CBF Demands Federal Fracking Review

Or in their words:
Chesapeake Bay Foundation calls for comprehensive federal analysis of Marcellus Shale drilling

The federal government should conduct a comprehensive federal analysis of Marcellus Shale drilling in the six bay-watershed states, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other environmental groups said Monday.

The foundation said it has filed a petition under the National Environmental Policy Act calling for a review known as a programmatic environmental impact statement. The petition was signed by a number of environmental groups and more than 120 businesses, organizations and elected officials have also signed a letter to the president supporting the petition, the bay foundation said.

Assessments are under way, but none is comprehensive, the groups said.

An ongoing review by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, for example, deals with the impact on drinking water, said CBF attorney Amy McDonnell.

The foundation would like one review that also takes into account the impact on groundwater, air pollution and other areas, McDonnell said.

"Basically to look at everything. That is what the EPA study is going to fail to do," said CBF attorney Amy McDonnell.

CBF, of course, would like nothing better than to kill fracking, regardless of what environmental damage the process causes, or does not cause.  It is established wisdom in the environmental community to oppose all energy solutions that utilize fossil fuels regardless of their source, particularly if the extraction of said fossil fuels occurs anywhere near anybody and may impact any land they regard as theirs (and they regard all land as theirs).  Then they'll drive around in their coal-burning Chevy DVolts, feeling all smug about it.

Yes, each and every project should have a good environmental impact study, and it's not a bad idea to have a periodic evaluation of the state of the art of the extraction to determine if the environment is being adequately protected, and whether more can be done.  I just don't trust a process that CBF is likely to drive to not be free of their Malthusian enthusiasms.

In other Bay new du jour, there are a couple of articles on oyster aquaculture.  The first seems to be written right off the press release fromthe current oyster farmers, happy to have shot down the option to set up "oyster opportunity zones, which would have subsidized new entries into the field, and established particular regions for oyster aquaculture.  I won't pretend to fully grasp the politics, but I would disfavor subsidies, but think that some measure of control over where oysters are farmed is likely to be necessary if the industry takes off.  The second is even less comprehensible, but after decrying the decision of the Army Corps of Engineers to permit planting of the Asian Oyster, I had fairly low expectations.