Monthly Archives: September 2016

Billings Gazette editorial on fracking chemical disclosure

Posted on September 30, 2016 by davidjkatz

Last week the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation turned down a request from several conservation organizations and other residents to require increased disclosure of fracking chemicals.

This is typical for the BOGC. Earlier this year they declined to establish minimum setbacks of wellheads from occupied buildings, leaving Montana as one of the few oil and gas producing states with no required buffer zones.

Montana remains one of the most poorly regulated oil and gas producing states, largely because the BOGC is designed to conserve oil and gas interests, not the rights of the state’s residents. The fight to reform the BOGC is central to changing the balance of power in the fight to protect the state’s residents from unsafe drilling in this poorly regulated industry.

Today the Billings Gazette responded to the latest BOGC failure with a scathing editorial.

To read it, click the link. Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History, Shared Letters and Posts | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Interview: The Gas Patch with John Fenton

Posted on September 23, 2016 by davidjkatz

I have a number of topics percolating, but I wanted to share this video that found its way to my mailbox today. It’s an interview with John Fenton of Pavilion, Wyoming about his experiences with the oil and gas industry and how they have changed his life, first for worse and then, in a transformational sense, for the better.

We’ve written about John in the past. We’ve described his personal story and how politics has trumped science in Pavilion, and encouraged you to attend an event in Red Lodge at which he spoke.

But we can’t do justice to John’s story the way he can. The video is an eighteen minute description of the events that changed his life. I can’t recommend it enough to those who live in communities where oil and gas drilling is being considered. It is sobering and hopeful, and perhaps it will spur you to action. Continue reading →

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