Earthquake capital of continental U.S.: Oklahoma

[Rhiannon12866]

Bill Whitaker reports on the high incidence of earthquakes in Oklahoma, where oil and gas production is injecting vast amounts of waste water into the earth.

Oklahomans are getting tired of the ground shaking under their feet. Last year, the state set a record for earthquakes with 907 registering a magnitude of 3 or more. It's causing anxiety, damage and residents to rethink one of the state's biggest industries -- oil and gas production -- which scientists say is causing nearly all the quakes. Bill Whitaker goes to Oklahoma, now the capital of earthquake activity in the continental U.S., to report the story for the next edition of 60 Minutes, Sunday, May 8 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"I woke up scared to death, praying that the house wouldn't fall down. I couldn't believe that the windows didn't shatter," says Melinda Olbert of a 4.3 quake in Edmund, Oklahoma, in December. She and Kathy Matthews, a friend and Edmund resident, are using smartphone apps to monitor the size and location of quakes around the state. "Cherokee, Enid, Fairview, Medford, Stillwater. All in one 24-hour period; one hour ago, one hour ago, two," Matthews tells Whitaker, who asks whether she is nervous. "It's no way to live. It's no way to live," she says.

Most of the quakes occurring on a daily basis are not as large as the one Olbert felt, but they can cause minor damage. The U.S. Geological Survey says earthquakes in Oklahoma have been rising steadily since 2009 with more than 2,000 of a magnitude of 3 or greater.

Mark Zoback, a professor of geophysics at Stanford University, says the seismic activity is a consequence of oil and gas industry production -- Oklahoma's biggest economic engine. "What we've learned in Oklahoma is that the earthquakes that are occurring in enormous numbers are the result of waste water injection," he says. Wells drilled for the commodities bring up waste water along with the oil and gas that must be disposed of. Well operators send it back down into the earth, deep below freshwater aquifers to a zone that sits on top of the granite basement that is rife with earthquake faults.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/earthquake-capital-of-continental-u-s-oklahoma/

[Divernan]

1. And lucky us in Pennsylvania! Schumer just bought the Senate primary for

pro-fracking candidate McGinty. He pumped in over $4 million of out of state money from the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee to purchase last minute, misleading cough/lying/cough ads in her behalf. McGinty was censured by the state ethics committee for her actions while secretary of the state's Department of Environmental Protection. It found that she had delivered over $2 million of state contracts to her fracking-lobbyist -husband's Big Energy employers. The Ethics Committee let her off with a warning that if she or any other cabinet officer gave sweetheart deals to their spouses or spouses' employers in the future, they would be subject to a hefty fine and ten years in prison. She was the appointee of then PA Governor, now-fracking-lobbyist, Fast Eddie Rendell. Rendell was pissed at the Ethics Committee so appealed their ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The Court upheld the ruling.

Both the major papers in Pennsylvania, Phillie's Inquirer and Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette, endorsed retired Navy Admiral/former U.S. Congressman Joe Sestak in the primary race, but Schumer's millions carried the day and McGinty won.

Getting back to Fast Eddie: http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-30/news/38128340_1_natural-gas-drilling-ed-rendell-energy-companies

By Angela Couloumbis, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
Posted: March 30, 2013

HARRISBURG - Never leave anything unsaid is a lesson former Gov. Ed Rendell may have relearned the hard way this week. Two days ago, the usually loquacious Democrat had an op-ed piece published in the New York Daily News urging New York state to get over its fears and permit hydraulic fracturing - commonly known as fracking - to seek natural gas within its borders.

In the piece, headlined "Why [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo Must Seize the Moment on Hydrofracking," Rendell listed the benefits of natural gas for the region's economic development as well as the nation's energy future. He said Pennsylvania under his watch and since had struck a balance of benefiting from natural gas drilling while protecting the environment.

