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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/fracking/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2026 21:26:23 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Fracking</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/fracking/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Colombia’s new government backs fracking as debate over energy future heats up</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/colombias-new-government-backs-fracking-as-debate-over-energy-future-heats-up/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/colombias-new-government-backs-fracking-as-debate-over-energy-future-heats-up/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Oct 2026 10:46:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Catherine Ellis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/07103518/Residents-in-the-Medio-Magdalena-region-protest-against-proposed-fracking-CREDIT-Alianza-Colombia-Libre-de-Fracking-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331720</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Energy, Energy Security, Energy Transition, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Natural Resources, Politics, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO WILCHES, Santander &#8211; On the banks of Colombia’s largest river, the town and the wider municipality of Puerto Wilches sit amid a maze of wetlands and floodplain lakes in the Middle Magdalena Valley. Residents spend weekends at riverside swimming spots known as balnearios and nearby waterfalls, while local fishermen still cast their nets each [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO WILCHES, Santander &#8211; On the banks of Colombia’s largest river, the town and the wider municipality of Puerto Wilches sit amid a maze of wetlands and floodplain lakes in the Middle Magdalena Valley. Residents spend weekends at riverside swimming spots known as balnearios and nearby waterfalls, while local fishermen still cast their nets each morning. Since about 2018, however, the municipality has been a focal point in Colombia’s debate over how to balance energy security, environmental concerns, and the transition away from fossil fuels. In 2021, Puerto Wilches was chosen for two pilot projects to test whether fracking, a method of extracting oil and gas trapped in shale rock, could be done commercially in Colombia, targeting shale formations beneath the region. Then-President Gustavo Petro later halted the projects, arguing that Colombia should move away from fossil fuels rather than expand oil and gas production. But that policy could soon be reversed under the new government of right-wing populist Abelardo de la Espriella, who during his campaign pledged to &#8220;fully open the door to fracking.&#8221; De la Espriella and other fracking supporters say the practice could help shore up Colombia&#8217;s gas supplies. According to the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), the country’s proven gas reserves will only last another 5.9 years at the current production rate and with no new discoveries. Critics, however, warn that fracking could expose communities and ecosystems to environmental risks while also deepening Colombia&#8217;s reliance on fossil fuels, just as the country has been accelerating its clean&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/colombias-new-government-backs-fracking-as-debate-over-energy-future-heats-up/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/colombias-new-government-backs-fracking-as-debate-over-energy-future-heats-up/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331720</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Courage &#038; calm despite attacks: Q&#038;A with Colombian activist Yuly Velásquez</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/courage-calm-despite-attacks-qa-with-colombian-activist-yuly-velasquez/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/courage-calm-despite-attacks-qa-with-colombian-activist-yuly-velasquez/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jan 2024 16:33:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/19123655/Yuly-Velasquez-e1705681674335-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277849</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Fracking, Freshwater, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Oil, Pollution, Resource Conflict, Rivers, Violence, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Yuly Velásquez grew up on the banks of the Magdalena River near the Colombian city of Barrancabermeja, an area surrounded by a large network of swamps, lagoons and tropical forests. These wetlands are home to a host of migratory fish species, such as the bocachico (Prochilodus magdalenae) and dorada (Brycon moorei), which riverside communities depend [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Yuly Velásquez grew up on the banks of the Magdalena River near the Colombian city of Barrancabermeja, an area surrounded by a large network of swamps, lagoons and tropical forests. These wetlands are home to a host of migratory fish species, such as the bocachico (Prochilodus magdalenae) and dorada (Brycon moorei), which riverside communities depend on for their livelihoods. But in recent decades, the fish have become increasingly scarce as the city’s lucrative oil industry and a nearby landfill discharge oil and toxic waste into water bodies. The country’s largest oil refinery, owned by the national oil company Ecopetrol, is located in Barrancabermeja and contributes to 70% of the local economy, according to the latest estimates. It refines everything from gasoline to propane, and the industrial complex also hosts a large petrochemical plant to produce products derived from petrol, such as plastic. But although the refinery is a pillar in the local economy, researchers and locals say inadequate management and illegal discharge is impacting the health of residents and the livelihoods of fishers. As a fisher and president of an environmental organization that focuses on protecting the region’s wetlands and waterways, Velásquez has faced violent threats and attacks, including three assassination attempts by unidentified aggressors. Despite efforts by her organization, FEDEPESAN (the Federation of Artisanal, Environmental and Tourist Fishermen of the Department of Santander), to monitor and report pollution and corruption in the region, Velásquez says a lot of their complaints have been ignored. Instead, attacks suffered by environmental defenders&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/courage-calm-despite-attacks-qa-with-colombian-activist-yuly-velasquez/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/courage-calm-despite-attacks-qa-with-colombian-activist-yuly-velasquez/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277849</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plastics set to overtake coal plants on U.S. carbon emissions, new study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/plastics-set-to-overtake-coal-plants-on-ghg-emissions-new-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/plastics-set-to-overtake-coal-plants-on-ghg-emissions-new-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Oct 2021 18:54:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/10/22183826/51256359470_3c7e024d96_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248458</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Climate, Climate Change, Coal, Conservation, Environment, Fracking, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, Methane, Microplastics, Natural Gas, Plastic, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastics will outpace coal plants in the U.S. by 2030 in terms of their contributions to climate change, according to a new report released Oct. 21 by Beyond Plastics, a project at Bennington College in Vermont. Yet policymakers and businesses are not currently accounting for the plastics industry’s full impact on climate change, allowing the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastics will outpace coal plants in the U.S. by 2030 in terms of their contributions to climate change, according to a new report released Oct. 21 by Beyond Plastics, a project at Bennington College in Vermont. Yet policymakers and businesses are not currently accounting for the plastics industry’s full impact on climate change, allowing the industry to essentially fly “under the radar, with little public scrutiny and even less government accountability,” the report says. Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says the report was intentionally released in the lead-up to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, when world leaders will gather to discuss strategies for tackling climate change. “There’s a little discussion on waste, but not much,” Enck told Mongabay in a video interview. “But plastics’ contribution to climate change is not on the agenda.” The report, “New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change,” draws on public and private data sources to analyze 10 stages of plastic production in the U.S., including gas acquisition, transportation, manufacturing and disposal. It found that the U.S. plastics industry alone is presently responsible for at least 232 million metric tons of greenhouse gases every year, the equivalent of about 116.5 gigawatts in coal plants. But this number is expected to rise as dozens of plastics facilities are currently under construction across the country, mainly in Texas and Louisiana, according to the report. “What’s quietly been happening under the radar is the petrochemical industry&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/plastics-set-to-overtake-coal-plants-on-ghg-emissions-new-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/plastics-set-to-overtake-coal-plants-on-ghg-emissions-new-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248458</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Carving up my country’: Land clearing reignites fracking debate in Western Australia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/carving-up-my-country-land-clearing-reignites-fracking-debate-in-western-australia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/carving-up-my-country-land-clearing-reignites-fracking-debate-in-western-australia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2021 19:36:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/25081219/Micklo-Corpus_Nick-Rodway_2021-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246311</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Energy, Environment, Fracking, Grasslands, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Protests, Savannas, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BROOME, Australia — A cool breeze blows through the savanna country east of Broome, a small town on the far north coast of Western Australia, Australia&#8217;s largest state. This time of year is known as Barrgana by the Yawuru, a First Nations people whose ancestral lands lie here in the Kimberley region. Encompassing an area the size of California with a total population of just [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BROOME, Australia — A cool breeze blows through the savanna country east of Broome, a small town on the far north coast of Western Australia, Australia&#8217;s largest state. This time of year is known as Barrgana by the Yawuru, a First Nations people whose ancestral lands lie here in the Kimberley region. Encompassing an area the size of California with a total population of just 40,000, the Kimberley is internationally renowned for its largely intact natural landscapes and for being home to the oldest continuous culture in the world. However, times are changing. Among the jigal (Bauhinia cunninghamii) and lirrirnggin or soap wattle (Acacia colei) trees, lines of cleared ground crisscross the landscape in an unworldly pattern. These tracks have been formed by exploration crews as they search for oil and gas reserves through seismic testing, a process linked to hydraulic fracturing — more commonly known as &#8220;fracking&#8221; — an unconventional mining process that involves injecting a high-pressure fluid of sand, water and chemicals into a drilled well to crack the rock and free natural gas from deep underground. “Mining companies can come in here and carve up my country, and I can’t access it. The damage done to it lasts for years,&#8221; said Micklo Corpus, a member of the Yawuru who is recognized as a “Traditional Owner” under Australian law. As such, he, and other members of the community, have certain rights to land and waters, as well as a responsibility to protect, promote and sustain them. Corpus has for years protested against fracking and said he’s worried about the ongoing effects of clearing. &#8220;People are always&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/carving-up-my-country-land-clearing-reignites-fracking-debate-in-western-australia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/carving-up-my-country-land-clearing-reignites-fracking-debate-in-western-australia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246311</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Growing concern over Okavango oil exploration as community alleges shutout</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/growing-concern-over-okavango-oil-exploration-as-community-alleges-shutout/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/growing-concern-over-okavango-oil-exploration-as-community-alleges-shutout/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Mar 2021 15:48:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jim Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/03/22154018/OkavangoRiver2_RunduNambia_PatrikMLoeffFlickr.jpg-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=240794</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fracking, Oil, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica), a Canadian oil and gas company, has begun public consultations for the second phase of its controversial exploration activities in northeastern Namibia. Critics have raised concerns about the process, with questions over the limited size of the consultations, overly complicated presentations, and a lack of opportunity for stakeholder engagement. “The company [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica), a Canadian oil and gas company, has begun public consultations for the second phase of its controversial exploration activities in northeastern Namibia. Critics have raised concerns about the process, with questions over the limited size of the consultations, overly complicated presentations, and a lack of opportunity for stakeholder engagement. “The company doing the exploration, ReconAfrica, is not an honest and reliable entity in our view,” said Chris Brown, CEO of the Namibian Chamber of Environment and former head of the Namibian Directorate of Environmental Affairs. “They have done all they can to avoid public meetings with technical people in Namibia and they needed to be bullied into holding meetings in Windhoek.” ReconAfrica holds a license to explore a 25,000-square-kilometer (9,650-square-mile) area of northeastern Namibia. Stakeholder engagement sessions for the initial exploration phase, drilling of two test wells to the south of Rundu, took place in March and May 2019 and November 2020. These public consultations were similarly criticized, in particular because they were advertised primarily in English-language newspapers that few in the affected communities could read. According to a National Geographic report, ReconAfrica’s September 2020 press release stating the drilling would go ahead was the first time many in the area had heard about it. The company began drilling the first of two test wells on Jan. 11, 2021, to establish the area&#8217;s potential for oil production. Drilling is now paused due to a broken drill bit at a depth of 300 meters (980 feet). The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/growing-concern-over-okavango-oil-exploration-as-community-alleges-shutout/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/growing-concern-over-okavango-oil-exploration-as-community-alleges-shutout/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-240794</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Alarm as exploratory drilling for oil begins in northern Namibia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/alarm-as-exploratory-drilling-for-oil-begins-in-northern-namibia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/alarm-as-exploratory-drilling-for-oil-begins-in-northern-namibia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2020 09:47:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jim Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/28091815/MaintainingFishTrap_MashareNambia_Mp3iefFlickrBYNCSA2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238332</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fracking, Oil, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On December 21, Reconnaissance Energy Africa (Recon Africa) announced that it had begun exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the Namibian portion of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). The move has alarmed environmental campaigners and community groups who are concerned about the impact this could have on the region’s watercourses, people and wildlife. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On December 21, Reconnaissance Energy Africa (Recon Africa) announced that it had begun exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the Namibian portion of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). The move has alarmed environmental campaigners and community groups who are concerned about the impact this could have on the region’s watercourses, people and wildlife. Recon Africa is the holder of a licence to explore a 2.5 million hectare area (6.3-million-acres) of northeastern Namibia, granted to a predecessor company in January 2015. The majority of the area covered by Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 73 sits in the KAZA, a conservation initiative covering 520,000 square kilometres (201,000 square miles) of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The company also has a licence to prospect for oil in another section of KAZA, 1 million hectare area (2.5 million acres) of northwestern Botswana, where it hopes to begin drilling in 2021. Map courtesy Recon Africa Concerns The KAZA conservation area is home to the largest remaining population of African elephants and is one of the last remaining strongholds of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). Recon Africa&#8217;s exploration areas in both Botswana and Namibia fall largely within the Okavango River Basin which flows into the richly-biodiverse Okavango Delta — a UNESCO World Heritage site. Conservationists are particularly concerned by the potential impact drilling for oil and gas here could have on the interconnected watercourses