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Fact Check: The truth behind fracking claims in 'Promised Land'
A new Hollywood film opened nationwide this weekend, and this one's not about Hobbits or French Revolutionaries. It's about fracking. You heard that right. Matt Damon and John Krasinski star in a film...
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U.S. reliance on foreign oil is declining
Demand for oil has been down in the U.S. since the 2008 recession. It's slowly creeping back up, but not as fast as oil companies are getting crude out of the ground in places like the shale oil...
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The battle over exporting natural gas
We’ve been telling you on Marketplace about America’s abundance of natural gas as a result of the controversial drilling technology, fracking. One emerging debate is: Since we have so much, should we...
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Natural gas fracking: big trouble or bridge fuel?
Booming production of North American shale gas – through the controversial drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – is overtaking our energy conversation, overturning our...
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Fracking concerns: An extended Petro-State Frack Check of 'Promised Land'
As a follow-up to a previous post, here are more fact-checks and comments relating to "Promised Land" - the film about a rural community debating the merits of natural gas drilling was co-written and...
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Does the fracking boom kill renewables?
Energy and environment watchers often group into separate tribes. There are oil and gas brown energy folks, wind and solar green energy types, and environmental advocates. Which makes it hard to ask:...
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U.S., Mexico have lowest gas, carbon taxes in rich world
When it comes to taxing carbon emissions, Turkey "leads" and North America "lags." Climate change has world leaders thinking lots about fossil fuel subsidies that encourage use, and taxes that...
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An OKC soap opera: Oklahoma City's natural gas drama
A few thoughts on natural gas mega-driller Chesapeake Energy and the news that co-founder Aubrey McClendon is stepping down as CEO. There are undoubtedly cheers and jeers (from both inside and...
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Fracking boosts U.S. manufacturing: But by how much?
With new data showing a narrowing of the U.S. trade deficit, in part because of a drop in oil imports, few dispute the massive impact that the fracking boom could have on American energy fortunes....
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Fracking lies, myths and statistics: BS Detector
Yes, we know. Fact-checking kills a good policy fight. It gets in the way of echo-chambers, and is certainly a job-killer for the bumper sticker industry. Official Washington operates as a thriving...
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Hate mail: Scott Tong responds to listener letters
It seemed like such a good idea at the time: peruse listener comments and reactions to our fracking coverage, and respond. The benefits are obvious: Engage listeners. Lure web eyeballs. Pull back the...
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More myths you hear about fracking: BS Detector
Here at the Petro-State web page, we tend to favor a loud, dueling echo-chamber Beltway fight over fracking. Except when we don't. So in the spirit of taking on old, partial and mis-information, this...
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In the fracking fields, a fight over who regulates
In the natural gas fracking debate, all eyes are on Harrisburg, Pa. Any day, the state supreme court will rules in a case that goes to the heart of this drilling boom: Who makes the rules? Can...
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What fracking means for manufacturing and the environment: BS detector
Following up on our previous BS Detector entries here and here, we at Marketplace bring you another moment of naivete, a blog post invested in the assumption that presenting people with high-quality...
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A Pennsylvania fracking settlement answers a few questions
The Pittsburgh area is buzzing today about a high-profile environmental pollution case linked to fracking. A family and a drilling company reached a settlement in private. But a few lawsuits later,...
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Drillers and enviros try to set fracking standards together
In the natural gas fracking debate, you don't often get oil and gas companies in the same room with environmentalists, let alone joining the same club. But in Pittsburgh, a new group has drillers...
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Oil spills, pipelines, and angry environmentalists, oh my!
The politics of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline are heating up again. The Keystone is aimed at bringing more oil from Canadian oil sands to the United States. But a pipeline spill in Arkansas has...
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Obama on climate change: It's the economy, stupid
President Obama gave a speech on climate change today -- but he didn’t focus exclusively on the environment. Instead, he spent a lot of time talking about the economy. It’s all part of a broader...
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Natgas, renewables and the future economy
Climate change is back on top of the president's agenda. In a speech in late June, President Obama announced a plan to push forward his administration's goals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at...
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Can fracking preserve North Dakota's environment?
North Dakota ain't what it used to be. The fracking boom has brought a population and development surge that you can see from outer space. Seriously—at night, flares from oil and gas wells light up...
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