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Questions for Congress and Hollywood About Fracking

Since 2008, ProPublica has been investigating the environmental risks of natural gas drilling.On Thursday, Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. congressional supporters of the FRAC Act will meet with Oscar-nominated anti-drilling advocates to discuss the future of natural gas drilling.ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten, who has written more than 60 stories and won a Polk Award for his gas-drilling reporting, posed the following questions for the meeting:

  1. ProPublica recently reported that the EPA plans to conduct a comprehensive study on the impact of hydraulic fracturing.In the face of potential budget cuts, will the EPA be able to finish that review?
  2. This month, the former head of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection agency told ProPublica that he laughs at the idea that the federal government can regulate fracking. Why should regulation happen at the federal level and not with the states?
  3. Last month, ProPublica noted that the climate benefits of natural gas may have been overstated, in part because of high emissions from fracking. How does that change America's future energy policy?
  4. Another recent ProPublica story questioned whether the EPA had ever set clear guidelines for the use of diesel fuel in natural gas drilling.Did the EPA drop the ball?

Read all of ProPublica’s gas-drilling reporting in our “Buried Secrets” series to be better informed about gas drilling's environmental threat. And be sure to watch PBS’s Need to Know this Friday, Feb. 18 for an update on their discussion with Lustgarten about natural gas drilling.

Mike Webb

Mike Webb was the vice president/communications of ProPublica. He is a veteran communications specialist with experience in public relations, marketing, sales and campaign work at media companies, think tanks, political organizations and in the entertainment business.

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