of the river basin. “There is a serious lack of knowledge on groundwater resources in the target oil and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/alarm-as-exploratory-drilling-for-oil-begins-in-northern-namibia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/alarm-as-exploratory-drilling-for-oil-begins-in-northern-namibia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238332</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fracking effort closes in on impoverished Colombian communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/fracking-effort-closes-in-on-impoverished-colombian-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/fracking-effort-closes-in-on-impoverished-colombian-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2020 06:04:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mauricio OchoaSemana Sostenible]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/07054503/Protesta-de-habitantes-de-San-Marti%CC%81n-Cesar-contra-el-fracking-Foto-Mauricio-Ochoa-Sua%CC%81rez-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229966</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Fracking, Oil, Palm Oil, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[*This article is a collaboration between Semana Sostenible of Colombia and Mongabay Latam. Sofía and Nicole, two young girls from the Colombian village of Terraplén, sing at the top of their lungs: “We are happy! We are happy!” They jump barefoot between their home’s dirt floor and the planks of wood that line their front [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[*This article is a collaboration between Semana Sostenible of Colombia and Mongabay Latam. Sofía and Nicole, two young girls from the Colombian village of Terraplén, sing at the top of their lungs: “We are happy! We are happy!” They jump barefoot between their home’s dirt floor and the planks of wood that line their front yard. Their innocent joy contrasts with the sadness of their surroundings. Terraplén does not have potable water service, reliable restrooms, paved roads, sports venues or a medical clinic. In the village, located in the municipality of Puerto Wilches in the department of Santander, all the houses seem to be identical: a zinc roof, wooden walls and a dirt floor. Only the school is different because it was built by the community using brick and cement. “It is a place where children escape reality,” Liliana Palomino, the only teacher in town, said of the school. She said the smiles of her 11 students and the appreciation she receives from the community feel like the best rewards for Palomino. She has been fighting for several months for their school to be legally recognized by local and departmental government agencies, which hasn’t happened yet because it’s in a “red zone” where paramilitary or guerrilla groups operate. At the same time, fracking researchers plan to conduct pilot projects very close to Terraplén. The same is true elsewhere within the municipality of San Martín, already well known for its constant anti-fracking protests. The oil industry has operated in close proximity&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/fracking-effort-closes-in-on-impoverished-colombian-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229966</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In a Colombian wetland, oil woes deepen with the arrival of fracking</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/in-a-colombian-wetland-oil-woes-deepen-with-the-arrival-of-fracking/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/in-a-colombian-wetland-oil-woes-deepen-with-the-arrival-of-fracking/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2020 06:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mauricio OchoaSemana Sostenible]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/15055500/Monumento-Cristo-Petrolero-en-la-Cie%CC%81naga-de-Miramar-Barrancabermeja-Foto-Pilar-Meji%CC%81a-Semana-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229061</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fishing, Fracking, Oil, Pollinators, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is a journalistic collaboration between Semana Sostenible of Colombia and Mongabay Latam. Eugenio Chacón scans the colorful branches of the trees with his strong, sharp gaze. The 58-year-old fisherman knows for sure that at some point along the way they will appear. Suddenly he raises his right hand and waves it up and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is a journalistic collaboration between Semana Sostenible of Colombia and Mongabay Latam. Eugenio Chacón scans the colorful branches of the trees with his strong, sharp gaze. The 58-year-old fisherman knows for sure that at some point along the way they will appear. Suddenly he raises his right hand and waves it up and down. Cristo Carrascal, his traveling companion, quickly turns off the engine while Chacón stands up and begins to guide the boat toward the shore with a long wooden pole. &#8220;They are there,” he said. “Can you see them?&#8221; “They” are two small white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) moving between the tops of two bushes. With the same emotion, Chacón points out the great variety of birds soaring across the skies of the Llanito wetlands, located in the Colombian city of Barrancabermeja. But Chacón’s enthusiasm fades as he approaches the shore. As he disembarks, after more than an hour&#8217;s journey through the murky waters of the wetlands, he says that sedimentation and pollution are destroying this strategic ecosystem. A century of oil extraction &nbsp; Jairo Puentes, a chemical engineer and oil specialist, says the wetlands act as natural water filters, regulating local temperatures and providing habitat for animal species, which, in turn, help keep the ecosystem in balance. Waterfowl in the Llanito wetlands. Image by Pilar Mejía/Semana. “Llanito is a reservoir without a flowing current which depends on the Sogamoso River [main tributary] to renew its water and redistribute waste products,” he says. “In addition, it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/in-a-colombian-wetland-oil-woes-deepen-with-the-arrival-of-fracking/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229061</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fracking threatens Aboriginal land rights in Western Australia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/fracking-threatens-aboriginal-land-rights-in-western-australia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/fracking-threatens-aboriginal-land-rights-in-western-australia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Nov 2018 11:06:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Grace DungeyNick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/11/21104600/GDungeyNRodway_AusFrack_6_Banner-768x498.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=212492</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Development, Environment, Forests, Fracking, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, and Natural Gas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[CSK2018]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The colors of northwestern Australia are profound. In the build-up to the wet season, the deep shades of bloodwood trees (Corymbia spp.) and red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii) take on an extra vibrancy. This place is called Yulleroo by the Yawuru people, whose ancestral lands lie in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, Australia’s largest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The colors of northwestern Australia are profound. In the build-up to the wet season, the deep shades of bloodwood trees (Corymbia spp.) and red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii) take on an extra vibrancy. This place is called Yulleroo by the Yawuru people, whose ancestral lands lie in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, Australia’s largest state. Micklo Corpus, a Yawuru man and Traditional Owner of this country, walks through the bush until the tussocks of spinifex grass (Triodia spp.) give way to a wire gate. Behind it lies a hydrofracturing well belonging to the Australian mining company Buru Energy. The process of hydrofracturing, or fracking, involves injecting a high-pressure fluid of sand, water and chemicals into a drilled well to free natural gas from rocks deep underground. Having lived on these lands for generations, the Yawuru people are recognized as Traditional Owners under Australian law. As such, the people have certain rights to their land and waters, as well as a responsibility to protect, promote and sustain them. “As custodians, we were put on Earth in this form to look after the land,” Corpus says. “Our people have cared for [our] country for thousands of years, and fracking is a risk to our environment, to our water.” He shakes his head. “The issue is, they won’t listen to our concerns.” Micklo Corpus, a Yawuru Traditional Owner. Fracking wells have been installed on Yawuru land. Image by Nick Rodway for Mongabay. The Kimberley, roughly the same size as California, encompasses the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/fracking-threatens-aboriginal-land-rights-in-western-australia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/fracking-threatens-aboriginal-land-rights-in-western-australia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-212492</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Latam Eco Review:  