A South African government plan to allow fracking in the vast Karoo semi-desert has been condemned as "completely irresponsible" by environmental campaigners, who have vowed to fight it in court. The Karoo is bigger than Germany at more than 400,000 square kilometres. It contains about 100 towns and a million people and has been celebrated by poets for its bleak beauty. The … [Read more...]
Global activists warn SA against fracking
European environmental activists have warned that the oil and gas industry “cuts corners” when drilling for shale gas through hydraulic fracturing. But once disaster occurred, the companies would then blame locally outsourced suppliers, they claimed. Friends of the Earth (Foe) activist Darek Urbaniak from Poland said this during a meeting with Barry Wuganaale, the … [Read more...]
Offshore fracking on the cards for Mossel Bay?
PetroSA wants to explore the possibility of hydraulic fracturing to improve the productivity of three of the development wells currently being drilled 110km offshore of Mossel Bay. In an advertisement that recently appeared in Die Burger, environmental assessment consultant WorleyParsons and PetroSA expressed their intention to amend their existing production right and … [Read more...]
Greenest Event wants ethics for geologists
South Africa is at a critical juncture in our history. How best do we preserve and nurture one of the earth’s highest concentrations of biodiversity and satisfy our growing regional inter-dependent energy needs? I attended the Greenest Event for the Green Times, hosted on World Environment Day in the luxurious surroundings of the Sandton Sun. The event was well attended with … [Read more...]
Fracking activist wins international environmental prize
South African environmental campaigner Jonathan Deal was today awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his work in the fight against hydraulic fracturing in the Karoo. Each year, the Goldman Environmental Foundation selects grassroots activists from around the world to honour them for their work. With an individual cash prize of $150 000 (close on R1.5m), it is the … [Read more...]
Sustainable Living and Indigenous Plant Fair (SLIP)
This year the Indigenous Plant Fair returns to its roots at the KZN Botanic Gardens in Pietermaritzburg. Since those early days (2004), the Fair has grown to include food plants as well as hundreds of indigenous plants and, in 2012, to embrace low-carbon living by showcasing sustainable solutions too. Nowadays SLIP, as the Sustainable Living and Indigenous Plant Fair has … [Read more...]
Conference delegates cautioned not to rush into fracking
Speaking at the Southern Africa Oil & Gas Summit in Cape Town, TKAG Chair Jonathan Deal cautioned delegates not to rush into investment decisions around shale gas mining in South Africa. In an address that included what he described as a sample of the hurdles facing the proponents of shale gas mining in SA, Deal said that in the view of TKAG, the technology was wholly … [Read more...]
New Yorkers against fracking
As scientists and physicians continue outlining the disastrous health impacts of fracking, New Yorkers Against Fracking recently began a new effort to outline the negative economic impacts of fracking. In a new television ad airing in the Binghamton and Elmira markets, Pennsylvania residents detail lies the gas industry told and the devastating impacts on property values … [Read more...]
Fracking in SA: how can they say it’s safe?
As part of a global anti-fracking day, more than 400 people from various walks of life gathered in front of the gates of Parliament on Saturday 22 Sept, to call for a ban on fracking in South Africa. The protest was organised and supported by several civil organisations, namely Earthlife Africa Cape Town, SAFCEI, the Coalition for Environmental Justice and Treasure the Karoo … [Read more...]
Shock and disappointment at SA’s fracking plans
What so many of us have been dreading, is now set to happen. The moratorium on exploration for shale gas has been lifted. “We find it both extraordinary and irresponsible that our government continues to pursue fossil fuel energy when South Africa has the best of renewable energy (RE) resources in the world,” Bishop Geoff Davies from SAFCEI stated on hearing the news. “This … [Read more...]
Fracking plans need a unified voice now
Minister Shabangu’s announcement last Friday of the Department of Mineral Resource’s pro-fracking decision to cabinet ripped like wild fire through environmental circles the past week. If there is one issue that can unite all the different green role players in this country, I think it’s this one. The sensitive Karoo ecology is regarded as the heartland of the country by … [Read more...]
SA lifts moratorium on fracking
South Africa has lifted a moratorium on shale gas exploration in the country's semi-arid Karoo region, where the extraction technique of "fracking" might be deployed, minister in the presidency Collins Chabane said on Friday. "Cabinet endorsed a recommendation of the report on the lifting of the afore-stated moratorium," Chabane told reporters. The cabinet imposed the … [Read more...]
Rally unites communities against fracking
A fracking rally held in Nieu Bethesda dispelled the perception that community opinions are divided along racial lines. At the rally were emerging farmers from the area, the Southern Cape Land Committee, who represent farmworkers and emerging farmers, as well as local commercial farmers, townspeople and schoolchildren of all races. They were joined by an environmental … [Read more...]
