The Stream, April 7: America’s Abandoned Gas and Oil Wells
Foreign Affairs analyzes why food subsidies have prevented and provoked revolutions in the Middle East. How did rising grain prices break the Arab world’s “democracy of bread”?
America’s abandoned wells
This week, ProPublica reports on the environmental impact of America’s hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells. According to studies, the wells can allow oil, gas or brine-laden water to contaminate groundwater and surface supplies across the country.
China
Green Sohu lists China’s 10 most significant environmental events of 2010, from the drought in the southwest to pollution throughout.
Meanwhile, China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has started construction on 18 water conservation projects in order to help nomadic families settle down, state-run Xinhua reports.
Alternative energy
Paris is turning to sewage as a source of energy. The French capital plans to harness the heat from the warm waste water in its sewers for buildings, including high schools and the presidential palace, Reuters reports.
The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
, a Bulgaria native, is a Chicago-based reporter for Circle of Blue. She co-writes The Stream, a daily digest of international water news trends.
Interests: Europe, China, Environmental Policy, International Security.
Hard to imagine that we have so many abandoned wells.