Fracking

Still companies looking at fracking in southern Illinois so would like to point out that, prior to fracking starting in the state, Oklahoma averaged 1-2 earthquakes of 3.0 or greater magnitude per year. Not bad.

In 2016, years after fracking started, Oklahoma had 623 earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or greater. Given that Southern Illinois has the New Madrid Seismic Zone directly south and the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone directly east, is it really that good of an idea to do something that will cause over 500 noticeable earthquakes per year right between two seismic zones?

Southern Illinois Fracking

Illinois Issues and the Southern took a look at the failed promise of fracking in southern Illinois. The permit process got up and running about the same time as the price of oil collaped

Anti-Fracking Film

 Received this email about a film showing tonight in Morris Library:

The Shawnee Sentinels and the Buckminster Fuller Future Organization will present "Land of Opportunity," an independently produced documentary on fracking for natural gas in Arkansas’ Fayetteville shale, will be shown for FREE at 7 p.m. tonight, Thursday, November 13 in Guyon Auditorium of Morris Library on the SIU Carbondale campus.

This film is highly relevant to the people of Southern Illinois as it focuses on the earthquake swarms that have been linked to gas exploration through high-pressure injection of liquid and wastewater disposal. The film also will discuss water contamination, property rights and conflicts of interest.

The film is the work of ArkansasFracking.org and Emily Lane, who will join us immediately following the film via Google Chat for a Question & Answer session. Emily writes: “Arkansas has historically promoted short-term economic gain over economic and environmental sustainability. We live under the boom and bust mentality, and consequently we have seen some profit while others suffer. Residents across the state are increasingly battling against the negative impacts of misguided ‘opportunity.’ We can do better.”

“Land of Opportunity” very much lays bare the future that Southern Illinois could be facing. The Fayetteville Shale sits in North Central Arkansas. It is home to 200,000 people, countless cattle farms and pristine, interwoven waterways, some of which supply their drinking water or irrigate their food. The Fayetteville Shale is also home to 4,500 natural gas wells, which are produced using the unconventional process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.


This documentary highlights the link between the fracking process and the Guy/Greenbrier Earthquake Swarm, a rash of 1300+ tremors in Northern Faulkner County that began in late 2010 and culminated in a 4.7 magnitude earthquake in February of 2011. The film explains what triggered the earthquakes, how state officials handled the situation, and what they knew from the beginning.

Fracking Speed Up Dead

Apparently Rep. John Bradley's proposals for speeding up the process in southern Illinois and putting moratoriums in place for central and Norther Illinois failed to win support from the business community. Not so much that business doesn't want the process sped up but representatives objected to the moratorium

Fracking

Apparently Rep. John Bradley is in a rush to get fracking going in southern Illinois, though it is interesting that he wants to put a moratorium on using the technology in northern and central Illinois.

It looks as if Bradley received just shy of $78,000 in campaign contributions from the energy industry during his 2012 campaign. Looks like a good chunk of that money was spent on hotel stays in Chicago and St. Louis, as well as jewelry and gifts. Lucky for Rep. Bradley that rules on the spending of campaign contributions at the state level are much more flexible that at the federal, since Jesse Jackson Jr. got sent to prison for similar spending.

Fracking in Southern Illinois

Apparently the state is slowly moving ahead with proposals to start fracking for shale oil in southern Illinois. This part of the proposal is what caught my eye:

To address concerns that the drilling should bring jobs to Illinois, the proposal now includes a “local workforce tax rate reduction” incentive, said state Reps. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, and Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.
Drilling operators, who will pay Illinois a tax on the amount of oil or gas produced, will be able to reduce what they pay if at least 50 percent “of the workforce hours on the well site are performed by Illinois construction workers being paid wages equal to or exceeding the general prevailing rate.”

In general, any time companies get a tax refund or reduction for the purpose of creating jobs, it is an act of faith that cutting or reducing taxes will create more jobs.  I haven't seen a great increase in jobs since the SIUC Stadium and Arena were rebuild and remodeled.  The state of Maine is looking into what, if any, benefit in terms of jobs come from tax reductions as it hasn't seen them either.