People- listen to this guy. We cannot LIVE without water.

Bet these companies would love to get some nice federal millions to clean the water or sell us bottled water. How would you like to pay big money just for the opportunity to drink a nice, clean glass of water?

The largest natural gas reserve ever found on Earth is Hanesville Shale ,Northern Louisiana, Southern Arkansas; it is so huge the experts are predicting it holds enough reserves for all the lower 48 States for the next 200 years; one very big problem, very deep, very expensive to recover and uses huge amounts of water and chemicals to extract; industry says they can solve the cost problem, if they can this country will be energy independent in 10 years; if not a lot of company's are going to lose a hell of a lot of money !

I agree. The aquifers could be fractured and we would have destroyed the water source. Oil Sand? The use of carcinogens in the process makes it a "no go".

They are developing lots of shale gas when prices are low, this does not make a lot of sense to me considering the costs for development.

At the end of the day the 'rich' will be able to afford clean water. Who cares about the rest of us!!!

So what's wrong with water you can light on fire out of your tap?

Just curious...when Obama announced he was selling 60 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve and the price of oil went down for about a day or two, what big investor was selling short and knew in advance? 30 million barrels is the use for about a day and a half in the U.S so why else would he do it? I don't see any problem with companies making money and having jobs. I see a problem with politics and things like what happened.

This article and the stupid waste of our reserves shows the total lack of an energy policy by Obama. He has no clue what a leader should do and is throwing crap against the wall to see what sticks. Totally lost...

Fracking has already destroyed water wells in the state of PA. The state is suing because the chemicals used in the fracking process contaminated their water streams. Now, they want to do the same to the Delaware River.

What these drillers do is go right down to bedrock. How dangerous is that? There have already been reported of minor earthquakes where fracking drillers hit too far into the bedrock.

Money, money, money....and don't worry about human life...unless it's theirs.

I think Al and Ben can shed some light in this issue, too:

“This American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it what you will, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it”....Al Capone

"Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class"...Al Capone

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.

Benito Mussolini

Fascism is the moment you can't put a cigarette paper between state and corporate power.

Benito Mussolini

Get real...You want to live within a mile of fracking drilling or is this more hotcha Drill Baby Drill BS? No, of course you and your kind don't mind who else drinks polluted water. Let me guess what state you represent...the one that has no other industry but $Energy?

This has nothing to do with President Obama's policies and everything to do with careless, irresponsible greed that pits the value of human life against $$$$$$$$$$ for Big Energy.

There ARE alternatives...just not ones that will make the state of Texas rich ass and polluting the rest of the continent with their black gold slime.

The data show that while there are some very active wells, they are often surrounded by vast zones of less-productive wells that in some cases cost more to drill and operate than the gas they produce is worth. Also, the amount of gas produced by many of the successful wells is falling much faster than initially predicted by energy companies, making it more difficult for them to turn a profit over the long run.

Folks:

This is just another bait and switch scheme to impoverish investors. Keep your money away from science and industry you do not understand. These snake oil salesmen will say anything, and leave you with a handfull o' crap. In this case the will also attack the aquifers that everyone depends on whether they know it or not, and somehow will get away Scott-free from any charges of irrepairable pollution and poisoning of the Earth's most precious product, drinking water. It must be nice to own politicians that have no souls, isn't that right Mr. Pickens?

So you really believe that, huh Saxon?

We are all being hood winked so bad by these guys, they'll be investing in bullet proof vests and armor, so once the people finally figure all this out.........

Folks..you are missing things a bit here. You have to understand...profits, money, big bisiness. and politicans all go well together..as for the citizens of this country who now have no say in what our elected do..ohhh well..you get what you voted for.

Natural gas companies have been placing enormous bets on the wells they are drilling, saying they will deliver big profits and provide a vast new source of energy for the United States.

These companies are placing the bets but the investors and consumers end up paying for ANY failures all with the blessings of our greedy politicians and corrupt government. Of course they are helping create the bubble because that is how they get MONEY to place bets in investors names. Where is my government to protect the citizens? What about the fracking process? Who is monitoring the safety of this process and the damage it does to the environment? DO YOU REALLY THINK IT WOULD BE OUR POLITICIANS? They are lead by lobbies and the monies they receive to keep their careers on track. Bah!!!

Shale gas for the most part is a high pressure low volume strata. As a registered petroleum engineer, my advice would be to "invest" in sand wells, that have the potential to produce for 40 years or more.
The very first Gulf well was drilled back in the 40's by Kerr-McGee and is still producing today.
For all you tree huggers, fracking has been going on for YEARS in the Austin Chalk field & ain't nobody died from pollution of a water bearing sand yet. Horizontal drilling, has made the wells much bigger & better producers.

In N.J. all you see is the natural gas companies running gas lines all over. All fat lazy union parasites. Obamma has ' invested billions in stim. money' into the unions coffers to put small business heating oil companies out of business. Obamas legacy will be always associated FAILURE.

In NJ, all you see are First Energy paying planning and zoning boards under the table. Until Texas First Energy owns the rights to any energy that is consumed in the US, they won't be satisfied.

Don't blame union workers. They don't make the decisions to run those gas lines. They are laborers. You got something unAmerican about laborers earning a living or is this more Rah Rah Big Energy BS?

I agree. The energy company that I worked for has been fracking since the 1960,s and had no serious cosequences with local environmnts in both NY and Pa. Our company was very conscious of doing the right things in the production of well and the public

They argue that shale gas economics will improve as the price of gas rises, technology evolves and demand for gas grows with help from increased federal subsidies being considered by Congress.

Setting aside the issue of turning ground water into toxic waste, the other statement in this article that caught my eye is "increased federal subsidies being considered by Congress". Why is the federal government considering increasing subsidies to an unproven industry given the current economic state of this ountry? As an example of what happens when the government subsidizes an industry, consider subsidies given to producers of corn. What did the taxpayer receive in return for government subsidies to the corn industry? We got high fructose corn syrup in everything that we eat and drink because the subsidies make it cheaper than using sugar, which is a natural product. (No, HFCS is not a natural product no matter what ads produced by the Corn Refiners Association try to tell you.) The taxpayer gets screwed when tax dollars are used for subsidies and screwed again when we have to tolerate HFCS in everything we eat and drink. HFCS has been linked with increases in Type 2 diabetes, which increases the cost of medical care in this country. It's all a chain reaction started by federal subsidies to corn growers. The same chain reaction can result from federal subsidies to the natural gas industry.

But if natural gas ultimately proves more expensive to extract from the ground than has been predicted, landowners, investors and lenders could see their investments falter, while consumers will pay a price in higher electricity and home heating bills.

