Press Releases: All

“Food & Water Watch is alarmed by the recently released findings of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Comission, the first full comprehensive analysis of fracking in Maryland. The report, released by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science—and commissioned by Governor Martin O’Malley—was discussed in detail at a hearing yesterday and confirmed the fears and concerns of fracking opponents: that fracking is inherently unsafe and that negative impacts from fracking are guaranteed.

“Now that Governor O’Malley has seen the huge red flags that this study and the commission he created are raising, we hope that he will recognize the high risks associated with fracking and abandon his plan to open up Maryland to this dangerous process.

Press Release: Some of North Carolina’s State legislators have been rather hurried in their efforts to open up North Carolina to drilling and fracking for natural gas, leading many residents to wonder why. Today, Food & Water Watch submitted a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper that outlines serious conflicts of interest and a “pattern of political patronage” among public officials in the Governor’s administration, on the Mining and Energy Commission, and in the General Assembly. The letter calls on Attorney General Cooper to investigate the conflicts of interests presented by the financial ties of prominent figures pushing fracking in North Carolina.

Press Release: California’s Global Warming Solutions Act created a voluntary cap-and-trade market in an effort to achieve a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Some policymakers consider this program a test market for a national model, as well as a possible opportunity to use international forest offsets from REDD+ programs in developing countries. However, a new report points to significant problems that prevent REDD+ forest offsets from legitimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The report, Bad Trade: International Forest Offsets and California’s Carbon Market, released by Food & Water Watch today, demonstrates that cap-and-trade markets are not a viable solution because they don’t encourage emission reductions at the source, but instead privatize natural resources, present opportunities for corrupt offset trading, and threaten the livelihoods and resources of indigenous communities.