Industrial fishing in the Galapagos, fracking Colombian cloud forests, whale sharks in Peru</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/latam-eco-review-industrial-fishing-in-the-galapagos-fracking-colombian-cloud-forests-whale-sharks-in-peru/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/latam-eco-review-industrial-fishing-in-the-galapagos-fracking-colombian-cloud-forests-whale-sharks-in-peru/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2018 09:05:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/31112558/Chipi-chipi-2-Mileniusz-Spanowicz_WCS-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=209899</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cloud Forests, Conservation, Environment, Fishing, Forests, Fracking, Indigenous Peoples, Mercury, Mining, Pollution, Rainforests, Satellite Imagery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The most popular stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, this past week followed high-volume fishing in the Galapagos, oil drilling in Colombian cloud forests, mercury levels in the Peruvian Amazon, whale sharks in Peru, and tiny catfish in Bolivia. A year after Ecuador captured Chinese shark cargo, high-volume fishing continues A year ago, an illegal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The most popular stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, this past week followed high-volume fishing in the Galapagos, oil drilling in Colombian cloud forests, mercury levels in the Peruvian Amazon, whale sharks in Peru, and tiny catfish in Bolivia. A year after Ecuador captured Chinese shark cargo, high-volume fishing continues A year ago, an illegal fishing boat was seized with 6,200 sharks of all sizes and weighing 300 tons in the ship’s hull. Most were highly migratory species protected under international law, such as hammerhead (Sphyrnidae), whale (Rhincodon typus), Galapagos (Carcharhinus galapagensis), blacktip reef (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and silky (Carcharhinus falciformis) sharks. A year later, though, high-volume fishing continues in the Galapagos, said Walter Bustos, former executive director of Galapagos National Park, in a recent interview. Juvenile sharks found in the hull of the Fu Yuan Yu Leng ship. Image courtesy of Galapagos National Park. Colombian cloud forest communities brace for fracking The end of Colombia’s rebel conflict has renewed oil interest in the Galilea cloud forest, a strategic headwater for the center of the country, and where an environmental group is scrambling to establish a 330-square-kilometer (127-square-mile) conservation area by August 2019. While conventional exploration has resumed, fracking is also a possibility, and local communities fear that this relatively pristine area is now in the hands of companies with licenses operating without their consent. Always under cloud cover, the Galilea forest is one of the few remaining cloud forests in Colombia. Image by Cortolima. Tons of mercury dumped into Peru’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/latam-eco-review-industrial-fishing-in-the-galapagos-fracking-colombian-cloud-forests-whale-sharks-in-peru/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/latam-eco-review-industrial-fishing-in-the-galapagos-fracking-colombian-cloud-forests-whale-sharks-in-peru/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-209899</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Latam Eco Review: Turtles at risk, jungle fracking, and a mafia land grab</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/latam-eco-review-turtles-at-risk-jungle-fracking-and-a-mafia-land-grab/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/latam-eco-review-turtles-at-risk-jungle-fracking-and-a-mafia-land-grab/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2018 10:14:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Romi Castagnino]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/09051122/1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=209138</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Fracking, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Marine Protected Areas, Mining, Oceans, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Sea Turtles]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The most popular stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, last week followed what is causing an 80 percent decline in some sea turtle populations in Peru, mafias and deforestation in Colombia, and fracking in Bolivia. Banner image: The hook in the photo above can cause internal damage that is fatal for sea turtles. Image courtesy of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The most popular stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, last week followed what is causing an 80 percent decline in some sea turtle populations in Peru, mafias and deforestation in Colombia, and fracking in Bolivia. Banner image: The hook in the photo above can cause internal damage that is fatal for sea turtles. Image courtesy of WWF Peru. A national plan to conserve sea turtles in Peru The waters off Peru are home to five of the world’s seven sea turtle species. Regulations that protect them and ban their capture and trade have been on the country’s books since 1995, but bycatch, habitat degradation and illegal trade threaten their survival. The populations of the two most iconic species have fallen 80 percent. Now a new national plan to conserve Sea Turtles is in the works, and is expected to mitigate the risks faced by the creatures over the next 10 years. Peru is working on a national plan to conservation sea turtles. Image courtesy of WWF Peru. 65 ways to steal land in Colombia In seven of Colombia’s 32 administrative departments, criminals and public officials use both legal and illicit means to force small landowners to sell their land cheaply. Researchers have identified more than 65 forms of judicial displacement that have dispossessed Colombians of a combined 180,000 square kilometers (69,500 square miles) of land, an area greater than the size of Uruguay. Much of the land has been turned into large plantations. Image by the Solidarity Development Corporation/CDS. Chilean mining and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/latam-eco-review-turtles-at-risk-jungle-fracking-and-a-mafia-land-grab/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-209138</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After game-changing Dakota Access decision, a look at Sioux strategy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/09/after-game-changing-dakota-access-decision-a-look-at-sioux-strategy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/09/after-game-changing-dakota-access-decision-a-look-at-sioux-strategy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2016 20:47:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Saul Elbein]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/09/01191145/091416_SElbein_DAPL2_CampFeatured2-497x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=189363</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Industry and People]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Rights, Law Enforcement, Oil, Oil Spills, Politics, Rivers, Social Conflict, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the mornings on the western edge of Camp of the Sacred Stones, the makeshift settlement of tribal and allied protesters trying to stop the Dakota Access pipeline, you can see people climbing a low hillock that stands above the cook tents and meeting spaces. They stand in place, swaying in the morning light. “It [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the mornings on the western edge of Camp of the Sacred Stones, the makeshift settlement of tribal and allied protesters trying to stop the Dakota Access pipeline, you can see people climbing a low hillock that stands above the cook tents and meeting spaces. They stand in place, swaying in the morning light. “It looks like they&#8217;re praying,” Sioux activist Dallas Goldtooth told Mongabay. But a closer glance reveals the flash of smartphone screens. The hill — which activists facetiously call Facebook Hill — is the only place in camp where people can get even spotty reception for their phones&#8217; data plans. As such it has become the thin thread connecting the camp’s 1,200 or so residents to the wider civilization. News from home, news of victories, news of defeats, news of violence: it all comes down off Facebook Hill. And it was this hill that Goldtooth, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network and one of the principal leaders of the pipeline protests, trudged up on Friday to check the results of the crucial hearing going on in Washington. Dallas Goldtooth, a leader of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and member of the Lower Brule Sioux tribe, speaks at a 2014 concert benefitting the Keystone XL pipeline opposition. Photo by J Grace Young / Bold Nebraska In late July, the Standing Rock Sioux, all of whose water comes from the Missouri River, had filed for an injunction against the Dakota Access Pipeline. They argued that the Army Corps&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/09/after-game-changing-dakota-access-decision-a-look-at-sioux-strategy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-189363</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Oil pipeline sparks fierce opposition among American tribes and