The Stream, December 1: Australia’s Coal-seam Gas Development

Australia’s fast-growing coal-seam gas industry is a “relatively short-term prospect” and may not be worth the cost to farmland and the environment, a according to an interim report for the Senate Inquiry into the impacts of coal seam gas in the Murray-Darling Basin, The Australian reported. The study recommends that coal-seam gas development be suspended in areas tapping the Great Artesian Basin in Queensland and New South Wales because of the risk to underground aquifers.

In this podcast by ABC Radio National, the CEO of Santos — the company with the largest number of coal seam gas permits in New South Wales — reacts to the parliamentary report’s findings and recommendations.

After 25 years, sustainability is a growing science that’s here to stay, according to research from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Indiana University.

The New Yorker’s Elizabeth Kolbert writes about America’s burning love of hydrocarbons. Here she answers readers’ questions about hydraulic fracturing.

China will double the surcharge on power sales to subsidize renewable power generation, the National Development and Reform Commission said, according to Reuters.

Chicago became the last U.S. city to treat all its sewage water, according to Grist.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.