DC Bureau

The Marcellus Shale: New York is the Natural Gas Industry’s New Lab Rat

Under some of the most beautiful parts of rural New York State in the pre-Jurassic era formation called the Marcellus Shale is an unimaginable fortune in natural gas. Getting that gas to market has become an obsession of Wall Street and the biggest gas drilling companies in the world. In this gas rush, New York is fast becoming a geological science experiment that many experts fear will have profound, dire environmental and health consequences. The drilling companies use a witch’s brew of water,...

The Atlantic Water Summit …After These Messages

[Editor’s Note: DCBureau.org sent a pair of reporters to Atlantic magazine's October 29th Water Summit. Our reporters were prevented from videotaping the conference by The Atlantic who arranged to exclusively tape the event, but did not offer it live. We present our Atlantic — approved video report by Allison Sickle and a companion piece by correspondent Byron Moore that was not shared in advance with Atlantic’s team of editors and advertisers.]

The main Ballroom at the National Press Club was pa...

Fish and Paint Chips Part II: The Politics of Ocean Trash

When it comes to reducing garbage in the world’s oceans, the political angle is just as important as the scientific, to judge by industry’s behavior. On Aug. 18, Seattle voters passed by a 53-47 margin a referendum to overturn a 20-cent fee approved last year by the city council for using plastic bags at supermarkets, pharmacies and convenience stores.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and other public information, the referendum was backed primarily by the American Chemistry Council (ACC...

Fish and Paint Chips Part I: The Science of Trash

Recent research has the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concerned that the huge quantities of metal, plastic, paint chips and other man-made debris floating at sea, hundreds and even thousands of miles from land, may be working their way into the American diet. NOAA, a part of the Commerce Department, largely exists to track weather patterns and hurricanes, and its entry into the public health sphere serves as an indication of how severe the problem has become. It is not t...