farmers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/08/oil-pipeline-sparks-fierce-opposition-among-american-tribes-and-farmers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/08/oil-pipeline-sparks-fierce-opposition-among-american-tribes-and-farmers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2016 19:36:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Saul Elbein]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/08/01192232/082916-SElbein_DakotaPipeline_CampMan-496x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=188943</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Industry and People]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Rights, Law Enforcement, Oil, Oil Spills, Politics, Rivers, Social Conflict, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Joye Braun first got to North Dakota in early April, she found nothing but prairie wind howling over snow. An activist from the Cheyenne River Sioux who cut her teeth on the battles against the now-defunct Keystone XL pipeline, Braun had come with a handful of indigenous activists to attempt to block a different [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Joye Braun first got to North Dakota in early April, she found nothing but prairie wind howling over snow. An activist from the Cheyenne River Sioux who cut her teeth on the battles against the now-defunct Keystone XL pipeline, Braun had come with a handful of indigenous activists to attempt to block a different oil thoroughfare: the Dakota Access pipeline. The $3.78 billion project by Dallas, Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) would cross the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in the north-central part of the state. That crossing would be a bare half mile upstream from Standing Rock&#8217;s water intake, and residents worried that a spill would threaten the water supply not only of the reservation, or the wider Great Sioux Nation, but of millions of people in the Missouri River drainage. Braun and her fellow activists had come to stay until the line was stopped. They dedicated a camp, called Camp of the Sacred Stones, and settled in to wait as the Sioux tried to convince the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has to permit pipelines crossing rivers, to deny permission to the Dakota Access pipeline. After the Corps approved the line in late July and heavy equipment began to move, the activists mobilized to block construction on August 11. But there were only about two dozen of them — far too few to block the road to the construction site effectively. “We needed people,” Braun told Mongabay. “We needed volume, we needed headlines.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/08/oil-pipeline-sparks-fierce-opposition-among-american-tribes-and-farmers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-188943</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Geospatial data for the people, by the people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/geospatial-data-for-the-people-by-the-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/geospatial-data-for-the-people-by-the-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Feb 2016 04:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/02/02181827/pollution-reports-around-a-fracking-waste-pond_SkyTruth-on-truetometoo-dot-com-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Pennsylvania and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Crowdsourcing, Fracking, Remote Sensing, and Satellite Imagery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SkyTruth’s FrackFinder project combines remote sensing, cloud computing, and an engaged public to map drilling and hydraulic fracturing using crowd-sourced image analysis of satellite and aerial imagery.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How do you motivate people to learn and care about their environments? Researchers in various scientific fields have begun involving interested people in collecting data on the ground, verifying data online, and contacting authorities and each other to act on existing data. Connecting those data to human health impacts may engage the public even more. The goal of SkyTruth is to motivate people to use satellite imagery, geospatial data, and digital mapping tools to personally investigate what’s happening—good and bad—in the places that they care about. Pollution reports around a fracking waste pond (center). Image credit: SkyTruth This and other groups download detailed aerial imagery free, or nearly so, from government entities, including NASA, NOAA, and the US Department of Agriculture, and use it to allow the public to see what’s happening around us from a point of view impossible to gain otherwise. An earlier WildTech post detailed SkyTruth’s history, how the group obtains and applies big remotely sensed data sets to improve environmental awareness and industrial transparency in projects such as Global Fishing Watch, and where they see remote sensing technology headed in the next five years. As part of that same interview, WildTech asked SkyTruth founder John Amos and Chief Technology Officer Paul Woods how their team has used cloud computing to integrate high-tech, remotely sensed data with public participation to heighten awareness of environmental change, using their FrackFinder project as a case study. The FrackFinder project maps sites where drilling for natural gas using hydraulic fracturing (fracking)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/geospatial-data-for-the-people-by-the-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-177777</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>With assault rifles and legal hijinks, Harper’s government takes on the Canadian environment</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/07/with-assault-rifles-and-legal-hijinks-harpers-government-takes-on-the-canadian-environment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/07/with-assault-rifles-and-legal-hijinks-harpers-government-takes-on-the-canadian-environment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2015 20:53:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Mellgard]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fracking, Oil Sands, Politics, Protected Areas, and Protests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[They came at dawn. Police officers in riot gear wielding assault rifles and flanked by attack dogs took aim at protesters in the camp. Their targets, the police had been told, were dangerous and possibly armed. The protesters were there to stop an American company exploring for fracking opportunities near the Elsipogtog First Nation in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[They came at dawn. Police officers in riot gear wielding assault rifles and flanked by attack dogs took aim at protesters in the camp. Their targets, the police had been told, were dangerous and possibly armed. The protesters were there to stop an American company exploring for fracking opportunities near the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick. It was October 2013. They’d been there for months — chanting, banging drums, camping out, blocking trucks — before the government ordered the raid. The company, SWN Resources, was losing tens of thousands of dollars a day. Stephen Harper, the prime minister since 2006, was losing an opportunity to put Canada on the path to energy superpowerdom. Protestors demonstrate against a company exploring for fracking opportunities near the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick in 2013. Photo credit: Flora Levi. “It was very shocking and sad,” Susan Levi-Peters, a former Elsipogtog chief, told mongabay.com. “Nobody expected it. They had us labeled as terrorists and that’s exactly how we were treated.” The day ended with police cars on fire, protesters injured and 40 arrested, but the way was clear for fracking exploration to continue. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) say the protesters were armed with guns and were violent, charges the protestors deny. Three months later the RCMP produced a classified report, released under freedom of information requests, that revealed that the government was concerned the protest would lead to a nationwide environmental movement. It called the protest a “violent criminal response” to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/07/with-assault-rifles-and-legal-hijinks-harpers-government-takes-on-the-canadian-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-64133</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experts question White House claim that new free trade agreements have strong environmental protections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/experts-question-white-house-claim-that-new-free-trade-agreements-have-strong-environmental-protections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/experts-question-white-house-claim-that-new-free-trade-agreements-have-strong-environmental-protections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2015 17:03:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/06/experts-question-white-house-claim-that-new-free-trade-agreements-have-strong-environmental-protections/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Policy, Fracking, Green, International Trade, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[President Obama makes a statement about the trade agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and Europe known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in front of Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, in 2013. Photo