One thing Rendell didn't mention: He is a paid consultant to a private-equity firm that invests in energy companies, including several with a stake in natural gas drilling. The nonprofit website ProPublica first wrote about the connection Thursday and tried to nail the former governor down on why his article did not disclose his tie to Element Partners of Radnor. Rendell also separately acts as a senior adviser to investment bank Greenhill & Co., which has advised on a number of natural gas-related financial transactions.

Daily News editors said they were not aware of Rendell's connection to Element when they published his op-ed Wednesday. They have since added a note to the online version: "Rendell is a paid consultant to Element Partners, a private-equity firm with stake in a number of energy companies, including hydrofracking/natural gas interests. This information was not disclosed at the time his op-ed was submitted to the News."

Brace yourself for a big surprise! Fast Eddie Rendell was McGinty's campaign manager!

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Wow! Thanks for the additional background and information!

That sure is disappointing. Schumer's my senator and though he's not my favorite (the other NY senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, is my favorite since she used to be my congresswoman, here in NY-20 ), I never thought he was poor on the environment. And why was this just a slap on the wrist??

And I've always liked Sestak, that really is a shame. It was tough for me to believe that he wouldn't have the votes, given his experience and background, let alone his stand on the issues.

If you haven't, you should post this as an OP...

[Divernan]

3. PA's environment just collateral damage in Schumer's pursuit of power

Here's what I posted in the PA forum:

It's all about Schumer's push to be Dem. Senate leader

Whether it's as Majority Leader or Minority Leader. Got a post-election de-briefing this afternoon in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood from primary Pennsylvania Dem. Senate candidate, former Admiral & Congressman, Joe Sestak.

Schumer is Mr. Wall Street. He is a power broker, not a leader, and he has the Wall Street money men in his pocket. Washington insiders have shared with Sestak what Schumer has done behind Sestak's back. At one point Sestak met with Schumer. Schumer demanded to place one of Schumer's people as Sestak's campaign manager. Sestak agreed and welcomed the assistance. Then Schumer spelled it out that Schumer expected his guy to have the final say on all campaign decisions. Sestak said, "No, but if we have a disagreement, I'll call you to discuss it." Schumer agreed to Sestak's face, but behind Sestak's back began calling others in Pennsylvania, including Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, to recruit someone to run against Sestak. Schumer promised $4 million in backing. Fitzgerald refused and his staffer called Sestak to give him a heads up. Sestak called Schumer and said "We had an agreement." Schumer replied, our agreement is whatever I say it is now."

Bottom line: No one can be allowed to get by with saying "No" to Schumer. Sestak has done so twice - once in the 2010 Senate race, and now again in 2016. All of D.C. knew that. If Sestak would have won the primary, others would be emboldened to run for Senate without promising total, unthinking, unchallenging allegiance to Schumer.

As one powerful insider explained it to Joe, "At first it was personal because you said no to Schumer. No one ever says no to Schumer. Then, when you were able to raise so much money on your own, and were so far ahead in the polls (16%) of Schumer's hand-picked candidate, it became professional."

Schumer has said that his path to Senate leadership runs through Pennsylvania. Schumer told everyone that he recruited someone to run against Sestak in the primary because Sestak couldn't win. So now Schumer has to pump in as much money as is necessary to make sure that his choice - 3rd way, pro-fracking, censored-for-ethics-violations/censure confirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, funneled millions of dollars in state contracts to her fracking lobbyist husband's employer, Katie McGinty - actually wins. The first 8 people Schumer solicited with his promise of $4 million in backing in the Dem primary, either turned him down flat, or were very quickly exposed as having potential criminal charges/ethical problems of their own. McGinty was his NINTH choice!

Current expectations are that Schumer will have to put $20 million into the Pennsylvania senate race, in addition to the $4 million he's already poured in to fund his Democratic primary choice. Think about that, everyone who has donated to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee! If you have a candidate running for Senate in your state, give the money directly to them, NOT the Dem. Senate Campaign Committee! That's $25 million going into backing Schumer's very flawed candidate in Pennsylvania, which should have been allocated among all the Dems running for Senate.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. That certainly is damning.

Though Schumer can probably have the job for as long as he wants it.