Ecuador to Drill for Oil in the Amazon Rainforest

Ecuador has abandoned a UN backed conservation plan that would have paid the country not to drill for oil in the 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) Yasuni National Park located in the Amazon rainforest. According to President Rafael Correa, the plans to drill in the area are the result of rich nations failing to live up to their commitments.

"The world failed us," explained Correa, "It was not charity that we sought from the international community, but co-responsibility in the face of climate change."

New Discoveries of Lithium Deposits

There is an increasing demand for Lithium that is putting upward pressure on the cost of this rare earth mineral, but the discovery of new deposits will help address this growing demand. Lithium is an element that powers the modern world. A vast and growing number of portable devices including electronics like phones, tablets and laptops depend on lithium and so do electric and hybrid cars.

Some of the top producing countries for lithium are Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. These three countries are known as the “lithium triangle.” Chile is the world’s leading source of the element, turning out around 40 percent of global supply, however discoveries in Bolivia, (which opened its first lithium pilot plant in January), suggest that the country may have 50 percent of the world’s reserves, which is enough to power 4.8 billion electric cars.

Documentary: On Coal River

In the words from Mother and Director Francine Cavanaugh: We are documentary filmmakers but parents first. I was four months pregnant when we began filming over 6 years ago in Coal River Valley WV. Our first visit was to the local elementary school and we were blown away by its proximity to a large coal facility plant and looming sludge pond. We were also blown away by the spirit of resistance and resolve of a few individuals who took on the mission to have the school moved to a safer ground as well as taking on the coal industry that has been entrenched in their community for over a hundred years.

Judy Bonds whose story we follow says “I am first a mother and a grandmother and to the young people in the world today I have to say I am sorry for what we have done to your world because this is your planet first”. I feel her words today as our son is now seven and I continue to feel the responsibility to do as much as I can to make this a better world for him and all of the worlds children to live in and I continue to receive inspiration from people like Judy Bonds, Maria Lambert, Ed Wiley, and Bo Webb who are all parents and grandparents first.

Shell's Game with the Future of the Arctic

Questions are being raised about Shell's ability to manage its oil and gas drilling operations in the Arctic Ocean. The company is reneging on its emissions commitments and is already having trouble with the ships tasked to locate fossil fuels.

Right before it begins its drilling operations in August, Shell is trying to change the terms under which it was granted permission to drill. In an application to the agency, dated June 28, Shell said they cannot meet the requirements for emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia of an air permit granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January. Shell has asked the EPA to loosen air pollution requirements for its Discoverer drill rig and to a lesser extent its Kulluk drill ship. “This is a classic bait-and-switch.”

Lawsuit Protecting the Arctic from Oil and Gas Drilling

A coalition of conservation groups filed a lawsuit on July 16th to protect the Arctic Ocean from Shell's exploratory drilling scheduled to get under way in August. The legal papers filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage challenges the oil spill cleanup plans for Shell Alaska's upcoming operations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Shell claims it has already spend $4 billion on the drilling operation. The suit invokes the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a tough law passed in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. This act imposes strict standards on companies in the Arctic Ocean involved with oil and gas drilling and transport.

Whats the Fracking Problem?

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has been associated with water contamination, global warming-causing air pollution, health problems, falling property values and even earthquakes. Each year fracking pumps billions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground under high pressure to force open cracks and release natural gas.

According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the chemicals used in fracking fluids include over 750 different chemicals. Some are innocuouse (salt, gelatin) while others pose significant human health hazards (methanol, isopropanol and 2-butoxyethanol). About 650 of the 750 chemicals used in fracking operations are known carcinogens, according to the report filed with the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2011. They include toxic chemicals like benzene and tholuene.

Natural Gas is Not Clean Energy

Natural gas has garnered a lot of attention, but the research reveals it is anything but clean. To increase domestic energy production and reduce reliance on coal, there is a natural gas boom in the U.S. and elsewhere. However, reliance on natural gas is not a panacea to our energy woes. According to a February 2012 study published in Nature, extracting and producing natural gas releases enough methane into the atmosphere to negate any greenhouse gas advantages that its somewhat cleaner burning chemistry provides.