credit: the White House. A report released by the Obama administration last month claims that new international trade deals now being [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[President Obama makes a statement about the trade agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and Europe known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in front of Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, in 2013. Photo credit: the White House. A report released by the Obama administration last month claims that new international trade deals now being negotiated have stronger environmental protections than past trade agreements, but many experts are not convinced. In a blog post about the report published on the White House website, Ambassador Michael Froman, the U.S. Trade Representative, lays out the administration&#8217;s case for trade agreements as &#8220;a vital tool&#8221; for combating threats to ecosystems and wildlife around the globe. There are two major free trade agreements currently being negotiated between the United States and various trade partners: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) between the U.S. and 11 countries in North and South America and the Asia Pacific region and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the U.S. and the European Union. &#8220;Two decades ago, environmental provisions under NAFTA were relegated to a side agreement, with only a single enforceable obligation to &#8216;effectively enforce your own environmental laws,'&#8221; Froman writes, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. &#8220;In contrast, our most recent trade agreements contain extensive, enforceable environmental commitments. These commitments are subject to the same dispute settlement procedures as other commercial obligations, including recourse to trade sanctions in the event of a violation.&#8221; Among the environmental protections included in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/experts-question-white-house-claim-that-new-free-trade-agreements-have-strong-environmental-protections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23542</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Saving the greater sage grouse, the most hotly-debated bird since the spotted owl (PHOTOS)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/saving-the-greater-sage-grouse-the-most-hotly-debated-bird-since-the-spotted-owl-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/saving-the-greater-sage-grouse-the-most-hotly-debated-bird-since-the-spotted-owl-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2015 18:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Tiffany Roufs]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/06/saving-the-greater-sage-grouse-the-most-hotly-debated-bird-since-the-spotted-owl-photos/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Endangered Species, Energy, Environment, Fracking, Green, Mountains, Oil, and Prairie]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A sage grouse struts his stuff. Photo credit: Tom Koerner/USFWS. We try to walk quietly on a path that&#8217;s barely lit by a waning moon and the night&#8217;s last stars, speaking in hushed whispers as we trip over sagebrush and pant in the thin air. It&#8217;s spring, and we‘re trekking across high prairie ranchland in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A sage grouse struts his stuff. Photo credit: Tom Koerner/USFWS. We try to walk quietly on a path that&#8217;s barely lit by a waning moon and the night&#8217;s last stars, speaking in hushed whispers as we trip over sagebrush and pant in the thin air. It&#8217;s spring, and we‘re trekking across high prairie ranchland in northwest Colorado, headed for the state&#8217;s largest greater sage grouse lek, a communal mating ground. As our group nears the blind from which we&#8217;ll view them, we hear a staccato chorus. Dawn slowly illumines the landscape, and there they are: 167 male grouse dancing in a rye field at dawn to grab the attention of 15 females. They fan their starburst tails in an elaborate courtship display, resembling miniature brown, black and white peacocks. They strut and bob, and inflate their snowy chests into a massive cowl that drapes nearly to the ground. They gulp and fill air sacs with a gallon of air that they use to &#8220;sing&#8221; to the hens in a rhythmic series of pops, whistles, burbles and coos. Sagebrush covered in hoar frost. This brushy plant is the only food for greater sage grouse from late fall to early spring, allowing it to survive harsh High Plains winters; it relies on different sagebrush species year-round. Photo credit: Sharon Guynup. Occasionally, the males face off, beak-to-beak in challenging parries. Males at the periphery display for no one: Only the one or two most impressive performers will be chosen, and after mating, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/saving-the-greater-sage-grouse-the-most-hotly-debated-bird-since-the-spotted-owl-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23554</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fracking: the good, the bad and the ugly</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/fracking-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/fracking-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Nov 2013 17:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Owen Reynolds]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/11/fracking-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Coal, Commentary, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Global Warming, Governance, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Methane, Mitigation, Natural Gas, Politics, Pollution, Regulations, Sustainability, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The last few years have ushered in a new national and global awareness of fracking, the 150-year-old technology for extracting natural gas and oil from rock. Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, uses ultra-high-pressure slurries to create hairline fractures throughout solid rock. Oil, and more frequently gas, comes rushing out while sand from the mixture holds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The last few years have ushered in a new national and global awareness of fracking, the 150-year-old technology for extracting natural gas and oil from rock. Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, uses ultra-high-pressure slurries to create hairline fractures throughout solid rock. Oil, and more frequently gas, comes rushing out while sand from the mixture holds the fractures open in this nearly alchemical process. As many readers are aware, there are two very divisive schools of thought on fracking. One side touts it as the future of energy. The other derides fracking as inherently toxic and demands its immediate and permanent cessation. Like so many aspects of life, the truth lies somewhere in between. The Good Perhaps the most surprising fact of fracking is that burning the resultant natural gas does, in fact, emit less carbon dioxide than coal or even traditionally extracted natural gas. As carbon dioxide is the most plentiful and troublesome greenhouse gas affecting global warming, fracking could be leveraged to significantly mitigate a major portion of greenhouse gases. The market effects of fracking have even hit the powerful, carbon-heavy coal industry. The recent glut in gas supply and more stringent regulation of the coal industry from the Obama Administration have already begun to supplant American coal-fired energy plants. Dozens of coal plants around the country are divesting from coal processes in exchange for cleaner natural gas. Offers to extract new coal are apathetically received; one recent auction received no bids for the first time in history. Because&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/11/fracking-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26065</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental journalism: rich with stories but &#8216;extremely under-resourced&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/environmental-journalism-rich-with-stories-but-extremely-under-resourced/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/environmental-journalism-rich-with-stories-but-extremely-under-resourced/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2013 19:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/10/environmental-journalism-rich-with-stories-but-extremely-under-resourced/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Sweden]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Energy, Environment, Fracking, Green, Greenwashing, Interviews, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, Journalism, and Logging]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner is an environmental journalist and photographer whose work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Orion, The Sun, Northern Woodlands, Yale Environment 360, Earth Island Journal, and World Ark. Recently two of his stories triggered strong reactions from the public: an expos&#233; on damaging logging practices in ultra-green Sweden and a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner is an environmental journalist and photographer whose work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Orion, The Sun, Northern Woodlands, Yale Environment 360, Earth Island Journal, and World Ark. Recently two of his stories triggered strong reactions from the public: an expos&eacute; on damaging logging