The Big Sarah Palin Lie: [Natural Gas is the] "Clean, Green Energy"

by: TXsharon

Fri Oct 03, 2008 at 11:41:57 AM CDT

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Myth Busting: Methane, Worst of the Greenhouse Gasses, Caused by "The Cleaner Fuel."

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Have a look:

Experts at the University of Colorado School of Public Health's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health completed a review of hundreds of published, peer-reviewed scientific articles to examine what is known concerning the health effects of oil and gas drilling and production on neighboring communities. They also reviewed available empirical data regarding communities in western Colorado. They found that the many hazardous chemicals being used and produced pose a potential health risk for local residents, and recommend a thorough health impact assessment before future expansion of oil and gas activities. Their findings are detailed in these two papers. This work received partial financial support from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

1) According to SMU engineering professor Dr. Al Armendariz, emissions from gas drilling operations in the north Texas region are twice the ozone forming pollution as all the cars in the nine-county ozone non-attainment area.

2) In summary: Experts at the University of Colorado School of Public Health's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health completed a review of hundreds of published, peer-reviewed scientific articles to examine what is known concerning the health effects of oil and gas drilling and production on neighboring communities. They also reviewed available empirical data regarding communities in western Colorado.

They found that the many hazardous chemicals being used and produced pose a potential health risk for local residents, and recommend a thorough health impact assessment before future expansion of oil and gas activities. Their findings are detailed in these two papers. This work received partial financial support from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The statements made in these papers are the work product of the authors and do not represent the position of any university or organization.

But some warn that by expanding "hydraulic fracturing" of shale, America strikes a Faustian bargain: It gains new energy reserves, but it consumes and quite possibly pollutes critical water resources.

"People need to understand that these are not your old-fashioned gas wells," says Tracy Carluccio, special projects director for Delaware Riverkeeper, a watchdog group worried about a surge in new gas drilling from New York to Pennsylvania and from Ohio to West Virginia. "This technology produces tremendous amounts of polluted water and uses dangerous chemicals in every single well that's developed."

Myth Busting: The Cleaner Fuel, Safer At Home and Energy Independence