North Texas Energy News Weekly Roundup
Sun, April 26, 2015
North Texans for Naural Gas presents the North Texas Energy News Weekly Roundup:
The dishonest push for ‘local control’ of fracking
For several years now, anti-fracking groups have lobbied for “local control” in cities and towns across the country. They claim to support “reasonable” regulations, but in truth, these groups are pushing to ban oil and gas drilling everywhere.
Several of these groups are actively lobbying Texas municipalities to adopt their recommendations. Chief among them: a requirement that well sites be at least 1,500 feet from any structure. These distances, also called setbacks, are nothing more than drilling bans and prove that these interest groups have no interest in regulation.
Five Questions about SMU’s New Azle Earthquake Study
Today, scientists from Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas, and the U.S. Geological Survey released a new research paper in the journal Nature Communications, entitled “Causal factors for seismicity near Azle, Texas.” Through a process of elimination, the researchers concluded that “brine production combined with wastewater disposal represent the most likely cause of recent seismicity near Azle.” However, several issues in the paper raise questions about its conclusion, including potentially major flaws related to subsurface pressure.
U.S. Carbon Emissions Falling to Two-Decade Low in Coal Shift
Carbon dioxide emissions will slip to the lowest since 1994 as U.S. utilities shift away from coal in favor of solar, wind and natural gas.
The power grid will add a record amount of solar energy as coal plants idle in response to cheap gas and tighter environmental regulations, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance released Thursday. As a result of the shift, emissions blamed for global warming from power generation will fall 15 percent below 2005 levels.
