Oil Leaks: Fracking

Commenting on the valid concerns brought to the public's attention by NSW Greens MP Cate Fraehrmann a Ms Glenda McLoughlin of Metgasco seeks to allay public concerns with the glib patter one has come to expect of Prime Minister Julia Gillards spin doctors.

"We consider that we are highly regulated by the NSW Department of Primary Industries," Ms McLoughlin said.

So who are Metgasco ? Judging by their board, they are merely a shirt worn by Esso which itself is a shirt worn by energy giant Exxon - Mobil -developers in conjunction with Chevron of the huge Gorgon Gasfield off the coast of Western Australia.

Not to put too fine a point on t

his statement, why is the Department of Primary Industries, which exists to promote business the appropriate licensing authority,yet lacking the expertise to assess or monitor ecological considerations. The DPI's administration of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act does seem akin to allowing the proverbial Fox to babysit the chickens or still in NSW, The Department of Communities to take responsibility for the appropriate care of children. As Ms Fraehmann correctly asserts, responsibility for Environmental Concerns should correctly be monitored by the Environment Department.

Other areas actively protesting Coal Seam Gas Mining:

Liverpool Plains (Narrabri area,NSW) :: Caroona Coal Action Group

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From The USA: Despite the Environmental Protection Authoritys most stringent monitoring: Massey Lawsuit: Over 700 Allege Mining Company Poisoned Their Water With Coal Slurry

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Inadequacy of Australian Laws:

The Effectiveness of Australia's State Territory and Federal Environmental Protection laws relating to extractive industries needs to be viewed in the context of the 2009 PTTEP Montara Oilspill disaster. Montara, a marine platform operation suffered a cataclysmic failure which resulted in loss of dr

illing rig and a three month oilspill which took 3 months to successfully plug.

A spill which polluted 24000 square kilometres. A spill which was accorded only cursory government monitoring, with the relevant governments concerned largely relying on well operator PTTEP for information. The Australian Governments ability to effectively monitor the effects of that spill may be laid bare in a report which Federal Minister Martin Ferguson has refused to release despite its presentation to him in June 2010. In terms of cleanup work, The Australian government seems content to acquit that exercise in the confines of a committee room and eventually on the floor of parliament- but not a scerrick of cleanup activity in the affected pristine Northwest Shelf area.

In Contrast, the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oilspill for which BP America were castigated had a considerably higher degree of public scrutiny forced by intense media and activist scrutiny and a very concerned Louisianan governor @BobbyJindal supported by his very effective @GOHSEP unit. I am among the minority who take the view that despite a colossal error with fatal human and devastating environmental consequences, BP stuck around and still today take quite expensive measures to clean up their mess -at a substantial cost to that company, which has sold off sizable assets to pay for the operation.

The comparison is a stark illustration of the processes of monitoring and mitigation missing in the Australian extraction equation. Environmental Compliance adequacy, monitoring mitigation and prevention were proven to be inadequate at Montara as a hapless daisy chain of government agencies including scientists hamstrung by bureaucrats waited on disaster perpetrator PTTEP for information, which could have been as accurate as PTTEPs own physical, financial and legal constraints dictated. Were they? We don't know,because our Australian government failed to have adequate checks balances and preventive measures in place.

Our Australian governments lax pro-extractive laws not merely permit environmentally risky extraction processes, they virtually dictate that directors use risky processes or risk shareholder wrath at the unnecessary expense of safer technologies. The Australian Government received the report which they commissioned into the Montara Oilspill in July -but still choose not to release it while continuing backroom deals on new oil and gas exploratory and production licenses with the perpetrators of some of the worst ecological disasters this world has ever seen.

The "Clean Energy" Blindside :

The Government Coal and Gas Industries are keen to point out the relative merits of Gas vs Coal fired energy. Admittedly, there are emissions reductions. However, left completely out of the discussion is the BeyondZero option of renewable energy generation, which has a goal of zero emissions power generation in ten years.

Listen to the 2 videos below , compare and decide for yourself which option is cleanest.

Heres the Coal versus Natural Gas discussion by the Ontario,Canada Government...