Another statement that is worrisome. Once again, the American consumer/taxpayer will be royally screwed by our own government. Subsidies approved by Congress and paid to the natural gas business will ultimately increase prices to the consumer. We taxpayers get the double whammy...higher prices as a result of subsidies paid for by our taxpayer dollar.

I disagree! It's all in the big plan to redistribute the wealth to union 'Democraps'coffers and minorities. And by the way unions are unAmerican.

PUT THE UNION PARASITE'S OUT! GOV. CHRISTIE IN 2012!!!!!!!!

Lee...Give it up already. Christie knows he can't win a presidency and he knows why...too many ties to the North Jersey corruption and Big Political Bosses. I'm fed up with the Twerps insisting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are "entitlements". When you pay for them for 4 or 5 decades?

How about we go after the rich asses who get THEIR taxes reduced by tax credits, tax loopholes, business exemptions etc? Why are they "entitled" to this type of aristocratic treatment and not the rest of us? Just because they earn more? And how do they do that?
Price gouging, that's how. Is it really necessary for Big Oil to jack prices 3 or more times a year? No....It isn't.

People who work in unions are not parasites and you are a hypocrite because 9/10ths of the Republicans are in bed with the biggest union bosses. Always have been and always will be.

Justified

Shale gas for the most part is a high pressure low volume strata. As a registered petroleum engineer, my advice would be to "invest" in sand wells, that have the potential to produce for 40 years or more.
The very first Gulf well was drilled back in the 40's by Kerr-McGee and is still producing today.
For all you tree huggers, fracking has been going on for YEARS in the Austin Chalk field & ain't nobody died from pollution of a water bearing sand yet. Horizontal drilling, has made the wells much bigger & better producers.

Perfect... follow the advice of someone making money in the industry and see where that gets you! Kind of like listening to the Tobacco Industry instead of the Surgeon General! Follow the Money People!

Thanks for telling it like it is Ewent.

Good post.

Their class is definitely more "entitled" than the lower or middle class. Billions more.

Dangerous Mind...Nothing is more dangerous than creating an American aristocracy. Their days are coming. They've played fast and loose for far too long and they actually believe their own line of BS that they are Too Big To Fail, Too Rich to Change and Too Big to be Controlled.

That's what comes of saving their asses from that 2008 Financial Meltdown. Nothing does a rich man more good than landing long and hard on his own ass.

Fracking here in Texas is a scam and a boondoggle of the first degree. There is now a bill in front of the legislature (days late and dollars short) wanting to know exactly what chemicals are used and what harm they portend to the environment. There are already wells polluted irrevocably and the companies are looking to buy water in a drought inflicted state, 18 million gallons to frack one well.

Sorry, gotta give this a really massive pass. You can live without oil, you can only live for three days without water.

As to congressional support of an energy boondoggle, look no further than your mercury laden lightbulbs that require a hazmat crew to clean up if you have the misfortune to break one.

mygirl11...Those lightbulbs are recyclable...In the northeast we recycle everything from light bulbs to cooking oil. We even recycle our old computers, printers and scanners. Everything IS recyclable if people care enough to take the time to do it.

Now, they are even working on ways to recycle the old nicad batteries they originally used in the hybrid vehicles.

I grew up on a small farm. Nothing was ever wasted. If it grew in the ground, it went back into the ground as mulch. I learned how to live simply so others could simply live. It's why I absolutely detest the kind of me, me, me tune I hear so many singing these days. The more they get, they more they want. They more they want, they more they expect.

One thing I learned from all that recycling? It saves money.

ewent: Good for you, more people need to have your behaviours as regards conservation. As to the lightbulbs, what about when you break one?

mygirl, you should read Consumers Reports about how to clean up the debris from a broken CFL bulb. Hint: It doesn't include calling a hazmat team unless you're a paranoid left wing nut job.

I am so SICK of the FEAR that I hear posted above about WHAT IF THIS, WHAT IF THAT! ---- People, that is why NOTHING ever gets done in ANY situation, have you ever noticed that?

I SWEAR this nation is so full of BEAN COUNTERS, and DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD and DON'T DO THAT BECAUSE BAD COULD HAPPEN people ---- that I'm sick of it.

People, it is a FACT that natural gas is in the ground. It is a FACT that we use natural gas as energy in this country. Why on earth would we not go get it?

If you spend your whole life worrying -----you will have spent your whole life worrying ---- that's it.

And when you get old and gray and you're with your friends talking about what you did in the old days, instead of telling your grandkids all the things you accomplished, you will just say ---- well sonny, listen, we didn't get much of anything done ---- we just pretty much worried all the time.

Cynic: I was using hyperbole to make a point.

I'm all for extracting energy from possible sources, but if I am reading this article right, it is ANOTHER example of big business (big oil) stating them can do something they can't, in order to get people to invest their money, including trying to get subsidies from the federal government, knowing they are selling snake oil. In the end,. the investors will lose their monies (creating another collapse of the economy), the middle class will still be holding the bag, and the consumer will be paying double (triple?) because of panic in the futures, and big oil gets richer in the end. Where are all the ultra conservatives complaining about the waste of our tax dollars? Fox news hasn't told you to cry about it yet?

Love the arguments!

enron--at a glance--bbc news:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1780075.stm

If the government wants to subsidize energy production, why aren't they subsidizing research into green renewable energy sources that don't destroy everything around them to produce energy? If we had put as much money into developing solar as we put into developing oil, we would not be having this conversation now, nor would we be worrying about the Middle East or American energy independence. We probably wouldn't be worrying about the debt either.

I am not a defender of the energy industry, but there is some serious misleading of people going on here. All the talk about ground water contamination is a little bit exaggerated. Most of the shale gas wells are drilled to depths well below the aquifers. The fracking that is being done is well below the level of the aquifer so that the risk of contamination is extremely low. There are some wells that are being drilled in areas where they shouldn't that either have the gas closer to the surface or very deep aquifers that are risking contamination. These, however, do not represent the majority of the wells. With a little prudence in where the wells are drilled, the risk of contaminating aquifers can be greatly reduced if not eliminated.

Once the aquifers are contaminated, they cannot be reclaimed. It's over. And we don't even know what chemicals they are putting down there.

First, I want to ass my voice that that of many others who are concerned about the short and long term effects of "fracking". We have already seen the effects of ground water and aquifers corrupted (spoiled), not contaminated by break-throughs, leakages and spoilage piles form the mining industry. I used the term corrupted, rather than contaminated, because contaminated leaves the impression that the water can be cleaned through processin or by remediation of the pollutant source. But when the water can only be cleansed by distillation (maybe), leaving behind other contamination of questionable commercial value, processing may not be a viable solution. Nor may there be a viable, or physically possible, means of remediating sub-surface releases.

