Entries by Circle of Blue

Epilogue from Steve Solomon’s Water The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization

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The close of economic journalist Steven Solomon’s book is a reflection on the new meaning of water given today’s scarcity crisis. Solomon connects freshwater’s past and present to paint a future, and potentially very unstable picture of human civilization. By redefining facets of this precious resource, however, he presents the foundation of finding global solutions.

Drilling Wastewater Disposal Options in N.Y. Report Have Problems of Their Own

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By Joaquin Sapien and Sabrina Shankman ProPublica A version of this story is being published by the Albany Times-Union. Environmentalists, state regulators and even energy companies agree that the problem most likely to slow natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale in New York is safely disposing of the billions of gallons of contaminated wastewater […]

In New Gas Wells, More Drilling Chemicals Remain Underground

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By Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica This story was co-published with Politico.   For more than a decade the energy industry has steadfastly argued before courts, Congress and the public that the federal law protecting drinking water should not be applied to hydraulic fracturing, the industrial process that is essential to extracting the nation’s vast natural gas […]

Analysis: Obama Takes Copenhagen Stage While Palin Sits on Thinning Ice

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Steve Solomon, author of the forthcoming WATER: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization, pens a guest editorial for Circle of Blue that examines water’s integral role as a planetary climate regulator.

Video: Copenhagen – Taking the Risk to Define a Zero Carbon, Clean Energy Future

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Copenhagen, host of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, claims to be one of the world’s greenest cities. It has extensive public transportation, a strong bicycle culture and plans to be carbon neutral by 2025 through progressive blueprints that reduce carbon emissions 20 percent by 2015 compared to 2005.

Underused Drilling Practices Could Avoid Pollution

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By Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica Versions of this story were published in the Albany Times Union and the Times Herald-Record. As environmental concerns threaten to derail natural gas drilling projects across the country, the energy industry has developed innovative ways to make it easier to exploit the nation’s reserves without polluting air and drinking water. Energy […]

Video: Behind the Scenes with Greenpeace in Copenhagen

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December 12 marked a global day of action where tens of thousands of activists raised their voices to the ears of negotiators who are in the midst of climate talks. Circle of Blue goes behind the scenes of Greenpeace’s preparations for the massive rally that claimed the streets of Copenhagen Saturday.

Video: The World in a Giant Globe in Copenhagen

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With a screen size over fifteen times bigger than the largest IMAX screens, the 20 meter media globe in Copenhagen City Hall square during COP15 is an impressive and effective way to broadcast climate related information.

Pennsylvania Residents Sue Gas Driller for Contamination, Health Concerns

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By Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica Pennsylvania residents whose streams and fields have been damaged by toxic spills and whose drinking water has allegedly been contaminated by drilling for natural gas are suing the Houston-based energy company that drilled the wells. A worker at the company is among the 15 families bringing suit. The civil case, filed […]