Category: Freedom of Press

USGS releases fracking earthquake hazard maps

By GREG OLMSTED

Fracking update: In my earlier blog (Fracking Earthquake Wakes Journalists, October 13, 2015), I described what it was like to wake up to tremors while sleeping in a nice hotel in Oklahoma. The earthquake was caused by hydro-fracking. On Monday, the  USGS released maps showing new earthquake hazard areas.  The map includes Norman, Oklahoma and the hotel where I was staying.

During the recent Environmental Film Festival in Washington DC “Dear President Obama: The Clean Energy Revolution is Now” premiered at the National Geographic Society. “Dear President Obama” is a documentary about the fracking industry and harm inflicted on Americans.  To learn more about the film read the Huffington Post review and visit https://www.facebook.com/dearobamafilm.  To take action visit Americans Against Fracking.  And keep an eye out this fall for a screening of Dear President Obama film in a theater near you!

Free Subscription to The Daily Climate

By GREG OLMSTED

Each morning I read the NY Times and the Washington Post, and then I refill my coffee and peruse my email.  I always open my free subscription to The Daily Climate, knowing that the top climate news from around the world will be at my fingertips.  I encourage you to subscribe, too.   The folks at the Daily Climate do a wonderful job, reporting not only the top news stories but also solutions, consequences, and causes and politics — all relating to Climate Change.  Today, they featured an interview by Judy Woodruff, PBS News Hour called “Has Exxon Mobile mislead the public about its climate change research?”

Drone-eyed view of a melting ice sheet: Greenland

By GREG OLMSTED

Greenland, the world’s largest island, supports “one of the biggest and fastest-melting chunks of ice on earth,” according to an article in the New York Times.  And it’s quickly melting away.  The ice melts and forms lakes.  The lakes feed rivers.  The rivers flow into moulins or giant holes in the ice.  And the sea level rises.  Watch Josh Haner, a Pulitzer Prize winner in feature photography, drone along a beautiful, fast flowing river that vanishes into a moulin. 

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Drone update:  In my earlier blog (Breakfast with weather researchers and drones, October 17), I reported on the difference between hobby and commercial drones.  Since then, Anthony Fox, U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced that the Department of Transportation will be “Having a national registry of folks who are owners of drones and users of drones.”  Drone owners and users be advised: According to Mr. Fox, the Federal Drone Registry will include retro-active registration, too.  In fact, the control of drones is being fast-tracked: a task force will make recommendations before Thanksgiving and the federal government will require registration before Christmas sales of drones.  This is a major undertaking.  Both Amazon Prime Air and Google X’s drone delivery programs/businesses are task force members, along with Best Buy and Walmart.  But who is representing journalists and videographers?  In addition to the registration requirement, the FAA is working with CACI to develop a program that will track use of drones near airports and identify their owners.

Delaware’s Vulnerable Beaches

By GREG OLMSTED

“Global sea level has risen about eight inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880. Best projections are that it may rise another 1 to 4 feet by the end of the current century.  What does that translate into? If we continue on that path, by mid-century, by 2050, between 66 and 106 billion dollars worth of coastal property – existing coastal property – will likely be below sea level, nation wide. Big numbers.” — Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA Administrator, NOAA Administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce of Oceans and Atmosphere, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Fracking Earthquake Wakes Journalists

By GREG OLMSTED

A 4.4 magnitude earthquake woke guests at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Norman, Oklahoma last Saturday. Ironically, many hotel guests, including myself, were members of the Society of Environmental Journalists. We were attending SEJ’s 25th Annual Conference, focusing on Weather, Water, Energy: News in Every Neighborhood. The earthquake made for lively conversation during our continental breakfast.

More than two years ago, Joe Wertz, a StateImpact reporter, explained How Disposal Wells Might Cause Earthquakes. Earlier this year, NPR StateImpact documented the nexus between fracking in Oklahoma and earthquakes. And last Saturday, Seth Borenstein, an AP Science Writer, reported the details of the earthquake that we experienced. And tomorrow … ?