I do not believe that fracking will always result in such a problem, but wholesale use of the practice by 100's of operators should give one pause. Also, we must address the issue of the water actually used in the process. As seemingly impractical as this may sound, I believe that all water so used should be recaptured and reused on subsequent wells, rather than the small proportion now recaptured. This water is not tainted from shale-bound contaminants, but by the actual fracking chemicals added.

Second,

Regarding ENERGY POLICY, an American Energy policy is not the work of one man, not even the President. President Obama can lead, but if no one follows, what is the point. A national policy will require a national concensus, which seems impossible for ANY president in today's environment. Every President since Nixon has tried, unsuccessfully, to introduce two things: a meaningful national healthcare paln, and a national energy policy. I do not count President Obama as being successful on healthcare as of yet due to: possible repeal efforts, and it fell short of many things its supporters expected. Both healthcare and ENERGY POLICY affect two sets of VERY DEEP pockets in this country. If we are to ever create a real energy policy, either energy companies are going to have to accept some limits and compromises, or be left out of the discussion. But consumers will also have to adjust, whether it is limited adoption of CFL lighting or more efficient use of motor fuels (electric cars, smaller cars, more efficient or limited travel, etc.). Altogether, there will be shifts in what gets done where and what things cost. But we may also find better ideas, cleanup our country, and even live better. But ONLY if we can get past profits, politics and self-interest.

Great post eugene!!!

the greed of the green energy industry-take taxpayers money to force more expensive energy on taxpayers to solve a made up problem. The temp. has not gone up for the last 10 years and the sea levels have dropped but we still are putting CO2 in atmosphere. AGW is a joke

Let's forgo the issue of whether climate change is an issue or a made-up issue.

Renewable energy is far more efficient and abundant than fossil fuels. With that said, and that alone, increasing sources of renewable energy drives energy prices down. Efficiency = Money saved. Your lop-sided view on renewable energy is making you and everyone else broke.

oi812,

You are aware that the government is subsidizing the oil companies as they are making record profits, aren't you?

Your other assertions regarding the result of excessive CO2 in the atmosphere is at best debatable but your stance makes any discussion a waste of time. I will point out though that weather is not climate and circumstances in the US only for 10 years means little to nothing when discussing global climate changes over the past 100 years.

"A fool and his money......

I recall three offers to invest in this back in the 1980's. It was a mere 5 grand and the return..........a wealthy man.

I know of two "scientists" who say they have developed cheap,easy, and environmentally "safe" methods of extraction. However, they fear for their lives, and refuse to even apply for the patent. How insane is that?

There is a commercial on the television from some oil company. Some actor; a scientist for the company saying that with this new method there is a hundred years of gas for America.

It is a contest, who is the biggest crook. The oil companies or the pharmaceutical companies. Yes, your next reality show: "The Biggest Crook."

oi812.....Alternative energy is here to stay. Boo hoo...now Texas will have to find another industry to keep the cigars in mouths of fat gut Big Oil Bois, won't they? In my state, alternative energy is producing thousands of new jobs and an increase in manufacturing. So...how it is costing you a dime? Or is that you and your state lose money the minute ANY alternative is allowed to surface?

Isn't that the reason alternative energy was always sidelined by the richboy Republicans for the past 4 decades?

The sea levels have dropped!?? Where is this person getting his/her info . . . from the energy industry? Certainly not from any source that has actually studied that issue. I'm in total "awe" of the stupidity of that comment, and the irrelevance of it in concern to this story. If a person chooses to ignore what's ahead and what's right as a responsible creature of this planet, that's fine. Those people are not a part of the solution; however, it would be nice if they would die out, or grow up - sooner rather than later - so the rest of us would have fewer issues to deal with and correct, to live healthy, happy, productive lives.

As far as the claims of the energy industry and "fracking", it doesn't matter whether those natural gas pockets are productive or not. The cost to the environment is so great, that we can't live with the cost to our land and drinking water, to produce energy for a people who are unwilling to use the extra time it will provide us to be less energy dependent upon others, if we don't make necessary changes in the way we consume.

oi812, are you telling us that you believe it's alright to contaminate millions of gallons of drinking water, in order to make us energy independent for what, 20 years? In that 20 years, are you willing to change the way you consume energy? To invest in alternatives? To grow up and become more responsible for your own actions, and to teach your children to be more concerned for the planet that feeds us? - - I doubt it highly.

Savvy professional investors have a wise, general rule of thumb:

Once the general public is "investing" in the "new market": internet (or whatever) stocks, housing, gold, energy, etc. the profitable opportunities are over and the crash is imminent. If your neighbors and the news report the latest "get rich" opportunity, look out! Time to sell!

MrCool! That's the best post I've read in a long time!

At this point in time there is no such thing as an alternate energy source that can be cost effective, energy efficient and environmentally safe.

Yes greed I agree GREED . Such a deal to those who madeoff with the loot.We are ruling ourselves to an international enviromental disaster,like a pile of african ants who only move after they have destroyed the area ,forest enviroment around them. There are so many egos and pride in self and whats in it for me ,false derivitives (colleg schemes in Stocks etc) attitutes and scams these days it leaves little room for any real caring for people's real needs,, unless there is a profit in it for a special group or Compny who has paid off (lobby's) to assertain to rights in doing wrong.Great Lakes has 50 Chemical sites Dumps still ,real smarty action there huh?

Was Largest body of clean fresh water on planet must not be planted with wastes and a dump. want a glass to drink heir politician and Chemical en Dow ed system?

Live for today screw the next generation and earth?

Most rich don't share ,care ,enough to fill a thimble in this country despite the gloriuos TV displays .

"My endowments and trust for My family always come first right",screw the rest attitude. Dog eat dog world especially the poor who not educated in the high minded ways, are fodder for Company's ,Rich, and egomaniacs who think they can solve earths problems in a war of words in a like political arena in the Americas . Great for kids to hear the dressing down of public officials always . Beast like attitudes permiate the Americas today ,lack real love of goodness,principals that were looked up to as hope.

The weaknesses on all are potraid in the faces of those who run for office ?

love of power and money usually not what is needed for all . cant run without it $$$ huh,what a system?

Does anyone forsee a better way than the special nterest,crooked,fleshly desires mst have been led to believe in?

Does anyone really seperate The Democratic process of governing , from Capitolism pursuits ? hope so! One shold rule the other right? hmmmmm?

Swanson Press?

Jabba,

Cost effective, oil companies are heavily subsidized by tax payers.

Energy efficient, the US wastes approximately 65% of resources burned. Japan has a rating of about 90%. We can do better.

Environmentally safe. Nuff said.

