Rarely has a single image from a documentary film sparked greater debate overnight: a Colorado homeowner turns on his faucet, and as soon as he puts a cigarette lighter to the tap water, it catches fire—the result of highly flammable methane seeping into the water supply from an oil drilling operation nearby. The drilling involves hydraulic fracturing, a controversial oil and gas extraction process the potential medical and environmental perils of which are the subject of the Oscar-nominated film Gasland.
Posts Tagged: pollution
City of Santa Cruz Poised to Ban Plastic Bags, Styrofoam Sales
Plastic bags and Styrofoam are going to be scarce sights around these parts soon. On Monday, March 19, the day before a plastic bag ban went into effect in unincorporated Santa Cruz County, the city of Santa Cruz proper took steps to outlaw single-use plastic bags and the sale of polystyrene cups, coolers and peanuts. The public works commission unanimously passed the measures, paving the way for city council to vote on them.
