Thursday, September 29, 2011

Israel to frack water supply exploiting oil shale

Israel is looking to get in on the oil shale - tar sands act, BBC News reports.


The article, though mentioning environmental concerns about this so-called unconventional source of oil, essentially soft peddles these and instead focuses on how much oil could be extracted: “Israel is sitting on enough shale to produce around four billion barrels of oil, enough at today’s usage to keep the country in oil for more than 40 years.”

Here’s the kicker, the inevitable political and environmental justice flashpoint:

The drilling area [in the Valley of Elah in central Israel, roughly 30 miles from Jerusalem] is also to the site of a vital and politically sensitive water aquifer shared by both Israel and Palestinian areas of the West Bank.
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