You just described the energy source we currently use too. What you say may be true today, but there will come a time, sooner than later, where we must move to other forms and it's best to prepare early rather than wait until we're forced to change.

Jabba...Sorry to burst your Pro Big Oil Dream Bubble. I've worked in a solar building for the past 3 years. There are a number of homes in NJ totally off the electricity grids. They are not tiny little homes either.

Your post is a fat lie intended to make alternative energy sound inefficient. If it is so inefficient, why is First Energy planting solar panels all over the electric poles in NJ?

Anymore BS stories from the rah rah Big Energy bois and we'd all have to move to Dog Patch USA.

You are aware that the government is subsidizing the oil companies as they are making record profits, aren't you?

vwterry - excellent point.

No one has mention the other obvious solution outside of renewable energy, which is energy conservation. Yes, the greed of Big Oil and others is the main contributor to higher prices, etc. However, the greedy, irresponsible consumer is also partially to blame. As a result of the Oil Embargo of the 1970s, the country was supposed to increase research into renewable energy sources, energy conservation, etc. What did we get instead? We got giant, gas-guzzling SUVs thrust upon us by the auto industry and gullible consumers who simply couldn't live without buying one because the sky would fall it they didn't keep up with the Joneses.

The Big Oil Fast Talker or Speculators are the same type of people that they target. Not very educated and displaying a total lack of common sense.

ABC: You forgot to mention the huge tax breaks for anyone buying the gas guzzling monstrosities. All to help out automakers too stupid to realize that people needed fuel efficient. But then, gas was cheap and the attitude was one of "I'm rich, I can afford to waste the earth's resources. Besides, if I don't, someone else will."

ewent, I hate to burst your Big Green Bubble, but solar energy is NOT cost effective. The only reason that people put solar panels on their roof is because Government has offered them a bribe, uh I mean a rebate, that covers two thirds of the cost of the solar panel. The money for this bribe is either stolen from the taxpayer or the Gov't just runs the printing presses a little longer each day.

Cynic,

Again someone brings up the tax rebates that people receive for solar purchasing but neglect to mention the huge subsidies given to the oil industry, even as they are making record profits. Why is that? What would the price of gas be without those subsidies?

Additionally, over time the owners of solar panels called photovoltaic will pay off those panels and will then be able to put that money they receive from the power companies for the excess they produce back into the general economy.

How much do you get back for your daily investment in oil and gas?

One should never let reading comprehension interfere with a good rant.

Actually I am not a big oil person. My statement stands as is.

At this point in time there is no such thing as an alternate energy source that can be cost effective, energy efficient and environmentally safe.

One penny does not a million dollars make.

mygirl1 - you make a good point about the tax breaks for anyone buying gas guzzlers. I was right out of college when the oil embargo of the 70s happened. My ex-husband used to get in line at the gas station at 4:00 in the morning in winter so that he could put gas in the car so that I could drive to work. Five of us carpooled to work so that no one had to drive more than one day per week to get to work. Not only did the oil embargo inconvenience most of us on a personal level, the country was thrown into a recession with double digit inflation. When it all began to subside during the 1980s, I was completely dumbfounded by the morons who acted as though nothing had ever happened. Everybody - the government, big business, private individuals - just acted as though nothing had ever happened. Rather than working to make the country less dependent on imported oil, they rushed to consume even more. Total idiots! That's the main reason that we are now paying $4.00 and more for gas. It completely flabbergasts me that people seem to believe that they can consume as much as they can possibly get their hands on and that it will last forever.

ABCzyx,

No, we'd still be paying $4 per gallon, hopefully it would take us farther.

Every snide remark you made are fox news talking points. Have an original thought. Stop letting fox speak rule your thoughts.

All of your snide remarks are simply fox news talking points. If the TALK SHOWS wouldnt tell you to think like that, you would have an origianal thought. I would bet you dont "believe" in evolution either...

Have you heard that Gore may be getting a weiner?

Rich, the fact that Gore has bamboozeled the Greenies out of their cash is the Real Inconvenient Truth the people like i liked ike refuse to understand. Gore wastes more energy flying around on his gas sucking, carbon spewing airplane in one year than I will use in my entire life.

You people don't think twice about betraying your ignorance and bias by your uninformed and fabricated statements, do you? You all sound like FoxNews watchers who just eat up everything they feed you.

Jerry....They only listen when their control is out of control. Think it can't happen? Read your history books. When the aristocrats took over, revolt always followed. You can push people until they are faced with the limits of their patience and tolerance.

Americans are not yet at the point where they recognize how many of their freedoms are gone thanks to greed. But, they are getting smart. The poor and wise don't spend and don't make rich men richer. They just hang on and when the greedy burn their bridges, the only ones who remain are the survivors.

It sounds like the expectations were over done and did not have to be. The Texas and Louisiana wells are not doing as well as those up in Pennsylvania and New York. Some wells are not doing as well as expected. That is what happens when you oversell the potential.

KSConni...YOu can thank the changes made during the Bush Administration for the cracks in the eminent domain laws....that nebulous..."land needed for the public good"...BS. So if Big Energy decides acres and acres of land or shorelines are for the "public good" without public consent, anything goes.

This is such typical Republican tripe, it's pathetic. They jab holes in any and every piece of legislation they vote on and all for Big Business. I was a NJ Republican. Not ever again...not with the bullies who push their weight around like Christie..(ooops...no pun intended).

ewent, you were NEVER a Republican. BTW The Supreme Court, which rendered the eminent domain ruling, is a separate branch of government and not part of the Bush Administration. Several states, including Texas, have passed laws that restrict eminent domain for corporations. You should less time hating on Bush and more time keeping up with current events.

Cynic how dare to say he wasn't a Republican he mite be one of Eisenhower Republican, then what they are know. To bad their isn't more people like him in your party.

McClendon and Pickens are both trying to buy American money with a promise of cheap American natural gas, whatever other costs that may entail.

Marvell comic - what in the world are you talking about - Chesapeake is a public ompany and investors make their decisions about how and where to invest. Over the years Chesapeake has been volatile but has rewarded long term invstors. The biggest reason their shares are well off their peak is that the rest of the industry has caught up with Chesapeake's shale gas expertise and competition has resulted in lower gas prices than expected. Gas prices are indeed cheap - so looks like the promise paid off for Americans as overall the shale gas boom is saving the public $2 + billion a year due to lower commodity prices. Why not do some research and understand the topic than quoting populist anti big business diatribe.

Yes, and McClendon played Chesapeake to the point that he had to sell all his share as founder of the country to cover his stock losses (that's what a margin call means). Then Chesapeake's board votes him a $100 million exploration bonus?

The only thing more dangerouss is out of control spending of Chinas money by obamma.

lee-936758

Wake up! All this BS about Obama this and Bush that is non sense from the ignorant.

