Joe Romm reports on a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) paper that ties the unprecedented rise in earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater across a broad swath of the country to man-made sources.
The USGS report, to be delivered next week at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America, is the latest in a growing body of documentation tying the unusual increase in earthquakes in locales across the country to the processes associated with oil and gas drilling by hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
According to Romm, "Some quakes may be caused by the original fracking - that is, by injecting a fluid mixture into the earth to release natural gas (or oil). More appear to be caused by reinjecting the resulting brine deep underground."
While the USGS paper stops short of conclusively tying the seismic activity to a specific fracking process, the journal EnergyWire, which has previewed the paper's findings, points out, "all of the potential causes they explore in the paper relate to drilling, or more specifically, deep underground injection of drilling waste."
FULL STORY: Shale Shocked: ‘Remarkable Increase’ In U.S. Earthquakes ‘Almost Certainly Manmade,’ USGS Scientists Report
Texas Earthquakes Linked to Fracking
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New Oil and Gas Drilling in California May Be Subject to Moratorium
Gov. Gavin Newsom pleased environmentalists by doing what his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, refused – halting all new oil and gas fracking and placing a moratorium on another extraction method linked to a massive oil spill in Kern County.
Department of Interior Plans to Open 1 Million Acres in California to Fracking
The Bakersfield Office of the Bureau of Land Management released an environmental study that is the basis for undoing a 2013 de facto moratorium on fracking on federal lands in California. The Supplemental EIS triggers a 45-day public comment period.
Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
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