Posts Tagged ‘Halliburton’

March10

Former Bush official unnerved by unregulated fracking

By: Rachel Lewis

Flickr arimooreAs they push across the U.S. buying up land rights from underneath the feet of unknowing victims, energy giants continue to hope you haven’t heard the term “hydraulic fracking.” They hope you haven’t heard about how residents of some areas where they have injected their explosive chemical cocktail into the ground to release natural gases have ended up sick from their own water, which is often so toxic they can take a match and light it on fire. Now, they probably hope you will not hear about the revelations of a former Bush EPA official Benjamin Grumbles who says an initial investigative report done on the fracking process was taken out of context and the issue needs to be revisited.

Today Daily Kos reported,

Grumbles said he was disappointed at losing both the authority to regulate fracking and to revisit the issue in the future. Once the exemption was passed, the message to EPA was ‘focus on some other priorities,’ he said.

Congress used the report issued by Grumbles and other EPA officials to grant fracking permanent Clean Water Act exemption. On Tuesday, the EPA finally announced that it is suing Halliburton to once and for all disclose the secret cocktail of chemicals it injects into the ground to spur the release of liquid natural gas.

Check out another blog post by Public Citizen energy expert Allison Fisher entitled, “Unnatural Gas” to learn more about fracking and why Public Citizen sees this as one of the most important energy and health issues of 2011. Then,  please tell your representatives to keep KEEP TOXIC CHEMICALS OUT OF OUR DRINKING WATER today!

Posted in: Energy, Environment, Midmorning Refill0 comments

June7

BP disaster: What went wrong, step by step

By: Angela Bradbery

What caused the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that led to the deaths of 11 workers and a catastrophic gush of oil that continues unabated to this day?

According to a thorough examination by The New York Times, it wasn’t a single event but a combination of things. Regulatory agencies granted exceptions to rules, risks accumulated with anyone addressing them and the interests of companies operating on the rig conflicted, so the person with the most clout got the final say, even if the decision made the situation more dangerous.

One of the more amazing lapses was the government’s response when, more than five weeks before the explosion, the rig experienced “kicks” – sudden pulsations of gas.

What did federal regulators do? Did they demand a halt to the operation? Oh, no. They allowed BP to delay a safety test of the blowout preventer. Really.

Here are some of the specific things that went wrong, according to the Times:

- Deepwater drilling procedures are really procedures designed for shallow water that have been jury-rigged over the years;

- Federal regulators gave permission to BP to exempt the Deepwater Horizon project from a rigorous environmental review;

- BP managers gave engineers permission to use equipment that deviated from the company’s own design and safety policies;

Continue Reading

Posted in: Climate Change, Energy5 comments

May20

A month after the oil spill started, still no solution

By: Dorry Samuels

Happy anniversary, BP.

It has been exactly one month since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig started a full-force environmental crisis. And yet, officials still have no effective solution to stop the oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, and we are no closer to an organization (whether it be BP, Transocean, Halliburton or the Minerals Management Service) owning up to the responsibility of the spill.

To learn what we have learned during this month, check out Public Citizen Energy Program’s blog, and especially Tyson Slocum’s post today on the one-month anniversary.

As an anniversary gift, how about a solution? No need for a gift receipt.

If we don’t get a solution, BP can consider itself sleeping on the couch, as we gain support in our boycott against the oil company. Sign the petition. Join the Facebook group. Tell a friend.

Posted in: Activism, Energy, Environment2 comments

May14

There will be blame: Oil spill meets The Daily Show

By: Dorry Samuels

Nobody can say it quite like Jon Stewart. The man has a gift for pointing out the absurd and capitalizing on it, granted, sometimes for a cheap laugh.

The absurdity he highlighted in last night’s episode focused on the oil spill in the Gulf — discussing plans to stop the oil from pouring into the water, and trying to pinpoint who is responsible for the spill and the aftermath. (WARNING: Stewart’s humor is a bit risque in this clip.)

Here are the plans to stop the oil geyser: Top hat. Hot tap. Are these solutions or anagrams, Stewart asked. Next up, the junk shot. (You can use your imagination on Stewart’s take of the solution.) But yeah, let’s throw golf balls, debris and other waste at the well, hoping to clog it up. Seriously.

As for accountability, was it BP? No, they only leased the rig. Was it Transocean? No, concrete blocks failed, not them. Who made the concrete blocks? Halliburton. The list goes on and on.

Now, it’s We, the People’s turn to hold BP accountable. Public Citizen urges drivers to boycott BP and fill up elsewhere. Join the Facebook group, sign the petition and tell your friends!

(Full disclosure: Joe Newman promised me a penny for every person who joins the Facebook group, 1,000,000 Strong to Boycott BP. That means if a million people join, I get $10,000. If you don’t do it for the environment, do it for me!)

Posted in: Activism, Energy1 comments

November19

Shame on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

By: Editor

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3-M8at0bxY]

By now, you’ve probably heard about the story of Jamie Leigh Jones. In 2005, she was working for a Halliburton subsidiary in Iraq when she was gang-raped by coworkers. Four years later, Jamie is still being denied justice.

Jamie can’t pursue justice in criminal court because the rape took place overseas, and a forced arbitration clause in her contract takes away her right to file a lawsuit in the U.S. Big corporations, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have worked for years to prevent workers from suing their employers in almost any circumstance, even sexual assault, by inserting forced arbitration language into their contracts. No one should ever be forced into arbitration just by taking a job.

Sign our petition telling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to stop opposing the rights of rape and discrimination victims!

Concerned activists like you helped urge lawmakers to pass Sen. Al Franken’s (D-Minn.) amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3326). The Franken Amendment would prevent defense contractors from requiring their employees to sign away their rights, ending once-and-for-all the practice of covering up sexual assault and discrimination claims by forcing them into arbitration.

But, shockingly, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is fighting the Franken Amendment. It sent a letter to Congress saying that it would “set a dangerous precedent” to allow rape victims into court. Sign our petition telling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to stop opposing the rights of victims of rape and discrimination! Go to http://www.fairarbitrationnow.org.

Jamie has teamed up with organizations like Public Citizen, MoveOn.org, and others to end this injustice. Congress is still finalizing the defense appropriations bill, and considering whether to keep the Franken Amendment. Meanwhile the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is waging a massive lobbying campaign.

Don’t let the Chamber of Commerce kill the Franken Amendment! Stand up for victims of sexual assault and discrimination. Then, forward this petition to your friends so we can deliver a strong message to the Chamber of Commerce and Congress.

Posted in: Activism, Congress, Social Justice5 comments

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