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Recent posts
- Beartooth landowners victorious in lawsuit against Stillwater County
- PLEASE NOTE: Change in Zoom access code for today’s hearing
- Action alert: Watch court hearing on Zoom, Thursday, 2:00 pm
- Action alert: Stillwater County Planning Board meeting, Wed, 9/4, 7pm
- Must attend! Stillwater County Planning Board: Wednesday, August 7, 7pm
Blog Archives
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Author Archives: davidjkatz
New study links fracking to migraines, fatigue, sinus problems
New research suggests that Pennsylvania residents with the highest exposure to active wells are nearly twice as likely to suffer from a combination of migraine headaches, chronic nasal and sinus symptoms and severe fatigue.
The research reminds us that Montana is one of the few oil and gas producing states with no mandated minimum distances, or setbacks, between wellheads and occupied buildings. The Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation recently considered the issue of setbacks, but decided to require only notification of residents when a well is about to be drilled nearby. Carbon County recently became the first county in Montana to pass a county-wide setback restriction as part of the County’s growth plan revision.
This study is part of a growing body of evidence that oil and gas drilling has substantial negative impacts on human health. Montana remains woefully behind in protecting its residents from these health effects. Continue reading
The Yellowstone River closing: this is what climate change looks like
A microscopic parasite is destroying the fish population of the Yellowstone River system, causing Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to take the extraordinary step of closing a 183-mile stretch of the Yellowstone and its tributaries to all water-based recreation (fishing, wading, floating, tubing, boating). The closure affects the river from Gardiner, at the north end of Yellowstone Park, to Laurel, and includes the Stillwater River.
Why such a huge outbreak, and why now?
There are those in Montana who will say that this is an unfortunate chance outbreak of this disease, but it isn’t. This is what climate change looks like. It means that, as the conditions that promote diseases like PKD proliferate, so will outbreaks of the disease.
For those of us concerned about the future of this region it is a reminder that we need to guard against activities that can threaten our water. This includes oil and gas drilling, but many other activities as well. As Governor Bullock says, “We must be guided by science.”
The science is clear.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged climate change, Stillwater River, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, Yellowstone River
1 Comment
Time for the Montana Board of Oil and Gas to act on fracking chemical disclosure
Last week a coalition of environmental organizations, landowners and public health advocates petitioned the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation (BOGC) to provide broader public disclosure of information about the chemicals used in fracking.
The proposals are common sense reforms that would protect landowners from potential harm. As Katherine O’Brien, the Earthjustice attorney who drafted the petition on behalf of the coalition put it, “Montanans have the right to know what is being pumped into the ground around their homes, farms, and ranches.”
While the Montana press has reacted favorably to the proposed changes, the oil and gas industry opposes the changes, citing their oft-repeated and always incorrect mantra, “Fracking is safe.”
The Board of Oil and Gas needs to take this opportunity to protect Montana’s residents.
To read more, click the link. Continue reading
A win for local activists: Carbon County passes county-wide oil and gas regulations
The Carbon County Commissioners today passed new regulations to protect citizens from the dangers of oil and gas drilling, a significant win for local activists. The Development Regulations update, the first since 1989, follows the County’s adoption of an updated Growth Policy last year.
The regulations mark a rare Montana victory for the tireless activists in Carbon County who have worked on landowner protections for nearly three years since Energy Corporation of America announced plans to “bring a little bit of the Bakken” to the Beartooth Front.
The constant pressure has paid off, and the Commissioners have relented from their initial opposition to regulation. This is a real win for Carbon County citizens. The new regulations afford genuine protections that are not provided by other Montana laws, and they would not have happened without the dedicated work of these local activists, people like Susann Beug, Deb Muth, Becky Grey and Bonnie Martinell, and Maggie Zaback of Northern Plains.
It is important to recognize that protection against oil and gas drilling is an endless battle, and these rules are a small step in a long fight. But in the meantime, it is important to recognize that local activism bears fruit. It’s not easy, and requires commitment over the long haul. All credit goes to those who worked to make this happen. Local residents should thank them for their work. Continue reading
Tesla just killed the gasoline powered car
Tesla Motors killed the gasoline-powered car last week. The Silicon Valley company accomplished this feat without delivering a single automobile. But as sure as Henry Ford killed the horse and buggy by mass producing an affordable Model T a century ago, Tesla’s announcement of its Model 3 means we’re approaching the end of the internal combustion engine.
