The last decade has seen a sustained campaign by the hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking”) industry against its critics, as the fracking industry in the U.S. alone was worth an estimated $76 billion in 2010 and is projected to grow to $231 billion in 2036 if only those pesky environmentalists can be sidelined. According to Washington’s energy Information Administration, production of shale gas in the United States in 2010 totalled 4.87 trillion cubic feet (tcf) compared with 0.39 tcf only a decade earlier.
The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has already transformed North America’s natural gas market in less than half a decade. In 2000 shale gas was 1 percent of America’s gas supplies; today it is 25 percent. While U.S. energy companies began fracking for gas in the late 1990s, there was a dramatic increase in 2005 after the administration of President George W. Bush exempted fracking from regulations under the U.S. Clean Water Act. According to Washington’s energy Information Agency, shale gas production has grown 48 percent annually.
But there still some snakes to be chased from the industry’s campaign to convince the electorate that natgas produced by fracking is safe, as on 8 December the Environmental Protection Agency said for the first time it found chemicals used in fracking in a drinking-water aquifer in west-central Wyoming.

By: Elaine Hirsh, Guest Post
Christmas trees impact the environment, but the consensus of both environmental groups and industry organizations seems to be that the growing and cutting of Christmas trees has more benefits than disadvantages, particularly in comparison to artificial trees. While research conducted masters degree candidates in environmental studies rarely look at this topic, it is worthy of further research given the scope of Christmas shopping that occurs every year around the world.
According to the sustainable development firm Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the externalities from using a natural Christmas tree produces 3.1 kilograms of greenhouse gases, while the externalities from using an artificial tree generates 8.1 kilograms per year. The LCA study, reviewed by an independent third party, took into account a number of environmental impacts from production of the trees to their disposal. The 350 to 450 million Christmas trees grown each year in the United States also emit oxygen into the atmosphere and store carbon.