EPA study may dodge tough fracking questions

Candidates got $758K from sand, gas industry

Published: May 22, 2013
Tags: fracking, natural gas, sand mining

The sand mining and natural gas industries have given Wisconsin candidates nearly $758,000 since 2007, with contributions spiking last year as sand mining took off in the state, according to a report.

Budget committee approves sand mining plan (UPDATE)

Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: DNR, fracking, sand mine

Wisconsin’s budget-writing committee has approved pulling money from the state’s environmental management fund to cover sand mining inspections.

Report: ‘Little impact’ on state from frac jobs

Published: May 17, 2013
Tags: fracking, jobs

Frac sand mining’s impact on job creation in Wisconsin’s sandy areas will be minimal, and communities must account for its potential economic drawbacks, according to a new report.

Technology propels ‘old energy’ boom

Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: energy, fossil fuel, fracking, oil, solar energy, wind turbines

Technology created an energy revolution during the past decade, just not the one we expected.

Energy Department nominee backs natural gas ‘revolution’

Published: April 9, 2013
Tags: energy, Ernest Moniz, fracking, natural gas, Obama

President Barack Obama’s choice to lead the Energy Department pledged to increase use of natural gas Tuesday as a way to combat climate change even as the nation seeks to boost domestic energy production.

Fracking coalition upsets environmentalists, drillers

Published: April 8, 2013
Tags: fracking, Sierra Club

Like a marriage the in-laws don’t approve of, a new plan to strengthen standards for fracking is creating unusual divisions among environmentalists and supporters of the oil and gas industry.

Controls sought for Wisconsin’s growing frac sand mining

Published: March 27, 2013
Tags: Alma, frac sand, frac sand mining, fracking, Sen. Kathleen Vinehout

The growing frac sand mining industry in Wisconsin has prompted a legislator to propose some controls.

Frac smack: Industry faces DNR violations, warnings

Published: March 1, 2013
Tags: DNR, fracking, Preferred Sands, St. Croix River, stormwater
Comments: 2

Almost one-fifth of Wisconsin’s 70 active frac sand mines and processing plants were cited for environmental violations last year, as the industry continued to expand at a rapid clip.

Minn. silica bill with moratorium passes 1st stop

Published: February 26, 2013
Tags: bill, fracking, gas production, hydraulic fracturing, Matt Schmit, Michelle Benson, mines, oil production, Senate Energy and Environment committee, silica, silica sand

State senators are leaning toward halting new silica sand mines while the state studies the health and environmental costs of the booming industry.