Please speak up now: Full disclosure of chemicals used in fracking is open for comment to the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission

To those interested in the natural gas development in Arkansas:

Pittsburgh stands first in the country to have banned the fracking process from their city.  Attending the rally before the vote was Josh Fox giving a spirited speech.  I thought you would be interested to hear the passion he displays even after the long involvement he has had with this project.

Update on Arkansas activity:

Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission - 

Jan. 10th is the cutoff date to make comment requesting full disclosure of all fracking chemicals by CAS identification.  While there have been improvements made to the Oil & Gas Commissions rule on disclosure, it is incomplete by failing to incorporate the Federal standards for proprietary secrecy.  A simple request that they finish to the job of disclosing chemicals for public safety and land owner consideration is in order.  Request that all comments be extended to the commissioners as well.  Use the following information to make comment:

EMAIL:  Larry.Bengal@aogc.state.ar.us

Copy to:  Commissioners - Chad White, Chairman, W. Frank Morledge, Charles Wohlford, Bill Poynter, Mike Davis, Kenneth Williams, William L. Dawkins, Jr., Jerry Langley, and Chris Weiser

Mr. Lawrence C. Bengal, Director

Production and Conservation

Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission

301 Natural Resources Drive, Suite 102

Little Rock, Arkansas 72205

Subject:  Full disclosure of chemical constituents used in natural gas fracking

Issue:  The current B-19 ruling is incomplete in providing limited claims for proprietary formulas.  The best approach would be full disclosure of every constituent by CAS identification, but at minimum the Federal guidelines for trade secrets should be included in the rule in their entirety.  The current wording is incomplete and does not provide how secrecy would be granted or what percentage would be allowed.

Thank you for assisting with this important comment, if you are able to help.  Pass the word.

OMNI needs to go after this now. OMNI people have been trying to get such a station for several years

Local Community Radio Act passes in Congress.
Community radio advocates are celebrating a major victory after the Senate approved the Local Community Radio Act last Saturday, one day after its passage in the House. The bill will open up more of the radio dial for Low Power FM, with the FCC now mandated to license thousands of new stations.

Jim Bemis speaks at Telecom Board meeting on December 16, 2010

GOVERNMENT CHANNEL SCHEDULE published Friday, December 17, 2010, the day following Telecom Board meeting, does not include Telecom Board meeting video to be run during week of 12/17/2010 through 12/12/2010. Bemis' comments, therefore, will not be shown on Cox Cable or AT&T U-verse until long after the Fayetteville City Council meeting at which the CAT contract will be voted on Tuesday, December 21, 2010.
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World Peace Wetland Prairie was once approved to be an apartment complex but Town Branch Neighborhood gathered friends to make it a city nature park

World Peace Wetland Prairie's Earth Day 2010 celebration video

Buy a federal duck stamp to provide habitat for waterfowl and many other species all over the continent

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December meeting of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

October 25, 2010, video clip from World Peace Wetland Prairie

Doug Tallamy comments on planting trees and avoiding mowing to fight climate change

Professor Doug Tallamy's magnificent book, Bringing Nature Home, provides thousands of reasons for planting native species and protecting the air, water, soil and food for human beings and all living things.

Please click on individual images of pages from Bringing Nature Home to ENLARGE for easy reading of samples of Doug Tallamy's work.

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Cox Cable changes of interest to viewers of Fayetteville's public channels

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Cox Cable pulls surprise on city of Fayetteville, Arkansas, with plan to move public-access, government channel and educational channel to EXPENSIVE digital tier of channels: So much for open government when thousands of people will not be able to afford access to the public channels

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For several years I have been able to turn away phone and online salesmen wanting me to take the satellite systems and later the Uverse TV system of AT&T. But now Cox has set up a situation that will require me to drop their service and take the Uverse, which will automatically cut my cost because I have AT&T phone service already. Cox has one thing the others don't have: The local public stations at minimal cost. This is the time for the city administration to begin negotiating with COX. This is a draconian measure that will hurt COX in the long run.

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Doug Tallamy succintly describes the thesis of his 'Bringing Nature Home' about gardening with native species to sustain native wildlife

Doug Tallamy's audio-only podcast. Please click HERE to listen online.

Aubrey Shepherd quoted on UATV on October 20, 2010, on significance of demolition of old grain elevator in south Fayetteville, Arkansas

Highway Commission vote could end mowing and dredging practices that cause erosion, loss of wildlife habitat and decrease beauty of roadsides in Arkansas

Please click on image to ENLARGE. Two hours after this photo was made on October 12, 2010, this area had been brushogged into oblivion. Sure, the swamp milkweed will sprout from its roots next summer. But these plants not only held pods offering hundreds of milkweed seeds but also were feeding milkweed caterpillars that could have made chrysalises and become final 2010 generation monarchs traveling to Mexico and with a chance to return in spring and find fresh milkweed on which a new generation of monarchs could have been raised to keep the cycle of life intact for this seriously threatened species of migrating butterfly. If you want to talk to your Northwest Arkansas representative on the Highway Commission, he is Dick Trammel.

Monarch caterpillars were still eating the foliage of these swamp milkweeds and the seed pods were almost mature when the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department Mowers came down the road and crushed and cut them off near the ground. Amazing hypocrisy for a state agency that touts its wildflower program. And possibly worse hypocrisy is touting its stormwater-protection work and then mowing and dredging ditches repeatedly every year.

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To learn more about the Arkansas Highway Commission,  please see AHC  link.

Biologists scour Mojave in desert tortoise roundup - latimes.com

Biologists scour Mojave in desert tortoise roundup - latimes.com

Help make Fayetteville an Eco-Logical Community: Learn how on Sunday

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Natural-resource conservation short video clips by Aubrey James Shepherd