The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
The answer to economic stagnation and energy woes or an environmental disaster waiting to happen? When it comes to the fracking debate, there is no middle ground.
WASHINGTON — In ongoing national discussions about the mining of natural gas, Catholic voices have emerged to raise significant moral questions while not necessarily taking sides.
From New York to Colorado, from individual bishops to umbrella organizations, Catholic contributions to the discussions have decidedly held up the Church’s social teaching on the importance of protecting creation and promoting the common good.
Blessed John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis all have addressed the need to More... 
There seems to be no end in sight to the debate over fracking in Arkansas.
On the one hand, environmental activists and ordinary citizens worry about the long-term geological effects of the process, which forces water and sand at extremely high pressure into layers of rock below the earth as a means to release trapped natural gas.
Opponents say everything from the materials used (chemicals are added to the water-sand mixture prior to being injected underground) to More...
BUTLER, Pa. — The history of slick water hydraulic fracturing extends back more than 60 years as America seeks solutions to its seemingly unquenchable thirst for energy.
Also known as fracking, the process has been used to extract oil and natural gas since 1947, said Peter MacKenzie, vice president of operations for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. He and other industry representatives argued that the process is safe and even when problems occur, companies work More...
Near Niles, Ohio, John Williams has made the Westwood Lake Park, a mobile home community, a second home of sorts.
The member of St. Stephen Parish in Niles regularly visits residents to keep an eye on a recently drilled well in a farm field just outside of the park. The nearest homes are about 500 feet from the well. A few of the park’s 800 residents have complained about respiratory illnesses, but more were concerned with More...
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has been used to extract oil and natural gas since 1947.
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