The Stream, April 18: The Water Factor

Environmental groups are up in arms over the State Department’s updated environmental analysis of a proposed oil pipeline project from Alberta, Canada, to Texas. The study drew similar conclusions to a draft environmental impact statement issued by the State Department last year, which said that the controversial project “would result in limited adverse environmental impacts during both construction and operation.”

Meanwhile, Suncor Energy Inc was fined $286,000 after pleading guilty to charges that it had failed to manage storm water at a tar sands construction site, which in 2008 spilled water and dirt into the Athabasca River.

Fracking
Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic chemicals into shale rock formations in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats, The New York Times reports.

Will China regulate the shale gas industry better? Bloomberg reports that China may start shale gas production by 2015 to meet the rising demand for cleaner-burning fuels. The article does not mention hydraulic fracking’s doubtful green credentials and enormous risk to water resources.

Biofuels
Sugarcane grown for biofuels can shorten Brazil’s carbon payback time, according to research by the Carnegie Institution for Science. However, the method does not address questions of waning biodiversity or possible water scarcity, and cannot be replicated across the country without irrigation, Reuters reports.

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