The proof is in the astonishing public reaction to the announcement of a car that will sell for $35,000, and won’t even enter into production until late 2017. In the first weekend after the announcement, 276,000 buyers put down a $1000 non-refundable deposit for a car they won’t be able to see for two years.
What we’re talking about here is global market disruption, not excess government regulation, and the impact will be tremendous. Vehicle consumption currently accounts for about 70% of our oil usage in this country. The rise of the electric car and the death of the internal combustion engine will change our energy landscape forever.
To read more and take a virtual test drive in the Tesla Model 3, click on the link. Continue reading
How Montanans stopped the largest new coal mine in North America
This article, written by Nick Engelfried at wagingnonviolence.com, is reposted with permission of the author. While it does not directly deal with oil and gas issues, it is an inspiring story of Montana communities working together against seemingly-insurmountable odds to overcome an energy giant. Continue reading
Posted in Community Organization
Tagged Arch Coal, Tongue River Railroad, wagingnonviolence.com
1 Comment
New study warns we’re not moving fast enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change
A new credible study warns of an impending climate disaster, you should take notice. The study argues that the serious effects of climate change — sea level rise of several feet, followed by increases so large they would force humanity to flee the coasts — will occur over the next 50 years, not over the course of centuries as climate scientists currently believe.
Lead author in the study is Dr. James Hansen, retired NASA scientist and director of the Columbia University Climate Center. The paper, published in the European journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, was co-authored with 18 other scientists. Dr. Hansen has been right before. He gained fame in 1988 when he warned Congress that global warming had already begun. He was ahead of the scientific consensus at the time, but he was right.
This is big news. Dr. Hansen’s study will dominate scientific debate on climate change for years to come. To read more, and watch Dr. Hansen’s 15 minute video overview of the study, click the link. Continue reading
Posted in Climate change, global warming
Tagged Dr. James Hansen, global warming, Paris climate agreement
2 Comments
Two Pennsylvania families win $4.2 million water contamination judgment against Cabot Oil and Gas
In a huge victory for landowners over the oil and gas industry, two families in Dimock, Pennsylvania were awarded $4.2 million in a lawsuit over water contamination from shale gas drilling. Dimock is the town made famous for its flammable water in the film Gasland.
Houston-based Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation, the defendant in the suit, had denied that it was responsible for the contamination. They had settled a similar lawsuit in 2012 with 40 other residents on the same road, but, as is usually the case in this kind of lawsuit, the settlement had included a “non-disparagement” clause that prevents plaintiffs from speaking publicly about the case.
Click to read more about this huge landowner victory. Continue reading
Carbon County letter writer misuses information to make false arguments
I want to call your attention to a letter to the editor published in last week’s Carbon County News. It’s a great example of how people can completely misuse information to make false arguments.
The author’s main point is that a person who advocated against fracking two years ago, and who later had to be rescued after he was injured on the Beartooth Plateau, owes his survival to the fossil fuel industry.
I’m not making this up.
This is a frequent refuge for those who believe that communities should do the bidding of oil and gas operators. I get a lot of comments on this site that go something like this, “If you hate oil and gas so much, you should stop driving a car,” or, “If you really believe the things you write, you should stop using all petroleum products.”
Reasonable people don’t waste time making false arguments. They work together as community to do the right thing.
To read more about this letter, click the link. Continue reading
Posted in Shared Letters and Posts
Tagged Carbon County News, Elk Basin, Fracking, Letter to the Editor, setbacks, water testing
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A new study says drilling is happening too close to homes; the Montana Board of Oil and Gas doesn’t care
A new peer-reviewed study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that setbacks — the minimum allowable distance between a well and occupied residences, schools, or hospitals — are too close to peoples’ homes. According to the study, the current setbacks in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Texas leave residents vulnerable to explosions from well blowouts and to air pollution generated at wells “above health-based risk levels.”
Pennsylvania’s minimum setback is 500 feet from any occupied building. Texas’ is 200 feet; Colorado’s is 500 to 1,000 feet.
Montana is one of the few oil and gas states without any setback rules. Last summer the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, at the urging of Northern Plains Resource Council and others, took up the issue of rulemaking for setbacks. After hearing from many residents regarding the need for minimum setbacks, the BOGC decided not to take up rulemaking, but to form a subcommittee to consider the issue.
The subcommittee has now done its work, You won’t believe what they came up with. Click to find out. Continue reading
Preserve the Beartooth Front 