They're just puppets of the corporations and banks. Dont waste your energy pointing fingers at one party or another because they're BOTH culpable in destroying the America our forefathers sacrificed so much to give to us.

Instead get angry at the banks, fed reserve and corporate army of lobbyists! THEY are the ones to blame for where we are today! Anything else are intentional distractions to divert blame.

lee...how about you man up? This president came into office with an empty treasury...Did Bush? You bet he didn't. This president had a huge global meltdown like hellhounds on his heels. Did Bush? Yes...but he dragged out the remediation of that problem because he knew he could dump it on the next guy....big time cowardice by Bush and his Repubicans.

Now, they figure they'll delay everything, hoping they'll get back on track in 2012. Think again oh Grand Ole Greedheads.

What we can do as Americans is hang tight. Because count on it all of this deliberate delaying sabotage by Republicans is going to cost them. There will be another crash as a result. You can't stand still when it's time to take action.

They had control of the House since 2010....where the hell are the jobs they promised? They created jobs alright...for Big Business CEOs no one else. They made sure the rich got theirs while they juiced the rest of us.

Everything comes full circle. The joke is that they blame THIS president for this economy. If a Republican manages to squeak into the White House in 2012, that president will get the full brunt of our anger not to mention blame....something Republicans are incapable of ever admitting or doing. Your posts prove that.

ewent

Their tax cuts for the last 10 years sure created plenty of jobs. Plenty of jobs in China!

Hey it's a better return than Made in America can you blame them?

Better have those legislators keep the loopholes open and keep the taxbreaks comin' even if we have to pay for them by turning the sick, poor and elderly out onto the streets to die.

Dangerous Mind...I had the wonderful experience of working in 2 Fortune 500 International companies in the 80's and 90's. Every day I was on the phone with clients in China, India, Thailand, Mexico, South America and Europe.

What these American CEO greedheads did to this country's economy is a sin. In those days, the economies of the foreign countries were just beginning to see light of day.

American CEOs used one excuse after another to downgrade US salaries and benefits by outsourcing, downsizing and finally offshoring to countries they contracted with for cheaper labor. Was it because the US was too expensive to do business in? If that was true, they wouldn't be selling their goods or services in this country.

So the foreign labor contracts continued so CEOs could enjoy bigger and bigger salaries and perks while taking full advantage of all of the tax credits and exemptions they should have had to pay but didn't. In effect, they helped build the economies of foreign nations while devastating their own country's.

But it's going to bite them in the ass if it hasn't begun to already. What I saw about those foreign clients is that they lived on far less and therefore, a dollar to them was like $100. Now, thanks to the increases in their salaries, they are demanding more. They can only get more by increasing the cost of the goods they produce for American corporations.

So, American corporations in effect shot themselves in the foot. Why? They already juiced us before their offshored on the prices of their goods and services. Now, in order to afford the increased costs of the foreign labor, they have to gouge prices on what we buy with numerous yearly price increases.

Now Americans of the Middle Class and working poor aren't stupid. We know no can of tuna is worth $20 a pop. So we just don't buy tuna. That's only one example.

Americans are doing the right thing. They are taking a page from the greedheads books...they hoard what they have because we know these lunatics of the greed world are on the verge of collapse. This time we have no choice but to let them. Our pockets are empty.

Yes one day it just may fall in.....

Never mind the fact that the hole is 8" wide and at least 5,000 feet deep......

Natural gas is not just a big "bubble" in the earths crust, that will collapse when the gas is extracted. It is accessed by fracturing (creating cracks) in a formation.

So, no there is no cause for concern about the earth suddenly collapsing to fill the void left by accessing fossil fuels form the ground.

Who said anything about collapsing? I read "instalbility". Can you guarantee that drilling won't damage the bedrock and possibly creat new fault lines/ earthquakes, etc? I can't understand why more people (except the rich) aren't willing to embrace alternatives such as wind and solar. Sure the initial investment may be costly, but in the long run, we would be better off all around. What would have been the worst case scenario in Japan if the power was wind and not nuclear- fallen turbines? Now which costs less?

MWD4Life....Not true...Fracking 5,000 feet into the earth's crust and no repercussions? No cracks that evolve from the drills? No vibrations that cause shifts in the bedrock?

No cause for concern...Keep repeating that when they start drilling 5 miles from your home and suddenly there's an earthquake fault line you weren't aware of that decides to swallow up you, your family and your home.

Any geologist would tell you that fracking is dangerous because you can't drill without some expectation of impact on the environment, particularly since it takes gallons and gallons of chemicals to do the extractions.

It's the same process as in extracting oil from the Canadian oil sands. Now, people in the surrounding areas of Alberta are finding years later that the chemicals created underground chemical plumes with each rainfall and their pristine waterways are growing more polluted.

When you use any kind of chemical as a means of extracting a natural resource, the pollution remains in the ground. Are do you think that water doesn't penetrate and spread those chemicals into plumes? Tell that to the people who once owned homes in Love Canal.

They won't tell us what's in the fracking solution because supposedly it's proprietary company information.

Right, or because it's poisonous and will give people cancer from drinking it.

Watch this guy actually light a faucet on fire and then tell me this is safe for us.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U01EK76Sy4A

Dangerous Mind...The fracking solutions are not really proprietary information. Not if it can be a danger to human life. Check the EPA website, particularly the citations that refer to water and emissions.

I visited one site in Alberta where they had oil/water separators. The manager of one site told me that extracting oil with the use of chemicals and water is hugely expensive. What I also saw there were massive areas of above ground excavations that seemed out of place in the pristine areas of northern Alberta.

We have a limited history of 70 years of fracking in this country. The "70 years in this country" is from T Boone Pickens. I say that it is a limited history because we have only heard the oil and gas side of the results. We do have an experience from shaft coal mining in Pennsylvania, however. Polluted water and escaping gases.

Do I believe that the earth's crust will crack or collapse, NO. But do I believe that well casings can crack, yes. Do I believe that overburden rock could be permeable or crack, yes. Do I believe that the very process itself can create pollution, yes.

Yet, this is advertised on television like a stunning NEW process. NEW technology. Why? Because Americans are conditioned to accept NEW AS BETTER than old. By calling this new technology, the industry is practicing a form of deceit, hiding what they are really doing. Now it seems that there is a potential deceit involving the capacity of these wells.

I can see it now, "I'm a little short of cash right now. But I'll sell you this well at a good price. See it produced real good last month (undisclosed that it had been capped for the last two years). The reports say it should be good for another 30 years (remember those Moodys' bond ratings). Like I said, It's a good well (like Shakespeare said: Methinks he doth protest too much.).

So lets just shut them down!

