John Kasich

Fri, 2012-08-10 10:27Farron Cousins
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Republican Ohio Governor Kasich's Trillion Dollar Shale Gas Lie

About the only positive thing you can say about industry-funded astroturf groups is that they at least base their misinformation campaigns on phony “studies” and “reports.” Their lies are based on SOMETHING.

The same cannot be said of Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has come up with a whopper based on absolutely nothing. Kasich recently told the press that his state of Ohio is sitting on top of $1 trillion worth of natural gas that’s just ripe for fracking.

Obviously, this would be quite an economic boom for not just Ohio, but the entire United States. The only problem is that, again, Kasich isn’t basing his estimate on any studies, reports, documents, surveys, or anything even remotely credible. It appears that Kasich is telling reporters that this trillion dollar bonanza number is what he overheard from members of the natural gas industry.

Read more: Republican Ohio Governor Kasich's Trillion Dollar Shale Gas Lie
Sun, 2012-01-08 11:59Farron Cousins
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Fracking Earthquakes Becoming Serious Cause for Concern

For the fracking industry, 2012 is off to a shaky start…literally. On New Year’s Eve 2011, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Ohio, one of the largest fracking-related quakes to date. According to reports, the quake was felt across hundreds of square miles in the state of Ohio, and scientists suspect it is related to hydraulic fracturing wastewater disposal near Youngstown, Ohio.

The New Year’s Eve quake is just the latest in a growing list of fracking-related earthquakes that have made headlines in the last 12 months. From DeSmogBlog’s Year In Dirty Energy: Fracking report:
 

New reports are surfacing that link fracking to earthquakes that occurred in January in Oklahoma. According to a new study by the Oklahoma Geological Survey [PDF], fracking is linked to 50 mini-earthquakes that occurred on January 18, 2011 in Oklahoma.

The occurrence of so-called “induced seismicity” – seismic activity caused by human actions – in conjunction with fluid injection or extraction operations is a well-documented phenomenon. However, induced earthquakes large enough to be felt at the surface have typically been associated with large scale injection or withdrawal of fluids, such as water injection wells, geothermal energy production, and oil and gas production. It was generally thought that the risk of inducing large earthquakes through hydraulic fracturing was very low, because of the comparatively small volumes of fluid injected and relatively short time-frame over which it occurs. As the controversy over hydraulic fracturing has heated up, however, researchers and the public have become increasingly interested in the potential for fracking to cause large earthquakes.

But this is hardly a new phenomenon. Studies show that fracking practices in the 1970s had caused similar seismic activity in Oklahoma, according to E&E News.
 
Read more: Fracking Earthquakes Becoming Serious Cause for Concern
Fri, 2011-12-09 10:24Steve Horn
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Fracking Ohio's Utica Shale to "Boost Local Economy"? A "Total" Sham

It is a well-known fact that the unconventional gas industry is involved in an inherently toxic business, particularly through hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), which the EPA just confirmed has contaminated groundwater in Wyoming. The documentary film "Gasland," DeSmogBlog's report "Fracking the Future: How Unconventional Gas Threatens our Water, Health, and Climate," and numerous other investigations, reports, and scientific studies have echoed the myriad problems with unconventional oil and gas around the globe.

What is less well-known, but arguably equally as important, is who exactly stands to benefit economically from the destruction of our land, air, and water in the gas industry's rush to profit from the fracking bonanza. The U.S oil and gas industry would have us believe that they are principally focused on ushering in American energy independence. But their claims are increasingly suspect as the real motivation of this industry becomes clearer by the day.

A hint: it's not the small "mom and pop," independent gas companies, but multinational oil and gas corporations. Another hint: it's often not even American multinational oil and gas corporations, but rather, foreign-based multinational oil and gas corporations who stand to gain the most.

France's Total S.A. Enters Ohio's Utica Shale, as well as Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya

On December 7, Bloomberg's Businessweek reported that Total S.A. is positioning itself to acquire 25 percent of Chesapeake Energy’s stake in Ohio's Utica Shale, valued at $2.14 Billion. 

Total S.A., the largest oil and gas producer in France, is a multinational corporation perhaps most notorious for its involvement in Iraq's "Oil-For-Food" scandal. In 2010, Total S.A. was accused of bribing former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's officials to secure oil supplies. 

Read more: Fracking Ohio's Utica Shale to "Boost Local Economy"? A "Total" Sham
Wed, 2011-09-21 21:55Steve Horn
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Natural Gas Gold Rush, Utica Shale Edition Courtesy of John Kasich

Yesterday, the Ohio Governor's 21st Century and Economic Summit began, hosted by the controversial union-busting Governor John Kasich (R-OH), coming on the heels of an oil and natural gas funded study claiming that claimed, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer put it, "Ohio's natural gas and oil reserves are a multibillion-dollar bonanza that could create more than 204,500 jobs."

The "study" was written by the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP), which, according to its website, "is funded exclusively by Ohio's crude oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners."

Quite the objective source, indeed. The summit, which concludes today, is hosted by Battelle Memorial Institute, located in Columbus, Ohio. The Plain Dealer explains that the summit is "designed to open discussions about Ohio's use of coal, natural gas and renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind as well as state-mandated energy efficiency rules."

Titled "Ohio’s Natural Gas and Crude Oil Exploration and Production Industry and the Emerging Utica Gas Formation Economic Impact Study," the timing of its release seems suspect, to say the least, based on this premise.

Kasich has already stated on multiple occasions that when it comes to drilling for gas, his motto is "drill baby, drill."

In a recent interview with ClimateWire, Kasich offered his take on the inherent ecological harms associated with natural gas drilling from cradle -- when the sand is mined for fracking, to grave -- when the gas is actually burned, saying, "There's no problem with fracking. I dismiss that."

Read more: Natural Gas Gold Rush, Utica Shale Edition Courtesy of John Kasich
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