FRACKING ISSUES -

GERMAN BEER DRINKERS AGAINST FRACKING

 

 

An unlikely ally of environmentalists has risen in Germany, with beer drinkers protesting against the endangering of water purity due to fracking - which would detrimentally affect beer quality. 

 

Germans take their beer extremely seriously. Germany is Europe's biggest producer of beer and has the third-largest per-capita consumption after the Czech Republic and Austria.  For them beer is like a food group all in itself. So they organized and sent a letter to the government.  Their opposition to fracking is legally based on the water purity law dating back from 1516. 

 

With pressure mounting from German industry to at least look into the option of tapping its shale gas reserves, Merkel's centre-right coalition is working on a law setting out the conditions for exploration that would protect certain areas.

Given resistance from opposition parties which could block the law in the upper house of parliament, it is unlikely that a law on fracking will be passed before an election in September.

More information: 

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/german-brewers-oppose-fracking-because-of-fear-over-clean-water-a-901474.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10076467/Fracking-could-ruin-German-beer-industry-brewers-tell-Angela-Merkel.html

FRACKING - or hydraulic fracturing - is a way of bringing up natural gas by pumping water and chemicals into the ground. This practice has unleashed devastation on underground water and air quality wherever it has been implemented.

More on fracking: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

Gasland, the movie - information  - http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking

Anti-fracking activism in America - http://ecowatch.com/p/energy/fracking-2/

Danger of fracking in earthquake-prone California - http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-fracking-legislation-california-20130526,0,1971612.story

RELATED:  ARSENIC CONTENT IN GERMAN BEER EXCEEDS SAFETY LIMITS
Scientists tested about 150 varieties of beer and found as much as 24 micrograms of arsenic per litter. The limit for water is 10 micrograms.
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/04/health-news-arsenic-in-german-beers-new.html

UPDATE - GERMANY SHELVES PLANS FOR FRACKING - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives dropped plans for a draft law on "fracking" for the time being amid concerns by some coalition allies about the oil and gas extraction technique

 http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/CNG---3f6c7e1805db2d942630058b5660eb96---201