Increase unemployment to even higher than the %15 we are really at!

Then we will just let the EPA do their bidding and shut down coal plants. THe only houses with heat, running water and electricity will be those of politicians, and ubber rich.

Or we can quit complaining, and believing the crap spewing form uneducated mouths and actually research before head hunting......

The EPA, the Sierra Club and the Earth First wackos are the cause of much of the crappy economy, unemployment, rising costs of manufactured products and the loss of jobs to China. They need to be reigned in if we are every to be the economic power we once were.

BUT...what is happening to everything associated with this shale gas well situation is bad. Whole counties are being overrun.

notacommie...No...the environmentalists, EPA or Sierra ARE NOT to blame for the economy. Why is it golddiggers never take responsibility for their actions? Your post is proof of how far greedheads will go to blame everyone else for this economy. Meanwhile they swagger, sashay and count the money they stole from the working poor and Middle Class.

Listen pallie if the only way Big Business can earn a profit is through pollution the air, soil and water and endangering the lives of future generations, maybe Big Business has brains up their butts?

Too bad ewent and i liked ike weren't in the USSR in the 70s when those 5 Year Plans were so successful and their was no greed in Comradeland. Oops. The plans didn't work and the Russian economy tanked. I don't know where a place is where there is no Greed, but I wish they'd move there.

Cynic,

So how well has the last three years of unrestrained capitalism and theft come due treated you. To compare 1950's 5 year-plans (the Soviets had abandoned the idea in the 60's) to Federal regulation of polluters, bankers, and securities companies beggars any rational belief. Or do you subscribe the Greenspan's theory that ALL Bankers and Businessmen are going to act in the best interest of society and NOT IN THEIR OWN BEST INTEREST. Alan Greenspan was at least man enough to admit to Congress that he was wrong. They really could be lying cheating bastards in the mix.

None of what you said changes the fact that fracking - in all it's forms - devastates the land and water. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it. I'm saying that in the time that is afforded us by doing it, are we as a people, willing to change the way we consume? The new and wonderful ways you're touting, in which the gas companies are accessing the gas, won't end our need for energy, but the gas being produced sure will end. Are you going to use the time given to you to make the hard changes needed to take us into the next century. My guess is "NO". You'll keep using the way you always have, and you'll teach (or not teach) your children to do the same as you have. The only difference will be that your children and grandchildren will have a greater struggle than you had. A struggle to breathe, to buy healthy food, and clean drinking water; and a struggle to pay for that "wonderful, clean, abundant natural gas" as it's nearing depletion.

I for one, will use the time that fracking gives me to make some hard choices in my own little world. I'm going to invest my money in my own independence from those people who find it a pleasure to make money off of our needs and greeds. I'll try my best to be less of a burden on the rest of humanity, and a good ward for the next generations. I'll try to use less and give more. Will you MWD4LIFE?

Cbait...Most of us don't consume nearly a fraction of what those who get subsidies from the government do. That's the reason the economy is in the mess it's in. For decades now these greedheads paid less and less in federal taxes while tearing up the coastlines with their filthy black ooze and then digging and fracking their way into heavily residential areas all claiming they are doing US the favor. BS.

I don't believe that all of this drilling and digging is necessary and isn't the main source of profit for one single state's industry.

Why can't we know the details of Cheney's secret Energy meeting in 2001? What's so secret about it that the taxpayers/consumers can't know? That lack of total transparency for something we all pay for is why they can't be trusted.

Steven791...Strange coincidence the minute First Energy took over the power in PA and NJ...and I suspect surrounding states. For years our electric and natural gas bills were fairly stable. In comes Big Ass Texas First Energy and the very first year, thousands of us got bills for a single month that were in the thousands.

Oh sure they tried to pull that Texas BS routine. My bill for one month went from $50 to $7,000. When I proved they were lying, then they tried more Texas Big Oil BS...they tried to imply that those bills we all got were jacked because we had to pay for new remote meters.

I'd already paid 21 years before for an outdoor meter because no one is ever home to let the meter reader in. That cost was $175. I never got a rebate for that and no meter was EVER calibrated in over 2 decades. So in essence First Energy was so full of cow crappola that they knew they'd never get that $7,000. I threatened to sue if they tried.

So what did they do to get that $7,000 one way or the other? Jacked the cost of the heating every winter using one assinine excuse after another. So a high winter bill of $150 went to $400 a month. When people complained, they used yet another excuse..."our homes are old and need insulation." Except that many of the second and third owners already had replaced the insulation.

If this is lying by omission and bald faced lies, I can't imagine what you call it.

I have first energy.... fun and games.

We moved to NE Ohio from Springfield, MO that has city owned utilities. I pissed and moaned about the bills while living there of course. That was 10 years ago..

For the last 5 years we have been paying my Mother-in-laws utility bill in Springfield, that includes gas, electric, water and sewer. I have her set up on level billing.. it has ranged from a high of $210 a month down to $148. Currently it is $164.. my first energy bill averages around $175, plus $105 gas, and $35 for water/sewer. Both households are 2 adults with about the same square footage.

Makes me dream of the good old days when I lived with what our republican friends would call socialized utilities.

Steven ...go to the American Natural Gas website. There is NO reason for increased natural gas prices. It's greed and nothing more. One NJ natural gas company not under the boss First Energy even had to reduce it's natural gas bills because they simply couldn't justify the increases.

thanks for the information.... I will.

I suppose you blame the coal ash disaster on the Sierra Club too.

The high sulfur coal is exported overseas and US plants burn low sulfur coal. Coal plants in the US have the most advanced technical filters and scrubbers known to man installed at a very large expense. Do you folks want to double your heating/cooling bills? Do you folks want to live in 55 degree temperature inside your homes during the winters and no AC during the summer. All the while oil men con the Congress for subsidies to make even more wealth? The lawyer's stay busy suing. The coal ash levee broke and was unfortunate but was no more designed to happen than the flood in Minot or the tornadoes in Missouri or Alabama. The Sierra Club's lawyers could not have stopped it from happening.

Obviously billionaire oil barons need welfare handouts far more than the struggling and destitute. Energy subsidies cost far more. In more than one way.

Yank...My former employer worked as a mining engineer in VA and WVA mines. What's with the contortions of truth? Those Massey mine workers are dead aren't they? And Massey had over 500 safety violations. Now, those Massey cowards sold the mines so they won't be responsible for paying for those violations.

Who are you kidding? My grandparents didn't live in home that were 55 degrees and their homes didn't heat with old. Proper conservation in those days meant recycling and reusing....not this Disposable Generation of Greedheads who use it once and in the garbage it goes. Have people lost the ability to live in harmony with nature or is trying to control it all they are really after?

Nice try at hanging on to the Big Oil addiction though.

