By Katie Weidenboerner katiew@thecourierexpress.com RIDGWAY – Half a dozen concerned citizens asked the Elk County Commissioners Tuesday morning to sign a resolution opposing fracking, a plea that came moments after the board approved to distribute more than $50,000 in grant funding from Marcellus Shale impact fees to municipalities and non-profits. “These are some wonderful things […]

For more than two months now, a ruptured storage well has poured thousands of tons of gas into the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles. The Aliso Canyon leak is huge—California’s largest known source of methane emissions at this point—but not compared to another font of wasted gas miles away in Venezuela. Punta de Mata […]

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — When you think of grandmothers in rocking chairs, you probably don’t think of them sitting in the rain, singing and rocking as a way of protesting. “It’s mostly about the children,” said Laurel Colonello of Butler County, “the proximity of the well so close to the school…” With anti-fracking signs in hand […]

Three months after Public Herald broke the story about the contamination of groundwater sources for public and private water supplies in Potter County, Pennsylvania…99% of our most critical questions are still unanswered. But we’re not giving up – that’s why we’ll be submitting a list of 21 questions again tomorrow morning (Thurs. 12/17) at a public meeting […]

PARIS — As China steps up its efforts to tackle climate change, the government is sharply lifting its targets for renewable energy. China now wants to generate 150 to 200 gigawatts of electricity using solar power by 2020, possibly quadrupling the previous target. China also wants to sharply lift its wind power targets to 250 […]

President Obama’s chief environmental regulator told the international climate conference in Paris on Tuesday that the U.S. is already pushing forward with a slate of new climate change rules. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy told climate negotiators that the U.S. is committed to cutting down on carbon pollution and fighting global warming. “The […]

Speaking to Carbon Brief at the COP21 climate conference in Paris, Dr. James Hansen, one of the world’s most prominent climate scientists, has strongly criticized the UK government’s pursuit of fracking for shale gas. Asked what he thought of the UK government’s policy of seeking to copy the U.S.’s fracking revolution, Hansen said: Well, that’s screwing your children and grandchildren. Because if you do that, […]

After losing about $650 million in the last six months, Seneca Resources has taken on a financial backer to continue its Marcellus Shale drilling operations in McKean, Elk and Cameron counties. “With the price of natural gas dropping, and not really improving, our company has taken a write-down on the side of the assets,” explained […]

Pennsylvania’s path to a lower carbon future will include a significant expansion of renewable energy; fewer methane leaks from natural gas pipelines and coal mines; more efficient use of energy to power homes and businesses; new forest preserves; and more waste made useful as energy. That vision, described in a new draft update to Pennsylvania’s climate […]