Katharine Hoeksema

November 5, 2010

Pennsylvania Sees Expansion of Natural Gas Industry

Southwestern Pennsylvania is home to the Marcellus shale, one of the world's largest natural gas reservoirs. Though once thought to contain nothing but small pockets of oil and gas, new technological advances pave the way to potentially extract between 50 to 500 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas, making the reserve potentially second only to the world's largest natural gas field in Iran and Qatar. Although local residents have voiced numerous concerns, proponents argue that abundant natural gas at home could alter our reliance on dirty coal and dependence on foreign oil.

Source:

Marianne Lavelle, Special Report: The Great Shale Gas Rush, National Geographic News (Oct. 13, 2010), http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101022-energy-marcellus-shale-gas-overview.

Argentina Acts to Protect Glaciers

Argentina recently passed a law to protect the country's glaciers, recognizing that glaciers not only provide water for human consumption and agriculture, but they attract tourists and promote biodiversity. The law calls for strict monitoring of glacial activity, prohibits the release of all chemicals/wastes in glacial environments, and requires impact assessments for all planned activities.

Source:

Laura Garcia, Argentina Protects its Glaciers by Law, Environmental News Network (Oct. 19, 2010, 11:35 AM), http://www.enn.com/climate/article/41899.

Water-Bottling Plan Creates Controversy in Oregon

Last year, the bottled water industry earned $10 billion in the U.S. However, as restaurants and consumers try to save money, bottled water is one of the first luxuries to go and producers like Nestle are feeling the effects. As a result, Nestle is moving to Oregon to tap 100 million gallons of water, which it proposes to replace with municipal well water, from a new spring near the state's iconic Mount Hood. Residents are worried that the well water will harm endangered fish like the sockeye salmon so Nestle is conducting a one-year test to monitor the effects of well water on trout.

Source:

Leon Kaye, Water Wars: Oregon vs. Nestle, (Oct. 29, 2010, 2:02 PM), TriplePundit, http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/10/29/water-wars-oregon-nestle.

New Fish and Wildlife Service Study Aims to Protect Birds of Prey

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has permitted 131 biologists to trap and band golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, ospreys, kestrels, peregrine falcons and other birds of prey migrating to their winter habitats. This study is essential to understanding and protecting the birds as they continue to face threats from wind turbine blades, habitat destruction from oil and gas exploration, urban-suburban growth, pesticides, herbicides, electric lines and climate change. Trapping and banding hawks is not an easy task; hawks see 8 to 10 times better than humans and often don't fall for fake traps/lures. Thus, live birds are used as bait (without being harmed) in an intricate capturing process.

Source:

Sandra J. Blakeslee, Serving Up Feathered Bait to Attract Ecosystem Data, N.Y Times, (Oct. 25, 2010), http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/science/26raptor.html?ref=earth.

Nagoya Protocol Sets Goal of Cutting Extinction Rates

A recent agreement among U.N. member states, reached at a conference in Nagoya, Japan, sets a goal of cutting the current extinction rate by half or more by 2020. Species are being lost at 100 to 1000 times the average rate, which, according to scientists, is the worst since the dinosaurs were lost 65 million years ago. The amount of protected land will increase from 12.5% to 17% and protected ocean from 1% to 10%. Richer countries have agreed to provide funds to help poorer nations reach these goals, and rich and poor nations will share profits from pharmaceutical or other products derived from plant/animal material.

Source:

Neil MacFarquhar, U.N. Sets Goals to Reduce the Extinction Rate, (Oct. 29, 2010), N.Y. Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/world/30biodiversity.html?ref=endangered_and_extinct_species.