Warmongers of Texas.....So much for what you know....There have already been reports in non-Big Oil supporter media that those white petrochemical patches in Texas are growing.

I'll prove the stupidity of your theory. You drill for natural gas or oil and you need pressure to do it and chemicals as a oil/water separator. The same process used in a lot of solvent manufacturing facilities except that yours in underground.

If even a gallon of extraction chemicals escape in the process, it doesn't go downstream...it travels in underground plumes with each precipitation. It doesn't suddenly rise to the surface and to suit a Texan's needs just travel downstream.

There may be fools in your state who fall for all manner of Big Energy BS...most of the rest of us are educated enough to know that your state is killing acres and acres of land by those underground plumes that now are beginning to surface as white patches acres wide. White ground patches as anyone knows is the first sign of a very dangerous chemical that's begun to pollute not just the underground soil but it's rising to the top levels of soil.

You Texans are such blowhard braggarts you foolishly believe nature won't rat you out. Think again.

The number one reason Texas should invest in wind energy is the abundance of hot air.

good one-true too

LMAO

lol thanks!

No seriously they could make money. Vast open spaces with plenty of wind. Perfect for wind farms.

Too bad they love dead dinosaur juice (oil) so much.

Dangerous Mind

Alcoa in Iowa is going to start making parts for the WIND machines, whatever they are called. Obama is coming in.

Simulous money for that but I think Branstadt (R) is against it. Figures.

Dangerous - when we talk of scams wind is right at the top. WHiile there are a few plants taht produce the equipment - most of the equipment is produced in Europe and increasingly in China. Huge multinationals like GE and Vestas are the beneficiary of this highly subsidized industry. And when the wind "farms" (how quaint - you expect the famers from that American Gothic painting to be tending their crops) .. are built they are not located near population centers - but in remote locations where the wind blows. So a $ billion transmission line is required. And then even when they are connected they are available maybe 30% of the time. And "on peak" - so ay during the 5pm to 8pm high demand periods - they may not be blowing at all. In the BPA region they have found that super peak availability is as low as 4%. So since people still want power - you need to build a back stop power supply - either a gas fired plant or a diesel generator. That is why utilities LOVE wind - they get to add all this redundacy into their rate base and make twice as much as they otherwise would. And the wind is totally subsidzed so what is not to like. So big wind and utilities make out very well so you can feel green - and pay through the nose. The politcians love it - because no one questions being green - so they don't have any accountability for recommending a bad economic decision. So money for nothing and cheap tricks for the politicians who can show a few photo ops for the relatively few jobs created by the "green economy".

They have a lot of nerve reporting on the realities and negative sides of questionable industry practices. How dare they!

well Dangerous - the problem is that they are not reporting on the "realities" and negative sides - but pure speculation and quotes from unidentified sources - such as a "retired gelogist". Yup that is who I want to refer to when we are looking at a new technology that has advanced dramatically the past five years and reduced costs. How about some in depth analysis rather than quoting retirees and anecdotal evidence. Gas prices were $10 a few years ago - now with lower prices and supply still increasing they are $5. In addition to the "poor investors" who are supposedly being duped Exxon has invested $40 billion in XOM and Shell and Conoco huge sums to get in the shale business. If you think that the coal industry - which is what most of the gas will replace - or diesel transport trucks are beingn then you are just plain wrong. Natural gas is by far the best solution for large scale power generation and transport. Unless you have a plan for wind powered 18 wheelers!

Well written and as always, investor beware.

Chesapeake operating inc, has always been a very shady company. They are promoters and good sales people. They will make money on a dry hole or non-producer and then hang the investor out to dry. Play the stock market, your odds are better than playing shale gas.

WRONG - WRONG - WRONG ! ! !

'

Im an investor, and I bought 45,000 shares of FTK (Flotek Industries) at an average price of $1.18 per share

I sold 40,000 shares at $9.08 a month back.

Can anyone reading this say BINGO ! ! !

So, in closing, I don't care about Friking, Fraking, or even Frowking.... Nat Gas just gave me a $300,000 Bonus

THANK YOU NATURAL GAS, THANK YOU FLOTEK

Will...Your post belongs in the Journal of Narcissism. So what? You invested and earned $300,000. Guess what? You won't have it long. YOur bois on Wall Street love guys like you. They think they are hoarding their gold and then they need to pump that adrenalin a little more with their high risk investment gambles. That IS what your post describes.

You don't care about fracking because it hasn't cost you a dime. When one of your relatives ends up dying slowly of petrochemical cancer and you have to watch the process, how much will your $300,000 save you from that grief?

What's with the investment addicts these days? They'd sell their own mothers to the right investment manager.

NG is making a lot of people independently wealthy. If you take a ride through Bradford County Pa. you will see a lot of new pick up trucks with country boys wearing big smiles on their faces. The gas companies have done some damage to the roadways and other services but the people over all seem happy though they lost the "paradise they once had". The nights are now filled with the sounds of crews working on rigs and that sound of their labor means money in the "locals" pockets and plenty of cheap NG for the local markets in NYC and the surrounding areas.

Please don't worry about the oil and gas companies making money as they will not lose. NG is the wave of the future and many state government agencies are using vehicles powered by NG. It does have it's drawbacks but it is a lot cleaner than burning gasoline and a lot more convenient than recharging a Chevy Volt in the middle of the night.

RLAB (Royce Labs) I bought 35,000 shares @ $.4375 (43 cents) years back and sold it six months later (after they got the Generic approval of Piroxicam) for $8.75....

'

'THAT WAS A NET OF $308,750 after commissions.

I simply wait for a year or two, or more to make an investment in something with huge upside

Be ready their planting the seed for higher Nat. Gas prices. Expect your heating bill will go up 20-30% in the near future. The investors are not making money and in order to do so prices have to be higher.

Nukes...The real reason they are jacking prices is because Big Energy knows it's in it's final days. Too many people buying Smart Cars, hybrids and millions turning to solar, wind and hydrogen energy.

They know their best days of the Black Gold Rush are over. Texas' big worry is how it will cope with such a loss they've come to depend upon for over a century now. Think about it. If they are no longer the chief source of energy to the rest of the country, they have to start to confiscate and buy up the alternative energy companies. Or force them out of business. Anything to cop another round of profit campaigns.

My heating bills are already high. But here's news that Texas First Energy doesn't want anyone to spread around: The American Natural Gas Association has already reported that there is NO need for natural gas price increases. This was public in several of our NY area papers three times in the past year. The report is available at their website if anyone needs proof. The report also made the claim that natural gas is the cheapest form of energy because there is a huge supply of it. So all these new outcroppings of drilling is just Texas Energy trying to take over the energy in every state it can. That has to stop.

