The Gaia Reports

By Theodora Filis Environmental and health concerns have people around the world calling for a ban on natural gas drilling. The global warming effects of methane in natural gas are many times greater than the global warming effects of carbon dioxide. Subsidies granted to gas drilling promote the use of fossil fuels and undermine the development of conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy sources. From the Permian Basin (western Texas and the southeastern part of New Mexico) to the Paris Basin, from Pennsylvania to Poland it is clear that in the next 20 years, the global natural gas industry will not only be far bigger and more valuable than it is in 2011, but it will also be much more diversified. Communities around the world will be faced with costs for baseline testing of water pollutants, emergency response, health department monitoring of complaints, property tax assessment changes, building and repairing roads, and wastewater treatment facilities. Samples of flowback...

By Theodora Filis A series of natural gas explosions have raised questions about the safety of the nation’s gas pipelines – now more than 50 years old. According to the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), there are more than two million miles of pipelines in the US, delivering trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. The most devastating natural gas pipeline explosion occurred in September 2010, in San Bruno, CA when a 50-inch Pacific Gas & Electric pipeline, in a residential neighborhood, exploded and caused the death of eight people and injured fifty more. The resulting fires swept through the neighborhood, destroying 37 homes and damaging eight. The investigation found that the pipeline, installed in 1956, had numerous weld defects. From 2005 to 2009 there was an average of 282 significant incidences involving pipelines in the US including an average of 51 injuries and 14 fatalities. Pipeline fail...