politics
Q&A: Michigan lawmaker aims to ‘build the coalition’ around clean energy
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan, discusses coalition building, electric vehicles and ongoing environmental challenges in her Detroit-area district.
Ohio
Ohio firefighters kept in the dark on drilling and fracking chemicals
Companies injected trade secret chemicals into more than 1,400 wells in the state from 2013 to 2018, a report says.
oil and gas
Ohio research may cut risks of fracked well waste spills
A new treatment method could allow drillers to clean and process wastewater on-site instead of transporting to wells.
fracking
Study links shale gas boom and sexually transmitted infections
Ohio communities with high levels of fracking activity had 20 percent higher rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea. Ohio’s shale gas country has had higher rates for two sexually transmitted diseases in the wake of the industry’s rapid expansion, new research reports. The study from a team at the Yale School of Public Health adds to a growing body of knowledge exploring public health and social impacts of the fracking boom. PLOS One published the report on March 23. What does the study say? “The bottom line of our study was that we found that counties with high levels of fracking activity had 20 percent higher rates of two major sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, chlamydia and gonorrhea,” said lead study author Nicole Deziel, an epidemiologist at Yale.
fracking
Methane explosions trigger questions about greenhouse gas emissions
Natural gas burns cleaner, but two recent explosions in Ohio show how accidental and “fugitive” emissions compromise some climate benefits.