So...why is Texas First Energy extorting money from its customers?

Dear Jim.. Please go back to the dark ages with your dependence on oil thinking. Its that kind of mentality is why this country is dependent on countries on the other side of the world to function. Its that kinda mentality which has allowed global warming to take place. (i'm guna guess that you don't think global warming exists and wasn't attributed to carbon emissions from decades of burning fossil fuels..)

I dont care if we ever find new oil reserves. Why? Cause u cant run humanity on dead dinosaurs forever. Do u fancy continuing to promote global warming? Because as long as you think digging for more oil in America is the solution to our LONG TERM problem of oil dependence, then maybe you should go hand out vials of cocaine to crack addicts to solve their dependence problems.

From where I set the Sale plays are a poncey scheme. Will not matter anyway the Chinese are taking the money producing areas.

Jim Richards...If you weren't a Texan, you might have some measure of credibility. Those of us who have seen what Texas First Energy has done to our states are not happy and that's the reason we will stop our dependency on oil.

My grandparents born in the late 1800's were not dependent on oil. Neither were my great grandparents. So..how much more biased information do you want to spout to save Texas Big Oil? It's the state of Texas that created our oil dependency. It wasn't a fact of life until that first gusher was found in that state. Now, we're supposed to march to Sam Houston's tune?

If your post is designed to create the allusion of an oil addiction, you missed the mark.

Isn't it too bad so many Americans are not falling for that line of BS anymore?

Good luck on stopping your dependence on oil .....but that was not intended to be the main point of the article anyway. There is a lot of undiscovered oil outside of Texas that would help but we are not allowed to go after it. Maybe someday we will not need it but that will probably not happen in yours or my lifetime.

My production studies are showing that drilling in shale is good for the land owners,promoters and oil companies but may be a bad deal for guys supplying the money. It is felt money should be spent on prospects that will give the investor a bigger return even though there may be a risk.

Natural gas seems to be the future, and as long it is cheap, it will be good for all.

We can make fuels from coal, natural gas and biomass. We can make methane from coal and biomass. There are proven ways to provide energy that do not require all the speculation.

Remember the Germans had very little oil when fighting WW-II. If they had of had the oil they would have been harder to stop. China is setting up to be the next world dictator. They are bleeding this country while conserving their own resources. The worth less politicians are too dam busy fighting for power and blaming the other party to stop the take over over by the Chinese.

SJC...Interesting you should mention fuels from biomass. Today biofilters are used in various types of manufacturing and industrial processes. What they learned from the use of media type biomass is how easy it is to innoculate it with microorganisms that break down the pollutants in air streams and then the biomass media is reused as a type of mulch.

This then began R&D on the use of recycled biomass used for fuel similar to the old Irish use of peat briquettes.

Fuel in the future will be far more advanced. That's why you can be certain fossil fuels will go the way of the Model T.

A very large amount of natural gas is "flared" or vented during the production of oil wells, we need to utilize what we have. We have a huge overburden of natural gas in this country.

You seem to be forgetting, underground there isn't just solid, individual areas that are completely sealed off from each other. It's a catacomb of many interweaved things... Lots of areas in Pennsylvania have subsidence issues because that's what they thought with respect to the land above when mining.

My question is, a lot of these areas are long-dormant faultlines.. Wonder how much fracking they would have to do to awaken one of them again.

oi812...If alternative energy is such a money loser why is NJ, CA and several other states enjoying the first signs of new jobs? Your post proves the desperation the Drill Baby Drill crowd will go to just to insure they have jobs in Big Oil.

Sorry, not fooled by your post. Alternative energy is here to stay. Or, as the owner of our office building has said when he converted from Oil to Solar..."It's here to stay and saving me millions".

Time for you to leave the state of Texas and find out what other states are doing to stop Texas from taking over the rest of the states...speaking of takeovers and oil power.

on a pure economic basis alternative energy is a huge loser. They only exist through subsidies and could not compete head on without them. The logic is that the "social cost" - of fossil fuels justifies the subsidies. So local pollution and the effects of CO2 on global warming fall into this category. What is problematic is that the frenzy to approve renewables means that these social costs are being subjectively assessed as virtually infinite - so that the subsidization of renewables is whatever it takes to meet our renewables targets - that have also been subjectively arrived at 20% to 30%). So the owner of your office is buying power in effect paid by other ratepayers - he is not saving because the cost of the power is inherently cheaper. Many jurisdications also allow a feed in tariff for renewables - so that they get paid 50 cents/kw/hr. Or $500 a megawatt hour. On a variable cost basis a modern gas fired plant using $5 gas would be able to sell for $35 to $40 megawatt hour. So taxpayers are covering the difference for the general good. Whether that is a good investment depends on your view of the risks of climate change. But I is simply not the case that these are cheap sources of power. Solar (at best 40% available average) and wind (typically 30% at best availability).

A limited number of "green jobs" have indeed been created - but relatively few - Eurpoe and China are the big equipment supplirs. Locating jobs is a precondition for many renewables projects - as it should be. But California is in the process of building tens of $ billions of renewables projects - so a few jobs are justified. But they are expensive jobs given the cost.

That was ONE CASE in BILLIONS in which Halliburton (of all people) did a shoddy cement job that allowed natural gas to climb up the backside of the casing and infiltrate the well.

But if this article is right the gas will just go away sooner than expected ;).

with less regulations how often do you think it would happen?

That away Mike. I do remember when you were our hydrofracturing "Guru" and how well the process worked.And yes the enviromen twas always protected. In todays world I have to believe the "fracking" is even more safe especially whe performed by competent energy companies.

John Meindl...You are already paying for half the cost of the Valdez spill and if BP manages it and Republicans can dump the Gulf Spill on you, you can add that to the taxpayer burden. So now, those oh so "competent" oil and natural gas companies will add the damages from fracking you'll end up paying for as well. That be okay with you?

Don't ask why taxpayers are tapped out. If those who do the damage paid for it as responsible business owners and stopped BSing taxpayers and paying millions in lobbying so they can get away with their skankage, the economy would be rosy.

One case in billions?

I'm calling you out. You're full of crap. There aren't even a billion oil wells on the Earth, pal.

The reason Oreo doesn't give you the recipe to the "white stuff" in the middle of the cookie is why????

Or McDonalds doesn't give the secret to the "special sauce" on the Big Mac is why????

Those chemicals comprise a whopping 2% of the fracing process, and are a patented blend, so therefore to disclose of the "recipe" would be against the whole purpose of the patent now wouldn't it?

Because it's the secret formula for Cocoa Cola?

The hilarious part in your examples is that all 3 will make you sick.

Maybe they get the "special sauce" on Big Macs from fracking runoff.