Mining The Earth & Fracking The World: Hallelujah, Save The Planet!

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Kate Lanier offers selections from global mining, fracking and energy-related news including:

Chile: “Chile is now emerging as the southern hemisphere’s renewable energy giant, particularly in the mining sector.” They’re “building independent solar, solar thermal, wind and geothermal power plants” which are producing power at prices “competitive with or lower” than conventional producers. Chile’s latest renewable power costs are $80/megawatt hour—compared to $95 for coal.

Russia: Rosneft tried to buy “a Morgan Stanley oil-trading firm,” but the deal went poof! thanks to US authorities whose sanctions “have hurt Rosneft’s ability to finance the operations.” Those sanctions also mean ExxonMobil and other Rosneft partners won’t be developing offshore oil in the Arctic.

Texas: Gas flaring at the Eagle Ford Shale “burned off more than 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas,” producing as many tons of pollution in seven months as were produced in all of 2012. Not all the flaring was state permitted, either. The TX Railroad Commission (I know, I know, but they’re in charge of these things) has sent lots and lots of letters to the companies involved, reminding them they shouldn’t flare without permits, but with the price of oil so low, what’s a company to do?

Bush Family And Its Inner Circle Play Central Role In Lawsuits Against Denton Fracking Ban

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On November 4, Denton, Texas, became the first city in the state to ban the process of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) when 59 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of the initiative. It did so in the heart of the Barnett Shale basin, where George Mitchell — the “father of fracking” — drilled the first sample wells for his company Mitchell Energy.

As promised by the oil and gas industry and by Texas Railroad Commission commissioner David Porter, the vote was met with immediate legal backlash. Both the Texas General Land Office and the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) filed lawsuits in Texas courts within roughly 12 hours of the vote taking place, the latest actions in the aggressive months-long campaign by the industry and the Texas state government to fend off the ban.

The Land Office and TXOGA lawsuits, besides making similar legal arguments about state law preempting local law under the Texas Constitution, share something else in common: ties to former President George W. Bush and the Bush family at large.

How Putin Became A Central Figure In The First Ever Vote To Ban Fracking In Texas

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A Texas state regulatory agency sent a letter to United States Secretary of State John Kerry, suggesting that U.S. anti-fracking activists are receiving funding from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It is reasonable to assume,” Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter wrote, “that their intention is to increase their market share of natural gas production and distribution as Russia is the second largest producer of natural gas in the world.”

This move by Texas coincides with the lead up to an Election Day referendum on the state’s first proposed city-wide fracking ban, to be held in the city of Denton on November 4. This move by Texas to discredit activists is not a new one and highlights one way climate campaigners have previously been tracked and monitored by intelligence agencies.

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