Monday, March 21, 2011

PA gas drilling the focus of NPR's Diane Rehm Show

From the show's site:  "The state of Pennsylvania is in the forefront of the current rush to extract natural gas, and it also seems to be in the middle of an increasingly contentious debate over related environmental risks. The process of extracting natural gas involves forcing millions of gallons of water deep into the earth to break up rock and release the gas. Environmentalists say that in some states, including Pennsylvania, this waste water which is often laden with heavy salts and naturally occurring radioactive materials is being improperly discharged into rivers and streams...."

Guests included Ian Urbina, author of the recent NY Times series which started on February 27, 2011; John Quigley, former Secretary of PA's Department of Conservation & Natural ResourcesDr. Tony Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering & Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow at Cornell University; Kathryn Klaber, President of the Marcellus Shale Coalition; Amy Mall, policy analyst for the National Resources Defense Council; and John Hanger, former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

To hear the entire hour's broadcast, click HERE.