practices in ultra-green Sweden and a photo feature on suburban fracking in Colorado that spawned an avalanche of reader comments. In an October interview with Mongabay.com, Hoffner discussed the fallout from these stories as well as his career in environmental journalism. AN INTERVIEW WITH ERIK HOFFNER Mongabay: What is your background and what led you to become a journalist/photojournalist? Erik Hoffner Erik Hoffner: My family is full of photographers, so inspiration was everywhere, but the writing came later as an add-on to the images I had gotten good at creating. I started writing on a freelance basis for all sorts of magazines around 2000 and later as a staffer for the iconic print magazine Orion, I had my own column about grassroots activism for a spell which was really fun. That combination of factors got me noticed by an editor for a magazine who sent me to Poland for a sustainable agriculture story. Mongabay: Where does your work typically appear? Erik Hoffner: Grist.org, Orion, Yale Environment 360, World Ark, and Earth Island Journal. I&#8217;m also a frequent photo contributor for The Sun and am working on an interview for that publication now. Mongabay: What conservation issues most interest you? What are&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/environmental-journalism-rich-with-stories-but-extremely-under-resourced/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26254</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>France upholds nationwide ban on fracking</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/france-upholds-nationwide-ban-on-fracking/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/france-upholds-nationwide-ban-on-fracking/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2013 21:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/10/france-upholds-nationwide-ban-on-fracking/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and France]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Global Warming, Governance, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Methane]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[France&#8217;s landmark ban on fracking has survived constitutional challenges lobbed by U.S.-company, Schuepbach Energy. On Friday, the nation&#8217;s Constitutional Council decided that the ban did not violate France&#8217;s constitution. Passed in 2011 under then President Nicolas Sarkozy, the ban has since been upheld by current President Francios Hollande. &#8220;This law has been contested several times,&#8221; [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[France&#8217;s landmark ban on fracking has survived constitutional challenges lobbed by U.S.-company, Schuepbach Energy. On Friday, the nation&#8217;s Constitutional Council decided that the ban did not violate France&#8217;s constitution. Passed in 2011 under then President Nicolas Sarkozy, the ban has since been upheld by current President Francios Hollande. &#8220;This law has been contested several times,&#8221; Hollande said on Friday as reported by the New York Times. &#8220;It is now beyond dispute.&#8221; The ban was passed over concerns that fracking for shale gas could lead to polluted freshwater supplies, greenhouses gases, and even mini-earthquakes. The U.S. Energy Information Agency has estimated that France may contain as much as 137 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas. However, studies have not been done to confirm this estimate and given the council&#8217;s decision it&#8217;s unlikely they will be anytime soon. Although shale gas is less carbon intensive than other fossil fuels&#8212;such as coal&#8212;scientists say exploiting these reserves risks leaking methane, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon. According to the most recent mega-report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), many of the world&#8217;s fossil fuel deposits will have to be left unexploited. Not only did the report reiterate that humans are responsible for current warming (with 95-100 percent likelihood), but also for the first time calculated how much greenhouse gases could be emitted if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change. According to the group, human society could emit 800-880 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases in total until&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/france-upholds-nationwide-ban-on-fracking/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26258</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists uncover high radioactivity near fracking site in Pennsylvania</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/scientists-uncover-high-radioactivity-near-fracking-site-in-pennsylvania/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/scientists-uncover-high-radioactivity-near-fracking-site-in-pennsylvania/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Oct 2013 18:31:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Felicity Carus]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/10/scientists-uncover-high-radioactivity-near-fracking-site-in-pennsylvania/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Green, Natural Gas, Pollution, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have for the first time found dangerous levels of radioactivity and salinity at a shale gas waste disposal site that could contaminate drinking water. If the UK follows in the steps of the US &#8220;shale gas revolution&#8221;, it should impose regulations to stop such radioactive buildup, they said. The Duke University study, published on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have for the first time found dangerous levels of radioactivity and salinity at a shale gas waste disposal site that could contaminate drinking water. If the UK follows in the steps of the US &#8220;shale gas revolution&#8221;, it should impose regulations to stop such radioactive buildup, they said. The Duke University study, published on Wednesday, examined the water discharged from Josephine Brine Treatment Facility into Blacklick Creek, which feeds into a water source for western Pennsylvania cities, including Pittsburgh. Scientists took samples upstream and downstream from the treatment facility over a two-year period, with the last sample taken in June this year. Elevated levels of chloride and bromide, combined with strontium, radium, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopic compositions, are present in the Marcellus shale wastewaters, the study found. Radioactive brine is naturally occurring in shale rock and contaminates wastewater during hydraulic fracturing – known as fracking. Sometimes that &#8220;flowback&#8221; water is re-injected into rock deep underground, a practice that can cause seismic disturbances, but often it is treated before being discharged into watercourses. Fracking wellhead in North Dakota. Photo by: Joshua Doubek/Creative Commons 3.0. Radium levels in samples collected at the facility were 200 times greater than samples taken upstream. Such elevated levels of radioactivity are above regulated levels and would normally be seen at licensed radioactive disposal facilities, according to the scientists at Duke University&#8217;s Nicholas school of the environment in North Carolina. Hundreds of disposal sites for wastewater could be similarly affected, said Professor Avner Vengosh, one of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/10/scientists-uncover-high-radioactivity-near-fracking-site-in-pennsylvania/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26283</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fracking sucks up all the water from Texas town</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/fracking-sucks-up-all-the-water-from-texas-town/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/fracking-sucks-up-all-the-water-from-texas-town/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Aug 2013 16:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzanne Goldenberg]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/08/fracking-sucks-up-all-the-water-from-texas-town/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Texas, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Drought, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Natural Gas, Oil, Oil Drilling, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Beverly McGuire saw the warning signs before the town well went dry: sand in the toilet bowl, the sputter of air in the tap, a pump working overtime to no effect. But it still did not prepare her for the night last month when she turned on the tap and discovered the tiny town where [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Beverly McGuire saw the warning signs before the town well went dry: sand in the toilet bowl, the sputter of air in the tap, a pump working overtime to no effect. But it still did not prepare her for the night last month when she turned on the tap and discovered the tiny town where she had made her home for 35 years was out of water. &#8220;The day that we ran out of water I turned on my faucet and nothing was there and at that moment I knew the whole of Barnhart was down the tubes,&#8221; she said, blinking back tears. &#8220;I went: &#8216;dear God help us. That was the first thought that came to mind.