RECOMMENDED READING

ExxonMobil Continuing To Fund Climate Sceptic Groups

"The world's largest oil company is continuing to fund lobby groups that question the reality of global warming, despite a public pledge to cut support for such climate change denial, a new analysis shows.  Company records show that ExxonMobil handed over hundreds of thousands of pounds to such lobby groups in 2008."  [The Guardian]

Organic Farms as Subdivision Amenities

"From Vermont to central California, developers are creating subdivisions around organic farms to attract buyers...Increasingly, subdivisions, usually master-planned developments at which buyers buy home sites or raw land, have been treating farms as an amenity. “There are currently at least 200 projects that include agriculture as a key community component,” said Ed McMahon, a senior fellow with the Urban Land Institute."  [New York Times]

Is a Coal Production Boom Imminent?

"Though the price of coal has plummeted in the downturn and it is expected to remain weak in the near-term, coal markets 'are ultimately likely to rebound with a roar'...Coal use tends to decline in a recession along with weaker demand for electricity and steel, which are industries that rely on the fossil fuel. But a number of reports this week suggest that the industry is already girding for a future boom." [Green, Inc. - New York Times]

Navy vs. Environmentalists Off Florida Coast

"Perhaps the last thing the Navy is looking for at the moment is a tangle with environmentalists. But that is exactly what it has — over a proposed $100 million naval warfare training range off the northern Atlantic coast of Florida.  According to the Southern Environmental Law Center and some other organizations, Navy ships would be performing exercises and sonar tests in areas otherwise protected for fish — including snapper and grouper — and close to a calving area for North Atlantic right whales." [Green, Inc. - New York Times]

AUDIO

Is Drilling To Blame For Texas Quakes?

"Cleburne happens to sit on a huge, recently discovered natural gas deposit called Barnett Shale. There's been a lot of drilling, and some people wonder if that has triggered the earthquakes. Here, a four-story drilling rig can pop up in as little as a couple of days. In the past eight years, 2,000 gas wells have been drilled here...Natural gas recovery in the Barnett Shale involves drilling down several thousand feet and then drilling sideways thousands of feet more. Liquid is then pumped down the wells at very high pressures, which fractures the strata releasing the pockets of natural gas. Could this be causing little quakes?" [Morning Edition - NPR]