-drilling-puts-jersey-shore-in-peril-oil-and-water-are-deadly-mixThe

P.S.: An extra 'brownie point' to everyone who can identify the two Atlantic shore inhabitants in the photo. 

Seismic Oil exploration to Start Off Atlantic Coast! Public hearing filled with protesters. The objectors said the use of undersea air guns would KILL marine mammals, chase away fish stocks, & threaten endangered Atlantic right whales. Some likened the testing procedures to undersea WARFARE. Offshore drilling sure to follow. Click LIKE-- if you are OPPOSED to Sonar Booming- & to Opening up the Entire East Coast from Delaware to Florida to Big OIL. It wont be Turbines blocking the View-- it will be OIL Rigs!

Report from New Jersey-- www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/blog/bs-gr-atlantic-offshore-testing

POLL to say NO to for Off shore drilling in NC www.wwaytv3.com/poll/do-you-support-off-shore-drilling-for-oil-off-our-coast

Report from Baltimore--www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/blog/bs-gr-atlantic-offshore-testing

The "Big Six Energy Bash" in London on May 3 will protest the Energy Summit of the U.K.'s biggest six energy companies that are monopolizing the market with dirty fossil fuels while leaving the poor in the cold. "The way the energy system is run in this country only works to line the pockets of the big corporations," says organizer Robert Davies of the the Climate Change Collective that seeks to highlight fuel poverty and promote energy democracy.

Click 'LIKE' if you support their protest. [M]

For more info see:

www.facebook.com/ClimateJusticeCollective

www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/27/climate-protest-return-uk

"If only dolphins could vote! So it is up to us to act on their behalf --and for the rest of the voiceless vote-less vital living world." Dr. Sylvia Earle

ACT FOR THE DOLPHINS! Help Restore Dolphin Habitat by sending a message to your members of Congress, urging them to pass legislation $$ 4 Gulf restoration! Let them know we CARE! If not us -who? Sign and Share!

online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy

www.heraldtribune.com/news?Title=Oil-spill-is-prime-suspect-in-hundreds-of-dolphin-deaths

www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/04/baby-dolphin-die-offs-continue-in-the-gulf

Trump is upset b/c Off Shore Wind turbines may block the View of his fancy new Golf Course. He told MP's "Scotland, if you pursue this policy of these monstrous turbines, Scotland will go broke...They are ugly, they are noisy and they are dangerous!" 

Protesters didn't agree- floating balloons saying: 'Wind power, NOT Wind Bags!" Click LIKE if you agree with the Scottish Protesters! Enough with the Wind bags! GO Wind Power! 

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/Donald-Trump-targeted-pro-turbine-protesters

www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/25/Scottish-Parliament-laughs-at-Donald-Trump

National Geographic has beautifully summarized 10 new scientific studies that document the ongoing ugly impact of the Gulf oil spill on its coastal communities, and its flora and fauna. The findings are ranging from outright disastrous (corals) to slightly less than feared decline (bluefin tuna). Marine biologist Carl Safina judges the situation to be getting worse. [M]

news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/04/pictures/120420-gulf-oil-spill-impact-studies/

carlsafina.org/2012/04/23/gulf-blowout-aftermath-two-years-and-worsening/

Alabama to Officially CLOSE Its Gulf Coast Waters to Shrimpers due to recent reports of deformities, eyeless shrimp-a drastic decrease in population and the 'small size of shrimp'... To be closed for scientific testing. Note-update--- officials are now saying due only to size of shrimp not b/c of lesions as they first reported.

"We're continuing to pull up oil in our nets. People who live here know better than to swim in or eat what comes out of our waters." says a Gulf Fisherman.

Click >>LIKE<<to applaud Alabama officials for putting safety and health of people and the fisheries first. 

www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/26/1086617/-Gulf-Coast-Waters-Closed-to-Shrimping

Unfortunately, U.S. leaders are not making the choices necessary for a non-polluting 21st century energy infrastructure. Earth scientist Richard Alley looked at the renewable options incl. the lower costs compared to the current fossil fuel regime. Meanwhile, Denmark, Brazil, China, and even U.S. regions like West Texas and Vermont are moving forward fast on the path of Thomas Edison. Go figure why. [M]

Earth Operator's Manual "Powering the Planet" with Dr. Richard Alley: http://bit.ly/IbsOfK
www.facebook.com/EarthTheOperatorsManual.Page
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"We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." -- Thomas A. Edison, 1931

This summer, exploratory drilling will begin in the Arctic Ocean unless we stop it. The Arctic must be off limits to oil drilling, for the simple reason that a spill would be impossible to clean up there. The Arctic is home to polar bears, walruses, bowhead whales and other endangered and highly sensitive wildlife; oil drilling in its remote, ice-choked waters would carry unacceptably high risks of environmental destruction and loss of life.

President Obama has given approval to Shell to drill for oil this summer in the vulnerable Arctic. In hopes of uncovering new sources of dirty fossil fuels, Arctic drilling could also unleash more than 11 billion tons of carbon pollution -- making it ever more difficult to stave off devastating climate change.

We have a powerful opportunity now to stop drilling before it spoils the Arctic and its wildlife. Take action now to help us send 1 million messages to Obama asking him to protect one of America's last, best wildernesses and stop Shell's reckless drilling plans. 

Dear President Obama,

Oil drilling in our oceans won't solve the climate crisis. Protect polar

bears, whales, and sea turtles from oil spills. Plan for our future:

-- Stop Shell from risky drilling this summer where oil spill response

is non-existent in the remote, frozen Arctic waters.

-- Cancel lease sales proposed for Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.

Risky drilling is not the answer.

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