&#8221; Across the south-west, residents of small communities like Barnhart are confronting the reality that something as basic as running water, as unthinking as turning on a tap, can no longer be taken for granted. Three years of drought, decades of overuse and now the oil industry&#8217;s outsize demands on water for fracking are running down reservoirs and underground aquifers. And climate change is making things worse. In Texas alone, about 30 communities could run out of water by the end of the year, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Nearly 15 million people are living under some form of water rationing, barred from freely sprinkling their lawns or refilling their swimming pools. In Barnhart&#8217;s case, the well appears to have run dry because the water was being extracted for shale&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/fracking-sucks-up-all-the-water-from-texas-town/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26530</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Two children given lifetime gag order on fracking impacts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/two-children-given-lifetime-gag-order-on-fracking-impacts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/two-children-given-lifetime-gag-order-on-fracking-impacts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2013 14:47:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzanne Goldenberg]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/08/two-children-given-lifetime-gag-order-on-fracking-impacts/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Environment, Environmental Law, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Green, Law, and Natural Gas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Two young children in Pennsylvania were banned from talking about fracking for the rest of their lives under a gag order imposed under a settlement reached by their parents with a leading oil and gas company. The sweeping gag order was imposed under a $750,000 settlement between the Hallowich family and Range Resources Corp, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Two young children in Pennsylvania were banned from talking about fracking for the rest of their lives under a gag order imposed under a settlement reached by their parents with a leading oil and gas company. The sweeping gag order was imposed under a $750,000 settlement between the Hallowich family and Range Resources Corp, a leading oil and gas driller. It provoked outrage on Monday among environmental campaigners and free speech advocates. The settlement, reached in 2011 but unsealed only last week, barred the Hallowichs&#8217; son and daughter, who were then aged 10 and seven, from ever discussing fracking or the Marcellus Shale, a leading producer in America&#8217;s shale gas boom. The Hallowich family had earlier accused oil and gas companies of destroying their 10-acre farm in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania and putting their children&#8217;s health in danger. Their property was adjacent to major industrial operations: four gas wells, gas compressor stations, and a waste water pond, which the Hallowich family said contaminated their water supply and caused burning eyes, sore throats and headaches. Gag orders&#8212;on adults&#8212;are typical in settlements reached between oil and gas operators and residents in the heart of shale gas boom in Pennsylvania. But the company lawyer&#8217;s insistence on extending the lifetime gag order to the Hallowichs&#8217; children gave even the judge pause, according to the court documents. The family gag order was a condition of the settlement. The couple told the court they agreed because they wanted to move to a new home away from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/two-children-given-lifetime-gag-order-on-fracking-impacts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26543</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drought pits farmers against frackers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/drought-pits-farmers-against-frackers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/drought-pits-farmers-against-frackers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Aug 2012 00:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/08/drought-pits-farmers-against-frackers/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Drought, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Natural Gas, Pollution, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Drought has created a standoff over water supplies in the U.S. Midwest between energy producers and farmers, reports Bloomberg. Natural gas and oil producers have been forced to seek new water sources as they mull calls from farmers and activists to recycle their water, a practice that would make &#8216;fracking&#8217; more expensive. Already hugely controversial, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Drought has created a standoff over water supplies in the U.S. Midwest between energy producers and farmers, reports Bloomberg. Natural gas and oil producers have been forced to seek new water sources as they mull calls from farmers and activists to recycle their water, a practice that would make &#8216;fracking&#8217; more expensive. Already hugely controversial, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as its become known, exploits fossil fuel deposits by busting up shale rock using a potent combination of water, chemicals, and sediment. The practice, largely controversial for its use of toxic chemicals and its link to small earthquakes, also requires millions of gallons of water per well. But water is becoming scarce in many parts of the central U.S., leading activists and regulators to argue that energy companies should be recycling water to lessen strain on resources. The U.S. has seen a natural gas boom in the last few years largely due to fracking. The trend has pushed coal aside as the top energy source in the U.S. and helped lower the nation&#8217;s carbon emissions slightly, since natural gas produces less carbon than coal per unit. However, critics contend the practice, which has few regulations attached to it, comes with too many environmental and health risks. In addition, recent research has shown that natural gas is hardly climate friendly due to potential methane emissions, a greenhouse gas more potent in the short-term than carbon. Some climatologists have linked the current drought, the worse in the U.S. in the past 50 years,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/drought-pits-farmers-against-frackers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30491</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>15 conservation issues to watch</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Mar 2011 23:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Greenland, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, boreal forests, Carbon Sequestration, Cattle, Climate Change, Climate Science, Consumption, Development, Diseases, Ecology, Ecosystem Services, Energy, Environment, Environmental Services, Extinction, Fish, Fishing, Forest Carbon, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Genetic Engineering, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Invertebrates, Marine, Marine Animals, Mass Extinction, Mining, Mosquitoes, Overfishing, Parks, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Ranching, Sea Ice, Soil Carbon, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation near Gunung Palung in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler Deforestation, oil spills, coral acidification: these are just a few examples of ongoing, and well-researched, environmental changes that are imperiling the world&#8217;s biodiversity. But what issues are on the horizon? At the end of 2010, experts outlined in Trends in Ecology &#038; Evolution [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation near Gunung Palung in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler Deforestation, oil spills, coral acidification: these are just a few examples of ongoing, and well-researched, environmental changes that are imperiling the world&#8217;s biodiversity. But what issues are on the horizon? At the end of 2010, experts outlined in Trends in Ecology &#038; Evolution 15 issues that may impact conservation efforts this year and beyond, but are not yet widely known. These are issues you may never hear about it again or could dominate tomorrow&#8217;s environmental headlines. &#8220;Our aim was to identify technological advances, environmental changes, novel ecological interactions and changes in society that could have substantial impacts on the conservation of biological diversity […] whether beneficial or detrimental,&#8221; the authors write in the paper. Experts originally came up with 71 possible issues and then whittled it down to the 15 most important—and least known. But given that these issues may or may not pose a problem, what should society do in order to stay ahead of the curve? &#8220;We believe that each issue is sufficiently important to warrant new research, policy consideration and sometimes pre-emptive, cost-effective action that might decrease the probability of undesirable consequences and increase the probability of desired outcomes,&#8221; the authors conclude. THE ISSUES (in alphabetic order) Aerial view of acquaculture—shrimp farms—in Java, Indonesia. Researchers say compounding impacts on the ocean are threatening to change it indefinitely. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Acid rain from nitrogen: Nitric acid rain, caused by nitrogen emissions from fertilizers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32835</doi>				</item>
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